#rebalancing strategy

[priyashareindia9]

Since the beginning of the stock market, new methods of opportunities have been introduced in each decade. There are indices like the Sensex and Nifty, which have become top indices to watch and observe in India. With the hike in online trading, retail investors seem to increase their interest in investing in the financial market. The index fund rebalancing is essential in order to update index funds over the rise or fall of nifty or other indices. Having a basic understanding of the function of an index fund will help investors invest in a smart way.

[curiousquill1]

How Best Portfolio Management Strategies Increase Your Investments

The fact of the matter is that investing for wealth is far more than the selection of winning stocks or the ability to get markets right at the right time. Bottom line is, investment success over long stretches of time depends on the fact that portfolio management is a thoughtful strategy that may guide you through twists and turns of the markets while keeping your financial goals before you.

It can be termed portfolio management, architecting of one's financial future. A master architect thinks about the littlest details when putting a building together. Similarly, good portfolio management requires careful planning, regular maintenance, and strategic adjustments to make sure that investments are in line with the goals.

The beauty about proper portfolio management is knowing that you will sleep tighter at night knowing that those investments work harmoniously for your objectives. Whether you want to save for retirement or plan for your children's college education, a well-kept portfolio is your best financial compass.

Key Strategies That Drive Investment Success

Strategic Asset Allocation

At its core, strategic portfolio management is effective asset allocation: It is the art of getting your investments distributed in different asset classes so that you can now truly optimize for returns, managing risk. That is not a cookie cutter approach; it's getting a customized investment mix which reflects your:

Risk tolerance

Investment timeline

Financial goals

Current life stage

Besides asset allocation in the classic models, Gainers can use advanced analytical tools and market intelligence on its approach towards optimization to help clients get the ideal balance in their investments.

Dynamic Diversification

Investors will still remain in the powerful hands of risk management as the diversification. However, diversified in an effective manner by investors into this complex setting of the present world is no more only about diffusing investment portfolios across equities and fixed income but also now has required that modern portfolio management must exercise its sensibility while taking account of these diversified areas including:

International diversification and distribution over global markets

Sector-wise diversification that helps utilize the potential in growth fields

Diversification strategies to make the portfolio more stable

Exposure to physical assets to reduce inflation effects

Portfolio managers of Gainers monitor the diversification strategy and alter it constantly to ensure that the portfolio of the client remains stable under any type of market.

Risk Management: Diversification Plus

Diversification reduces risks; however, sophisticated portfolio management offers so much more. It comes with additional layers of protection that include:

Re-balancing of the portfolio after fixed intervals to ensure attainment of target allocations

Strategic tax harvesting to maximize after-tax returns

Hedging against potential losses in turbulent markets

Managing liquidity for unexpected opportunities or needs

The Gainers utilizes the finest risk management techniques and approaches to secure the wealth of its clients and seize growth opportunities.

Active Portfolio Management: The Power to Make the Right Moves

Active portfolio management is not being constantly active and trading in the market. It is much more about conscious, strategic changes to your portfolio based on:

Changing market conditions

Changing personal goals

New investment opportunities

Risk management needs

The Gainers' portfolio managers closely watch these variables and make fine-tuned adjustments to ensure that the clients' portfolios are in the best possible position to achieve success.

Technology and Human Expertise: A Winning Combination

Portfolio management is today highly technological in its approach, yet requires human judgment in interpreting and making strategic decisions. Gainers uses modern portfolio management technology but includes the most important human element of knowing your specific financial condition and personal advice in unpredictable markets.

Guides you towards tracking your long-term goals

Modifies your strategy as per your requirement

It requires experience and control to execute these approaches. The Gainers provides a total view that includes:

Initial portfolio analysis and strategy development

Periodic portfolio reviews and rebalancing

Ongoing risk monitoring and management

Professional guidance through transitions in the market

Clear communication about portfolio performance and adjustments in the strategy

Making Portfolio Management Work for You

It takes a journey for your investing process to move beyond just being set it and forget it. The Gainers is a place where professional portfolio management means you are accessing investment strategies tailored to your objectives, the professional monitoring of your portfolios, updates on a regular basis and a review of their performance, proactive management of risks, and institutional quality investment opportunities.

Move forward with The Gainers. Join forces with our experienced portfolio managers to assure yourself that the right portfolio will be built and managed for your financial goals through cutting down the complexities that face the investment landscape in today's world.

Remember that great investors don't make great decisions. Investing is really about proven approaches consistently deployed over time. Let The Gainers make these principles of portfolio management come to life for your financial future.

[ajamouja]

[devinkarlson]

Investment Strategies — A Quick Primer. Money, because of inflation, loses value over time, making investing essential for everyone looking to grow their wealth. For instance, if a stock is trading at $100, but an investor believes the intrinsic value is $120.   Read more click on Link  

[hongchicken]

7 Tips for Investing in Mutual Funds

Introduction

Investing in mutual funds can be a great way to diversify your portfolio and to get exposure to different asset classes with relatively low levels of risk. Mutual funds are managed by experienced professionals who have the knowledge and expertise to pick the best stocks and bonds for your portfolio. Mutual funds have become increasingly popular over the past few years and have become a great way for investors to diversify their investments and gain exposure to different asset classes.

In this article, we will discuss 7 tips for investing in mutual funds. We’ll give you some basic information about the different types of mutual funds, the fees associated with them, and the different strategies you can use to maximize your returns. We’ll also provide some important tips to help you make the most of your investments.

What is a Mutual Fund?

A mutual fund is a type of investment vehicle that pools money from multiple investors and invests it into a variety of different securities. Mutual funds are professionally managed and can invest in stocks, bonds, money market instruments, and other asset classes. Mutual funds are typically managed by experienced professionals who have the knowledge and expertise to pick the best stocks and bonds for the portfolio.

The primary benefit of investing in a mutual fund is that it allows you to diversify your investments without having to buy individual stocks and bonds. By investing in a mutual fund, you can gain exposure to a variety of different asset classes without having to manage each individual stock or bond. Mutual funds are also relatively low cost compared to other types of investments.

Types of Mutual Funds

There are several different types of mutual funds available to investors. These include stock funds, bond funds, money market funds, and index funds.

Stock funds are mutual funds that invest in stocks. These funds are typically more volatile than other types of funds and have the potential for greater returns.

Bond funds are mutual funds that invest in bonds. These funds are typically less volatile than stock funds and have the potential for lower returns.

Money market funds are mutual funds that invest in short-term debt instruments. These funds are typically less volatile than stock and bond funds and have the potential for lower returns.

Index funds are mutual funds that track a particular index, such as the S&P 500 or Dow Jones Industrial Average. These funds are typically the least volatile of all mutual funds and have the potential for low to moderate returns.

Fees Associated With Mutual Funds

When investing in mutual funds, it’s important to be aware of the fees associated with them. Mutual funds have several different types of fees that can have a significant impact on your returns.

The most common type of fee is the management fee. This is the fee that the mutual fund company charges for managing the fund. This fee can range from 0.25% to 2% of the assets under management.

Another type of fee is the expense ratio. This is the fee that the mutual fund company charges to cover the costs of running the fund. This fee can range from 0.1% to 1.5% of the assets under management.

Finally, there are transaction fees. These are fees that are charged when you buy or sell shares of the mutual fund. These fees can range from $0 to $50 per transaction.

Strategies for Investing in Mutual Funds

When investing in mutual funds, it’s important to have a strategy. Here are 7 tips for investing in mutual funds:

Diversify your investments. Investing in multiple mutual funds can help reduce your risk and can provide greater returns over the long term.

Invest for the long term. Investing in mutual funds is a long-term strategy and it’s important to invest in funds that have the potential to generate returns over the long term.

Invest in different asset classes. Investing in different asset classes such as stocks, bonds, and money market instruments can help diversify your portfolio and reduce your risk.

Research the funds. It’s important to research the mutual funds you’re considering investing in. Make sure you understand the fees associated with the funds, the past performance of the funds, and the strategy used by the fund manager.

Set a budget. It’s important to set a budget for your investments. Make sure you’re only investing an amount that you can afford to lose.

Monitor your investments. It’s important to monitor your investments on a regular basis. Make sure the funds you’re investing in are performing as expected and make adjustments if necessary.

Rebalance your portfolio. Rebalancing your portfolio on a regular basis can help ensure that you’re getting the most out of your investments.

Conclusion

Investing in mutual funds can be a great way to diversify your portfolio and to get exposure to different asset classes with relatively low levels of risk. It’s important to be aware of the fees associated with mutual funds, to research the funds you’re considering investing in, and to have a sound strategy. Following the 7 tips outlined above can help you make the most of your investments in mutual funds.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The degrowthers are right: There needs to be a lot less physical stuff produced, especially in the way of fossil fuels, and, for anyone with the least sense of justice, this means rich countries consuming less and poor countries consuming more. Such an apparent threat of rich-country austerity meanwhile contains, in truth, the promise of abundance: fewer but more durable goods, less work and more leisure. (Already in the 1990s, the French-Austrian ecosocialist André Gorz wanted to “build the civilization of liberated time” in place of that of wage labor.) The fact that any such global rebalancing of consumption patterns can’t plausibly take place so long as the rich countries of the Global North dictate world history is one more reason that degrowth remains a dead letter under capitalism. It is not, however, the working classes of the Global North that must drastically curtail their lifestyles: The world’s richest 1 percent are responsible for as much carbon emissions as the poorest two-thirds of the global population. Much of the work of degrowth would be accomplished by the dispossession and destruction of the class represented by this sole percentile. As for the idolaters of growth, their god has not only failed but, Cronus-like, has started devouring its children as if these were so many chicken wings. “Growth” fantasizes one kind of fake substance, and “degrowth” another; real intelligence demands attention to how the ingredients of this world are different, not the same. Even so, the advocates of degrowth (a more attractive English word might be Samuel Beckett’s “lessness”) can boast of a sounder moral and political intuition than can the usual apologists for growth: Less stuff, more life! Such an argument may be obviated soon enough, either way, by the specter not of degrowth communism, but of prolonged capitalist contraction. Voters and politicians whistling past the graveyard being prepared for our children may have neglected to consult a recent article in Nature which holds that “the world economy is committed to an income reduction of 19% within the next 26 years independent of future emissions choices” (emphasis mine). Important factors in this bleak outlook include the declining agricultural yields and the massive and unpredictable damage to infrastructure attendant on climate collapse. In other words, even if carbon emissions are somehow reduced through the magic of the market, climate change can be expected to cause about $38 trillion in damages annually by the mid-century, enough to render overall economic growth infeasible. The choice facing the 21st century, then, is likely not between degrowth and growth. It is more likely between a form of capitalist contraction in which prosperity endures for a few but evaporates for the rest of us, and some kind of socialist or communist degrowth in which the well-being of everyone in general prevails over the wealth of anyone in particular. The precise politics of egalitarian degrowth are no more clear to me than they are to Saitō. But universal crisis will license strategies that theory alone could never discover.

26 August 2024

[under-lore]

The absolute state of Undercards

This isn't the kind of post i usually make, but well, theorists can make call out posts too. And regarding this topic, it seems that no one else is going to do it if i don't so...

I need to talk about Undercards. And particularly what's been going on behind the scenes in this fangame & its community and that it seems no one wants to speak up about. I've been thinking of doing this for a while and at this point i think i should just go ahead and explain it.

Okay, before we get into the controversy, i'll present the game a little bit for those who haven't heard of it. (And for those who don't care about this part, just scroll down a little bit until the next bold text.)

Undercards is an online multiplayer Undertale/Deltarune fangame which is basically just Yu-gi-oh or Hearthstone, except that cards, spells and such are all Undertale & Deltarune themed. It was popularised a few years ago mostly by youtuber Merg.

The gameplay looks something like this :

This game has a bit of a Gacha side, but it is entirely possible for any new FTP player to climb the ranks quite quickly or to obtain anything a P2W player could obtain somewhat easily, making it not unfair in that regard.

The game has an entertaining mastery curve and progress in ranked leagues (the main part of the game) is primarly decided by improvements in one's strategy regarding synergy of your deck, artifacts & soul, which are all to be chosen by the player to get the best chance at victory.

So, this all sounds like a pretty neat fangame, doesn't it ? So what's wrong ? What is the point of this post about ?

The issues

Whilst the game itself can indeed be quite fun, there exists a very serious problem regarding its community, and particularly its moderation team which sabotages its own game.

I'll start with some of the more minor issues before moving on to more important ones. I will also mention that i will not cover personal experiences (as much as i want to) and rather focus on larger trends to avoid biases or fallacious generalisations of individual cases.

The balance bias

The game has a very severe balance issue, which is nearly entirely caused by the moderators serving their own interests over that of the game.

Because here is the thing :

Many of the moderators (and by that i mean, the ones who's opinions seriously count for the balancing, really) are also the game's top players.

This game not only has greater rewards for achieving higher ranks every month, but even beyond the highest rank, it also has a live public leaderboard of the top players of each month.

However, if you check the monthly rankings of the game in any given season, the top spots are practically entirely monopolised by the moderators and by the alternative accounts of the moderators. (Some have had up to 5 accounts at once)

In other words, those who decide which cards should be buffed or nerfed are also the same people who will benefit or suffer from rebalancing their own cards, or know what tiny change to make to a card to suddenly make it very valuable in their specific decks.

This leads to some pretty silly situations, such as moderators buffing cards that genuinely deserved to be nerfed to secure their own interests. Or, on the other side of the issue, there are regularly cases where 9 out of the top 10 players all use the same clearly overpowered card in all of their decks, but the moderators will continue to deny that the card needs to be nerfed, because they do not want to have to nerf their own decks.

These things are all still happening, and they have been for years.

Because, well, they are the moderators, they have the authority and some of them have been here for up to 7 years, who is going to monitor them ?

After all, moderators are the law, they can do no wrong, right ?

Moderator incompetence and toxicity.

See, the team isn't just biased, they are also frankly incompetent at handling their own game in a facepalm-inducing manner.

For instance, remember how the main entertaining thing about this game was the strategy aspect of how to select your cards, artifacts and soul in order to get the best possible deck you can create and use it to make progress ?

Well, the game also has a spectating function. Which isn't a bad idea at all in itself. But it does have some major issues, like deck copying.

It is extremely easy for anyone to spectate the games of a very high rated player, and simply note down all the cards they play until you have their whole deck figured out. After this, you can easily copy it, and just play with this stronger person's deck and rank up that way, skipping what is quite literally the main interest of Undercards.

Not only does this ruin a large portion of the point of the game for the person that does it, but the more people do it, the more everyone everywhere starts running around using copies of the same few decks and making the game incredibly blend for everyone else overall as the thousands of possible way to make interesting decks slowly get reduced to no more than a dozen considered "viable" possible decks as you climb up the ranks.

...So what did the Undercards team do about this ?

...They created a hub menu where you can publish and downloads decks.

Yes, this is completely counter-productive.

Yes, this means that anyone can publish any deck for any player to find and use, they don't even need to copy the deck, it does that for them automatically.

Yes, this means that someone else can spectate your games, note down your deck, and publish it online for everyone to see, copy, or specifically prepare counters for. And they do.

Not only has the team not fixed those issues, but they have added features to make things more convenient for the perpetrators. They are actively encouraging people to be copycats and anti-fairplay, severely damaging their game's main strength on the way.

Oh, talking about stalking people and anti-fairplay...

The spectate feature has another massive problem : Sniping.

See, a game in Undercards lasts around 5 minutes & involves just two players, and there is rarely more than a couple dozen games going on at the same time. The game also has a very large matchmaking pool, meaning that you can pretty easily be paired against somebody considerably higher rated than yourself.

What this all means is that, by spectating somebody and then entering the playing queue right after this person's game ends, it is very easy to purposely stalk somebody in order to have a match against this particular person.

So, not only can someone stalk you and post your decks and/or strategies online, but anyone even much lower rated than you can look at it, build a counter deck that exists specifically to crush your particular deck, and then stalk you to repeatedly beat you and leech off your rank points.

And there is absolutely nothing that you can do about this.

The only solution is to log off and come back online when the sniper won't be present, or stalk the person back yourself to make sure you only launch games when you know they are already playing and can't be waiting for you, which is quite tiring.

Okay, well what did the team so about that one, then ? Surely even they wouldn't like the idea of being sniped, right ?

Heh... Well, its a bit trickier.

Officially, the practice is not allowed and a couple of them are actually against it. But in practice, most of them actually do not care, for the simple reason that part of them are guilty of doing such things themselves, and simply only take action when someones tries to do it back against them.

In fact, while i actually do not actually have proof for that one, i do also suspect that at least part of the moderators who have several accounts decide on which account they're going to play at a given time by checking which other players are online right now, and picking a deck/account accordingly for easier wins.

Their crappy behavior does not stop at only in-game things, though.

For instance, one person brought up to me that members of the staff have called his religion "garbage". Which needless to say, is extremely inappropriate and disrespectful.

Beyond being scummy, the team also just doesn't know how to handle their player base in general. For example, not so long ago, they shot themselves in the foot by creating two new ranks despite the fact that their player base was already too low to fill up the many ranks they already had. This means stretching up the rank differences between the players, which makes rank gain/loss disproportionate compared to one's actual current level and renders progression even more frustrating for medium level players, as well as generalising higher differences between players for matchmaking, which thus makes all the previously mentioned problems like sniping even worse. (All of that just to make things feel a bit more comfortable for those at the very top like the mods, who won't have to match with lower rated players as much.)

There could still be a couple more things for me to say, but i think the picture is already fairly clear. The team is purposely throwing the quality of their own game under the bus for little more reason than to stroke their ego by seeing their own names at the top of their leaderboards and overall just don't make very good decisions for their game even outside of all that.

Okay, but that was a whole lot of speaking, now how about i give an actual direct example of what the situation is currently like ?

Consider the existence of a user named "Sktima".

Skitma plays the game every day, but practically only ever uses the public chat to either :

Trash talk his opponents either during a game or after a loss.

Complain about the game's RNG, calling it "rigged" or "scripted".

Condescendingly mock and talk down on players rated below 2200 ELO (that is, over 98% of players) for being bad at the game.

If ever called out on this behavior, Sktima will infantilise the whistleblower, calling them a "whining little kid" or similar term before painting them as the bad guy instead, and attempting to bully them into leaving the chat. (and holding grudges against them later on, too.)

All the while, of course, being arrogantly mocking and acting like he considers himself as superior to others.

The question is : How long do you think it took for this player to be banned ?

I encourage you to think about this for a second, before continuing to read.

...

...Okay, have you made your guess yet ?

Well, it was a trick question..

Sktima was never banned at all, for the very simple reason that Sktima is a part of the moderation team.

He even has a YT, too. And it kinda speaks for itself, honestly.

For those interested, here are a couple extracts from a conversation he had in the comments with somebody pointing out that with the size of that community, issues like sniping or hand peeking (another big problem i didn't bring up caused by another bad feature that allows you to directly see the opponent's hand with another tab via the in-game friend option) were bound to happen with the way the mod team handled some features.

Be warned, a good amount of rudeness as well as lying & manipulating to try and turn the situation backwards...

Im not going to analyse or detail more any of that nor point out some of the blatant irony in this conversation, but what i will bring up is that throughout all this, they've made their stance rather clear :

None of this is the fault of the moderator team, they consider that only the player base itself is to blame for the current state of the game, not them.

The underground status.

The thing is, a lot of players aren't oblivious to this, but won't speak a word when staff is present.

In just a couple weeks for instance, at least three separate users have admitted in the chats they thought Sktima was insufferable, including one which claimed he was "the most toxic person on the site." But all this was only at low activity times when the team members were offline.

This was even more obvious on discord, where the only results you could find when searching for "Undercards" in the history of other Undertale/Deltarune related discord servers were people complaining about how toxic the Undercards staff was.

People frequently complain about a lot of the previously mentioned gameplay issues like sniping, but it seems nobody dares to speak up about the actual responsibles, likely due to their position of power and because they consider it as a fait accompli.

Undercards is a great game with has the potential to be very fun, but it and its community are practically being held hostage by the game's staff, and yet it seems the community has just given up on itself and mostly accepted this unfair status quo. This kind of thing shouldn't be allowed to continue.

[tarotmundomonde]

Your current karma general reading

First, I want to thank @lilstargazing for suggesting this topic to me. It wasn't one I had thought of but found it very interesting and so here we are!

pick a number 1-5 OR pick a colour: 1-blue 2-red 3-purple 4-yellow 5-green Hope you enjoy! And next will be "Your current karma in romantic love reading"!

1.Welcome to pile number 1. What comes to your current karma, a lot is about communication and the intellectual. Very strong throat chakra and sacral chakra activation, possibly healing those chakras or rebalancing those chakras could be needed. First of all, there could be some hidden motivations surrounding you. There is a strong focus on you claiming your independence and you being the real you. To be your authentic self, to express yourself. You could experience a lot of worry, but you need to overcome that. It seems you are called to do some shadow work, because you are meant to grow. Be mindful of what you feed your mind, the more you focus on the positive, the more the positive will expand. And a part of the shadow work is to become aware of your own hidden motives and what it is you are longing for. And then to find your north star, to find your inner light, to find yourself. It looks like also you are dealing with hunger. For example, you could have a bigger appetite, because you long for more in life or maybe you simply need to eat more healthily. It looks like you are also meant to take a step back, trust and start planning and strategizing. Whatever that would be about, maybe just about daily routines, maybe school or work. It does look like there is a very stong focus on strategizing. And on foreshadowing, predicting what's going to be next, or what's going to be someone else's next move. Also, what's simply the best strategy for you, for example at work or learning and study strategy. Indeed, it's a lot about clarity and clearing things, making space. Maybe literally you need to do some cleaning. And also to get organized, to get things organized, to put things in order and in the right places. Like making things easy for you to find them. There is also focus on service and on kindred partnerships. You are called to tap into the energy of grace and peace and blessings. And you seem to be learning about using power with wisdom. So you are possibly taught lessons about what is to be in your power and what is healthy. And also, it looks like a part of your current karma is that some change is coming or going on, transformation and joyous opportunities. Now, one more thing that came through for this pile is also celebrity. Like said before about being you, there is a reference about shining like a celebrity, to be the star you were born to be. To walk your path. Perhaps it's time for you to confront your fears of exposure, of being seen and noticed. To become a bit more bold and just be you and shine your own light. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

2.Welcome to pile number 2. What comes to your current karma, there is a very strong presence of divine protection in your life at this time. There is also a great possibility that you could be into the supernatural at this time. You have a very strong lesson about denial and acceptance going on for you right now. You are definitely going through so many transformations at this time, so it's inevitable that you are experiencing some storms as well. It's life and it's also about stepping into life and to not be afraid of changes. Your life seems to be speeding up somehow. You are experiencing the phoenix effect in so many ways and on so many levels at this time. It seems like life could feel like quite the mystery to you at this time. Having to experience deep emotions and learning not to worry too much and learning to trust life. And learning how to find peace and how to create peace and how to be in peaceful energy. Learning to be grateful about peace, too. Peace is a huge theme for you right now. And then the phoenix effect as rising from the ashes aka taking your power back. To kinda rediscover yourself and to grow into a stronger you. Another big theme for you at this time is discovery and learning great lessons. Don't worry, you have spirit guides watching over you. For some of you, now is a time of studies. Maybe you are a student and so it seems that your studies are currently a big part of your current karma. You could feel drawn to libraries or bookstores or to school buildings or perhaps just generally to some specific types of architecture styles as well. Creativity and creation is a big theme as well. Creative thinking and creative solutions. Your current karma involves working harder and growing smarter. It's time for you to find new ways of solving problems. Whether it's just about some small tasks or situations. There is also a huge milestone for you in the cards. And one more thing is that you are learning that you'll always have what you need or find what you need. So you are taught lessons about gratitude, of assistance and that you have all you need. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

3. Welcome to pile number 3. What comes to your current karma, it's like you've been disconnected from your spirit and so you are asked to reconnect with your spirit, with your higher self. There is a sense of much good impending, but delayed currently, because you need first space for you to reconnect with the divine. Third-eye activation came through for you, maybe you need to do some third-eye chakra cleansing and rebalancing. But at this time it is activated, so you could notice yourself having increased intuition and clear seeing and visions. You seem to also be dealing with some sort of power struggles. So a part of your current karma is to take your power back, step back into your power and the right use of power. So you are called to work on having healthy boundaries and also honesty came through for you. And also you are called to see the royal you, to work on your self-esteem and you are going through a time of self-esteem healing. One big theme that came through for you as well is patience and stillness. It's not the right time yet, so use this opportunity to also focus on resting and taking it easy. You might not fully realize it, but you are taking steps forward and moving forward, even if it doesn't seem so at this time. You do seem to have some collaboration going on or coming in. Passion also came through. So there is a focus on your passions like hobbies. Also, sacral chakra healing and rebalancing. One absolute big theme for you is the divine presence. You might be struggling with faith issues at this time, but it's all about finding faith and having faith. You have very strong divine protection present at this time. It seems to be very important that you know that. Now on a lighter side, you are called to become a magnet for love, light and joy. It really wants to enter your life, you are called to enter that energy space. There are magical moments awaiting you, miracles. And true love. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

4.Welcome to pile number 4. This pile has heavy student vibes to it. It's very clear that this is a student pile. Your current karma is so clearly all about student life. For example it's pretty clear that you cannot advance in big steps, but instead you are required patience and to build little by little and in breaks. For example you have to focus on one semester at a time, on one exam period at a time. So a strong part of your current karma is studying and teachers and choices and consequences and creation and creativity and wisdom. In the end, this is all teaching you to walk your path and to trust you have the needed inner wisdom reguarding your student life and courage. And a part of you growing wiser is of course possible regrets, like the regret that you didn't study enough during the exam week. Things like that. And then endings. It's so much about preparations, plans, planning and routines. About knowing the outcomes you seek and what you are trying to manifest. It's a lot about using your mind and the intellectual, knowing the best learning methods for yourself and to tend to the small things, to pay attention to details. A lot of mental hard work. It seems a part of your current karma is to find and recognize your gifts and to not settle for less. And you seem to be dealing with so much new information, which is so typical for students. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

5.Welcome to pile number 5. If you chose this pile, it seems you have a bit of everything going on at the moment. So what comes to your current karma, one thing is home. This could be about renovation or relocation or just home life in general. A part of your current karma is also status quo and obstacles. And a part of it is assistance and control. So it seems you also need to learn how to accept help from others. You seem to also need to focus more on your nourishment. It's not just about food, but also about what you consume online and through all media, what you feed yourself energetically, etc. You are taught about prioritizing self-care. And about judgment. It seems you are experiencing some level of enlightment at this time. Your wisdom is growing and you are starting to see some things more clearly. There is also a focus on increasing your knowledge, be it through school or taking classes perhaps. A very strong focus on relationships, including friends and colleagues. It's really about learning that you are not alone. There is a sense that you have your own team. A massive energy of unconditional and all-encompassing love being present in your life at this time, it's time for you to tap into it and to learn to feel such love with no judgment. You are learning about acceptance and serenity. And you are learning about life, about experiencing life, about living life. That life is about everything. And as always, don't forget to leave some feedback, if it resonates with you.

[hero-israel]

The antizionist crowd loves to shift goalposts, so if they're pressed hard enough on where Jews are supposed to go or Jewish ties to the land, they'll just move to the next talking point.

If Jews are allowed to exist in Palestine, for them, they must have "checks and balances" placed against them. I 100% predict discourse talking about how Jews who remain enfranchised cannot be allowed to vote back in the old "Apartheid" system.

Because it will be very difficult to get the numbers of Palestinian refugees around the world to outnumber Jews, and very difficult to get all the Palestinians to vote for the same things, especially against a Jewish voting bloc that's still half or almost half of the country and only cares about preserving their rights. Preserving Jewish rights would be seen as Apartheid by leftists so that's what we're dealing with.

Logically, you either have to expel a certain number of Jews, socially engineer a mass immigration program for Palestinians, when hundreds of thousands of them live in the Americas quite comfortably and probably wouldn't care enough to go, wait decades for the hope that existing Arabs outbreed Jews, or disenfranchise Jews. It's obvious what their first choice is, but their second choice is clear as well.

Say everything goes their way, and peacefully. Say the new Palestinian government, purged of most Jewish influence, starts slowly but surely chipping away at Jewish sovereignty and dignity, which it will eventually. Leftist will cheer all the way and gaslight Jews pointing out the warning signs that dhimmitude is returning, and any organized effort on the part of Palestinian Jews to vote and protest will be seen as anti Arab racism.

Say Jews still have political power in Palestine, it will still be seen as Apartheid because "too many Jews" remain in important government, military, financial, and cultural institutional positions, "too many Jews" vote, and too frequently. They have all the money and power and privileges, don't you know, and they have a vested interest in saying everyone has equal rights but continue to covertly oppress the Palestinians. They will call this Palestine washing or one state washing. Mark my words.

If by some miracle an antizionist can be forced to admit that Jews should not, for moral and practical reasons, be cleansed from the land, I still wholeheartedly believe there's no real solution where they'll be satisfied, because if Jews must remain on the land, then they must be given rights too, and that's what pisses off the antizionists. They want Jews dead or subjugated or just gone so no one has to think about them.

The amount of social engineering their goals call for is neither real-world realistic nor morally tolerable. Also intolerable is the very clearly implied threat of mass violence to back up that attempted "rebalancing". Their approach would quickly devolve into a 1948-style street-by-street civil war with strong racial / religious elements. In one of his final honest comments before he went full Grayzone, Peter Beinart said that a 1SS would probably turn Israel into Lebanon.

On occasion I have attempted to engage anti-Zionists about what the political reality for post-Israeli Jews would be. They were never willing to acknowledge the risks involved or to set out risk-minimization strategies. It's all vindictive, punitive, use-the-Delorean-to-write-a-new-timeline fantasy.

A politics of revenge will not build a free, fair society. You can bet that in the alternate timeline of their 1SS, 30 years later they would still be calling the Jews "former apartheid supporters" or "apartheid beneficiaries", and urging punishments accordingly.

[mariacallous]

The recent conflicts in the Middle East have ignited open debate among Iran’s political elite over whether the country should weaponize its vast nuclear program. The rationale for doing so, from Iranian leadership’s perspective, appears more convincing than ever.

Above all, Iran needs to reestablish deterrence equilibrium with its longtime foes Israel and the United States. Traditionally, to deter its adversaries from attacking or implementing regime change, Tehran relied on a three-pronged approach focused on missiles, militias, and a nuclear program.

To offset its weak air force, Iran invested heavily in its missiles program, making its arsenal one of the most advanced in the region. Iran also anchors its asymmetric warfare strategy through the so-called “forward defense” policy of using militarized nonstate actors to encircle Israel and the U.S. regional military presence and to mobilize these forces to attack if required. Iran has cultivated its relations with groups that are hostile to the United States and Israel, building the so-called Axis of Resistance, providing them with arms—including sophisticated missiles and drones—as well as training and financial support.

However, Iran’s missiles capabilities and the Axis of Resistance have taken a hit in recent months. The Israeli onslaught against Iran’s most trusted partner, Hezbollah in Lebanon, has delivered a blow to its arsenal, fighters, and command and control structure. Iran was left humiliated by Israel’s ability to assassinate Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh while he was in Tehran this summer. Following the killing of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar this month, Israel seems determined to keep upping the ante to establish a new regional order.

Although Hamas and Hezbollah will continue to undermine Israeli security, the ability of these groups to mobilize in defense of Iran seems severely diminished while they fight for their own survival. Meanwhile, the United States has doubled down on its efforts to shield Israel, moving new anti-missile systems into the country, together with American troops to operate them, in a bid to defang future attacks from Iran and its allies.

Perhaps Iran’s biggest Achilles’s heel is its self-restraint. Over the past year, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has repeatedly held back from a direct war with Israel and the United States. He has also shied away from triggering a full assault by the Axis of Resistance front. Israel has interpreted this restraint as a weakness and exploited it.

This shift in regional deterrence has strengthened the argument in Tehran favoring a nuclear umbrella. Iran has already obtained nuclear threshold status, placing it at the tipping point of weaponization. Iran can develop enough material for a nuclear bomb in just over a week, with some experts assessing that it could build a nuclear warhead to carry these bombs within several months. In the same way that India and Pakistan achieved a relative cold peace, Tehran may look to check Israeli behavior through rebalancing the nuclear playing field.

Another argument for why Iran could dash for the bomb is that the country has already paid the high cost of becoming a nuclear weapons state without receiving the perceived benefits of having the bomb.

Ever since the Trump administration withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal, which Iran was in full compliance with at the time, the United States has imposed its largest-scale sanctions to date against Iran. Western relations with Tehran further plummeted over Iran’s abysmal human rights record, its regional posture, and military assistance to Russia during its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Given the anti-Iran sentiment across Western capitals, the Iranian leadership would be correct to conclude that major U.S. sanctions relief of the type seen in 2015 is not on the horizon. If Iran is already being treated as a nuclear pariah state by the West, then why not secure the perceived security benefits of going nuclear?

Finally, the broader geopolitical conditions today mean the costs associated with Iran becoming a nuclear state are lower than a decade ago. Tensions between world powers now make it increasingly unlikely that Russia, and possibly China, will stand in Iran’s way. Tehran can also capitalize on the Ukraine war by pushing to trade its military equipment—which Moscow desperately needs—for Russian nuclear know-how, technology, and defense at the U.N. Security Council. The United States already fears this could be happening.

Against this backdrop, those inside Iran favoring nuclear weaponization likely see two choices ahead: either Iran’s nuclear facilities are eventually destroyed by Israel and the United States first, and then Tehran stumbles toward nuclear weapons over a longer timeframe with depleted resources, or Iran starts the weaponization now while it has advanced nuclear capabilities and Israel is bogged down in Gaza and Lebanon. Iranian strategists may be swayed for the latter option when faced with a weakened Axis of Resistance, a formidable Israeli-U.S. military force and an Israel poised to strike at Iranian nuclear sites. Despite the strong likelihood that the country will be bombed throughout this process by Israel and the United States, Iran’s leadership may conclude it can bear the brunt of military action and come out of it stronger.

Following the hits Iran has taken to its deterrence capabilities, there is an acute risk of Iran reaching for the bomb. Western governments should act now to shape the internal debate inside Iran to avoid this outcome. A nuclear Iran can act with greater impunity at home and abroad. It will almost certainly trigger a nuclear arms race across the Middle East. This outcome would make a region close to Europe even more dangerous, not just because of the increased risk of violent conflict among states but also the risk of terrorist groups gaining access to nuclear weapons.

Western governments need to warn Iran’s leaders that if they decide to weaponize the country’s nuclear program, it will backfire. Becoming a nuclear state will likely offer Iran’s leaders greater guarantees against large-scale military intervention and externally imposed regime change. But it will expose Iran to vicious cycles of military strikes, cyberattacks, and assassinations. Future Iranian nuclear weapons will not deter Israel against striking Iran—just as Tehran was not deterred against taking the unprecedented step this year of barraging Israel, itself a nuclear power, with missiles.

Over the past year, Europe and the United States have not seriously pursued a political off-ramp with Tehran. The United States has been trapped—by both Israeli and Iranian conduct—into an escalation cycle and seems willing to only play a military card. Absent a political agenda, Iran’s dash to the bomb is becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. History reveals that the more the United States and Israel carry out attacks inside Iran, the more Iran inches closer to the bomb.

The instances when Washington and Europe have shifted Iranian calculations away from weaponization involved serious diplomacy. The new Iranian government comprises technocrats who have a long history of supporting negotiations with Europe and the United States and have implemented the deals struck. Iran’s new reform-minded president, Masoud Pezeshkian, has amplified his government’s openness to diplomacy with the West—and this intent must now be put to the test.

In this diplomatic endeavor, a coalition of willing Western governments should ally themselves with Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Iraq, which among them have notable influence with Iran, Israel, and the United States. A new track of pursuing diplomacy with Iran within a coalition of regional actors is the best door opener for the West to prevent the Iran-Israel war spiraling out of control and to wedge open wider space to reduce tensions on other issues.

While there is considerable distrust between Iran and the West at this moment, both sides need to engage in transactional hard-nosed diplomacy to make a course correction. Otherwise, the current path will lead to the worst of all worlds.

[justashadetalkative]

9.) if your story got a video game adaptation/spin off, what would it be like? if your project is already a video game, do this for a novelization.

Ohh, what kind of game? Hm.

Jeeze. This is tough. I want to do all the things, but trying to do that would make for hopelessly unfocused gameplay. 😂

A game set in the Spire could be anything from action adventure to real time strategy to RPG (speaking of D&D campaigns, hah) to friend/dating sim to visual novel to social or community sim (along the lines of the Sims, Stardew Valley, Animal Crossing)… depends on what dynamics you want to focus on. Heck, I could see something like the Fire Emblem games — Radiant Dawn is the one with which I’m most familiar — being a really good fit.

I think if there were going to be only one video game adaptation, though… I’d be on the fence between two options.

One would be a visual novel type game, or maybe something a bit along the lines of Night in the Woods — heavily dialogue and interaction focused, where who you befriend and the choices you make or the advice you give kind of shapes the broader community and certain plot events. It’d probably focus on some specific plot arc within the Spire, and be relatively short, or else it’d be kind of an anthology style — maybe there’d be a roster of player characters whose short stories you could play?

For the other….

Okay. So. Look. Fallout 4 has a community mechanic where you can refurbish settlements, build structures, assign people to various roles, etc. And… I have never once completed a playthrough of Fallout 4, because I always get completely and utterly side-tracked into settlement-building. ^_^;

So I think something like that would also be really neat! It’d be rebalanced — the settlement of the Spire would be the main focus of the game, the construction and community management mechanics would be pretty powerful, and most of the main characters would be people living in the Spire, with dialogue, specific needs, role preferences, relationship mechanics, etc. 

There’d still be an action and resource-collecting element, but instead of being the main plot itself, it would be how you gained the resources you need for the main plot. Quests to appease various characters, or to establish trade relations with an off-Spire community, or to defend some Spire resident’s homeworld, or to collect research to build new things, or to beg borrow or steal resources necessary for a specific critical project, etc. 

And it would maintain the core problem of the Spire: people can never completely cut ties. Any individual or group that isn’t willing to keep working with you becomes a major complication… and possibly a threat.

[miyamatsui]

401(K) INVESTMENT PLAN

Today, I will share with the guys my structured approach to building and managing retirement savings through a 401(k) investment plan. By following this plan, you can achieve financial security in retirement and have a portfolio that balances growth potential with risk management.

Objective: The objective of this 401(k) investment plan is to ensure a well-balanced and diversified portfolio that aligns with long-term financial goals, risk tolerance, and retirement needs. This plan is designed to maximize returns while minimizing risks, taking into account the tax advantages of a 401(k) account.

Assessing Risk Tolerance and Time Horizon

Risk Tolerance: Determine the appropriate level of risk based on personal financial goals, age, and comfort with market volatility. Generally, a higher risk tolerance allows for a greater allocation to equities, while a lower risk tolerance favors bonds and fixed-income investments. Time Horizon: The number of years until retirement is a key factor in deciding the investment strategy. A longer time horizon permits a more aggressive investment approach, while a shorter time horizon necessitates a more conservative allocation.

Diversification Strategy

Equity Investments: Allocate a percentage of the 401(k) to stocks, focusing on a mix of domestic and international equities. Consider including large-cap, mid-cap, and small-cap funds to ensure broad market exposure. Fixed-Income Investments: Invest in bonds and other fixed-income securities to provide stability and income. Consider a mix of government, corporate, and high-yield bonds to diversify risk. Alternative Investments: Depending on the options available within the 401(k) plan, consider allocating a portion of the portfolio to alternative investments such as real estate or commodities to further diversify and hedge against inflation.

Contribution Strategy

Maximize Contributions: Aim to contribute the maximum allowable amount each year to take full advantage of tax deferral benefits. Additionally, contribute enough to qualify for any employer matching contributions, as this represents an immediate return on investment. Regular Contributions: Set up automatic contributions to ensure consistent investment over time. This dollar-cost averaging approach can reduce the impact of market volatility.

Rebalancing and Monitoring

Periodic Rebalancing: Regularly review the portfolio to ensure it remains aligned with the target asset allocation. Rebalance the portfolio at least annually or whenever significant market movements cause a substantial deviation from the original allocation. Monitoring Performance: Continuously monitor the performance of individual investments and the overall portfolio. Make adjustments as needed based on changes in market conditions, personal financial situation, or retirement goals.

Consideration of Tax Implications

Pre-Tax vs. Roth Contributions: Evaluate the benefits of making pre-tax contributions versus Roth (after-tax) contributions based on current and expected future tax rates. Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs): Plan for RMDs starting at age 73 (or the required age based on current regulations) to minimize tax impact and ensure compliance with IRS rules.

Retirement Income Planning

Withdrawal Strategy: Develop a strategy for withdrawing funds during retirement that minimizes tax liability and ensures the longevity of the retirement portfolio. Annuity Consideration: Consider purchasing an annuity with a portion of the 401(k) balance to provide a guaranteed income stream during retirement

[doggendoodle]

I keep seeing the funny Corporate Clash cogs from you so I looked into it. How’s it compare with Rewritten? I doooon’t really wanna play both (they’re gonna scratch the same sorta itch) and I’m wondering which you prefer, pros/cons, etc

Like? I’m enjoying the nostalgic vibe of Rewritten being more or less the same as I remembered, down to the dated graphics, but ngl I’m kinda yearning for QoL changes. There’s a loooooot of archaic ideas in Rewritten for the sake of faithfulness that my 🌸 Delicate 2023 Constitution 🌸 chafes against

Well as an aside before I start Clash-shilling, it should be noted that there's currently more QoL updates in the works for Rewritten, with adjustments to parts of the late-game and possibly more I don't know about. So that might be worth waiting for, or at least keeping an eye on.

But more to the point, yeah, I very much enjoy Corporate Clash more than Rewritten. They still share a lot of the same DNA, both being Toontown and all (plenty of grind, a lot of the same areas and NPCs, etc), but Clash is, like, the Xenoblade 2 to Rewritten's Xenoblade Definitive Edition. As for pros and cons of switching to Clash, that's under the read more.

Con: community is a lot more niche outside of Tumblr.

Most people who play Toontown nowadays play on Rewritten, in no small part because it's literally the game that originated the term "rewritten" for fan-run private servers of shuttered MMOs. You're a Zero Escape fan, so you get it - small but very passionate fandom that occasionally catches a few passersby for a little.

Pro: a ton of quality of life improvements.

Much larger jellybean jars and banks, and you can get jellybeans from every activity, even fighting Cogs. Once you unlock a third Gag track you get the ability to refund and switch tracks on the fly for free, and you keep all the Gag XP you had in the track whe you switch back. You can save up to 20 Outfits from your Shtickerbook, too, for quick changes.

Neutral: game is a lot more complex and gets a lot harder in the endgame, but has a lot more strategic depth.

Owing to the additions of Manager Cogs, a new level of Gags, the entirely new Zap Gag, higher level Cogs, revamped bosses, cooldowns for every boss reward, and every Gag working at least a little differently than in TTO/TTR, there's a lot to learn and re-learn.

The Clash Wiki has strategies listed for every boss, and the addition of groups last year makes it possible to co-ordinate Gag choices before entering bosses - and you'll need that co-ordination, especially for the harder Kudos manager boss fights.

Neutral: the progression system is completely overhauled.

Instead of doing random Toontasks in each playground to build up your Gag track with a few full task chains for Gag pouch, jellybean jar, Gag and Laff upgrades, there's a more traditional level and experience point system that fills up as you complete tasks and fight Cogs, and leveling up is tied directly to progression. Side activities like Fishing and Golfing have their own, smaller experience gauges, and you still earn Laff by filling them.

Neutral: tied to the above, the way tasks work is also completely redone.

Now you have one Toontask that is perpetually dedicated to the core story until you reach the (current) end, with every task in that story being custom-made rather than random. You visit the playgrounds in the same order as in TTO/TTR, with the additions of an entirely new medieval-themed playground and a massively-overhauled Acorn Acres along the way, and the locations of the Cog HQs are moved around so that you visit and complete each one as part of your first visit to the playground (they're also rebalanced to account for the different levels you take them on at).

Each playground also has a few Sidetasks, which are optional but reward you with things like Nametags, clothes, and teleport access to each playground - if you only do one Sidetask from each playground, make sure it's the one that gets you teleport access. You can see what the reward for each Sidetask is on the relevant page in the Shtickerbook, as well as where you have to go to start it.

And, once you complete the story in a playground, you unlock the Kudos Board for that playground, which takes the place of Just for Fun tasks while also doubling as the method by which you unlock each playground's Kudos Manager boss fight.

Con: the shopkeeps are jerks.

A lot of the shopkeepers you interact with as part of tasks are rude. Like, really rude, for no good reason. Not "deliberately stop playing to avoid helping them" rude, but it's definitely A Choice.

Pro AND Con: the Cogs get a lot of love. Like, a disproportionate amount.

As you've probably gleaned by how much art of the Cogs I reblog compared to the Toons, one of Corporate Clash's selling points is how much it focuses on bringing the Cogs closer to the Toons thematically. Whereas in the original Toontown Online they were deliberately more serious and lifeless to emphasize their robotic nature, Corporate Clash makes them closer to, like, Captain Planet-style cartoon capitalists, as well as giving Cogs as a species a lot more personality and backstory as a whole.

In most respects this is fantastic - it makes the gameplay experience a lot more fun, and it allows the Clash team to really flex their creative chops while expanding on TTO. However, the downside is that the Cogs sometimes get a lot more focus than the Toons do. This is something they're aware of and actively curb whenever it rears its head, though. On the whole this is definitely more of a pro than a con.

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

So, on the whole, Clash is quite a lot different from Rewritten, despite being its younger sibling. Plenty of people do play both, to get the nostalgia from Rewritten and the novelty from Clash, but personally I prefer the latter.

Have a dancing Chip, and have a good day!

[gabatelepsychiatry-blog]

Treatment Options for Postpartum Depression (PPD)

The PPD treatment revolution: New options bringing hope to struggling moms

Postpartum depression (PPD) should not rob you of your motherhood. While coping with PPD remains challenging, recent advancements have significantly expanded and improved treatment options for new mothers. 'Toughing it out' is no longer the answer to coping with PPD. Addressing PPD through treatment is  crucial for an effective recovery.

Understanding the need for treatment

PPD can be quite challenging, but first we need to understand why it is important to treat it.

Effective treatment can significantly improve the mother's mental health and overall quality of life.

Untreated PPD can negatively impact mother-child bonding and infant cognitive and emotional development.

Treatment helps maintain healthy relationships with partners and other family members.

Early intervention reduces the risk of PPD developing into a long-term depressive disorder.

Treatment can improve a mother's capacity to care for her baby and engage in positive parenting practices.

PPD can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts, making treatment crucial for prevention.

Mental health treatment can positively impact physical health issues often associated with PPD.

Treatment helps mothers better manage daily tasks and responsibilities.

Addressing PPD can help mothers who wish to breastfeed to continue doing so successfully.

In rare cases, untreated PPD can progress to postpartum psychosis; early treatment can prevent this.

Treatment can help restore a mother's sense of self-worth and confidence.

Seeking treatment sets a positive example for family members about the importance of mental health.

Treatment options for PPD

Therapy:

Engaging in psychotherapy can unlock your potential for personal growth, healing, and empowerment. Some common types of psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), psychodynamic therapy, interpersonal therapy (IPT), dialectical behavior therapy (DBT), family therapy, and group therapy, can help you explore and manage your thoughts and feelings in a safe, nurturing space.

Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT)

CBT helps mothers identify and change negative thought patterns. 

 Interpersonal therapy (IPT)

IPT helps bridge communication gaps by focusing on relationship patterns and verbal exchanges. 

CBT and IPT  are two evidence-based approaches that have shown significant success in treating PPD.

Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) focuses on teaching individuals skills to manage intense emotions, improve relationships, and reduce self-destructive behaviors.

Group therapy can also provide a supportive environment where mothers share experiences and coping strategies.

Medication

 Your healthcare provider might recommend medication to help balance your brain chemistry. Antidepressants, particularly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), are often prescribed for PPD. If you have concerns about breastfeeding and taking antidepressants, always consult with a healthcare provider to weigh the benefits and risks.

Hormonal treatments

In 2019, the FDA approved Brexanolone (Zulresso), the first and only drug specifically for PPD. This intravenous treatment works by rebalancing hormones that fluctuate after childbirth. 

Support systems

Never underestimate the power of support. Engaging with partners and family members, joining support groups, or connecting with online communities can provide crucial emotional backing during recovery.

Last but not least, prioritizing self-care activities such as exercise, adequate sleep, and healthy eating can significantly improve your mood. Experiencing thoughts of self-harm or harming your baby? For the well-being of you and your child, get yourself evaluated for help now. 

Remember, PPD is a medical condition, not a character flaw. With proper treatment, most women recover completely. Your mental health matters; reach out to healthcare professionals for guidance and support.

If you are looking for support, you can call us at +1(833)-312-4222 or schedule an appointment online via our website.

[pegasusknightsonly]

what if awakening had personal skills

i really like the personal skills system in fates and wanted to apply it to a game i enjoy! a game i love, even! and rather than port over the fates skills directly i wanted them to better fit the awakening cast's personalities as well as the awakening metagame itself. a couple of notes and the list itself under the cut:

note #1: awakening is largely a hit/avo stacking game, and most of the class skills affect that. however applying this logic to all the personal skills would 0 out enemy hit WAY too early in the harder difficulties. I've therefore used a more fates-like damage modifier for most of them

note #2: awakening tends to give you pairs of units, with one unit being faster and more skillful but frailer, and the other having more bulk but less offensive power. where possible I've tried to distribute skills the same way, so more offensive personal skills have defensive counterparts elsewhere in the roster

note #3: this list is not perfectly balanced to make every unit equally viable on Luna+. some units are getting a considerable buff to their overall combat, some are getting utility skills, some are getting essentially rebalanced. this is, for now, a completely theoretical exercise and has not been playtested.

note #4: awakening considers supporting units in a pair to be adjacent to the lead unit, but not adjacent to the units adjacent to the lead. so units affected by L's adjacency skills are marked with an X (the / denotes that L is a lead unit in a pair up) .....X..... X L/X X .....X..... and unit's affected by S's adjacency skills are marked with a Z (the / denotes that S is the supporting unit in a pair up) .....0..... 0 Z/S 0 .....0......

note #5: the format for the list will be Unit name: Skill name. Skill description. (Any further notes)

Chrom: Fight Fair. Adjacent enemies can't activate damage-boosting skills. (Do you miss nihil from the tellius games? i do. do you think about nihil from the tellius games every time chapter 6 validar manages to proc vengeance on what should be the killing blow and makes you restart the entire map? i do!!!! Chrom's new personal gives you the only tool in the game to directly mitigate that, and as Chrom is the only unit force deployed on every story map it felt right to give him something Very Useful and unique. it does not nullify pavise, aegis, dragonskin or counter.)

Robin: Grand Strategy. Unit can use their remaining move after rallying. (Canto, for rallies only. It's not another action and Robin can't use this to attack.)

Lissa: Prankster. Adjacent allies have +5 hit and +5 crit. (this seems like it'll be annoying, which is just right for Lissa. finally a use for -skl Robin)

Frederick: Wary Watcher. +10 dodge when enemy has 100% HP.

Sully: Red Panther. When adjacent to two or more allies including pair up partner, +2 skill and +2 speed to unit and adjacent allies.

Virion: Gentilhomme. +5 hit and +5 avoid to all female allies within a 3 tile radius.

Stahl: Green Bull. When adjacent to one or more allies including pair up partner, +1 def and +1 res to unit and adjacent allies. (straightforward defensive counterpart to Sully's offensive skill)

Vaike: Big Swings. Unit does +2 damage when wielding an axe.

Miriel: Well Read. Unit does +2 damage when wielding a tome.

Sumia: Fly Together. Unit does +2 damage and receives -2 damage when paired up. (first story skill! I had to give Sumia something involved pair-up as she's the reason it exists)

Kellam: Undetectable. When supporting in a pair up, unit has +10% dual strike rate. (DS+ for Kellam only when supporting. Does not affect his partner's rate like DS+)

Lon'qu: Gynophobic. Unit deals and receives +2 damage when supported by a female unit. (ummed and ahhed about whether it should be +3, but he has like... 20 base HP. it's +2)

Maribelle: Refinement. Adjacent allies have +5 hit and +5 dodge. (a counterpart to Lissa's skill that is honestly a LOT more useful)

Ricken: Bravery. Unit takes -2 damage from non-adjacent attacks.

Panne: Natural Speed. Unit has +1 mov at when HP = 100% at the start of the turn. (A strong skill, sure, but Panne lacks galeforce to really make use of it and +1 HP level ups on enemy phase will negate it entirely. she could get mov+1 from thief and deliverer from griffon knight to go crazy with this but that's a LOT of effort. funny though)

Gaius: Nimble. Unit takes -2 damage from adjacent attacks.

Cordelia: Fly Solo. Unit does +2 damage and recieves -2 damage when not paired up. (straightforward counterpart to Sumia)

Nowi: Natural Defences. Unit has +2 def/res when HP = 100% at the start of the turn. (Like Panne, easily negated by +HP level ups on EP)

Gregor: School of Life. Unit's pair-up partner earns 20% more EXP. (it's not fair that veteran is Robin-exclusive, right? here's a worse version for, realistically, Miriel and Nowi only)

Libra: Calming Mien. +5 avoid and +5 dodge to all allies within a 3 tile radius.

Tharja: Spite. +20 hit when attacking enemies with <100% HP.

Olivia: Evasive. Avoid +10, but hit -15. (I wanted this to be contingent on her not holding a weapon but you have to get Olivia through dark flier somehow)

Cherche: Knightly Honour. +15 hit if enemy has 100% HP.

Henry: Mean Streak. +10 crit if enemy has <100% HP.

Lucina: One Sword. Receives 25% more EXP when carrying or wielding Parallel Falchion. Does not stack with other EXP-boosting skills. (specifically i don't want it to stack with veteran, not that Lucina should have that in her skill pool to begin with. I guess she can't benefit from Gregor's personal either but well... when would that ever come up?)

Say'ri: Blade Dedication. Unit does +2 damage when wielding a sword.

Basilio: West Khan. Unit does +2 damage when wielding a bow.

Flavia: East Khan. Adds 5% to Skill activation rates. (i actually forgot that they're main story recruitables. i never use them...)

Donnel: Lucky. Luck-based skills have their activation rate increased by 10%. (This really only applies to armsthrift in his class set but Donnel loves armsthrift)

Anna: Make A Killing. Unit can use their remaining move after opening a lock. (equivalent to Robin's utility skill and appropriate for the utility queen. in later games her skill "make a killing" is just awakening's despoil, so it didn't make sense to me to double it up even though Anna herself can't access it)

Owain: Aching Blood. +10 hit and +20 crit when <50% HP. (gamble/wrath/vantage ruin owain viable??????????????)

Inigo: Fair Flowers. Unit and partner deal +2 and receive -2 damage when paired up with a female unit.

Brady: Considerate. Luck% chance that the durability of the user's staves will not decrease on usage. (armsthrift... for STAVES)

Kjelle: Training Regime. +2 strength/speed/defence for one turn after attacking.

Cynthia: Crowd's Cheers. Unit recieves 1.5x the stat boost from rally skills. (The people go wild! Yay! Huzzah! Nice job, Cynthia! We love Cynthia! Hip-hip-hooray! …And so on.)

Severa: Competitive. When paired up, unit deals +3 damage but partner's dual strikes deal -5. (i feel like this should be worse, given how powerful pairup is...)

Gerome: Immovable Wall. +5% increase to dual guard rates.

Morgan: Adaptable. +10 avoid and +10 dodge when <50% HP.

Yarne: Timid Taguel. When paired up, unit deals -3 damage but partner's dual strikes deal +3. (straightforward counterpart to Severa. damn there's really good synergy between them, huh)

Laurent: Observant. When not paired up, unit has +15% dual strike rate.

Noire: Fluctuating State. On odd-numbered turns, +2 damage dealt. On even-numbered turns, -2 damage received.

Nah: Mighty Roar. -5 hit and -5 avo to all enemies within four spaces.

Tiki: The Voice. +5 hit to all allies and -5 dodge to all enemies within four spaces.

SPOTPASS CHARACTERS

Gangrel: Cruel Orders. +10 crit and -10 dodge to allies within three spaces.

Walhart: Iron Fist. All allies get +5 hit.

Emmeryn: Gentle Touch. -10 crit and +10 dodge to allies within four spaces.

Yen'fay: Ghost Of A Blade. +20 avoid when wielding a sword.

Aversa: Shadowgift. Unit can use dark magic in any tome wielding class.

Priam: Legendary Heritage. Adds 10% to Skill activation rates.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Rob Rogers

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

April 16, 2023

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

APR 17, 2023

A few quick notes tonight about some ongoing stories: There is more news about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and his misreporting of his financial connections. This morning, Shawn Boburg and Emma Brown of the Washington Post reported that for twenty years, Thomas has reported rental income totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars from a real estate firm that was shut down in 2006. The misstatement might be dismissed as a problem with paperwork, the authors note. “But it is among a series of errors and omissions that Thomas has made on required annual financial disclosure forms over the past several decades, a review of those records shows. Together, they have raised questions about how seriously Thomas views his responsibility to accurately report details about his finances to the public.” The cascade of stories about Thomas threatens to continue to undermine the legitimacy of this Supreme Court. Last night, the nation suffered one mass shooting in Dadeville, Alabama, that killed four people and wounded twenty-eight others, and another in Louisville, Kentucky, that killed two and wounded four. On Friday, Republican hopefuls for the 2024 presidential nomination courted members of the National Rifle Association, the NRA, at the organization’s 2023 annual convention, promising looser gun laws. South Dakota governor Kristi Noem complained about liberals who “want to take our guns,” and boasted that her granddaughter, who is not yet two, has a shotgun and a rifle. Meanwhile, the Biden administration continues to focus on rebalancing the Indo-Pacific to counter China. Just two weeks after the fiftieth anniversary of the U.S. withdrawal from Vietnam and nearly thirty years after the restoration of diplomatic ties in 1995, the U.S. has broken ground on a new $1.2 billion embassy compound in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh yesterday and vowed to “broaden and deepen” relations between the two countries. Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai, U.S. Agency for International Development administrator Samantha Power, and members of Congress have all visited Vietnam recently as part of a long-term strategy to help area friends and allies counterbalance China in the Indo-Pacific region. Yesterday, Blinken emphasized how the U.S. and Vietnam, working together, “can advance a free and open Indo-Pacific, one that is at peace and grounded in respect for the rules-based international order.” But, as Vietnam has a one-party communist government, he explained, “When we talk about ‘free and open,’ we mean countries being free to choose their own path and their own partners and that problems will be dealt with openly; rules will be reached transparently and applied fairly; and goods, ideas, and people will flow freely across land, the seas, the skies, and cyberspace.” Vice President Harris spoke yesterday at a march for reproductive rights in Los Angeles, where she emphasized how deeply our international standing depends on our commitment to freedom at home. “I’ve been traveling around the world as your Vice President,” she said. “When we, as Americans, walk in those rooms around the world, we have traditionally walked in those rooms, shoulders back, chin up, having some authority to talk about the importance of rule of law, human rights. “But here’s the thing we all know about what it means to be a role model: People watch what you do to see if it matches what you say. So let us understand that what is happening in our nation right now, by extension, can impact people around the world who dare to say, ‘I want my country to be like the United States and protect rights.’ And those autocrats and those dictators might look at those folks and say, ‘What are you pointing to as the example?’” “We are seeing, around the country, in a myriad of ways, those who would dare to attack fundamental rights and, by extension, attack our democracy,” Harris said. “Around our country, supposed so-called extremist leaders…dare to silence the voices of the people.” “A United States Supreme Court, the highest court in our land, that took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America. “We have seen attacks on voting rights; attacks on fundamental rights to love and marry the people that you love; attacks on the ability of people to be themselves and be proud of who they are. “And so, this is a moment that history will show required each of us, based on our collective love of our country, to stand up and fight for and protect our ideals…. [W]e have been called upon to be the next generation of the people who will help lead and fight in this movement for freedom and liberty based on our love of our country…. [W]e stand for our democracy. And we stand for foundational and fundamental principles that have everything to do with freedom, liberty, and equality for all people.”

—

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON