#and he values her mostly for her ability to perform tasks but that’s the way she’s always been treated. at least w him the task isn’t death

[apple-of-my-pie]

hands down the best part of the unspoken name for me was looking at the blurb on the back cover, thinking ‘what the hell is an evil found family?’ and then reading the book and going ah. I see

[whackdreamer]

All 20 questions for Claire, please?

I finally got to answering it all. Maybe its time for me to stop doing this.

1. What inspired you to create your oc?

The very first reason was Nacht’s past, more specifically Morgen’s existence. The moment I read the chapters of Morgen’s death I thought of ‘what if he had a relationship with someone and Nacht would eventually have to confront that person?’. Morgen was shown to be well-known because he was the image of an ideal Magic Knight and helped many. Which made me think how he wouldn’t have someone interested in him. Second, my personal interest in making OC in a magic fantasy setting. I happen to like playing around with canon lore and seeing what kind of OC I’ll make and how they would eventually interact with the established universe.

2. Why does your oc look the way they do? What are your reasons for their appearance?

Claire’s color scheme is meant to balance out the black & white themes of the Faust twins. I wanted her to have an attractive appearance to contrast with her dislikable personality. I had the words, ‘my OC is gonna be a pretty little bitch’ and played around with the idea then BAM! Claire.

3. What is the origin of the character's name?

When I decided how Claire has the character themes of light and stars I looked up related names that could somehow relate to her theme. I initially planned to give her the name ‘Lucina’ but I realized how there were already quite a lot of names that mean light like Lumiere, Licht, the Luci devils (Lucifero and Lucifugus), and eventually Lucius. There were too many light people that had gone to the light and way too many ‘Lucys’ and now I’m glad I chose the name ‘Claire’ instead. And I happen to prefer short and easy to say names so it's easier for me. I decided on Claire which is the French adjective meaning “clear,” “light,” or “bright.” When added to her surname Polaris her name loosely translates to ‘Clear/Bright Northstar’

4. Why did you give them the name they have? What is the in-universe reason for their name?

I just wanted a short and easy to remember name. In-universe reason is how it kinda mixes with the European setting of Black Clover.

5. What kind of abilities and power level does your oc have? Why did you give them their powers? What's the in-universe reason?

Her magic attribute is ‘Light’ which makes her quite versatile with how she fights. It is a given that light magic is fast and can be quite strong and destructive. But somehow she lacks in the attack spells department similarly to Lolopechka’s. The mana level she has is that of an average noble and I’ll rate it 4/5 in the magic amount scale. Her spells are mostly for healing, support, and travel. And she gets more creative once she gets exposed to various situations. She also has a second magic subtype which connects to how I plan to make a whole OC clan in Black Clover but that’s a story for another day.

I initially wanted to make her attribute ‘Firefly’ but to make things simple I settled on ‘Light’ instead. Her best skills are in magic control, healing, and creation type magic, which is how she summons multiple fireflies at once. The fireflies can perform various tasks and follow certain commands. Claire experiments and explores her magic a lot.

6. What are the weaknesses in their power? Why did you give them their weaknesses? What's the in-universe reason?

She lacks offensive spells. If she would attempt to learn one it would lack a punch. For someone with the revered and rare light attribute I needed her to think of ways how to defeat an opponent that is not through brute force. I wanted to give her the skillset of a healer/support mage to match her personality. While Claire can be rough to others on the outside, deep inside she values life.

7. Does your oc have any notable skills or good personality traits? Why did you give them those traits? Why do they exist in-universe?

She can be quite dedicated and tenacious with the smarts and wits to back her up. I wanted her to be strong intellectually which will show that raw strength and power alone won’t be enough to face the challenges and missions she’ll eventually go through. I wanted her to be able to see through the possibilities and potential of magic with creative ideas. For the in-universe reason, it’s to play around with the magic lore of BC.

8. Does your oc have any notable flaws or activities they're not good at? Why did you give them those flaws? Why do they exist in-universe?

She is highly guarded and distrustful towards people wanting to get close to her. With the word going around that she is a noble bastard, she thinks how someone would eventually want to take advantage of her strength and noble blood in her. And how people see her differently than what she actually is. Plus growing up with only her mother, Claire tends to be way too attached and protective to someone she deeply cares about. As she holds onto emotions deeply, she tends to carry some baggage. Which perhaps is her fatal flaw, when she loves, she loves too deeply and when she hates, she hates blindly.  My only in-universe reason is to shape her personality and to create an interesting story.

Activities Claire isn’t good at are detailed crafts and whatever requires patience like fishing and embroidery.

9. In a group dynamic, what kind of role does the oc usually fill? Are they a worry wart? A troublemaker? The straight man?

Depending on who’s present in the group. But Claire plays between the troublemaker to straight man. She sometimes creates trouble for their magic knight group which creates problems for Julius, she isn’t behind doing sneaky stuff to get what she wants. Morgen, Yami, and Nacht may have stopped her from committing murder multiple times. Claire plays straight man whenever Yami does something stupid and ends up saving his ass.

10. What is your favorite trait regarding your oc?

Her determination. Similar to Asta’s ‘never give up’ and Yami’s ‘surpass your limits’, Claire never stops chasing towards her objective. She’ll defy all odds to make things possible and it shows by her learning to become a better healer and mastering her magic overall. She’s smart and a problem solver. She’ll bust her way through in a way only Claire could.

11. What is your least favorite trait regarding your oc?

Her guarded heart. It makes her hard to write (not necessarily in a bad way). Because of this I have to make an effort to show how she befriends and forms relationships towards other characters because she just won’t make it easy. And her refusal to open up and be vulnerable towards others means she tends to hold onto her emotions and won’t show her true feelings to others. Someone has to put in the effort of understanding her and how she tries to be strong to protect herself and tell her that it’s alright to put her trust into someone. Last one…. She tends to hide and run away from problems.

12. Which canon characters (if any) do the oc have good relationships with? Why those characters?

Yami, as a squadmate and a friend she can trust and rely on. They both relate to being viewed as outcast to society Yami as a foreigner, Claire as a noble bastard. They tend to argue because Yami prefers charging head on while Claire observes and formulates plans first.

Julius, as Claire’s mentor and father figure. As Claire didn’t have a father growing up, she tends to act on what makes him happy. She looks up to him while Julius sees the potential she has as a mage.

Owen, the one who’ll mentor Claire in healing magic and medical knowledge. He knows her disdain towards nobility but he eventually made it to Claire's good side and earned her respect.

Fuegoleon and Mereoleona, these two don’t give a crap about status and they both see Claire based on her abilities as a mage. Perhaps the only royals Claire would ever hold in high respect.

13. Which canon characters (if any) do the oc have bad relationships with? Why those characters?

Nozel, (lol. Sorry) in her days as a Grey Deer these two just aren't going to mix well.

Jack, in an incident involving Yami. Let me just say how she got caught in their duel and it didn’t end well.

14. Did you give your oc a love interest? Is it another oc or a canon character? Why?

The Faust twins as eventual love interests. Morgen was the first person her age to see past her harsh personality. He saw through her walls that hides a person who is actually kind and compassionate which he thinks as to how her inherent personality reflects her magic spell that is mostly made to heal and save others. Claire looked up at Morgen’s dedication to become a good magic knight and wished that more people could be like him. For Nacht, Claire does not see him as a romantic interest until up to the time when the two end up in Spade. At the beginning Claire is cautious of Nacht because of his delinquency and magic. She is determined and claims to not hesitate how she would arrest him if she caught him doing illegal stuff. A few things happen between them here and there. But after Morgen died is when things get complicated but somehow their shared memory of Morgen is what will bring them together.

It would be Morgen at first, then eventually Nacht. Why? I just like the drama I can make out of them.

(In a special scenario she is paired with Yami because the dynamic is there)

15. How does your oc interact with the canon narrative? What about it do they change?

Claire dominantly plays a role in past canon then jumps to the present story of the Spade arc. She doesn’t change much of the story as she participates in the past timeline. Depending on how the manga continues is when I’ll decide how much she’ll change the story.

16. What aspect(s) of the universe's lore are they connected to? Do they change/add lore to the universe?

A lot of things about magic(its concepts and lore) and spells, light/life, and magic tools/relics/magic artifacts. Claire is a scholar of many things magic. Her research and experiments would eventually lead to various applications of magic.

Claire adds lore to the universe by being part of an OC clan of people that is currently in hiding and practices their own kind of magic. How much is added depends on the lore Tabs will eventually introduce. By then, I still have the lore currently under development.

17. List/describe up to five tropes that apply to your oc. They could be related to the oc's characterization or their narrative arc.

Badass Bookworm - who says nerds can’t bring you harm? Claire would find ways to destroy someone even without the use of offensive magic spells.

Tsundere - She tries to hide her feelings and can be both really good at it or an absolute failure at it. Spare this girl who treads between wanting love and denying it.

Parent in Distress/Extremely Protective Child - Claire to Lucina. Lucina with her mystery illness and Claire stepping up to become the adult instead.

Parental Abandonment/Tell Me About My Father! - Claire about her father. Pretty much self explanatory. Claire’s quest leading to knowing about her father’s identity connects to her feelings towards nobility.

Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life - her character arc surrounding Morgen and the Grey Deers. Her knowledge and skills in magic eventually made her talents as a magic knight be recognized. Something she would never realize if she stayed as a peasant.

18. Imagine meeting your oc. What would you want to say to them or do with them?

Meeting my oc for the first time would be difficult. I would have to first be able to hold a decent conversation given she would be distant and avoidant to a stranger. I’ll try to crack her up with my own Whack humor to try to ease the tension between us. Maybe it would work or maybe Claire would think I’m an idiot. One thing I would want to do with Claire would be to experience her magic like getting to ride her firefly mount and zoom past the skies. I could get some healing magic while we’re at it.

Getting into a discussion where Claire learns new things from me would be the key to catch her attention. Claire knows a lot about magic theory, while I’m more into science-y stuff so we get to have an exchange from nerdy facts.

19. How might your oc react to finding out you are the one responsible for their life?

Claire might hold me by the neck and tell if a god must give her fate so cruel and tragic. Then I die-

Okay I’m kidding. I’ll admit to being responsible for writing out her life the way it is. That she is born from my imagination and she is a character in a story. But many things can start out unpredictable then end in something that brings meaning to the life she’s been through. While I’ll tell her that her life has pain and suffering, so do many lives in my reality. But eventually her life will turn out well, that I’ll give her. I’m not fond of sad endings after all.

Maybe Claire would catch on and say if her character and story is a reflection of my own somehow. That if her identity as a fictional character has a part of me as her creator. Who knows.

20. Share a random piece of trivia about the creation of your oc. Examples: scrapped ideas or changes you didn't expect to make.

I have a one-shot version of Morgen and Claire’s story. In there Claire has less drama and isn’t a noble bastard but instead is raised by a single mother. Claire meets Morgen by chance and she reveals how she does volunteer work for a local church. She happened to be at the place where knights were supposed to catch a thief but she ended up finishing the job for them. Morgen thought about how she can easily become a magic knight with her skill in magic but Claire just can’t be bothered to join. Morgen eventually falls in love with Claire and courts her but unfortunately he encounters an untimely death. When Claire tries to seek Morgen she would found out about his death from Nacht. And that's it.

Scrapped idea is whether or not I’ll make Claire’s father significant in her story and I chose between revealing if he’s dead or not. I went with how his father is actually alive.

[skekheck]

All About the Seven Clans: The Spriton

THIS POST CONTAINS EVERYTHING I COULD FIND ABOUT THE SPRITON. SOME INFORMATION WRITTEN HERE ARE FROM OLDER MATERIAL AND MAY EITHER CONTRADICT STATEMENTS OR IS NO LONGER RELEVANT. I WILL DO MY BEST TO STRING IT ALL TOGETHER AS COHERENTLY AS POSSIBLE. IF THERE IS INFORMATION THAT I AM MISSING, PLEASE LET ME KNOW AND I’LL ADD IT!

Clan Index: Dousan Drenchen Grottan Sifa Spriton Stonewood Vapra

OVERVIEW

The Spriton were a farming clan that occupied the southern plains of Thra. Although well known for their knowledge in agriculture and husbandry, they were also experts in textile creation and other fine arts. Due to their location and way of life, they were the most important providers of grains and produce for other clans. Interestingly in other media, usually older works, the Spriton were a warrior clan instead.

The Spriton totem animal was the Landstrider and their core elements were the earth, its foundation, and protection of the land and its creatures . Both their clan and sigil colors were green and their pennant colors were beige with green and gold detail. 

Characteristics 

Most Spritons had dark or tanned skin and were sometimes covered in freckles. Their hair was dark-colored or black and were only ever worn in single braids. Decoration was minimal with only adorning their hair with small beads. A Spriton's eyes were noted to be "jewel-toned", usually light in color. Grey and off-white yellow or green were fairly common with darker greens and browns being rarer exceptions. Thanks to their lifestyles, Spritons were athletic and graceful. Spriton wings were noted to be long and narrow which were good for speed and agility. In the books written by J.M. Lee, one Spriton named Gereni had bright green wings. Older gelfling commonly had sun-worn skin and calloused hands.

Spriton clothing were simple, described as russet colored with autumnal qualities or earthy tones that matched their environment. Reds and browns in particular were extremely common. Plenty of gelfling from this clan wore head coverings which protected their heads from the Three Suns. Despite its simplicity, Spriton fashion displayed beautiful textile work with a unique stitching style not seen in other clans. 

Lifestyle

The Spriton were a traditional clan that valued hard work and generational knowledge. Performing daily tasks kept the community thriving as well as providing clothes and food for other clans. Their agricultural livelihoods revolved around season events like the trine cycle as well as ninents or greater seasons, which were one hundred trine in length. It was very important for memories to be passed on to ensure the success of crops for future generations. Living in harmony with Thra’s plants and creatures was also a tenet in Spriton culture. This stemmed from the Song of the Six Sisters where the Spriton’s first maudra was tasked with not only taking care of the land but also its foundation and animals. 

The Spriton were a medium-sized community whose population was comparable to the Drenchen's. Most Spritons lived in the clan's hometown Sami Thicket, but branched out into smaller villages and singular houses and farms along the Spriton Plains. The Spriton were some of the first clans to had spread outside their main village. Even the Stonewood, who had a larger population, didn’t stray too far from their home village until well into the Age of Division.  A Spriton family unit usually consisted of three to six gelfling. Despite the distance from their hometown, the Spriton never lost their sense of community. Whenever families returned to Sami Thicket to give crops, practice trading, or for special occasions, they were always welcomed warmly. 

Daily Routine

A day in the life of a Spriton consisted of long work days that started when the suns rose and stretched on well after dark. In Sami Thicket, and perhaps in some neighboring villages, an hourly bell was rung so the Spriton never got too lost in their work. When younglings grew to the age of apprenticeship, they were selected by mentors to begin training. They were put into a work group that was monitored by two elders. Younglings also refined their riding and hunting skills by participating in sports like bola-throwing and knock-knee, a race-and-ball game played on the backs of Landstriders. In the book series, they were also trained in combat and to fight with a spear. 

Because Spriton had a variety of jobs, they were divided into three main categories:

Hearth Workers: This group focused on tasks of integrated care of the hearth and home. Occupations included caregivers, woodworkers, songtellers, musicians, hearth workers (sometimes also called fire workers), bell ringers, food servers, and artisans like weavers, stitichers, and craftsmen. This group emphasized on building and maintaining the physical homes as well as replenished the hearts and spirits of the Spriton. Artisans were also seen as integral to the clan as their tapestries and other creations preserved their way of life.

Dirt Workers: Dirt workers protected the land and cultivated the clan’s many gardens in Sami Thicket and nearby fields. They were largely farmers, but also consisted of animal breeders and maintainers. They kept oral records of seasonal wisdom by marking the passing of time using sun-sticks posted in fields and horticultural and agricultural knowledge from previous generations. Dirt workers tended to creatures by tracking their numbers and observing their health. They believed that the health of the animals represented the health of the land.

Path Workers: Path workers were traders. Gelfling with these jobs were responsible for sorting, preparing, counting, and trading Spriton products. They were strong in numbers and noted for their adventurous and outgoing personalities who used their intelligence, sharp tongues, and charismatic smiles to sell their items. A popular saying “as smooth as a Spriton wagon driver” was inspired by them. Spriton traders often traveled outside of Sami Thicket, mostly staying within the plains but ventured to Stone-in-the-Wood and even Har’rar. 

Spriton Crafts

The Spriton were renowned for their crafts as much as their expansive knowledge on agriculture. They covered just about everything from textiles and quilts to tools and weapons.  Although, in regards to their metalwork, it was not as refined as the Stonewood’s and Vapran’s due to the dearth in materials. Spritons opted to work mainly with charmed wood, fiber, and substances from both vegetables and animals which were magically bounded.  Needlework in particular was considered a highly valued talent within Spriton communities as it was believed they were the stitchers of the gelfling clans.

Spriton textiles were easy to spot with its exposed stitchwork, extensive variety of magically-enhanced colors, and embroidery. They were highly sought out by other clans, especially the fashion-oriented Vapra. Their sandals were particularly famous not just for their beauty but also because of how sturdy they were. Spriton wool, which were spun from the coats of various plains creatures, were popular especially when dyed from one hundred pigments made in Sami Thicket. 

As previously mentioned, Spriton crafts sported a unique style. While craftsmen in other clans hid binding agents like threadwork in shoes and tangle-weed in pottery, the Spriton purposely exposed them. They believed that if it weren’t for them, the craft would fall apart. Highlighting these parts was the Spriton’s way of showing respect to them. Exposed threadwork was incorporated artistically with patterns on clothing and shoes. Tangle-weed, which made clay more durable, was dyed in beautiful vibrant colors.

Some other examples of Spriton craftsmanship were their lyres and bolas. While lyres from other clans had six strings, Spriton lyres had seven. The seventh string was spun from Vapran metal which clans were given through trading. It gave the lyres a sublime character and was said to have emulated the voice of Thra. Spriton bolas were better than ones produced by other clans as it had longer rope with smaller stones, which made it easier to throw and reached farther distances.

Dream-stitiching

Dream-stitching was a type of magic that originated from the Spriton. It was a skill that combined elements from dreamfasting and dream-etching, which had the ability to fasten memories onto a physical object that invoked all senses and stirred imagination. The object could be anything: books, paintings, tapestries, or even stones or plants. This skill was difficult to master and was only taught by the Spriton maudra.

Kylan, a dream-stitcher, displayed noteworthy forms of the art. In the TV series, Kylan dream-stitched Brea’s memory of her mother within a Glider Seed so that others could know the All Maudra like she did. His skills in the book series were even more remarkable as he bounded Tavra’s soul upon the body of a crystal-singer and spread the message of the gelfling resistance on the Sanctuary Tree’s petals with dream-stitching.

Animal Husbandry

Much like their knowledge of land, the Spriton knew plenty about Thra’s diverse creatures, dating as far back as the Age of Harmony. Dirt workers were the ones responsible for training and handling animals. They knew animal calls and methods that taught them certain commands.  Many of these animals helped the Spriton in their daily tasks. For example, Mounders used their digging abilities to create irrigation channels in fields that helped Spriton crops. 

Landstriders

Landstriders, the totem animal of the Spriton were the most notable animals among the clan. In fact, it was common belief by other clans that all Spritons were experienced Landstrider riders. Riding one was noted to be difficult for newcomers and it took time for the creatures to get used to a saddle. But trainers created a system that made the Landstriders comfortable giving gelfling rides if they were given treats in exchange (usually roasted fruits or nectar).  While their eyesight was poor, they had impeccable hearing and could “see” by listening to the echoes of their hoofbeats. They could be ridden during both the day and night, but weren’t good for stealth as their hooves produced loud sounds. During times of war, Landstriders were given armor, even on their legs. While this slowed them down, lining them together made for an affective barricade. 

Spriton cared for Landstriders within several large herds. They were given plenty of freedom to roam in large meadows with built structures for them to take shelter with eating-troughs and trenches from nearby rivers for fresh water. These living spaces formed positive relationships between Landstriders and gelfling. These bonds became especially important during the late Age of Division as they were the only animals capable of fighting off the Garthim thanks to their swift speed. 

Swoothus and Windshifters

Swoothus and windshifters were other notable Spriton animals. They were used for delivering messages all throughout gelfling settlements. While windshifters were faster, they were more aloof and easily distracted. Swoothus, on the other hand, were slower but easier to train and performed better especially when motivated by food. They were capable of understanding speech and specific commands as well as recognizing multiple locations. 

Like with Landstriderss, bonds of trust formed between Swoothu or Windshifters and their trainers. With Swoothus, it came to the point where they’d visit their trainer even when there were no messages to send. Younger Swoothu tended to not stray too far from Sami Thicket until they gained the courage or curiosity to fly farther out. Sometimes they hitched a ride with their trainers or traders until they’re ready to fly off. By then, they mainly traveled to major gelfling settlements like Stone-in-the-Wood, Har’rar, and the Castle of the Crystal. 

Cohabitating With Podlings

While podlings had always co-existed with gelfling, the harmony between them and Spritons were the greatest. The relationship between the two were very communal and so close that they adapted cultures and characterstics from one another. Gelfling from Sami Thicket and neighboring villages commonly spoke podling tongue.

Podlings lived alongside their fellow Spritons in Sami Thicket, having houses nestled in between the gelflings’. They worked alongside the gelfling in various jobs, shared everything together, and even raised within the same nurseries. The two species took part in each other’s holidays or traditions, like podling funerals. Spritons and podlings alike gathered by the Pavilion and prepared the body for service and burial. 

Diet

Thanks to the Spriton’s knowledge in agriculture and crops, they found ways of growing fruits and vegetables not normally found in their region, elongated growing seasons, and yielded bigger crops. Because of the large bounty of produce, a Spriton’s diet was heavily relied on fruits and vegetables. Meat was consumed rarely and when they did the gelfling carefully picked a creature, quickly slaughtered it, and gave it their respects.

Spriton cuisine involved mixing greens with vegetables and fruits. Produce was sometimes marinated in a tangy sauce or seasoned with fire-toasted seeds or nuts. Spriton cheese was treasured and came in great variety, from soft spreadable to harder cheeses suited for grating and melting. The cheeses were widely sought out by other clans and fetched good prices, especially in giant markets like the ones in Har’rar where such foods were hard to come by. 

One notable Spriton delicacy was the sweet cherry squash. Cherry squashes were roasted which gave them a savory sweet taste. They were saved for special occasions like visits from the skeksis during tithe and census ceremonies. Other Spriton foods included dried squash and emroot. 

Festival of the Sour Squash

This was an autumn holiday that celebrated the harvest of the sour squash. The ripeness of the squash signaled the beginning of the harvest seasons and the coming of winter. The fruit grew in partial shades of the thicket and changed color from green to amber and, when ripe, to red. Sour squash was delicious when roasted, although the ripeness produced an even more flavorable heady sweetness. Otherwise raw sour squash, as its name indicated, had an unbearable sourness. Roasted sour squash was similar to roasted sweet cherry squash for both flavor, crispiness, juiciness, and equally sweet-scented.

Along with the beginning of the harvest, the festival was also the Spriton’s way of thanking Thra’s generosity for the bounty of their crops. This was reflected in the festival’s tradition: after gelfling roasted their sour squash they must share all of it with others and only then were they allowed to eat the ones given to them by others. It was generally considered bad luck to decline to share. Sharing roasted squash wasn’t limited to gelfling as it involved podlings and the animals that resided in the village. 

Day of the Great Sun

This was a traditional summer festival that all gelfling celebrated with summer activities like carrying water, taking a day of rest and more. But for the Spriton, who referred to it as the Longest Day, observed the event differently with a tradition called “sun-filling”. On the days leading up to the Longest Day, the Spriton cut back the trees around their homes and removed the latching from their roofs. When the day came, the sunlight from the Greatest Sun filled their houses with its light as it made its long journey across the sky. The Spriton held the belief that the light the sun brought kept out dust and last until the next trine.

Another tradition was burning old or discarded items within Sami Thicket’s hearth whose fire raged on through the entire day. When homes were cleaned and the fire put out, the head of each household took a small handful of ash and sprinkled on the newly thatched roofs. It was a reminder of letting go but also respecting and honoring the old.

Spritons sung a traditional song called “Sun-Filling Song” while they de-dusted heavy quilts and mats.

Mysteries of the Mystic Valley

Although the Spritons lived near the Valley of the Mystics none knew about the existence of the urru. Yet, they knew that something lived there beyond the dried-up ravine as rumors sprung from sights of silhouettes and hearing chanting at night. Many had gone into the valley to find the source of the rumors but found nothing. This may be due to the mystic magic that cloaked their village from outsiders. Many songs were created to explain these seemingly mysterious phenomena. Some were more logical, that the valley was the new home of the Arathim, but some were more superstitious that the ravine was haunted by a long forgotten race. 

Interestingly, plenty of songs focused on skekMal the Hunter who was known by many gelfling to be a myth. In many of these stories he was known as the Hunter. They explained that the Mystic Valley was his birthplace and in one particular song, called “Hunter’s Knife”, was also the resting place of his heart. In the song, it explained the origins of his bloodthirst as, believing his spirit was holding him back, he carved out his heart with a knife made from stone. He left it in the valley where, as rumors believed, was the source of the moaning heard at night. It was his disembodied spirit’s desperate calls to be reunited with his body. 

Sami Thicket, Hometown of the Spriton

Nestled within a small wood in the middle of the Spriton plains lied Sami Thicket. The word sami meant “to rest” in old gelfling, which signified the village being a welcoming place of rest after a long day of work. Hundreds of families of both gelfling and podling lived within their clay and wooden houses, some multiple stories high. Some houses, like the ones outside of the village, were built with sturdy logs. Animals also lived within the village with winded creatures like Windshifters and Swoothu having built-in dens and nests throughout the wood. The village circled around the Pavillion. 

The Pavillion was known as one of the hearts of Sami Thicket. It was located right in front of the Spriton maudra’s large round house. It radiated out from a stone hearth as its core with paved multi-colored stones of red, gray, and blue which were arranged in a mosaic, twisting, tree branch-like pattern. The hearth itself was ringed with stone ledges wide enough for several gelfling to stand on or for a whole band to play in the evening. 

The community gathered around the Pavillion daily for performing tasks and where supper was served by hearth workers. It was also the meeting place for special occasions. During these times, fire workers created giant fires that towered over the village and beautifully lighting up the Pavillion. 

Nenadi-Staba 

Otherwise known as the Low Tree, this was the patron tree of the Spriton. It was considered the other heart of the Sami Thicket and was located within a bowl-like valley near a winding brook. The tree itself was a squat tree with bulging roots that had a gnarled, maze like-pattern with dangling smaller roots and vines. The Low Tree’s thin, reedy branches were ruffled with fragile hand-shaped golden leaves. It only took a short walk to get there which allowed the Spriton to visit it whenever they wanted. Younglings played on its labyrinthine roots while elders meditated under its shade. To pay homage to their Great Tree, the Spriton sang a song called “Ode to the Low Tree”.

Relationship With the Skeksis and Other Clans

The Spriton were among the most loyal of the skeksis. In fact, it was the Spriton who first agreed to form an alliance with them, kickstarting the Alliance of the Crystal. SkekVar, when he was known as the Ambassador, convinced Elder Carn of the gelfling council to form a compromise of exchanging weapons for the skeksis protection from the Makraks. After meeting with skekSo the Emperor did Elder Carn solidified the alliance with them. Since then, the Spriton remained loyal to the skeksis, where they provided them with tithes and banquets whenever they visited. Like most clans, some Spritons were sent to the Castle of the Crystal to become guards. In the book series, along with the Stonewood, they made the majority of the skeksis’ armies and guards at the Castle of the Crystal. However, their loyalty was eventually driven by fear as evident by Maudra Mera. In both the TV and book series, she remained stubborn about joining the resistance fearing the safety of her own clan. Eventually she decides to join the Spriton in the fight against the skeksis.  

Spritons generally were respectful and kind to any visitors who visited Sami Thicket and neighboring villages. They valued keeping face and held the belief they had good trading relationships with other clans. They did have their fair share of rivalries, though. The most well known of these were with their woodland neighbors the Stonewood. Depending on the media, the severity of their rivalry varied. In the timeline established in Age of Resistance, it didn’t extend outside of name-calling and rumormongering. The book series, however,  had the two clans constantly feuding over territory within the Endless Forest. Despite all of this, the Spriton shared the same folklore with them including the heroic Jarra-Jen and the villainous Hunter.

They were the only neighbors of the Drenchen which they had semi-regular contact with. On the surface, the two had a friendly neighboring relationship but looking past this lied a steadily growing tension. This hit a crescendo in the book series as, after Stonewood’s defeat and supposed annihilation, the Drenchen took up arms to fight the skeksis themselves. To get to the castle, they would have to go through the Spriton which were still loyal to the skeksis. Fueled by fear that they too would end up like Stonewood, the Spriton expected to fight the Drenchen. Thankfully, Naia and her friends were able to defuse the situation from becoming a civil war and managed to get the two clans to join the resistance.

Like other clans, the Spriton had their own stereotypes from outsiders. While the Spriton thought of themselves as humble and more productive of the seven clans, others found them overly obedient and old fashioned. At least in the book series timeline, the Spriton were believed to be territorial as well as aggressive and combative. Some outsiders referred Spritons as “grasslings”. 

Notable Spriton Members

Kylan: A songteller who lived during the late Age of Division. He accompanied the Drenchen Naia who wanted to find Rian and exchange him for the freedom of her brother. He would then help the gelfling resistance by helping the other clans light the fires of resistance. Interestingly, Kylan is half Spriton from his mother side: his dad was from Stonewood.

Maudra Mera the Dream Stitcher: Maudra Mera was the Spriton Maudra during the late Age of Division. She loved the skeksis and much as she feared them and would do anything to keep her clan safe, even if it meant siding with the lords who were draining gelfling. She was shrewd and traditional.

Tolyn: A Spriton who served as a guard at the Castle of the Crystal. When an uprising was being formed after the gelfling learned the truth, Tolyn decided to tell the lords about this supposed traitorous behavior. It backfired on him completely as he was drained of his essence along with most of the castle guards.

Carn: Also known as Elder Carn or Maudra Carn. She lived during the late Age of Harmony and the early Age of Division. During the Makrak raids, she agreed to form an alliance with the skeksis for their protection, an alliance that would nearly last a thousand years.

Thall: Daughter of Carn. A lover of the forest she lived near by, she was the first gelfling to encounter urSu the Master. She, urSu, and Raunip found a way to help the Makraks find their way back underground and stopped their destructive raids. 

Veara: A healer from a Spriton village. She tried helping Barfinnious and Hup with a beast that had been attacking her village, but was snatched by it instead. Veara was able to leave a trail of herbs to the cave where the beast lied in hopes the two could put a stop to it. 

Vortina: A Spriton farmer from a village outside of Sami Thicket. Vortina tried to defend her farm when a beast attacked it but was hurt in the process. Her wounds were mended by the village's healer Veara. 

Mimi: The daughter of Maudra Mera. 

Lun: In Shadows of the Dark Crystal, he was seen helping roast cherry-squashes in preparation for the arrival of the skeksis lords. In Flames of the Dark Crystal, he became a scout for Maudra Mera to keep track of any Drenchen soldiers.

Phaedra: A Spriton who lived in Sami Thicket. She was the village’s sandal-stitcher.

Remi: A childling who lived in Sami Thicket. He was in charge of ringing the hour bell. 

Gereni: Gereni was a scout who accompanied Lun to look out for Drenchen soldiers. 

[Sources: Song of the Seven Gelfling Clans, the official Dark Crystal website, Shadows of the Dark Crystal, Song of the Dark Crystal, Flames of the Dark Crystal, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance, the Dark Crystal, The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance: An Epic Return To Thra, The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance: The Ballad of Hup & Barfinnious, Author Quest: The Gelfling Gathering, Creation Myths, Heroes of the Resistance , the Dark Crystal Bestiary]

[ariparri]

MC Patronus

I was tagged by @carewyncromwell on a post for MC patronuses! I, sadly, don't really talk about most of my characters because I'm hyperfixacted on mostly one character 😅

I'll only do this for my Hogwarts Legacy and Hogwarts Mystery MCs. Anyways, let's get to it!

I can't find the original docs I made for my MCs' patronus so majority of this was a copy paste from the site I use to figure out their patronus.

What's My Spirit Animal?

Image Source

McQuaid/Mac Uaid

I mentioned in the Mac Uaid family crest that the wolf is part of the emblem and how every McQuaid's patronus is a wolf.

As a spirit animal, the wolf comes to support and teach us about matters of personal power, balance, self-control, and our animal instincts.

Wolves are misunderstood by many to be aggressive, vicious animals who attack with no provocation. Nothing could be further from the truth.

In fact, wolves go out of their way to avoid fights. However, when they want to be heard, when they want to stave off or deter an attacker, they will stand their ground.

Wolves are incredible examples of standing in the seat of your own power. They let predators know that they can fight to the death and are prepared to do so but they rarely initiate combat.

The wolf sometimes appears when we face challenges for which we feel less than prepared. The wolf reminds you that you have all the tools in your spiritual treasure chest to handle this effectively.

For seekers who feel afraid or threatened, the wolf reminds us of how those feelings put our entire psyche off balance. Yes, fear plays an important role in personal safety unless it becomes all-consuming or is baseless. Don’t let the darkness consume your spirit.

Sometimes the wolf calls on us to become the Lone Wolf, who breaks away from the pack to discover the Sacred Self. During times of aloneness, you rediscover your dreams and passions. You also start uncovering the true self and voice that howls at the moon with abandonment!

Humans are animals, and sometimes we overlook the gifts from nature that are already within us. Life has an order and rhythm. When you run with a pack, there is a sense of community, and when you’re alone – liberation.

Those who walk with the wolf sometimes don’t trust themselves as much as they should. When you find yourself falling into that emotional pattern, rely on your keen mind and logic to renew balance.

The key caution for wolf people is your predatory nature. Now, here’s the thing about a wolf’s “predatory” nature – they mostly focus on taking down the weak, sick, and elderly.

Rarely will a Wolf prey on a strong, mature adult. Surely nature has a reason for this, but in terms of symbolism for humans, the lesson here is to make sure that you do not choose to prey on those who are not able to stand against you.

Rohan Mac Uaid (Hogwarts Legacy)

The Gray Wolf is Rohan's patronus. As his patronus is the gray wolf, he is constantly transforming himself, improving himself as he encounters the lessons and challenges of life.

The gray wolf is the wolf who stands at the Western Door. The winds of change will gently flow through the life of the gray wolf soul, stirring him to greet the change with the knowledge of the lessons that such transitional times will herald. The gray wolf soul understands that change is merely growth, an essential part of life, and thus, embraces change easily.

McQuaids with the gray wolf patronus doesn't strain to see what is not yet visible on the other side, merely acknowledges that the changes will surely take place and that the choices he/she makes, will fashion the path they take.

The individual with the totem of the gray wolf understands the importance of protecting and nurturing life in all of its varied and brilliant forms. He is the soul that desires to be of service to others and thus enters a profession which will be in alignment with these principles. She is the soul who desires to nurture the spark of soul awareness in the other members of her society, so as to ensure the survival of the species. In whatever form this urge of guardianship manifests itself, the gray wolf totem will always strive to be of benefit to the whole.

The wolf soul is one who understands the depth of connection with another, be it mate, friend or family member. These individuals will tend to be monogamous in nature. If a mate is not found that shares this same sense of loyalty, then the wolf totem will choose to live as a solitary wolf yet will still have deep and abiding bonds with friends and/or family.

The gray wolf totem is drawn to individuals who possess the ability to employ rational thought coupled with intuitive understanding. As he walks through life, wolf soul uses his keen intelligence to assess issues and situations which demand resolution. He then follows the prompts he receives from his own higher sense of knowing to achieve necessary growth and learning.

Rohan has quite a fierce temper and often scolds others for their incompetence. After meeting Avis, her gentle nature melting his heart of ice, Rohan shows more self restraint in terms of his emotions. He cares little about status or tradition, and merely judges others solely based on their knowledge, skill and loyalty.

Coby McQuaid (Hogwarts Mystery)

Coby's patronus is the Arctic Wolf. It is said that at the door of each of the Four Winds, a wolf keeps silent vigil, each bringing change to the life of those who walk the good Red Road and with the change, a lesson unique to that wind.

The arctic wolf is the Wolf of the North Winds. He stands quietly in rigid determination, unyielding at times, much as the barren landscapes of his home appear to resist the beginning of Spring.  She is a soul that is comfortable with her surroundings and therefore sees no “reason” to change.

Yet the promise of the North Wind is wisdom unfolding through gratitude and acknowledgment. This is the direction in which wisdom is sifted from the sands of experience and then fashioned into a red staff of manifestation that wields personal potential. Therefore, if the white wolf soul can accept change when it appears, yet remain true to his/her values, then the higher vibration of wisdom and truth can emerge from beneath stubborn resistance like shoots of sweet summer grass bursting forth from a blanket of winter’s snow. Thus, personal power can be embraced, understood and ultimately, the soul’s individual potential manifested.

The individual with the arctic wolf as their power totem is one who is capable of withstanding numerous challenges and setbacks, only to emerge stronger than before. It is little wonder that these souls will often face adversity in their lives in order to build the resilience with which to overcome obstacles? Paradoxically, they are also gentle souls with a great deal of emotional sensitivity . . . and this is the area in which they are likely to encounter their greatest lessons. Yet by calling upon the inner strength and resilience of the arctic wolf, they can triumph and raise their heads with gratitude to the loving rays of the sun.

The arctic wolf soul is an individual who is capable of performing nearly miraculous bouts of stamina that would weary other souls as he travels the good Red Road. He possesses within him the ability to push his body and mind to the limits, and in fact, can appear to even derive pleasure from doing so.

With each new goal that has been met, the arctic wolf individual will then set his/her sights on the next task at hand. Preferably the new goal will be even more challenging than the one just completed, as this engenders the acknowledgment within their own reasoning that they are worthy of that which has been given to them, yet the truth of the matter is that anything they have received, has been honestly won.

Veruca McQuaid (Hogwarts Mystery)

The Arctic Wolf is Veruca's patronus. Although she shares the same patronus as her brother, the patronus takes on a different meaning. The Arctic Wolf patronus Veruca has, is the shadow to the alpha Arctic Wolf. So even with her patronus, Veruca is still in Coby's shadow.

When manifesting as a shadow totem, the arctic wolf brings lessons in life experience that will tend to build up a defensive wall around the shadow wolf soul. These individuals enter onto the Red Road with a good deal of vulnerability, in many instances a higher degree of sensitivity to their environments than most. Yet, as time goes by, extremely painful circumstances are met that will either construct a fortress of solitude or a friendly barrier that keeps others at a “safe” distance, thereby decreasing the chances that the individual may once again be hurt.

McQuaids who have the arctic wolf patronus are stoic and resolute individuals who appear to bear any storm with a spirit of strength and perseverance. And indeed, they are quite capable of enduring many hardships, yet the true lesson for the arctic wolf is the act of maintaining a certain measure of vulnerability in the face of the brutal lessons they encounter.

Though those with the arctic wolf patronus are naturally geared toward a mostly solitary existence, they will have a couple, to a few close & trusted friends that will be more like family members than their own biological family. The reason for this is due to the fact that the shadow arctic wolf soul will often grow up in a family that is either highly dysfunctional, or in circumstances where one or both parents are absent, be this as in the sense that the parental figures are deceased, or where the mother and father are emotionally unavailable.

Veruca isn't as close to her mother as she is with her father. Though she loves her just as much, she can't help but feel like a second thought compared to Coby. Carson is a close friend to Veruca that they consider each other siblings. Veruca even refers to the Iveys as her second family and addresses Mr. and Mrs. Ivey as mom and dad.

Again, trust is hard to earn from those who own an arctic wolf patronus, and bonds once forged in trust will rarely be broken unless there is an extreme betrayal on the part of their loved one. The ultimate challenge of these individuals is to learn to be open, vulnerable and trusting in the face of a lifetime of lessons in rejection, disillusionment, and betrayal. Yet it is interesting that these people will often be the ones to break off relationships, and are seldom the one to be “left behind.”

Right after graduation, Veruca leaves everyone behind to find her own peace and come to terms with everything that has happened. After finding her peace, she comes back to reconcile and reunite with everyone else. While on her own journey, her patronus ends up changing to match Diego's patronus.

Carson Ivey (Hogwarts Mystery)

Carson's patronus is the owl, specifically the Brown Owl. The owl cannot be deceived, which is why this spirit animal reminds us to remain true to ourselves, our voice, and our vision. The owl spirit does not tolerate illusion or secrets.

Being Veruca's best friend, it's a given Carson knows what's truly going on with her. Though it's pretty easy for him to read the moods of someone, he's not one to pry into someone's personal affairs.

The owl is a symbol of being able to navigate any darkness in our life; this spirit brings clarity, prophetic inklings, and a strong connection with the mystical world.

Those with the owl patronus have the opportunity to become far more observant. Being able to notice a lot of important details that previously eluded you. The world is filled with layers of symbolism and meaning, and the owl gives you “new” eyes with which to see those.

As a spirit animal, the owl often calls on us to release the past and put down burdens that hold us back. You have to face your shadows and fears, then move beyond them to find true happiness.

Owls don’t just honor us with the ability of “Second Sight." These majestic birds have hearing that is quite literally “perfect stereo." The owl as a spirit animal guide can aid you in hearing what is really being said despite the words and emotions coming from the messenger.

The owl spirit can help support you when the time to speak your truth has arrived. Remember, owls are birds of prey, and little stops them when they set their sites on “the prize.” What or whom do you have your heart set on? Focus, patience, and stillness can win the day.

Invoke owl energy when you need to see all the details of what or who is coming toward you and what is right in front of you.

Carson may be chaotic with his personality, but he can be patient to analyze and assess a situation. He's quite stubborn, might be because his childhood friend is Veruca and he picked up on her own stubbornness, but he will continue to push for what he stands for.

In Celtic mythology, owls knew the way to the underworld and were fierce defenders of truth and honor. The owl has no tolerance for deception, even when we are deceiving ourselves.

The Celtic Owl was tied closely to the ancient Goddess of fertility. It frequently appears in knotwork and bestiaries, being revered for its ability to see in the dark and acting as a messenger between humans and the Divine.

Avis Ni Conraoi (Hogwarts Legacy)

Avis' patronus is the butterfly. Those with the butterfly patronus means it's time for personal growth and greater awareness of mental, physical, and spiritual rhythms. Change can sometimes be challenging and daunting because it moves us out of our comfort zone.

You cannot embrace a “new you” until you release the old. With the butterfly spirit, you’ll find that you can fly gracefully above the barriers that would otherwise hold you back.

The Conraois are quite a spiritually oriented family one can say. They don't appear to worry over minor things that can cause someone to stress out to the point of exhaustion. Avis, herself, lives her life freely with no worries. Life is too short for her to take a slow path and be cautious of everything. She simply goes with the flow, following where the wind takes her on a new journey.

The butterfly as a teacher puts great emphasis on movement: Be it blossom-to-blossom, home-to-home, or one state in our spiritual exploration to another.

An old Irish blessing says,

“May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun, and find your shoulder to light on.

To bring you luck, happiness, and riches today, tomorrow and beyond.”

Throughout Celtic regions, the butterfly represents prosperity, joy, good fortune, and honor. Butterflies also symbolizes the soul. So much was the case that harming a white butterfly was against the law in Ireland because of the belief it bore a dead child’s spirit.

The butterfly often turns our thoughts inward to review elements of our character, morals, and habits that weigh us down, keeping us stuck in a mire of negative energy.

The goal of the winged ally is restoring lightness in your being so you can dance life’s dance with unbridled joy!

People with a butterfly as their patronus have a natural lightness of spirit! They love the beauty of nature and are guided by the greatest good when it comes to maintaining balance with the environment.

Avis is normally against violence, opting to be an advocate of peace. Though if that peace has been disturbed, she will take on a more passive aggressive attitude to protect that peace.

With the butterfly patronus, you’ll find that you’re better equipped to look at difficult situations from another angle. As you fly on her wings, your perspective becomes more global and hopeful.

Butterfly people are naturally social, colorful, and vibrant. They endeavor to live each moment to the fullest.

[managements002]

Basic Administration Team

June has greater than a decade of working experience within the area of Specific Learning Difficulties. She is a Fellow with the Register of Educational Therapists and a professional trainer with a WSQ Advanced Certificate in Training and Assessment . 

Previously an academic therapist concerned in dyslexia intervention,her earlier experiences increase her present function as a instructor educator and enable her to adopt a grounded perspective in her ideas and approach. June is passionate about making dyslexia work for dyslexics and believes that dyslexia can turn into their asset if we educate them how. 

She is committed to empowering mother and father, educators and schools with knowledge and sensible abilities in order that students with dyslexia may be given the best support to thrive. 

She is presently pursuing a doctorate diploma at the National Institute of Education , Singapore and the University College London, Institute of Education with a special curiosity within the matter of inclusion of children with delicate learning difficulties in mainstream school.

 The BM WSQ’s complete method ensures that professionals, managers, and executives seeking to develop their careers additional shall be geared up with useful skills to make them an asset in any office.

Since October 2007, Ms Shiina has been liable for gross sales and advertising actions for Japan and South Korea. She additionally leads, coordinates and supervises the overall operational and enterprise growth actions for the Group in Japan. 

Ms Lee joined Banyan Tree in 2001 as a Cost Manager and was promoted to Senior Vice President in 2018. She oversees the development of all new projects by the Banyan Tree Group, with a concentrate on governance of project and procurement processes because the Group’s footprint expands.

At Banyan Tree Group, she leads Brand HQ, liable for brand growth and strategy across its multi-branded portfolio. This encompasses buyer expertise, culture and development, communications and assurance, working with cross-practical groups for important change projects within the Group. 

Ms Ho joined the group in 2009 in various roles across Operations and Headquarters, and started leading the Spa and Gallery enterprise unit from 2017. 

In her present function, she spearheads the Group’s transformation drive in direction of developing a digitally-ahead ecosystem of brands round wellbeing and sustainability. Mr. Moy made a transition in his career from banking and funding to hospitality in 2009 where he served as Executive Vice President and Secretary to the Board of Capella Hotel Group, a subsidiary of Pontiac Land Group, for over eleven years. 

During that point, he was instrumental in build up the hospitality and managed residences enterprise where he was responsible for growth, pre-opening, proprietor stakeholder asset administration and managing corporate function operations.

Siang was a member of the US-based mostly International Dyslexia Association from 2016 to 2018 and Chair of their Global Partners Committee from 2016 to 2018, he still remains a member of the Global Partners Committee representing Singapore. 

He has performed a key position in the speedy progress of DAS right into a thriving social enterprise with a multi-disciplinary skilled workforce that gives a continuum of providers. 

He emphasizes that DAS "should strive to fulfil our social mission by combining entrepreneurial and business skills with the philanthropic characteristics of non-earnings". 

Hospitality and tourism properties, by the nature of the service that they provide, must be open, pleasant and simply accessible to guests and most of the people which makes them susceptible to threats.

Prior to joining DAS, she spent 13 years as the Chief Financial Officer of Oakwood Asia Pacific, which manages a few of Asia's finest serviced residences in China, India, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia. If we checked out what B2B companies are doing now, you’d suppose brief time period activation is one of the simplest ways to grow their enterprise.

learners will perceive the macro and micro features of international business, from the evaluation of a rustic's setting, to trade analysis, timing of entry and mode of entry. Human Resource Management performs a strategic position in the overall firm course and the accomplishment of its targets and objectives.

 Financial Management encompasses the planning, execution, controlling and monitoring of resources and enterprise processes to achieve organisational objectives, significantly the aim of maximising shareholders’ wealth. 

This module offers learners with an understanding of the monetary statements of firms, including evaluation and interpretation, in addition to methods around Accounts Receivable, Inventory and Working Capital management. It additional utilizes the ideas of time worth of cash and threat vis-à-vis returns to make learners aware of its impact on associated topics corresponding to capital budgeting, short- and lengthy-term financing selections. 

Lastly, learners shall be guided via the budgeting and efficiency analysis phase as well as relevant costing for determination making. Mitsubishi Corporation is Japan's largest and most diverse basic buying and selling and investment company with over one hundred twenty bases of operations in approximately 90 nations worldwide. interims manager

MGAs additionally bring expertise to the table, such as on-line platforms that combine with wholesale channels or merchandise that speed up the quoting course of, that help impartial agents present higher providers to their clients.

 Agents can realise larger commissions by working with an MGA that has a diverse network of insurers, allowing agents to review the commission construction and have the choice to promote insurers’ products that provide the best rates. As Vice-President, Head of Growth, since January 2020, Mr Ong is responsible for developing gross sales strategies to meet revenue and progress targets. 

He will present strategic enterprise leadership, set direction and goals and oversee sales effort. He will be working carefully with his Global Sales staff, the cluster DOSMs, resorts‘ General Managers and DOSMs. 

In his 28 years with the Group, he has served in numerous capacities to develop Laguna Phuket into an expensive life-style group. He was involved within the pre-opening for Sheraton Grande , Laguna Golf Phuket, Allamanda, Canal Village and Banyan Tree Phuket, in addition to Banyan Tree Bangkok.

This is a 12-week internship attachment to a business, public or governmental organisation, either domestically or overseas. The attachment provides learners with real-life working experiences and develops in them the best work angle, a apply-oriented or hands-on mindset and the ability to work with individuals in an organisation.

Participating organisations will provide an in depth training programme, which can include project assignments and/or rotational on-the-job coaching. In at present’s disruptive economy, entrepreneurial qualities become essential belongings for all individuals - whether for aspiring entrepreneurs or for company employees who desire to be effective and impactful contributors in the organisation and society at giant.

This course is especially relevant if you are thinking about a consulting profession or have entrepreneurial inclinations. If you are interested in different business functions similar to finance or marketing, you may recognize the fabric in this course because it provides a greater perspective on the overall workings of a business organisation. 

ModuleObjectiveOperationsThe operations operate in an organisation is responsible for the design, control, and improvement of methods involved with the production and supply of goods and providers. As operations account for a good portion of the worth add and value in any enterprise, even a small benefit in operations can mean the distinction between successful and losing in a competitive market.

She also provides oversight and support of the Group’s functional committees in China and the day-to-day operations of the Group’s subsidiary in China. Ms Ho holds a Bachelor of Science in Sociology and Economic Development from the London School of Economics, and a Certificate in Accounting and Finance from the National University of Singapore.

Empowered with T-formed competencies, working professionals can remain aggressive globally and operate efficiently in different business environments. framework aims to cultivate versatile ‘T-shaped Professionals’ who possess deep expertise in a particular domain space as well as general knowledge in areas related to enterprise management or operations. 

Develop a good understanding of global affairs and information in worldwide enterprise and trade. You will also get plenty of networking opportunities and publicity in emerging markets through study journeys, overseas attachments and immersion programmes. Gain knowledge and abilities to plan, organise and implement efficient CRM programmes that can assist businesses ship good service.

You will study basic business subjects and important, specialised expertise similar to digital marketing, business analytics and design thinking. The place of a basic supervisor requires management qualities and the flexibility to oversee a business and lead a team of staff.

Since being appointed to his current position in January 2019, Mr Lim has overseen the Group’s lodge openings and hotel operations in key areas worldwide. Mr Chin is the Managing Director of the Banyan Tree Group of Companies in China, in three way partnership with China Vanke.

She has 30 years of experience in the construction and real estate industry, having practised in both the private and non-private sectors. Mr Kusumadi oversees the architectural, tasks and enterprise improvement functions within the Banyan Tree Group, the place he is solely answerable for the design and technical advisory services, project development and enterprise development activities outdoors of China.

[talldarkandroguesome]

7th of First Seed, Sundas

Nabine tells me that she is going to need to put on a bit of a performance in order to get Urtisa’s informants to believe that she is capable. Therefore, I am to become inebriated, be seduced by her, and have her steal something of value of mine.

All in all a very simple task. The issue is finding something that would be valuable to those she needs to impress, but also not something that Urtisa and her informants could potentially use against the House.

I had thought a signet ring or an official House seal, but those can be used for far too many nefarious purposes. I thought jewelry would be the most obvious sort of item though.

Going through what I had, we settled on a pendant which had the image of Almalexia on one side and the Indoril wings upon the other. Clearly a symbol that you are a high ranking member of the House, but not something that could be used by anyone for anything that might cause true damage.

So I went to the Temple to check on how things were coming with Kuna’s acceptance. So far they are still checking records, so I simply spent time, seemingly praying and meeting with others, before I headed out, under the pretense of frustration, to a small tavern between the Temple and home. It is a small place, mostly used for nobles to meet up with contacts outside of the main taverns further downtown. It has a quieter atmosphere, and rooms that can be rented for private negotiations. The owner even has a posted policy that she will not sell anyone the ability to eavesdrop on your private room, but she is not responsible should someone manage to do so anyhow. It is very difficult, given the way the place is set up, to overhear what is happening in another room. I would imagine you would have to plan far in advance to succeed.

With the stage set, I began to drink heavily. Nabine slipped inside not too long after I ordered my second bottle, but she kept to a table by the door and stayed to herself until after I had moved onto my third bottle.

I stood up to get the attention of the proprietor, and with a carefully placed choreography, tripped over my own chair leg, spilling the contents of my purse.

Nabine came over to help me gather the coins.

I looked up at her and told her how beautiful she was. It was not an act in that moment, for truly she remains the most beautiful woman I have ever met. She flirted back with me in a very feminine manner, not at all her usual self. I invited her to my table and bought her a bottle of rotmeth.

We spent a while talking, just loud enough to be heard by anyone else who might be in the place and looking to overhear. We spoke of little. In truth, most of it was me asking her questions about Valenwood and telling her how beautiful she was. By the time an hour of this had passed, we became more and more libidinous in our conversation, our chairs next to one another, our hands beginning to roam.

The barkeep asked if we would like to take our bottles to a private room and after looking to her and receiving a nod, I thanked the mer and asked for the finest room he had.

It was a simple enough set up: a fine carpet, a simple chandelier, and a pile of cushions. A small cabinet on the wall contained blankets and towels, with a basin and small pitcher of water atop. Just enough for whatever sort of business you might have to attend to.

Of course, we enjoyed the privacy and made sure to use the room well. I told her how much I enjoyed her playing a part with me.

She told me that she liked the sneaking around and putting on a part well enough, but that she did not like the fake submissive role. I told her that I did not find it attractive on her compared to her true personality and I saw a small amount of relief cross her face.

I kissed her and reassured her that, once Urtisa was taken care of, we would have little reason to ever have to put her into such a situation again, lest she decided she wanted to do it herself.

She smacked my rear and told me that she was going to give me a good punishment for being so cheeky with her and that I better not like it.

I told her that I could not make such a promise.

When the evening drew late, I gave her the pendant, kissed her, and told her I would meet her back at home later in the night. She told me it was better not to make a scene and to simply pretend I was so drunk I forgot all about the necklace. Then she left.

I laid down on the cushions once more and polished off the end of her rotmeth. I knew I would need to seem truly intoxicated, so I remained in the room, drinking and contemplating the best ways to kill my wife.

There was a rapping at the door and I closed my eyes, relaxed my body, and let my breaths become slow and even.

After several minutes, the door opened and I heard someone enter. They called out several times to me before I grumbled and muttered something about scrib jelly.

They left and soon two mer were there lifting me up and gently rousing me. They asked me for my identity and where I was staying and then called a carriage to come retrieve me and take me home.

Cheerz was waiting when the carriage arrived and had a couple of servants help me to walk inside and up to my room. Then someone with a healer’s background came to ensure I had not been poisoned or otherwise harmed in any way.

I also heard, though a while later, some argument between Cheerz and one of the Ordinators about how I should not have been left to my own devices. The Ordinator tried to assure Cheerz that Ordinators at the Temple were supposed to have taken over my watch and that she did not know how I had come to be unsupervised.

I should have been more careful about making sure to create a scene over bucking my guards at the Temple, but there is nothing for it now.

I stayed in bed and had the girls run in to wake me up. I feigned a minor hangover, but generally was excited to see them. Kuna had much to say about Dunmer history and says that she no longer wishes to be a princess, but rather, the next Mother Morrowind.

Already I could see that Nabine is going to want my head for this, but it was hard not to find joy in seeing your daughter take on such a strong role model. Rejecting the role of princess for that of a living god. One cannot say that Kuna is not a driven girl. She certainly has lofty expectations.

She asked me if she could have a blade like Hopesfire and take lessons to use it. I told her it would be up to her mother whether or not that was acceptable.

Nabine returned after the girls were in bed, but said that the rouse had been a shining success. They had sent someone to follow her and had seen how deftly she was able to seduce and manipulate me. They were impressed.

I told her that I was grateful and asked how much more time she thought they might need before we set our plans into motion. She told me she needed more time now that she had their trust, just to make sure that they did not turn suspicious. I agreed.

We talked about Kuna’s new future aspiration. Nabine was not pleased that Kuna had been taught about a religious figure, but said that at least it was a powerful woman and a god which Kuna looked to emulate.

I said I would talk to Mother about the lessons, but Nabine said that it would be best just to let them continue for now and that there would be time enough for comparative historical understanding later.

I slept well, still a little tipsy as Nabine and I laid down to sleep. And, with no morning obligations, since the Council is spending the day making their final determination about if I will become the direct heir to uncle Urnel or not, Nabine and I were able to sleep in a little bit. At least, we slept in until the girls came in to jump on us. Cariel has taken to climbing the bed posts and then dropping down from her feet into the bed. Kuna prefers a running leap. At least Cariel is still small, but Kuna is too big to do this without an elbow or a knee hitting a soft spot. I swear, I have bruises from every morning she has done it.

Today the whole family is going to go for a ride in the countryside. Nabine will have to make a short detour to meet up with a contact, but we have already set up ways for her to slip away and slip back undetected.

How wonderful it is to actually spend time with my family.

[esevik]

Some thoughts about One Piece

So I’ve been doing some thinking about One Piece and had to write my thoughts down. There have been a lot of speculations about what separates OP from other shounen series, and while the answers are many I believe most of it comes down to the fine details. In this case I’m thinking about the importance that is placed on the characters.

 What I mean by this is that OP values other character traits than just fighting ability. This is quite unusual in battle shounen. If a character can’t fight they’re often regarded as useless by large portions of the fanbase. An example of this is Sakura from Naruto, she didn’t fight as much as or had the same trackreccord as the guys and there are still jokes about her being useless circling around. I’m not here to argue whether that is true or not, but I will say that this argument haven’t happened to any of the strawhat pirates (as far as I am aware). The question is now why this difference exists, and I believe that it’s due to OP showing that there are other abilities besides fighting that is important. And while other series may tell you this too, OP actively shows it.

 Let me explain:

While all the SH pirates are capable of fighting, the only character that has that as their “sole” function is Zoro. Sanji is the cook, Nami the navigator, Chopper the doctor and so on. This is one of the positives of having the story revolve around the crew of a ship. Luffy may be strong and can defeat most enemies, but if it weren’t for the others he would have drowned at sea long ago by now. Then, almost every time they have added a new crewmember they have expressed that there is a position in their crew that is needed but missing. They needed a navigator? They found Nami. They were desperate for a shipdoctor? They found Chopper. The ship is falling apart? Franky can fix it. Luffy dreams of having a musician? Brook.

 And it’s not just their introduction arc. They are often seen doing their tasks in between battles and it is not unusual that these traits then play a huge role in solving the problem they’re up against. Like if we use Nami as an example, she is completely vital in continuing the journey. They would have died so many times if it weren’t for her ability to read the Grand Lines bizarre weather phenomenon. She also helped Luffy get to Enel and the golden bell in Skypea and during the escape from Einies lobby they only got away because she could read the streams and navigate the ship (while the others defended it from incoming fire) to name a few. I can also mention that sometimes what is valuable are simple character traits. Like Sanji having the foresight to sneak off and do things behind the scenes. Franky rushing off to secure the ship. Usopp’s negativity which made him the only one capable of withstanding Perona’s attacks. They all have traits that help them on their journey. These traits aren’t just one-off things either. Oda makes a point of showing these traits off as often as he can, which is mostly when they’re travelling between islands. Zoro trains because he is one of their main fighters, Sanji prepares food, Nami navigates and so on.

 There is some telling regarding this too. In the beginning in Arlong Park Luffy straight out says that he wouldn’t be able to accomplish anything on his own and that he needs other people to achieve his dream. This is extremely clear whenever someone in the crew is missing and there aren’t anyone else who can perform their task. When Nami was sick they were almost crushed by a hurricane and only survived because she pulled herself out of bed and ordered them to change direction. With Sanji gone they almost starved to death (and Luffy ate poisonous fish). If Usopp hadn’t joined them in Einies lobby then they would have lost Robin. All of them are important if they want to make it all the way to One Piece.

 Overall I find it pretty interesting that One Piece which is a story partly about selfishness and the will to achieve your own dream comes with the message that you can’t do it by yourself. It’s pretty different compared to some other stories which praises teamwork and friendship but then has only one person beating all of the bad guys.

[nijohirjesyho]

If Square Enix won’t give me Miqo’te lore I’ll write it myself. AKA I decided to flex my Worldbuilding muscles and try to flesh out the Miqo’te. This is just for fun but if you like it feel free to use it!

Miqo’te biology

Catnip

Keepers very likely to be affected by it, Seekers largely unaffected, 1/5 Keepers will be unaffected.

Exposure to catnip leaves results in giddiness, restlessness, high energy, possible drooling (particularly if chewed). Relatively mild and passes quickly. Occasionally dried leaves are used to make teas to help with colds or drank before long hunts for the energy. As dried leaves are less potent than fresh leaves the side effects are lessened.

Tails

Miqo’te tails are used for balance, allowing Keepers to crouch for long periods of time and aids in their tree climbing. For Seekers tails aid with maintaining balance when running on sand or scaling rocks.

Types of tails

Regular tails – standard

Lion Tails – Common among Seekers, rarely seen among Keepers

Fluffy tails – occasionally occurs among Keepers and occasionally occurs alongside ear tufts, it’s rarely seen in Seekers

Ears

Both Keepers and Seekers have very sensitive hearing and while Elezin outclass them in hearing most Miqo’te tend to actually rely on their hearing over eyesight, meaning they will react to sounds before other races

Jacobson’s Organ

Miqo’tes have fully functional Jacobson’s organs which mean they are capable of smelling pheromones and other scents that other races cannot. This aids them largely in hunting and tracking. Their sense of smell is unrivaled by any other race.

This also causes them to occasionally have a flehmen response which often confuses other races. Miqo’te will curl their lips back, stick out their tongues and stop breathing. It is often mistaken for disgust by those who don’t know what they’re doing. The advantage of such a pose is it forces the air and scents into their mouth where they can ‘taste’ it better.

Biological differences between Seekers and Keepers

Eyes

Both Keeper and Seekers have tapetum lucidum, which can startle unwary adventuring companion when their friend’s eyes glow in low light. This gives them an advantage over other races when it comes to seeing lowlight (such as in the forests of the Black Shroud). This has also been used by some who accuse them of being beast clans by claiming this proves they are ‘like animals’

Sounds

Keeper are capable of purring and have been known to terrify Wood Wailers with the blood curdling screams they’re capable of making

Seekers cannot purr but instead express pleasure by chittering, chuffs and humming. Seekers are capable of roaring

Teeth

No one can point to a clear reason for Keeper’s canine/eye teeth to be measurably longer and sharper than Seeker’s

Society

Keepers

Keepers live in a highly gender segregated society, mostly divided in two categories

Family Units

Family units are traditionally made up of women and children. This will usually be one to three mothers, often some older daughters and they may also have children of their own. The children are communally raised with responsibility being shared by the community, older siblings are as likely to teach younger siblings as parents. This has the advantage of almost always having at least one adult able to hunt while older children or fellow adults care for the children at home.

Children typically leave this community between 18 and 20 though this can vary its rare a child would leave before 16.

Some of the communities serve as trading posts to cities they’re located close to.

‘Solitary’ Males

Keepers will often tell you that males are best in small doses and that male Keepers wander on their own. This is not entirely accurate. You will occasionally find males on their own but when they first leave home many young Miqo’te will often leave in groups. Usually siblings close in age and with a close bond will set out together, maybe parting ways eventually but male siblings often stick together (though due to how rare males are male siblings rarely end up close enough in age to stick together). Older males may find and take in younger males as hunting is easier and they miss the feeling of family from childhood. It is more accurate to say the males are rare and nomadic.

Seekers

Tribes

Tribes are less visibly divided among gender lines than the Keepers but there are still divides, obvious in naming and social structure.

Children with a father in one tribe and a mother in another will belong to the mother’s tribe. Female children will still take the father’s name

Nuhns

[Square Enix: Nuhn is simply breeding male of a tribe! Also Square Enix: *treats Nuhn like the rank of leader in game*. So in game is what we’re going with.]

Nuhns are the male that distributes traits most valued by the tribe. While yes, a healthy physique is often valued, in Clans that value cunning, forethought, strategy or hunting prowess one might rise to the rule of Nuhn not via a fight to the death but a contest of cunning or proof of their ability to stalk and bring down dangerous game.

Tias, Splinter Tribes, ‘Bachelor Tribes’

Tias are commonly found enthusiastically doing squats. Tias serve an important function in most tribes, often in their attempt to prove themselves worthy of being the next Nuhn they will be doing tasks and take leadership roles that the Nuhn needs delegated to someone else. The women are the hunters but the males often serve in organizational roles as well.

Tias that want to be Nuhn but cannot earn the respect of their original tribe will occasionally form splinter tribes. This can also happens if a tribe becomes overpopulated or there are two popular choices for Nuhn but neither will share the role. One will form a splinter tribe with an additional letter as per custom and they typically die off or are reabsorbed into the original tribe.

Bachelor Tribes are made of multiple male Tias, sometimes even from multiple tribes. Rather than seeking to be Nuhn they have banded together to form an unofficial tribe of males only. They’re often nomatic and males from them may be invited to be a Tia or Nuhn of a tribe that needs new blood.

The treatment children born of a Tia father can expect varies from Tribe to Tribe. Some tribes demand they leave the tribe when old enough, (some of them making the Bachelor Tribes). In other Tribes they are treated as no different than any Tia. Some allow them to stay but they can never be Nuhn without working twice as hard to prove themselves to the tribe as Nuhn-fathered Tias.

Queer Miqo’te

Same Sex

General

Same sex couples are far from unheard of in a race that has a birth race skewed to one sex. It would be impossible to not.

In both Keeper and Seeker culture the idea of couples is a bit different than in other races as a large part of their culture focuses more on reproduction. Romantic loyalty is often separated from sexual loyalty.

Keeper

Among Keepers WLW couples or groups often form to raise children. If one of the couple happens to be trans and comfortable with such an idea, they might not even need one of the nomadic males to father a child.

The Males that band together and travel together are not always only siblings or close friends but sometimes MLM couples or groups.

Seeker

Any Nuhn that would force a women to mate with him is going to quickly find himself replaced so it is fully possible for a woman in a Seeker Tribe to find a partner and live in bliss with them without the tribe objecting in the slightest.

Some Bachelor Tribes are ‘Confirmed Bachelor Tribes’ if you catch my drift.

Trans Miqo’te

General

With such strict and gendered naming conventions names become very important to most who transition or fall outside gender binaries entirely.

Keeper

A Trans Male Keeper will usually take the name of the youngest son as he has been ‘reborn’. He will be expected to wander the same as any other male Miqo’te.

A Trans Female Keeper will be given a new name entirely, while any brothers she has will keep their old names the suffix she previously had will no longer be used. She may be welcomed among any family group as she is still a valuable hunter and caregiver.

Non-binary Keepers may chose a new name, to keep their old name, or some use whichever name feels most appropriate for the gender they feel closest to that day. What role they chose to fulfill in their society may vary from Keeper to Keeper and even day to day.

Seeker

A Trans Male Seeker will be granted a new name by the Nuhn with the last name Tia. He will be expected to begin performing roles similar to his fellow Tias quickly though the Nuhn may give this Tia specialized training to catch him up to his fellow Tias if necessary. Trans Male Seekers are capable of becoming Nuhn, some use a fellow Tia as the sperm donor while he runs the Clan, others have given birth themselves, how they chose to be Nuhn depends on the Seeker and the Tribe

A Trans Female Seeker will be granted a new first name by the Nuhn that fathered her along with his name as her last name. Her fellow huntress will often organize a hunt in celebration and to begin teaching her hunting skills. Trans Female Seekers are not considered viable candidates for Nuhn more than any Cis Female Seeker would be.

Non-binary Seekers may chose a new name, to keep their old name, or some use whichever name feels most appropriate for the gender they feel closest to that day. However they occasionally find trouble from Tias who feel them a possible challenger regardless of their desire to be Nuhn.

City Miqo’te

City Miqo'te culture varies on whether they are Keeper or Seeker and what city they’re in.

Gridanian Miqo’te are typically Keeper and may face hostilities from those that see them as poachers as best. However recently they have begun to see better treatment, though some women decide to join the Coeurl King and his crew.

In Ul’dah cities it is easy to find Seekers, be they Tias unable to become Nuhn or women who simply felt that Tribe life was not for them. They make their living the same way most do in Ul’dah,though a few might be found among the Ala Mhigo refugees resenting their native kin or clinging desperately to what remains of the community they had before the fall.

Limsan Miqo’te are less common than the other regions but almost no crew sails without a Miqo’te. Some consider it lucky to have at least one, others have a far more practical reason. Miqo’te’s keen sense of smell often detects storms before their fellow crew members. Additionally, their lean and dexterous forms make them adept at climbing rigging. They are primarily Seekers though Keepers are becoming more common.

In the Grand Companies

General

One might expect that due to the number of female Miqo’te to males they would surely outnumber the males in the grand companies as well. However the numbers are closer to even (still favor the females however) as many male Miqo’te sign up to the grand companies.

Keepers

Keepers are quite common in the Twin Adders as they seek the feeling of family and camaraderie that they had growing up. Males in particular as they may be inclined to find the idea of wandering alone as unbearable. The bow skills shown by Miqo’te hunters leave little to be desired and they can often find their place in the Adders. Notably three of the Gods’ Quiver’s eleven garrisons are led by Miqo’te. Miah Molkot leads the White Rams, Ragu’to Zhwan leads The Quiver’s Scales and Dhebi Polaali leads The Quiver’s Ewers.

Seekers

Seekers are mostly found in Maelstrom, finding themselves outnumbered by Hyur and Lalafell in the Immortal Flames. Some are Tias that could not make it as Nuhn or women that left the tribes either because they could not fit into that lifestyle but more still are city Miqo’te that grew up in the ports of Limsa and are more familiar with the rigging of a ship than the sand of a desert. However some have made their way to Gridania out of curiosity about the archery to be learned there. G'pakibah Dora leads the garrison of the Twin Adders known as The Quivers Virgins and she is far from the only Seeker in their ranks.

Culture Shock

Keepers and City life

The largest culture shock for Keepers is perhaps the lack of physical contact. Those who grew up in the shroud are often very tactile and become confused by their new friends lack of physical affection or startle them by what is seen by some (typically Elezen) as being overly affectionate.

The other most obvious source of surprise and confusion is in relationship. While romantic relationships are far from unheard of among Keepers they are not seen as the norm which can lead to confusion about the level of commitment expected in relationships. Older siblings or friends more familiar with city life may be useful when explaining these concepts to Keepers unused to other races’ relationship expectations. However this has done Keeper’s reputation no favors in some parts of Gridania with them being seen as loose and unreliable in relationships.

Seekers and City life

Seekers might be confused by what they consider to be a very unclear hierarchy of duties among other races. Used to the Nuhn’s clear leadership and the communal hunting and providing they can struggle to adjust to trade at first.

Seekers get quite the double edged sword attempting to date as men might be suspected of sleeping around and some will claim women don’t mind you sleeping around on them, and will often be taken for heterosexual by default. These miscommunications are more common in Ul’dah than Limsa, who is exposed more to City Seeker culture.

Keepers and Seekers

Keepers and Seekers are often confused by the other’s culture on first contact, with the Keeper’s matriarchal family-centered lifestyle confusing to the Patriarchal Tribe-centered Seekers who are unused to such tight knit groups. Similarly Keepers often come away with the impression Seekers have gotten thing backwards, those familiar with the Coeurl King’s cruel grip on the women he brings into his group in particular will often react with horror.

Hybrids

Rumored and likely possible, until recent times the isolation shown by both Keepers and Seekers has prevented such hybrids from being common but with Keepers beginning to integrate into cities and Seekers beginning to explore Gridania it is likely if such hybrids exist they will become more common in upcoming years

[asymptotichigh5]

Energy, the economy, and everything else.

I’ve been meaning to address this subject somewhere for a while. For the longest time, I hesitated on what the best medium to achieve this would be : on one hand, a Facebook status needs to be short and concise, which is not necessarily my forte and of course, there is also the fact that it would quickly be washed away in the storm of social media posts that has become 2020. A YouTube video then occurred to me to be most appropriate, but it would be long, my camera sucks and I hate video editing. So, I finally turned to this blog, which I had abandoned for quite some time. Surprisingly, there was an article in my drafts I had started writing almost 5 years ago about exactly this topic titled “A physics crash-course for politicians: a recipe not to kill us all”, but it was a bit too dramatic and I might get called off for taking political stances, when in reality there will be none in this post (which is surprising, for any of those reading this who know me). Anyway, this article will be the first in a series, which I might or might not continue, depending on interest, even though I did promise a friend of mine to carry through the entire message the whole way through, hopefully I’ll be able to do this with some of you actually reading all the way through, though that might be too optimistic.

Energy is a concept which is as important (if not more) as it is misunderstood by the general public. Most people don’t consider energy to be a considerable issue in their daily lives, but hopefully by the end of this post you will understand that energy is what allows you to live your 21st century carefree lifestyle. It turns out that most of us consider energy to be a bill to pay at the end of the month, or an annoyance to pay for when we fill our cars with gasoline at the pump, but energy — before being a bill to pay, or a commodity — is a physical quantity. A quick look at Wikipedia will give you a definition of energy which appears to be rather circular. Perhaps a more appropriate definition of energy for the sake of this post is the following:

Energy [/ˈɛnədʒi/, noun] : a physical quantity quantifying the ability to change the environment, or the ability to do work.

By “change the environment” we refer to the ability to perform any kind of change at all. Letting a ball fall involves energy, heating up water to make a cup of tea involves energy, me typing on this keyboard at this very moment also involves energy, etc. The SI unit for energy is the Joule, which at the human scale represents a tiny bit of energy (roughly speaking, it is the energy required to lift a medium-sized tomato (300 grams) by 1 metre. This unit has the annoying nuisance of being too small, so for the rest of this post we will talk about energy in terms of MWh (megawatt-hours), which corresponds to 3 600 000 000 Joules, which is a hell of a lot more medium-sized tomatoes lifted, or in terms of kWh (kilowatt-hours), which corresponds to 3 600 000 Joules. It is a good exercise to try to understand the MWh in terms of human work to put everything into perspective. To this effect, the BBC actually had a great documentary which appeared in 2009 about electrical energy consumption in the UK which performed an experiment in which a tiny army of people were forced to pedal to provide electricity to an average-sized house with an average-sized family having an average-sized consumption of electricity. While the documentary has great shock value, we need not hire an army of 80 cyclist to get the right orders of magnitude. An 80 kg man carrying 10 kg of supplies with him and climbing 2000 m up a mountain spends roughly 0.5 kWh to go up the mountain. Similarly, digging up 6 m${}^3$ of dirt to make a hole 1 m deep takes roughly 0,05 kWh of energy. By comparison, 1L of oil provides 2~4 kWh of (usable) mechanical energy.

Of course, using the oil to drive up the mountain, or to fuel an excavator to dig up the holes is a no brainer. Oil, or more precisely the machines it feeds, are not constrained by fatigue, do not form unions, do not complain that the ruble is too heavy, or that their legs are tired. It is also incredibly cheap by comparison, even if the human workers going up the mountain or digging up the hole are not getting paid at all. Assuming the cost of a slave to simply be the sustainance cost of a human being (i.e. minimal clothing, food and shelter) it is still a couple of hundred times cheaper to use a machine instead of a person to perform tasks, whenever possible. The reason why slavery ended is not because all of a sudden people grew a conscience out of thin air, or because we are so much better or educated than our ancestors ; it is simply stupid to have slaves in a world where you have access to a dense source of energy, because using this energy for mechanical work is many times more efficient and cheaper than owning slaves. This heuristic argument is also what ultimately explains the correlation between the abolition of slavery and the first industrial revolution (although the latter was mostly fed by coal as opposed to oil). In other words, the huge disparity in the efficiency of dense energy sources is what explains that mankind has historically always transitioned to sources of energy which monotonically increase in energy density.

But just what makes energy so important? Well, the answer lies in the definition. Since energy is ultimately the driver for any transformation of the environment, energy is by definition the main driver of the economy, too. In fact, the availability of a large supply of energy is what has allowed the development of modern society as we know it: paid holidays, retirement benefits, social security, social programs, your trip to Thailand last year, the variety of food you find at the supermarket, the fact that you even have disposable income to spend however you wish, free time, your ability to pursue long years of study, etc. Without the access to a cheap, reliable source of energy, this would all be impossible. Without realizing it, on average, we can calculate an equivalent amount of slaves used by any human on Earth today, given our estimates on the output of energy a human being is capable of delivering above and the total energy consumption of the planet. Doing the math, we find that an average human lives as if he/she had ~200 slaves working for him/her constantly. If we look at developed nations, this number jumps to 600 to 1500 equivalent slaves. This is an outstanding standard of living compared to what any of our ancestors ever knew. And so, it’s not that our generation is 200 times more productive than previous generations of humans, what has been driving the economy for the past 220 years is not humans, so much as it is the increasing access to a park of machines which has driven GDP growth since the industrial revolution. In fact, this can also be seen in developing countries, where an increase in development is immediately accompanied by a rural exodus driven by the introduction of machines to perform the heavy work in the fields. This allows for a widening of the pool of workers, which can then be free to use more machines and increase GDP.

So what sources of energy have we been exploiting in the last 220 years? Worldwide, the mix looks a little bit like this: 

Notice that most of this mix (oil, gas and coal) are sources which are fossil fuels. In essence, what this chart is saying is that we owe all of the societal progress of the past 220 years to fossil fuels. Of course, the use of these fuels has the annoying consequence of releasing CO${}_2$ into the atmosphere which — as we know — has some rather undesirable consequences for the future of humanity. This chart also tells a story about how people have completely misrepresented and misunderstood the problem. Most people think that the energy crisis will ultimately be solved by replacing the carbonated sources of energy by “renewables”, even though the later are basically invisible in the above chart. Luckily, a world where we live only with renewable energy is entirely possible: it’s called the Middle Ages. The impossibility of replacing these carbonated sources with “renewables” is an important point to treat, and deserves an article of its own, but in the end its cause is the same as what has driven this discussion so far: energy density. We shall come back to this important point in a subsequent post. For now, let us finish driving the point home in establishing the unequivocal link between energy, specifically oil, and GDP.  Energy availability is the main driver of the economy, this is simply because the economy is nothing other but the collective transformation of stuff into other stuff by humans. This, and the fact that 50% of the world-wide oil consumption is used to transport goods or people from point A to B is what explains the following correlation between oil and GDP: 

In light of global warming, the question becomes one in which we are forced to arbitrate between real GDP growth and carbon emissions. It is literally that simple, yet it is difficult to grasp what this means. GDP growth is an abstract concept most of us don’t really understand, and most people advocating for giving up growth don’t fully grasp the consequences of what it will mean for all of us. Very really, what it means is diminishing real wages and purchasing power by a factor varying between 3 or 10 over the next 30 years (we will come back to these figures eventually in another article, too). Now, most people will point out that we can and should just take all this wealth from the oligarchs and the billionaires out there, and this is true and should definitely be done, but it will unfortunately still not be anywhere near enough to solve the problem. Orders of magnitude are a bitch and maths sucks, especially when they contradict your political opinions. In real terms, giving up growth means to take your current salary, and divide it by 10, and ask yourself whether you are really ready to live with that. The questions on left and right are at this point so irrelevant that it is stupid to even ask them. Both of these models of thinking completely rely on a pie which is ever increasing and in which the living standards of everyone eventually rise. For the right, this is obvious, but this holds true even in a leftist society, in which the social programs and everything that goes with it relies heavily on economic growth and an increase of the economic pie. This view is flawed, as in very real terms in order to protect ourselves from climate change, the only way is to considerably decrease our dependence on fossil fuels, in other words, considerably decrease global GDP.

(Un)fortunately, whether the politicians decide to take global warming seriously or not, the problem will auto-regulate eventually. You see, there is a tiny and obnoxious problem regarding our addiction to fossil fuels: we are running out of them. We should point out that not all fossil fuels are equal: this is not only true from a carbon emission perspective, but also from a transportation point of view. Indeed, only about 10% of the coal produced yearly is actually exported, because it is inconvenient to transport. Gas presents a similar problem, given its physical form, which is not sufficiently energetically dense to be easily shipped without compression (which itself involves energy). This leaves oil as the main source of energy which is actually exportable and tradable.  And so, not only is oil vital due to the fact that it is the only source of energy which can reliably be used to for transportation, it is also the only option when looking at trading energy internationally. However, oil production has been already past its peak in most countries with considerable oil reserves. From a European point of view, the problem is actually worse as the energy consumption in Europe has been stagnating and in fact decreasing since 2005, when we reached peak consumption.

Incidentally, this explains why there has been no -- and there will be no -- economic long term real growth in Europe in the future, and it this has indeed been the case ever since 2008. In fact, most of the economic growth which has happened in Europe ever since is due to the trade of goods which increase in value over time (such as housing), which gets further gets inflated as there is a surplus of liquidity which has been continuously injected into the system since the introduction of quantitative easing. We will come to this problematic in a latte post. Similarly, we observe analogous curves of decrease in variation of energy consumption in the countries of the OECD (source of data: BP Statistical Review 2017), which means that this halting of real economic growth is not to be expected anywhere else in the OECD either.

During a recent discussion with a close friend of mine, he pointed out that the decrease in consumption in energy could be explained by the fact that the economy in developed countries had essentially become an economy of services, and that thus, this correlation between GDP and energy consumption and production was flawed, but this reasoning is wrong. First, because many of these services introduced involve or depend strongly on developments in e-commerce and industries attached to the development of the Internet and computers. However, the digitalization of the economy has not led to a decrease in energy demand, but in fact quite the opposite, if anything it has considerably increased our energy dependence. Second, the data simply states otherwise across the board. For instance, the chart below depicts an evolution of the percentage of people working in services and the amount of tons of CO${}_2$ released in the environment per capita in the World (data is from the World Bank).

Of course, the fact that these are positively correlated in the world and these countries is expected. In the world, because supporting the increasing living standards of the people working in the service sector necessarily comes out of an increase of the economic pie, which can only mean that the energy consumption (thus, at first order, the tons of CO${}_2$ in the atmosphere) increased. In European countries, the CO${}_2$ per capita has been reduced, partly to a negligible population growth, but also due to the delocalization of the most polluting elements of the economy to developing countries. Nonetheless, the general worldwide trend is clear: more service sector employment correlates with higher output of CO${}_2$, which implies higher energy consumption. But of course, by the reasoning above, this is hardly surprising.

Most of the time, the decline in the rate of growth of oil production is dismissed by saying that we will always find alternative forms of petroleum which will remain exploitable and will secure us with more oil. However, these alternative sources, such as bituminous sands and are problematic to exploit, require more energy input to be exploitable and are of lesser energetic quality. Similar decreasing curves of consumption and production have been appreciated for gas as well. Coal remains an exception to this, but it is not easily tradable, which implies that only 8 countries (including the US, China and Australia) really can consider exploiting coal for long term energy consumption, but given the climate consequences this poses, this is hardly a desirable outcome.

And so ultimately, it is not even a question of deciding whether or not we want to transition out of fossil fuels or not. The decrease in fossil fuel consumption will happen whether we like it or not — and by extension, so will the inevitable shrinking of the economy. The problem is that it might not happen fast enough to avoid catastrophe, which might already be unavoidable. What this also means is that the questions we should be asking ourselves as a society are not so much whether we should adopt liberal or leftist policies, but rather how we optimize the distribution of resources in a world where the economic pie decreases year by year, but no one seems to be wanting to have this discussion seriously.

[overanalyzingelswordiswhatido]

Job Classes I made for the two timelines I created for The Depths of Time like an impulsive dummy

Since @sunneflower said they were interested.

I decided to include the Elsword job paths these were inspired by. This is mostly spoiler free!! Mostly because I kept everything purposefully vague since, while I did solidify the premises for these two timelines, I don't have a lot of the actual STORY fleshed out other than the beginning and tidbits here and there.

Anyway, on to the job paths (gonna do a cut because this post is actually really long)

Destruction Timeline – a timeline where the El Search Party was defeated and only a handful of them remain (though I haven't included what happens to who all that much), fighting a losing guerilla war purely to ensure their survival, unable to help the people they swore to protect.

Elsword (based on Immortal): Execution Knight/Blade Reaper/Hel’s Emissary

Elsword decided some people didn’t deserve a second chance and that he would dirty his own hands to ensure they never caused trouble for the world again, honing his sword skills until he could wield two smaller blades with deadly accuracy.

Aisha (based on Aether Sage): Storm Magician/Hurricane Eye/Vengeance Seeker

Aisha channeled her power into creating storms of unmatched magnitude to easily take care of the hoards the El Search Party found themselves facing off against but after escaping capture with Ara, she started to push her friends away, becoming cold and distant.

Rena (Based on Anemos): Assault Ranger/Cyclone Striker/Maelstrom

Rena found her abilities in combat to not be enough to protect her friends and asked the wind spirits to help her be faster and stronger so she could become the tip of the spear so to speak, plowing through even the strongest enemies with power to spare.

Raven (Based on Rage Hearts): Scale Taker/Dragon Fist/Wyrm Soul

When Raven came across a dragon, he decided to attempt harnessing that power to protect his friends and created highly durable armor from a dragon’s scales and refining his sword to be as sharp as dragon claws. He redesigned his Nasod arm to be able to harness flames equivalent to a dragon’s breath.

Eve (Based on Code: Ultimate & Code: Esencia): Code: Revival/Code: Assimilation/Code: Ragnorak

Eve focused on the revival of her people but she realized that humans and Nasods could never peacefully coexist. Rather than despair, she came up with a rather unorthodox solution to the problem and pursued it with single-minded determination and vigor.

Elesis (Based on Bloody Queen): Judgement Knight/Purgatory Blade/Vindicator

If Elsword is the executioner then Elesis is the judge and jury. Determined to right the wrongs of the world, she makes sure those who hurt others cannot escape punishment, never doubting the righteousness of her actions, with an unpredictable but precise fighting style.

Chung (Based on Centurion & Comet Crusader): Shield Guardian/Phalanx Cannon/Victory Herald

With the hordes facing Hamel and then his friends, Chung focused on strengthening his defense as far as he could push it. He created a phalanx-like set of shields he commands at will, as well as providing friends/allies with support with his long-range attacks and plethora of buff abilities.

Add (Based on Dominator): Splinter Tracer/Void Watcher/Fenrir’s Master (as in the wolf from Norse mythology)

Early on in his research into time travel, Add discovered the existence of alternate timelines and created portals that allowed him to send drones into those other timelines to monitor them. With the El Search Party, he’s a wild card who’s only known loyalty is to himself yet he has made himself an invaluable ally despite their inability to trust him.

Ara (Based on Shakti): Little Wisp/Holy Revenant/Spirit Harbinger

Ara partnered with Eun to better defend her friends and find her brother but when she woke up in Lu and Ciel’s fortress having escaped capture, Eun was gone. Left on her own in a way she never thought she would be, she desperately tries to hold out hope that everything will be okay.

Lu (Based on Innocent (Ishtar)): Final Ruler/Eternal Shadow/Genesis (Rapture)

Lu set to regaining her power and through an unexpected twist of events succeeded much sooner than she had anticipated and is now the sole ruler of the demon realm.

Ciel (Based on Catastrophe (Abysser)): Final Ruler/Eternal Shadow/Genesis (Entropy)

Ciel takes being Lu’s shadow literally and becomes her left hand, performing tasks most would stay far away from to ensure their success and survival.

Ain (Based on Richter & Herrscher): Lofty: Warrior/Donner (means thunder) Essence/Blitzkrieg

Ain doesn't manage to catch himself in time and falls to the Dark El. He becomes a demonic deity similar to the demon god Scar was trying to summon in Lanox.

Rose (Based on Minerva & Prime Operator): Novice Hacker/Signal Echo/Cyber Wraith

Rose arrives to Elrios and finds herself in conflict with Nasods. She manages to capture some models mostly intact and reverse engineers ways to get into their program and shut them down without causing any damage to their physical structure. That way she can repurpose them.

Laby (Based on Eternity Winner & Nisha Labyrinth): Shadow Child/Twilight Mist/Midnight Specter

In an effort to protect herself from the world, Laby learns how to fight. Because people scare her, she often finds herself in the shadows, cast off to the side, and she becomes comfortable there. She learns to use people's tendency to overlook her to her advantage.

-

Nasod Timeline – a timeline where Nasod technology is a common fascination among the people of Elrios, almost like mythology in the modern world, and many have at least dabbled their toes in Nasod technology, and some are able to utilize it (though not to the same extent as in the past).

Elsword (Based on Knight Emperor): Wandering Knight/Honorable Sellsword/Gladiolus

While Elsword did advertise his services as a swordsman so he could get out and see more of the world he loves so much, he still insists on doing the right thing, upholding the values of a knight just like his sister would.

Aisha (Based on Aether Sage & Metamorphy): Saber Magician/Elemental Duelist/Arcane Fencer

When it was still just her, Elsword, and Rena, Aisha witnessed a duel where one party wielded a rapier and, despite thinking of swords as barbaric beforehand, she became fascinated by the precise and quick movements that were so similar to how she directed her magic.

Rena (Based on Twilight): Ambush Ranger/Spectral Hunter/Supreme Predator

With the El Search Party having been ambushed too many times during their journeys for Rena’s liking, she decides to beat their enemies at their own game. She perfects her abilities and becomes better than any enemy ever could be.

Raven (Based on Furious Blade): Arsenal Taker/Weapon Master/Gilgamesh

Raven refused to lose any of his new friends and in their battles, he found his sword skills to not be enough. Not wanting to use his Nasod arm, he began carrying multiple weapons on his person and soon it grew until he was carrying an arsenal all his own that he was more than proficient with.

Eve (Based on Code: Sariel & Code: Esencia): Code: Constellation/Code: Pulsar/Code: Andromeda

Eve woke up in a lab instead of her capsule but she escaped and found herself in the wilderness, completely alone, as the only Nasod remaining in Elrios. She wandered, without much of a destination. On her journey, she was inspired by the powerful beauty of the stars in the sky and set her mind to finding a way to mimic that in her abilities using condensed El energy.

Elesis (Based on Empire Sword & Flame Lord): Wing Knight/Flame Empress/Nike (as in the goddess of victory)

While perfecting her sword and fire skills, Elesis came across designs for wings made from Nasod technology and wondered if she could turn the wings into blades that could be directed. The only problem being, while she was decent at following directions, she was unlikely to ever understand the calculations she was plugging into the apparatus, let alone actually make her own additions to it but luckily when she met up with the El Search Party they found someone more than willing to help her add blades to her set of wings.

Chung (Based on Centurion & Fatal Phantom): War Guardian/Iron Battalion/Unlimited Armory

Not wanting to get trapped should he find himself in a situation where he couldn’t use his cannon, Chung set to mastering any weapon that was similar enough that he could learn it in the short amount of time he had. With some help, he developed a piece of Nasod technology that would allow him to summon to his aid any weapon he wanted as long as it was connected to his device and he set to creating his own artillery that he could summon to any location.

Add (Based on Doom Bringer): Empty Tracer/Nasod Mimic/White Star

Not much is known about Add beyond his inability to speak and that he can create particle projections that mimic the abilities of any Nasod he has come into contact with.

Ara (Based on Apsara & Shakti): Little Lance/Ouroboros/Amphisbaena

Ara decided one spear was not enough and, with Eun’s help, developed a unique fighting style using two spears and created her own secret arts: Phoenix Secret Arts and Serpent Secret Arts. She honed her new fighting style until she was faster and deadlier than ever before.

Lu (Based on Catastrophe (Timoria) & Diangelion (Iblis)): Shepherd’s Crook/Steeled Ka/Osiris (Lotus)

Lu wanted to work as a team with Ciel, but it was difficult coming up with something that worked the way she wanted it to with their clashing fighting styles where she preferred to get in their enemies’ faces and he preferred fighting from a distance. She stubbornly continued to work with Ciel until the two of them became unstoppable.

Ciel (Based on Innocent (Chevalier)): Shepherd’s Crook/Steeled Ka/Osiris (Duat)

Determined to protect Lu, Ciel decided it was best to attack from range, picking off the targets she missed in her sweeps but Lu wanted to work more as an equal force than leader and support. So, Ciel worked with her to adjust their fighting styles to be more in line with the team dynamic she wanted.

Ain (Based on Bluhen & Herrscher): Lofty: Reflection/Doppelganger/Ersatz (means replacement)

Ain was never drawn out of the rift by Elsword’s presence so a copy of him was created to fulfill his purpose. Ain is alone, searching for the El, when he comes across Eve and the two of them team up to achieve their individual goals.

Rose: Metal Heart/Optimus/Prime Operator

I decided this route worked REALLY well with the overall vibe I was going for for this timeline, so I decided to slap it in instead of making a whole new Rose route (making everyone else was hard enough).

Laby (Based on Radiant Soul & Eternity Winner): Wonder Child/Sparkle Champion/Heracles

Laby wants to help people and see all the world has to offer her but she also wants to protect everything she's come to hold dear. Not wanting to lose another friend, Laby asks Gaia to teach her to fight and teams up with Nisha to do that.

[chibimyumi]

Interview Furukawa - Der Tod

Host: To you, Mr. Furukawa, “Elisabeth” is the play you wished to take part in the most, right?

Furukawa: “Indeed. I was allowed the honour to partake in 2012 starting with Rudolf, and this time [the play] shall be based on the 2016 version with new members, the cast division has also changed. As such I am in especially high spirits. However, this is the first time that I take up the challenge of playing Der Tod (Death), so even before the rehearsals had started I have been crushed under pressure and have been especially nervous (laughs). The rehearsal hall of “Elisabeth” has the theme of the production’s graveness, and the members who have assembled until this point also carry around them a very unique kind of atmosphere. As such I wish to give it my all and face this challenge.

Host: What kind of role is Der Tod according to you?

Furukawa: “In its simplest sense, Der Tod is the symbol of human ‘death’, and a character who is the personification of Elisabeth’s wish for ‘death’. [Der Tod] is a being that emerged from the inside of her, as well as a being who may lead people who confront her into death. I have always looked up to Der Tod. The moment I joined this company I have been searching for a way to play him, but I have not been successful so far.

Host: What is the charisma of Der Tod?

Furukawa: “First of all, he is appearance-wise very beautiful, Furthermore, his songs are very cool. Regardless of the song, I can adjust to the fantastic melody line and sing, and there are also important scenes wherein [Der Tod] makes his different entrances depending on how Elisabeth changes on the inside. It is a delicious role in my opinion.”

Host: I heard that Der Tod is a very special role to you, Mr. Furukawa?

Furukawa: “I considered [Der Tod] my ultimate goal within my career as performer. As such, in this production, I definitely want to make him a satisfying character to both the spectators and myself. Nevertheless, even if I manage to make Der Tod my own role, I shall still strive for new developments, and continue to seek new roles that I think I should challenge (laughs).

Host: (Laughs) So more concretely, how do you shape your roles?

Furukawa: First of all I need to gain an understanding of the various characters that are featured. I wish to bear in mind that he is a character born from Elisabeth as I approach the rehearsals. [He] is still an unknown domain, so starting from the director Mr. Koike Shuuichirou, I wish to listen to everyone’s voices and aim for flexibility in shaping this role.

Host: Is there something specific in the relationship with the lead role Elisabeth you value especially?

Furukawa: “The ‘love’ that strays between Elisabeth and Der Tod is an important thing in this production, but that mostly reflects just how much she desires a peace of mind, or in other words, freedom. I wish to understand what Elisabeth’s thoughts are in such times on a deep level.

Host: Well then, how are you going to approach the double-cast for the role of Elisabeth, Ms. Hanafusa Mari and Ms. Manaki Reika?

Furukawa: “No matter in what production, or who of the double- or triple cast I have in front of me, I wish to approach them without influencing my feelings. However, I do need to be careful as also not to change my approach towards a character just because of the actor behind it. “This person is like this, so I will engage them like this,” is something I try not to think.

Host: Well then, how do you wish to express yourself in “Elisabeth”?

Furukawa: “I wish to get close to Elisabeth properly, and draw out her strength as a woman with infallible determination to live through ‘death’, and provoke her with even greater charisma.

Host: Mr. Furukawa, you have the experience of playing all kinds of roles, so what would you say is the ‘Furukawa-style’ of character building?

Furukawa: “I pay most attention to how to deliver the emotions of the characters I play to the audience. For that sake, I take distance from myself and look at [the character] from bird-view perspective. Firstly, I start building my characters while keeping my task [as actor] of delivering the content of the script in mind. I myself also write lyrics and compose, and I think the writing of lyrics is very similar to building characters, in the sense that in lyrics writing I also need to convey my intended thoughts concretely into lyrics. Obviously there are many many ways of interpretation, so my biggest endeavour is to make sure my own interpretations reach my audience.”

Host: Just like you said before, Der Tod is the notion of ‘death’, but how will you express your notion of ‘death’ in practice?

Furukawa: “Most importantly it is to remember that it is fine that the audience might not understand this concept of ‘death’ as expressed through Der Tod. I asked myself: “is it not al right if a question mark will pop up in the minds of the spectators?” Just like with real death, I strive for a portrayal of Der Tod that will provoke the audience to think about what ‘death’ means.

Host: What is ‘death’ that is the motif of Der Tod to you, Mr. Furukawa?

Furukawa: “To put it in one word, it is ‘fear’. It might be my age that is speaking, but I catch myself thinking “I don’t want to die yet.” Nevertheless, humans know that they will all die one day. Despite having this knowledge, humans reject this knowledge and therefore they fear. Once you think about this opposition of logic, humans start running around in circles in their heads, and that is the core [of fear]. [Death] is something that inspires this strange thought in humans.”

Host: Well then, not just to the fans of musicals, but also to the anticipating people and the people who will be seeing this for the first time, what would you say is the biggest attraction?

Furukawa: “Everything about “Elisabeth”. Not just the music and the play itself, but also the clear differences offered by the double- and triple cast; it is filled with interesting aspects. I myself am striving to portray a version of Der Tod that is unprecedented, and will try to draw out the maximum potential of this delightful production to the best of my ability.”

Host: Finally, the most important emotion of this production is ‘love’, what is this to you?

Furukawa: “I think it’s a strong emotion of determination to die protecting others in the face of overwhelming danger.”

Original Source

Note: This is not a complete translation of the full interview. The parts on other musicals are omitted.

[peter-kovalenko]

➤ AUGUSTINE TASK #1

BASIC INFORMATION

FULL NAME: Peter Andrej Kovalenko PRONUNCIATION: figure it out sherlock NICKNAME(S): Pete none :| BIRTH DATE: 2/25/99 AGE: 19 ZODIAC: Pisces GENDER: male PRONOUNS: he/him SEXUAL ORIENTATION: somewhere between 1 and 2 on the kinsey scale, but who knows NATIONALITY: American TITLE(S): The Pauper  MAJOR: Music, concentration in Performance (cello) EXTRACURRICULARS: Orchestra (mandatory for all music performance majors)

BACKGROUND

HOMETOWN: Detroit, Michigan FATHER: Andrej Kovalenko MOTHER: Jillian Wenske (deceased) SIBLING(S): None. OTHER IMPORTANT RELATIVES: His grandparents, Gregory and Anne-Marie Wenske, who took him in for a few years after his mother’s death. He also (presumably) has extended family in the Ukraine, but has never met anyone from his father’s side and has no way of contacting them. Nor the desire to. ARRESTS?: None.

OCCUPATION & INCOME

SPENDING HABITS: Unsurprisingly, spends little to no money on himself. Has like two sweatshirts and five Goodwill sweaters in rotation. His scholarship also includes a meager living stipend that covers basic expenses, like textbooks and food, but other than that, the only things Peter spends money on is cello upkeep (rosin blocks, string replacements, shit that gets more and more expensive) and weed.

MOST VALUABLE POSSESSION: His cello; doesn’t even know how old the instrument is, but the value it has can’t be given a price tag. It was a family heirloom given to his mother on her tenth birthday. He knows how much his grandparents resent the fact that he has it now. 

SKILLS & ABILITIES

TALENTS: Above all else, he’s a very skilled cellist. Didn’t start playing young enough to be considered a prodigy (the first time he picked up a cello bow was at thirteen), but he wouldn’t be at Augustine if his talent hadn’t earned him that full scholarship. Also an apt pianist; piano was the first instrument his mother taught him to play and he still plays it in his spare time, mostly for enjoyment. Other talents include Macguyver-ing broken things into semi-working states (#povertylifehacks), sick skateboarding skills, and a really weird, extensive cache of factual knowledge derived from Wikipedia binges at 3 am. SHORTCOMINGS: Where to even begin. He’s closed-off, unapproachable, perpetually surly. Sometimes passive to a fault. Self-hatred on fleek. Lives like a cryptid that never does laundry and has no social life to speak of. Makes his poor girlfriend do a lot emotional labor just to understand him and his moods (unintentionally, but still). Needs a haircut ASAP. Insists on ignoring all problems (including the Big Bad mental health ones) in the hopes that they’ll eventually just... go away. Takes forever to reply to a single text- or never replies at all. Doesn’t take his meds. Definitely vitamin deficient. Cannot learn a second language to save his life (high school Spanish was rough). Smokes way too much pot.  LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: only English :/ DRIVE?: Barely. RIDE A BICYCLE?: Yes, but he always preferred skateboarding.  SWIM?: Took two swimming lessons at the public pool and quit.  PLAY AN INSTRUMENT?: Cello & piano. PLAY CHESS?: Nope. TIE A TIE?: Not... well.

PHYSICAL APPEARANCE & CHARACTERISTICS

FACE CLAIM: Elias de Poot GLASSES/CONTACTS?: Neither. DOMINANT HAND: Right. HEIGHT: 6′2″ TATTOOS: None. PIERCINGS: Left ear - related to freshman hazing (given as a drunk party dare, and he was stoned enough to go along with it). Intended to let it close up, but it kinda grew on him and now it’s just... there. MARKS/SCARS: A few beauty marks scattered over his body (two on his face that are almost symmetrical). The usual collection of nicks and fence scratches and chickenpox scars, but the only notable scar is on his inner left forearm: five inches in length, a raised white line that looks like it was drawn with a ruler. It needed twenty stitches. NOTABLE FEATURES: Some people have resting bitch face; Pete’s variation is resting angry face. He’s got eyebrows like two dark, downward slashes that rarely seem to lift from a frown- it’s very likely that he was born frowning.  CLOTHING STYLE: Terrible. Fraying secondhand sweaters that still smell vaguely of whatever Goodwill bin they were fished out of, faded slogan hoodies and ill-fitting jeans held up with a belt (because nothing fits right when you’re tall and malnourished and can’t afford tailoring), and one huge parka that functions as a winter coat. And layers- always so many layers. Peter never wears less than two layers; it’s usually more like four.

PSYCHOLOGY

MBTI TYPE: INFP MORAL ALIGNMENT: Neutral Good TEMPERAMENT: Melancholic MENTAL HEALTH: Diagnosed with generalized anxiety at age twelve (though this was initially misdiagnosed as ADHD); comorbidity with possible depressive symptoms was suspected around puberty, but he didn’t get the additional diagnosis of major depressive disorder till his second year of high school (after a brief hospitalization). His grandparents bankrolled intensive therapy and a tidal wave of pharmaceuticals after that. As far as they know, Peter still regularly Skypes with his therapist. As far as his therapist knows, he’s seeing a psychologist in Switzerland and taking all his meds and doing just great. 👍 ADDICTION(S): Not really an addiction, but he self-medicates with pot pretty heavily. DRUG USE: Smoke weed erryday. ALCOHOL USE: Recreationally he does, though he prefers to smoke. PRONE TO VIOLENCE?: He’s never been an instigator, but there was a period of time when anger easily got the better of him. One insult, one quiet snicker, and self-preservation took a backseat to stinging pride; he got his ass kicked plenty of times for it. Anger still lives in him- there’s no way to cure yourself of a hurt that you inherited- but the years have taught him how to keep it from flaring up so impulsively; instead, he's learned how to compress every hurt into the density of a dwarf star, and just let it burn in his chest for eternity.

FAVORITES

ANIMAL: cats BOOK: “The Sun Also Rises” by Ernest Hemingway COLOR: green FOOD: spaghetti (and not fancy spaghetti. Literally just Chef Boyardee with some grated cheese on top) MOVIE: In Bruges MUSICAL ARTIST: Tchaikovsky (classical), Loyle Carner (other) QUOTE/SAYING: “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these, you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.”  ― Ernest Hemingway, Farewell To Arms SCENT: Weed (inevitably), the cologne Pearl bought him last Christmas (to half-heartedly mask the weed) SPORT: Lol VACATION DESTINATION: Considering that he never left the States before coming to Augustine, hates the beach, hates the cold, hates crowds, that leaves... maybe Vienna, Austria, to see Mozart’s birthplace and go to a concert played by the Vienna Philharmonic.

ATTITUDES

GREATEST DREAM: To play with a semi-decent orchestra - sometimes he’ll zone out during string ensemble practice and imagine what it would be like to play on the stage at Lincoln Center, a first-chair cellist with the New York Symphony. But that daydream never gets put into words because it seems like a set-up for failure. Better to aim low and brace for eventual disappointment.  GREATEST FEAR: His fear has always been the same. Always the one certain thing. It shows itself in different ways; in his choice to self-isolate, his carefully-maintained distance from the rest of the world, his refusal (or inability) to be truthful about anything going on inside of him. It’s the reason why he hasn’t asked Lizzie what changed?, only accepted that it has. It’s the reason why the thought of disappointing Pearl is ten times worse than the thought of disappointing anyone else, and yet it feels just as inevitable. Peter defines himself, first and foremost, as someone who is lacking. It seems like only a matter of time till people who look at him too closely come to that same conclusion.

[bellatrixpblack]

Bio

What is your character’s home life and relationship with their family like? Is there a particular family member that they are more drawn to then others (in good or bad ways)? 

Bellatrix Black was the disappointing firstborn of Cygnus the Third and Druella Rosier. Tiny, red-faced, and silent at birth; Bellatrix was in no way the strong, squalling son her father had envisioned. A second attempt followed not long after, and then the birth of a yet another third girl, and Cygnus seemingly gave up all hope of producing a child of value. He was a scarce figure throughout the early years of the Black sisters’ childhoods, and a cruel one during the rare moments together; either wanting nothing to do with his children altogether or seemingly taking out his anger on them at every opportunity. Their mother, a driving force in the pureblood movement but a weak force before her husband, did little to change the situation if she had any reservations about it at all. As a result, despite her youth and small gap in age, Bellatrix grew to be a protective and ferocious older sister; feeling that it was her duty to protect Andromeda and Narcissa. Usually, this just meant things like giving a good kick to the shin of a cousin who pulled Narcissa’s short braid, or taking the blame for something Andromeda had done – but when she was seven and witnessed an infuriated Cygnus ready to strike her beloved Cissy over some minor childhood transgression – Bellatrix displayed her first use of wandless magic by hurling a dresser into him from across the room. Unhurt – she’d mostly just pushed him with it a bit – yet nevertheless astounded by the magical ability he’d dismissed, Cygnus finally saw the potential within the daughter he’d dismissed. The Black household changed nearly overnight, with Cygnus seemingly jumping at the chance to shape Bellatrix into the son he had always wanted. Rather than being bitter, though, Bellatrix fairly welcomed it. Perhaps she would not be the heir to the Black name, but she could certainly be heir to the Black legacy. The older she grew and the more time father and daughter spent together, the similarities in their personalities became more apparent: ambitious, imperious, volatile. The need to “protect” her sisters faded as she flourished under the newfound attention, a sponge for all the lessons Cygnus had to teach her. She received tutoring in everything from flying to languages to dueling before she was old enough to own her own wand. As she grew even older (and behind her mother’s back), he began to teach her the art of Occlumency. If Cygnus was going to have a daughter for an heir, she was going to be the best at everything. Her father viewed their time together as important work, and Bellatrix viewed it the same way: the bettering of herself to the best possible witch she could become. Her sisters might complain about rarely getting to spend time with their father; but with her he could spend hours walking through the grounds, discussing years of their family history. While she highly valued the relationship with her father, though, she cared for no one besides her sisters – particularly her little Cissy.

What were their school years like? Were they a good student? Did they have a strong social group?

Unsurprisingly, it took more time to set the hat on her head than it took to sort her to Slytherin, and she fit into her life at school with extraordinary ease. Even from her first year, outspoken Bella was not to be ignored. Already well-established with the other pureblood children, her “leadership” skills quickly gave way to becoming a key member of what other students viewed as the resident group of bullies. Far from being some halfwit with a penchant for picking on the weak, however, Bellatrix always had to be a step ahead in every activity she partook in. No, Bellatrix had a true disposition for cruelty, gleaning enjoyment from any fear or pain she could cause. She became a regular visitor to detention; her explosive temper and frighteningly adept use of curses landing many a student in the hospital wing, and establishing herself as an enemy to avoid at all costs. Bellatrix reveled in their nervousness: noting how a fourth-year might move to the other side of a hallway just to avoid walking near her, never failing to bequeath a grin at that second-year who looked like he might cry whenever she was in the same room… Even as rumors began to spread that she might be a bit mad (not that her parents would ever hea of such things, of course), Bellatrix felt only pleasure: good – let them fear the madwoman. While her Hogwarts schooling allowed her to become one of the most skilled witches to ever walk its halls, her prowess with a wand undeniable, Bellatrix grew bored in her classes by her final year. What else useful was there to learn at Hogwarts besides a few measly charms? She was by no means the top of her class – her talents lay in practice more than theory – but Bellatrix knew where her strength lay, and she had no interest in Hogwarts’ pathetic offerings; the fact that they even offered a class on Muggles at all was despicable and reason enough to turn her ambitions elsewhere.

Does your character have a particular sense of style? Do they prefer to wear wizard or muggle clothing in their day-to-day life? Why?

Bellatrix Black unironically wears a lot of black. Any time her mum had made her wear lighter colors as a child, she’d gotten in trouble for mucking them up while playing Quidditch or wrestling an idiot. When she got older, she’d realized that her camouflage spells happened to work a lot better on dark clothing, and there was the added bonus that spots of blood were easier to hide. Her mother would often harp on about how black wasn’t any good on her, that it drew the healthy color from her skin; but Bellatrix preferred it. Once her mother had gone so far as to say that she was sure Narcissa would lend Bella some of her clothes, if she just asked – but Bellatrix’s eyes had flared, the vase of roses her mother was arranging shattered, and Druella shut her mouth. At any rate, her wizard robes were always the finest cut and material they had to offer; just always in a darker spectrum. As for whether she prefers wizard or muggle clothing – well, Bellatrix would sooner pour acid on herself than put on a pair of Levi’s.

Is your character more of a leader or a follower? Why? 

Bellatrix is a leader until she finds someone worth following (of whom, there’s only one). Empowered by her parents as a young child, and as one of the oldest in the group of pureblood children her parents set up playdates with pre-Hogwarts, authoritative Bella quickly took it upon herself to become a leader of sorts. She domineered their games of play-Quidditch and loudly parroted the ideas of purification she’d learned. A natural-born leader, however, Bellatrix began to struggle without clear focus. She yearned to learn more, to expand her abilities in ways that few would even dare, that the cowardly teachers of Hogwarts never taught and even her father did little more than hint at. Her pureblood beliefs developed into a fanaticism, and she grew increasingly disgusted at their community’s acceptance of the status quo, forever stuck in a cycle of raising pureblood children to be aware of their elite status, but doing nothing to enforce it. The more frustrated she became with the unchanging state around her, the more she isolated herself – until she finally understood: she was just better. Better, of course, than the Muggles and Mudbloods that plagued them, or any of the tiresome blood-traitors – but also better than these so-called believers who claimed to fight for the movement, these worthless pushovers who allowed their elite society to be muddied by the presence of unworthies. She was more intelligent, more talented, and most importantly more willing to do what it took. She was better than the lot of them.

Wand: 

12¾” long, walnut, dragon heartstring core. “...highly intelligent witches and wizards ought to be offered a walnut wand… unusual versatility and adaptability… while some woods are difficult to dominate, and may resist the performance of spells that are foreign to their natures, the walnut wand will, once subjugated, perform any task its owner desires, provided that the user is of sufficient brilliance. This makes for a truly lethal weapon in the hands of a witch or wizard of no conscience, for the wand and wizard may feed from each other in a particularly unhealthy manner.”

Pet: 

Owl. Bellatrix isn’t exactly a pet person. She doesn’t have the warmth or caring for a cat, and she’s not about to waste time with a toad. Owls have practical purpose, and that is something that Bellatrix can value.

Amortentia: 

The smell of oranges, that used to be in a bowl on the breakfast table every day and that she used to help Narcissa peel growing up. The smell of the freshly trimmed ferns when she roamed the grounds with her father. A damp, dusty smell that reminded her of the basement room she’d first tortured her house elf.

Boggart: 

Her father stands, holding her wand between his tight red fingers. “You’re no child of mine!” He shrieks at her, spit flying. “There was a mistake. Your mother lied, you’re no Black!” He snaps the wand between his hands, and she can see a fragile string barely holding the halves together. “You are disgusting, worthless, Mudblood! Unworthy to practice magic! Get out!”  

Patronus: 

Scorpion. It fits her rash and volatile nature. Bellatrix is also a star in the constellation Orion, who was killed by a scorpion.

[elcorreodetorreon]

“IQ is largely a pseudoscientific swindle”, Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Background : “IQ” is a stale test meant to measure mental capacity but in fact mostly measures extreme unintelligence (learning difficulties), as well as, to a lesser extent, a form of intelligence, stripped of 2nd order effects. It is via negativa not via positiva. Designed for learning disabilities, it ends up selecting exam-takers, paper shufflers, obedient IYIs (intellectuals yet idiots), ill adapted for “real life”. The concept is poorly thought out mathematically (a severe flaw in correlation under fat tails, fails to properly deal with dimensionality, treats the mind as an instrument not a complex system), and seemed to be promoted by

racists/eugenists, people bent on showing that some populations have inferior mental abilities based on IQ test=intelligence; those have been upset with me for suddenly robbing them of a “scientific” tool, as evidenced by the bitter reactions to the initial post on twitter/smear campaigns by such mountebanks as Charles Murray. (Something observed by the great Karl Popper, psychologists have a tendency to pathologize people who bust them by tagging them with some type of disorder, or personality flaw such as “childish” , “narcissist”, “egomaniac”, or something similar).

psychometrics peddlers looking for suckers (military, large corporations) buying the “this is the best measure in psychology” argument when it is not even technically a measure — it explains at best between 13% and 50% of the performance in some tasks (those tasks that are similar to the test itself), minus the data massaging and statistical cherrypicking by psychologists; it doesn’t satisfy the monotonicity and transitivity required to have a measure (at best it is a concave measure). No measure that fails 60–95% of the time should be part of “science” (nor should psychology — owing to its sinister track record — be part of science (rather scientism), but that’s another discussion).

Some argue that IQ measures intellectual capacity — real world results come from, in addition, “wisdom” or patience, or “conscientiousness”, or decision-making or something of the sort. No. It does not even measureintellectual capacity/mental powers.

If you want to detect how someone fares at a task, say loan sharking, tennis playing, or random matrix theory, make him/her do that task; we don’t need theoretical exams for a real world function by probability-challenged psychologists. Traders get it right away: hypothetical P/L from “simulated” paper strategies doesn’t count. Performance=actual. What goes in people’s head or reaction to a screen image doesn’t exist (except via negativa).

Fat Tails If IQ is Gaussian by construction and if real world performance were, net, fat tailed (it is), then either the covariance between IQ and performance doesn’t exist or it is uninformational. It will show a finite number in samplebut doesn’t exist statistically. Another problem: when they say “black people are x standard deviations away”. Different populations have different variances, even different skewness and these comparisons require richer models. These are severe, severe mathematical flaws (a billion papers in psychometrics wouldn’t count if you have such a flaw). See the formal treatment in my next book.

But the “intelligence” in IQ is determined by academic psychologists like the “paper trading” we mentioned above, via statistical constructs s.a. correlation that I show here (see Fig. 1) that they patently don’t understand. It does correlate to negative performance (as it was initially designed to detect learning special needs) but then any measure would work there. A measure that works in left tail not right tail (IQ decorrelates as it goes higher) is problematic. We have gotten similar results since the famous Terman longitudinal study, even with massaged data for later studies. To get the point, consider that if someone has mental needs, there will be 100% correlation between performance and IQ tests. But the performance doesn’t correlate as well at higher levels, though the psychologists will think it does.(The statistical spin, as a marketing argument, is that a person with an IQ of 70 cannot prove theorems, which is obvious for a measure of unintelligence — but they fail to reveal how many IQs of 150 are doing menial jobs).

It is a false comparison to claim that IQ “measures the hardware” rather than the software. It can measures some arbitrarily selected mental abilities (in a testing environment) believed to be useful. However, if you take a Popperian-Hayekian view on intelligence, you would realize that to measure it you would need to know the mental skills needed in a future ecology, which requires predictability of said future ecology. It also requires the skills to make it to the future (hence the need for mental biases for survival).

Real Life: In academia there is no difference between academia and the real world; in the real world there is. 1) When someone asks you a question in the real world, you focus first on “why is he/she asking me that?”, which shifts you to the environment (see Fat Tony vs Dr John in The Black Swan) and detracts you from the problem at hand. Only suckers don’t have that instinct. 2) Real life never never offers crisp questions with crisp answers (most questions don’t have answers; perhaps the worst problem with IQ is that it seem to selects for people who don’t like to say “there is no answer, don’t waste time, find something else”.) 3) It takes a certain type of person to waste intelligent concentration on classroom/academic problems. These are lifeless bureaucrats who can muster sterile motivation. Some people can only focus on problems that are real, not fictional textbook ones (see the note below where I explain that I can only concentrate with real not fictional problems). 4) IQ doesn’t detect convexity (by an argument similar to bias-variance you need to make a lot of small inconsequential mistake in order to avoid a large consequential one. See Antifragile and how any measure of “intelligence” w/o convexity is sterile edge.org/conversation/n…). To do well you must survive, survival requires some mental biases directing to some errors. 5) Fooled by Randomness: seeing shallow patterns in not a virtue — leads to naive interventionism. Some psychologist wrote back to me: “IQ selects for pattern recognition, essential for functioning in modern society”. No. Not seeing patterns except when they are significant is a virtue in real life. 6) To do well in life you need depth and ability to select your own problems and to think independently.

Functionary Quotient: If you renamed IQ , from “Intelligent Quotient” to FQ “Functionary Quotient” or SQ “Salaryperson Quotient”, then some of the stuff will be true. It measures best the ability to be a good slave. “IQ” is good for @davidgraeber’s “BS jobs”.

Metrification: If someone came up w/a numerical“Well Being Quotient” WBQ or “Sleep Quotient”, SQ, trying to mimic temperature or a physical quantity, you’d find it absurd. But put enough academics w/physics envy on it and it will become an official measure.

Notes And Technical Notes

“IQ” is most predictive of performance in military training, with correlation~.5, (which is circular since hiring isn’t random and training is another test).

There are contradictory stories about whether IQ ceases to work past a threshold, since Terman’s longitudinal study of “geniuses”. What these researchers don’t get is these contradictions come from the fact that the variance of the IQ measure increases with IQ. Not a good thing.

The argument that “some races are better at running” hence [some inference about the brain] is stale: mental capacity is much more dimensional and not defined in the same way running 100 m dash is.

I have here no psychological references for backup: simply, the field is bust. So far ~ 50% of the research does notreplicate, and papers that do have weaker effect. Not counting poor transfer to reality (psychological papers are ludic).

How P values often — rather almost always — fraudulent: my paper arxiv.org/pdf/1603.07532…

The Flynn effect should warn us not just that IQ is somewhat environment dependent, but that it is at least partly circular.

Verbalism: Psychologists have a skin-deep statistical education & can’t translate something as trivial as “correlation” or “explained variance” into meaning, esp. under nonlinearities (see paper at the end).

The “best measure” charlatans: IQ is reminiscent of risk charlatans insisting on selling “value at risk”, VaR, and RiskMetrics saying “it’s the best measure”. That “best” measure, being unreliable blew them up many many times. Note the class of suckers for whom a bad measure is better than no measure across domains.

You can’t do statistics without probability.

Much of the stuff about IQ of physicists is suspicious, from self-reporting biases/selection in tests.

If you looked at Northern Europe from Ancient Babylon/Ancient Med/Egypt, you would have written the inhabitants off... Then look at what happened after 1600. Be careful when you discuss populations.

The same people hold that IQ is heritable, that it determines success, that Asians have higher IQs than Caucasians, degrade Africans, then don’t realize that China for about a Century had one order of magnitude lower GDP than the West.

Mathematical Considerations

CURSE OF DIMENSIONALITY A flaw in the attempts to identify “intelligence” genes. You can get monogenic traits, not polygenic (note: additive monogenic used in animal breeding is NOT polygenic).

The Skin in the game issue

How social scientists have trouble translating a statistical construct into its practical meaning.

Psychology

Data Science

Black Swan

Racism

Alt Right

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John Gordon

Jan 2

I’m surprised no one has mentioned the book, “IQ: A Smart History of a Failed Idea,” by Stephan Murdoch. I read it recently and recommend it. Even without Taleb’s math prowess excoriating it, IQ’s legitimacy is unconvincing.

Taleb drives a stake through the IQ corpse and helps unveil the shame of 20th

[berniesrevolution]

JACOBIN MAGAZINE

I first met Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in August 2017, at a picnic for the Queens branch of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America (DSA). It was a hot, muggy day. I was with my children, and Alexandria came to meet with us without pushing any kind of agenda. She was stylish and charming, and everyone was extremely impressed. Her political vision spoke to the values and political goals of DSA.

But for a (then-) twenty-seven-year-old unknown to run for Congress in our district, NY-14, seemed like an impossibility. Alexandria would sometimes come to our branch meetings and speak about her campaign, but as NYC-DSA was focused on city council races in Brooklyn that fall we didn’t take the idea of supporting a long-shot candidate like herself seriously — taking on the “Queens Machine” seemed like a masochistic task at best. The Queens DSA branch had not yet run its own electoral operation, so taking on a multi-borough district of a half million people, with the highest levels of linguistic diversity, seemed overly ambitious. Some DSA members were reluctant to support an endorsement, despite liking Alexandria, for fear that her loss might hurt the organization’s reputation. But through our internal democratic processes, NYC-DSA endorsed Ocasio-Cortez on April 22, 2018, following a spirited debate at our Citywide Leadership Committee meeting.

Her opponent, Congressman Joe Crowley, was a high-ranking Democrat rumored to be next in line for speaker of the house. More importantly, Crowley seemed to wield superhuman power locally as the King of Queens. Standing 6’5” tall, bald, fifty-three years old, and probably the last of the old Irish ruling class of Queens, Crowley was called a “modern day Boss Tweed,” with a vast war chest and control of the Queens Democratic machine. As the chair, he makes judicial appointments and decides how to fill vacancies in special elections (in New York State, about one-third of all state legislature seats are handpicked in this way). Almost all Democratic seats in a highly Democratic county were decided with Crowley’s blessing (Queens county has about 2.4 million people, with a eight-to-one ratio of Democrats to Republicans, which means that the primary is the most contested race in almost all Queens elections). While some individuals might win against the machine, eventually they get incorporated — generally falling in lockstep with Crowley and the county committee. In addition to controlling Queens politics, Crowley brings his influence to bear on appointments like the powerful New York City Council chair: instituting a pro-real estate council speaker in 2017, and using the position to enrich his political allies.

The key reason why Crowley and the machine were seen to be unbeatable is the impressive Democratic club infrastructure and his relationships (often economic) to other power brokers. There are a series of Democratic clubs that make up the true believers and committed activists within the Democratic Party. Some of these activists may want to become politicians themselves, and they do their time — volunteering from high school age, serving as elected but unpaid “district leaders,” and demonstrating their loyalty to Crowley and the machine. Failure to do this can lead to swift punishment for any possible slights and perceived disloyalties.

Furthermore, Crowley relies on his relationships with other elected officials and leadership within local unions for endorsements and resources to help canvass and get out the vote. (As a member of a faculty and staff union, I was really displeased to see my statewide union affiliate send out an expensive mailer to my home the day before the election, stating “more than ever, we need Congressman Joseph Crowley,” with no mention of his policies.) Crowley has also used his access to power and resources to benefit his partners and family members. In other words, despite our current political climate, Crowley’s incumbency advantage seemed insurmountable.

A good illustration of the reach of the machine can be seen in my interaction with “Inez,” a forty-something Latinx community leader. On Saturday, June 23, I met up with Inez and a group of women in Elmhurst — the working-class, Latinx and Asian neighborhood in northern Queens where the candidate’s office is located — and we had the privilege of doing a get-out-the-vote canvass with Alexandria. After Ocasio-Cortez left to catch a flight to Texas (to protest the separation of migrant children), Inez and I walked around the blocks knocking on doors of apartment buildings, with mostly strong positive responses from voters. Over tacos afterwards, Inez told me that she could not be public with her support for Ocasio-Cortez because she sat on the community board, and knew that even a social media post in support of the campaign would jeopardize her relationships with other elected officials, and thus hurt her ability to advocate for the progressive causes she cared about.

Yet despite this context, DSA volunteers grew cautiously optimistic about the possibility of an Ocasio-Cortez victory. Following our April 22 endorsement, our field captain began almost daily canvasses in which an average of six people went out (and sometimes as many as fifteen members came to volunteer). Other members who couldn’t travel to Queens held local phone bank parties. Phone banking and canvassing led to the identification of supportive neighbors. DSA helped to contribute to the canvassing efforts, and especially to the get-out-the-vote efforts, but we always worked in coalition with other movements — including Black Lives Matter, Muslims for Progress, local Resistance and Indivisible-type groups throughout Queens and the Bronx, existing educational justice organizations, and the Bernie infrastructure. And Ocasio-Cortez’s bold, socialist vision brought dozens of people to a cramped, often-overheated office on the second floor above a tacqueria in Elmhurst.

On June 15, NYC-DSA asked its members to turn out for a debate watch party/phone bank event to watch Ocasio-Cortez bring her unapologetic vision for economic and social justice against Congressman Crowley’s more measured stances. The volunteers, mostly young and very diverse, were thrilled to support her strong performance against Crowley. And the work of the coalition-based ground team must have been effective, as Ocasio-Cortez was polling thirty-six points behind Crowley just three weeks before the primary, but won by fifteen points in the end.

The election of Donald Trump has demonstrated that American politics is riven with unpredictable openings — and that applies to the Left as well. While Ocasio-Cortez’s impressive field operation was a testament to the value of a motivated volunteer force, perhaps the strongest asset was Alexandria herself. Ocasio-Cortez rarely attacked Crowley on a personal level, but the one theme that even my white, male, conservative Democratic neighbor told me really affected him was the idea that Crowley did not live in the district, breathe our air, drink our water, or send his kids to our schools.

(Continue Reading)

[talldarkandroguesome]

21st of Morning Star, Turdas

I finally located the Earl and gave my thanks for all his support and advice in getting me to deliver my soul to our Prince. That no doubt it was my connection to him that afforded me a personal audience and hand delivery.

Then I said I was unsure how I could ever repay him and asked if he had any orders for me. 

The Earl asked me if I was to be staying on the Isles for a while yet. I could see that a yes would mean that he had some duties for me to perform.

So I told him that I had planned to stay to repay his and his nest’s hospitality and that I had not yet secured my passage back to the continent as of yet, so I should have the time yet.

I could see that the Earl was thinking me foolish for my lack of foreplanning. I admit, I had acted mostly in desperation, but who would not have in my boots? So I continued that I was certain to make my way back in my own time and that I was hardly concerned about the political issues involved because my current condition rendered me effectively immune to death, provided I did not anger our Prince.

He seemed to think for a moment, then a thoughtful look spread across his face and he said that he, in fact, did have a task I could take care of and I followed him back to his chambers. I waited silently as he drafted something on parchment and imbued it with magicka. Then he handed it to me.

I bowed my head as he gave me the details. Go to the government offices in Lillandril, find the office of my target, plant the missive someplace it will not be found immediately, but would be found in an inspection, and do not get caught. In the event I were to be caught, pretend to be a Pact spy stealing the missive instead of planting it.

I said I understood and asked if there was a specific time I should conduct my task, or a time I should seek to finish by.

The Earl leveled that predatory gaze of his at me and told me he would prefer it done as soon as possible.

I acknowledged the order and said that I should like leave to prepare immediately, for I would need to craft a potion so that, should they wish to try a truth serum on me, I could end my life and not risk giving away anything.

With a wave of the hand from the Earl, I went to where I had seen a small alchemy bench with rudimentary equipment. It was more than enough for what I needed. I crafted some magicka and stamina potions and labeled them as various poisons. Then I crafted some very devastating poisons. I made sure to label them as magicka and stamina regenerating and fortifying potions. Most of them I made sure to make very painful, but one of them I made particularly fast acting and less painful, which will be the one for me to take if I am caught. This one I strapped to the inside of my forearm so that I can slide it down and take it if I am caught.

I made sure to leave most of my personal effects at the Cathedral of Webs, stuck to the vaulted ceiling above the alchemy station with spider silk. It would take someone a lot of effort to get it down so I believe my things will be safe.

The only things I took with me were, a cloak, a simple long sleeved tunic with trousers and boots, a boot knife, my potions, and a few lock picks. 

The Earl had shown me a basic map of the city of Lilandril and where the city’s governmental offices were located. It would be nearly half a day’s walk down there, so I figured it was best to leave around dusk. I covered my head with the cloak and headed off.

I used invisibility to get by the guards near the gate and then kept to alleyways and the sides of buildings, always moving along shadows and making myself invisible as often as possible. I took a stamina and a magicka potion just around the corner from the government office.

For what the building stood for, it was surprisingly easy to infiltrate. I merely slipped inside invisibly behind someone who was leaving.

Finding the appropriate office was far more difficult. Luckily, there were almost no guards roaming inside. So I could move around without drawing any suspicion.

The one good thing about a society which is meticulous in its record keeping and bureaucracy, is that everything is labeled in detail.

The office was on the top floor and near to the end of the hallway. But for all that, it possessed only a pair of simple locks. And as soon as I had gotten past those, there were no other obstacles in my entering the office. There were not even any traps within.

Searching carefully within the desk, I found a false bottom to one of the drawers, within which were a series of different documents which seemed as though they were meant to be hidden, including some very racy love letters about a forbidden romance. Knowing I likely had plenty of time undisturbed, I took the chance and using the ink and parchment on the desk, I carefully made a forgery of two of the letters and placed them back in the drawer with the false bottom, the evidence to plant at the bottom of the stack. Then I slipped the stolen letters under my tunic and carefully placed everything in exactly the position that I found it in.

I saw an open window on first floor and made a speedy, yet invisible, exit, then hurried out of town as fast as my teleportation could carry me. When I was out of sight of the city limits I returned to just walking.

The sun was just beginning to shine when I finally made it back to the Cathedral of Webs. I was exhausted from all the potions and the hour, but proud and satisfied with what I had accomplished.

The Earl had already retired, so I went and retrieved the bedroll and dragged it over to where the alchemy station was. Then I retrieved my belongings from the ceiling. I like this private spot. And if anyone should need to use the room, I will simply vacate it. But in the meantime, I have my own little private room with silken web screen.

As I stare at the spider silk, I can be proud. This is one of the many boons that my Prince has granted me for a lifetime of service and devotion. While I am here, I shall serve Her Earl to the best of my abilities. I can sleep well knowing that I can contribute to that which has true value and meaning in this world.