#Pre- and Post-Training Assessments

[maxlearnmicrolearningplatform]

Enhancing Learning Retention: Utilizing Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve

We’ve all experienced it: the frustration of forgetting newly acquired information much sooner than we anticipated. Despite our best efforts to consciously remember what we learned, retention often proves to be a tricky challenge. This phenomenon is not a personal failing but a natural aspect of how human memory works. Forgetting can occur rapidly, sometimes within minutes of learning something new. To tackle this issue, it’s crucial to design training programs that enhance memory retention effectively. One powerful tool in this endeavor is Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve, which provides a valuable framework for understanding and mitigating the natural decline of memory over time.

Understanding Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve

Hermann Ebbinghaus, a pioneering psychologist, conducted groundbreaking research on memory in the late 19th century. His experiments led to the formulation of the Forgetting Curve, which illustrates the rate at which information is lost over time when no attempt is made to retain it. According to Ebbinghaus, memory retention declines exponentially after learning, meaning that the most substantial drop in retention happens soon after the initial learning event. Without reinforcement, a significant portion of newly acquired information can be forgotten within hours or days.

The Implications for Training Design

Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve highlights the necessity of strategic reinforcement in training programs to combat rapid memory loss. By understanding the curve, educators and trainers can implement methods to help learners retain information more effectively. Here are some key strategies to make learning ‘stick’:

1. Spaced Repetition

Spaced repetition involves reviewing information at increasing intervals over time. This technique counters the rapid decline in memory retention by refreshing the material just as the learner is about to forget it. For instance, reviewing new content after one day, then three days, then one week, and so on, helps solidify the memory. This method leverages the spacing effect, where information is better remembered when it is studied multiple times spaced out over a longer period.

2. Active Recall

Active recall is a powerful learning strategy that involves actively stimulating memory during the learning process. Instead of passively re-reading or listening to information, learners actively retrieve it from memory. This can be done through quizzes, flashcards, or practice tests. The process of recalling information strengthens neural connections, making the memory more durable.

3. Microlearning

Microlearning delivers content in small, manageable chunks, making it easier for learners to absorb and retain information. This approach aligns well with the principles of spaced repetition and active recall. By breaking down complex information into bite-sized pieces and reinforcing it regularly, microlearning helps combat the forgetting curve effectively.

4. Interleaved Practice

Interleaved practice involves mixing different topics or types of problems within a single study session. This contrasts with blocked practice, where learners focus on one topic at a time. Interleaving helps learners to develop better problem-solving skills and improves long-term retention by encouraging them to constantly retrieve and apply knowledge in varying contexts.

5. Feedback and Reflection

Providing timely feedback is crucial for reinforcing learning. Constructive feedback helps learners understand what they know and where they need improvement, facilitating better memory retention. Encouraging reflection on what has been learned also helps solidify knowledge. Reflection can involve summarizing key points, discussing insights with peers, or writing about the learning experience.

Applying These Strategies in Training Programs

To effectively implement these strategies, trainers and instructional designers need to create a structured plan that incorporates regular reviews and interactive learning activities. Here are some practical steps to integrate these retention techniques into training programs:

Design Modular Content: Break down training material into modules that can be revisited over time. Each module should focus on a specific topic or skill, making it easier for learners to digest and retain information.

Schedule Regular Reviews: Plan a review schedule that follows the principles of spaced repetition. Use calendars, reminders, or automated systems to prompt learners to review material at optimal intervals.

Incorporate Quizzes and Tests: Regular quizzes and tests encourage active recall. Use a mix of multiple-choice questions, short answer prompts, and practical exercises to reinforce learning.

Utilize Technology: Leverage learning management systems (LMS) and mobile apps to deliver microlearning content and track learner progress. These tools can automate spaced repetition schedules and provide instant feedback.

Foster a Collaborative Learning Environment: Encourage learners to engage in discussions, group activities, and peer teaching. Social interactions enhance memory retention by allowing learners to explain concepts and receive diverse perspectives.

Provide Timely Feedback: Ensure that learners receive immediate and constructive feedback on their performance. Highlight strengths and areas for improvement to guide their learning journey.

Encourage Reflection: Incorporate reflective activities such as journaling, group discussions, or presentations. Reflection helps learners consolidate their knowledge and identify connections between different concepts.

Measuring the Effectiveness of Retention Strategies

To ensure that the implemented strategies are effective, it’s important to measure and analyze their impact on learning retention. Here are some methods to evaluate the success of your training programs:

Pre- and Post-Training Assessments: Conduct assessments before and after the training program to measure knowledge gain and retention. Compare the results to identify areas where retention strategies are working or need improvement.

Longitudinal Tracking: Track learner performance over an extended period to observe how well they retain information. Use periodic assessments and quizzes to gauge long-term retention.

Feedback Surveys: Gather feedback from learners about their experiences with the training program. Ask about the usefulness of review sessions, quizzes, and other retention activities. Use this feedback to refine your approach.

Performance Metrics: Analyze job performance metrics to see if there’s a correlation between training participation and improved job performance. This can provide insights into the practical impact of your retention strategies.

Conclusion

Memory retention is a significant challenge in the realm of learning and development. However, by leveraging the insights provided by Ebbinghaus’ Forgetting Curve, trainers can design more effective training programs that help learners retain information over the long term. Strategies such as spaced repetition, active recall, microlearning, interleaved practice, and timely feedback are essential tools in combating the natural decline of memory. By thoughtfully integrating these techniques into training programs, organizations can enhance learning outcomes, boost employee performance, and ultimately achieve their development goals.

[overtrred28]

Joining the club | Jen Beattie x reader

Summary; 2023 and the start of 2024 seem to have something in common already; everyone in the WOSO community seems to be getting engaged. And when you bring this up to your long term partner Jen, it seems she has nothing to say, or does she….

Pairings; Jen Beattie x famous!reader

Words; 2.5k

Warnings; pure fluff, swearing

A/N; It seems to be the season of getting engaged and even though I am way off getting engaged and very very single, I thought I would pretend and imagine that I was getting engaged to the one and only Jen Beattie. There is also a lack of Jen fics on here and I feel the need to write one for her. Enjoy!

First it was Steph and Dean all the way back in January. Lynn and Marley finally did it back in May. Then in June it was Emily and Kat, and Katrina and Clara just a few days after. Kristie and Sam finally revealed theirs from September after months of teasing. Chloe Kelly and Millie Bright got it within the same week, sharing photos with their partners around christmas. And finally a surprise from Ellie and Daan on the first day of a new year. 

It seemed 2023 and now 2024 was the time for engagements in the world of women’s football and you were quite caught up in all the news. 

“Oh my god babe, another one!” You let out a gasp as the post from Ellie and Daan popped up on your instagram feed, stopping your pre-dinner scrolling as you paused and assessed the picture. It was from a few days ago, and you were seeing it now because you had been away with Jen and her family, avoiding social media to spend time with them and only now catching up. 

“What?” Jen’s voice called from the kitchen, you jumping up from the couch with your phone and running quickly into the kitchen. 

“Look.” You aggressively shoved your phone into her face and she adjusted to the bright light as she tried to look at the photo. 

“Oh wow, congrats to them.” Jen smiled quickly before turning away and back to the food on the stove. You frowned at her quick response and disinterest at the post.

“Do you not think it’s funny?” You asked with a small laugh from beside her. 

“What is?” She asked whilst moving around the kitchen to find the rest of the ingredients for your dinner. 

“That everyone in the footballing world seems to be getting engaged at the moment?” You asked again and she didn’t respond with any excitement, again.

“Oh, guess I didn’t notice.” She shrugged and continued to stir the pot. You opened your mouth to talk again but she got there before you. “Could you grab me some bowls, love?” She asked while keeping her eyes on the pan. You paused for a second before grabbing two clean ones from the dishwasher and placing them next to her. “Thank you.” She smiled at you briefly before beginning to dish up the pasta that was now done. 

“You’re welcome.” You snapped out of your trance and silently moved to grab some glasses and the wine from the fridge. She waited for you to finish pouring your drinks before she grabbed both bowls and headed for the couch, you following close behind her. 

“What are we watching tonight, love?” Jen asked as she sat beside you on the couch, now both holding your dinner and the wine glasses on the coffee table. 

“I don’t mind, you pick.” You shrugged before taking a bite of your food and now it was her turn to frown at you, normally you always took control over what to watch together. 

“You okay?” Jen asked simply and you nodded silently while eating and staring at the screen in front of you. “ Okay, how about Bridgerton? We still haven’t finished season two.” She suggested and once again you nodded silently from beside her. 

You weren’t sure why you were feeling slightly off after Jen’s reaction to the post and your comments, but you still snuggled into her on the couch after finishing your pasta and wine.

The episode finished and you could feel the both of you drifting off after a long day. Jen had been back at training after winter break and your schedule had been hectic since returning from time off. You were an actress and your new movie was about to come out so all the promo shoots and interviews were now in full swing, though you were grateful it began in London so you could still go home to Jen every night.  

You met Jen a few years back at an event in London you had both been invited to, catching her eyes from the other side of the room and instantly knowing you had to go talk to her. You knew who each other were, an actress making her name in the world and a famous sports star who silently followed each other in their respective lines of work. One conversation and you knew there was something there, and so did she. You both knew it would be hard with your professions and the distance you would have at certain times, but you wanted to make it work, somehow keeping it from the public eye for two years before hard launching it on your anniversary and sending both sets of fans into a frenzy. 

“Ready for bed love?” Jen spoke softly into the dark living room, smoothing your hair softly. 

“Definitely.” You yawned and sat up, rubbing your tired eyes as Jen stood up and held a hand out for you. You smiled at the gesture and met your hand in hers, pulling yourself up and making your way to your bedroom together. You both had already showered when you got home earlier so all that was left to do was to brush your teeth together. 

Your night routine was almost the same every night, no matter what was going on in your separate lives, you always spent those last few minutes together before crawling into bed. So once you both finished in the bathroom, you hopped into bed on your chosen sides but made your way closer to the middle and each other, Jen opening her arms to you as you laid your head on her chest.

“Sorry I’ve been quiet, tired.” You mumbled into the darkness against Jen as she drew small circles against your back. 

“It’s okay, me too.” Jen looked down at you to meet your soft eyes. 

“I love you.” You smiled and snuggled into her chest once more, eyes drifting closed. 

“I love you too.” Jen placed a kiss against your head before closing her own eyes and drifting asleep. 

The topic of last night's conversation was mostly forgotten in the morning, or at least it wasn’t brought up again between you too. That didn’t mean it wasn’t brought up with different people. Jen arrived at training and as both Steph and Beth walked up to her, they could tell something was on her mind. 

“You alright there Jenny?” Steph bumped her shoulder as herself and Beth joined her sides. 

“Hmm? Oh yeah.” Jen nodded at them but went silent straight after. 

“You sure?” Beth dragged out her words and brought her face as she could to Jen’s, their height difference proving to be a little difficult.

“Yeah, just thinking.” Jen tried to brush them off again but these two were persistent and she knew she wasn’t going to get very far if she didn’t tell them. She stopped her walking and sighed before speaking. “Last night, Y/N brought up how it seems like everyone’s getting engaged at the moment, and I didn’t really say anything back. And then she seemed upset for the rest of the night, but she said she was just tired, which I know she has been, but I also think I might have upset her in some way.” She let out in almost one breath as Steph and Beth tried to process her words. 

“Well she’s not wrong, especially in the last few weeks.” Beth added with a shrug. 

“Do you think she’s ready?” Steph ignored Beth’s comment and looked at Jen.

“Well, I wasn’t sure before, but after last night I think she is.” Jen looked between the two of them. “Just the way she was talking about it and then when I didn’t really say anything…” She trailed off and looked down. 

“I think she’s ready.” Steph spoke with a smile. She had watched from the beginning of your relationship with Jen just how happy you were with one another, and how easy the relationship seemed even when spending time apart due to work. 

“Are you?” Beth asked sincerely, her and Steph awaiting Jen’s reply. Jen was silent for a few seconds, bringing her eyes back up to look at her best friends. 

“I bought the ring like 2 months ago.” She mumbled but they still heard it and instantly started beaming at the Scottish woman. 

“You sly little bastard.” Beth punched Jen’s arm softly as they began to walk again so that they wouldn’t be late for training. 

Throughout the whole day the three of them, mostly Steph and Beth, were coming up with ideas on how she should propose but Jen kept shooting them down. She wanted it to be private, special and a surprise, so anything that involved taking you out somewhere would instantly make you suspicious. 

While Jen had been conversing her thoughts and plans with her best friends at training, you were in your head all day thinking about last night. Which wasn’t really helping especially when you were trying to film press interviews all day and talk about your movie. 

You could have talked to your co-stars about it, after all they had become close friends while shooting and now being with each other everyday for promo, but the only person you really wanted to talk to was Jen; it was always Jen. 

Jen got home long before you, taking her time to deep clean the flat and cook dinner for you once again, knowing you would be exhausted from your long day of work. 

She didn’t hear you opening the door and making your way through the flat, she had been vacuuming with her headphones on and dancing around your bedroom. You stood in the doorway for a few minutes after spotting her, admiring her and waiting for her to see you. And when she did, boy did she get a fright. 

“Ah fuck!” Jen almost jumped out of her skin when she finally turned around and spotted you lurking in the doorway, using one hand to remove her headphones and the other to turn the vacuum off. “How long have you been standing there?” She dropped the vacuum and began to walk over to you. 

“A few minutes. I was admiring your hidden dance skills.” You smiled and stood up straighter, welcoming her into a hug like you do every day. “Hi.” You mumbled into her shoulder. 

“Hi love.” She pulled back and leaned in for a soft kiss. No matter how many times you kiss Jen, it feels like the very first time all over again, even after 4 years. “Busy day?” She asked as you parted, taking in your tired expression. 

“Busy day.” You nodded and smiled at her. “How was training?” You asked as you walked hand and hand to the kitchen. 

“Good, good to be back with the girls.” Jen smiled at you before letting go to retrieve dinner from the oven. You stood at the counter, simply watching her as she moved about wrapping up dinner. “Go put something on, I’ve got it.” Jen smiled and placed a kiss on your temple before ushering you to the lounge room.

“Okay bossy.” You laughed before making your way to the couch and switching the TV over to Netflix to finish the final episode of Bridgerton. You wait patiently for her on the couch, looking over your shoulder every few seconds to see if she is coming around the corner. 

Meanwhile in the kitchen, Jen is trying to hide her anxiety and nervousness as she plates up dinner and feels her pocket one more time. With two champagne glasses now full and a tray full of food she finally makes her way to you, letting out a final breath before entering the living room. 

“Dinner is served.” She places the tray down on the table and bows which makes you laugh. Your eyes fall on the glasses and you’re instantly confused. 

“What’s with the champagne? Decide the wine wasn’t good enough?” You joked and she let out a small laugh shaking her head. 

“Some nights are a little more special than the others.” She cryptically says and has you even more confused but you leave the comment alone and hit play on the remote. 

You eat dinner together while watching the episode, silently watching with a bit of commentary along the way before cuddling up after eating. The episode finishes and you can feel Jen’s heart beating particularly fast, her fingers are nervously playing with one another and she hasn’t spoken in a few minutes. You sit up silently and look at her, she doesn’t look at you. You’re about to fill the silence when she beats you to it. 

“You know how much I love you, right?.” Jen rushes out and leaves you slightly bewildered. 

“I know. I love you just as much.” You reply. “What’s wrong?” You bring your hand up to brush her hair back into her low bun. 

“I’m about to do something and I hope you don’t think it’s random and forced because it’s not and I’ve been thinking about this for a long time and I didn’t want to make a massive deal about it because it’s just you and me and that’s all that matters.” Jen speaks in one long breath and you need a second for your brain to catch up but before it can she’s pulling you up off the couch with her and standing in front of you. She holds your hands in hers and looks directly at you. 

“Wha-” Before you could even think about finishing your sentence, a giant gasp leaves your mouth at her next action. She drops down to one knee whilst still holding holding your hands, smiling up at you as tears well in your eyes. 

“My love, I could go on and on about how much I love you but you already know. There is no one else I would rather spend the rest of my life with, no matter where it shall take us. So,” She let go of your hands, you bringing them up to your face and hers reaching down into her pocket. She fishes the small, black box out, opening it to reveal a sparkling ring and looks back up at you. “Y/N Y/L/N, will you-” 

“YES!” You interrupt her before she gets to finish causing her to laugh and shake her head. 

You just stand there admiring her as she gets up and removes the ring from the box. She brings your shaking left hand from your face and slides the ring on. Your jaw drops at the ring before you jump into her arms, causing her to react quickly and grab hold of your legs. “I love you so much Jen.” You cry into her shoulder as she holds you before you lift your head up, meeting your eyes with hers before pulling in for a kiss. 

The rest of the night is spent in one another's arms just admiring each other and talking softly with each other about the rest of your lives while wrapped up in your sheets.

yourinstagram and jbeattie91

yourinstagram we joined the club 💍

liked by jbeattie91, stephcatley, bethmead_ and 834,032 others

stephcatley so happy for you! welcome to the club 😉

bethmead_ about time jen jen. congrats 🥰

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THE END!

[shitpostingperidot]

How old is Carol Danvers???

(Inspired by a post by @blindluck which was in turn inspired by a post by me and @marvelsassbutts )

So I just found out the official Captain Marvel wiki places Carol Danvers’s birth date in 1965. At first I thought “that’s ridiculous” for reasons that will become clear through this long ass post. But then I saw they cited drawings by the assistant art director on Captain Marvel, found on her portfolio! That’s pretty official!

Wait what’s that at the bottom…

1984???? For Carol’s USAFA basic training???? This is impossible, the movie is wrong, and here’s why.

(Excerpt from my future video essay incoming)

There are no dates in Higher, Further, Faster; the marketing text on Amazon, Liza Palmer’s website, etc just says “80s.” So, we need to do some detective work.

We know that the 2019 film Captain Marvel takes place in 1995. Since it takes place in Southern California and Louisiana, the warm weather doesn’t tell us much about the time of year. Personally, I believe it takes place on March 8, 1995, because that’s the exact day I was born, and my birthday is the day the movie was released on to coincide with International Women’s Day. Regardless, Monica Rambeau is eleven years old in the film, putting her birth in 1983 or 1984. So, Maria’s pregnancy must have begun in 1982 or 1983.

Here’s a “fun” fact about US military academies: until less than one year ago (summer 2023, a full three years after Captain Marvel came out), cadets at USAFA who became pregnant were required to either drop out, have an abortion, or relinquish their parental rights to their child.

Dropping out also means reimbursing the government for your tuition for all classes you’ve taken up to this point, and giving up your ability to be commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Air Force upon graduation. Definitely not an option someone as driven as Maria wants to consider. In fact, we know this isn’t what happened, because this news article Carol hung up in her spaceship in The Marvels says that Maria Rambeau is a USAFA graduate.

We also know that Maria didn’t have an abortion, because, well, Monica Rambeau herself is tangible evidence. Theoretically, it is possible for Maria to have given up parental rights and adopted back her own child after graduation. Before the policy change in 2023 that allowed cadets to be parents, many found this to be their best option (see the article I screenshotted above). However, this process is really expensive and takes a lot of work with a lawyer over a period of months or years. From the little we know of Carol and Maria’s life pre-crash, (it was busy, they lived in an expensive area, and Maria only had Carol for support), I think we can assume that it’s less likely that Maria was forced to adopt her own daughter than that Maria graduated USAFA before becoming pregnant in 1982 or 83.

That still doesn’t answer the question of when this book takes place, though. The exact year is important, as the military had some major differences under the Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan administrations of the 70s and 80s, and one of the things I want to assess this book on is accuracy.

Oh wait, what’s that? Another discriminatory policy that helps us date this book? That’s right, USAFA didn’t enroll women as cadets until Public Law 94-106 went into effect in 1976.

What’s more, Carol and Maria cannot have been part of this first group of women cadets, because in the book, there is an upperclassman character who is a woman. Officer Cadet Chen is one of the leaders of Basic Training for Carol and Maria’s flight, a position cadets aren’t allowed to hold until their third or fourth year at the Academy.

So, Carol and Maria must enter USAFA no earlier than 1978 to be two or more years younger than Chen, and must graduate no later than 1983 for Monica to exist. To comply with the marketing blurb’s declaration that this book takes place “in the 80s”, let’s say that Carol and Maria’s first year is the 1979-1980 school year.

(End excerpt)

In conclusion, Maria and Carol were born in 1960 or 1961 (with pretty equal likelihood of which birthday makes them 18 at the start of the book, since USAFA basic happens the summer before the school year), not 1965. It would be impossible for them to have done basic training in 1984 as in the production drawing, because they would have to have already graduated and be well on their way to test pilot school which is a whole other policy can of worms before Monica’s birth in 1983 or 1984.

In conclusion conclusion, Carol is ~34 in Captain Marvel and ~64 in The Marvels, and the MCU should hire fans to fact check for them.

[sigmaleph]

there's a post i want to make about how the world is too complicated for individual people to understand and we sort of don't really grapple with the fact that most people don't so much make informed decisions as go with pre-established defaults that society has made and trust that those are fine

and if you're fighting to step out of societal defaults you basically have to make informed decisions. which is not a skill society trains on you. and you fuck up. and it's very important to allow people to do it but also you trip over the fact that 'this isn't illegal' and 'society has said this is Fine' look very similar and for people who run all their risk assessment on 'society said this is Fine' this is dangerous.

i would like to say 'that's the post' but that's not the post. i can't write the post. i wrote this instead of the post and it's worse. sorry.

[gallifreyinstituteforlearning]

Can timelords undergo surgery? Or would this trigger a regeneration?

Can Time Lords undergo surgery?

Absolutely. There are just a few notes you need to think about before you can confidently slice into your Gallifreyan. 🔪🩸

🩺Surgical Overview

💉 Anaesthesia Requirements: Time Lords need higher anaesthetic dosages than humans. The exact amount varies based on their current physiological state and any peculiarities of their current regeneration, but roughly speaking, it's about 2x normal. If you don't get this right, you risk an overdose that can disable regeneration, or ineffective sedation, where they appear asleep but are actually still awake ...

🪨 Enhanced Physical Durability: Gallifreyans have denser skin and muscle tissues, which can make surgical incisions much harder. Surgical teams might need specialised equipment that is sharper and more durable than standard tools, and surgeons must be skilled in handling these resilient tissues to avoid unnecessary damage and ensure clean, precise incisions.

🩹 Rapid Healing: Be fast! The rapid healing abilities of Time Lords mean that surgical operations need to be fast to avoid the complications associated with rapidly closing incisions, and post-operative care needs to be aggressive and meticulously planned to manage healing processes that could otherwise lead to complications like improper tissue regeneration.

🔍 Detailed Anatomical Knowledge: Know your Gallifreyan. Time Lords have different internal systems. Surgeons need a deep understanding of their anatomy to avoid critical mistakes.

🔬 Use of Technology: If being performed by humans, standard monitoring equipment isn't wholly sufficient for Gallifreyans. Modified or specially calibrated devices are necessary to assess vital signs and physiological responses accurately.

🌐 Note on Elective vs. Emergency Surgeries

Elective Surgeries: For non-urgent procedures, extensive pre-surgical planning is crucial to anticipate and prepare for the unique challenges of Gallifreyan biology.

Emergency Surgeries: In urgent cases, the medical team must be highly trained to make rapid decisions considering the Gallifreyan's unique physiology under pressure.

Related:

How does organ donation work between Gallifreyans and humans?: Practical description of how transplants work for Gallifreyans and humans.

Gallifreyan Assessment Scoring System (GASS): Guide for assessing vital signs.

Hope that helped! 😃

More content ... →📫Got a question? | 📚Complete list of Q+A and factoids →😆Jokes |🩻Biology |🗨️Language |🕰️Throwbacks |🤓Facts →🫀Gallifreyan Anatomy and Physiology Guide (pending) →⚕️Gallifreyan Emergency Medicine Guides →📝Source list (WIP) →📜Masterpost If you're finding your happy place in this part of the internet, feel free to buy a coffee to help keep our exhausted human conscious. She works full-time in medicine and is so very tired 😴

[maddmuses]

Kwon HC posts before I get started (boy I hate how tumblr stretches images for basically no good reason)

Born April 4 2001

Kwon Jae-Sung is the son of a South Korean diplomat, not a high-ranking one, but high enough that he could get out of trouble for pretty much anything that would constitute a misdemeanor

At a young age Kwon was taught the fundamentals of taekwondo and "yankee boxing" from his grandfather (a 6th dan in taekwondo) before he had started fighting. This contact was cut-off by Kwon's father when school fights started to become concerns (around age 12). If Kwon were assessed by an objective reader he'd probably be determined 1st Gup or Dan (Red or Black Belt)

Kwon is essentially a bully from the get-go, his father (and grandfather's) mentality was that the strong are right naturally by merit of that strength, even if his father believes more in "soft strength" while Kwon essentially started hitting other students the second he was given more autonomy at school

Kwon has been involved in school fights since early on, and would frequently bully and harass other students into submission, through this lens of "strong and weak", essentially demanding submission from the weak, and challenging those he saw as strong, including older boys

He's been expelled from 15 private schools and 2 public ones in the course of his pre-college education, he has also avoided approximately 22 misdemeanor assault charges, and had 2 felony charges reduced to misdemeanors with fines and anger management

Kwon began at the Kim Dojang after hearing about it around a year following his cut-off from taekwondo, and repeatedly badgered his father (at one point threatening to kill himself if he was not allowed to practice martial arts again) at the age of 15

Kwon was generally discouraged by the dojang's blatant favoritism toward students of legacy, and broad dismissal of many of his early achievements, which later manifested in his (general) behavioral issues

Prior to the start of season 6 (so sometime in 2018) Kwon achieved 1 dan in Kim Sun-Yung's "Kwondo" (Way of The Fist) style of Tang Soo Do. This level of achievement has been exceeded as he was promoted to 2 dan in the time between taking the guem baeji, ast he dojang more formally converted to Cobra Kai under sensei Kreese.

Kwon is a natural southpaw, but over time has trained to be functionally ambidextrous in his fighting. He does, though, favor his left foot for fighting, and tends similarly to spin left so that his 720° spin kick with the heel of his left foot, rather than the right foot as traditional. This favoring his left side slightly also can extend to when he intends to strike with his full power, in which case it is always with the left. To obscure his left-handedness from the enemy, he will often square up when in a fight, or falsely assume a slightly orthodox-biased stance (which in modern day is misinterpreted to indicated right-handedness for most)(clip of his fight v the trio where you can see this functional ambidexterity with slight left-bias at-play, you can see most of his kicks are leftie, and his strongest punches/strikes are delivered from the left-side)

After the Sekai Taikai Kwon intends to enlist and complete his compulsory military service, before attending post-secondary education in the United States, and then further seeking out tournaments to win in adulthood. His intended field of study is English and at least one other foreign language, as well as business management

He is mildly conservative by USA standards (but not on that bigot shit, he's considered a hyper-liberal by modern SK male standards) but is generally considered to be apolitical

Kwon's personal investment in the Sekai Taikai has little to do with any loyalty or reverence he has towards his teachers, but intends instead to establish his own dominance and feed his own pride , while still following the framework his father and grandfather taught him, of showing the weak to their place, and proving himself to be stronger than all others

[herasyndlla]

with ahsoka coming out next week, i want to toot my own horn and say: hey guys, i wrote some pretty good rebels fic back in the day and i think y'all should go back and read them and share your thoughts about them 😘

here's some of my favourite fic that i wrote that i'm very proud of and want you guys to enjoy (again or for the first time). they aren't in any order here but if you ask i will tell you which is my favourite

• through all the years rating: teen relationship: kanan/hera season: pre show through s3

A decade is a long time to know someone. By the end of it, it would be easy to assume these two have been perfectly in sync with each other, never missing a beat. But that's not how relationships work. Kanan and Hera worked at theirs, bumps and stops and leaps forward all included. Though all the years it took to get to now, they worked and loved and hoped for even more years to come.

• the old days rating: gen relationship: ahsoka and kanan season: pre show and s2

After fighting the Inquisitors on Takobo, Ahsoka takes Kanan to assess where he's at with his lightsaber skills. But a flood of memories from a forgotten life hang over Kanan and distracting him from their training.

• for years rating: gen relationship: ezra and kanan season: s1-4

They had only been given four years together. But, without knowing it, they had filled those four years, only four, with lessons, memories, trials and errors, success and growth, and love that could last past a life time. And even when it ends, they find a way. It was only four years but it had made both their lives worth living.

• understanding rating: gen relationship: ezra and sabine season: s3

A few days after returning from Tatooine, Ezra finds himself a little off balance. Avoiding all the chaos around the base as the rebels prepare for their attack to free Lothal finally, Ezra goes and seeks a little comfort from Sabine.

• how rare and beautiful it truly is that we exist rating: teen/mature relationship: kanan/hera season: s4 to post show

What do you do when your life completely changes? How do you decide what to do next? And what if it happens again? Hera used to keep up with the galaxy spinning around her, all her plans laid out in the fashion she needed them to be. But after Kanan returns from Mandalore, there's a shift she couldn't have predicted. How do you keep up with changes that come faster with every breath taken?

• a home we chose rating: gen relationship: ezra and kanan season: post show

A decade after liberating Lothal, Ezra comes and goes from his home world. There's a whole galaxy out there to learn from, to protect, to live in. But he always returns home, how could he not after everything he did to save it. This time, his return home offers a revelation about who was from here and just what that meant.

• how long will i love rating: explicit relationship: kanan/hera season: s4

Everything changed after Kanan came back from Mandalore. And it kept changing.

[maxlearnmicrolearningplatform]

Three Essential Basics for an Effective Microlearning Lesson

Microlearning has become an indispensable tool in modern education and corporate training, offering a streamlined, efficient approach to skill development and knowledge retention. By delivering information in bite-sized, focused segments, microlearning caters to the fast-paced, on-demand needs of today’s learners. However, to create truly effective microlearning lessons, certain foundational principles must be adhered to. Here are three never-to-miss basics for crafting impactful microlearning lessons.

1. Clear and Focused Objectives

The cornerstone of any effective microlearning lesson is a clear and focused objective. Each lesson should target a specific, well-defined goal that aligns with the overall learning outcomes. Here’s how to ensure your objectives are clear and focused:

Define Specific Learning Goals

Each microlearning module should address one primary concept or skill. Avoid trying to cover too much information in a single session. For example, instead of a broad topic like "Effective Communication," focus on a specific aspect such as "How to Give Constructive Feedback."

Use Actionable Language

Frame your objectives in actionable terms that describe what the learner will be able to do after completing the lesson. Use verbs like "identify," "demonstrate," "apply," or "analyze." For example, "By the end of this lesson, you will be able to identify the key components of effective feedback."

Align with Learner Needs

Ensure that the objectives are relevant to the learners' roles and responsibilities. Conduct a needs analysis to understand what skills or knowledge gaps exist and tailor your objectives accordingly. This relevance increases motivation and engagement, as learners see the direct application of what they are learning.

2. Engaging and Interactive Content

Engagement is critical in microlearning. The brevity of microlearning lessons demands content that captures and maintains the learner’s attention. Interactive elements play a significant role in achieving this engagement.

Use Multimedia Elements

Incorporate a variety of multimedia elements such as videos, animations, infographics, and audio clips. Multimedia not only makes the content more interesting but also caters to different learning styles. For instance, a short video demonstration can be more effective than a lengthy text description.

Include Interactive Activities

Interactive activities such as quizzes, simulations, and drag-and-drop exercises encourage active participation. These activities help reinforce learning by prompting learners to apply what they’ve just learned. For example, after a lesson on email etiquette, include a quiz where learners identify proper and improper email examples.

Encourage Real-World Application

Design activities that simulate real-world scenarios. This contextual learning helps learners understand how to apply their new knowledge or skills in their daily tasks. For example, a lesson on customer service skills could include a role-playing exercise where the learner must respond to a customer complaint.

3. Reinforcement and Assessment

To ensure that learning is retained and can be applied, it’s crucial to include elements of reinforcement and assessment within your microlearning lessons.

Utilize Spaced Repetition

Spaced repetition involves reviewing information at increasing intervals over time. Incorporate this technique by revisiting key points in subsequent lessons or through periodic review sessions. This helps move information from short-term to long-term memory. For instance, if the microlearning module is part of a larger training program, schedule follow-up mini-quizzes on the key points a week and a month after the initial lesson.

Provide Immediate Feedback

Immediate feedback on assessments helps learners understand what they’ve mastered and where they need to improve. Use quizzes and interactive activities to provide instant feedback. For example, after a quiz question, provide explanations for both correct and incorrect answers to reinforce learning.

Track Progress and Assess Understanding

Use assessments to gauge the learner’s understanding and retention of the material. This could include pre- and post-assessments to measure learning gains or practical assignments to demonstrate skill application. For example, a practical assessment after a lesson on data analysis could involve learners analyzing a data set and presenting their findings.

Integrating the Basics into a Microlearning Strategy

To effectively integrate these basics into your microlearning strategy, follow these steps:

Step 1: Plan and Structure Your Lessons

Start by planning the overall structure of your microlearning program. Break down the content into small, manageable modules, each with its own clear objective. Ensure that the modules follow a logical sequence that builds on previous knowledge.

Step 2: Develop Engaging Content

Create content that is engaging and interactive. Use multimedia elements to cater to different learning styles and incorporate interactive activities to maintain interest and promote active learning. Ensure that each piece of content aligns with the defined objectives.

Step 3: Implement Reinforcement Techniques

Plan for reinforcement by scheduling spaced repetition sessions and including regular assessments. Use quizzes, flashcards, and review sessions to keep the material fresh in learners’ minds. Provide immediate feedback to help learners understand their progress and areas for improvement.

Step 4: Monitor and Evaluate Effectiveness

Track learners’ progress through assessments and feedback mechanisms. Use this data to evaluate the effectiveness of your microlearning program and make necessary adjustments. Regularly update the content to keep it relevant and aligned with the learners' evolving needs.

Examples of Effective Microlearning Lessons

To illustrate these principles, here are a few examples of effective microlearning lessons:

Example 1: Customer Service Training

Objective: By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to handle common customer complaints effectively.

Content: A short video demonstrating how to handle different types of customer complaints, followed by an interactive role-playing exercise where learners choose the best responses to simulated complaints.

Reinforcement: A quiz one week later with scenarios similar to those in the role-playing exercise, providing immediate feedback on the answers.

Example 2: Software Skills Training

Objective: By the end of this lesson, learners will be able to use basic functions of a new software tool.

Content: A series of short video tutorials demonstrating each function, with interactive simulations where learners practice using the software.

Reinforcement: Flashcards and quizzes provided periodically to reinforce key functions and shortcuts.

Example 3: Compliance Training

Objective: By the end of this lesson, learners will understand the company’s compliance policies.

Content: An infographic summarizing the policies, followed by a series of scenario-based questions where learners apply the policies to real-world situations.

Reinforcement: Regular email reminders with quick tips and follow-up quizzes to reinforce the policies.

Conclusion

Creating effective microlearning lessons involves more than just breaking down content into smaller pieces. It requires clear and focused objectives, engaging and interactive content, and reinforcement through repetition and assessment. By adhering to these three never-to-miss basics, educators and trainers can design microlearning lessons that not only capture learners' attention but also ensure long-term retention and application of knowledge.

[insteading]

Thinking of the warning shot Stede fires when they're trying to give the twirly suit away.

For a warning shot, it doesn't matter if your aim or assessment of which of several threats is greater is a little off: it's going up in the air. Which you can do while twirling like a person who misses that twirly coat.

Also anything other than a warning shot would have been overkill. So it shows Stede's risk assessment is accurate in this instance.

Also also: it makes Stede look unpredictable as hell-- and has that in common with all pre-"training montage" instances in which Stede wins a fight in which he's outmatched.

Izzy's giving Stede approval, post spinny shot, for something he didn't teach Stede to do, and that Izzy probably would have classed as "completely unprofessional" back in Season 1, Episode 2. To borrow Izzy's curse assessment, maybe Izzy is more equipped now to see how skills that get the job done, get the job done.

[healthy444]

Can I build muscle and lose fat at the same time?

Yes, it is possible to build muscle and lose fat simultaneously, though it can be challenging and typically requires a well-structured approach. This process is often referred to as “recomping” (short for recomposition). Here are some key strategies to achieve this:

1. Nutrition

Caloric Balance: Aim for a slight caloric deficit to lose fat while providing enough nutrients to support muscle growth. This typically means consuming slightly fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its current weight.

Protein Intake: Ensure a high protein intake (1.6 to 2.2 grams per kilogram of body weight) to support muscle repair and growth.

Macronutrient Balance: Balance your diet with a good mix of carbohydrates and fats to provide energy and support overall health.

2. Strength Training

Progressive Overload: Continuously challenge your muscles by increasing the weight, reps, or intensity of your workouts over time.

Compound Movements: Focus on compound exercises (squats, deadlifts, bench presses) that work multiple muscle groups simultaneously.

Consistency: Maintain a regular workout schedule, typically 3–5 times per week, to consistently stimulate muscle growth.

3. Cardio

Moderation: Incorporate moderate cardio to support fat loss without compromising muscle gains. High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) can be particularly effective.

Timing: Consider doing cardio on non-lifting days or after strength training sessions to prioritize muscle preservation.

4. Recovery

Sleep: Ensure adequate sleep (7–9 hours per night) to allow your body to recover and grow.

Rest Days: Incorporate rest days to prevent overtraining and reduce the risk of injury.

5. Consistency and Patience

Long-Term Commitment: Body recomposition is a gradual process that requires consistent effort over time. Patience and persistence are crucial.

Monitor Progress: Track your progress with measurements, photos, and performance in the gym rather than just focusing on the scale.

6. Individual Factors

Starting Point: Beginners or individuals returning after a long break often see more dramatic changes in body composition.

Genetics: Genetic factors can influence how easily you gain muscle or lose fat.

7. Nutrient Timing

Pre-Workout Nutrition: Consume a meal or snack rich in protein and carbohydrates about 1–2 hours before your workout to fuel performance.

Post-Workout Nutrition: Have a post-workout meal or shake with protein and carbs within 30–60 minutes after your workout to aid recovery and muscle growth.

8. Hydration

Stay Hydrated: Adequate hydration is essential for overall health, performance, and recovery. Aim to drink plenty of water throughout the day, particularly before, during, and after workouts.

9. Supplementation

Protein Supplements: Whey or plant-based protein powders can help you meet your daily protein requirements.

Creatine: Creatine monohydrate is a well-researched supplement that can enhance strength, power, and muscle mass.

Branched-Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs): These can help reduce muscle soreness and promote muscle protein synthesis, particularly when training in a fasted state.

10. Mind-Muscle Connection

Focus on Form: Pay attention to proper form and technique to maximize muscle engagement and prevent injury.

Contraction: Emphasize the contraction of the target muscles during each exercise to improve muscle activation.

11. Variation in Training

Periodization: Incorporate different phases in your training program, such as strength, hypertrophy, and endurance phases, to continually challenge your muscles and prevent plateaus.

Exercise Variety: Regularly change your exercises, rep ranges, and workout routines to keep your muscles guessing and promote continuous adaptation.

12. Tracking and Adjustment

Regular Assessments: Keep track of your body composition, strength levels, and overall progress. Adjust your diet and training plan based on these assessments to ensure continued progress.

Listen to Your Body: Be mindful of signs of overtraining or injury. Adjust your training intensity and volume as needed to prevent burnout and maintain long-term progress.

13. Metabolic Rate and Muscle Mass

Muscle Increases Metabolism: Building muscle increases your resting metabolic rate (RMR), helping you burn more calories even at rest, which aids in fat loss.

14. Hormonal Balance

Manage Stress: High-stress levels can lead to elevated cortisol, which can negatively impact muscle growth and fat loss. Incorporate stress management techniques such as meditation, yoga, or deep breathing exercises.

Hormonal Health: Ensure adequate intake of essential fats and micronutrients to support hormonal health, which is crucial for muscle growth and fat loss.

15. Support System

Accountability: Having a workout partner, or coach, or joining a fitness community can provide motivation, accountability, and support.

Education: Continuously educate yourself about nutrition, training, and recovery to make informed decisions and optimize your body recomposition efforts.

By paying attention to these important factors, you can further enhance your ability to build muscle and lose fat simultaneously. Remember, consistency, patience, and a holistic approach are key to achieving long-term success in body recomposition.

[fereldanwench]

Sara Ryder Master Post

✧ BASICS ✧ Full Name: Sara Elizabeth Ryder Pronouns: She/her Date of Birth: 28 Mar 2154 Place of Birth: The Citadel (Widow System in the Milky Way) Height: 5'11" (180 cm) Weight: ~160 lbs Body Type: Absolutely shredded Eye Color: Light blue Hair Color: Dark bronze brown

✧ PERSONALITY & SKILLS ✧ MBTI: ISTP Training: Operative Combat Profile: Infiltrator

✧ RELATIONSHIPS ✧ Father: Alec Ryder Mother: Ellen Ryder Brother: Scott Ryder (born 2157) Closet Friends: - Vetra Nyx - Jaal Ama Darav - Nakmor Drack Partners: - Jonathan Barrett (ex-fiance; remained in the Milky Way) - Keri T'Vessa (ex; fling) - Reyes Vidal (ex; fling) - Dr. Harry Carlyle

✧ NOTES ✧ - This is an updated version of the Sara Ryder I created in 2017/2018. Her personality and pre-Andromeda history hasn't changed too much, but she is older during the events of the game (about 31). - She and Scott are not twins; she's the eldest sibling by about 3 years. However, he has his shit together way more than she does, lmao. They have a great relationship, and Sara considers him one of her best friends. - Sara is very much Alec's daughter--Smart, curious to a fault, tough, ambitious, and does not like being told what to do. (Don't tell her that, though.) - She met the basic requirements for N7 training back in the Milky Way, but was denied officially due to her pattern of insubordination in the Alliance. The real reason was political--aka because of her pariah of a father. She still holds a grudge about it. - Sara and Harry met about a month before leaving for Andromeda--Alec invited (well, insisted, really) Harry to join them at the Ryder family compound for some pre-launch training and SAM assessments.

Tags and relevant links updated under the cut:

Last updated: 10 Jan 24

✧ SARA'S TAGS ✧

👩‍🚀 oc: sara ryder

💖 fave: sara ryder

🖼️ art: sara ryder

🔖 fic: sara ryder

✨ oc inspo: sara ryder

💑 ship: harry x sara

💖 fave: harry x sara

🔖 fic: harry x sara

✧ CHARACTER SHEETS & MEMES ✧

Aesthetic Builder

About My OC (out of date as of this post)

Bold the Traits/Aesthetics

OC Relationships

OC Negative Traits

[risenocs]

Vera Pecker

Warning: Spoilers ahead for One Peice's Water 7, Enies Lobby, and Dressrosa arcs!!

Basics

First Name: Vera

Last Name: Pecker

Age: 24 (pre-timeskip), 26 (post-timeskip)

Birthday: September 1st

Race: Human

Devil Fruit: Nagi Nagi no Mi (Calm Calm Fruit)

Skills/Abilities: Knife throwing (anything with knives in general), stealth, all Six Powers, Armament Haki, Observation Haki, espionage, undercover work, wood carving

Occupation: CP9 Agent (former), Assassin, Pirate

Affiliation: CP9 (former), Donquixote Pirates

Life

Born in the North Blue

After a naval attack on her hometown (she’s 7 years old), Marine soldiers sent to find survivors found her hiding away in a small house with the corpses of who they assumed to be her family members. She’d been found sitting with the arms of her dead father. When Marine soldiers attempted to pull her away from the corpse, she would lash out at them, swinging an ornate knife while screaming about getting away from her and her family. A few soldiers did get minor injuries from her during the process of calming her down. She only calmed down when someone spoke to her and promised to help her bring justice to those who had done this to her family and that she would have a family in the ranks of CP9.

Was trained with Rob Lucci (he is 11 years old when she first joined) and eventually became his subordinate (she would call him "Big Brother" despite his best efforts)

Ate the Nagi Nagi no Mi about a year after Corazon died (she's about 14 years old)

Originally, she had been sent to keep an eye on the Donquixote Pirates by CP9 when Doflomingo first began to rule Dressrosa

Then, somehow, she genuinely enjoyed being around the Donquixote Pirates (mostly because she was manipulated into the idea that they were what a genuinely loving family was, and she never got the chance to have that when growing up)

Joined the Donquixote Pirates around the age of 17

Appearance

Hair Color: Black with red bangs

Hair Style: A little past the shoulder and straight

Eye Color: Aquamarine

Skin Color: Olive

Height: 6’4” (195cm)

Accessories: Pink feather earrings (feathers came from Doflomingo’s coat)

Art

Art was done by me (most of it was just coloring haha-)

Art was done by @/votaeto

Personality

MBTI: ISTJ (this is my own assessment and may change)

She rarely smiles and is quiet to the point most people don’t notice her

She has a desperate need to have a group of people she can call family since her own family died when she was very young

Currently, that group of people is the Donquixote Pirates

She’s not wasteful, and anything given to her will be used at some point (or eaten in the case of food, even if she doesn’t like it)

She’s distrustful of everything and everyone, even those who work alongside her. The only ones she truly trusts are those she has a very deep connection with or hold great importance for her.

Fiercely loyal and protective to those she follows and those she truly trusts

Relationships

Birth Father: She had a very close relationship with him before he died. He worked as a woodworker, building furniture and toys.

Rob Lucci: Called him “big brother” when she was still working for CP9, and was his subordinate for many years.

Doflamingo: Calls him “father” despite him probably not seeing her as his daughter (or maybe he does, who knows?). She holds him in very high regard and would literally do anything he asked of her. No matter how long it takes or if she dies in the process.

Trebol: She respects him, to an extent, but also tolerates him. She tends to call him “Uncle Trebol”

[MORE TBA]

[hawkepockets]

OKAY he won the poll for “next bighuge honker of a post” so… here’s commander pepa (he/she)!

his full name is pepiya, but over his long career as a hero he’s become an asura of many nicknames.

backstory under the cut.

pepa is from a small and tight-knit family by asuran standards, the middle child of five. her mother, leppi, field tests power armor, exosuits, and mech golems in high-intensity environments around mount maelstrom. her father, dopt, was a biological anthropologist but retired young, when pepa was 12.

dopt wishes he could say he quit science to be a stay-at-home dad, but that wasn’t why. at the height of his career he was at the top of his field, held in very high regard by the arcane council and considered highly ethical. which is why when the asura first encountered a free standing humanoid plant that mimicked intelligent speech, he was offered a coveted spot on the team that would study it. he never would’ve condoned live experimentation on anything he considered a person, but he was so sure that this specimen wasn’t really sapient, just imitating humans, and so curious to know how it was doing this. he went ahead with the planned vivisection, despite the subject’s screaming and pleading in an incredible mimicry of a person’s voice.

the family has been sending a citrus basket to malomedies every month for 30 years. reparations.

after speaking with caithe—and watching her kill several of his coworkers—dopt finally concluded that sylvari were thinking, feeling beings with individual personalities. people. and having realized the evil his krewe had committed, he resigned on the spot. he taught his kids to constantly question the colleges’ & council’s risk assessments and ethical standards. he expressly forbade any of them attending dynamics, where his krewe was trained, and really hoped they’d all go into the arts.

calla and eshna, dopt’s two eldest, pleased him by becoming a council secretary and wearable sculpture artist respectively, but pepa desperately wanted to go to college. she ended up at statics, studying optics. she was competent, and blended in well enough with asuran academic culture, but it took most of her energy to stay mentally present in class and keep up her engineering student persona, instead of daydreaming all day about exploring ruins and making up booby traps in her head.

his real interest has always been archaeology—dopt’s life experiences instilled pepa with both a deep appreciation for the importance of learning about other races, and a deep fear of harming them in the process. so he studied cultures that were dead or missing from central tyria: the forgotten, the stone summit dwarves, and most of all the pre-primordus asura, as records of their lives underground were largely buried or erased to ease the transition to the surface. any time pepa didn’t spend on schoolwork, intramural tennis, or making the expected number of appearances at statics parties, he spent digging around in cave entrances and archives, collecting and obsessing over junk from ages past, and picking up thief skills to get over and under obstacles and stay hidden from destroyers and other subterranean critters.

the VOED was pepa’s final project, combining her official and personal fields of study to create a device that could visually highlight artifacts of interest. after graduation, she kept working on it, developing the core technology into an oversized lens that could scan large areas for old magitechnical signatures.

while observing the wilds around rata sum through his lens, pepa noticed huge cords of ancient magitech just under the surface—the optic fiber cables for underground ratas, though this wouldn’t be proven until the discovery of rata novus many years later. curious, she searched cave systems and dig sites around the “noodles” until finally striking on an exposed section of cable, and identifying it as the same type of coated glass that statics used for optics, and clearly old asuran make. she was over the moon, and undertook the project of mapping the optic cables and marking points where many intersected. these points, she theorized, would indicate the locations of large underground asura structures—maybe even whole lost cities.

most of pepa’s marked sites were inaccessible due to infestations and cave-ins (natural, caused by destroyers, or caused by asuran explosives to seal the entrances behind them as they fled to the surface). but at the site he’d labeled ‘X,’ his luck changed. as he hiked towards the spot, sweating in the maguuma heat, he felt a sudden cold breeze from below—a shaft, opened by erosion, just barely wide enough for a teenage asura to wriggle down—directly into an intact abandoned rata. pepa explored as far as he safely could alone in stealth, and saw no trace of destroyers or dangerous wildlife. squeezing up to the surface again, he was beside himself with excitement.

getting the funds, resources, and manpower to fully explore “rata x” was no picnic, though. the arcane council was fully against it, for fear of waking destroyers or damaging the structural integrity of the ground near rata sum. statics dismissed it at as a vanity project, claiming everything of value had been brought to the surface or re-invented by the colleges by now. and while the priory was interested, they had to concede that the site was too close to rata sum for them to overstep the council.

it was an obscure, underfunded inquest archaeology krewe who finally signed on, scraping together enough gold to cover equipment costs and volunteering themselves as expedition members. they were shady, skittish, mercenary asura, the kind dopt would have chewed pepa out to no end for associating with, but pepa was impatient, and took the first offer of help.

the rata x-pedition was a disaster. the hows & whys can be their own post, but it was a full party wipe for the inquest krewe, and pepa exited alone, pursued by a hive of destroyer crabs, clutching a single treasure: the rata’s main library data core, containing all the stored knowledge of its ancient inhabitants.

condemned by the arcane council and college of statics for endangering rata sum, reviled by the inquest for taking their gold and getting their researchers killed, pepa ran straight to the priory, and traded the data crystal to gixx for sanctuary and membership there. he was 18 at the time.

for the next 17 years, pepa earned the trust and respect of his fellow scholars. it wasn’t hard to redeem himself for rata x in their eyes. after all, he’d returned with the data crystal, and the dead had all been inquest. pepa struck up a quick friendship with kekt, who was a novice at the same time, got incredibly deft at navigating unstable and heavily trapped ruins, and became a resident expert on the stone summit dwarves, in contrast to kekt’s expertise on the deldrimor. he miniaturized the VOED lens into a handheld device powerful enough to see through seven planes of magic, allowing him to detect artifacts of interest as well as curses and hidden defensive devices with relative ease, as long as they used magic. after he presented his lens to the priory’s top archaeologists, he was rewarded with his own team—the Dangerous Artifacts Recovery Krewe, or D.A.R.K.

the krewe was exactly what it said on the tin. they extracted powerful artifacts from sites around the shiverpeaks and sometimes farther afield.

caius was an iron legion tank engineer who’d been traded to the priory for a ghost expert. he designed, built, maintained, and drove the krewe’s ATV, a combination charr car/dredge drill and all around sweet ride that let them access high peaks and deep caverns. he doubled as a rocks expert who could determine whether a cave or tomb was urgently likely to collapse on their heads.

pepa’s lens and proclivities for stealth, parkour, and trap disarming would get them through a dangerous structure, while maj, a raven norn, and kekt provided historical context and insight.

renada, a former thief and fence for kryta’s bandits—identified items of interest for the priory to either examine, repatriate to their cultures of origin, or sell off to fund more research.

being trusted with founding D.A.R.K. was a major compliment, but also a test of pepa’s ability to work with other races. while gixx had no problem with pepa’s closeness to kekt, as they had great research partner chemistry, he had noticed that pepa tended to associate almost exclusively with other asura. he mistook this for common elitism, assuming pepa thought of himself as too good to work with bookahs. in reality, it was a different type of asura supremacist thought that was keeping pepa isolated from other scholars—anxiety, taught to him by his father, about abusing his intellect and curiosity to the detriment of other, more fragile races. this worry was hammered out of him in a matter of days by his new human, charr, and particularly norn teammates. but it still lingered when he had to face sylvari. around them pepa was edgy, uncertain, frustratingly polite at the cost of productivity and clear communication. he’d already let dopt down once by collaborating with inquest, and was terrified he’d do it again by causing one of these strange, delicate-looking plant people to get hurt.

in 1324, kekt was given an opportunity to specialize full time in dwarf lore, which he eagerly took. maj tried out for the rank of archon, got the promotion, and moved to the priory’s labs, and riding the tide of change, renada “pulled back” from field work after a um. workplace safety lapse. (got too curious about a cursed stone summit ritual knife she’d flagged for secure storage, took it out to look at, and got three fingers instantaneously stripped to bone. the bitch of it is, it wasn’t even one of the treasures she was thinking about pawning on the side for personal funding! the fingers still work. they’re just animated bone now.)

rather than let D.A.R.K. disband, gixx assigned two hotshot new priory members to the krewe—bonnie shaw, a kid necromancer from ascalon whose raw, unpolished skill let her talk to spirits to learn more about sites and objects, and the newly minted magister sieran. although both of them were much younger than caius or pepa, and despite pepa’s fears about working closely with a sylvari, they were all thick as thieves well before a year passed, and had a major triumph together with the discovery and destruction of the sanguinary blade. the new D.A.R.K. was less balanced and cautious than the old, but with the rookies’ enthusiasm and magical firepower they seemed unstoppable.

and then the risen moved on claw island, and everything went south fast.

[trainofcommand]

Thank you, @wonkyelk, for the tag :)

How many works do you have on AO3?

289.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

764 464.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Right now mostly SGA, but other fandoms I've written for in the last year or so include Firefly, SG1, The Old Guard, some tiny/non-existent fandom stuff (Echoes, Who is Erin Carter, etc), some original fiction. Various one-offs (Hot Fuzz, ST:PIC).

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

The Perfect Bride (SGA)

A Uniquely Dangerous Opportunity (SGA/The Old Guard)

Season's Greetings (SGA)

How to Succeed at Corporate Sabotage in Five and a Half Easy Steps (SGA) [note - I love this title so much]

In the Wind (SGA/The Old Guard)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I dooooooo! I love comments, they make me so happy, so I want to make sure the commenter knows that. And sometimes there's a nice chat that happens too, so that's exciting!

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

For SGA, it's Failsafe (still one of my favourite things I've ever written). For Firefly, I think it's Assessment, at least, based on the comments I got when I first posted it to...oh gosh, I think it was to a listserv and then the Firefly's Glow old archive. For SG1, it's Grey Skies, Ashen Ground (I also love this fic so much).

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I don't know. I do write a lot of pretty happy endings, and a lot of humour, so it's hard to say.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Generally, no. I do remember getting a bit of snark about a few things I've written over the years, but that was way back pre-LJ.

9. Do you write smut? If so what kind?

I dooooooooo. I think I write a fair amount of E-rated stuff (PWPs and otherwise). What kind - I guess mostly m/m. My most common smut-related tags are blow jobs, dubious consent, and getting together. So I guess I write a lot of dubious consent oral sex romance or something :')

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

Sometimes! Craziest one is probably Travel Light (SGA/The Littlest Hobo) (we need more dogs in Stargate, okay??) (yes, this is a niche fic with a small audience, but it is deeply hilarious to me). Or maybe Village of the Y-arrrggg (Anna and the Apocalypse/Hot Fuzz). I love both of these fics so much.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I have no idea!

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I don't think so.

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

Heck yes, I have! Quite a bit over the years, and more recently a couple with @wonkyelk and four or five with @chaos-monkeyy. It is so fun!!!!

14. What's your all-time favourite ship?

I tend to prefer characters over ships (I will ship that favourite character will alllllllll kinds of people), but probably if I had to pick, I'd say Jayne/Simon (Firefly), just because I think they're the most frequent ship I've written.

15. What's a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I don't know, really. I tend to forget about my WIPs and then find them again later and remember.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I think I write humour pretty well! And I think I'm pretty good at writing porn. Maybe. I don't know. I can and will make train puns (shock, gasp, surprise).

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I can't sustain long stories. Most of my stuff falls in the 2000-5000 range, and the longest thing I ever wrote was just shy of 10 000 words. I just don't have the capacity to write long stuff. Also, if I don't get most of a fic down in a sitting or two, I'm unlikely to ever finish it.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I'm pretty sure I've never done this. Can't say I have any profound thoughts on it.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

OZ.

20. Favourite fic you've ever written?

This one is too hard. And whoops, it turns out I've already mentioned a bunch of stuff I like. I guess I also really like the way Pieces Tossed Aside (Firefly) worked out (I had to think about a few different things for that one), and also, Of winsome mood and disposition (SGA) (it made me laugh so much to write this).

no pressure tagging, if you're into it: @chaniis-atlantis, @cuillere, @cordeliaperry, @chaos-monkeyy, @colonelshepparrrrd, @dedkake, @sparrowsarus

[5ummit]

Hey, tumblr offered me your crit of the 2023 AO3 ship counts and there is an additional point worth mentioning: 2023 was the year the AO3 community found out that LLMs were being trained on their words and AO3 itself recommended concerned users lock access to their works. While there have always been a few people removing or locking works here and there, the scale of change this past year is unprecedented in the history of the archive. Previously, assessing changes in public work totals per ship would have a more stable rank estimate of new works available to AO3 users. This past year, the noise would be a whole lot bigger. 

It's fair to suggest the method of assessment for work counts should change, particularly if the proportion of locked works will continue to be higher and more inconsistently used across fandoms than pre-ChatGPT. Calling the use of a freshly outdated metric shit is not very constructive. 

While it's true this past year has been magnitudes worse for privating and deleting fics on AO3 due to the threat of AI, centreoftheselights' data presentation and methodology has clearly always been flawed and inaccurate. I only just happened to notice it now because it's become unignorable.

As someone with a large audience who trusts and respects them, I would argue centreoftheselights has an ethical duty to (1) collect data in way that minimizes error as much as possible and (2) present the collected data, along with its faults and limitations, as clearly as possible so as to not be misinterpreted. They failed unequivocally on both counts. If they published something like this in academia or for an actual job they would and should have been fired.

Centreoftheselights is perfectly aware fans will take these stats at face value and draw conclusions about both their own fandoms and fandom as a whole. It's no secret, it happens every year. That's arguably the whole point of this list. And every year they're perfectly happy to bask in the glow of the praise fans give them for all of their supposed hard work. All the while hiding and obfuscating the flaws in their data. Because if they did make people aware of the flaws, they risk nobody paying attention to it.

When you have data this massively flawed (+60% error in some cases!) you owe it to your audience and fandom at large to make that as clear as you can. This dataset, if presented at all, should've included a banner in big bold letters at the top warning people about the discrepancies in the numbers and that they shouldn't be used as the basis for any analysis, not buried at the end of a separate FAQ post the vast majority will never see. The absolute bare minimum though would be to start by labeling your chart correctly (by calling the count "net gain" instead of "new works") to not straight up LIE and misrepresent the truth.

If they were new at this rather than being a "respected" fandom statistician with a large audience, I would've been more forgiving and constructive in my criticism. They've been doing this for a decade though and there is absolutely no excuse for this ethical failing, whether intentional or through shear incompetence. A statistician who can't accurately label and present their data for general consumption cannot be trusted and should not be allowed to have this much influence.

[llamamamarisen92]

The Birth of An Alliance - Durgetash Head Canon.

Pre-brain damage Redemption Durge Head Canon

Named Durge: Johim

Warning: light references to violence

Word Count: 1,323

Johim sat in his secret temple garden. A warded pocket of the temple that only he was allowed entrance to. Somewhere he could find peace amongst the chaos of worshipers and their expectations. Lilies were his foster mothers favorite. All planted and tended by him. The fresh smell was a welcome reprieve from the smell of blood and bile. A pocket of life amidst death.

The imp butler Bhaal assigned to him had been quite up in arms today. They were on their way to meet with Gortash for the first time. On their walk he had spotted a small girl sitting on the cobblestone. Her clothes were dirty and she was shivering violently from the cold. It was barely a moment. But he had given her the coin purse strapped to his belt. It's not the first time he had shown such tendencies. Probably why, despite his status as Bhaal's heir and scion, the god saw fit to have a watchdog on his son's heels.

*Flymm's Cobbler*

Brows drawn down in confusion he waved for his men to stay posted at the door as he entered the shoe shop. His butler tried to enter with him but Johim held up his hand. "Stay here with the rest of the men. I'm sure they'd love to hear you air out your grievances."

"Master, I only wish to implore you to be a bit more compliant to your father."

Rolling his eyes he closed the shop door behind him. It was dark, his assassin's instincts kicking in. His foster father had taught him the art of secret blades. Juren and Kiella were drow who had broken away from Lolth and sought out a gentler life on the surface. But Juren always insisted that it was important he learn to defend himself and his mother.

Something he probably regretted. Coming home to his adolescent son standing over Kiella's mutilated corpse. He pleaded with Juren. Telling him that he had blacked out and woke up to her body like this. Pleading for help. But Juren threw him out, swearing if he returned he would kill him.

That was the night that the butler showed up. Guiding him to the temple of Bhaal where he began his training as a novice. Eventually mastering his art until he sat upon the throne of Bhaal. The lost son of a god who took his place upon his father's throne.

The floorboards creaked and he watched a man dressed in ornate robes walk down a set of stairs towards him. Johim had lived for a thousand years already. But he looked just as young as this man who was probably no older than thirty five.

"My, my. When I heard you'd accepted my invitation I didn't expect you to show up quite like this."

Idols and statues had depicted Johim as a pale dragon. It kept his true identity away from those who would use it to their advantage. When he did meet on behalf of Bhaal he often did so in the disguise of the dread dragon. But not tonight. Tonight he showed up in his normal form. Thick red hair flowing like a river of blood over his back and shoulders akin to a lion's mane. Sun-kissed skin donned with a torrent of freckles. Lean muscled with handsome leonine facial features. Piercing amber eyes that seemed to lock into a person's soul.

"And what did you expect?" Johim smiled playfully as he leaned towards Gortash.

"Something a bit more... ferocious."

"Oh! I can be very, very ferocious when I want to be." smiling wickedly as he sat on a nearby chair.

Gortash took his measure, trying to assess how the conversation was truly going to go.

Watching people tremble in the presence of the dread dragon was fun. But he had grown bored and there was something equally delicious in watching someone's inner wheels spin as they calculated how to proceed as he played with them like a mouse caught between a cat's paws.

Scanning his fingernails in a gesture of arrogant boredom he waited for Gortash to continue.

"You truly are a beautiful specimen." tone of voice equally arrogant.

He glanced at Gortash who had lit some candles to illuminate the room a bit. His interest peaked. It was a rare treat to find someone willing to play his little game.

"I read your letter, Gortash. I have to admit, I never considered collaborating with a fledgling baanite. But breaking into the hells? Stealing the Crown from Mephistopheles?" Grinning lazily, he tilted his head to the side. "What exactly is your endgame?"

"Isn't it obvious? To rule the city of course."

"Just the city?" his eyebrow raised curiously.

"It's just the beginning." Gortash raised his chin. A cold calculated smile falling across his face.

"And say we were successful in obtaining the crown, what else would you do with it?" his tone remained light.

"I've heard a rumour that an illithid colony has taken over moonrise. And where there is a colony there must be an elder brain."

Johim leaned forward in his seat, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Intrigue sharpening his mind.

"And why would you give the crown to mind flayers? Do you intend on surrendering to their ranks as you hand the crown over?"

"If my research is correct. It just takes three unset nether stones to control the wearer. Imagine the power we could wield if it sat atop an elder brain. An elder brain that we controlled."

"Hmmm... and isn't Moonrise under the shroud of Shar? How are we meant to break through the shadow lands to get close enough to this colony without incurring her wrath?" He vaguely remembered tales of the general who fell to the harper’s blade. The same harper who felled Sarovek. Whisperings of Ketheric’s resurrection had been floating around. 

"Myrkul has enlisted a former sharran general. A paladin whose allegiances seem... flexible. I have already written to him on the subject and he has returned interest in kind." 

Johim considered his words, watching as Gortash fidgeted with his hands betraying the calm facade he displayed. He stood up pacing as he worked through the things Gortash said. And the things he left unsaid. 

"And, I was informed that Bhaal's current ruler was none other than his own son." A hint of jealousy crossed Gortash's face. "What better ally to increase our odds than the scion of a god."

"Bhaal, Bane, and Myrkul all working together. It's practically the stuff of nightmares." Johim’s eyes widened dramatically, slightly mocking Gortash.

"Well, Son of Bhaal." Gortash stopped for a moment. Weighing his next words carefully. "What if... we didn't need them... what if we could become... gods ourselves."

"I would consider slitting your throat right now for suggesting it." But a spark of ambition and secret longing triggered in Johim's heart. He had served Bhaal faithfully for so many years. When Sarovek had fallen, Johim took his place. Discreetly building back up what Orin's grandfather nearly destroyed. But he secretly longed to be free of Bhaal. Free of the temple and all of its weight. Perhaps the only true way to be free of a god's influence was to usurp said godhood. A future shaped by his own hands.

After mulling over the suggestion. The consequences. The benefits. Grinning wildly he turned to Gortash.

"You better find a diabolist then." He smacked Gortash on the back. As he was walking out of the shop he turned to Gortash one more time before leaving. "There's a tombstone shop in the city. Once you've secured a plan to get into hell, inform Orin and I will meet you there."

Later in the evening he sat in his secret garden thinking about how life might be if he was truly free of his god. To be his own man free of his murderous infliction. Suddenly eager to see where this new road would lead.