#HOW ARE WE GOING TO EMERGE VICTORIOUS IN THIS KIND OF SITUATION

[inkskinned]

i have chronic pain. i am neurodivergent. i understand - deeply - the allure of a "quick fix" like AI. i also just grew up in a different time. we have been warned about this.

15 entire years ago i heard about this. in my forensics class in high school, we watched a documentary about how AI-based "crime solving" software was inevitably biased against people of color.

my teacher stressed that AI is like a book: when someone writes it, some part of the author will remain within the result. the internet existed but not as loudly at that point - we didn't know that AI would be able to teach itself off already-biased Reddit threads. i googled it: yes, this bias is still happening. yes, it's just as bad if not worse.

i can't actually stop you. if you wanna use ChatGPT to slide through your classes, that's on you. it's your money and it's your time. you will spend none of it thinking, you will learn nothing, and, in college, you will piss away hundreds of thousands of dollars. you will stand at the podium having done nothing, accomplished nothing. a cold and bitter pyrrhic victory.

i'm not even sure students actually read the essays or summaries or emails they have ChatGPT pump out. i think it just flows over them and they use the first answer they get. my brother teaches engineering - he recently got fifty-three copies of almost-the-exact-same lab reports. no one had even changed the wording.

and yes: AI itself (as a concept and practice) isn't always evil. there's AI that can help detect cancer, for example. and yet: when i ask my students if they'd be okay with a doctor that learned from AI, many of them balk. it is one thing if they don't read their engineering textbook or if they don't write the critical-thinking essay. it's another when it starts to affect them. they know it's wrong for AI to broad-spectrum deny insurance claims, but they swear their use of AI is different.

there's a strange desire to sort of divorce real-world AI malpractice over "personal use". for example, is it moral to use AI to write your cover letters? cover letters are essentially only templates, and besides: AI is going to be reading your job app, so isn't it kind of fair?

i recently found out that people use AI as a romantic or sexual partner. it seems like teenagers particularly enjoy this connection, and this is one of those "sticky" moments as a teacher. honestly - you can roast me for this - but if it was an actually-safe AI, i think teenagers exploring their sexuality with a fake partner is amazing. it prevents them from making permanent mistakes, it can teach them about their bodies and their desires, and it can help their confidence. but the problem is that it's not safe. there isn't a well-educated, sensitive AI specifically to help teens explore their hormones. it's just internet-fed cycle. who knows what they're learning. who knows what misinformation they're getting.

the most common pushback i get involves therapy. none of us have access to the therapist of our dreams - it's expensive, elusive, and involves an annoying amount of insurance claims. someone once asked me: are you going to be mad when AI saves someone's life?

therapists are not just trained on the book, they're trained on patient management and helping you see things you don't see yourself. part of it will involve discomfort. i don't know that AI is ever going to be able to analyze the words you feed it and answer with a mind towards the "whole person" writing those words. but also - if it keeps/kept you alive, i'm not a purist. i've done terrible things to myself when i was at rock bottom. in an emergency, we kind of forgive the seatbelt for leaving bruises. it's just that chat shouldn't be your only form of self-care and recovery.

and i worry that the influence chat has is expanding. more and more i see people use chat for the smallest, most easily-navigated situations. and i can't like, make you worry about that in your own life. i often think about how easy it was for social media to take over all my time - how i can't have a tiktok because i spend hours on it. i don't want that to happen with chat. i want to enjoy thinking. i want to enjoy writing. i want to be here. i've already really been struggling to put the phone down. this feels like another way to get you to pick the phone up.

the other day, i was frustrated by a book i was reading. it's far in the series and is about a character i resent. i googled if i had to read it, or if it was one of those "in between" books that don't actually affect the plot (you know, one of those ".5" books). someone said something that really stuck with me - theoretically you're reading this series for enjoyment, so while you don't actually have to read it, one would assume you want to read it.

i am watching a generation of people learn they don't have to read the thing in their hand. and it is kind of a strange sort of doom that comes over me: i read because it's genuinely fun. i learn because even though it's hard, it feels good. i try because it makes me happy to try. and i'm watching a generation of people all lay down and say: but i don't want to try.

[bitter-me]

Flustered Biker Boy

Lighter | M. Reader

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Based on one of his Trust Events, where he got flustered/shy from being called handsome. So I took it and multiplied it by three.

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"The Red Scarf," "the Undefeated Champion," "the Champion of the Sons of Calydon."

So many titles just for one man. He must be a legend if people speak of him in such a way. Someone that could be considered as a myth. So surreal that there's no way someone like him truly exists. It's impossible to think one person has the ability fight at least 50 men. Alone. All at once. And emerge victorious.

Yet it's all true. That man does exist and that man...

Is currently trying to hide his face with his scarf.

[Name] laughs at Lighter's reaction. He had just called him handsome and he's already so flustered? Is this the same Champion they talk about in the Outer Ring? But hey, he's not complaining. It's cute~

"Is something wrong? Your face is red." To see Lighter's face slowly rivaling the red of his scarf is a sight to behold. A sight.. only for him to see. Oh what privilege.

Lighter didn't respond. Instead he just cleared his throat. "Anyways.." He tries to act all cool and suave. As if being called handsome earlier didn't affect him in such a way which only earned him another laugh from [Name].

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Hanging out with Lighter had always been a joy. Despite his appearance and the whispers about him. He's quite the character. A man of power who sometimes has a childish streak. Someone who can play along and have fun but act all serious when the situation demands it. Who wouldn't love someone like that? Someone from the Outer Ring?

"Oh, they have a couple discount on the milk tea." [Name] thought out loud the moment he read the sign in front of the store. With a cheeky grin he glances over at Lighter and instantly links his arms around the other, making a B-line to the store.

Lighter was about to ask what's wrong only to be cut off by [Name]'s next words. "Excuse me, we like to take the couple discount, please."

Heat instantly makes its way onto Lighter's face. He originally thought that they were in some kind of danger. That someone was stalking them and planning to strike, which is why [Name] linked their arms like that. Trying to lead both of them to safety or something, but no. He was wrong. There wasn't some bad guy for him to fight. No, this is a different fight. A battle against..

..Economy.

Oh the things they do for a discount.

Meanwhile [Name] is extremely happy with himself. They've gotten milk tea for half the price and saw Lighter trying to hide his flustered face by drinking his milk tea.

What a great day to be alive.

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In this quality time of theirs. The two decided to go to the Outer Ring. So far [Name] had always suggested something in New Eridu, making excuses that Lighter should learn a few things about the city. But this time it was his turn to learn about the Outer Ring with Lighter as his guide.

But of course, time flies by fast when you're having fun.

Getting off of the bike [Name] stretched out his limbs with a groan. He had nearly forgotten how long the ride was from the Outer Ring to New Eridu. However it was more than worth it.

"You know, I had fun today." He began slowly before planting a small kiss on Lighter's cheek and pulls away with a cheeky grin. "See you later, biker boy." And with that he went straight towards the front door. Leaving an obviously red Lighter alone on his bike.

The red scarf had always suited him. Making him quite the eye candy. But a red face would definitely make him ten times more handsome.

[highcoutureaffair]

In a very challenging and expensive sport that is known to be surrounded by controversy, racism and even xenophobia, Sergio Pérez consistently fought for a place to make his dreams come true, and successfully, he won against all odds, and not only he achieved victories or podiums… he dared to persist for fourteen long years.

He saw many people come and go, and he battled with the strong emotions that commonly emerge with the pressure of F1, he saw it all.

He kept going, no matter the situation. He paid no attention to those who wanted him out and that's one of the bravest things he did, and for that, he was punished by the media. You know how harsh those rumours about him were, but he still was a sweet man who told us not to worry.

His class, kindness and purely nice actions were a truly special thing, because he only replied with positivity most of the time; he wanted to make his country proud and that was all.

Thank you Checo for opening doors for millions of Mexican fans and athletes who want to be seen in a sport that is not always so kind.

You did wonders for the next generation of racing drivers from Mexico. And for that, we cherish your outstanding achievements

[joeliz99]

By my side- Regulus Black

Regulus Black

Seventh year at Hogwarts

Regulus Black was not one to be hurt easily on the field. In fact, he was considered one the best chasers on the field since becoming part of the Quidditch team at Hogwarts. However, that day turned out to be different. Word on the bleachers stated it was a mixture of bad weather and the longest game seen since the start of the season, while others think it was just the result of lack of attention. Either way, the main point was the young man was hit heavily with one of the Quaffles, demanding him to stop playing almost immediately as he could not even move his arm. 

It didn’t take long for him to be on his way to the Nursing Wing of the school, being chaperoned by one of the nurses assigned to assist any emergencies that occurred at the games. Once there, the quietness of the place disappeared, being replaced by instant haste and seriousness. It wasn’t uncommon to see this kind of injury, but nevertheless it was still just as important to treat it with the utmost importance. Madame Pomfrey didn’t take too long to make a presence, demanding different sorts of things that were delivered in an instant. With water dripping down his chin and clothes, Regulus had a tense jaw and a big frown on his face while trying to not concentrate on the pain that extended all over his arm.

- Miss Bennett, come assist me- The girl, who stood a few feet away from the scene, looked nothing but surprised at the request of the head of nursing services, as she was only an apprentice. But that didn't stop her to be on Madame’s Pomfrey’s side in a second, being ready for whatever the superior asked.

- See the shape and limpness of the arm? - She nodded now observing him- That’s an indication that the arm is broken. You can also notice how it’s starting to swell. - Regulus grunts once he feels his arm being lifted moderately, just to assess the rest of the situation. – We’ll need to give him a shot of Murtlap Essence just to ease a bit of the pain. What else do we need in this situation?–

- Skele-Gro- responds the girl and the young man snorts being annoyed with the whole situation–

- Could you please choose another moment to give a lesson?– 

- Oh dear, don’t confuse this as a lack of efficiency- The old nurse extends her arm to receive the potion she just mentioned a minute ago by another of the employees on shift- Either way, it’s not like you’re going to have too much fun in the next couple of hours. - Regulus’s expressions worsens once he drinks what he was offered, just as the girl decides to add something in almost a whisper–

Don’t mind that. You’ll feel better soon...- He raises his gaze to look at her, noticing just now that she was someone he already knew. They had two classes together, Potions and Transfiguration to be exact, and she was oddly good in the first one. He, however, did not know what to say at that moment or why exactly she was there, so he preferred to stay quiet as he was helped by the same girl to lay down in one of the dozen beds spread throughout the big room.

The next couple of minutes were honestly a blur. One moment his arm was being stabilized and the other he felt what could be described as excruciating pain once he had drunk the disgusting Skele-Gro. Madame Pomfrey said the process of his bones getting back in place could take a couple of hours, maybe a whole day, so he had no other choice than to stay there until being back to his most normal self if taking the situation into consideration.

Hours passed by and no one really came to see how he was doing, making it clear that at least Slytherin still won the game and people, and his so-called “friends”, were probably celebrating the recent victory. Regulus didn’t expect any less, he knew he had no one to count on, especially now that his brother was out of school and even worse, out of his life. His classmate, on the other hand, was not okay with that thought. So even when she was free to go and rest for the rest of the night, she decided to stay there and make sure he was okay, dismissing Madame’s Pomfrey disapproving look. She only left his side to go get some food for both, coming back to find him awake and in complete silence.

The young Black heard her footsteps and looked to his side, just to see her being a few steps away from him with her hands full of bags of food.

- What are you doing here? - He asked, not arrogantly, but confused. –

- I figured you would be hungry after everything that happened today. - She placed the food on his lap, sitting then on the chair next to him. –

- You didn’t have to…- He extended his good arm to open the bag and see what was on the inside. He wasn’t hungry at all. But either way, he took the pear lying on top of everything else and gave it a bite just to show her he was thankful. - Thank you. –

She just nodded, being more concentrated on her own food than anything else. Minutes passed by with just pure silence and occasional looks from one to the other. Regulus was not sure on how to act around her. To be honest, he didn’t know her at all, not even her name. They probably exchanged not more than ten words in almost seven years they have been studying together, so surely, it felt like there was nothing to talk about. The silence, opposite to what he was thinking, didn’t last much longer as the Hufflepuff decided to talk.

-Slytherin won the game. They said it was the toughest game of the year, but you’ll probably keep being on the lead. –

- I imagine…- He murmurs not being as excited as he could be in other circumstances. – Better luck next time for Hufflepuff? I’m sure you’ll do better in the next games. - He wasn’t sorry, of course, but he didn’t know what else to say. –

-Oh. I don’t care if we win. I don’t even understand all the fuss and excitement behind that game. –

- Okay now… You don’t have to insult Quidditch that way. - She laughed seeing he was actually a bit offended by that comment. - I’m sure you would think otherwise if you went to the games instead of doing whatever it is you’re doing over here. —

- Well, I’m also sure my education is way more important than staying there for hours watching people be… Kind of dumb, to be honest. —

- Ey, you’re taking it too far… Bennett- He remembered from earlier- So what is it exactly that you do here? –

- Contact hours. I want to study medicine when I’m out of here, and since I have some free time to spare, the headmaster let me be an extra pair of eyes and hands so that I start getting used to what goes around in this field. It’s a bargain if you ask me. —

- I’m sure it is. – She’s a curious girl, he thought. There was something in the way she talked and acted that was so new and different to him- So when was the last time you went to a Quidditch game? –

- I don’t know. Maybe two years ago? Can’t remember exactly. —

-No.- He looked at her as if she was crazy. - You must be lying to me. —

- I’m not- She shrugs, looking at him unbothered- It’s not that big of a deal. –

- Umm yes, it is. There is a reason why it’s considered the biggest game in the wizarding world. You should give it a second chance. –

- Sure… Maybe I will. After all, I need to see if my potion did the job- There was something in her smile now that screamed ‘mischievous’, and he didn’t know how to interpret that. —

- What do you mean? –

- Who do you think made the Skele-Gro? - Her smile widened- I told you, I’m an extra set of hands here now. - His face probably got whiter than it was originally, and she apparently found it even more funny, but he didn’t. – Guess I’ll have to go to the field to see how that arm works after today. —

-Okay…- He took a deep breath trying to not freak out right there. Regulus knew she was good at Potions, that’s how he remembered her. However, it was different when he knew there was a possibility for her talent to fail. After all, they were still in the same grade and everything. - I don’t really want to hear more about it. —

- Don’t worry Black- She smiled, now more laid back than before- You’ll be good to go before the sun rises. Or at least that is what Madame Pomfrey said. —

He was, indeed, almost back to normal once the morning came. Regulus was free to go with the order to return the next day to see how his arm was doing. He did not see the girl that stayed with him the whole night until he fell asleep, as he thought he would, however, he did get to see her at class the next day. He wanted to say thank you, but he didn’t even know when or how to approach her, so he didn’t. They both shared a look as they were going out of class, and he was almost sure he saw a small smile coming from her, which he didn’t have time to return before she was gone. Bennett wasn’t either at the Nursing Wing that day, so he figured maybe it wasn’t the right time to come close to her. 

That did not stop him from learning her name a couple days after. (Y/N) Bennett, just as Professor Slughorn stated while making sure that all students attended class that day since they were going on a special trip to find key ingredients for their next assignment. That day (Y/N) could swear she felt Regulus staring a couple of times, something that never happened before during all these years. But, instead of thinking much more about it, she just put it to the side, seeing it as a sign that she was overthinking the whole situation. 

The next time they saw each other was at the library, just an hour before its doors closed. Regulus was nose deep into his book, not even realizing that (Y/N) was walking around the shelfs looking for some books. However, she did see him, and after debating with herself for a minute or two she decided to approach him. The young man only lifted his eyesight from the words when noticing that someone was clearing their throat to get his attention, being actually surprised when he saw it was her. 

- Hello, Bennett.- She smiled nicely as he talked and just gave him a nod before talking.—

- How’s that arm doing?— 

- Well, I haven't had any problems yet. Although Madame Pomfrey said something about a 30 day period of trial. I guess that comes with being drugged by a classmate.- He was joking, and she knew it just by the way his body was relaxed and his voice was coated with a sweetness she couldn’t really describe.— 

-The best, may I remind you– She smiled, coking an eyebrow on the process, which was mimicked by him.—

-You’re pushing it too far… Anyways, about the whole thing, thank you. I hadn’t had the chance to tell you before.— 

-No need. It was nothing… Anybody would do it.—

-But it was you that did it. Nobody else was there, right?- For the first time she felt intimidated with his stare, feeling obligated to look somewhere else before the unknown feelings on her body made a bigger presence.—

-Right… Well anyways, I better get going now. I’ll see you at class?—

-As always- he gave her a small smile before going back to his previous position on the chair- Rest well. —

A week or two passed with little interactions between the two. From time to time there  was a stare, a hello or even just acknowledging their presence by sitting closer at class. However, that changed when they were paired together in an assignment in Transfigurations class. Others would see it as casualty, but Regulus knew it was all thanks to him. The professor already told them that she would be choosing the groups that day, so opposite to his normal self, he made sure to get to class a few minutes late and state loud enough that he had a headache. Of course, (Y/N) gave not long after that the suggestion for him to go to the nursery to get checked up, since it could be something related to his rough Quidditch practices. In any other moment, he would immediately shrug it off and completely ignore the unsolicited advice, but that day that was exactly what he wanted. And that’s how the girl ended up being asked to chaperone him to the other side of the school, which also resulted in being paired together for the assignment since they were the only two left without a partner. 

In those next two weeks they both got to know each other more. Remus noticed how demanding and perfectionist she was when it came to homework, which was slightly annoying, and cute, when thinking that he was, too, one of the best of his class. (Y/N), on the other hand, saw him more comfortable when talking and expressing his thoughts than the past six years. Remus was, in fact, a whole new being to unpack. He was sarcastic, funny, a bit dramatic and definitely smart. They found themselves debating about different topics, laughing, eating together and also learning a bit about Quidditch and medicine, much to both dismay, always with the excuse of having to do the project together. 

Remus often had to ignore the comments of his friends and other Slytherin’s classmates, which thought they had the right to say something about the girl because of her house or her coming from a family of mixed-blooded people. He knew what his parents would think about it too, he didn’t care, since he knew it was just a friendship, or whatever else someone could call it, that mattered only to both of them. That’s why it was disappointing when they turned in the assignment and had to go back to their normal routines once again. It was a shame, really, because if it was up to her, or him, she could spend way more time with Regulus than anybody else.

Two weeks after, the third game of the season finally arrived and Slytherin was playing against Ravenclaw. As always, the field was full to the brim with excited students and professors from all houses. Anybody could feel the nerves in the air, being this the last game before the semester ended for Christmas break. Regulus was seated on the bench inside the locker room, staying in complete silence as he always did before the beginning of any game. It was the best way he knew to concentrate and not get stressed with all the comments and loudness there was around him. However, he was interrupted when they let him know it was time to get checked and approved to play today. He went to do the usual line, being behind some of his fellow players and classmates, and he almost went back to his bubble if it weren’t from seeing a familiar face not far from him. Regulus couldn’t lie to himself even if he wanted to. His heart started to race a bit quicker when connecting eyes with (Y/N), who smiled almost immediately not paying attention to anything else at the moment. He smiled back, being a bit more discreet, and she made sure he would end up being checked by her when the time came. 

-You’re here.- He whispered, while she made sure he didn’t had any visible injury- I thought you didn’t like Quidditch.—

-I asked for permission to help on the field today. I need to make sure your arm works fine, remember?- He smiles, nodding just one time.- Also, it turns out I know more about Quidditch now than I have for my whole life. Maybe I’ll enjoy it a bit more.—

-I have no doubt you will. I’ll make sure to impress you today. You know… Just so that you wanna come back next time.- The girl laughs shyly, trying to not bring any attention to the both of them.—

-You better keep your word, Black.— 

-I always do.- He smiles back, looking at her attentively while she extends his arm, looking at him the same way.- What are you doing on Christmas break?—

-Umm… I don’t know? I guess just the usual. Spend time with the family and stuff… Why?- He shrugs, but never stops looking at her.— 

-You should write to me. Maybe we can plan to go out sometime and do something nice.— 

-Outside of school?- she raises an eyebrow, not sure if he was actually proposing to take her out on a date.— 

-Yes. Outside of school… How does that sound?— 

-Umm yeah…- She smiles, feeling how her cheeks start to feel a bit hot under his gaze and the closeness between them.- I would like that.—  

-Great. We’ll exchange addresses later. Maybe a pseudonym too? I can explain later.— 

-No need. I already know why.- She pads his shoulder- You’re good to go. Are you ready to kick some ass?— 

-I was born ready.- The girl laughs and rolls her eyes before looking at the room, making sure nobody else was there, and then taking a step towards him, kissing his cheek before losing any bravery she felt at that moment.—  

-Just for a little bit of extra luck then. I’ll see you later.—  

Regulus didn’t say anything. He was too surprised or nervous to answer that before the girl left the room. But he knew, right there, that was just another excuse to get this game over with and make sure to impress her, just so that he could do the same exact thing.

[zodiactalks]

Top 4 STRONGEST LEADERS of the Zodiac

There are always those who stand out from the crowd. People who step up and take control in work, school, and emergencies.

They are people we look to for guidance when everyone else is unsure. And they step up without hesitation. 

Natural leaders have a magnetism to them that is undeniable. Everyone around them sees it and feels an unexplainable pull toward them. 

These kinds of people are willing to step up when others aren’t. They feel responsible for those around them. Not stepping up isn’t an option when they know they could do something.  

Let’s find out who the top four strongest leaders of the zodiac are.

#1. Aries

Leader of the zodiac, Aries is naturally #1. 

Aries is ruled by Mars, the planet of action and war. They have the minds of great military generals and a narrow focus on leading their people to victory. 

In school and work environments, Aries is going to go for jobs that will give them a challenge. They will have their eye firmly on higher-up positions where they could manage others. 

Aries is wasted on menial tasks. They are best suited for project strategy and overseeing how that work is carried out. Aries knows everyone’s strengths, weaknesses, and how best to utilize each of those into a well-oiled machine. 

In emergencies, Aries is the first to react. There is nothing that can shock Aries into freezing for long. 

Aries is a master of prioritizing what needs to be done in an emergency. And again, how best to use the people around them to get things done.

Aries knows what they are capable of. They aren’t about to waste it on fear of judgment, or waiting around on others to act in any situation that calls for it. 

That is why they are the strongest leader of the zodiac.

#2. Capricorn

Capricorn is the second strongest leader of the zodiac.

Capricorn is known for their leadership skills and how adept they are at it. 

In work and school, Capricorn is the person who will see if anyone will step up. If they don’t, Capricorn is now in control. Even if someone else does, Capricorn becomes a kind of shadow leader. They will always be the real one in charge.

In emergencies, Capricorn is the one calculating resources to use. They will come up with solutions others would not have thought of.

Capricorn has a lot of practical knowledge that can be applied in just about every circumstance. Other people may think it strange Capricorn knows how to make a natural water filter or turn their pants into a flotation device. 

But they won’t be complaining if Capricorn ends up saving their life.

No matter the situation, Capricorn will always know what to do and how to do it. 

They live by the motto “fake it till you make it.” Even if they don’t know what to do, they will figure out how to make things work.

#3. Aquarius

Aquarius is the third strongest leader of the zodiac.

Aquarius is an inclusive leader who wants to hear everyone’s opinions.

 A master at blending ideas, Aquarius uses the input of everyone under them to create brilliant strategies.

In school and work, Aquarius uses those delegating skills with precision. They will be found winning every debate with logic, and mediating disagreements the same way. There is no conflict Aquarius can’t settle.

In an emergency, Aquarius can be found rounding up resources, squashing ill-timed conflicts, and helping connect people who can help one another. They are likely all over the place, but that doesn’t diminish their effectiveness.

Aquarius knows they are powerful when it comes to networking and mediating. These are extremely valuable skills in a leader. 

Aquarius can create astounding progress by using these talents. When they know they can be a catalyst for change, they step up excitedly.

#4. Scorpio

Scorpio is the fourth strongest leader of the zodiac.

Through their sheer presence and willpower, Scorpio can command a room. They are sure of themselves and what they want to be done.

In school and work, Scorpio prefers the more relaxed road of not being a leader. But if they sniff out incompetence, they are going to take over. And they are extremely good at it.

In an emergency, Scorpio becomes laser-focused. They can block out emotions and shock responses so they can take command when others can’t. 

Scorpio can use their intensity to snap others back into focus. They know everyone needs to be brought out of their frozen states. Scorpio’s main focus in an emergency will be to get everyone to safety.

Scorpio knows they are a force of nature. And they are going to use it to the advantage of everyone around them.

[sirdolraan]

Last Call

(( DWC August 2024 Day 7, Enigma/Victory, CW: None; @daily-writing-challenge ))

Lorellai flounced down on the bed of the room she was sharing with the other ladies, feeling still tired from all the work but relieved by the shower she'd just had. She idly watched as magical brushes and washboards tended to her and everyone's gear over in the corner, quite a bit different from the devices her dad had made back home. Handy though, it meant she could just lie there, ache a bit, and think about things. She'd really enjoyed her chat with Dagran, and wouldn't mind talking to him again, but the idea of crossing Moira sent a chill down her spine worse than when she'd come face to face with the villains out in the dragon isles.

"At least she's on our side, I guess." Lorellai said to no one in particular, as there was a knock at the door. She groaned, not wanting to move, but also not wanting word to get back to her mum that she'd been impolite. Begrudgingly, she slid off the bed and headed to the door, opening it up. "Can I help y-" she said, stopping short as she processed what she saw.

"Ah, miss Truthhammer, my mother and I were wondering if you'd care to join us for lunch?" Dagran said, his mother not far behind him, looking, well, as grumpy as she'd ever been when Lorellai saw her.

"I will say only this." Moira started, taking her seat at the head of the table as her attendants brought in their meal. "I apologize for my rudeness to you. My feud with your father is nae your responsibility, and I will not have it said that I am encouraging our people's tendencies towards long lasting grudges. By all reports you have shown yourself to be an upstanding citizen, which I choose to attribute to your mother's influence."

"Uh... I mean," Lorellai stammered, trying desperately to remember the etiquette lessons her parents had tried to get her to pay more than a moment's interest in while she was growing up. "Thank you for your kind words, yer Majesty, uh, let there be nae quarrel between us," she ventured, at least sixty percent sure that was the appropriate phrasing.

"I'm glad we could clear that up," Dagran said, taking up a fork and spearing some salad. "There's enough conflict in the world without opening old wounds, I think. Please, relax miss Truthhammer, this is a friendly lunch after all! Please, tell us how things have been going out in the field!"

Elsewhen, a portal illuminated Spiru as she went over her list. She'd already made emotionally satisfactorily farewells with the SI:7 team and the Shado-pan she'd befriended, without alerting them to the strange temporal nature of her situation, and now all that was left was to gather the belongings she'd been informed were safe to keep and prepare them for her journey. "Hi there Spiru!" Chromie said, hopping on a chair beside her. "All ready for the big day?"

"I believe I am, Chromie," Spiru replied, closing and buckling the bag, before gathering up her hair to restore her usual ponytail. "All my farewells have been said, and my keepsakes are ready for travel. Has all been settled on your end?"

"It sure has! Nozdormu was a little hesitant at first, but when Eternus and I showed him everything we saw, he agreed that this was a situation where the rules could be bent enough to tip the scales in Azeroth's favor. Now, you said you have everything, do you remember your introduction?"

Spiru gave Chromie a flat look. "You've had me rehearsing it for three days. I am ready."

"Great!" Chromie said, checking an ornate hourglass, "Because it's time! Good luck in the Prime-Time-Line!" Chromie yelled, shoving Spiru suddenly through a bronze portal that opened behind her. As it closed, Chromie dusted her hands. "Another job done by the amazing Chromie!... no, that's not gonna catch on. Back to the drawing board..."

Spiru spiralled through the sands of time, before emerging in a stone room next to a table with several surprised dwarves. Spying Lorellai Truthhammer (three centimeters taller than Chromie had mentioned, hope that's not a problem), she launched into her prepared words. "My name is Spiru Handycog. I have been sent by Chromie to join your fight to protect Azeroth and follow the Radiant Song. In five minutes this entire city will be under attack, you need to get your gear ready."

"What is going on-" Moira's demanding question was interrupted by a loud klaxon.

"Attention, Citizens of Dalaran!" Khadgar's voice rang out throughout the streets. "Prepare for Civic Teleportation. Return to your homes or emergency shelters immediately. I repeat, citizens of Dalaran, prepare for Civic Teleportation!"

As the message and klaxon continued, Lorellai quickly wiped her face with a napkin. "Timely, we'll discuss later. Excuse me your majesty, I must gather my gear."

"We shall return to Magni's side. Come Dagran." Moira declared, rising from her chair.

"Fight well, Champion Lorellai!" Dagran declared, before following his mother out the far door as Lorellai took the nearer exit to return to the dorm, new acquaintance and perhaps friend in tow.

Things were about to get exciting.

[natsumespellbook]

Night Rain CRISIS - Chapter 8

(Directory)

<A few minutes later>

Hinata: “This is team B’s Hinata, reporting in. We have all arrived at the main building. We’re getting started on our search right away. Over.”

Jun: Roger that. This is team A’s Sazanami.

We’ve explored the book room and kitchen; no breakers were identified there, nor in the common room. Currently exploring the third floor, over.

Rinne: Oh, you’re surprisingly good at that, Junjun ♪

Mao: Please stop talking and check it properly. If we miss the breaker, we’ll have to look over here again.

Rinne: Okay, okay, I get it. Well, the B team’s already turned on the lights in the old building.

Mao: True, but it’d be embarrassing for them to do all the work and have us do nothing, so let's look harder ♪

<Meanwhile, on the second floor of Seisoukan, where team B is located>

Hinata: Okay~ We’ll call my senpai again later.

Thanks to the information they gave us, I’ve narrowed down the possible locations of the breakers. Let’s hurry up and check the rest of the locations!

Kuro: You seem strangely excited. Well, I think I heard Sazanami’s voice on the phone sounding happy, too.

Hinata: I think it’s because we’re working better together than we were in the game. I’m not sure how Sazanami-senpai feels, though.

Koga: Game? What game?

Hinata: It’s a secret. Just kidding, but let’s find the breaker first!

It’s probably somewhere near here.

Koga: Hell yeah! We’ll find the breaker in the main building, too!

Hinata: I love having electricity~♪ The air conditioner is sooo nice, and I can play as many video games as I want.

Fufufu ♪ I’ll have to let Yuuta-kun hear about his big brother’s success when he gets back.

Mao: Turns out, Hinata-kun and the others helped way more.

Hinata: I don’t usually get to explore the pitch-dark dormitory very often. It was a little fun ♪

Mao: Seriously, though, let’s hope this doesn’t happen again anytime soon.

Koga: Of course, it’d be horrible for this to happen over and over again.

Rinne: All’s well that ends well, right? Now that I’ve got my food from Hina, I’m going back to my room…

Koga: No, no, wait just a second, pal. Don’t try and disappear like nothing happened!

Even though we temporarily joined forces, your team still lost the game. You’re going to have to pay the price.

Jun: Come to think of it, you did talk about a punishment game, didn’t you?

Mao: Sazanami was on the phone with Hinata-kun, so he didn’t have time to coordinate anything.

Hinata: Well, it’s obvious that team A is at a disadvantage because the emergency power supply and breakers are installed in different locations, so I guess it can’t be helped this time.

So, by the leader’s authority, there will be no punishment game!

Koga: Hey– since when could you use that kind of authority!?

Kuro: I don’t see a problem with it. The MVP of our group is Hinata, after all.

Hinata: Thank you for your support ♪

So here’s my suggestion…

It’s not every day you get to spend time with a group of people like this. Since we’re here, why don’t we enjoy ourselves until dawn?

Mao: In other words…?

Hinata: I mean, why don’t we all play a game together to commemorate the occasion~!

Jun: Haha, that’s good! If you wanna play a video game, my game console’s all yours.

Hinata: Besides, wouldn’t this be a clear way to determine the winner?

Koga: This character is too weak! Damn, he’s so useless!!

Rinne: If you know your character’s weak, stop picking fights with all the bad guys. In the end, it’s brains that survive in these situations, not brawn.

Kuro: Hey, he fell.

Rinne: HUH!?? Are you kidding me!? There’s no WAY anyone would be able to beat this on their first try! Anyone would’ve fallen for a trap set in a place like this!

I guess I’ll have to leave it to Hina now. You must not make my death one in vain and flee to victory, got it?

Hinata: Leave it to me~♪ I won’t let your death be in vain… TO VICTORY!!

Mao: Haha, sounds grandiose, but you’re still talking about the game, right?

Kuro: I would hope so… Anyway, Sazanami and Hinata were working well together during the blackout. I’m sure they’ll be good together in this game.

Jun: Haha, I’ll do my best to live up to your expectations~

Hinata: Let’s try that special attack from earlier ♪

Jun: (If I were alone, that power outage would’ve just been nothing but trouble, no fun at all.

But thanks to Hinata-kun, I had a bit of an adventure. I’m really thankful……♪)

----------------------------------------------------

previous

[litcityblues]

'Ashes of Victory' --A Review

The ninth novel in the Honorverse series serves as a conclusion to a three-book arc in the series that begins with In Enemy Hands, continues with Echoes of Honor, and concludes here. Honor Harrington is alive, and well and has returned home with half a million prisoners from the Havenite Prison Planet known as Hell.

Ashes of Victory is the story of her triumphant return home. I would say the first third of the book or so is centered around just Honor coming to grips with having been declared/believed to be dead. She has an emotional reunion with her parents (her mother had given birth to twins, which satisfied the requirement Grayson had for an heir to her Steading) and her cousin Devon has inherited her Manticoran title (Honor is amused by this, as she can imagine his horror at the news-- while we don't meet him, he's described as a bookish/Professorial type who would very much not interested in things like a title.) She also has to face the facts: the extent of her injuries is going to keep her from active naval duty for at least a couple of years since she'll need reconstructive surgery.

There's a heart-wrenching moment for Nimitz as well-- as the extent of his injuries becomes clear and the humans realize he has lost his ability to communicate with his fellow Treecats, though his bond with Honor remains intact and as strong as ever. It's unclear if he recovers some ability to communicate with his fellow Treecats, but what Honor does is manage to help prove that Treecats are as intelligent as humans and full communication starts to become possible thanks to sign language systems.

Honor gets her battlefield promotion confirmed (and becomes Admiral) and, since she's out of the fighting for a bit, starts teaching at the Saganami Island Naval Academy to shape the minds of future generations of naval officers-- not just from Manticore, but from Grayson as well.

Hey, remember Steadholder Mueller? He was sort of kind of involved in a plot to overthrow Protector Benjamin that got somebody else beheaded and he frantically threw everyone he possibly could under the bus to avoid being implicated himself? (Flag In Exile, fifth book of the series.) Well, he's back and he's been biding his time and martialling his power and he's emerged as the leader of the Opposition on Grayson. He doesn't know it, but he's also under investigation but before that can come to fruition, his conspirators are revealed to be agents of Masada. There is unease on Grayson- especially when rumors start flying that annexation into the Star Kingdom is being discussed. (It's not precisely that: the famously independent San Martin has joined, but it's... kind of a commonwealth situation? They maintain their autonomy but also have representation of some kind in Manticore's Parliament?) Poor Mueller is in over his head and doesn't realize until it's too late.

Meanwhile, on Haven, things are going great, and by great I mean that Rob Pierre is dead. Admiral McQueen tries to launch a coup. Oscar Saint-Just detonates a hidden nuke underneath the Octagon and decimates McQueen, her forces, and a hefty amount of the military leadership to boot. Admiral Theisman is recalled to take charge of the Capital Fleet. Admirals Tourville and Giscard are believed to be next on the list of Admirals to go (i.e. be shot) and the military situation collapses on them. They are on the verge of utter defeat thanks to Manticore's new offensive and technologies to boot.

But, a surprise assassination attempt on the combined leadership of Manticore and Grayson fails- but kills Manticore's Prime Minister which leads to a change of government. The opposition comes in and demands a halt to the fighting, believing Haven to be defeated. Queen Elizabeth is fucking pissed about it but has no choice. A ceasefire follows along with negotiations and Admiral Theisman launches a coup of his own, killing Oscar Saint-Just.

Y'all...

I am not sure how to feel about this book. The first third to half of it is just about perfect. Pays off so many plot lines laid down in the previous two books of this arc. There are great character moments as Honor returns home and is reunited with friends and family and faces up to the cost of her injuries and time on Planet Hell. (The weird awkward romance between her and White Haven is touched upon, but we don't get back around to that-- I'm thinking we will at some point though.)

But the ending to this one leaves a bad taste in my mouth. It's... awkward. To his credit, Weber acknowledges that he had to make a mild retcon in an afterword. Basically, eagle-eyed readers noted that in an earlier book, the Prime Minister of Manticore must command a majority in the Commons. Weber tweaked that here to make it the House of Lords. That change is small, but significant and explains how the Opposition was able to force a change in government-- and, it turns out that Monarchs of Manticore are required to marry a commoner. I am assuming that this will be paid off in future volumes... somehow. But a political short-circuit on Manticore's part also covers up for the fact that Haven is a hot mess.

How can any polity survive such instability? It's all coups and counter-coups and counter-counter-coups and nukes going off and just randomly killed a million people or so. I don't see how you can have that instability without some kind of popular unrest breaking out.

I mean, on the one hand, I get it: the Honorverse train keeps on rolling. But on the other hand: this is kind of a wet fart noise of an ending to a really excellent three-book arc to this series. (Also, there's a lot of really technical exposition in this one-- maybe more than in previous novels, I don't know. And yes, it's military sci-fi, so what did I expect, but it slows this book down in parts in ways I did not like.)

Overall: Starts strong, but the ending is not particularly satisfying-- however, these three book-arc have sold me on keeping on keeping on when it comes to the Honorverse, so I guess we'll see what's next. My Grade: *** out of ****

[toournextadventure]

I just want to say that your fics make me want to create big families in my fics! 🖤 Any tips for someone wanting to write that but doesn’t have a big family irl?

- 🎸

You're darn right I've got tips! Just remember this is all from my own personal experiences with my big family, and we're honestly a pretty odd bunch, but I feel like it's fairly universal for some things! Also, none of these are requirements for big families, you could probably write anything and it would be accurate for a big family. (I'll put some tips/info under the cut so I don't clog y'all's feed)

Picture the most chaotic situation you've been in. Now multiply it by 10. Every get together is chaos, whether good or bad. Everyone is talking over each other, people are getting lovingly bullied, siblings are going to threaten each other with the most heinous things you can possibly imagine. This is normal, this is a love language, let it happen

Someone is always going to have their feelings hurt for one reason or another. They got talked over at dinner. They roasted their sibling and then said sibling roasted them back. Everyone is ganging up on them to roast them. They're the one who has to sit in the middle of the couch instead of on either side. Very rarely is it for a "genuine" reason, and they get over it after guilt tripping everyone about whatever they're upset about

If they have any sort of good relationship with each other, they are Ride. Or. Die. Even if they don't talk or see each other all that often. They would literally go to jail for their sibling(s) if it truly came down to it. Obviously if it was something ridiculous they would go "no officer, I've never seen them before in my life," but in a genuine emergency? They would be there, no hesitation, hands down

Let. Them. Be. Assholes. Full stop

Parents have favourites! Not in a "I'm going to neglect the others" kind of way (unless that's the writing route you're going, of course), but in a "no I don't have favourites, yes I would only bail this one child out of jail" kind of way. And they don't always have the same favourite kid. More often than not, the kid is painfully aware that they're the favourite. The siblings will bully them for it until they cry

If we're talking extended family, there will be so much gossip. (My family for example), my two uncles were in jail for half of their lives. One of my uncles is a certified Whore™️. My aunt has been divorced twice, each time to literally the same man. We discovered only 5 years ago that we have secret family members somewhere because back in the 40s and 50s they were born out of wedlock and put up for adoption. If you think of something that would be juicy and think "hmm, that seems too out there" it's not. It's literally not. Write it, because I guarantee it has happened to some big family somewhere

Learning Secret History™️ is a rite of passage as the kids/grandkids/etc. get older. This does not happen all at once, it happens in stages. When they turn 18, when they're settled adults, when they finally have kids/get married. This Secret History™️ will reveal itself suddenly, and no one will even know how to react to it, and everything will go on as normal as if nothing had even happened

Depending on the family, family game nights are a thing! My family plays CoD zombies or Jackbox Games (usually). Let them have a game night on the instances where they're all finally together. And during that game night? They will be just shy of shedding blood. There's screaming, accusations of cheating, paranoia that everyone is ganging up against you (they are). Family does not exist during game night, only victory

End of the day? Let them love each other. They might not always verbalise an "I love you," but they will show it. We make each other lunch if we're already cooking. We share our snacks. We exist in the same room. We literally go into each others' room, mess something up, and leave without saying a word. But when it really matters, they say "I love you" because they do love each other

[aiwealthhub]

Life is a journey filled with an array of challenges that test us in countless ways, shaping our character, our resilience, and our understanding of the world. From the moment we start experiencing the world independently, we encounter obstacles, disappointments, and setbacks. These challenges, while often uncomfortable or painful, serve as the foundation for personal growth and development. They push us out of our comfort zones, prompting us to adapt, to think creatively, and to reach depths of determination we may not have known were within us.

Each stage of life brings its own unique set of challenges, whether it’s navigating school, managing relationships, building a career, or dealing with personal loss. As children, challenges may come in the form of learning new skills or developing social connections. Adolescence brings its own set of trials, as we struggle to understand ourselves and our place in the world. As adults, responsibilities multiply, and the stakes often feel higher. Relationships, family, career ambitions, and personal goals all converge, creating a tapestry of responsibilities and pressures that demand constant attention and resilience.

A critical aspect of facing challenges is learning to accept them as a natural part of life. Often, people are conditioned to view obstacles as negatives, as something to be avoided or resented. However, it is in accepting that challenges are inevitable that we begin to shift our perspective from avoidance to growth. When we stop running from difficulties, we are better able to assess situations objectively, finding paths to overcome them rather than allowing them to control us. Embracing challenges as opportunities for learning and growth can transform our approach to life, turning what might seem like a burden into a stepping stone.

Moreover, challenges often reveal strengths we may not have known we possessed. In the heat of difficult situations, we discover reserves of resilience, patience, and creativity. It is in these tough moments that individuals often unlock a greater sense of self-confidence. A person who faces adversity and finds a way through it, no matter how difficult, comes out of the experience with a sense of accomplishment and self-worth that no easy victory could provide. There’s a powerful growth that only occurs through struggle, a kind of strength that is forged in the crucible of hardship.

The ability to adapt is another essential quality that challenges teach us. Life rarely unfolds in a predictable way; situations change, goals shift, and new problems emerge. Learning to be flexible and to pivot when circumstances require is a skill that makes it possible to not just survive but thrive in a constantly changing world. When we encounter and overcome different kinds of adversity, we build a toolkit of strategies and responses that allow us to face new challenges with a calm and measured approach.

Facing challenges also fosters empathy and connection with others. When we go through difficult experiences, we often develop a deeper understanding of the struggles of others. This connection allows us to be more compassionate and supportive toward those around us, and it also strengthens our support network, as people naturally gravitate toward those who have shown resilience and understanding. Shared experiences of overcoming adversity can form bonds that last a lifetime, creating communities of mutual support and encouragement.

Finally, challenges test our values and principles, forcing us to reflect on what truly matters. In times of difficulty, we are often stripped down to our most basic motivations, and we discover what we genuinely prioritize. Hardships can clarify our sense of purpose, strengthening our resolve to pursue what is meaningful rather than what is convenient. This kind of self-knowledge is invaluable, as it aligns our actions with our true values and enables us to live more authentically.

Life’s challenges, while often arduous, are essential to the process of growth and self-discovery. By embracing and learning from them, we develop resilience, adaptability, empathy, and a clear sense of purpose, all of which enrich our lives in ways that ease and comfort cannot.

[northwest-cryptid]

I've spoke to a lot of different people about Mabinogi, some who love it; some who find it too complex and generally unorganized. At the heart of it all though, I think people lack a crucial understanding of what Mabinogi is trying to be. It's not just an MMORPG, it's a sandbox fantasy life sim.

See any online game is essentially trying to be something, League is a MOBA; it's goal is to be an enjoyable experience for an escalating conflict between two sides as they push for control of the board. FFXIV is a Story Based MMORPG, it's goal is to tell a story and have your player character be at the heart of the plot throughout it's epic tale. Love them or hate them, these games are popular because they do a good job of being what they're trying to be.

The following post is yet another entire essay about Mabinogi being an amazing MMORPG life sim unlike anything I've played before, but as per usual; here's the break to save you from scrolling for then next 10 minutes.

Imagine for a moment that we applied FFXIV job skill rotations to League of Legends, suddenly you don't just have a Q, you have a Q -> W -> E combo that then triggers your ult. You don't need to teleport back to buy goods as you fight, rather instead you buy permanent gear for your character and matches are determined by your item level. Meaning at the start of a round you're already powerful and can just run right into combat and get started with the fighting, I mean come on that's the good part right?!

No one watches League gameplay for the first 5 minutes of the match, why don't they just get rid of that bit? Well... because that's not how a MOBA works, and if your skills DID combo like FFXIV job skills do, then they'd become extremely predictable to a fault; and you'd be forced to use skills that don't lend an advantage to the current situation, just to get to the ones that do.

You see how this just, doesn't work? Imagine now, if someone went into League expecting it to be like FFXIV, wouldn't they seem very confused, maybe even let down? Maybe they'd find the skills too simplistic, what do you mean you only get 4?! Maybe they'd find it tiresome to have to work their way up from level 1 every round; after all the good gameplay comes in at the end! Maybe they'd lack an interest in pushing lanes or team fights, wanting to just jungle as a sort of PvE experience. Well this person isn't going to enjoy League at all are they?

So you might be wondering by now, why the hell I opened this post talking about Mabinogi, and now I'm ranting about some metaphorical League of Final Fantasy mashup. Well, there's good reason for that actually. A strong majority of the people I have seen pick up Mabinogi and dislike it, or find it difficult to get into; are players who come from more traditional MMORPGs like FFXIV. These kinds of players are expecting an MMORPG, you level up, you get skills, you get better gear, you go fight bigger monsters in harder dungeons and emerge victorious. Wouldn't you find it funny that those players are the sorts who enjoy running the hard dungeons, but don't "get" the progression system?

This kind of player, is your FFXIV player playing League going "what do you mean I need to level up all over again?! Why do I need to buy items every round?! How come I only get 4 skills?!" Except with Mabinogi it's a lot more of "why am I so weak? I have all this good gear, I've ranked all my skills; I run content so why can't I deal damage?" To which there's a simple, but often unwelcome answer. It's right there, it's literally in the logo right here vvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

Fantasy Life. That's how the game was always advertised for the longest time, this slogan got changed a few times. However that "Life" part always remained. Mabinogi isn't trying to be a game about running around killing monsters and saving people. If that's the journey you end up going on, then that is your fantasy life. However when we look at the way the game was advertised, we see a pattern.

You see it? The title screens, the images used for adverts and promo art; they present us with characters playing music, enjoying lantern festivals and leisure time just as much as they show us characters in armor adventuring off with their parties. They're showing us a small window into the game, playing music and relaxing with your friends, running off to go fishing; adventuring and running dungeons together.

There IS plenty of combat in Mabinogi, just like how there's plenty of life skills, and plenty of depth to every system in the game. If you want to become a tailor then you're going to have a long journey ahead of you. You're going to need to slowly build up your skills sheering sheep, weaving threads, learning to sew new patterns and such. Eventually you'll find yourself requiring materials from other studies of crafting. Whether you decide to undergo learning those skills yourself or obtaining those goods from other players you're going to find that just like in real life; even when you've hit the highest point of your mastery with something, there's always something more.

Mabinogi is a game about perpetual constant progression, but it almost eliminates the grind by making the entire game about the grind. What I mean is that there's nothing you can do in this game that won't somehow improve your character, if I decide to go harvest grain I'm going to get experience towards harvesting which is going to give me more dexterity; which in turn means I'm not only better at crafting, I'm also stronger with a bow. That, is the unwelcome answer.

"Why am I not hitting as hard? I've maxed out all the training on my bow skills, I've upgraded my bow; I'm using powerful gear."

"Because your Dexterity is lacking, you've trained everything you can in combat, perhaps you should pick up a trade skill like weaving, or cooking."

But that's not what a FFXIV content player wants to hear, because that's not the type of content they want to engage with. Now I understand if you think:

"But that means Mabinogi is forcing players to engage with parts of the game they don't want to do, in order to engage with parts of the game they DO; isn't that bad design?!"

Is it bad design when FFXIV makes me sit through kinda mid storytelling and generally unfun dungeons before I can get to the fun content I want to play towards the end of the game? Nah, they just want me to engage with the content they've provided me right?

And like... that's a genuine question there. Like no I didn't enjoy A Realm Reborn, the storyline was pretty forgettable, as a healer the content was me following a tank around hitting the heal button over and over again and shutting my brain off. That's not exactly riveting gameplay nor storytelling, but it's worth it to get to Heavensward and the later stories and content that are enjoyable and genuinely fun to engage with.

I'd argue that almost ANY game does this, however; that doesn't really answer the question being posed to me. Because to properly answer the question, I can simply say; who said anything about being forced to do something you don't want to?

Notice the wording "perhaps you should pick up a trade skill." That's a suggestion, because Mabinogi is a sandbox life sim MMORPG, with various paths to success. You don't NEED to do anything specific to actually get stronger. Sure weaving might be the fastest/best method for quick Dex gains, but there's a ton of options here.

So let's assume that our player in question absolutely detests life skills, they will not engage in anything that's not combat specific. Weird that you're playing Mabi in that case, but hey Mabi can cater to even those specific needs and playstyle. Let's take a quick look at some of the top skills available to a player for Dex, and then we'll remove the ones that aren't combat specific.

Right out the gate you can see a lot of red, I use Dex as an example to make a point; because Dex is THE stat associated with life skills. Yet we can see that puppetry, archery, and even close combat skills + music buffs grant Dex gains. Hell even Hail Storm is on the list, you could do magic and gain a considerable amount of Dex. Most Chain Blade skills, and Puppetry skills grant respectable Dex on top of all of this if they really need to branch out.

This is also only looking at skills, the actual Talent bonuses they would gain by ranking these skills is huge on top of it all. However, if they want to engage with Life skills, their list is going to look like this:

Weaving and Refining are both really simple skills; that are great to have access to later down the line. Glyph skills, Handicraft, and Cooking skills also carry a lot of potential bonuses for the player. Many of these things also happen to be passive, or contribute to your damage potential.

The issue is that people see Mabinogi as a combat focused MMORPG, when in reality combat is just a part of Mabinogi; along with Tailoring, Fishing, Cooking, Blacksmithing, playing Music, Adventuring, and a ton of other random stuff.

If I can be entirely honest I don't think any player I've met has quite "understood the assignment" quite like Burlington. My good friend, and trusted tailor; who hasn't yet ran too much of the dungeon content in the game, but can sure whip up a nice suit... or coat.

They took up commerce, and worked their way up to where they could afford the things they needed; watching them go from a handcart to traveling with their alpaca (because of course a good tailor has an alpaca to sheer), to even just grabbing an elephant to trade more goods...

Burlington shows a very different kind of progression than others in our party, and that's actually kinda great. There's no classes in this game, so Burlington isn't locked into being a tailor or something. Yet they can provide us tailoring assistance when we need it. Just like how our friend Galurre is a Blacksmith, and Sheebs is a Carpenter. Everyone in our party is a little different and it means we're able to provide one another with help when we need it.

I'm far more focused on combat oriented gameplay myself, I enjoy playing through the dungeon content and while my personal progression might look very different it actually mirrors the progression of everyone else pretty well.

Mabinogi is ultimately a game about you, yes it has a story; yes the story is pretty mid right up until the end unfortunately. However the bulk of your experience with this game will see you going on your own journey, exploring the world, getting stronger; doing more things.

There's not really such a thing as a "level 1 zone" and a "level 25 zone" kind of thing in Mabi. Sure some places have some harder monsters mixed in, but you're not going to hit a point in exploration where you can't go to this town yet for XYZ reason.

The game is meant to be played like a life sim, every NPC has their own story to tell, their own skills they can teach you; their own quests to send you off on. I actually REALLY like a particular example in Tir, the starting town for Humans.

I feel all too often new players don't feel any sense of direction and the tutorials are really bad at giving you any, but what's interesting is that all the towns for newbies are actually well designed to promote exploration through mechanical introduction let me explain.

Let's quickly look at Tir and see what I'm talking about here, see tir is a pretty small and almost linearly progressive town in that each new area gives you something you can do that sorta builds off the others but ultimately teaches you something

You'll start in the town square and may not know exactly where to go from here, if we're ignoring quests we can check the map to see what's available to us; without a concrete goal in mind we would likely wish to know where we can go.

Well we just came from the Chief's house and we are fresh out the gate so the bank is of little use to us, we're currently at the square and we're not injured so the healer's house doesn't seem important to us just yet

There is however a General Shop and a Grocery Store now I've played a lot of MMORPGs and I haven't ever seen a Grocery store in them so let's check that out real quick, if we go into the Grocery store and look at the shop (since most MMORPG players will ignore the talk option all together) we're first brought to a tab with Ingredients and if we pan over those ingredients we're specifically told "it's probably best to cook with it" well huh, that's interesting; that tells us we can cook but I don't know how because I'm a fresh out the gate newbie

So maybe we DO use that "talk" option real quick… Whenever you talk to ANY NPC you're given a travel diary pop up, this is one of my favorite features of this game and it's such a cool little mechanic I've never seen any other game use

See, any of the blue text is selectable and the book contains information on anything YOU have experienced and mind you, this is everything from "oh yea I heard there's a church nearby, what are your thoughts on that?" to "HELP ME GET TO TIR NA NOG OR EVERYONE IS GOING TO DIE"

I love how the memo is actually a MEMO it's written with character's names and personal notes, it's a way for you to go "oh yea I need to talk to Gilmore about this" or "well I know I need an Elemental Dungeon Pass, but I as the player don't know how to obtain that since it's been 3 weeks since I've played, checking my memo does say I need to talk with Nele"

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here, we are trying to figure out how to cook! Well hold on back on page 1 there was a Skills key word what happens if we use that?

Well okay here we go, we're being told that the grocer wants to make bread for the town chief and she wants our help to do it, but she's not going to pay us with gold or EXP rather she'll teach us HOW to do it

That's cool, that's an actual reward we can use later down the line okay yea we'll do it how do we do it? Well she says wait outside and an owl will bring a message by so let's go do that real quick.

Stepping outside we get a quest, it actually not only gives us a step by step of what to do but it gives us a bit of flavor text too because remember this is supposed to be an adventure not a grind.

Now it's clear I need a sickle, but since I don't have one; and we're assuming I'm super new here; I don't know where to get one. Thankfully there's some additional info and I can clearly see that I can buy a sickle from Ferghus, the town blacksmith.

Unfortunately, as a new player; I have no idea where the blacksmith actually is! Well, I could check the map and try to find it manually that way; or I could use the NPC search function. Yes, this game has an NPC search function and it's really useful!

Now here's a bit of design I REALLY like, and I want to draw your attention to, look at the position of the grocery store on the map, and then check the position of the blacksmith's shop. Notice there's a few buildings in between them? Well look at the main path I should take to get there, and you'll see that I will clearly pass right by the windmill. If I go straight from the Grocery store to the Blacksmith Shop I'll literally walk along a path that puts the windmill between me and the very thing I'm looking for. Keep that in mind for later, because we'll come back to that.

I also enjoy that whenever you talk to an NPC, prior to seeing their little character portrait pop up, you're given a brief but accurate description of them. It's something like a DM would say when telling you about this character you're meeting for the first time during a game of D&D.

Obviously sure you can see the character standing right there, but having this little description has a certain charm to it.

So right, now we have the sickle we bought from Ferghus and we get an update to our quest I love that while we can't see what the next steps ARE, we CAN see how many there are; so we always know how close to completing a quest we might be.

Now again this is kinda cool, because it's telling me to get wheat, but I don't know where wheat actually is!

Alright there's two quick solutions here, we can't look up an NPC this time, but we can still use the map:

Alright cool I can see the farmland on the map but also uh...

The other solution is to just, use my eyes. See they put the blacksmith within view of the farmland, so when you go to get the sickle you'll also just SEE the wheat field.

Also I cannot stress enough that the music in this game is so beautiful. Like the entire time you're exploring this town to go bake some bread, you're listening to one of 3 OST versions (you can choose them in the menu) and two of them are literally like orchestra symphonies. Please just, please listen to this while you read the rest of this post and understand what I'm talking about. This is MMORPG music dude, this is absolutely beautiful music; and it's the theme for this town and the people in it. Yes every character also gets their own theme song.

Now here's a fun little part of this quest, you take the sickle and go collect some wheat, and when you do; you notice that you're using a skill. You just got Harvesting, a Life skill that effects how well you... well harvest.

That's cool, but what's that thing at the bottom? That's Talent EXP. See every skill in this game falls under a Talent, don't be mistaken, a talent is not a class.

Talents are like governing skill types; and choosing to be a specific talent (something you can change roughly once a week) means you'll earn 2x EXP towards skills under that Talent.

In this case I need to harvest 15 wheat, and each time I do I'll get +4 EXP towards Harvesting. Once I reach 100 EXP I can rank Harvesting. If I'm currently using the Cooking Talent each time I harvest 1 piece of Wheat I will actually get 2 harvest's worth of EXP and it will count as 2 of those 15 times.

As you rank your skills they contribute EXP towards their Talent, as talent's rank up they grant better passive stat bonuses:

In this case I'm currently getting 7 Stamina and Dexterity from being a Senior Chef, this is a permanent bonus and won't go away even if I'm not actively using the Chef talent.

And now we get to my favorite part,

We don't know who Ali- except we do. We do know who Alissa is; because she was standing in front of the windmill; the very windmill we passed on our way to Ferghus; so you don't even NEED to use the NPC search this time. You already know where she is because you already saw her on your way out here.

NPCs also talk like players do using the same speech bubbles until you actually you know, talk to them. They have a lot of interesting things to say sometimes; in this case Alissa is actually talking about things we know about here:

We are actually kinda wondering the same thing, when is Caitin going to teach US to bake bread, maybe after this quest. Likewise we can learn that Ferghus must have made another mistake; telling us that he may not be the best blacksmith.

Funny enough Alissa is one of the few characters who breaks the forth wall, directly calling out your name saying it's a pretty name and when you ask how she knows she simply replies; "it's written above your head." This isn't very typical of this game but I enjoy the humor never the less.

She tells us we can use the mill to make the flour we need with the wheat we have, but it'll cost us about 100 gold for a minute of use. This was something I used to find really annoying when I was younger; why should I have to pay to use the mill? I'm a video game character, just let me use it.

But hey wait, remember this is trying to be a life sim; that's the point. In real life you wouldn't just shove a small child out of the way to use the mill; if the operator of the mill charges 100 gold for a minute of use, then you pay them to use their mill. That's just how business works.

We actually use another skill with the mill to process the wheat into flour, and now we have a sack of wheat flour for- hey wait a second...

Caitin said she was going to teach us how to make wheat flour, and now we've gone and made wheat flour, she literally taught us through the quest; not as a reward for helping but through us helping.

We complete the quest and sure enough, she actually doesn't teach us to cook; but now we know where the blacksmith is, we know how to gather and process materials into usable ingredients; and we know where the mill is and how to actually get what we need to make bread.

Our character may still lack the cooking skill, but we as the player now actually have a fundamental understanding of what we need to do in order to get what we need to use the skill when we DO get it.

But hey why do we even WANT cooking? Well here's another fun little design detail for you, the first thing in her shop is a bag of chocolates; it literally shows you that it will boost your stats by eating it. The first thing in her shop reveals that cooking can grant you buffs; in fact the talent description ALSO mentioned that.

What's really cool is that if you talk to Caitin about some of the other things in your memo book, you'll learn a lot about her as a character not just as some random NPC shopkeeper.

Caitin is a baker and a grocery shop owner in Tir Chonaill. Having begun her career as a way to make a living and nurse her visually impaired mother, Caitin's cooking is broadly known in Tir Chonaill. She is also said to possess the astonishing ability to determine a particular dish's ingredients simply by taste. Additionally, she has some skill as a tailor, making many of the clothes that Malcolm sells. As she is greatly concerned about her weight, commenting on her physique is something ill-advised.

Hold on a second, she makes clothes that are sold in Malcom's general shop!? Now I want to go talk to this Malcom guy and figure out what his whole deal is, and sure enough he sells robes, hats, shoes and gloves, various clothes and other goods; just as we were told.

Talking to him about various things he'll tell us that the banker is known for gossip and rumors; and if we talk to the banker about rumors she'll tell us about something happening at the farmland, not only is this great for immersion and such but it actually unlocks the "farmland" keyword in our memo book; we just have that now, we can use that to ask people about farmlands. Why? Why not, talking to people in this game is how you learn things, you can obtain so many skills by just asking the right people, you can figure out who sells what, or who might be able to teach you something if you just talk to people.

NPCs also have secret shops you can access by befriending them. Every single NPC in this game is more or less a fleshed out character like this, you can even take on part time jobs helping them out at their place of business and they'll give you payment and materials for it.

There's also really cool interactions with things like, if you work as a part timer for the healer enough they'll teach you about herbs for making potions. When you learn about herbs enough you can identify the herbs out in the overworld. What were once just fields of grass now have spots where you can gather herbs because you're able to identify them. Some herbs might be visible to you but not known to you; you might see a mandrake as an "orange herb" or a poison herb as just a "purple herb" because you don't have the knowledge to know any better yet. However once you rank the skill more you'll be able to properly identify various herbs and locate them easier.

This is what I mean when I say that Mabinogi at it's core is a sandbox open world life sim; it's not necessarily a plot driven story based MMORPG like FFXIV, you're not logging in to run content every day or something.

This whole example comes from a single NPC in a single town giving us a single quest from a single keyword. Imagine how much more there is to do and explore in a game with hundreds of characters like this.

[magpiejay1234]

Day 224.

According to the guide, if I got the optional mission, this would have been Day 197, so we have another 17 day skip.

The cutscene is Ansem DiZ, and Naminé talking about how the process of Sora's memories is not progressing well. Naminé states a Nobody is interfering with it, and she won't survive Sora's memories. We cut to Xion.

During the scene Ansem DiZ states Sora can do without a memory, or two (so as opposed to what Frustrated Jacob said, Ansem DiZ is technically okay others existing with Sora's runaway memories, he is still primarily concerned about they remaining in a Nobody, and a replica, which are too unstable to keep Sora's memories). Of course, we continue with the red herring of Xion being another Nobody of Kairi, instead of being Sora's replica.

There is a fair stuff to talk about Xion's situation, so we will ignore that, and talk about Naminé herself instead. Since Naminé's scene happens after Axel reads The Truth About Naminé, and Naminé is described as a "witch" who is somehow separate from a Nobody. This seems to be leftover idea Kanemaki had to retcon Naminé origins to allow her character to continue on existing beyond KH2 (since Naminé is one of Kanemaki's favourite characters).

Nomura's original idea in Coded, going by Frustrated Jacob's preserved screenshots, seems to be in contrast to this was to retcon Naminé's emergence's timeline, by making her emerge during Neverland events from Kairi's comatose body, and have the Sora parts of Naminé be caused by Kairi's heart being inside Sora, which would then mean until the remerge Kairi's comatose body would actually be replace by a Lelliel-esque 3D shadow projected from Kairi's heart inside Sora's heart.

This is kind of important to Naminé is Ava theory, since a combination of these would be the compromise that allows Ava being inside Naminé (and previously Kairi before their division).

This complication arises from the fact Naminé's creation, and refusing with Kairi should have been impossible, as Kairi is presumed to be a full heart-body by the end of KH1 (Sora isn't), so only the parts of Kairi should have gone back to Kairi, and rest of Naminé should have gone back to Sora instead (and vice versa with Roxas). The only line that makes Naminé existence possible is Yen Sid's initial description Nobodies in KH2, which is written in a way to suggest one person can manifest multiple Nobodies, but presumably less strength, so theoretically a full body-heart could give some of its life essence to create a weak, and unstable Nobody like Naminé.

This is currently a dropped plot point, but it is obviously intended to be covered later on.

****

Before the mission, Demyx gives you a Dark Ingot if you get all the Heartless in Mission 52.

This mission is Roxas entering the Rookie Games. After Phil leaves you get another lower screen shot of Sora, from their time at entering the games in KH1.

Round 3 will have another lower screen Sora shot, of his victory animation in Coliseum.

I died once here, so keep your cures.

After Round 4, you have a short fight with Xigbar, and then you get the boss, Guard Armor, which also gives its lower screen Sora shot.

You get the Sora shots through the Guard Armor boss.

I died once with Guard Armor.

After several tries, I retreated. So the opening Heartless just spawn endlessly.

After multiple tries, I defeated Guard Armor with Limit Break.

Roxas says to Demyx that he thinks Xigbar wanted to test him, I wonder what that plot line lead to in KH4.

Stinger is Phil realizing Roxas wasn't the guy he was supposed to be training.

The Ice Cream scene is Roxas, and Xion asking how Castle Oblivion is like. Xion has another seizure that causes her to almost drop the tower, but Roxas catches her. Axel then suggests going to the beach during the next day off (hence KH2 prologue).

You don't get anything interesting from this mission.

The Roxas diary entry talks about how Roxas thinks Axel suggested the beach to make Xion feel better.

[capableandenough]

Sparkle

Word of the Year. When I was trying to choose my word for this year, something to set my intentions around and to focus on throughout 2024, nothing really jumped out at me like it has in the past. So, I googled a list of “Word of the Year” options and made a list of all the words that really resonated with me. From my list, the two that stood out the most were “Sparkle” and “Thrive.” This past year, and MANY throughout my life, has been about surviving. Just making it through the best I can. But I strongly believe that we were not put on this planet to “just survive.” We were meant to thrive.

Inspired by myself going overboard with the glitter last night for New Year’s Eve, I chose “Sparkle.” I feel that “Sparkle” encompasses thriving as well. After all, it’s difficult to sparkle and shine when you’re just getting by, scraping through, surviving. 2023 was the year of Barbie, Taylor Swift, Beyonce, Princess Peach, and an overall growth in women supporting women. I want to keep that momentum going for myself. One thing all these (real and fictional) women have in common is that they thrive. They sparkle and shine. But how will this word apply to me?

She leaves a little sparkle wherever she goes.

This has always been one of my favorite quotes. Last night I may or may not have left a literally glitter trail everywhere I went. But for serious, in life I want to be the woman who enters a room and there is always at least one person (preferably more) who notices and/or is happy to see me. I want to be the woman whose presence leaves a mark. When I leave the room, I want people to have good feelings and nice things to say. I want to be noticed and I want it to be for my joy, my confidence, my kindness, my generosity, my compassion. I want to be a woman that others aspire to be more like. I want to be a blessing and not a burden. I want to be one of the first people that other people, especially the women in my life, want at their dinner party, book club, networking event, etc. I want to leave a positive, impactful, and lasting impression on everyone I meet.

This means working on loving myself. It means to quit seeking approval from outside and start building my confidence from within. It means starting to believe that I can be, that I am already, this woman that I aspire to be. If I don’t believe it, no one else is going to.

Never let anyone dull your sparkle.

My confidence has to come from within and so does my joy. I cannot let other people or bad situations bring me down. I won’t be the person I want to be if I let that happen. This doesn’t mean “positive vibes only” or pretending to be happy when I’m not. It means feeling my feelings but choosing to rise above. It means fortifying my cracks with gold. It means if I find myself in a pit, I am going to claw my way out and emerge victorious. It means never going back to “just surviving.” And it means being truthful, vulnerable, completely raw, but being able to find joy in the pain. Not plastering a fake smile on my face and pretending everything is okay but choosing to find the positive and the lesson in every situation. It means being truly authentic. The strongest and shiniest diamond needs to be tested to see if it’s real. Surface may get smudged but after a quick “cleaning,” it shines again. That’s what this means to me. Authenticity. True shine. Like a diamond.

Honestly, there is so much more I could say about the word “Sparkle” and about why I’ve chosen it for 2024. But for now, I’ll leave you with this.

Here are some other words that I feel “Sparkle” encompasses:

Thrive, obvs.

Self-Love.

Enough.

Worthy.

Balance. (Gotta keep those chakras aligned.)

Freedom. (For me this means freedom from alcohol, from other’s opinions, from debt, etc.)

Unchained. (Same as freedom, but with a cool mental image.)

Some quotes/affirmations that I found online (not sure where all of them came from):

Eat glitter for breakfast and shine all day.

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.– Elisabeth Kubler Ross

A diamond doesn’t ask if it can shine. It just does.

“A star never lets anything dull its sparkle, not even darkness.” - Matshona Dhliwayo

Life won’t sparkle unless you do.

Do what makes your soul shine.

Less Bitter, More Glitter.

Consider the fact that maybe…just maybe…beauty and worth aren’t found in a makeup bottle, or a salon-fresh hairstyle, or a fabulous outfit. Maybe our sparkle comes from somewhere deeper inside, somewhere so pure and authentic and REAL, it doesn’t need gloss or polish or glitter to shine. - Mandy Hale, The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass

[kiigan]

ㅤThere's a subtle change in demeanor that Itachi does not miss; truly, when do his eyes ever miss anything at all? A grain of sand might shift by the opposite end of the room, and the dreaded sharingan would follow it keenly. More than seeing it, though, it's something that he can feel. Something that is hard to explain. Might even be just his imagination? No, it is real... he may not know exactly what it means or what caused it, but it is real and it is just as exquisite as the rest of this woman. And can she even be called a woman, in the pure sense of the term? So much of her speaks of etherealness, of something that transcends humanity and mortality. It's unnerving and it is captivating, both at the same time; it's frightening and it is endearing. Is this what Pandora felt like, when opening the box that doomed the world?

ㅤThe Uchiha keeps observing, however. Learning, both for his own sake [he's not arrogant enough to believe he might emerge victorious from a confrontation with Sakuyoru, should it come to that] and for the simple joy of learning in itself. He's been like this since he can remember himself, that tiny toddler grabbing a book about exotic animals from faraway lands and teaching himself how to read because he so fervently wished to know what those words on paper were about. The current situation is no child's play and he's well aware, but the awe is there nonetheless and might even show in the crimson pools of his irises. He doesn't bother to hide it, not this.

ㅤIn a way, he wonders if this is what talking to Amaterasu-no-Mikoto Herself might have been like. Is Sakuyoru a goddess as well? Some kind of actual deity? Some kind of actual demon? So many questions and no answers at all. Which... is ironic, considering her claim that knowledge is, precisely, what she is made of - which, again, he does not doubt in the slightest. She might have been here already when the world was formed, for all he knows. If he already feels like a child compared to Madara, the current state of affairs has him feeling more like he's a spec of dust with zero importance in the grand scheme of things. It doesn't really help that she looks on him from above, literally and metaphorically speaking, but at the same time... the difference in height also brings with it an unexpected sense of familiarity. Mostly, because she's the same height as Shisui used to be, give or take.

But maybe it's time he says something, rather than to keep on gawking.

«And who bestowed such responsibility upon you, if I may ask?»

ㅤ...Or perhaps he should have remained silent. Is this disrespectful? Will she take his bold question for an offense? It was not asked out of malice, however - it's not like he's sneering and asking who made her queen over everybody else's destiny, so to speak. Who gave her the authority to classify what is wrong and what is right. And Itachi's tone of voice shows it, because it remains as neutral as before. No confrontation, no accusation. Not exactly a friendly tone, because he cannot afford to be perceived as such [imagine Zetsu watching from the corner and then running to go tell Madara that the infamous clan-killer is actually made of benevolence and softness], but there is an openness in it - there is room for the conversation to expand into something else, should Sakuyoru wish for it.

ㅤ«My clan, for centuries, has kept deities that the rest of Konoha has little care for,» he continues, wanting to at least give some context to his previous question and show that it did not come out of the blue, «I don't ignore them, but I never felt myself pulled towards worshiping them, either. Perhaps because I rather believe we, as humans, have the power to shape our own fate, rather than to wait on consolation and mercy from the powers that be.» And maybe now his arrogance is showing? Especially if she does turn out to be a goddess? Even so, he is being honest about it, which is more than can be said for literally everything else in his life. «Yet you speak of assessing intentions and of relaying corrective measures - which is where my curiosity comes from. What standards do you use to measure such things? How would you know who deserves to die and who deserves to live? Are such labels unchangeable? And, if so, does that mean we, humans, are born with that fate already set in stone? Are we put on this world merely to carry out a role that has been written, whilst someone else from above tugs at our strings and nudges us on what they consider to be the only suitable path?»

...Well, she asked what he wanted to know. Here are some few examples, then.

@kiigan

玫:

The silence she puts this room in is uncomfortable at best, only likely due to the fact she is simply staring and watching. Ever so still like the cold of winter. It's hard to pinpoint what she's thinking, if she's planning, scheming... This mask of hers puts even a porcelain doll to shame. Right until she finally sighs to herself through her nose. Not really defeated, but it's there. Like she's come to terms with herself.

"I am guarded for the information I harbor for good reason" she starts, the monotone she's carried so far has a tired lilt to it, but it's not to betray that she is very capable and ready at all times. Life is not kind, and thus you must be cruel when necessary.

"I care not what moral and/or ethical conscience you maintain — should you agree or no — knowing things is not for the faint of heart, and is a greater asset than an army of many men." Her bare soles finally move. There was not such a single sound from her as she moved, a testament to her ability to be unseen effortlessly. This inaudible approach is toward the window where he is closest, but only to stand by its wooden frame looking out. It's not hard to tell she is taller than him at 6 feet, which is a rare feat even for a woman.

"The tailed beasts have a history older than all of us. The power they encompass in themselves is but a fraction to a greater entity, split in 9 parts to keep order... To so much as attempt to control one is suicide, and to keep its energy stowed away is a fool's demise on this world."

Not a chance in Hell this woman is that old. She looks like she just turned 20, but talks like an elder. Maybe she's being vague for a reason. Trust issues and all that...

"Being that I know more than one should, for such an overstayed extent of time, means I carry pertinent information that could easily sway this world. Be it a mundane task, a village, or in such a case as tailed beasts — the world. I have responsibility to assess where that information falls to, and whom knows it. If by any means what I relay is used for ill-purpose that is beyond mere wars and human nonsense, I will have no choice but to step in and make... corrective measures" It's not said lightly. If anything, stating so much as corrective measures didn't sound like a mere assassination mission, no collection operation. It seems she understands her vagueness was not helpful, so when she looks at him — it's like Death was standing there instead, warning.

Death did ride a pale horse...

"Whomever is informed that undermines the balance of nature: They will be sought. Those they informed so much as a vague single word, is sought. If their families and neighbors informed, they are sought... There will be no trace of what was said, written, nor recorded. If I must, should this information be housed in a town, village, or any civilization that it has been mass-spread — it will be cleaned out and its foundations torn asunder like a clean slate."

"Depending on what information and the extent you ask of me, I must ascertain you are not a fool, and give it away to anyone else... So I must ask again, what do you want to know?"

[megankilmerrealestate]

Selling Your House with Not-So-Friendly Neighbors

Neighbor Troubles and Wild Real Estate Stories

Selling your house should be an exciting and rewarding experience, but sometimes, there's one obstacle standing in your way – your not-so-friendly neighbors! Fear not, my fellow home sellers, for I've had my share of wild experiences as a housing professional, and I'm here to share some epic tales and useful tips to conquer those pesky neighbor challenges!

Apology on Ocean Views: The Building Crunch

Picture this – a breathtaking multi-million dollar property with stunning ocean views in Aptos, Ca. It was a new construction, and we were all racing against the clock to get it prepped and ready for the market. Admittedly, we weren't the most courteous neighbors, working around the clock like busy bees. But hey, we had a tight schedule to meet! So, what did we do? We threw a colossal open house bash, filled with scrumptious treats, and issued a heartfelt apology to the entire neighborhood for our crazy working hours. We thought we had won them over, but oh boy, were we in for a surprise! One neighbor across the street never forgave us! Every showing, she'd swoop in with tales of things "not to code." Talk about a thorn in our side!

Reconciliation and Lessons Learned

But you know what? I don't back down that easily. Oh no, I rolled up my sleeves, marched right up to Negative Nancy – no, that's not her real name, but she sure acted like one! Anyway, I personally apologized and asked how I could make things right. Surprise, surprise, she wanted a good ol' fashioned face-to-face apology. Lesson learned – communication is key! Next time, I'll involve the neighbors from the get-go, making sure they're on board with our plans and progress. Smooth sailing ahead!

A Tricky Park Manager 

Now, let me regale you with a tale of a tricky park manager I had to deal with. We had a mobile home property sale, and this manager was one tough cookie. When I sent her the park application through with eSignatures, she declared she doesn't do computer stuff. I had already seen that she opened the document and was asking her to sign and approve my clients. Alrighty then! I printed and drove her over a physical copy, but two weeks went by with no response. Time was ticking, and people's lives were on the line – the sellers and buyers had their whole lives planned around this! So, I pulled out my secret agent moves, gathered all the evidence, and wrote a fact-based document showing how her silence was a violation of Fair Housing Laws. That got her attention, and the green light was given! Victory!

A Neighbor of A Kind 

Oh, but the adventures don't end there! We had a nosy neighbor who seemed harmless at first – just being friendly and curious during showings. But, one day, as I was locking up, I spotted them INSIDE the garage. Major red alert! Turns out, they were living there, sneaking around like a ninja, hiding their stuff in the backyard bushes! Can you believe it? I called for backup, meaning my lender or broker tagged along for extra security. Turns out, they just needed help, so we offered resources instead of calling the cops. After all, in California, there are many people priced out of housing, and sometimes, they just need someone to lend a helping hand instead of judgment.

Turning Neighbor Troubles into Neighbor Triumphs

Folks, when it comes to dealing with not-so-friendly neighbors while selling your house, there's no one-size-fits-all solution. But with some creativity, a pinch of courage, and a willingness to communicate, you can conquer those neighbor beasts and turn those troubles into triumphs! Remember, it's never a bad idea to consult legal experts when needed or call the police if your safety is at risk. Each situation is unique, but with a positive attitude and a dash of resilience, you can navigate these wild real estate adventures and emerge victorious! So, go forth and sell that house with confidence and a smile! Happy home selling!

[nonovyabuisness]

Seeing how well my tarot life smp post did, I figured that I should do some more.

So here we have all the other life smper with their major arcana (in alphabetical order and Gem is included despite only being there for 1 session).

Enjoy !

Bdubs: The Lovers (VI)

This card generally means harmony, unity, and destiny.

When uprights the card of The Lovers represents predestined, links, love and harmonious unions. This card can mean a powerful link in perfect harmony, but it can also mean an important decisions or a crossroad. Think of your choices and you’ll find happiness forever.

When reversed this card, suggest that one of your relationships or important friendships isn’t going very well. An honest communication is crucial in order to go forward. The Lovers prove that sincerity is key.

BigB: Strength (VIII)

This card generally means true power that is not obtained through physical means, but more through courage, tenacity, and compassion.

When upright Strength is a positive sign that shows determination, common sense and savvy necessary in order to meet and overcome challenges. In order to have better results this card suggest to use bravery, kindness, and perseverance. It is a sign that invites you to guide others with gentleness as well as a warning to not use brute force and ultimatums in order to achieve your end.

When reversed Strength, represent a bad relationship with authority. If you feel powerless or discouraged this card reminds you that you’re more powerful than you think. Pull yourself together and be brave. 

Cleo: The High Priestess (II)

The High Priestess is a card that represents a mysterious and intuitive character, whose power comes from the depth of her subconscious. she is sophisticated, calculating, and powerful.

When upright, this card is a call for observation and reflection, you may not see your situation of friendship or relationship for what it is. So take advantage of the solitude to think over this difficult situation because looks can be deceiving.

When reversed, this card represents a lack of clarity, causing confusion and insecurity. In order to find confidence in you again, you must bring forth determination and assurance. Know that you have the necessary strength to pull through the chaos and emerge victorious.

Etho: The Hermit (IX)

This card generally means retreat, solitude, and the act of spending time alone in order to think on yourself.

When upright, this card calls for solitude, if you’ve been swept up by life The Hermit is a clear sign that you need to slow down a little. Take time to think of your actual situation and what you wanna do with it. You’ll get out of the small break fully replenished and ready to take on the world.

When reversed, The Hermit warns you of the consequences of staying isolated for too long. Allow yourself a bit of time to understand your mistakes and to swallow a big events in your life, but first and foremost look towards the future.

Gem: The Hangman (XII)

The card of The Hangman shows the possibility of seeing things from another angle, accept unexpected delays and to give into a situation.

When upright, this card shows that you are confronted by an unexpected obstacle that stops your projects. The Hangman advices you to relax and follow the current. It’s time to take a break and think. This could end up being exactly what you need in order to achieve a useful, new point of view.

When reversed, this card indicates hesitation, servitude and tactics to gain time. If you have a decision to make, do not waste time procrastinating.  Stay focused and act fast before you lose an opportunity.

Impulse: The Hierophant (V)

This card represents hierarchy, law, order and cooperation.

When upright, The Hierophant warns you that this is not the moment to have radical ideas or to rebel. Trust the approved methods of all traditions, there is a time and a place for individualism, nonconformity and rebellion. This card shows that the respective conventions will lead you farther than following your own path.

When reversed, the card encourage you to adopt a revolutionary spirit and put into question the status quo. It’s time to think for yourself, to follow your heart and to make your own path.

Joel: The Magician (I)

The Magician represents pure talent and unlimited creativity.

When upright, this card explains that inspiration is everywhere. You feel creative, unstoppable, and ready to realize your craziest dreams. Accept the creative pulsions  that are in you because it’s time to shine ! Take this chance ! This card indicates that it’s time to explore your potential and put to use your hidden powers.

When reversed, The Magician wants you to resist the villainous shortcuts, as well as the suspicions double edged deals that will go against you. Work hard, stay focused in order to achieve your goals and leave your friends out of this.

Lizzie: The Tower (XVI)

The Tower represents the sudden and dramatic destruction of illusion and façades.

When upright, prepare yourself for a upheaval because this card announces destruction. Even of what you think might be true and threatens to submerge you. But rest assured because it’s for the best,this event will free you from your tower. Embrace the chaos and you’ll get out unscathed.

When reversed, this card indicates that you are resisting a necessary change. You’re facing an important truth that may change the course of your life, but you refuse to recognize it. It’s time to abandon the comfortable and familiar points of your life because new information will be presented and change everything. Even if this type of change can be intimidating, rest assured and go forward. You’ll be happier and in better shape.

Mumbo: Temperance (XIV)

Temperance signifies fluidity, harmony and balance.

When upright, Temperance advises you to stay flexible, calm and adaptable. Following the current will help you sail comfortably. Take on every challenge that presents itself with calm and serenity. Temperance reminds you how important it is to preserve your inner peace, do not let outside influence rock your boat.

When reversed, Temperance indicates imbalance in your life that affects you greatly. The card warns you to not let yourself be carried away and to not act impulsively. Stay calm, think carefully, and communicate openly to bring back harmony and fluidity in your life.

Rendog: The Emperor (IV)

The Emperor is a calm and powerful ruler that impose respect and authority.

When upright, The Emperor reminds you, to make decisions with everyone’s interest in mind. You can set an example by being respectful and taking your duties seriously.

When reversed, this card warns against too much rigidity in your opinions, and incite you to keep an open mind. The reversed Emperor shows that thinking in black-and-white works against you. Stay flexible and remind yourself that there’s an exception to every rule. 

Scar: The Chariot (VII)

The Chariot represents determination , unwavering focus and will.

When uprights, you no longer fear obstacles, you’ll follow your objectives, and nothing will stop you. Do not let yourself be distracted ! What you wish for may seem out of your reach for the moment, but by pressing on you’ll find the strength necessary to succeed.

When reversed, this card tells you to not falter as victory can still be reached as long as you’re ready to adapt. The reversed Chariot, advises you to tackle challenges with more finesse and flexibility. Letting go will not hurt you. 

Skizz: The Wheel of Fortune (X)

The Wheel of Fortune represents decisive moments, sudden reversals and twists of fate.

When uprights The Wheel of Fortune, reminds you that life is unpredictable and that luck keeps turning. It’s a clear sign, that you need to expect the unexpected. Embrace your life as it is now because big changes are coming. The Wheel of Fortune remind you that life can change at any second. Live in the moment.

When reversed, The Wheel of Fortune indicates that your streak of bad luck is not your fault, greater forces are at play. You may feel as if you don’t control anything but this card has a positive side. Nothing is eternal not even misfortune. Curses can be broken, birthrights restored and kingdoms can prosper again. Be patient, and wait for the wheel of fortune to turn again in your favor.

Tango: Justice (XI)

Justice represents repercussions, consequences ethics, and equity.

When upright, Justice advices you to follow your moral compass, while brushing aside your personal feelings on the matter. It’s a clear sign that the time must come to defend truth and integrity. The choice may be difficult, but it will lead to long-term peace and stability.

When reversed, Justice suggest that your actual perspective may be false. Justice suggest that you may not be seeing situations for what they really are. Try to keep an open mind and ask your loved ones to help you see the truth.

I hope you guys enjoyed this draft, this took so long. I’m not a 100% sure for some of the life smpers but I think it should be fine.

Hope you enjoyed this post, I know I’m gonna enjoy my Friday afternoon.

See you all !