#incomplete/incorrect list.....maybe

[silverjetsystm]

//not me looking through Manhattan real estate listings and not caring about the price to cobble a maybe coherent living look for Mr. Grant when he's not at the Long Island Mansion, is Not Broke, and is left to his Own Devices.

It's supposed to be large enough to host but Grant didn't have anything moved in for it so it looks Weird and Incomplete.

Key take aways:

Lots of natural light (Windows with the fancy timer blinds to black out all the light at certain times of day)

sturdy furniture that is built for Tol man. Living room furniture pictures are Incorrect

giant ancient statue in the main living area

Living room is light blue

bookcases.

no dining nook. Let's be real, he probably turned a section and a wall into a Film watching corner.

11' tall ceilings

Nice kitchen that he doesn't use

Walk in Closet for his ridiculous amount of clothing (and then a lil bit for Lockley and we suppose Spector)

Heated bathroom flooring

Washer and dryer

Second bedroom is an office

Curved windows

This flooring. And look, he's not the only weirdo with Art

No notes

Tub (and a shower)

Yes, it's way too big of a space for him but he had to find a place for the statute, not so much himself.

And then he pays for his Nice Car and Lockley's cab to have parking.

Everything else is mothballed at the Mansion.

[thornsandbrambles]

-decks that appropriate from indigenous cultures/in general

-decks that have inaccurate and/or really unclear booklets

-decks that have no booklet but sometimes thats nbd depends on the deck (i have one oracle deck i L O V E that came with no booklet and somehow i always get VERY clear readings from it)

-specifically related to fandom themed decks, if they have characters on the cards that make no sense or really minor characters that nobody fucking knows who they are so they can fill up tje deck.... thats a bad deck

-decks where the booklet doesn't tell you what reversals mean (it's not hard to google but the results are often a cesspool of new age nonsense)

-decks that are only major/minor arcana or not complete decks in some way (unless they're like that bc they're historical decks and that's period accurate then they get a pass)

-decks with a clearly incorrect (read: fluffy and/or too "soft") interpretation of either angels OR fae. like girlie have you ever met a fae/angel in your life. i think not.

-decks that dont have enough energy put into them bc the vibes are usually not strong enough to get good readings with them (iykyk)(they just dont feel "alive" enough and i fucking hate that)

-decks that have incorrect or weird interpretations of a culture and/or gods/goddesses (similar to appropriation but not QUITE the same)

-decks that act like all gods and goddesses are interchangable and/or multiple facets of one entity

-too big (i have tiny hands helpppp. like child gloves fit me xvnsbdgxhxvbdb)

-decks that have ugly art.... like no shade to the artists but some decks its like.... maybe u shld have hired someone 2 do this for u girlie (gn)

-decks that are like. sooooo new agey. i cannot explain this clearly but i hope y'all get it. iykyk.

-too small (hard 2 shuffle)

-decks where the art has nothing to do with the meaning of the card

-xtian themed in any way (just not my thing)

-decks that are too mean (i prefer decks that are direct but friendly yfm)

-decks that just in general have like. either too much or not enough going on art-wise. like if there's too MUCH symbolism i get lost. if there' not ENOUGH im like.... girlie there is nothing HERE. there's a delicate balance.

-decks that DONT rely on symbolism at ALL and are like heeheehoohoo pretty picture. like. what am i supposed to be reading exactly.

-anything wiccan, especially of the new agey variety 🤢

-rider-waite is far from my favorite deck. hate the art hate the appropriation dont like the vibes. i do not like it. it was my first deck and i gave it away after i got a new one 💀 (also it was rly small)

-if the back of the cards is like..... unpleasant to look at, easy to tell when the cards are flipped, something like a mandala or too busy or migraine inducing etc im not a fan

-tacky decks.

-if the fool card is a fucking mirror im out you dont know me girl (gn) why are you blasting me like this (i used to think this was kind of cool but as ive grown in my craft now it makes me roll my eyes)

-i also dont particularly like lenormand decks fsr they just do not vibe with me

-i dont mind decks with sex as a theme TECHNICALLY but it has to be TASTEFUL and very few of them are. also i prefer there not to be a LOT of nudity in my decks but i dont mind a little bit

-basically everything else on your list except ive never had/used a gilded deck

anyway this is probably an incomplete list but this is getting long sooooo yk 😂 im v picky about my decks as you can see but i have collected a lot of them thru the years (over time i think ive had like.... 8???? of them??? [estimate] and right now i have. 6 not including 2 playing card sets that i COULD use for readings but havent). I feel like I know my deck needs pretty well.

my tarot/oracle deck icks:

- overly feminine/“divine feminine” themes

- decks that use the g slur for the ~aesthetic~

- decks that appropriate chakras, kabbalah, indigenous symbols, etc.

- any deck that has “sexual” in the title ((or just decks that are sex themed lol))

- not the biggest fan of decks that are gilded?? it hurts my hands when i shuffle idk

- pip decks ((decks that don’t have actual art for the minor arcana))

- ANY DECK THAT INCLUDES LILITH AS A GODDESS

feel free to add on with your icks bc i’m curious

[renewherself]

Mark Halpin's Labor Day Extravaganza 2023: Two on the Isle

Haloanaka

- Figured out many, many incomplete cryptic crossword clues, including: + Cla[I]ms, diamonds, etc. (SUITS) + [C]Alvin chiefly adores pieces of garlic (CLOVES) + Invoke loud couple of comments from a cow fattened fowl around lower left back of menu (CALL UPON)

Hi'iakaikapua'ena'ena

- Figured out ALPHYSCSSFTNECHCOAORERSNEAKTOHETSHBRT with the rule "Remove all I's and move the last two letters of each word to the front" - Figured out DANDNVIRONMESTRANDOMETIMJSBANDALLJDSANDMEEANDINFLEANDRONTIJR with the rule "First letter shifts backwards in the alphabet by 1, followed by an 'AND'; 2nd-to-last letter shifts forward in the alphabet by 5" - Figured out the rule for MUDULAUFRUMATAUACHINGPLANURTHAUMURALUFAFABLAU being "Replace O with U and E with AU" - Spotted which transformation was one letter off when our end count of total letters was off by one - Figured out GAELIC was incorrect as a solution for DIALECT HEARD FROM IRISH SPEAKERS and the correct answer was BROGUE when the Baudelaire family chain had one incorrect substring

Kamapua'a

- Figured out the solution to "Layered, like some clouds or ore deposits" was STRATOUS - Figured out the solution to "Souvenir from a Broadway show, maybe" was TICKET STUB - Came up with the idea to rotate the blocks of letters in the grid so they read left-to-right, top-to-bottom, and then rotate the pigpen cipher symbols accordingly.

Kanaloa

- Solved 6/7 of the Mouse of Games round, 4/7 of the The Answer's in the Question round, 3/6 of the Broken Karaoke round (the last three that we were stuck on) - Having seen HOPSCOTCH MARIGOLD proposed as an answer, figured out RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHTNING MCQUEEN as another answer, and from there, figured out the games being used were the ones featured in Squid Game - Figured out that the clue phrase USE POST GAME PART meant to remove the names of the games from the answers to create new strings

Kauila

- Figured out the final minipuzzle was not only a list of ingredients used in baking, but specifically ones used to make Turtle Candies (and therefore the missing answer was PECAN HALVES) - Solved the second minipuzzle: Figured out the turtles with red, purple, orange, and blue shells pointed to characters from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and more specifically the Renaissance artists whom these characters were named after. Figured out that eight words from the word bank could be put together to form the names of four famous pieces of art by said artists

Ku

- Figured out the category SETTING from SUN and PLACE - Figured out the puzzle solution from the extracted phrase BIT TOSS

La'ila'i & Keali'i

- Figured out "It makes a surface Rougher" was an ABRADER, "Shelley ode honoree" SKYLARK, "Like a rustic scene or poem" IDYLLIC, "You might order it rare" RIBEYE, "Canine comment" ARF

Lono

- Solo-solved: Figured out that foods had to be paired up and their front halves swapped to create answers to the clues, and that letters were extracted by drawing a line between the paired foods

Maui

- Figured out the Peppers, Brotherhood of Mutants categories - Figured out the extra-word-shaped-like-a-cane mechanic from JUGGERNAUT and JALAPENO - Found a bunch of the words, both before and after categories were known

Mokualli

- Came up with the idea that the answer to the clue "One's full of sewage or wickedness" was a variant of CESSPOOL (CESSPIT) - Figured out the matched answers to the clues "Old geezer" and "Take over" were COOT and COOPT - Figured out the clue that paired with SECOND BASEMEN (and confirmed it was the answer to "Jackie Robinson, et al.) was "Below grade locales" with the answer being BASEMENT - Figured out the clue that paired with SCARE UP (and confirmed it was the answer to "Scrape together somehow, with difficulty") was "Accusation" with the answer being CHARGE

[stormvanari]

Jetters!AU(Ducktales/Darkwing Duck Edition)

Uhhh...just a random idea that came in my head:

Jetters(Justice Ducks/SHUSH):

Shirobon: Gosalyn Mallard

Mighty: Darkwing Duck

Birdy: Gizmoduck

Gangu: Neptunia

Bongo: Stegmutt

Shout:Webby Vanderquack

Dr.Ein: J. Gander Hooter

HigeHige Bandits(FOWL):

Mujoe: Steelbeak

HigeHige Bandits: Eggmen

Bagular:Glomgold

Max: Negaduck

-Other MA units: Tronsplitter Negaduck

Dr. Mechadoc: Taurus Bulba

Bomber Shintennou: Fearsome Four

-Thunder Bomber: Megavolt

-Flame Bomber: Quackerjack

-Mermaid Bomber: Liquidator

-Grand Bomber: Bushroot

Other BMJ Characters:

-Momo: Launchpad McQuack

-Misty: Morgana

-Zero: Posiduck

-Twist: Scrooge McDuck

-Kobon: HDL

-Oyabon: Donald Duck

[rosycoconuts]

Was there ever an analysis or theory you have read for a fandom you are in and it is really good but some parts of it are inaccurate/incorrect/incomplete etc. but you press "like" on the whole thing anyway instead of spending time reblogging talking about how you mostly agree with them but then list the small ways you add/correct/disagree with them about their post . . .

*inhale* *exhale*

So now its saved in your "likes" and you just see it as a post you mostly agree with but not fully and you just want to take/remove certain parts of that analysis or theory (or mostly just inject some of your thoughts into a reblog, just adding your take, or at least part of it, on the analysis) but you just don't?

If I had done this I would have had a lot more posts on my page.

Maybe I should just so I could voice some of my thoughts on the matter instead of just letting it bounce around in my head.

Don't want to stay complacent anymore in my regrets and make my thoughts known and speak for myself!

[theofficersacademy]

With a week left before the Ethereal Ball, many students (and some faculty!) are scrambling for dates, or simply friends to accompany them to the event. After all, feasts and dancing are best enjoyed with company. That’s the rationale for Garreg Mach’s new blind date roulette.

Find your perfect match!

Owls have dispatched across the monastery to deliver incomplete profiles to half of the soon-to-be-pairs. For those who received one, it’s time to find your match!

First, look at the list of participants here [link]. One half will be the seekers, the other half will be the recipients. Seekers will use their hint to try to guess which of the recipients it belongs to, and will send an IC ask to them. If it’s correct, they’ve found their match! And the two can enjoy complimentary tea and cake by the fire in the Knight’s Hall. If it’s incorrect, the recipient will contact one of the mods to receive a new line from the seeker’s mystery dating profile, and will reply to the ask IC with the new hint. The seeker will then be sent off to guess again.

These interactions are intended to be short and quick (one ask, one reply), but you’re welcome to turn them into longer threads should the inspiration strike. This is an activity to get our members writing with those they might not ordinarily write with, and help their muses make new connections. The goal is for every participant to walk away with a new friend, or maybe even the flames of a budding romance.

All posts should be tagged with #TOAblinddate2022, and all replies will count toward end of the month activity. Threads that reach word and reblog requirements can also count for class mastery.

Let us know if you have any questions!

- The House Leaders

[rggtattoos]

Your tattoo headcanons/analysis means the world to me (just read your Oda/Tachibana analysis 😭). What got you into this kind of thing, anyway? Genuinely curious!

First of all thank you and I am glad you are enjoying what I've written!

I started making a big document with elements of the tattoos and their symbolism because I was unsatisfied with the information that was already out there about the tattoos in Like a Dragon. All of it was incomplete and some of was actually incorrect. (That's the reason I am such a stickler about my sources.) No one was talking about the flower imagery, or any of the smaller elements and motifs. Eventually I had a sizable amount of info, and decided a tumblr blog would be the easiest way to share the info I had gathered. People started asking about tattoos that don't appear in series, and head canons, which I am more than happy to answer! I am by no means an expert, but I am happy to share what I know with fellow fans!

As for how I got into the LAD series, funny enough it was because of Dragon Quest! I LOVE Dragon Quest. I consider DQ11 to be one of my favorite games ever, so when I heard that Yakuza 7 was "basically a Dragon Quest game" and saw it on sale, my partner and I decided to try it out. We were hooked and got the rest of the series as well and it has flown to the top of my favorites list. (And if you wondering, 7 is NOT "basically a Dragon Quest game" it is EXACTLY a Dragon Quest game with some "Tales of..." series elements for flavor and I have a lot to say about that. Maybe I'll make a side blog for that kind of silly analysis?)

[uno-writing]

Gimme the genetics hcs plzzzzzz! (sidenote i love all your writing)

You got them!! (aw thank you <3)

**So basically (since I don’t have a super in-depth knowledge of genetics, just general level) this hc is gonna be relatively basic and just cover for ranges in genetics, not the specifics. Mainly involving punnett squares, dominant and recessive genes, ect. If any of this is written wrong or just blatantly incorrect, let me know and I’ll change stuff����. I’ve only taken a few biology classes and done a little bit of personal research on genetics so I’m not the master of genetics**

(also, I made this hc assuming a lot of the parental genes since I don’t think that there’s any character where we know both of their parents’ abilities. so this could easily get thrown in the trash if we ever learn both parents and it doesn’t fit my theory)

Technically speaking, I’m sure you could just go through and say that there’s five different genes for each of the level categories [Low, Mid, Elite, High, and God tiers] and it passes along genetically the same as a widow peak or attached ear lobes would. Simple and to the point, right?

But I’m difficult🤙. So I went with a different method.

First thing I did was go through all the existing characters that we know the ability of and found that the most common ability level is mid tier (which is confirmed by uru-chan) and the second most common ability level is elite tier (maybe this is just because the story doesn’t touch as much on low tiers and mainly takes place in a prestigious school for strong students, but still. There’s a lot of elite tiers.) The least common ability level is, of course, god tier. Low tier is a close second to last.

Using this information, I came to the idea that 4 different types of level genes exist. All of these genes are incompletely dominant and each of them have different pull.

g+ which covers the stronger half of god tier (less pull)

g- which covers the weaker half of god tier (more pull)

l+ which covers the stronger half of low tier (more pull)

l- which covers the weaker half of low tier (less pull)

The reason I picked these are because they’re the two extremes on the spectrum. Since god tier and low tier are the least common occurring, it’d make sense for these genes to be recessive that combine to make different levels. God tier can only happen with gg (depending on the + or -) and low tier can only happen with two l-. Considering mid tier is the most common, mid tier has 3 potential combinations. Below is the list of combinations and what the range of ability level is.

g+ x g+ = Upper god tier (8.0-10.0)

g+ x g- = Lower god tier (6.0 - 7.9)

g- x g- = Upper high tier (5.5-5.9)

g+ x l- = Lower high tier (5.0-5.4)

g+ x l+ = Upper elite tier (4.0-4.9)

g- x l- = Lower elite tier (3.5-3.9)

g- x l+ = Upper mid tier (3.0-3.4)

l+ x l+ = Mid tier (2.5-2.9)

l+ x l- = Lower mid tier (2.0-2.4)

l- x l- = Low tier (1.0-1.9)

So for example, Seraphina would be g+g+, Arlo would be g+g-, Remi would be g-g- (assuming her max isn’t lower god tier), and Evie would be l-l-.

This explains how Remi and Rei’s parents are both elite tiers, but were able to have two upper high tier children. Below are the punnett square I made for Remi and Rei’s parents to figure out what their genes most likely are. It’s less likely that Mama and Papa Lightning are both upper elite tiers. The other combinations are more likely, depending on Rei and Remi’s max ability level. (sorry if my handwriting is bad)

So that’s how I believe ability levels work. Now I’m gonna talk about the actual abilities. It seems like the actual abilities are simpler and that some abilities are simply more dominant than others. For an example, I doubt that both of Remi and Rei’s parents’ abilities are lightning, considering Remi and Rei are the only people in the story that’s been seen with with this ability. This considering, lightning is probably more dominant than the other ability in the family. Another example is Sera and Leilah’s family. It’s very very very unlikely that Sera’s father has a time manipulation ability (unless there’s some **sweet home alabama** going on in that family). That being stated, time manipulation is most likely more dominant than his ability. Below is the assumed punnett square for Sera’s family. I messed up with two of the yellow squares. g+g-tt would be random potential lower god tier child that doesn't have time manipulation.

Now for William and John. I believe that since having no ability is such a rare thing, it’s a genetic defect. William was just born without an ability gene. Since he didn’t have any ability gene to give John, it made it more likely that John would develop his ability later on. That also explains how John is god tier. Since William just doesn’t have an ability gene, it doesn’t matter what his ability level gene says. He could naturally have any potential genotype from upper mid tier to upper god tier depending on his parents, but it doesn’t matter since he doesn’t have an ability. He's put in the low tier category because him not having an ability makes him the weakest. So John most likely has a genotype that looks like g+g-_A (or g+g+_A depending on his max). I’m assuming he has the same ability as his mom, but it’s possible it’s a recessive gene instead of dominant.

I think it’d also be cool if some abilities were co-dominant and mixed together to make different abilities or that the child had both abilities, but there’s no form of that in canon. Just a cool idea.

Below is an image of a lineage I created using random superpowers and genotypes just to show how abilities and levels travel through 3 generations.

First generation female has the genotype l+l+pp. This female is a mid tier (2.9 max) with the recessive ability psychic.

First generation male has the genotype g+l+Rp. This male is an upper elite tier (4.9 max) with the dominant ability Reactive Adaptability with a recessive psychic gene.

I then selected a random genotype from that combination. g+l+Rp. The second generation female is an upper elite tier (4.9 max) with the dominant ability Reactive Adaptability with a recessive psychic gene.

The second generation male has a genotype is g-g-pp. He’s an upper high tier (5.9 max) with a recessive psychic ability.

The two possible children can be either g+g-pp (god tier with 7.9 max and recessive psychic ability) or g-l+Rp (upper mid tier with 3.4 max and dominant Reactive Adaptability with recessive psychic)

[ganymedesclock]

how do you figure that the knight has a personality. from what i've seen, it's purpose is to stop the plague, and every action it takes is to further that goal. there aren't any sidequests that bring it to other, irrelevant things.

Anon pardon me for being rude but this just sounds a lot like you really weren’t paying any attention at all.

The first thing Ghost did was leave Hallownest entirely

They came back specifically because Hollow was dying. Numerous people speculate or imply about this and it is shown to us in the opening cinematic- Hollow screams, and then Ghost specifically returns to Hallownest. Given Ghost shows neither loyalty nor reverence to any figure of the Pale King, in any route, it is hard for me to believe this is their instruction.

Literally numerous characters explicitly discuss that Ghost is making independent decisions. Open the wiki and find a character page and read their dialogue. I challenge you to find basically any character in the entire game who has more than a single sentence of dialogue, that does not talk about Ghost making choices and having opinions. 

The soundtrack that plays during Hollow’s fight sharply changes tonally in response to Hollow stabbing themselves. No one else is observing Hollow. “We” as player do not have a presence that is acknowledged in the meta of the game. Ever. Ergo: These moments of sadness are emotions we are told that Ghost has.

The person who tells us that Ghost is empty was wrong about it explicitly and big time. Literally the entire reason Hollow didn’t work is because the Pale King was wrong about the vessels and his entire civilization ate shit because of it. In case you missed the charnel pit filled with dead children, or the fact that you basically find his dead body curled up in an empty throne room where you then have to smack it out of its chair and onto the floor in order to clear the area, PK is not a trustworthy source of information. He is factually observably incorrect about several things (see: the lore tablet in the Howling Cliffs that states there “is no world beyond” and implies sapience only exists within Hallownest’s bounds when half the cast casually talks about and is canonically shown via things like Quirrel’s prequel comic to have come to Hallownest from outside, and been sapient the whole time. PK HIMSELF came to Hallownest from the outside and was sapient. 

Also the specific thing you cite that would be counter-evidence to Ghost lacking a personality happens. like. all the time. Things that aren’t relevant to Ghost’s Assigned Objective:

Literally any ending except “Hollow Knight” which you can complete by ignoring everyone and running in a straight line to the goal. Even that ending requires Ghost to conduct independent synthesis of ideas to figure out how to complete this, which an entity that has a personality and thoughts does things. 

Any objective that requires the Kingsoul calls for you to wander what White Lady notes is a long way off the path and obtain objects you were never “supposed” to have when your path ahead to replace Hollow is clear.

Every aspect of the Delicate Flower quest

The Colosseum of Fools

The entirety of the Grimm Troupe DLC

The entirety of Hidden Dreams DLC

The entirety of Godmaster DLC

Sitting with Quirrel at the conclusion of his storyline

Sitting and listening to Marissa

Meditating with Mato, or seeking out the Nailmasters in the first place

Beating up Millibelle for robbing you

Accepting the Hunter’s Journal and completing it

Fighting Hornet a second time and acquiring the King’s Brand (which is used to defy an explicit order of the Pale King, that the Abyss is to be left sealed)

The grub sidequest

Pursuing any of the character storylines, such as Cloth, Bretta, Tiso, or Elderbug’s to its logical conclusion

This list is incomplete and could continue

It certainly looks like actually most of the game consists of actions that make no sense from the perspective of an empty creature who is completely apathetic, lacks a personality, and only obeys orders given to it by PK, and, after all, we are roleplaying the experience of being Ghost, considering never at any point does the game ever acknowledge the player as an entity or break the fourth wall. The closest it comes is the Shrine of Believers which is extremely esoteric to access.

It would also certainly seem I’m really mad about it, which I am: Anon, please consider that I am an autistic adult. Please consider that many people with autism, especially in childhood, can be:

Nonverbal

Prone to repetitive behavior or acting in a way that others describe as “robotic”

Lack what is considered “typical emoting” / could seem to be “blank-faced”

Basically, everything the vessels are. And autistic people are, you know, real actual human beings with thoughts and feelings. You know what people argue, all the time? That we aren’t. Especially young nonverbal kids.

Do you understand maybe why I am saltier than small oceans about this subject?

If so, I really hope you understand that while I cannot physically reach through the screen and stop you from believing this, broaching this attitude does cause me, as an autistic person, to trust you significantly less, especially since we are talking about a game that calls a huge amount of attention to the fact that all of the vessels suffered and were hurt by what was done to them. Broken Vessel reaches out to you when they fall. Hollow actively stabs themselves during their fight to prevent Radiance from using themselves to hurt you and comes back as a Shade to attack her in Dream No More.

To insist there’s not evidence of Ghost having a personality is to both insist, in arrogance, that all of the humanity of playing Hollow Knight is only brought by the player- when we are not a force that exists in this world- and to deny the fact that there is anything wrong with the Abyss. Which is clearly not the conclusion the game intended to present you with. There is a reason we feel something about the Abyss, and not about the workshop in the White Palace where bits of Kingsmould armor are stacked up. And even the Kingsmoulds, it’s made clear, have at least the capacity to grow and form opinions given the implications of The Collector.

[shortfictionweeklychallenge]

Short Fiction Weekly Challenge

Time for a new prompt from the Short Fiction Weekly Challenge, tumblr edition. Let it spark your imagination. Any character, any fandom, any original world. Reblogs welcome!

Post your story to your blog and send the link to Short Fiction Weekly Challenge! The link will appear in our feed and the site index, and your blog will be listed on the Participating Blogs page.

This week’s SFWC prompt:

Week of May 7, 2021

Change of Heart: Characters often grow and change in their stories, but usually their core beliefs remain the same. Suppose they didn’t? Some of the most satisfying stories--fiction and non--involve a character having a complete change of heart. The miser-to-generous is well-known, but consider any strongly held belief for change. What experiences make the character reconsider? Is it momentary and fleeting, or long lasting? The change doesn’t have to be for the good, either. A kind character could become cruel, or an open-minded one become hidebound and inflexible. Write about your character’s heart growing--or shrinking--three sizes, and what happened when it did.

Feel free to continue submitting stories for any prompt. A masterpiece missed the deadline? Don’t let it gather electronic dust. Submit it anyway and Short Fiction Weekly Challenge will publish it.

This week’s prompt not for you? Look for something more to your taste in the Prompt Archive. Consider all the prompts active and waiting to inspire you.

This week’s featured previous prompts are:

Kiss The Girl: or guy, or nonbinary; whoever or whatever it is that your character is falling for (and, we hope, is falling for them as well) this is it. The Kiss. The Moment you've been waiting to write. So write it! Make it the end after a slow burn, or start with the Kiss and move forward.

Over Your Head- Interesting stories happen when your character is least expecting it, and least prepared. Maybe they misread the situation. Maybe their information was incorrect or incomplete. Perhaps an enemy (or friend!) arranged the whole thing. Or maybe they stumbled into the villain's lair on accident. Maybe the villains stumbled into theirs! What do they do? How does your character handle being in over their head?

Got an idea for a prompt? Submit it here.

[breaniebree]

Hey :) do you have a list of your favourite hinny fanfics?? I've been struggling to find any good ones for a while and I would love some recommendations ♡♡

Hi, Anon!

I do have a list.  I’ll send the link here for you!

HP Fanfic Recs

A lot of people have been asking me for some great fanfiction recommendations so I am going to post some of my favourites down below for anyone interested (and with the ships people have asked for).

Hinny (Harry and Ginny):

Catch Her Snitch by Pottermum (ff and Ao3) — https://archiveofourown.org/works/14124723/chapters/32547897

One shots and Snippets based on artwork and headcanons from blvnk-art on Tumbler, and dialogue from ‘it’s-hp-bitch’s and incorrect hp quotes on Tumbler, with a bit of Pottermum added to the mix too.

17, Clumsy, and Shy by Velvethopefics (ff) — https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13470939/1/17-Clumsy-and-Shy

Originally written pre-HBP, this is my little tale of what could have been. Harry finds out what being 17 is all about. And Ginny gets to help. An Irish Goddess and a new prophecy go along for the ride. It is a Coming of Age story with intrigue, magic and love.

In Essence: Undivided by Velvethopefics (ff) — https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13507826/1/In-Essence-Undivided

The sequel to 17, Clumsy, & Shy. Harry begins his final year as he and Ginny embark on a new relationship filled with danger, mystery and plenty of Voldemort shenanigans to keep them hopping. New friends and new bonds are made, and some old friends are lost.

Covert Love by celtics534 (ff) — https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13485599/1/Covert-Love

To serve and protect. That’s what Harry was there for. He had been sent undercover to protect Ginny Weasley from a mad man. Not to fall in love with her. But how couldn’t he? She was everything anyone could want, and clearly her stalker agreed.

An Unexpected Christmas Present by The DA is dressed to the nines (ff) — https://www.fanfiction.net/s/5476481/1/An-Unexpected-Christmas-Present

Has anyone else wondered why Ginny wasn’t mentioned at Slughorn’s Christmas party? How would Harry react when finding her there and dressed to perfection? M for typical teenage boy thoughts.

World of SS Potter Series by SSHenry (SIYE) — Nine part series that first got me into Hinny fanfiction back in the early 2000s.  A few of the stories say incomplete but they are complete just not closed off on the site.

Summer of the Serpent: Ginny Weasley survived the Chamber of Secrets, but will she survive the summer surprises and discovery that follows? — http://www.siye.co.uk/viewstory.php?sid=5097

The Forgotten Girl: Ginny Weasley survived the Chamber of Secrets and the summer of revelation and discovery that followed, but how will she deal with her newfound powers? — http://www.siye.co.uk/viewstory.php?sid=5244

Life is But a Dream: What was the real reason that Harry didn’t want to get off the train at the end of OotP? — http://www.siye.co.uk/viewstory.php?sid=5326

Towards Tomorrow: Harry’s back at the Dursley’s and is hearing voices that have nothing to do with Voldemort. Hermione spent the summer with Krum, but will that be enough to spur Ron into telling her how he really feels? And what secrets is Ginny hiding? — http://www.siye.co.uk/viewstory.php?sid=5138

Ron Knows: A companion piece to chapter ten of Towards Tomorrow. — http://www.siye.co.uk/viewstory.php?sid=9483

Today the Tempest: Voldemort’s powers are increasing, but so are Harry’s. The final confrontation draws ever closer in this seventh year fiction featuring all your favourite characters. — http://www.siye.co.uk/viewstory.php?sid=5616

Facing the Future: The Revenge of the Lime Green Bowler Hat: Voldemort is dead, but evil never truly dies. Plenty of challenges await Harry, Ginny and all of those who survived the final battle. A Post-Hogwarts fic that brings together all your favourite characters as they attempt to rebuild their world. — http://www.siye.co.uk/viewstory.php?sid=6571

Facing the Future 2: Underhill: Voldemort may be gone but evil never dies. Only Ginny can unravel the tangle of hatred and deceit that has brought the Order of the Phoenix to its knees. But she is running out of time, for when one goes Underhill, one’s magic doesn’t work and nothing is as it seems. — http://www.siye.co.uk/viewstory.php?sid=9080

Timepiece: Voldemort is gone — or is he? Is it possible for the Dark Lord to reach into the future and play the ultimate mind trick on The Boy Who Lived? — http://www.siye.co.uk/viewstory.php?sid=9440

Oh, Harry by My Dear Professor McGonagall (ff) — https://www.fanfiction.net/s/7186412/1/Oh-Harry

A series of one-shots from the beautifully intertwined and magical lives of Ginny Weasley and Harry Potter.

It’s Not Easy Being Green, It Could Be Nicer Being Red by deadwoodpecker (ff) — https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13148263/1/It-s-Not-Easy-Being-Green-It-Could-Be-Nicer-Being-Red

Harry and Ginny steer toward a relationship. Please enjoy this fluffy little story.

Noticing by TheDistantDusk (Ao3) — https://archiveofourown.org/works/15936890/chapters/37161587

Ginny suddenly realizes two things, in very quick succession: One, that Harry has never really looked at her that closely before, and two, that he is absolutely, beyond a shadow of a doubt, doing that. Right now.  This is the story of how Harry comes to notice her… but more importantly, it’s the story of how Ginny comes to notice that he noticed.

Never Trust Five-Year-Olds by HecateA (ff) — https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13431734/1/Never-Trust-Five-Year-Olds

It takes about five seconds for Teddy to gain Ginny’s trust and three for him to lose it again. Luckily, this is one secret worth sharing. One-shot.

Lips Long Parching by Annerb (Ao3) — https://archiveofourown.org/works/18374087

Going solo to her ex’s wedding is not exactly Ginny’s idea of a good time, but thanks to a smuggled flask and a rather sullen Harry Potter, it’s about to get a lot more interesting.

Can’t Get You Out of My Head by jenorama (Ao3) — https://archiveofourown.org/works/20081326

Harry and Ginny share several sunlit days together. If only he’d wake up.

Years To Talk by blvnk (Ao3) — https://archiveofourown.org/works/17454332/chapters/41099423

“There would be time to talk later, hours and days and maybe years in which to talk.” Various moments of Harry and Ginny’s talk… around four walls, or less.

In Case of Emergency by lilyevansJan30 (ff) — https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13096373/1/In-Case-of-Emergency

Harry and Ginny thought they were doing the right thing when they broke up, but what happens when dark forces seem to be conspiring to both keep them together — and kill them?

[loftec]

YEESSS!!! Rachel Weisz 😍😍😍 I lovvvveeee, also, ❤️✨women✨❤️ in general are incredible!! :D

YES INDEED! Also, here’s a thought I had recently

Me: I don’t have crushes because crushes require that you have a desire to be with the person in some way, right? And I don’t?

Also me, a 34 year old emotionally constipated dumbass: I love Sarah Connor. If I were a character in T2 I would be the trusted friend she goes to for shelter at the low point of the movie. She trusts me because she knows I love her and would do anything for her, and because I’d never want anything from her that she can’t give. I believe her when she tells me the things she knows, but I don’t understand what it’s like to be her, I’m not driven by the same fears as she is. But she comes to me when she needs help and I do what she asks, because I know what it means for her to ask. I have a cat. Her son thinks of me as family and my home is the one place from his displaced childhood he thinks of as a home of his own. I die protecting them because I’m a secondary character and thus disposable, but important enough to cause the main characters pain and elicit sympathy from the audience. I am the gay best friend. I am the spinster aunt. I am the safe haven in the desert with a basement bunker filled with canned beans and illegal firearms.

Yikes! I think I need to learn that words can encompass all experiences, no matter how fucking fringe they may be, lol.

An incomplete list of characters I knew I had a crush on as a teenager (if I’d allowed myself a wider definition of the word ’crush’):

Sarah Connor

Trinity

Zoë Washburne

Porthos the Pirate

An incomplete list of characters I didn’t know I had a massive crush on until I recently rewatched the movies and had An Epiphany:

Morgan Adams (”Cutthroat Island is a really good movie actually!” Well. I would probably still argue this, but also allow that I was maybe a bit influenced by a very wet Geena Davis climbing out of near certain death and onto her ship to wreak havoc amongst the patriarchy.)

Sue Charlton (”Mick is the cool main character and the reason I love this movie!” Uh. Incorrect. It was Sue. Sue quietly humoring all the Men around her, Sue being a reporter and good at her job, taking care of herself but accepting help when she needs it. That gorram 80s bathing suit. Sue chucking her shoes so she can sprint through NYC to stop the person she loves from leaving.)

People whose film catalogue I would watch in their entirety as a clueless 15 year old and now i’m like OH:

Rachel Weisz AND Brendan Fraser

MICHELLE YEOH

Jet Li

Richard E Grant

Richard Ayoade

Sandra Bullock

People I follow on instagram as a clueless 34 year old and now i’m like OH:

Rahul Kohli

Pedro Pascal (preferably traveling with Rahul Kohli in a version of The Mandalorian season 3 that I’m trying to manifest into reality) (Where Rahul plays a Han Solo type of charming scumbag and Din Djarin hunts him, until they end up in a situation where they have to work together and start to respect each other and GASP like each other, and when Din is injured Rahul’s character takes him to the safest place he knows, the home of his best space friend – ME – who helps patch Din up and watches them interact as Din recovers. In a nice little scene where Rahul and I are doing something domestic like peeling space potatoes, I tell him he’s an idiot and never could see what was right in front of him, but I’m obviously not talking about me and him because it’s not like that at all. I am the gay best friend in space. I officiate the space wedding. I become Grogu’s spinster space aunt. I have a cat, in space.)

(This section of the list was perhaps mostly just a ruse to tell you about my Din/OMC headcanon)

And finally. A list of real people that I don’t actually know who I would happily pine after and give shelter when they find themselves on a quest to save the world:

Jenny Nicholson

That’s it, she’s the list.

There you go. I’m asked a question and a year later I come back with a very complicated answer. Seems right.

[healthcaremedicalbilling]

Steps to Efficient Medical Billing

The new changes in healthcare have created new challenges for patients and providers alike. Reforms like changes to billing rules and regulations and introduction of value and quality based compensation models can result in revenue losses.

Similarly, patients’ are having a hard time paying the bills. This decline is a result of patients experiencing an increase in both out-of-pocket costs and deductibles.

In order to tackle these financial issues and potential compliance risks, practices will have to implement a more proactive strategy to their medical billing processes. By controlling these key issues, healthcare practices can increase revenue, ensure reimbursements, so they can continue to provide quality care to their patients.

Let’s take a look at some steps every healthcare practice should take for efficient medical billing:

Set a Step-by-Step Collections Process

All medical practices require a clear collections process to maintain a steady financial system that generates revenue. A step-by-step approach to managing collections will help clarify the process to all parties involved. This will improve revenue cycles as patients are thoroughly informed about their responsibilities.

All collections processes should follow these steps:

Set Clear Terms

Keep patients informed about paying their debts. Share details about their payment responsibilities mentioned in the ‘new-patient’ paperwork with regular reminders of their obligations.  

Keep Complete Records of Patients

Know everything there is to know about the patients. Organize and maintain a complete record with patient’s current address, cell phone number, email address, etc. It is crucial to obtain a photo ID of the patient during their first visit as that ID may be vital if a bill is required to be sent to a collections agency later on.

Verify Contact Information

Keep updated information of patients’ address and contact information. It is important to keep check of patients so no time nor money is wasted in sending mail to outdated addresses or calling invalid phone numbers.

Patient Consent for Automated Text Messages/Voicemail Reminders

Always include an agreement specifying for message and call reminders regarding billing matters in the patient paperwork.

Inform patients About Co-Pays

It is important to inform patients about their co-pay as it is vital. Ensure that the staff is well-informed in answering any inquiry a patient might bring up.

Regularly Verify Eligibility

Always verify patient eligibility and check their insurance card on every visit to avoid any claim denials. There are automated verification systems such as Real Time Eligibility verifications that can do the same job to reduce labor costs.

Upfront Collection

Avoid the hassle of paperwork by collecting co-pays upfront.  Always collect balances due based on the deductibles instead of chasing it later.

A Clear Payment Plan

Establish a sound payment plan to present before the patient. Be it credit card, cash or checks, make sure the patient is informed about what payment options are available.

Send Out Letters In Advance

Write a sequence of letters to send out to patients when their bill is coming due, is overdue, or is about to be sent to collections. Some people need several reminders before acting, and a physical letter carries more psychological weight than a voicemail message.

This may seem like a time-consuming procedure, however, setting up an efficient collection process will allow healthcare providers to receive timely reimbursement and reduce patient delinquency due to lack of knowledge or communication.

Properly Manage Claims

Insurance companies are strict when it comes to medical billing and coding practices because all medical bills are likely to contain errors. Any error found results in rejection. The task of editing errors and resubmission of bills can be time-consuming. This disrupts the financial stability as providers may go months on end without receiving their due service payments.

Common Errors

Thus, it is important to accurately input complete information and double-check claims for errors prior to submission. The most common types of error found in claims are:

Incorrect patient details

Incorrect provider details

Incorrect insurance details

Incomplete documentation

No Explanation of Benefits (EOB) on denied claims.

Missing claim number references on a denied claim

Missing or unclear codes

In order to reduce billing errors, ensure double-checks on claims prior to submission or notify providers if the provided information is incomplete, unclear or inconsistent. After a claim is submitted, make sure to check up on its processing with the insurance company’s representative as well as keep on changing the real time status by going through claim acceptance and rejection responses.

Double Check EOB

Aside from the errors listed above, make sure to check the EOB attached before resubmitting a denied claim. This can make it difficult for the insurance system to identify the errors. In such cases, call a representative of the insurance company to send the EOB and clarify what portion of the claim is problematic.

Reduce Coding Errors

Coding is an essential part of medical billing. It is the job of a medical coder to describe the procedures performed on a patient using standardized codes and explain the coding guidelines to the providers. This makes the claims to be decipher and processed with ease.

Common Coding Errors

Although this is a standard method, errors are likely to occur. Missing or incorrect codes are easily identified by clearinghouses but some common errors are hard to spot.

Non-Specific Diagnosis Codes

Due to stringent requirements, the most common error in medical billing are non-specific diagnosis codes. This is collecting information about a patient’s condition that was not documented by the clinicians or providing update on their condition.

Incorrect Modifiers

A common factor for lost reimbursement is incorrect usage of modifiers. Modifiers depend on the demands of the payer as provider will not receive reimbursement if there is a wrong modifier on a claim.

Upcoding and Undercoding

Aside from these frequent sources for coding errors, the most problematic ones are up coding or under coding. These are either accidental or intentional.

Up Coding

This is the addition or exchange of certain codes with the ones used for a more expensive procedure. This can happen by accident as a result of miscommunication between the provider and the coder; or it can be intentional, which is a criminal act.

Under Coding

Similar yet opposite to up coding, this is the omitting or exchange of codes with the ones used for a less expensive procedure. This is either due to lack of communication between the provider and coder, or it is illegally done by the provider.

Always make sure to double-check for coding errors before any claim submission. If the procedure details are vague, inconsistent or contradictory, contact the provider prior to assigning a code. Otherwise, cross-check with the medical coding resources to ensure the correct code is used.

Swiftly Deal With Rejected or Denied Claims

Before we get into the nitty-gritty, it is important to know the difference between a denied claim and a rejected claim.

Rejected Claim

A rejected claim is the one that is not yet processed due to one or more errors found in the claim. These errors prevent the insurance company from paying the due bill.

Denied Claim

On the other hand, a claim is denied if the insurance company has deemed the claim to be unpayable after processing. This is due to a violation of the patient–payer contract found or maybe an error found after processing.

In both the cases, the payer will have to return the claim to the biller, explaining the problem. While a rejected claim can be resubmitted after corrections, a denied claim is appealed before it is resubmitted — a long and costly process.

Check for errors to reduce chances of rejections or worse denials. However, in any case, it is important to handle the issue promptly. Stay in touch with the payer or their representative so they can help resolve the problems found in the original claim — providing accurate and up-to-date information on a current claim during processing. This helps to improve the claim editing procedure and reduce resubmission and appeal time.

There is Always Room for Improvement

The healthcare industry is always changing and it is vital to stay ahead of the curve. Practices should track of their billing company’s performance and keep up with the latest trends in healthcare regulations to find problematic areas to improve revenue and efficiency. For optimum performance and efficiency, practices should do three things:

Keep a Close Eye on Pending Accounts Receivable

Outstanding amounts owed to healthcare providers is something that needs to be constantly checked up on to understand the effectiveness of the collection process. Comparing figures from previous years and tracking quarterly amounts are an excellent strategy to manage the performance of a practice’s revenue cycle. This kind of analysis helps to identify the potential impact of any implemented procedures.

Stay Informed

The rules for medical billing are always changing. Keeping up with the trends require training and education. It is better to train the staff so they can stay top of the constant changes to medical billing and coding protocols.

Spot the Problematic Accounts

Set up a clear process of managing patient accounts so that data is easily made available for identification of any potential errors. Implement methods for tracking troublesome behavior such as constantly declined payments, sporadic changes in contact details or late payments. This helps to identify patients that require additional billing reminders.

Consider Outsourcing

While these steps help in implementing a proactive approach to medical billing, many healthcare practices often find themselves lagging behind. This is mainly due to the time, expenses and labor spent on catching debtors, editing and resubmitting claims as well as keeping up with latest trends and regulations. All these duties tend to exhaust even the most efficient medical practices.

In order to cut hefty costs, many healthcare providers are outsourcing their medical billing and coding duties to third-party experts — For many, this is a cost-effective solution to increase revenue and improve efficiency.

Count on MediFusion to Take Care of Medical Billing and Revenue Cycle Management

Consider outsourcing your medical billing to MediFusion. Feel free to ask our clients, why we’re one of the top medical billing and coding companies in healthcare. We are educated in the intricacies of medical billing to improve your revenue cycle management. Find out more about outsourced billing management benefits by speaking with one of our experts.

[the-overgrowth]

Retrospective: “Faybane” #1

This is where it all started, on July 8th, 2016. Although probably a bit earlier than that, but this is the earliest thing I can find that’s actually written down, so that’s what counts. And back in the day I didn’t let ideas marinate the way I do now, I just started writing pretty much as soon as I got the idea.

Anyway, the document was created at this point in time according to Google Docs, and was last modified in October 3rd, 2016. It’s only 3 chapters long, plus one incomplete fourth chapter, and the whole thing is about 17k words.

Which is a lot for 3 chapters. I would say something about how I’m less wordy now, but the latest draft is like 107k words long, so, like, I will always struggle with shutting the fuck up, methinks.

Also, the reason this is called “Faybane” is because that was the working title I used, and the name of this document. I thought it’d be the proper title but like. It’s bad lmao.

Anywhomst, let’s get into it!

Some background info for those who are new or need a refresher: this WIP became a thing after I read and was disappointed by A Court of Thorns and Roses by SJM, as well as The Iron King by Julie Kagawa and some book by Holly Black, was it Tithe?

ACOTAR was the biggest culprit. I feel that this is important to keep in mind as we go through this mess.

We open on Sidra in the forest with a bunch of men she calls a hunting party. It’s clear she doesn’t want to be there, but since she’s the only decent hunter among them and it’s her sister’s wedding today, she has to make the kill to feed the people attending said wedding.

This is, as the kids say, big stupid, and seems like a very ill-prepared celebration? I guess it makes some sense for them to want fresh meat, but this fresh? What if they didn’t find anything? What if they didn’t manage to kill anything? Is the whole thing cancelled? Stupid.

We find out they’ve been hunting a boar and that this dude named Liam, our Gaston replacement, previously wounded the animal but didn’t kill it, causing it to flee and force the hunting party to follow. It’s up to Sidra to make the killing blow, which she does with an arrow straight into its head. This was back when Sidra was still YA Heroine Extraordinaire and the time period was Vaguely Medieval, I guess.

They begin taking their quarry back home and Sidra thinks about how she normally doesn’t hunt this close to the “Faewilds” because animals closer to the border are said to be bigger and more violent. There isn’t an actual border, people just had to rely on intuition and not wander too far into the forest.

She also mentions a girl named Wilda, who disappeared fairly recently and everyone suspects it was the fae. This isn’t relevant now, but Wilda will return in later drafts, I think.

Everybody, especially my family, knew that I was one of the best archers in town, whether I used a bow or a crossbow.

Shut up, Not!Feyre. Nobody likes you.

I should mention that at this point I didn’t bother googling how big wild boars get and just assumed they were the size of like, a thick medium dog. Which is, if you know how big boars are, very incorrect. Four men pulling the animal seems realistic enough, but then Liam just lifts it up on his own? Not buying it.

Sidra laments how much she hates Liam and we find out that he apparently tried to assault her and she stabbed him? And apparently she’s not happy about his marriage to Sinéad but can’t do anything about it because “Father’s word is law” and Sinéad herself laughed it off when Sidra tried to warn her?

Yeah, gonna call bullshit on that one. No idea why this was here or what purpose it serves, the reason Liam doesn’t exist in the latest draft is because I never figured out what his purpose was so I axed him entirely. 

Current!Sidra would just kill him the moment he showed an interest in Sinéad, and Current!Sinéad would 100% believe her sister about something like that.

Some bloke named Connor strikes up a conversation with Sidra, seemingly worried about being this far away from human civilization. Liam teases him about it and calls the fae “knife-ears”, because I still had brainrot back then and liked Dragon Age and had zero original ideas in my head.

The men make jokes about having sex with fae women and Sidra seems so disturbed by this that she nocks an arrow. This isn’t the first time she makes references to feeling unsafe around these men, I have no idea why I wrote it this way aside from being edgy, I guess.

My village was mostly populated by men, and even though I wasn’t one of the pretty girls there, I knew these men weren’t picky, even with all their talk about beautiful fae women. I’d heard that fae women would kill their men after sleeping with them. I had no way of know it was true, but a part of me hoped it was and that Liam would some day soon get “lucky” and encounter a female fae, so she could end his misery.

Edgy, dude.

They eventually arrive and Sidra goes inside her house, which is a simple cottage with three rooms. I think her family are all farmers? It’s kind of confusing. She goes into her and Sinéad’s bedroom, where Sinéad is preparing for her wedding. Also, she’s blonde.

“Sid! There you are!” she said cheerily. “Killed a boar, huh? Good on Liam for taking all the credit.”

If you know your man is trash, why are you marrying him?

Apparently Liam seduced Sinéad with sweets and baked goods. I mean ... fair enough. Considering how Sidra complains about being hungry and skinny and going without food if she doesn’t kill the boar because this year’s harvest was minimal, I’m assuming y’all are starving.

We find out Sinéad’s mother doesn’t let her do anything around the house or farm, to preserve her “soft and white” hands and pale complexion so she could be married off easily. This makes zero sense, you’d think these medieval men wouldn’t have the same beauty standards as Victorian England, plus having a mouth to feed that doesn’t even help feeding itself is just nuts. 

But remember, this isn’t Sidra, this is Not!Feyre. She needs to be sad and put-upon and a victim. She explains how she was never pretty to begin with and thus nobody considered her to be worthy of marrying off, which then meant she was put to work and became even less attractive because now she was so cool and badass that all the men were intimidated by her.

Yeah, in a village that already doesn’t have a lot of young women? I’m not buying this, lmao. But go off, Not!Feyre.

I’d been the one helping around, instead. Hunting, mostly. Sometimes I’d chop wood or work the farm. Marrying out of the house seemed impossible. Marrying up was practically a dream you forgot upon waking. Had I been pretty from the start there would’ve been a foundation to work from, but I was a lost cause even before my skin became tan and my hands grew veined and calloused. I had freckles which people mistook for mud and dull brown eyes, a long nose that had been broken one time too many and a mouth that made it look like I constantly felt a bad smell no matter what facial expression I made. I’d always been of rather short stature and had brown hair and thick eyebrows, which in combination with everything else made my parents call me their “little goblin”. The scar on my face didn’t help me either: men didn’t like it when their women were more battle-hardened than they were.

Oh god please, don’t go off! We don’t care! Stop going off!

Also what fucking parents call their poor kid a goblin? Yikes.

Sinéad convinces Sidra to get prettied up and Sidra is all “oh I bet all the men will just fall over themselves for my favor now huh” which is just the most annoying fucking thing, prompting Sinéad to respond:

“Well, winter is coming and game is scarce. If they want to survive, marrying the best hunter in the village might be a good bet.”

Yeah! This is correct! I refuse to believe people wouldn’t be into Sidra! Not only does everyone apparently know she’s the best hunter in town, but Sidra herself confirmed the men here outnumber the women and aren’t very picky.

This is fucking stupid. I’m glad I axed it. In my defense, I was very much trying to emulate the YA shit I’d read so far.

Sidra’s grandmother enters the stage. She’s very old in this draft, but otherwise unchanged.

She was a short and wrinkled old lady with extremely bad vision and an even worse grasp on reality. Or maybe an extremely acute grasp on reality, depending on whether you believed her stories or not.

Sidra changes out of the dress again to go out and help her father prepare the boar, all while sulking.

I didn’t envy Sinead, nor any other bride. Despite what most people thought of me, I wasn’t some poor ugly girl longing for the love of a man and the security of marriage. Did I enjoy the idea of having somebody care for me? Sure. But it wasn’t on my list of priorities. I was still trying to figure out what actually was on that list. Not that it mattered. The prospects for a poor village girl were very finite.

Womp womp.

We get some confusing and barely related stuff about Sidra possibly becoming a royal hunter for the king and also about where the village is located in relation to the Faewilds. She speculates that maybe the fae aren’t real, but the way she and everyone else talks about them makes it pretty obvious that they are? This was supposed to build mystery, I guess.

We skip forward to the wedding and Sidra is moping again.

“How are you feeling?” Father asked and squeezed my shoulder. 

I wasn’t sure why he was doing that. I assumed it had something to do with the wedding and the fact that despite there being fewer women than men here, I was still not asked to dance. Though this didn’t really bother me, so I just shrugged.

“It doesn’t bother me. Anyway I will continue to mope and feel bitter about this thing that doesn’t bother me.” Hunny ...

At least Current!Sidra has the self-awareness to admit she’s sad and lonely.

 [Father’s] marriage to Sinead’s mother was never out of love, more out of necessity. It was easier when you had a big family.

Except for when this “big family” is 3 people who work and 2 people who are just being fed, right? See, I knew back then that having a big family helps when you have a farm, but I also needed to make Sidra Special so Sinéad had to sit on her ass to highlight how pretty and feminine she was or whatnot.

Bleh.

They talk a bit about Sidra’s mother, who passed away five years ago, and Sidra reminisces about how she used to tell amazing stories. It’s all very ... whatever, and serves only to make this point for the hundredth time:

I wasn’t like Mother. I wasn’t full of life and spirit like her. I wasn’t loved and respected by the entire village like her. I was just her disappointing child whose existence they’d rather forget except when they wanted something killed.

Right after this there’s a really abrupt scene transition. Nothing about the wedding coming to an end, nothing about her going to bed, it’s just ... some while later?

Sidra’s father comes back home from ??? and tells Sidra he saw a stag somewhere, but it was hours ago so she better get a move on.

I’m not sure what either of them thinks this will accomplish? Like ... what is she gonna do with it when she kills it ... Carry it home? On her little boney ass? Hmm? I guess I didn’t think of that because I had meta knowledge that she wouldn’t get it home either way, so who cares about logic, right?

Sidra kills two rabbits while stalking the deer, and despite telling us earlier that she doesn’t venture far away from human civilization and the boar hunting being the farthest she’d been and that she wouldn’t go this far alone, she has no issue dwelling very deep into the forest this time.

Like. Henlo? Can we have one logic please and thanks you? Granted, she keeps stopping every now and then to Feel Things Out, but this really goes against how careful she was before and at no point do we get an explanation to her sudden boldness. Plot reasons, I guess.

She nearly stumbles into fae territories and finally decides to head back, except when she starts returning, she sees the stag she’s been tracking. It’s abnormally huge and has a “dark brown” coat that she finds odd, but of course she’s too stupid to connect the dots.

She sneaks up on it and honestly? This chapter ending still slaps.

A scream of pain left the creature and I saw it topple. But though my arrow hit a deer, a man fell to the ground.

DUN DUN DUN.

And yeah, the ACOTAR roots rear their ugly heads again. I liked the idea of the protagonist shooting a fae disguised as an animal, but I decided to cut out the middleman and just have her obliterate Val right in chapter one. Don’t worry, he doesn’t die.

[internetandnetwork]

What Should You Do If You Have Duplicate Google My Business Listings?

Suppose you recently moved to a new place XYZ and you decide to order pasta for dinner. You go to Google browser and search for “best pasta in XYZ.”

On the search results page, you see numerous restaurants and cafes representing the best pasta in XYZ. So now, how do you pick one?

You go through their reviews and ratings. According to research from Think With Google, around 88% of customers trust online reviews just as much as they trust a personal recommendation.

But that’s not all; you will probably also take the convenience factor into account. You’ll think of a lot of things like is the restaurant open till late or not? What is their exact location? What are their hours of operation?

After considering all of these, you finally pick one place to get your pasta delivered and call the contact number listed to place your order.

In the middle of your search for the best pasta in XYZ place, you were most probably checking out what marketing professionals call GMB listings.

Google My Business or GMB lets businesses advertise their Profile and website on Google Maps and Search.

It allows businesses to connect with their prospective and existing customers, publish regular updates to their Business Profile and learn how people interact with their business in local search.

GMB plays a crucial role in a business’ local search visibility, and it helps owners put their business in front of their target audience. But with every useful tool comes a few problems.

Perhaps it slipped your mind that one of your employees had already made a GMB profile for your business earlier, or maybe you just shifted to a new location and created a new GMB profile but forgot to delete the previous one.

This will result in duplicate GMB listings. However, there are many other ways this can happen.

In this blog, we will find out how to remove or merge duplicate GMB listings.

A QUICK RUNDOWN: WHY GMB IS CRUCIAL FOR YOUR SUCCESS

GMB is a valuable tool that helps your business get discovered by its target audience in the local search.

When local consumers are searching for your business or other businesses/products/services similar to yours, you will want to be present in the search results.

Moreover, when you provide complete listings on Google My Business, you are 2x more likely to win the consumers’ trust.

Your Business Info Becomes Easily Accessible

When your business is listed, users find how, when, and where they can visit you, either via your website or physical location, get other contact details and check your hours of operation from there itself.

It is crucial to keep your business info updated, as you wouldn’t like to leave your prospects hanging around for any details they might need about your business or its offerings.

You Can Manage and Edit Your GMB Listing on the Fly in the SERPs

All you need to do is sign in to your Google account either on your desktop or mobile, search for your business, and you can then manage and edit your GMB listing as though you were in the Google My Business interface.

Thus, in case you have to close your physical store temporarily, you can edit/update this information on your Business Profile directly to let your customers know.

Similarly, when you reopen your store, you can sign in to Google My Business and inform your customers about the same. Pretty straightforward and convenient, right?

WHY IS IT ESSENTIAL TO REMOVE OR MERGE DUPLICATE GMB LISTINGS?

Duplicate Google My Business listings can be troublesome.

When you have duplicate GMB listings, it is possible for Google to rank the incomplete one with zero customer reviews and ratings while discarding the listing with many reviews and all your business details.

Needless to say, this will severely impact your local SEO, and the lack of ratings and reviews on the listing might drive away many prospects as they would have nothing to rely on.

Remember that multiple GMB listings can exist for the same business in Google, but duplicate listings go against the search engine’s guidelines.

That’s the reason it is critical to fix the duplicate GMB listings issue for your business.

Think about these:

When multiple listings are appearing on Google for a particular business, the information present could be puzzling or clashing to the potential customers.

As stated earlier, Google might display an out-of-date or inaccurate GMB listing with incomplete business information and no reviews. This may divert the customers from your business to somewhere else.

Moreover, speaking of customer reviews, one of your listings might have more reviews compared to the other. Now, as a customer, would you prefer to visit a business with 100+ reviews and 5-star ratings or the one with two reviews? In most cases, all other factors being the same, most people would pick the former.

If left unresolved on GMB, duplicate business listings might potentially extend over to other sites like Yahoo, Yelp, etc., where you won’t have control over them.

Having said that, you must have now understood why it is so crucial to delete or merge duplicate GMB listings for your business. Let us now discuss how to do that.

HOW TO MERGE DUPLICATE GMB LISTINGS INTO ONE?

Let’s first begin with how you can merge two Google My Business listings into one.

First things first, in case both the GMB listings have been verified by Google, you will have to un-verify the listing you wish to merge. GMB can’t merge two verified business listings.

Make sure the address mentioned in your duplicate business listing is exactly the same as your business’s physical address.

In case the addresses match: Contact Google to submit your request for merging the two GMB listings. Go to Google My Business Contact Form to do this.

In case the addresses don’t match: Utilize the “suggest an edit” option available in Google to suggest that the incorrect address doesn’t exist. Using this feature, you can edit the location, name, hours, and much more.

HOW TO REMOVE A DUPLICATE GMB LISTING?

If you decide not to merge the duplicate listings, you can also remove a duplicate GMB listing instead. Let’s take a look at the steps to delete a duplicate GMB profile:

Before deleting a duplicate listing, be sure to check that you are not deleting the verified location; otherwise, you will have to verify it once again.

Make sure you update the location you want to keep with any required info from the location that you are going to delete. Keep in mind that once you delete a location, you can’t recover it.

Log in to your Google My Business account.

Navigate to the “Info” tab.

Click on “Remove Listings,” and the GMB listing will get removed.

WRAPPING IT UP

Google My Business serves as a vital tool for promoting your local business.

Your Business Profile helps the customers find all your necessary information they might be looking for on the web. Therefore, it is crucial to keep all your details updated in Google My Business to get the most out of your local search presence.

Moreover, providing all the useful information in your Business Profile will help you gain your prospective and existing customers’ trust and confidence.

Now that you know how vital it is to get rid of duplicate listings for your business and the steps to merge or delete them, you are all set to go!

Hariom Balhara is an inventive person who has been doing intensive research in particular topics and writing blogs and articles for E Global Soft Solutions. E Global Soft Solutions is a Digital Marketing, SEO, SMO, PPC and Web Development company that comes with massive experiences. We specialize in digital marketing, Web Designing and development, graphic design, and a lot more.

SOURCE : Google My Business Listings

[witchbythebay]

Philter or Infusion?

I came across a post describing types of potions, but got curious about its descriptions of philters and infusions. 

°Philtre: water based, delicate ingredients

Infusion: water based, delicate ingredients 

I was familiar with infusions but not at all with philters (philtres?), so this got me wondering what actually differentiates the two. That ended up leading me down a big ol’ rabbit hole, so I’ll share what I found in case anyone else has ever wondered the same thing. 

Literal Definition & Etymology

I started with the dictionary definition of philter (also sometimes spelled philtre). While the generic denotation may not capture the nuanced meaning of a word within a specific domain (like witchcraft!), I figured it couldn’t hurt to start with the basics. 

Borrowed from Latin philtrum, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek φίλτρον (phíltron, from φιλέω (philéō, “I love”))   A kind of potion, charm, or drug; especially love potion intended to make the drinker fall in love with the giver. [from the 16th c.]  x

So not just a potion, but a love potion. Note that the root of the word itself has to do with love. But, obviously definitions change over time and can become quite removed from their original meaning, so this is by no means conclusive. 

For what it’s worth, here’s infusion’s definition as well:

Borrowed from Old French infusion, from Latin infusio, infusionem (“a pouring into, a wetting, a dyeing, a flow”), from infundo.

A product consisting of a liquid which has had other ingredients steeped in it to extract useful qualities. An extract of rooibos and chamomile makes a refreshing infusion. The act of steeping or soaking a substance in liquid so as to extract medicinal or herbal qualities. x

Popular Usage

Next, I decided to look around some witchy and occult spaces online and see how other practitioners were using the word (if at all), particularly if there was any consensus about how a philter is made and what distinguishes it from other elixirs or potions, such as infusions. 

Online resources can be pretty dicey; I think we’ve all seen “witch tips” that may have started out as something reasonable, but have been passed through so many people and platforms, changing a little each time, that the end result is incorrect, incomplete, or even dangerous. So, my hope here wasn’t to find a single definitive Answer, but rather to collect a variety of them and see what they had in common. 

In the interest of saving space since this post is already really long, I won’t list all the results verbatim (although I have them saved if you’re just that curious), but the gist is this:

Unsurprisingly, few modern witches even seem to use the word philter; it seems antiquated or maybe literary at this point

It’s almost always used to describe either a love potion or other potion intended to evoke strong emotion in another person

Bibliographic Usage

To round things out, I also looked for written sources, which can also be kinda fraught, especially when you don’t have many trusted sources on hand.

To give you an idea of what you might find, one example I came across is Ellen Dugan’s Book of Witchery: Spells, Charms & Correspondences for Every Day of the Week (2012):

"No, technically, it is generally thought that a magickal potion is to be brewed or steeped over heat, while a philter is mixed together like a potion but the ingredients are not brewed. Another definition of a philter is simply "a magickal liquid" (which says classic potion to me). Potion and philter recipes both typically contain the following: water or a base oil, various essential oils, and other magickal ingredients such as herbs, flower petals, shed animal fur, or even tiny chips of crystals."

So this seemed concerning for something meant to be ingested, but it does then clarify that, "the magickal philters featured in this Book of Shadows are not meant to be taken internally," or “worn on the body”; they’re meant to anoint and bless objects instead. Still, I didn’t find any other source that mentions this “lack of brewing” distinction, although Dugan may have cited a source later in the book somewhere? 

There were also lots of references to philters/philtres in older texts of all kinds, usually love potions or aphrodisiacs, but sometimes used interchangeably with any kind of liquid with pharmacological properties.��

For an example of the magical variety, in Henry Cockeram’s The English Dictionarie or an Interpreter of Hard English Words (from 1626), a philtre is, "an amorous potion to procure loue."  

Another example, philters get a shout-out in the lyrics to A Christmas Cantata by Stanley Schell (Werner’s Magazine, 1899):

"A love philter which I need; Make it sweet, and good, and strong (...)The poison philter that I need; Make it heavy, swift, and strong." 

Finally, I found something that, based on the wording, seems like it could be the actual source of the info in the tumblr post that started this all. 

"A Philtre or Infusion is a form of water based potion, similar to a tea, and best suited for immediate ingestion of delicate ingredients such as leaves or petals." 

This is from Advanced Potion Making By Noel Green (2015). We see the same “water based”, “delicate ingredients” wording as the tumblr post. However, the description of the work itself says, ”Note: this is NOT a real potion book but is made for the fan of all things magical."  So there’s that.

Summary

tl;dr

My takeaway from all this is that the word philter:

is kinda antiquated

typically describes a love potion or aphrodisiac specifically

isn’t a subtype of potion in the same way as infusions, tinctures, decoctions, salves, etc, which each entail specific methods of creation or physical properties

As always, double-check what you read online. You might not find a conclusive answer to your questions, but you can still find out if what you’re being told is from folklore, or if it’s (probably unintentionally) sourced from (what seems to be) a narrowly-avoiding-copyright-issues HP fanwork. 

BUT I’m not a terribly experienced witch myself, so if anyone has further insight, clarification, or corrections to offer (or suggestions for further reading!) please don’t hesitate to add on or send it my way. Cheers!