#to clarify: i want to develop this method for “strength points” so that I can try to recreate the pattern later with stats

[gimmick-blog-bracket]

So I have a couple of ways that I am considering quantifying the performance of each competitor in this competition. My ultimate goal is to make a model out of publicly available information that fits the trend here that I can use to approximate a new competitor's performance and seed it accordingly.

I may have more ideas later, but here are the ones I have now:

Option 1

Purpose

This option is an approximation of the next option. It reasons that a competitor that gets into a later round is stronger, therefore a vote in a higher round is "worth" more.

Cons

My seeding was bad (as discussed previously). It is possible that a strong competitor was eliminated earlier in the competition than expected, due to erroneously going against an even stronger competitor. In this case, its "strength points" might be underrepresented.

Option 2

Purpose

This option seeks to add up every single vote a competitor got throughout the entire competition.

Cons

Again, a strong competitor could have been eliminated sooner than anticipated due to my poor seeding. If a competitor is eliminated, they obviously cannot acquire more votes and thus would be underrepresented by this metric.

Option 3

Purpose

This option seeks to purely measure the amount of votes a competitor got on its last round.

Cons

Competitions tend to get more engagement as they progress, which results, in this case, in more votes. Thus, potential issues for the previous two options still apply somewhat. Furthermore, a standout competitor that is eliminated prematurely might have a stand-out performance in its relevant round compared to other polls.

Option 4

Purpose

To get a ratio of votes cast for the competitor in their final round to all votes cast in that round.

Cons

All of previous option, except for standout competitors being underrepresented. Additionally, it has an additional flaw of possibly counting many people's votes multiple times. Many people vote on multiple polls in a round, so their votes on other polls would count against the competitor, even if they voted for it.

Option 5

Purpose

To find the ratio of votes cast for the competitor in total to total votes cast in a round the competitor was in.

Cons

Same as above. However, it may be canceled out somewhat by people voting for the competitor multiple times over several points.

Option 6

Purpose

To find the average amount of votes the competitor got over each round it was involved in

Cons

Honestly, this seems to be pretty good; I can't think of any major flaws. However, it would be time-consuming to record.

[itsmaferart]

Twiyor Parallelism #3.2 ~· Twilight mother Figure

This contains spoilers for the manga.

In my previous post do a couple of analysis of Twilight and Yor individually, detailing individual aspects of their personality and the conflict that raises each character in their background. Now, I want to develop an analysis that will be divided into several parts, about these characters at the point where they are similar and opposite to each other, and how their dynamics develop. I clarify, that this is based on the manga and my own point of view, being my own theories of what it means - but this can change, depending on the course that follows the manga that is in issue. That being said, let's get started!

Now, that I could talk about Twilight's father, I want to explore the other side of parenthood. And I mean his mom

It's not until chapter 35 of the manga, when Twilight after a lousy attempt to seduce his drunken wife, getting kicked to get knocked out. Endo gives us one of the spy's most emotional scenes. Show us the first view of Twilight's past. ~Of course, this memory was much shorter compared to its backstory, but no less significant

The first thing Twilight tells us is that he doesn't remember his mother's face (and it seems he doesn't remember his father either)

Possibly, he conditioned his own mind to forget these memories as a way to protect himself from pain

Focusing on the past, we are briefly introduced that Twilight's parents' relationship was somewhat conflicting. Most certainly, because Twilight's father used to use very abrupt (violent) methods when communicating with his wife and children. So this possibly led to constant discussions.

However, if we turn away all bad events. We can see that in the midst of fear and anguish, Twilight always had a shelter, a place where he would always belong. The warm arms of a mother

Perhaps, his relationship with his father was difficult. But the relationship with her mom has been the best Twilight had during his childhood

For many, the relationship with the mother is perhaps the most important we can have. Since it is our first contact with the world, it is the closest thing to defining our perception of love and a home

The way Twilight defined her mother was "My mother was strong" - (as opposed to his father who I consider strict) Because, the strength of it, it wasn't maybe it wasn't having a brute force ~it sure was a normal woman- But the way she was always for him, cared for his well-being and comforted him in the moments he was afraid because he felt that maybe his world was ending.

For Twilight the peace of the children (and for him) is the highest priority. But it doesn't matter how many agents exist in the world fighting villains. The love of a family, and in this case, that of a mother are the ones that give meaning to life

I know that losing his friends and losing his father (as far as we know so far) was painful. But losing his mother was the most devastating thing for him.

With his mom by his side, Twilight was not afraid, he had someone by his side, he had love, protection, someone who thought of him unconditionally.

Physically losing his mother was what led him to be totally alone, lost and without any trace of love amid the rubble. Without any love, the only thing that allowed him to survive was hatred.

For Twilight, a mother figure is one who loves and protects her family, who ensures to preserve the union and even if the situation is one of the most depressing. A mother's love reminds us of the beauty and meaning of life --It is here, when we see the importance of -remembering his own mother

I hope this is not misunderstood, but, the perception of a mother/( father) can help us build a pattern that defines the way we want to build love with a couple and form a family

In the present....

It is impossible to talk about the mother figure and not to talk about Twilight's perception of Yor.

Here we can see, that Twilight understands that the figure of a mother is not reduced to fulfilling a social role, or standards that others impose to define you as "good or not"

A mother is not just the one who cooks or cleans a house, a mother is the one who really cares for her child's well-being. Any effort to cook a delicious dish for a family or clean, are simple duties that are fulfilled in a home and that both parents do as part of a household routine.

That's why Twilight is moved by Yor's efforts to improve. He doesn't care about being the cook, but seeing the love with which Yor strives to be better for Anya and for him is the instinct of a true mother

Not to mention how he manifests that "Yor is strong" and this is the feature that most admires/and what he attracted about her

I know the manga uses Yor's physical strength. Even mocking how Twilight is shocked to see a downed cow or a broken meter. But it is also, one of so many subtle mangaka ways to show that for which he is attracted to Yor ~So no, Becky's not wrong. Twilight is attracted to strong women

Although, the force I mean is not the force a woman has in her fists. But the strength they have to overcome adversity and still be able to continue to calm and protect their family, and especially their children.

This parallelism was intentional. I'm sure!

Twilight knows the level of sacrifice Yor is willing (or assumes) to reach for having raised her brother. He thinks that Yor might have had to work with his body to be able to keep Yuri (Although, it's not the case, since she's a murderer) - And he knows that this has done the same with Anya. Despite all the dangers Anya has gone through during the Strix mission, she knows that her mother will literally annihilate whoever crosses her path

In addition, Yor always seeks the mutual well-being of both him and Anya. When Loid is irritated to see that Anya does not understand the studies, or seems to be about to argue, Yor always appears with sweet and optimistic comments that calm the hysteria of both.

Even when he feels cornered, believing he's failing in the role of father. She is backing him up, remembering that he is excellent as he is..... And that is why the figure of a mother (Yor's) becomes irreplaceable to the family.

And also, a way in which his feelings for Yor are manifested

Yeah, Anya feels safe with Yor, but she's not the only one. Do you notice how Twilight often seems to identify and project into Anya. Seeing the feelings of the child who was ever in it?

Well, Twilight also feels safe and secure with Yor. So much to tell her truths about her past, as to tell her something as intimate as her mother's memories.

Why tell him that he was envious? Why not just tell a lie that reinforces his mask as Loid Forger? - He was able to deflect the subject on Yuri and downplay it, or just say "I've been alone since my wife died" - In both cases, he was sure to deflect the subject.

But he didn't, he preferred to tell her a truth: How alone he has been, or how alone he was… no friends, no family, no one

Why tell Yor about her mom? Yeah, he may need to bolster Yor's confidence for the mission. But telling this truth goes against his role as a spy, it goes against his strict law of not relating to others.

Simply the way Anya feels safe with Yor, Twilight also perceives her as a refuge, a protection where he can feel safe, someone who comforts him.

I feel, that without realizing it Twilight is developing romantic feelings for his false wife, because he sees in Yor the characteristics that for him define a good mother and wife. And in particular, he finds in it the necessary basis that build love (even if he is unable to admit it or does not realize it). Respect, admiration, effort, sincere, selfless affection and above all the ability to communicate

And it's pretty clear, as Anya and Twilight feel lonely when they don't have mother/wife Forger by their side with their cheerful smile encouraging them

I think the envy that Twilight felt, is because he would have liked to have someone who would have looked after him and protected him as Yoru protected Yuri

~ In other words, he would have liked to have been with his mother always

I felt sad remembering Twilight's pain. But enjoy the analysis I hope you enjoyed this analysis as much as I did!! :D

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What do you think?

You can read the next part here

You can read the previous part here

[puddygeeks]

Wᴇ Cᴏᴍᴇ Rᴜɴɴɪɴɢ - Tʜᴇ 100 Bᴇʟʟᴀᴍʏ x OC - Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 45: Mᴀʀᴋɪɴɢ Tᴇʀʀɪᴛᴏʀʏ

A/N: We’re back baby! It’s taken me a little while but I’ve worked through my crap and I honestly have too much love for this story to let it go. I have so many plans and I’m still committed to developing Bellamy and Indigo’s relationship and journey. I’ll be continuing to use GIF’s because I actually still have not seen the entire show so it’s impossible for me to recast at this point. I’m in process of watching season 3 now as I like to go into things as blind as Indie does. If you’re not able to return to this story, that’s okay and thank you for all of your support so far. For everyone still here, your love for this story means the world to me <3

Masterlist

Rating: Mature

Summary: During her time in the Skybox, Indigo formed a precious friendship with fellow outcast Octavia Blake, the girl under the floor. At first they thought their departure from the oppression of the Ark was a blessing, but quickly came to rely on Indigo's keen survival instincts. The 100 struggle to meet the challenges of Earth whilst Bellamy strives to lead the wavering teenagers and his irresponsible attitude fuels constant conflict with Indigo. Their only shared interest is in protecting Octavia and Indigo beings to suspect that there is a deeper cause to Bellamy's seemingly irrational choices. As the consequences of his actions mount up around him, he finally begins to confide in her and she discovers more than she ever bargained for.

Fandom: CW’s The 100

Pairing: OC x Bellamy Blake

LONG TERM ONGOING PROJECT :)

My writing is entirely fuelled by coffee! If you enjoy my work, feel free to donate toward my caffeine dependency: will work for coffee

Warnings: Mature content. Non-consent, language, sex, self harm, suicide, anxiety, helplessness, torture, captivity/confinement, alcohol/drug use.

Chapter Forty-Five

My shift finally drew to a close, leaving me exhausted and I felt that I had worked off enough of my earlier anger to only be left with a simmering bitterness. I wandered toward Bellamy’s quarters with a knot in my stomach as I expected an argument and for a moment I considered whether to simply hide in dorms for the night. I took a steadying breath before stepping inside and found Bellamy in the middle of undressing for bed. He turned at the sound of the door and a tired smile spread across his overworked face as he noticed me.

“You’re back.” He breathed with a tone of relief and I wondered if he hadn’t expected me to return.

“I am.” I replied awkwardly as I waited in the doorway for any indication of his mood.

There wasn’t any visible anger in his demeanour, or I was stunned to find that he didn’t seem to be interested in causing a fight between us. Instead, he simply continued to prepare for bed and I slid my jacket off casually as I strolled further into the room to place it on a chair. I considered removing my trousers and simply climbing into bed, as the desperately tired part of my brain demanded that I sleep immediately, but I was still unsure if I were welcome here following his earlier remarks. I turned toward the bed to confront Bellamy, but was immediately cut off as he stepped into my space to draw me into a heated kiss. My breath hitched at the sudden contact as his hands squeezed my hips and I had to lean against the dresser to brace myself against his enthusiasm.

My mind was reeling at his unexpected energy and I realised that my expectations of this evening were completely incorrect. He gathered me against his chest and my entire body thrummed with excitement, despite the concerned thoughts still buzzing around in the back of my mind. For once, I was annoyed with the intoxication of his touch and knew that the tension of this morning still lingered in the back of both of our minds. I tore myself away from his lips with an overpowering reluctance and attempted a stern expression, but he simply moved to peppering kisses along my neck as he threaded a hand into my hair.

“Bel.” I hoped to be authoritative and although it was clear from my tone that I wanted his attention, his name fell from my lips in a far more breathy manner than I had intended. He groaned against my skin and as he dragged himself up to meet my eyes, I acknowledged that he didn’t appreciate the interruption.

“I don’t want to talk.” He clarified and despite how direct his words were, I couldn’t detect an ounce of malice in his voice, nor any indication of the attitude that he’d addressed me with this morning. Instead, there was something vulnerable in his eyes that made me wonder if his overnight adventures had affected him more than he was currently willing to admit.

“Then, what do you want?” I asked with a frown and I knew that he understood that I was referring to more than just in this moment. The way that he’d spoken as if there was a deep hurt earlier had left me doubtful if he’d even want me here and if we weren’t going to discuss it, I would at least give him the option to tell me if he wanted me to leave after this.

“You. I want you.” He asserted as he stared into my eyes and I was relieved that we understood each other so well. When he next pressed his lips to mine, there was an urgency that spurred me forward. Before I could think twice about talking, he had twisted us around to lower me to the bed. I knew from the desperation of his actions that he craved the distraction and he barely paused enough to allow me to gather my thoughts. Okay, we can talk about this later. 

***

My new routine of training in the morning and working shifts in mechanical in the afternoon allowed a week to fly past without my notice. Monty remained adamant that I didn’t shoulder too much of the strain and so on days that I had an afternoon available, I found myself assisting with preparing food for the camp whilst Bellamy was busy in meetings or training sessions. There had been no mention of the conversation by the gates and although Bellamy behaved awkwardly every time that he caught me on route to a shift, he hadn’t mentioned Knox at all since. I hadn’t decided how to bring this up in a way that would allow for a conversation rather than a confrontation. Things between us were still fresh and I was nervous that addressing this might trigger a conversation about what the nature of our relationship was. I’d already grown comfortable in our warm routine and I didn’t want to jeopardise it by asking for more. For the time being, I had decided to simply enjoy every moment for what it was and to not obsess over the longevity of it.

Now that I was beginning to regain my strength, my lessons with Octavia and Lincoln had intensified and although I’d given the stipulation that they couldn’t cover me in bruises, they’d mastered getting as close as possible without leaving marks. I felt confident in my progression and discovered that it was a helpful method of both burning off the anger that I buried inside and leaving me too exhausted to spend the entire night filled with nightmares. I considered it an achievement to have simply reduced the number of painful visions that haunted my sleep and I embraced any progress that I could gain. 

After a particularly intense morning, I settled in the courtyard of camp to wind down. Monty had taken the shift in mechanical and I hadn’t yet volunteered for kitchen duty, which allowed me the chance to savour the cool midday air. 

“Hey Indigo, enjoying some time off?” A nervous voice drew my attention and I glanced up to find Knox smiling at me bashfully.

“Hey bud.” I cheered as I leaned back in a relaxed manner and smiled encouragingly at my insecure companion. “Yeah, Monty wouldn’t let me have the shift so I’ll probably just hit the kitchen again.” I commented lightly and he nodded.

“That explains it.” He muttered and I tilted my head quizzically at him. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you not working somewhere, or training. I didn’t realise you knew how to take a break.” He added with a sly smile and I gasped in surprise.

“And I didn’t realise you were a smartass!” I remarked as I jabbed at him playfully and he chuckled. “Did Wick give you any more crazy assignments yet?” I enquired with interest and he detailed the latest impossible task that he’d been given to share with Raven’s equally talented science friend. Knox had filled me in on some camp rumours that there was some kind of romance going on between her and Wick, and I retained this information to investigate when I had the opportunity to catch Raven alone. I glanced to my side to notice one of the kitchen staffers crossing the courtyard. “Hold that thought Knox, I’ll be right back.” I chirped as I rushed over to meet them and arranged to assist with preparing meals later on. Once she left, I turned to find Bellamy standing silently beside me and jolted so hard that I actually felt my soul leave my body for a moment.

“Jesus, don’t do that!” I gasped as I held a hand to my chest and he shook his head as he smiled in amusement. “Seriously, it’s creepy! Couldn’t you...I don’t know, stomp your feet or make a noise or something when you approach to give me a warning? You’re so damn stealthy.” I blurted and he couldn’t contain a snort of laughter at my comments.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” He chuckled as he placed his hands in his pockets in a relaxed posture. “Good workout?” He asked with a hint of a smirk and I pursed my lips at him before breaking into a playful smile.

“Oh yeah, I beat the crap out of both of them.” I joked as I mimicked some speedy punches and he smiled warmly at my childish display. It didn’t last long as I quickly realised that I didn’t have enough energy remaining and sighed in exhaustion.

“Easy Xena, you’ll put me out of a job soon. We won’t need guards at this rate.” He teased with a bemused expression and I found my mouth dropping open in surprise.

“See, this is why I keep you around! You get my dorky references.” I crooned with an overly enthusiastic tone and he rolled his eyes in disappointment. He glanced over my shoulder for a split second and his smile faded as he focused on something. I peeked in the direction that he was staring and easily calculated that it was Knox’s awkwardly waiting form that he was watching. Bellamy returned his attention to me and the playful glitter had faded from his eyes as he tried to force a casual tone.

“So, that’s Knox, huh?” He enquired and although he strained to mask the tension in his voice, it was still crystal clear to me. I had to wonder if he had been investigating in camp to acquire a description of him, or whether he simply assumed since Knox was the only unfamiliar face that I had spoken to.

“Yes, that’s Knox.” I stated matter of factly and determinedly declined to add any further comment. If he wanted to know something in particular, he was going to have to ask.

“He seemed interested in you. What did he want?” Bellamy quizzed as the tension between the two of us only grew with every word and I cocked a brow at him in confusion.

“He didn’t want anything, we just chatted. He’s not used to seeing me relax so I think he was confused.” I explained with an amused tone to clarify that this was an insignificant conversation but this only seemed to rile Bellamy further. I witnessed his gaze drift back over my shoulder and when he next viewed me, he shuffled on the spot with a certain stressed energy about him.

“I don’t like him chatting to you. He’s practically hanging off you, it’s weird.” He stated firmly and I felt my brows shoot up in surprise. Knox had been consistently friendly since the moment we met and I could tell that he simply looked up to the entire group that had survived here before they arrived. I suspected he probably admired Bellamy as a leader more than the others, if he would only take the time to notice.

“What are you even talking about?” I breathed as I viewed him with disbelief and I caught his stern face as he returned his gaze to Knox. The intensity of his stare would make even the toughest of our camp members bolt and I could see poor Knox squirming out of the corner of my eye. “Stop glaring at him.” I hissed but his scowl remained focused as if I hadn’t even spoken.

“I’m not.” He stated in a distracted tone without even attempting to cover his blatant ignorance and I crossed my arms in annoyance.

“Bellamy!” I growled and the sharpness of my tone finally seemed to pull him from his intimidation mission. I gave him an unimpressed gesture and he shifted awkwardly as he met my eyes. I scanned between him and Knox, and my mind finally pieced together the information that I was presented. I could hardly believe what I was about to ask, but I couldn’t theorise any other logical explanation for his bizarre behaviour. “Are you jealous?” I interrogated and his eyes widened at my accusation.

“What?” He breathed and I held my expectant gaze as I awaited an answer. “No!” He spat defensively and fidgeted nervously on the spot in an effort to conceal his aggravation. I felt a lurch in my gut at his reaction and kicked myself for not realising what I was dealing with sooner. Bellamy always seemed so full of confidence that I had never imagined he would be jealous. A memory stirred in the back of my mind of his reaction when I tended to Murphy in the dropship after his torture and I realised that it was absolutely a weakness of his. “What do I have to be jealous of? He’s just a kid.” He scoffed and I struggled to contain a laugh, until I caught him sneaking a brief glare at Knox again.

“Exactly, he’s just a kid. So why are you giving him the death stare?” I investigated and he turned back to me as if he hadn’t done anything. I couldn’t think how I was going to deal with this situation if he wouldn’t even admit to his part in it and I pitied Knox for drawing the ire of someone so intimidating for no good reason. I thought Bellamy understood how impossible it was for anyone to lure me away from him and considered voicing these reassurances, but I was still too nervous to put my feelings into words in case it scared him off.

“I just don’t trust him, he wasn’t part of our camp.” He excused and I rolled my eyes at his blatant omission of the truth. I knew that the fact that Knox wasn’t here before was likely the foundation of the issue, but I suspected that it was specifically because he hadn’t witnessed the development of the bond between Bellamy and I. Everyone from our old camp knew that I was off limits, without him having to label us as anything. I calculated that Bellamy was uncomfortable with the fact that I hadn’t been marked as unavailable to this particular male. Whilst lost in thought, I didn’t notice Bellamy stepping closer until he carefully brushed my hair behind my ear with a flirtatious expression. 

“Did I mention that you look pretty today?” He drawled and I couldn’t contain a snort of laughter at his new tactic.

“Don’t change the topic.” I warned with a blatant lilt of amusement. He brought his hands to rest on my hips as he closed into my space and bit his lip in a way that he knew drove me wild. I willed myself not to be distracted by his sly methods and held my ground for as long as I could.

“I’m not. I just can’t help being distracted by you.” He crooned as he leaned in to place a lingering kiss on my cheek and I fixed him with a suspicious look when he met my eyes again.

“I know what you’re doing Bel.” I groaned as I caught him glancing over to check that Knox was watching and I sighed in exasperation at his ridiculous, testosterone fuelled competition.

“Ditch work. I have a couple hours free.” He whispered, before busying himself with trailing kisses from my cheek down my neck and I struggled to concentrate despite my best efforts as he pulled me flush to him. I glanced over at Knox who was awkwardly trying to figure out what to do with himself as he tried to act as if he hadn’t seen anything and knew that Bellamy had already accomplished his goal. At this point, convincing me into bed was just an additional prize and he was doing frustratingly well at earning it. He straightened up to meet my eyes with a keen smile and although I battled to retain my stern expression, I could feel that it didn’t reach my eyes. 

“I thought you didn’t like rules, Love.” He teased as he gradually tilted his head to press his lips to mine and I felt my eyes involuntarily drift closed. It was impossible to reason with him when he resorted to these kinds of tactics and underneath the swirling attraction of my body, I was fuming with myself for giving in to him. I felt myself resting on his chest and as he wound his fingers into my hair, I knew that I had already lost the battle. As we parted for air, I glazed up at him with an arousal obvious in my eyes and he smiled smugly in return.

“You’re a terrible influence.” I stated in a breathy voice as he led me inside the Ark in a victorious strut.

***

The following day Bellamy was gone before I woke again. I couldn’t deny the feeling that he was avoiding discussing his behaviour and my mind obsessed over my recent actions constantly for any error on my part. As a result of my lack of focus, Octavia hammered me with attacks during our session and she eventually ended it early out of frustration. I found myself wandering camp aimlessly as I was completely lost in thought and felt too awkward at the idea of seeing Knox to volunteer for a shift in mechanical. 

Instead, I sought out a quiet spot on camp to reflect where I hoped that I wouldn’t be easily found. Despite all of my internal analysis, I couldn't think of any interactions between Knox and I that could be interpreted as inappropriate and was therefore stuck at the same dead end as before on what I could do to fix this issue with Bellamy. There was a set of footsteps that I was vaguely aware of in my vicinity but I paid it little attention until they approached me and someone cleared their throat as they dropped into a seat opposite.

“You look like you have a lot on your mind.” I glanced up to find Harper examining me with a fond expression and was immediately relieved.

“Pretty sure that’s just my default expression. I honestly can’t remember a time where I didn’t have much to think about.” I stated with an amused smile and she shrugged in response. “Sorry I haven’t checked in with you since we got back. How are you managing?” I enquired with a genuine interest as I leaned forward to examine her. Although our conversations had been limited, Harper had always been kind to me, especially in our time in captivity and it left an enduring fondness for her.

“It’s okay, we’ve all had a lot on our plates, especially with reunions.” She sighed before fixing me with a knowing look that wasn’t filled with mischief or teasing like Octavia or Raven, but simply appreciation for my happiness. “It’s an adjustment, being outside again and with our own people. It’s different to before and there’s something bizarre about living back inside the Ark of all things. I think it’ll take some time to get used to for all of us.” She explained thoughtfully and I hummed in agreement. It was a comfort to discover that I wasn’t the only person here who found this transition challenging and I found that she quickly minimised the anxiety that I was feeling with just her calm company. “I’m glad to have other people around who understand what we went through in there, it makes it easier to deal with the after effects and nightmares.” She muttered as my brows furrowed in concern.

“You’re having them too, huh?” I revealed and her face contorted into a mixture of pity and relief. “Everything heals with time, right?” I added with a supportive smile. “If you ever need to talk about it, I’ve always got time for you Harp. You were there for me at my worst, I want you to know that I’m grateful and I won’t ever forget it.” I divulged as I fidgeted awkwardly on the spot and she smiled thankfully. It was difficult for me to discuss my feelings with new people and although I felt it was important to say, I still felt uncomfortable.

“Thanks. I know I’ll get there eventually, it’s just a process. Monty had been a godsend.” She commented idly and I felt the corners of my lips twitch up toward a smile as she peaked my interest.

“Monty, huh?” I repeated with a forced casual tone and as she avoided meeting my eyes, she cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Yeah, he’s a great guy, easily the most dependable person I’ve met. He’s also kind and wise, and probably the best person you could lean on for support right now. He’ll steer you right, he always has me.” I detailed honestly and when she next met my eyes, I could tell that she already knew all of these things.

“You know, if I didn’t already know about you and Bellamy, I’d think you had a thing for Monty.” She remarked in a way that tried to sound careless, but I knew these kinds of false offhand comments too well to be fooled. I’d used this method many times before when denying my feelings for Bellamy and I was inwardly thrilled to find her speaking of Monty in such a way. I scoffed at her words as genuine laughter escaped me at this idea. 

“Monty is like my little brother, Harp. Jasper too. I absolutely treasure them, but from day one there has never been a question of anything else between us.” I informed her with an overwhelming delight and it was obvious that she was pleased to hear this. “And if it weren’t for Monty’s tendency to gossip like a teenage girl, you wouldn’t know about my lovelife either.” I added with a quirked brow and she snorted in disbelief.

“Right, cause that’s a total secret.” She drawled and I shook my head at her with entertainment. I didn’t mind Harper’s comments as I knew that they were harmless and tried not to allow her words to take root in my mind. “So, Monty’s not involved with you?” She specified and I knew immediately from my own experiences exactly what she truly meant to ask.

“Monty’s not involved with anyone and yes, I’m sure because that boy can’t keep a secret to save his life.” I chuckled and she quickly relaxed at my confirmation. “And as far as I’m aware, if you were to express an interest, it would be well received.” I crooned with a playful wink and her cheeks rapidly flushed.

“I didn’t - I wasn’t - I mean-” She rapidly stuttered as she waved her hands in panic and I smiled smugly at her. I considered taunting the admission from her as my other girlfriends had so often done to me, but as I was in her shoes not so long ago, I decided to cut her some slack.

“Hmm, of course.” I commented finally as I decided not to pursue the topic any further. The seed had been sewn in her mind, now I just had to be patient and allow it to grow. She cleared her throat and seemed to be struggling to think of something else to discuss. My unique understanding of her situation would not allow me to leave her to flounder any longer and so I offered a new line of conversation for her to escape through. “How are you finding guard duty? I didn’t expect you to be so quick to throw yourself back into the fire.” I enquired with genuine interest and she shrugged casually.

“Why not? I was trained in the original group at our old camp; it felt like a waste to not use those skills again.” She explained and I nodded in understanding. I had already forgotten that she was originally part of Bellamy’s militia and found myself hoping that her new post would help to rebuild her confidence following the especially exaggerated trauma that she had from her experiences in Mount Weather. “It’s going well, obviously the first patrol didn’t exactly go to plan, but since when does anything on Earth.” She commented and I sniggered at her point. I couldn’t think of a single plan that had gone ahead without issue since we arrived. “It’s nice to have a purpose, I think that’s why most of us joined. There’s a few people who weren’t at the original camp who are there for not so great reasons, but maybe the experience will help to toughen them up.” She stated with a maturity that demonstrated the hardships she had survived and I tilted my head at her quizzically.

“How do you mean?” I questioned and she shuffled awkwardly as if she had said something that she didn’t mean to.

“Well, prime example. There’s this girl called Mel, she’s the sole survivor from factory station. She volunteered for a guard post and she’s done the training, but it just feels totally hollow. I’m pretty sure she only joined because Bellamy is teaching and she seems more like she’s checking him out than actually paying attention to what he’s saying. She was gushing to some of the others about how he saved her from a cliffside when we were in Mount Weather and how she thinks he’s so selfless and dedicated. I’m just getting sick of watching her flirt with him when she should be concentrating on staying alive. Then there’s Ray, who’s only focus is on killing anything that threatens us because she’s terrified and Max who’s just there to show off.” She ranted in a way that I’d never seen her speak before and it was clear that she needed to get these thoughts off her mind. I listened quietly and tried not to be aggravated by her description of this girl’s behaviour around Bellamy. 

“I don’t know, I don’t want to sound jaded but it’s just kinda frustrating having them there. I know it’s not their fault but they’re so unaware. It feels like they’re at the point we were when we first landed and we already went through those growing pains to become smarter. We constantly have to watch out for them so they don’t get themselves killed and I just don’t have the patience to babysit a bunch of kids who aren’t taking this seriously. Does that make me a bad person?” She slowed as she came to this question and met my eyes with a regretful vulnerability. 

“No, it just makes you human.” I breathed with an understanding smile. “It’s okay to feel frustrated, like you said, we already did this. We just have to try to be patient with them and give them a chance to grow. Hopefully they won’t have it as hard as we did.” I advised as I thought back to Knox’s conversation about the change in Monty and Jasper. It was only natural for our two groups to be at odds at the moment, we were vastly different and our life experiences had shaped us to be cold and distrusting. I hoped that with time we might be able to learn from each other and meet somewhere in the middle. As I reflected on this, Harper sighed in relief as if a weight had been lifted from her and observed me closely.

“You don’t have to worry about Mel, I’m honestly sorry that I even brought her up.” She stated sheepishly and my eyes shot up to meet hers in surprise. “When Bellamy was out on that patrol, it was obvious that all he could think about was getting safely back to you.” She revealed and I found myself smiling despite my best efforts to conceal my emotions. “I’m glad to see you together, you balance each other out well, you know. He has brought back the personality in you and you bring out the best in him.” She added thoughtfully and I chuckled lightly at her analysis. “You’re a cute couple.” She teased with a wink and I rolled my eyes at her.

“We’re not a couple. And Bellamy can flirt with whoever he wants.” I stated adamantly as I crossed my arms and she stared back at me with disbelief.

“Whatever you say.” She crooned and I knew that she was exacting vengeance for my earlier taunting. “Well, I’ll keep you updated on the Mel situation, just in case you decide you care.” She winked and I rolled my eyes at her.

[dantetuvr728]

When crowdfunding met crypto

The know-how sector bubbles with exercise. Scarcely a week goes by with no clutch of takeovers being introduced. Get started-ups are gobbled up by their much larger peers. Organizations which have presently proved their value merge or are acquired.

The significant-profile, huge ticket illustrations are popular: in a handful of scenarios, significantly substantial sums are compensated for tech providers that the most important players would like to dovetail with their current functions. Consider YouTube, introduced in 2005 and purchased the following 12 months by Google for $one.65bn; Instagram, launched in 2010 and swept up by Fb for $1bn in 2012; WhatsApp, released in 2009 and bought by Facebook in 2014 for $19.3bn.

Nonetheless in a single Section of the tech sector, all continues to be curiously peaceful: mergers and acquisitions are exceptional. Crowdfunding platforms, allowing traders big and little to put money into enterprises in search of fiscal backing, have noticed remarkably little takeover activity.

Within the phrases of Gary Dushnitsky, Affiliate Professor of System and Entrepreneurship at London Enterprise Faculty (LBS), “This really is an island of tranquillity where by other sectors are bubbling with M&A action. Other digital platforms working experience bubbly M&A exercise; why not crowdfunding?”

The tranquillity was briefly interrupted in Oct 2018 via the announcement the US-dependent cryptocurrency Market Circle Online Monetary designs to amass the crowdfunding company SeedInvest. Circle hopes that the takeover – which will require approval through the US Financial Market Regulatory Authority (FINRA) - can help start off-ups to boost cash by issuing digital coins.

Marieke Flament, who researched for an MBA at LBS, is now Controlling Director for Europe and Worldwide Main Advertising Officer at Circle. She suggests: “The strategy of crowdfunding is remarkable. It makes boosting funds for organizations much more successful by having more and more people capable to take part. The world we envisage can let this to be digitalised and moved to blockchain mainly because it’s way more efficient. We predict these two worlds – crowdfunding and cryptocurrencies – will merge.”

Precisely what is worth? And just how click here blockchain might make sharing it smarter

So why does this region of tech remain an island of tranquillity within a bubbling ocean of M&A action?

From a sizable data examine of crowdfunding in Europe performed by Dr Dushnitsky and colleagues we recognize that, over the past twelve decades, much more than 700 crowdfunding platforms are launched throughout fifteen European countries. Quite possibly the most Lively marketplaces have been the united kingdom, the Netherlands, France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Of Individuals 700-in addition operations, around 200 have just withered away.

But that also leaves a lot of platforms jostling with each other in the identical House.

With a few takeovers somewhere else in the broader technologies arena, it is not hard to begin to see the driving force, very easy to see how a takeover can add benefit.

Just one driver could merely be the amount of users, specially exactly where You will find a “community result” – where the much larger the volume of people within the platform, the greater the gain for the person consumer. That helps clarify the takeovers of YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp. But, as Dushnitsky states, “In the case of crowdfunding platform, it’s an open query whether or not obtaining extra people is valuable.” The goal just isn't merely to obtain more users, but rather substantial-value customers – entrepreneurs with genuinely promising enterprise Suggestions over the 1 hand and Energetic investors on the opposite, instead of “tourist investors”.

What about the know-how that a offered System makes use of? Could possibly a System have a novel technological know-how that is definitely remarkable to its competition and so offer you benefit to an acquirer?

In principle, that’s probable. Dushnitsky points out that a crowdfunding platform might need the technological innovation to operate across nations As well as in many languages: “Who states that that a French-based System want operate only in French? Possibly if it might also work in English and Spanish also, that might enhance awareness.”

In fact, Operating in several different languages is comparatively easy. Clearing payments in numerous currencies is a bit more challenging, but definitely manageable. Owning these abilities is not likely for making a single platform vastly much more useful than its competition.

“Technological know-how is most likely not a singular differentiator, or at the very least not the full Tale,” Dushnitsky adds. “I have not seen a circumstance exactly where a crowdfunding platform has long been obtained in which the argument is because it contains a outstanding engineering.”

Evaluate a third dimension in which a crowdfunding System might have an edge about rivals – its power to identify the strengths and weaknesses of investee firms. A undertaking money fund may possibly make a handful of investments over its lifetime – Maybe as couple as 50 percent a dozen.

Then again, a crowdfunding System may possibly aid investment into scores and even hundreds of businesses looking for resources. Crafting an expenditure memorandum for each of countless investees provides a very distinctive problem to that confronted with the undertaking money fund. “When you can do this ideal, then you will be ready to unlock authentic development prospective,” says Dushnitsky. That capacity to streamline the undertaking onboarding method might be crucial. Most likely that could be become a driver of growth.”

The quantity of investors and investees was outlined by Circle as amongst the reasons for buying SeedInvest.

But significantly, A serious thought highlighted by Circle was the fact that SeedInvest has previously cleared regulatory hurdles established with the US Monetary Business Regulatory Authority (FINRA) to permit it to work.

Dushnitsky says: “Fintech providers perform within a regulatory-intensive natural environment and regulatory compliance could be as significant as products-sector fit. Actually, a business might accomplish product or service-market place fit only to realize that it’s violating revenue-laundering regulations. Regulation is a crucial differentiator involving fintech firms on the one hand and advertising or retail platforms on one other.”

Once the SeedInvest offer was announced, Jeremy Allaire, CEO of Circle was candid about among the crucial good reasons for his corporation’s getting determined SeedInvest as a gorgeous target – the function the business had played in pushing for your Obama Administration’s Careers Act. The legislation – the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act to give it its full name – eased regulations to make it a lot easier for providers to utilize crowdfunding to difficulty securities. Said Allaire: “[SeedInvest] served develop the JOBS Act.”

Assuming the Circle-SeedInvest offer is accepted, it must bring the fintech corporation nearer to listing cryptocurrency tokens that could be viewed as monetary securities. However, as Flament points out, the regulatory framework throughout Europe continues to be fragmented.

The query of what helps make a crowdfunding platform a pretty M&A goal continues to be unanswered. But confident-footedness in navigating the regulatory environment may very well be just one element. In the meantime, takeovers keep on being a rarity.

[grapeicies]

8 Things 8 Years of Therapy Taught Me

(Working with a professional version)

1) STOP PUSSYFOOTING YOUR STRUGGLES AND PICK SOMETHING TO WORK ON.

It’s tempting to think that you can go into a therapist’s office with no game plan. 

It’ll go like this: you tell them something’s wrong, you clarify what you think is wrong, and they use their fancy degrees and licenses to eventually sus out what’s really wrong with you and come up with either a miracle medicine or say that one perfectly profound thing that will set your life into motion. 

Doesn’t work that way.

Your therapist is human. While they are more trained and more experienced with handling a wider variety of issues, struggles, and stories than the average person, they still cannot read your mind. They cannot understand how you tick by the short amount of time they have you for, especially when it’s weekly or monthly sessions. In order to get the best out of your sessions, you have to identify problem areas and at least start the process of brainstorming what direction you want to move in. 

Your therapist cannot fix you. They cannot force you to recover. 

You are always in charge of your own recovery. It doesn’t work otherwise.

Personally, I like following the CBT model and focusing on changing behaviors in order to change thoughts in order to change feelings. It feels less overwhelming to change my behaviors because my thoughts aren’t nearly as visible as how I behave and my feelings are involuntary reactions to my own thoughts and events happening around me. If you’re too overwhelmed to decide on just one behavior to work on, that’s what your therapist is there for. To guide you.

2) Do your fucking research.

Most people have the impression of therapy as an hour of you sitting on a chaise and talking the ear off of a nodding observer who takes notes and occasionally chimes in with profound bits of wisdom. Psychodynamic therapy is the most common form of therapy and it works for some people! It just doesn’t work for everyone. Know that if it didn’t work for you, there are still options out there for you to still try!

Just a short list of alternative therapies:

Behavioral Therapy

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (My personal favorite experience!)

Art Therapy

Music Therapy

EDMR Therapy

And many more

There are also different levels of care (from highest to lowest; commentary is US-centric!)

Inpatient [Individual or Group] (Split into Residential and Acute) Meant for short-term stabilization in a medical/hospital setting in an emergency ONLY. 

Partial Hospitalization (PHP) [Group] the step down from inpatient; after a person is stabilized, they are placed in 5 days-a-week, 8 hours-a-day care where they commute from their residence to their program in order to reintroduce structure to them after a major disruption in their life (like an inpatient stay). Typically, group sessions are paired with a team of providers who advise a personal care counselor who supervises your progress. A person can be referred to PHP as either an alternative to inpatient or as a transition from inpatient, depending on their level of need. If you need PHP and cannot afford it: ASK ABOUT HOSPITAL CHARITY CARE OPTIONS. (Lasts anywhere from 1 week to 2 months)

Intensive Outpatient (IOP) [Group] can either be a step down from IP/PHP or a preventative measure to keep a person out of the higher levels of care (because IP and PHP are expensive and will 100% increase your insurance rates, unfortunately). An IOP schedule operates anywhere from 2-4 days a week, depending on your level of need. Most IOP will start you at 3 days a week and either increase or decrease the number of days you attend depending on their assessment of your wellness. Like a PHP, an IOP will typically pair group sessions with a team of providers and a single PCC who supervises your progress. Also typically has charity programs! I know! I benefited from them! You have to ask though! (Lasts anywhere from 3 - 12 months)

Routine Outpatient Care (ROC) [Individual or Group] the most common form of care. Is often either the precursor to or the ending point of higher levels of care. This is where a person has the most autonomy in the maintenance of their health and is the most long-term form. Most therapists have a sliding scale for payment options. The sliding scale, unfortunately, does not apply if you’re paying with insurance. Make sure to talk to them or their secretary about your financial options and look into potentially free options. (Lasts however long you can afford it or however long you need it to)

Support Groups [Group] (Typically) free community resources meant to explore and process difficult feelings in the company of other people who have gone through similar things! It’s most often in the form of 12-step programs but I hate those so I like to make sure that people know they have other, secular options available! Like SMART! And Facebook Groups! And Discord Servers! Places that are specifically oriented for people who want to feel supported while they recover!

3) Be picky.

I cannot overstate this enough. View therapists like you view a job interview because you are LITERALLY hiring them to help you manage that bitch of a blob of electrified fat sitting in your cranium. You’re setting up for an uncomfortable process; it should be with someone you feel like you can grow to trust.

Ask them:

“How long have you been practicing? What demographic do you specialize with? What are your strengths as a therapist? What are your weaknesses? What methods do you use for treatment? Have you been through therapy yourself? How recently? How often do you seek an outside opinion? Describe your ideal patient. Have you treated patients with similar problems to the ones I have described? How often do you anticipate seeing me? Do you assign homework? How should I prepare for our first session?”

If you are non-white, LGBTQIA+, (previously or currently) poor, disabled, or part of any other marginalized group I urge you to also ask these questions:

“What is your experience level working with my community? How do you view my community? How do you or would you adapt your treatment methods to accommodate people like me? What options are available for me? Do you know someone who might be better suited for my needs?”

I cannot emphasize enough just how much it radically changed my life to find therapy options in my community. There are just some things that all the education in the world cannot compensate for. Someone who meets you on most of your community needs is better than someone who meets you on literally none of your community needs. Not having that connection, feeling like I was being humored but not heard, almost drove me away from therapy entirely.

4) Understand that you are wired to troubleshoot.

If you feel in your gut that something isn’t right, understand that something is not right.

Here’s the caveat though:

What you think is wrong may not actually be what’s wrong. 

Building an accurate intuition for troubleshooting is a gained skill. If your upbringing wired you for dysfunctional relationships and fed into cognitive distortions that overtake your view on situations, then something is still off and still needs to be addressed. Or you’re just able to recognize that you’re in a shitty place and your environment needs to change. Or a whole host of other things. Troubleshooting is RARELY a one-solution fix and it is even more rarely a black-and-white issue. There’s nuances to the gears that keep you going. It often takes time and care to assess and then get to work on everything. If you keep maintenance up on your system and take care of things before they get unmanageable, you will eventually be able to workshop your own solutions. Still, we’re here for professional help because it is beyond a point where we are able to take in on ourselves.

Sit there with your fucking check engine light and do not turn it off because someone tells you to. 

Shine on, you immensely well-developed system, you.

5) DO YOUR GODSDAMNED HOMEWORK.

If your program/therapist asks you to do it, do it. 

This isn’t school. 

You will not be punished for not doing your homework. (Except for potentially being told you are harboring a therapy resistant behavior and that there’s nothing the therapist can do for you as the crushing disappointment from realizing you flaked on something important yet again sets in)

You will also not be rewarded for doing it if you avoid it. (Increased sense of trust between you and your therapist! A sense of accomplishment for having worked on yourself and delivering on a promised result! Increased self-confidence and dopamine rush from feeling reliable!) 

Homework is the way that you show your therapist how committed you are to the process and how accountable you are for your own development. It helps you build trust with them and helps you form a helpful habit.

But, like, also don’t treat it like those last minute assignments you would fill out literally as the teacher was walking through the door. There’s no guideline to this. Your homework is for your personal development. If it’s too insufferable to do consistently, talk to your therapist and figure out something else that does work for you. You are the master of your own destiny. Your therapist is there to make sure you’re held accountable for your progress and to help guide you towards being the best version of yourself.

Fully involve yourself with your homework and make it something you want to do.

5) Be your own snitch.

SNITCH ON YOURSELF.

TELL YOUR THERAPIST EVERYTHING THAT IMPEDED YOUR PROGRESS THAT WEEK/MONTH.

COME INTO YOUR FIRST SESSION WITH A FULLY ITEMIZED LIST OF POTENTIALLY THERAPY RESISTANT HABITS YOU HARBOR, TEACH YOUR THERAPIST HOW TO RECOGNIZE THOSE BEHAVIORS IN YOUR ACTIONS, EXPRESS HOW MUCH YOU WANT TO OVERCOME THEM, AND BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOUR OWN PROGRESS.

Don’t know what a therapy resistant behavior looks like? Here’s a PsychCentral post.

Resistance is a natural part of recovery. Everyone has resistance within them to change or new thoughts/habits/ideas/whatever. It’s how your brain protects your identity from the things that would wreck it.

And you are here to recognize that your identity is a construct and you are the person who defines it. 

If you are working with the right therapist, being honest will not kill you.

Even if it means being referred to a new therapist. Even if it means being asked to leave your program/your therapist’s practice. Even if it lands you in the hospital. (All have happened to me! It sucked! A lot! It hurt! A lot! I cried! A lot! I lived! A lot! Honestly! I was better for it!)

There’s a level of catharsis that comes with looking your worst fears in the face and answering them with radical honesty. When you’re willingly and brutally honest about the obstacles that come with working with you and the severity of your needs, you are giving your therapist the opportunity to set their limits and boundaries. You are helping them help you by allowing them to be honest about how well they can work within the parameters your situation has set for them. While sometimes the answer is yes, they can help you, sometimes the answer is no, they can’t help you. You must be willing to accept both.

You have to be willing to show your underbelly if you want to get anywhere meaningful.

6) Document the fuck out of everything.

You know those sessions of therapy where you know something important happened that week between now and last session? The ones where you, for the life of you, cannot resummon the thoughts and feelings and words you had when you were stuck in the thick of it?

Document them. 

Sit there and learn how to document every little step, every tear, every smile, every awful, terrible thought. Make vlogs, write letters, fill up journals and scrapbooks and sketchbooks and playlists and write songs and make memes and do everything in your power to make sure you’re able to hold onto what’s important so you can present it to your therapist. 

While you are in therapy, learn how to TAKE NOTES. 

You do not have to take traditional notes (my preferred method was to doodle while we talked and use the images to trigger the memories of what we talked about when I reviewed them later because that’s how my brain works). Understand that you need a reminder and a way to access the information from your sessions later so you can keep doing the work outside of therapy.

Beyond the fact that it is satisfying as fuck to hold your progress in your hands, it is also important because your therapist cannot work with a shrug and an “It was alright. Nothing really happened.” They are not your friend. 

They are there to help you. Help them help you.

7) Learn when it’s time to buckle down and when it’s time to let go.

The hardest skill I had to learn when I was going through therapy was learning when to recognize “I am no longer growing” and then look my therapist in the face and say “Thank you for everything. I’ve learned everything I can learn. I need to go.” But I’ve also heard from people who say they’ve had the opposite problem: they don’t know how to stay. They don’t know when to say “I have things to learn from you and I want to learn them.”

Therapy is a professional venture. While you are building meaningful relationships, it is impossible to complete your journey while relying on the guidance of a single person AND a loose network of fleeting connections is not a support system. It is support soup. 

People need a support *network* constructed from the various enriching relationships they have built for themselves. Therapy is not an exception to this.

Do not be afraid to challenge yourself and explore why you feel the way you do and your emotional urges. Challenge why you feel the urge to run. Challenge why you feel fear when you think of leaving. Understand that when those feelings arise, your growth often lies on the other side of the opposite action.

8) Keep going.

Develop the capacity for grit.

In a society that benefits from your self-hatred and animosity towards the other, it is your radiance and your defiant capacity for love and empathy that is the true revolution.

You cannot change the world. You cannot change your family. You cannot change people.

Let yourself resist those truths and then accept them.

Commit to accepting them.

And then operate within the boundaries placed before you.

You can influence the world around you when you invest in yourself and the people around you. When you demand better for yourself and work for it, you embolden other people to want the same. You may not be able to feel the impact of the mark you will leave on the world when you do better and still you must have faith that your mark is made.

This post is my effort to shape the world I live in using the tools I built for myself. And just like every thought, every quote, every gesture, every conversation, every hug, every tear, and every smile carved and shaped me into the person I am today, I have one wish for everyone who reads this:

I hope for all of you to one day wake up and realize you are currently the best version of yourself that you have ever been.

And that you will only continue to get better.

8 things 8 Years of Recovery Taught me

[imtonystark0ts]

Top 5 programming dialects for frameworks administrators to learn

Top 5 programming dialects for frameworks administrators to learn 

1. Python By and by fixing most of the programming language records for late years is Python. Is there anything it can't do? This language is known for its adaptability in scaling electronic applications; its capacity to run on most stages, which implies that applications made with Python can be utilized over completely upheld gadget types minus any additional adjustment; and its convenience. These things make it among the simpler programming dialects to realize, which proves to be useful when working with it. It's not without its cons, however, especially when utilized in the portable space or by ethicalness of it being for the most part more slow in light of the fact that it's a deciphered language. Python designers actually discover its qualities to be more noteworthy than its shortcomings in general. 

2. JavaScript The second programing language is JavaScript is tremendous in the versatile workspace, and there's a lot of reasons it should be. A couple of its heavenly professionals: Flexibility, shortsighted usage, a simple section point for learners, enormous help network, superb interoperability with other programming dialects, and it runs exceptionally quick. It is viewed as the prevailing language of the web with about 95% of sites utilizing it somewhat or another. Another credit to JavaScript is that all cutting edge programs have an underlying JavaScript motor which permits it to handle contents customer side a lot quicker than worker side contents. It has its provisos, as everything dialects do, including that JavaScript is frequently misused by danger entertainers to infuse malevolent code on clients' PCs which have prompted many handicapping it on their frameworks. Moreover, JavaScript can here and there be deciphered marginally uniquely in contrast to program to program which can (and will) change the experience for the end client. 

3. PHP PHP is viewed as a backend programming language, which implies it regularly zeros in additional on how it handles interconnections among workers and information dealing with than the general look or GUI (frontend) that clients will in general zero in on. All things considered, PHP has various qualities in this domain, for example, it being a steady, adult language with a plenty of amazing structures to fill in as the establishment to drive pretty much any kind of site or administration. It's upheld by a somewhat enormous environment of network individuals, including instruments and robotized apparatuses for testing and organizations. Geniuses’ aside, among the PHP cons are that improvement in PHP is in some cases more slow contrasted and different dialects on this rundown. It's additionally not as secure by plan as its rivals and is a smidgen more dependent on augmentations for adding backing and highlights. SEE: Git direct for IT experts (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

 4. Go Otherwise called Golang, this language has extraordinary help for multi-stringing and loans itself well to appropriated frameworks as it dominates in scaling. It additionally helps that it was planned by Google Architects and has strong help from the hunt monster, in any event, executing it as the base of its compiler toolchain and WebAssembly. The programming language is among the more up to date ones contrasted and the others on this rundown, however as Han Solo said of the Thousand years Bird of prey, "… she has it where it matters most, kid." Adding to its exemplifications, Go is among the simpler dialects to learn because of its dependence on cleaner grammar, and it's assembled which makes it very quick, and is made innately secure by plan. A few worries with utilizing Go originate from an absence of adaptability, as it's principally pointed toward tending to issues that emerge from working with multicore, arranged, and working with enormous datasets. Additionally, complex applications written in Go can be less proficient on occasion, given its absence of virtual machine.

 5. Java Not exclusively is Java among the more adult programming language dialects, however it is additionally among the most intensely utilized, well, all over, as Java can be found in web applications, yet in addition Blu-Beam players, venture applications, cell phones, etc. One of the primary explanations behind its universality lies in the crucial conviction of, "Compose once, run anyplace." This use the Java establishment no matter how you look at it so it is a similar paying little mind to the gadget or application which contains it so it should, in principle, run a similar without fail. There's an explanation Java is so vigorously depended upon given its strength and stage autonomy, yet that likewise comes at the expense of its memory the executives capacities and more slow than-normal execution, when contrasted with locally agreed applications running on comparative assets. While this rundown was distinctly to zero in on the main 5 dialects, I really wanted to incorporate Ruby— and likewise Ruby on Rails—in view of the structures that make it one of the pioneers in web advancement. Like PHP above, Ruby is frequently viewed as even more a backend programming language and conveys with it a huge network of educated allies, it has an extraordinary number of libraries and devices for building highlight rich sites, and solid, norms based adherence. Despite the fact that it's not as standard as a portion of the contending dialects on this rundown, it is known for its qualities in online business, as confirmed by certain sites that were made utilizing Ruby, as AirBNB and Hulu. It isn't without its issues, for example, burning-through assets unreasonably, which can prompt horrible showing, and it can develop to be very perplexing, which means those new to the language can have an extremely more troublesome time with the expectation to absorb information. Designer Fundamentals Bulletin From the most sizzling programming dialects to the positions with the most significant compensations, get the engineer news and tips you need to know. Week after week Join today likewise observe 03 Scientists discover route for altered programming of human immature microorganisms Initiated pluripotent immature microorganisms (iPS) can possibly change over into a wide assortment of cell types and tissues for drug testing and cell substitution treatments. Be that as it may, the "plans" for this change are frequently muddled and hard to execute. Analysts at the Middle for Regenerative Treatments Dresden (CRTD) at TU Dresden, Harvard College (USA) and the College of Bonn have figured out how to deliberately separate several distinct cells rapidly and effectively from iPS utilizing record factors, including neurons, connective tissue and vein cells. Scientists can utilize this record factor source through the non-benefit association Addgene. The outcomes have now been distributed in the diary Nature Biotechnology. The analysts utilized human incited pluripotent foundational microorganisms (iPS), which were reconstructed from connective tissue cells into a semi undeveloped state. On a fundamental level, iPS cells can be utilized to acquire a wide range of separated cells, from neurons to vein cells, with every formula being exclusively adjusted. "Most separation conventions are exceptionally difficult and confounded. It's unrealistic to acquire distinctive cell types from iPS all the while and in a controlled way in a solitary culture," clarifies Prof. Dr. Volker Busskamp, who works at the Eye Center and the ImmunoSensation2 Bunch of Greatness at the College of Bonn the Greatness Group Material science of Life (PoL) and at the CRTD at TU Dresden. Along with a group from Harvard College, TU Dresden and the College of Bonn, he intended to supplant the confounded methods with basic "plans". Utilizing an enormous scope screening measure, the specialists found a sum of 290 DNA-restricting proteins that rapidly and productively reinvent foundational microorganisms into target cells. The scientists had the option to exhibit that simply a solitary record factor is adequate for each situation to determine separated neurons, connective tissue, vein and glial cells from the immature microorganisms inside four days. The last coat neurons as "covers". A hereditary switchboard for foundational microorganism separation Utilizing robotized techniques, the specialists presented the DNA arrangement for the separate record factor and other control components into the undifferentiated cell genome. The record components could be actuated by adding a little atom, causing a portion of the transgenic foundational microorganisms to be changed over into separated cells. It was then conceivable to recognize and naturally sort undifferentiated organisms and separated cells utilizing cell markers. The specialists along these lines researched the amount of a specific record figure was available the separated cells contrasted with the undifferentiated organisms. The more prominent the distinction, the more significant the particular record factor is by all accounts for the change of iPS into separated cells." Prof. Dr. Volker Busskamp The group utilized this strategy to test an aggregate of 1732 potential record factors on three distinctive undeveloped cell lines. The specialists found an impact for 290 diverse record factors that made the iPS convert into separated cells. This is a new area, since this property of the iPS programming of 241 of the found record factors was already obscure. Utilizing the case of neurons, connective tissue, vein and glial cells, the analysts performed different tests to show that the changed over cells are fundamentally the same as human body cells in their practical capacity. The outcomes open additional opportunities in exploration "The benefit of the distinguished record factors is that they can change over iPS into body cells especially rapidly and effectively and that they can conceivably additionally be utilized to shape more unpredictable tissues," says Busskamp. What took weeks or even months currently occurs inside days. Rather than exorbitant and tedious conventions, a solitary record factor is suffici

[makeste]

BnHA Chapter 174: Fancy Rich People Tea

Previously on BnHA: Mirio and Deku took Eri on a whirlwind weekend tour of U.A. We learned that class B is putting on a play for the festival which sounds amazing and also appears to be infringing on no fewer than three copyrights. We ran into Hadou and Amajiki who were doing some preparations for Hadou’s Miss Con campaign. We learned that the support department has a tech exhibition at the festival each year which is a big deal for them. We also learned that Shinsou is Still At It. Not sure what it is. But he’s still here guys! Finally we ran into Midnight and the Rat Principal at the cafeteria and learned that Rat Principal had to pull lots of strings and jump through a bunch of hoops in order to run the event this year. Basically security is going to be crazy, and if someone so much as sneezes something that sounds like ‘villain attack’ they will immediately call the whole thing off and evacuate. Sounds fair. All in all, Eri had a good time and is looking forward to the actual event! Also Deku got fired from the dance squad. That’s rough, buddy.

Today on BnHA: Mina explains that they need Deku to help the staging team turn Aoyama into a human disco ball. Deku agrees so long as he still gets to dance a little bit. The next morning Deku and All Might run into Mei while training in the woods. We learn that she’s working on a new support item for Deku which will be ready soon. That evening Momo makes some fancy tea for everyone while Deku fucks around on Youtube and accidentally stumbles across one of Gentle’s videos. We then cut to Gentle and La Brava, and Gent breaks down the details of his plan. They’ll take a sneaky route to approach U.A. on the day of the festival, using back streets and side roads. Then they’ll stop and drink tea (the same fancy brand that Momo uses) for an hour and a half. Then they’ll approach U.A. from the woods, and La Brava will breach U.A.’s security barrier with her mad hacking skills. We learn that she used those same skills to track down Gentle after she first saw his videos, and afterwards she devoted herself to his cause. Gentle says he is putting his heart and soul into this new plan for her sake and for the sake of his own dreams.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’ve read up through chapter 199 now, so any ETAs will reflect that.) 

look at this sweet girl trying to soften the blow

yeah because Aoyama totally ditched them. sorry Deku, they need a new disco ball

...or maybe not!

sorry Deku we need a new dispersal method for our disco ball

so wait. they’re really going through with this, huh. this wild stream-of-consciousness rambling from Mina really became the centerpiece for the entire dance floor

and Aoyama is FULLY ON BOARD now

so now this job is perfect for you huh. well you sure are a good sport

so they want Deku to break off from the main group at the same time as Aoyama and help him out

so once he has been “dispersed” you can probably still go have your dance with Eri, Deku! you can do that thing where she stands on top of your feet and you waltz around. it’s going to be so cute omg. make sure your mom videotapes it

speaking of are the parents going to get to come to this thing too? or will it really only be the kids. let their moms and dads come see all of their hard work!

(ETA: I was hoping we would see some of the parents but if they were there we missed it. booooo)

now Kiri is doing that hands-clapped-together pleading thing and apologizing to Deku, but he says they really need his help

lol so they’ve realized that they can’t put all their eggs into the “Aoyama as disco ball” basket

this is an honest-to-god serious conversation these kids are happening. with note-taking and everything. Todoroki fucking Shouto is in on this. “how long can we hold people’s attention by transforming Aoyama into a disco ball.” science

okay but. you guys... are planning other stuff too. right. ...???

(ETA: they sure are. that ice stuff that Mina also suggested. I’m telling you guys, she’s the undisputed MVP of this whole arc, and without her their festival program would have been shit)

lol well okay then. this is going to be so interesting

anyway so Deku’s all “I guess it’s okay then as long as I have a turn dancing,” and he’s agreeing to it

now we’re cutting to 6:30 a.m. on some random unknown day and Deku is training for his new move under All Might’s supervision

All Might is chock full of sage mentor wisdom

“always remember: bleeding internally is bad.” good stuff. write that down, Deku

he’s asking All Might if he has any tricks for maintaining control of the attack, since this is the first move he’s learned that he can’t just use freely

sage mentor wisdom

so apparently All Might was some sort of OFA prodigy and was able to control 100% OFA almost instantly. so he really genuinely has no idea how to teach it, because to him it just came naturally

was he just that buff when he got the quirk?? how old was he when he got it? did he actually attend U.A. as a quirkless kid? because middle school Toshinori sure as hell wasn’t ripped just yet, I can definitely tell you that much

I’m very, very, very curious about this, ngl. because I feel like the series has yet to clarify whether you need to be built like a Marvel Chris in order for your body to have the stamina to withstand OFA, or if that actually doesn’t have that much to do with it and the control needed to master it is actually more mental/spiritual than physical

like obviously physicality has a lot to do with it, though. but All Might could still use 100% for a long time even in his withered and weakened body. and Shimura, the only other OFA user we’ve seen at this juncture, was obviously super cool and tough, but it wasn’t like she was a female body builder or anything

and then of course there’s the question of exactly how much stronger Deku’s version of OFA is, though. how much of a difference is there because All Might’s strength was added to the mix? that obviously makes a big difference as well

basically I still have a lot of questions! maybe I should get back to this training scene and see if it answers any of them!

so he’s telling Deku to visualize the image of OFA -- the egg in microwave image again, I guess? -- and remember that sensation in his body. basically he’s trying to coach him on bringing it out intuitively

and Deku’s thinking to himself that even though they were both born quirkless, there’s a big difference between them still

so this does make it sound like a lot of it is mental

honestly that’s exciting and very important to me because it means that if Deku ever has a breakthrough, he could potentially make a huge leap forward in progress very suddenly

(ETA: LOOOOOOL good god I’ll say.

also! now that I know more about future developments with OFA, I’ve been thinking that I wasn’t giving Deku enough credit here. he is, in fact, just as much of a prodigy as All Might, I think. the difference is that All Might was able to master the physical aspects of OFA, whereas Deku seems to be more in touch with the spiritual side that All Might (supposedly) never really awakened. or to put it in Avatar: The Last Airbender terms, All Might was more of a Korra and Deku is more of an Aang. fortunately for Deku, it seems that being in tune with the spiritual part of OFA gives you access to some really neat stuff, holy shit.)

HOLY SHIT

THIS DUDE’S STILL GOT IT

holy shit that came out of nowhere at top speed and he caught it without looking like a total badass. WHO EVEN NEEDS ONE FOR ALL. OR ORGANS

so now Mei’s traipsing out of the woods and asking if anyone got hurt. nope, but you almost killed my husband and my son so try to be more careful next time

Deku’s belatedly realizing that this looks kind of weird, him being out in the middle of the woods having SECRET TRAINING with All Might at the crack of dawn

so All Might, master of improvisation that he is, is switching to Kansai dialect for some reason. to try and disguise himself. because of course that’ll work

thankfully, out of everyone they could have stumbled across in the woods, Hatsume Mei is the most singularly one-track-minded person they could have possibly met, and she’s barely even batting an eye

hmm?

new item, eh?

and he’s surprised and says he thought it wouldn’t be ready until after the cultural festival

but she already had the materials, so she says it’ll take no time at all

so he’s thanking her and now she’s walking off again

and by the way, this thing that All Might caught literally is a golden snitch, though

All Might > Harry Potter confirmed

(ETA: and by the way, this makes two HP references two chapters in a row, given the title of 1-B’s play. Horikoshi must have recently marathoned the films or something)

now he’s asking Deku about the new item

Deku says there was something he wanted to try out with his new technique

All Might is mentioning that he also tried using support items at one point back in the day, but apparently they only ended up getting in his way and tended to break whenever he went over 20-30%

oh hey

haven’t seen this in a while. here I thought his suit was way too fitted to accommodate this sort of thing anymore. he’s probably ruined it now

(ETA: you can actually see that the top button is about to pop off lol)

anyway, he’s telling Deku that using support items is great, just so long as he doesn’t end up relying on them too much

he says he’s seen a lot of instances where heroes that relied too much on their items had a bad time when those items were lost

this kinda seems to go against what Aoyama was saying a few chapters earlier. he’s an example of someone who does rely on a support item, and he seems to do all right. but I get what All Might is trying to tell him though

so Deku is all “got it!” and clenching his fist determinedly

aww

it is, though. I was just thinking that. I adore these All Might/Deku training scenes and it’s been great to have a return to this

so now we’re cutting back to Heights Alliance, and I’m assuming it’s the evening because the moon is up

Bakugou is squabbling with Kaminari and telling him he he plays too fast. Kaminari says Bakugou is the one screwing them up because he keeps improvising

obligatory posting of this panel of MomoJirou being lesbians

I live for the little things, I really do

omg

okay, (1) this is the cutest thing that’s ever happened ever in history, and (2) I just remembered that that was the chapter title. “imperial golden tips.” so it appears the chapter is named after Momo’s fancy tea that her mom sent her

everyone’s all excited to try it because it’s fancy rich people tea

lmao. Ochako’s asking if Deku’s going to have any, and

“am I... a bad nerd??” Deku berates himself while lying awake in bed that night sobbing uncontrollably

so I think that while Deku and Ochako are being clumsy dorks here they’re going to accidentally click on one of Gentle’s videos perhaps?

yep

in a way it’s kind of charming to know that Youtube’s suggested videos algorithm is still complete shit even in the BnHA universe 200 years from now. Deku was looking for All Might support items. Youtube: [brings up villain tea videos]

so Ochako has no idea who he is, but Deku’s actually heard of him although he says he’s not too familiar. but he knows he’s an infamous Youtube Villain

:) the answer may surprise you!

though it shouldn’t, actually. you guys should just go ahead and assume you’re the targets of every upcoming villain plot from here on out. that’s the way the dice seem to be falling nowadays

now we’re cutting to Gentle and La Brava

Gentle is writing something out with a feather quill like some sort of Harry Potter character. I couldn’t come up with a more creative simile because my mind’s still in that mode thanks to the golden snitch earlier

this man just sits around in full costume writing letters with a quill even as a laptop sits inches away. he’s just that committed to his gig. he lives this life 24/7 huh

he says that the public is growing more and more dissatisfied with heroes nowadays, and it’s because they’re “feeble-minded”

I’d actually argue that at this point, them being attacked is the predictable thing

now La Brava is asking if he’s going to involve the kids that will become future heroes. YEAH, GENTLE

I’D ARGUE THAT THEY’VE HAD ENOUGH WAKE UP CALLS BY THIS POINT

like. can they live. can they just have this one little thing though, god

oh my god

thanks La Brava. this is why he keeps you around

so now they’re going over the route!

so they’re going to approach at 5 a.m. that morning, taking a route that passes by the fewest hero offices

then they’re going to turn onto a side road, go through a residential area, and then they’ll end up at a park

blah blah so about an hour will elapse during this time and they’ll end up at a rundown house that’s actually a cafe

and he says they’re going to stop there to get some tea

apparently they serve the same tea that that Momo was coincidentally serving to everyone earlier. the imperial golden tips stuff

so... they’re going to wait until the shop opens, and then take a 90-minute tea break

let me tell you, it sure is riveting going through every detailed step of this elaborate criminal operation

then they go back outside and pass through a construction site and then climb a hill

ah, finally!

yeah probably at like 5pm at this rate. the festival will have already ended and you shrug and turn around and head back home

he says that since Hounddog will probably be guarding the area, they’ll rub themselves with dirt and leaves to mask their scent

then they’re gonna hit the famed U.A. barrier, which is impossible to get through without a permit

but apparently La Brava is A HACKING PRO, so she’s gonna hack U.A.’s network and shut down their sensors

is it really that easy? shit. doesn’t U.A. have any IT heroes? little did we know this whole time the password to their network was 1234

lmao we’re flashing back to when they first met

“corrupt businessman scolded” sounds like the kind of shit that should have gone viral tbh

then one day La Brava tracked him down and said she was a huge fan and she offered to help him

she apparently hacked his address. since the police haven’t found them yet, I’m assuming they’ve since moved, or taken down that initial video, or both lol

so now he’s proclaiming that this time around he’ll proudly put his life on the line

aww

yeah so that’s basically it. and now time is progressing to the night before the cultural festival OH GOODNESS

BONUS:

so as promised, we’re gonna do two pages today since I flaked out yesterday!

page one - class B painting the prop dragon

nothing much to say about this one except that obviously they’re going to keep painting it until they’re fucking done painting it, Colander Man

page two - Kenrazaki Bibimi’s profile. I couldn’t find a scanlation for this, so my Google Translate-assisted version is below lol

likes: glittering people, glittering things

the beauty gal

“too beautiful. it’s fun to draw her eyelashes.” lol

is it weird that now that the shock of said lashes has died down some, I actually do think she is really pretty? lol what is this manga doing to me

[forgxtmxnot]

// So I feel like I should clear up in regards to game mechanics that I take into consideration- to be believable in their world. I go with the idea that, what we experience in the games does not equal in regards to what the muses’ know of/are aware of. I think this is obvious to some, but it never hurts to bring these up.

This is just a list of things that I take into consideration, for their developments. I just want to clarify in regards to what I deem to be WAY too OOC to even be a thing to begin with. This means that if your muse ends up bringing these things up, my muses may not recognize or even understand what is even said to them.

I may add or remove stuff in the future if I see the need of.

NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION:

IVs/EVs: there is no such thing as precisely knowing the pokemon’s status.

Glitches (Especifically MissingNo and the Bad eggs)

HMs: Aren’t exactly tutors like TMs, more so abilities that the pokemon already have within themselves.

These are self explenatory. There isn’t much to be said here.

Taken into a CERTAIN DEGREE:

Natures: They are all aware that raising two pokemon of the same specie, can lead into different results. The natures/personalities have been described, classified and studied. But there is no such thing as people being 100% sure, which aspect of the pokemon will be enhanced by what (e.g.: Pokemon with Adamant nature, have been observed to have a tendency to mostly rely on physical force rather than attacking from the distance).

Levels: This goes alongside IVs and EVs’ statement. There is no such thing as keeping track of a pokemon’s growth, at least not with numbers or some kind of grading system. A pokemon’s strength- superiority over the other, comes with their experiences gained through their lives (trainning, bond with their trainer, etc.).

Power Point: A pokemon running out of a move’s PP is simply described as a fatigue, that prevents them from using the attack. There is no such thing as precisely knowing how many times a move can be used in a battle, the trainer will have to take it from their own observations.

Hacked/illegal pokemon: They are essentially pokemon, that are forbidden from being used in battles that follows the pokemon League’s established laws. This is because these pokemon are found using attacks, and abilities that they don’t naturally- nor aren’t supposed to have with themselves. As the methods to usually obtain such results, are deemed unethical- with no respect taken into consideration to the pokemon’s well being.

Base stats: Species strengths, it isn’t something that has been precisely counted or kept track of. These are just a specie’s strong points, that people have observed and studied. They do use the classifications of Attack/defense/special attack/etc. although this is something mostly limited to those who study and research them.

Taken into consideration:

TMs: In current time they are reusable just like in gen V and onwards, prior to it they were single use only. The TMs are programmed to react/teach to species determined by its development teams, who worked alongside professors.

Shinies: The very rare odds of finding one, have to do with the fact that these pokemon don’t last much if at all in the wild. The shiny pendant is just a little luck trinket, assosciated with tales of making these pokemon show up more oftenly in the wild (even though that has been debunked).

Critical hits: Just an attack that lands on an weakspot at a pokemon’s body- it could be a scar, an wounded area,etc. It is pure luck.

Trading: Pokemon that need to be traded in order to evolve, actually take a lot longer to evolve by themselves in the wild or with a trainer by themselves. The process of trading is meant to quicken/shorten things up, something brought thanks to the technology’s advance.

[remiheadman]

Opinion Series Final Draft

“Does Empowerment Mediate the Effects of Psychological Factors on Mental Health, Well-Being, and Recovery in Young People?” 

What does empowerment look like on a person who has been a victim of rape or sexual abuse? If you have unfortunately undergone the trauma of sexual abuse, you might be able to picture this with me. When I think of empowerment on someone who has been degraded, diminished, beaten down, and their self worth is stripped from them, I picture it looking like a fresh haircut and new outfit. The hair doesn’t take away or distract from the face beneath it, but rather it emphasizes the features. A new outfit is a form of expression that might encourage you to stand a little taller and show a new found confidence within the person. 

The scientists behind this study define empowerment by the encouragement of clients to take the recovery process into their own hands, and pick up an active role in their healing instead of just being on the receiving end of therapy. Based on this study, there is a positive correlation between empowerment and self-efficacy, mental health, recovery, and more. If you have sought out treatment for sexual abuse, you likely have experienced cognitive behavioral therapy, one on one counseling, medication for PTSD/depression, etc. These treatments have proven to be effective, but empowerment can make them better. Standard treatment/therapy focuses a lot on the therapist telling you what to do. There seems to be an underlying message that you are helpless without the therapist or medication. (Just to clarify, I am not saying that you’re helpless or useless if you need medication or if you are seeing a therapist. Reaching out for help calls for a great deal of guts, and I give all the power to you for getting there). Empowerment within therapy can potentially teach you how to gain control over your body, your life, and your recovery process. While mainstream therapies help with symptoms of possible PTSD and depression/anxiety, being empowered can bleed into other areas of your life. This way you also benefit from the feeling of accomplishment by taking your mental health into your own hands. 

I want to end by saying that any form of therapy that helps you heal, is amazing and encouraged. Going to therapy is not a sign of weakness, but rather a sign of strength. Maybe you are someone who has experienced sexual abuse, but hasn’t reached out for support. That’s okay too. Taking that first step can be incredibly scary. But my hope is that in on your journey, you would experience empowerment in some way, and can pay attention to how it affects your life. There is somewhat of a negative stereotype that surrounds mental health and therapy, where people are shamed for seeking help. This is dangerous. Especially to anyone who has experienced trauma and is struggling with the effects that arise with it. Empowerment has the potential to change that. People should feel empowered for doing what is best for their mental health. Empowerment can change the stigma. You are not alone. Empowerment looks good on you. 

“The Science of Happiness” 

The Science of Happiness is YouTube video. It is not a scholarly article or journal. It does not come from a highly respected source, but it does give a powerful example of what gratitude can do. The video shows an experiment where the participants take a written test that indicated their level of happiness before and after a gratitude exercise. During the exercise, the participants were instructed to write about the person that has positively impacted their life the most. Then they were asked to call the person they wrote about and read them what they wrote out loud. There was a significant increase in happiness in those that actually were able to call and speak to their chosen person. The beauty about gratitude, is that not only will it  improve the messenger’s happiness, but it also increases the happiness of the person on the receiving end. 

Therapy and treatment can easily have the tendency to lack gratitude. There is often an aspect of “thinking on the bright side” or “focusing on the positive” that is encouraged in therapy, but there could be more concrete exercises like the one in this video. It is one thing to think positively, but it is another thing to step outside of yourself, and spread positivity to someone else. Expressing gratitude to someone forces you to spend a small moment thinking about someone else, and takes the focus off of yourself. Those who have experienced rape or sexual abuse are required to do a lot of introverted thinking and focus on their own well being throughout their healing process. These are very important and necessary aspects to work through. However, only focusing on the things that you need to work on can be negative and tiring. The beginning stages of the recovery process should be rather selfish. The person in recovery should be focusing on themselves, and how to best find healing within their own soul. But there should be some things in place that can shine light on the positive aspects in their life and will keep them aware of their ability to make others happy. Which leads me to my next point. Feelings of shame and unworthiness can be overwhelming side effects of rape. Gratitude exercises can bring confidence and a sense of purpose to those who don’t feel like they have any. Expressing appreciation for someone and getting a positive response in return has a huge impact on the overall well being of a person. Positivity is infectious and should be a key component in healing and recovery. Implementing habits of gratitude in people during their darkest moments will help them go out into the world and have a better attitude towards other difficult situations they may be faced with. Being a person of gratitude not only makes the people around you feel appreciated by you, but will increase your overall happiness. The world of therapy, recovery, and healing needs more gratitude oriented people. 

“Identifying Risk Factors for PTSD in Women Seeking Medical Help after Rape.”

Depression and PTSD are disorders commonly associated with rape. In fact, studies have shown that one third of women will develop PTSD after a sexual trauma. This study took this unfortunate data, and tried to figure out what factors within a rape are more likely to cause the development of PTSD. Their methods included self reported questionnaires, and a work up of a PTSD diagnosis within one month of the rape, and then another follow up visit six months after the rape. They looked at multiple different factors that could possibly contribute to the severity of PTSD and depression. Some of those factors included the relationship between the victim and the rapist, the physical violence/force used during the rape, history of previous rapes or sexual abuse, coping strategies, and social support.

 I personally feel that social support is crucial in the event of rape. Speaking as someone who has had many close people in my life go through various sexual traumas, I am very passionate about speaking for our friends and family battling the aftermath of such trauma. I am overjoyed to see more research into what is going on inside those who are hurting, and what signs to look for. The more we educate ourselves, the better we will be able to help those around us. Someone who experiences rape may not realize that they need the support that they do, but if we are aware of the different factors, we can better prepare for supporting them. However, going about this can be tricky. Even with research, there will never be a clear “one size fits all’ blueprint for supporting someone who has been raped. Every person is different and has a different story. We can still learn as much as we can, and just putting forth that effort can show our loved ones that we are trying, and we are there for them. This study found that women who experienced re-victimization, multiple sexual acts during the rape, had depression on top of the PTSD, and were injured during the rape are at the greatest risk for severe PTSD. All women deserve to be treated with tenderness and care after an assault, but it may be beneficial to pay special attention to those who endured one or more of the previously listed actions. It is not our job to heal our loved ones on our own, but we can help by recognizing high risk symptoms and referring them to the appropriate care.

 All in all, rape is a severe trauma, and should be treated as such. We may not be aware of all the potential side effects of rape, so familiarizing ourselves with them might help us sympathize with our friends and family and recognize the dangers they may be experiencing. Having a strong support system after a rape can relieve some of them initial stress, and ease them into seeking proper care. Be there for your people in the ways that you can. You could help them more than you realize. 

[bxrryjxn]

// So I feel like I should clear up in regards to game mechanics that I take into consideration- to be believable in their world. I go with the idea that, what we experience in the games does not equal in regards to what the muses’ know of/are aware of. I think this is obvious to some, but it never hurts to bring these up.

This is just a list of things that I take into consideration, for their developments. I just want to clarify in regards to what I deem to be WAY too OOC to even be a thing to begin with. This means that if your muse ends up bringing these things up, my muses may not recognize or even understand what is even said to them.

I may add or remove stuff in the future if I see the need of.

NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION:

IVs/EVs: there is no such thing as precisely knowing the pokemon’s status.

Glitches (Especifically MissingNo and the Bad eggs)

HMs: Aren’t exactly tutors like TMs, more so abilities that the pokemon already have within themselves.

These are self explenatory. There isn’t much to be said here.

Taken into a CERTAIN DEGREE:

Natures: They are all aware that raising two pokemon of the same specie, can lead into different results. The natures/personalities have been described, classified and studied. But there is no such thing as people being 100% sure, which aspect of the pokemon will be enhanced by what (e.g.: Pokemon with Adamant nature, have been observed to have a tendency to mostly rely on physical force rather than attacking from the distance).

Levels: This goes alongside IVs and EVs’ statement. There is no such thing as keeping track of a pokemon’s growth, at least not with numbers or some kind of grading system. A pokemon’s strength- superiority over the other, comes with their experiences gained through their lives (trainning, bond with their trainer, etc.).

Power Point: A pokemon running out of a move’s PP is simply described as a fatigue, that prevents them from using the attack. There is no such thing as precisely knowing how many times a move can be used in a battle, the trainer will have to take it from their own observations.

Hacked/illegal pokemon: They are essentially pokemon, that are forbidden from being used in battles that follows the pokemon League’s established laws. This is because these pokemon are found using attacks, and abilities that they don’t naturally- nor aren’t supposed to have with themselves. As the methods to usually obtain such results, are deemed unethical- with no respect taken into consideration to the pokemon’s well being.

Base stats: Species strengths, it isn’t something that has been precisely counted or kept track of. These are just a specie’s strong points, that people have observed and studied. They do use the classifications of Attack/defense/special attack/etc. although this is something mostly limited to those who study and research them.

Taken into consideration:

TMs: In current time they are reusable just like in gen V and onwards, prior to it they were single use only. The TMs are programmed to react/teach to species determined by its development teams, who worked alongside professors.

Shinies: The very rare odds of finding one, have to do with the fact that these pokemon don’t last much if at all in the wild. The shiny pendant is just a little luck trinket, assosciated with tales of making these pokemon show up more oftenly in the wild (even though that has been debunked).

Critical hits: Just an attack that lands on an weakspot at a pokemon’s body- it could be a scar, an wounded area,etc. It is pure luck.

Trading: Pokemon that need to be traded in order to evolve, actually take a lot longer to evolve by themselves in the wild or with a trainer by themselves. The process of trading is meant to quicken/shorten things up, something brought thanks to the technology’s advance.

[heartbxnd-blog]

// So I feel like I should clear up in regards to game mechanics that I take into consideration- to be believable in their world. I go with the idea that, what we experience in the games does not equal in regards to what the muses’ know of/are aware of. I think this is obvious to some, but it never hurts to bring these up.

This is just a list of things that I take into consideration, for their developments. I just want to clarify in regards to what I deem to be WAY too OOC to even be a thing to begin with. This means that if your muse ends up bringing these things up, my muses may not recognize or even understand what is even said to them.

I may add or remove stuff in the future if I see the need of.

NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION:

IVs/EVs: there is no such thing as precisely knowing the pokemon’s status.

Glitches (Especifically MissingNo and the Bad eggs)

HMs: Aren’t exactly tutors like TMs, more so abilities that the pokemon already have within themselves.

These are self explenatory. There isn’t much to be said here.

Taken into a CERTAIN DEGREE:

Natures: They are all aware that raising two pokemon of the same specie, can lead into different results. The natures/personalities have been described, classified and studied. But there is no such thing as people being 100% sure, which aspect of the pokemon will be enhanced by what (e.g.: Pokemon with Adamant nature, have been observed to have a tendency to mostly rely on physical force rather than attacking from the distance).

Levels: This goes alongside IVs and EVs’ statement. There is no such thing as keeping track of a pokemon’s growth, at least not with numbers or some kind of grading system. A pokemon’s strength- superiority over the other, comes with their experiences gained through their lives (trainning, bond with their trainer, etc.).

Power Point: A pokemon running out of a move’s PP is simply described as a fatigue, that prevents them from using the attack. There is no such thing as precisely knowing how many times a move can be used in a battle, the trainer will have to take it from their own observations.

Hacked/illegal pokemon: They are essentially pokemon, that are forbidden from being used in battles that follows the pokemon League’s established laws. This is because these pokemon are found using attacks, and abilities that they don’t naturally- nor aren’t supposed to have with themselves. As the methods to usually obtain such results, are deemed unethical- with no respect taken into consideration to the pokemon’s well being.

Base stats: Species strengths, it isn’t something that has been precisely counted or kept track of. These are just a specie’s strong points, that people have observed and studied. They do use the classifications of Attack/defense/special attack/etc. although this is something mostly limited to those who study and research them.

Taken into consideration:

TMs: In current time they are reusable just like in gen V and onwards, prior to it they were single use only. The TMs are programmed to react/teach to species determined by its development teams, who worked alongside professors.

Shinies: The very rare odds of finding one, have to do with the fact that these pokemon don’t last much if at all in the wild. The shiny pendant is just a little luck trinket, assosciated with tales of making these pokemon show up more oftenly in the wild (even though that has been debunked).

Critical hits: Just an attack that lands on an weakspot at a pokemon’s body- it could be a scar, an wounded area,etc. It is pure luck.

Trading: Pokemon that need to be traded in order to evolve, actually take a lot longer to evolve by themselves in the wild or with a trainer by themselves. The process of trading is meant to quicken/shorten things up, something brought thanks to the technology’s advance.

[wxtaru]

// So I feel like I should clear up in regards to game mechanics that I take into consideration- to be believable in their world. I go with the idea that, what we experience in the games does not equal in regards to what the muses’ know of/are aware of. I think this is obvious to some, but it never hurts to bring these up.

This is just a list of things that I take into consideration, for their developments. I just want to clarify in regards to what I deem to be WAY too OOC to even be a thing to begin with. This means that if your muse ends up bringing these things up, my muses may not recognize or even understand what is even said to them.

I may add or remove stuff in the future if I see the need of.

NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION:

IVs/EVs: there is no such thing as precisely knowing the pokemon’s status.

Glitches (Especifically MissingNo and the Bad eggs)

HMs: Aren’t exactly tutors like TMs, more so abilities that the pokemon already have within themselves.

These are self explenatory. There isn’t much to be said here.

Taken into a CERTAIN DEGREE:

Natures: They are all aware that raising two pokemon of the same specie, can lead into different results. The natures/personalities have been described, classified and studied. But there is no such thing as people being 100% sure, which aspect of the pokemon will be enhanced by what (e.g.: Pokemon with Adamant nature, have been observed to have a tendency to mostly rely on physical force rather than attacking from the distance).

Levels: This goes alongside IVs and EVs’ statement. There is no such thing as keeping track of a pokemon’s growth, at least not with numbers or some kind of grading system. A pokemon’s strength- superiority over the other, comes with their experiences gained through their lives (trainning, bond with their trainer, etc.).

Power Point: A pokemon running out of a move’s PP is simply described as a fatigue, that prevents them from using the attack. There is no such thing as precisely knowing how many times a move can be used in a battle, the trainer will have to take it from their own observations.

Hacked/illegal pokemon: They are essentially pokemon, that are forbidden from being used in battles that follows the pokemon League’s established laws. This is because these pokemon are found using attacks, and abilities that they don’t naturally- nor aren’t supposed to have with themselves. As the methods to usually obtain such results, are deemed unethical- with no respect taken into consideration to the pokemon’s well being.

Base stats: Species strengths, it isn’t something that has been precisely counted or kept track of. These are just a specie’s strong points, that people have observed and studied. They do use the classifications of Attack/defense/special attack/etc. although this is something mostly limited to those who study and research them.

Taken into consideration:

TMs: In current time they are reusable just like in gen V and onwards, prior to it they were single use only. The TMs are programmed to react/teach to species determined by its development teams, who worked alongside professors.

Shinies: The very rare odds of finding one, have to do with the fact that these pokemon don’t last much if at all in the wild. The shiny pendant is just a little luck trinket, assosciated with tales of making these pokemon show up more oftenly in the wild (even though that has been debunked).

Critical hits: Just an attack that lands on an weakspot at a pokemon’s body- it could be a scar, an wounded area,etc. It is pure luck.

Trading: Pokemon that need to be traded in order to evolve, actually take a lot longer to evolve by themselves in the wild or with a trainer by themselves. The process of trading is meant to quicken/shorten things up, something brought thanks to the technology’s advance.

[dreiiikxn]

// So I feel like I should clear up in regards to game mechanics that I take into consideration- to be believable in their world. I go with the idea that, what we experience in the games does not equal in regards to what the muses’ know of/are aware of. I think this is obvious to some, but it never hurts to bring these up.

This is just a list of things that I take into consideration, for their developments. I just want to clarify in regards to what I deem to be WAY too OOC to even be a thing to begin with. This means that if your muse ends up bringing these things up, my muses may not recognize or even understand what is even said to them.

I may add or remove stuff in the future if I see the need of.

NOT TAKEN INTO CONSIDERATION:

IVs/EVs: there is no such thing as precisely knowing the pokemon’s status.

Glitches (Especifically MissingNo and the Bad eggs)

HMs: Aren’t exactly tutors like TMs, more so abilities that the pokemon already have within themselves.

These are self explenatory. There isn’t much to be said here.

Taken into a CERTAIN DEGREE:

Natures: They are all aware that raising two pokemon of the same specie, can lead into different results. The natures/personalities have been described, classified and studied. But there is no such thing as people being 100% sure, which aspect of the pokemon will be enhanced by what (e.g.: Pokemon with Adamant nature, have been observed to have a tendency to mostly rely on physical force rather than attacking from the distance).

Levels: This goes alongside IVs and EVs’ statement. There is no such thing as keeping track of a pokemon’s growth, at least not with numbers or some kind of grading system. A pokemon’s strength- superiority over the other, comes with their experiences gained through their lives (trainning, bond with their trainer, etc.).

Power Point: A pokemon running out of a move’s PP is simply described as a fatigue, that prevents them from using the attack. There is no such thing as precisely knowing how many times a move can be used in a battle, the trainer will have to take it from their own observations.

Hacked/illegal pokemon: They are essentially pokemon, that are forbidden from being used in battles that follows the pokemon League’s established laws. This is because these pokemon are found using attacks, and abilities that they don’t naturally- nor aren’t supposed to have with themselves. As the methods to usually obtain such results, are deemed unethical- with no respect taken into consideration to the pokemon’s well being.

Base stats: Species strengths, it isn’t something that has been precisely counted or kept track of. These are just a specie’s strong points, that people have observed and studied. They do use the classifications of Attack/defense/special attack/etc. although this is something mostly limited to those who study and research them.

Taken into consideration:

TMs: In current time they are reusable just like in gen V and onwards, prior to it they were single use only. The TMs are programmed to react/teach to species determined by its development teams, who worked alongside professors.

Shinies: The very rare odds of finding one, have to do with the fact that these pokemon don’t last much if at all in the wild. The shiny pendant is just a little luck trinket, assosciated with tales of making these pokemon show up more oftenly in the wild (even though that has been debunked).

Critical hits: Just an attack that lands on an weakspot at a pokemon’s body- it could be a scar, an wounded area,etc. It is pure luck.

Trading: Pokemon that need to be traded in order to evolve, actually take a lot longer to evolve by themselves in the wild or with a trainer by themselves. The process of trading is meant to quicken/shorten things up, something brought thanks to the technology’s advance.

[kaelin-bct-blog]

Reflective Journalism - Cards For Play

Our recent assignment Cards For Play involved many new aspects of teamwork and creative design thinking that I had to learn and adapt to in order to help create a final product. Many things were new when it came to this assignment, but the biggest of all was the design by committee aspect.

I had never created a project with such specific requirements, and adding the group element to it could create problems in the future. An example of this was when a group member seemed to struggle with the direction the project was going. The project’s focus was around the Aesthetics of Play, our group gravitated towards creating a deck of cards that would facilitate play and entertainment. However, this group member seemed determined to resist, creating our first obstacle. How do you communicate that the majority wishes to do something different without dismissing someone’s opinions and suggestions? As social creatures, group dynamics always involve some level of political maneuvering. Making sure not to step on toes tends to be something we all strive to do, particularly, with the people you have to work with as a group.

When it came to telling this member that they were trying to pull us in a direction that was not the foci of the group, without making them feel that their ideas were being disregarded unfairly, the solution was simple. Taking the time to explain why the group was going after a certain idea, making sure that questions were answered to the best of our ability and pointing out the disparities between the idea of the lone team member and our statement of intent all helped to bring us together in the pursuit of a single concept. Not only that but incorporating things from our lone dissenter’s idea into our own (in this case, questions about micro-expressions in our trivia-based game) helped to ease any tensions there may have been. It is also important to note that disagreeing team members are not always a problem. One of the most useful lessons I have ever learned was that of the dialectical method. If there are opposing ideas they can come together through discussion to form a completely new idea, with strengths from both of the previous. A quarrelsome team member can be invaluable as someone who provides an antithesis to the group's mindset, allowing you to see new avenues of improvement for your project. This was the case with our team member, who pointed out issues to do with some of the aspects of our project lacking in difficulty when one of our main intentions was to make something challenging. The member also ended up contributing many of the most difficult elements of our project (known as the ‘F*ck You’ difficulty cards) which were a big part of what made the end result of our project entertaining and successful. It took me some time to come to this conclusion however. The initial frustration of what seemed to be a setback was difficult to control. In those situations I found myself wanting to cut this member out of the design process entirely. It seemed like the easiest and most efficient solution. It would free the rest of the group up to discuss and iterate and design freely. Looking back now it's easy to see how self-sabotaging that line of thinking can be. The adversity in some situations can play out in a positive way as it did in this case. Had I cut this person out and stopped engaging in discussion with them this project may have dropped in quality, plus the added issue of having a potentially negative working relationship.

Several weeks in we were stuck on several overcomplicated ideas involving music box designs with playing cards that would provide the means to mechanically produce different sounds, and cards that could be used as some sort of slide for a projector as well as building blocks for a 3D puzzle. As wonderful as these ideas all were, the fact that these were simply concepts that we did not have the resources or technical expertise to make dawned on us. There was also the fact that they did not seem to fall in line with our stated focus, that of teamwork and challenge. We suddenly realized that we had been chasing the wrong ideas and concepts, and there was a brief period where we started to feel hopeless about the situation. Luckily a few team members conceived a great idea based on a classroom activity. From then we spent a little over a week developing until it became our finished project. This situation is difficult to analyze, as it could have been simply luck or the right person in the right place at the right time. Regardless of which is true, it decreased the likelihood of failure.

As I think over my experiences dealing with our previously mentioned group member I am becoming more aware of the transitional stage that our conflict was in at that time. There is plenty of research into team dynamics and the differences and effects of relationship versus task conflicts within a team, and after doing some reading I believe my issue with this member was starting to go from task-based to a relationship conflict. To clarify, this does not mean that I had any malicious feelings towards this person, or that my mindset had started to change from moving together as a team to looking after my personal stake in the project. Whether or not this is problematic in a team dynamic is up for debate, I view it as my self-preservation instincts trying to make progress on the concepts our group was determined on. At the same time that implies that I was willing to let this other group member fall behind. It draws into question my aptitude at working in team environments, am I helping by keeping an on-task mindset? Or am I instead risking missing out on others input due to personal and/or task-related conflict?

As for the moment in which our whole group changed focus to a completely new concept, I found myself unsure of what to search for. I asked a member of the group and they described it as a ‘Eureka’ moment. A fitting title, but it turns out that studies have been referring to it as insight. This phenomenon is thoroughly studied though there is a lack of understanding of why these moments feel the way they do. I confess a certainty that gripped me when the concept was presented to us and the group agreed that even at the late stage we were in, changing direction in this manner was the right choice. Perhaps that was due to the fact that a growing hopelessness was suddenly evaporating in the presence of purpose. Or was it the convictions of the group as a whole influencing my personal belief in the concept?

After reflecting on my Cards for Play experience, I have come to some conclusions. Firstly, when it comes to dealing with a group situation I would like to keep a level of self-awareness when dealing with difficult members. Classifying them as difficult might be the first thing to re-examine. I would also like to keep a balance between my self-preservation drive and my ability to keep an open mind in order to see the benefits of an alternate input. In the current project I am doing with a new group I have split off from the others and continued on my own. I believe this was necessary and therefore vindicates the urge to split away from group members with good reason. In regards to the insight moment our group had, there is a difficulty in locating exactly what to interpret from something so impromptu. It could be that hopelessness can be one’s biggest enemy during a project. Even if you’re drawing close to a deadline knowing that you haven’t created what you intended to; don’t give up, look for inspiration. If our project could come from a simple unrelated activity then what other ‘Eureka’ moments are possible?

Maybee, J. E. (2016, June 03). Hegel's Dialectics. Retrieved from https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hegel-dialectics/

Lee, S., Kwon, S., Shin, S. J., Kim, M., & Park, I. (2018, January 17). How Team-Level and Individual-Level Conflict Influences Team Commitment: A Multilevel Investigation. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5776136/

Guenter, H., Emmerik, H. V., Schreurs, B., Kuypers, T., Iterson, A. V., & Notelaers, G. (2016). When Task Conflict Becomes Personal. Small Group Research, 47(5), 569-604. doi:10.1177/1046496416667816

Webb, M. E., Cropper, S. J., & Little, D. R. (2019). “Aha!” is stronger when preceded by a “huh?”: Presentation of a solution affects ratings of aha experience conditional on accuracy. Thinking & Reasoning, 25(3), 324-364. doi:10.1080/13546783.2018.1523807

The Cognitive Neuroscience of Insight. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.frontiersin.org/10.3389/conf.fnhum.2018.227.00132/5421/2nd_International_Neuroergonomics_Conference/all_events/event_abstract

Topolinski, S., & Reber, R. (n.d.). (2010) Gaining Insight Into the "Aha" Experience  Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0963721410388803?icid=int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.1

Mcleod, S. (2017, February 05). Kolb's Learning Styles and Experiential Learning Cycle. Retrieved from https://www.simplypsychology.org/learning-kolb.html

[bencairnsbertrand]

Week 1 – Starting Out

 I found my first week at Holmesglen to be a lot different to High School. Through not having to wear a uniform, only coming in for 12 hours a week and even down to calling lecturers by their first names. I found out that there are a lot of assignments that need to be done for each subject in a short space of time which will allow me to develop my organisation and time management skills. I intend to approach this year with loads of positivity and aim to stay on top of my work and not let it run away from me as I don’t want to be left stressed at the end of semester with a pile of work to do. I also intend to form positive relationships with my peers and work effectively with them in group tasks. I want to try my best in every assignment and really push myself to achieve the best that I can. Overall I want to enjoy myself and form new relationships with my peers and lecturers as well as complete all set tasks to a high standard.

 Week 3- Teamwork

 My first assessment for Business Communications was a group presentation in which we discussed mental health in sport to the class. As a group I felt we worked very well together and were able to establish team roles quickly. Everybody understood their roles and responsibilities and I felt that my skills and knowledge were being utilised by the team. The participation across the team was evenly spread and everyone contributed to their respective tasks as well as helping each other if we were struggling with an aspect of the assignment. The communication was good as we communicated effectively through the use of group chats as well as using google docs to share work and help to piece the presentation together. My team mates were easy to talk to and I felt comfortable asking for help when I needed it and they I turn felt comfortable asking me for help. Overall, I felt involved in the assignment and felt that my ideas and suggestion didn’t go unheard. My team members all contributed and it there wasn’t one person left to carry the load.

  Week 5 – Self-management, motivation and resilience

 I have managed to balance my studies as well as my external interests including footy and work by allocating time each week to complete my work. I’ve assigned my Friday afternoons and Monday’s as the main times I work on assignments and try to stick to this schedule as best I can. To maintain motivation, I do lots of short stints of work to make sure I take lots of breaks which helps to keep up my focus and motivation to work. To deal with difficulties and frustrations that occur I usually take a break to relax and forget about the problem then come back refreshed and in turn have a clearer mind that can solve the dilemma. To improve my work in the future I need to eliminate the distractions around me such as my phone which tends to limit my motivation. Overall, I need to continue to take short breaks to maintain motivation and stick to my schedule for doing work to ensure that I stay on top of the work and not let it run away from me.

 Week 7 – Understanding and utilising feedback

 Throughout the assignments that I have completed this semester I have received numerous amounts of constructive criticism and feedback. I have carefully examined this feedback and am attempting to rectify the flaws that have been pointed out. Specifically, my presentation skills have been identified as an aspect that I can improve on. I aim to practice my presentations thoroughly beforehand to ensure that I fully understand the information that I am presenting which will in turn help to keep me calm in front of the class. Additionally, my citing and referencing has been a frequently discussed area that I can improve on by my lecturers. My aim is to spend more time referencing and make certain that I am adhering to the Harvard referencing guide. As well as this I will make more of an effort to ask my lecturers for help in regard to my referencing and clarify with them if I am correctly referencing my work. The feedback and reflection that I have received from my peers and lecturers will go a long way in assisting me in completing this semester and the course.

  Week 9 – Developing effective communication skills

 I have found that communication is vital to my success at Holmesglen and as such have attempted to communicate as much as I can with lecturers and peers to achieve the best I can. I recently emailed one of my lecturers about an assignment that I was completing in regard to an aspect of the assignment that I needed to clarify. As I mentioned I used email as the from of communication. I found this method very effective as I believe it provided the quickest way to receive a response besides asking in person which I was unable to do as I was not at Holmesglen. My lecturer was able to reply in quick fashion and assist me with issue I had, and in doing so helped me achieve the purpose of the email. I knew I had achieved my purpose as the information that was provided allowed me to complete the assignment to a high standard and free of any doubts about the topic. I don’t believe another method would be as effective as emailing, as email seems to be the fastest mode of communication between student and lecturer besides the obvious in person communication.

 “to be a competent communicator a person must use a range of pragmatic skills effectively” (Alton & Pring p.256, 2010)

 Week 11 – Managing Assessments

 For the essay writing task, I am discussing mainly the impact that politics can have on sport. So far, I believe that I have created some good talking points to discuss in my body paragraphs including the Olympics, Governments, athletes and the power of the social status, and social and economic impacts. My organisation in terms of my essay structure and use of paragraphs also seems to be adhere to the rubric very well and my clarity of expression, grammar and spelling looks sound which I will ensure when I proofread my essay. I feel I need to go into more depth in a few of the topics I have chosen, specifically the athletes and their impact. I am struggling mainly on this problem and hopefully I can improve it before I submit. The rubric indicates that I need at least 5 academic articles which I have not achieved yet so I need to continue researching and find academic sources that will aid my essay. Overall my essay is coming along nicely, and I hope to complete it on time and to a very high standard.

 Week 13 – Future Strategies

 Knowledge/skills

Over the course of the semester I have written numerous entries for Business Communications and have received feedback form both my peers and lecturers across all my classes. My learning development has been significant over this semester, I have developed and improved my writing style and technique and learnt skills such as proper referencing of my work. I was surprised at the amount of work I could achieve to a high standard which could be attributed to me enjoying the topics that we discuss in classes. There wasn’t much negative aspects, however, there was plenty of positive aspects of this semester. I received countless amounts of feedback from my peers and lecturers both good and bad which have positively impacted my learning as I have been able to identify the areas that I need to improve on.

Attitudes/Behaviours

The entries I have written every second week have allowed me to look back on what I have done and analyse it. The feedback I have received has allowed me develop strengths I never had including presenting myself better when doing class presentations as well as researching more effectively and more in depth. I still have weaknesses that I need to work on, including time management, I still find myself leaving certain tasks and assignments until the last minute which puts me under more stress than I need to be. I have found myself at times completing assignments in class to save time and not listening to the information from my lecturers which also comes down to my time management skills. These weaknesses will be a key aspect I look to improve upon next semester.

[the-nysh]

The Will to Power

A comprehensive theory of the core concepts within opm, and its relevance towards future character development. Here it is: a breakdown of the explanations provided within canon, connected through consistent character examples, and applying that towards how Genos can grow stronger too. Aka: formally presenting the long-awaited GENOS POWER THEORY.

Disclaimer: subject to revisions as more gets revealed within canon. Contains lore combining both manga and webcomic spoilers.

Words: ~5500

The often overlooked, yet most vital component

As of the manga’s chapter 92, we now have two explanations for the pathways of power within the world of opm. From Dr. Genus’ explanation of his genetic research and the mechanism of limiters, to Psykos’ experimental method of monsterfication…both sides have spent ages and countless sacrifices attempting to find the secret to greater power, to ‘break through the limit of growth,’ but one of the most vital components they’ve always failed to account for was the individual’s inherent willpower.

Which is the inner, mental drive that compels one to keep going, the tenacity to stand up again and fight for one’s convictions, despite all other hellish external factors endured. The ability to consistently survive the absolute worst and then miraculously overcome what would otherwise become fatal. Both scientists can experiment to induce change indefinitely by forcing outward pressures upon their specimens all they want. But if the individual never had the drive or mental fortitude to endure the stresses to being with, the will to change for themselves (to truly desire it at their cores), or if they end up losing the will to live by giving up partway during the torturous process, then of course they will always fail, either by succumbing to compromised mediocrity or merciless death on the path towards greater power.      

The exemplary outlier

Saitama will always remain the original successful exception. So far, he’s the only example of one who’s achieved limitless power (successfully broken through his limiter) through the merits of his own willpower. He persevered through an uncompromising training regimen, personally tailored to his own skill level (a personal hell scaled to his ‘ordinary’ limits; aka it would not be enough for those with higher potential), all for the sake of a simple, yet dedicated goal that aligned with the core values of who he truly wanted to become. An undefeatable, strongest hero with the ability to win in one punch. Yes, he had the focused (will)power to change and improve himself, to keep pushing himself with the intent and effort to achieve what he wanted without ever giving up, no matter how hard it got, and it was strong enough to break past his average body’s given limitations. That achievement is miraculous, remarkable and praiseworthy.

The important key distinction is that Saitama is NOT a monster. Dr. Genus explained why: monsters are those who have fully forsaken their humanity and succumbed to their base complexes, so they are transformed/mutated/reborn into another being with a whole new limiter. Saitama has retained his original self and his humanity, but at the cost of his baldness and the growing feelings of alienation and boredom apart from all others who don’t sit at the same pinnacle as him. (With the extra meta layer on whether or not it was even worth it to burn that much effort into achieving the pinnacle of his craft when the results became personally unsatisfactory.) Unless others can figure out how to successfully break their given limiters too, Saitama will remain peerless in power and will never find the fulfilling, challenging fight he’s always longed for. (His ongoing dilemma and search for life’s fulfillment will then need to be found elsewhere, such AS…genuine relationships with others.) All of this will remain canon until ONE presents information otherwise to either further or challenge the lore of these established explanations.

‘Limit,’ ‘willpower,’ ‘half-assed,’ ‘compromised,’ ‘goal,’ ‘mindset,’ ‘seriousness,’ ‘spirit,’ ‘determination,’ …they’re all important and consistent, reoccurring keywords to keep in mind through the entirety of the story. Whenever they pop up in panels, declared in chapter titles, or are offhandedly mentioned by Murata or ONE in streams/interviews (look where Murata mentions ‘will’), then aha! Those moments become clues worth paying attention to that link back to the overall core concepts of the series itself.

Given explanations within canon

One of those core concepts (aside from the limiter concept) is that of 気合 (Kiai), chi, aura, willpower, fighting spirit…they’re ALL synonymous names for the same general, encompassing idea: one representing the inner strength/energy that everyone in the opm world naturally possesses, the only difference is in the potential/ability to hone, channel and manifest it over the course of people’s lifetimes. Existing varying levels depending on individual effort, training, or natural gifts. This energy is also closely tied to psychic power, where psychics can learn to directly manipulate this energy against one’s will. HOWEVER those with a strong enough willpower/spirit become ‘unbendable’, or ‘too heavy’ and can resist such psychic effects. ONE explains it all here (webcomic ch102):

Tatsumaki: “Even non-psychics have energy flowing throughout their body. Scholars call it things like ‘chi’ (気) or ‘aura’…I couldn’t bend them (Garou and Golden Sperm) either.”

Fubuki: “Strength of will is directly connected to psychic resistance. The reason (her power) doesn’t work (on him) is thanks to Saitama’s unusually thick spirit.”

This spiritual ‘power’ is therefore something internal, originating in the mind, that’s neither inherently good nor bad, and that everyone has the capability to possess (even non-psychics). But when channeled and/or honed correctly, its resulting force can manage to surpass beyond the body’s own physical limitations. The House of Evolution arc proved that one’s biology or physical status doesn’t matter. One’s level of intelligence or talent doesn’t affect its strength either. What does matter is having the persistence to endure, with the determination/mindset to never give up or falter, towards a serious goal that’s true to oneself. (Moral alignment doesn’t matter either, but only in the case if it conflicts with one’s true self/desires, as we’ll see.) One also cannot be held back by regrets, wavering second thoughts, or lapses in self-confidence. (Examples of this would be both Mumen and Fubuki’s complexes thinking they’re aren’t ‘good enough’ to compete and progress past a certain hero rank, so they are mentally limiting themselves on top of their current capabilities.) In essence, it’s like the liberation to freely set out and achieve what you truly want to do, without letting anything else limit hold you back (which is precisely what Saitama did). 

Applied character examples within canon

This webcomic content (ch102-104) explaining the mechanics behind ‘strength of will’ came out from Sept-Nov 2015, the same relative timeframe the manga introduced the similar concept of ‘fighting spirit’ in the Metal Bat vs Garou fight:

(THESE definitive manga pages came out in Dec 2015, just slightly later than the webcomic’s). This publication overlap was not just coincidental; ONE was likely covering his bases through both mediums, by adding foreshadowing to the manga based on what he’d developed at the same time in the webcomic. (Which is also why reading BOTH at the same time is fun to catch writing parallels like this. :D) Establishing concepts that would only become relevant in the manga again much later. And this fight, which does not even exist within the original webcomic, is important for introducing this physical application of mental strength: every time Metal Bat tanks damage, even severe enough to take him out, he gets stronger. Why? It’s him channeling his willpower to keep going, aka ‘fighting spirit.’ Visualized though the literal aura effect steaming off his body...and bat, as an extension of himself. (This will become important. Also keep a lookout for whenever Murata repeatedly uses this same visual effect on other characters too.)

Some may say this ‘fighting spirit’ is an ability only unique to Metal Bat, but that’s not true. Because ch102 of the webcomic had already immediately established that everyone possesses this energy within them. So it is a universal trait that has the capability to be honed, channeled, and potentially even manifested as psychic power. (The latter would be fascinating if true!) And we SEE a combined application of this mental power come back in full swing in the manga’s ch92: where Garou now demonstrates his growing psychic resistance and ‘fighting spirit’ (気合): 

To make this recollection even more blatant, Murata even went back to edit in a panel of Metal Bat where Garou remembers this:

To clarify, this is not Garou somehow simply ‘copying’ or ‘absorbing’ Metal Bat’s ‘ability.’ Even Psykos is surprised at what’s happening here and doesn’t understand it either (despite all her research, she’s failed to account for this key component). Just how is Garou able to move and resist her psychic bindings? Yup, it’s precisely that same mental ‘power’ as introduced in the webcomic’s ch102: his own strength of will, aka ‘fighting spirit.’ Even Garou did not fully understand it when he faced Metal Bat, but now, after enduring so much sustained lethal damage himself, adapting and coming back stronger each time, he recognizes it as the same thing happening to himself.

But it was no easy feat for Garou to even survive everything’s he’s been through up to this point! He’s fought and endured it all: fevered, outnumbered, poisoned, gunned down, beaten, sliced up, impaled, incinerated...all in rapid succession with little to no pause for rest. (Fun fact: note the keywords used in the ch titles during all those events.) He could have died any number of times (very dangerous, even called out as recklessly ‘suicidal’ at points), but according to Psykos’ observations, overcoming all of that is the contributing factor towards his rapid growth in physical strength. But forcing external stressors on him isn’t everything; the reason why he’s survived it all isn’t just plot armor, but rather because of his tenacious willpower to never give up. He’s never succumbed because his adaptive level of ‘fighting spirit’ has honed enough to resist both psychic powers and endure sustained physical torment. Truly, his stubborn resilience towards everything thrown at him has become so extraordinary that even Garou wonders (on several occasions) how his body has been able to keep up and endure it all too. This is the concept of ‘strength of will’ at work here, enabling him to persist past his body’s expected capabilities. When continuously put to the test under harsh conditions, it steadily adapts and grows stronger. If he keeps it up, he has the potential to eventually break through his limits, just like Saitama did.

However, Garou won’t be able to achieve it the same way as Saitama, because while that method was plenty to push past Saitama’s ‘average’ capabilities, the same muscle training (especially for someone already thoroughly trained in martial arts) won’t be anywhere near enough to breach the ceiling of Garou’s prodigious potential. While the story has set many similar parallels between them and their growth, they have different set limits. For Garou to even succeed the same, his tailored ‘personal hell’ to overcome must be scaled comparatively harsh and ravaging, as we have seen... 

Its internal, driving source 

Then, the only missing factor is just...where is the source of Garou’s tenacity, his willpower, his drive that compels him to keep standing up, coming from? Both the manga AND webcomic (double bonus: same ch92!) ask the same thing: 

Psykos: “This determination of yours, where does it come from?”

Genos: “Where does he get this blood-curdling tenacity from...?”

WHERE indeed. And it does matter. Because while the origin for a strong willpower exists in everyone, for its strength to persist and adapt further, it must be sustained or based on something in the first place... Fueled by some unwavering conviction, ideal, belief, mission, feeling, desire, or goal that’s important enough to commit one’s life towards, up to the extent one would rather risk certain death than fail to achieve. Ranging from what drives us to get out of bed every day, all the way towards a potential willpower (essentially, a life force) so tenacious enough, it can best the pull of death. Otherwise without that motivation behind one’s actions, there’s nothing to channel into the eventual superpower that can miraculously move mountains. No prospect to succeed at breaking past one’s limits to achieve the otherwise thought impossible. However, it’s something that can’t be simply granted/received from the outside or others (exception: the powers granted to Homeless Emperor from ‘God’); the influence or spark of inspiration can, but the answer for the willpower itself, the driving force to act upon, must birth from somewhere genuine deep within.

SURELY, for Garou to have endured all that he has, by overcoming so many tortuous near-death experiences so far, there exists some origin for his ‘fighting spirit.’ And yes, we’ve seen the basis for his convictions formed since his childhood, with him assuming a role he believes is most appropriate, and then adhering to a misguided method he thinks will influence the change he wants to see in the world...but he (manga Garou especially) is still in the process of defining precisely who he is and what he fights for. The more he experiences, ‘it’ gradually gains in strength while steadily rising in clarity.

He’s always had genuine, strong feelings that motivate him (absolutely no doubt!), but there’s always been a lingering contradiction between what he says he wants to do and how he applies that into actual action. Like a mental set-back (hmm, another so-called limiter?) from all his stubborn denial that’s preventing him from realizing who he actually is, and therefore not fully understanding where his deeper feelings lie... Fortunately and interestingly enough, the incidents that forcibly put those feelings and his character to the test the most – the times that push him further beyond what he ever thought possible, resulting in his greatest bursts of strength – are actually those where his true self is brought to light in sharper clarity. Namely...all those impressive feats he’s chosen to overcome for the sake of protecting Tareo. Shielding him from a bullet rain, shrugging off getting stabbed and sliced to death, resisting absolute incineration...each time, Garou never had to risk himself that far to face any of that, yet he conjured the resolve (the willpower!) to stand up and fight for what he truly cares about. Compelled to risk his life for the sake of something that runs deeper than he can fully comprehend...truly, that kind of unconditional sentiment channeled into an unstoppable force is strong indeed. 

But, protecting what he cares about (Tareo) isn’t the only thing that drives him. His personal ideals and worldview get further challenged the more he fights alone in the MA base. Repeatedly pitting his life against any injures or opponents he faces, as he comes to a greater understanding of what brought him here in the first place. Defining his determination and raison d'être as he goes, such as in his important fight vs Darkshine (webcomic ch68):

Now, it’s possible ONE may rework what happens in the manga’s version of this fight entirely (and beyond; EDIT: except for the narration, the manga’s adaptation has kept most of Garou’s words here intact!), but at least here, Garou solidifies a conviction worthy enough to bet his life against, overcoming his lethal injuries and absolutely refusing to lose no matter what...but will the reason he concludes bring him accurate enough clarity for the path he swears to take? Enough to forge a will strong enough to succeed at breaking past his limiter? (Manga edit: presented as, “Garou’s limiter seems to be breaking!”)

To simplify an analogy of the mechanics behind this mental process would be like finding the proper fuel to push the horsepower of a car/vessel past the output of its own frame. Where the key components are 1) fuel: goal, 2) horsepower: willpower, 3) frame: limiter. Compromise the fuel as an unfit source for the (will)power, and the overall performance either becomes substandard or falls apart entirely. And what do we see happen?

The consequences of a ‘wrong’ path

Fast-forward to his arc’s conclusion in the webcomic, and we see the consequences of settling for a compromised goal that conflicts in accordance with one’s true self/desires. Garou gets so close to breaking his limiter, but ultimately fails. Why? He showed so much promise and unshakable resolve to get here, so where on his path did he go wrong? As we learn, he fought so hard (continually risking his life!) not for the benefit of monsters, but rather to unite and reform society enough (through fear) to incite the arrival of a true hero. Choosing the contradictory role of the ‘evil’ aggressor to bait one out, when Garou himself was never truly evil at his core. As Saitama perceptively puts it: he was always a rather ‘soft guy’ with an ideal image of a hero in mind all along, but thanks to all his deep-set stubborn denial, he never allowed himself to fully realize this. (In this case, all his stubborn tenacity became a blinding fault that ended up holding him back from realizing the truth.) So Saitama calls him out for taking an indirect (half-assed) approach for his goal, rather than directly work towards becoming the ideal of a true hero himself:

Saitama: “It was a mistake to lower the hurdle right before the goal. A half-assed objective can’t succeed.”

Saitama’s words give Garou the wake up call, reality check, and clarity he’s always needed to hear...but the harsh truth becomes will shattering. Thankfully, all hope isn’t lost, because the one who actually picks him back up again, and ‘saves’ him by resparking his will to continue, is Tareo. By finally getting through to him and vouching for the heroism Garou’s always shown...Garou gains the basis to try again ‘next time’ in a more appropriate, constructive manner that’s truer to himself. He still has the potential and power to succeed, but now without being bound limited by the misguided mindset from his childhood anymore. 

Garou’s arc shows us this huge, sweeping, in-depth example of what it takes and then ultimately what NOT to do (can’t end up choosing the ‘easy way out’) to truly succeed at something. And he’s not the only character to which this applies. Everything presented thus far will now culminate with Genos, and the speculative steps he can take to achieve greater power too.

The next who can succeed: GENOS POWER THEORY

(The following has been in the works since 2016, but nothing since then has disproven it – on the contrary, waiting for more content has only built on it – so now is as good as ever to finally present what I’ve had in mind for him this whole time. Everything ONE has shown only leads me to believe that the possibility is there for Genos to have his ‘next time’ to succeed too.)    

From the panel above, ONE framed it in a way so that Saitama’s words apply to Genos’ situation as well: in his desperate haste to gain power and seek revenge against the Mad Cyborg, he chose to forsake his fleshy body and become a cyborg himself. Essentially, like choosing the more enticing, easily available approach with the quickest results (not unlike monster cells by the way, which are confirmed unsuccessful methods too), by looking outside for the solution (looking to both Kuseno and Saitama for the answers to power), instead of working hard to achieve that goal within himself directly. Without the logistics of his cyborg transition/rehab into account, it’s like in his young mind’s insatiable impatience for power, he sought the equivalent of instant gratification. Logically, now his choice appears like a short-sighted, fatal mistake that’s permanently screwed himself over, since now his body’s performance will always be limited (on top of his given limiter) by the output of his technological parts and Kuseno’s knowledge on how to improve them. (Kuseno won’t live forever to keep up with him either.) Time again, he’s faced with the bitter reality that he cannot rely on parts those alone.

So then, where is his hope? What about his own power? This is precisely why I believe ONE designed him as a cyborg in the first place. (His struggles facing personal weakness and powerlessness were never just for the sake of reoccurring gags, and ONE would never keep him stagnant as the deuteragonist either.) Because now, Genos is forced to figure out the correct solution the hard way, by overcoming THIS extra physical limitation imposed on him, to realize the answer he’s always sought MUST come from within. It shouldn’t matter that he doesn’t have his original body anymore, because in the opm world, greater power doesn’t come from having the chosen biology/genetics, specialized parts, or even natural born talent/gifts (remember the House of Evolution arc)...it comes from the process of strengthening one’s inner willpower itself. The remaining key to all of this lies in the fact he still has his organic brain, the place where everyone’s capability for this mental power originates, so that means Genos still has the potential to utilize it too.      

Then, why hasn’t he? (Or has he but never realized?) What is his problem? What can he even do to reliably harness that kind of power? That same power as demonstrated by others (if Garou can develop it and figure it out, then why can’t Genos)? Intelligence, battle experience, reacting and analyzing are strengths he’s currently working on that will help, but shouldn’t Genos already have enough determination for a set goal in mind? If that’s not enough, then what is it exactly that he lacks?

As it turns out, Genos is not just limited by his cybernetic body, but also by the mindset he carries himself. His main problem has always been a mental one. (Doubled down by the frustrations caused by his self-defeatist attitude and disappointment when things go wrong too.) No matter the shinier upgrades or battle experience he receives, he cannot progress past this vital barrier if he always treats himself as a replaceable, disposable weapon. It’s then no wonder his body always turns so inexplicably frail, prone to breaking and losing limbs all the time, when he jumps headfirst into battle with such a lifeless disregard for his own being. Such a hollow shell for armor can’t possibly stand up to greater opponents with the will to pierce right through that.  

But then, it’s curious to me that his head remains his literal strongest defense.

(Genos no, that’s recklessly dangerous!) Now, why would this be? Did Kuseno only reinforce the encasing of his brain (his most vital part), while purposely leaving the material of the rest of his body more vulnerable? Sending him out in the field with only substandard weapons and armor as his defense? While Kuseno giving his brain extra protection is smart, him lapsing in thorough efficiency for the rest of him seems unlikely to me. It becomes a much different picture when realizing this is likely not Kuseno’s doing or fault at all (or even just ONE playing with Genos’ plot armor). Because if Genos only sees the body granted to him as a replaceable tool, then where does he keep his sense of self, if he doesn’t even regard himself as human anymore? Hmm, it’s like all his desperation, resolve, and internal feelings are suck inside his mind without getting anywhere. Like his will itself is trapped within the cold metal encasing of his chassis without getting properly channeled.

Channeled? Yes. Remember back to what the Metal Bat fight showed us. Not just the introduction of ‘fighting spirit,’ but THIS as well:

Where Garou even makes it a deliberate point to emphasize just how much power such a simple, metal weapon holds. Of course, later in a bonus chapter, this is said:

Hmm, the explanation for an ‘unbreakable’ metal bat, huh. Conveniently provided for by the HA whenever requested/needed too. Now that feels like a red herring to me. Instead, even if he’s not consciously aware of it (his intelligence is rated a 3 in the databook after all), the likely reason why he’s able to turn his bat into an unbreakable weapon is because during his increased moments of desperation, he can channel his ‘fighting spirit’ through it as a natural extension of himself. While Genos, who’s entirely built from metal that Kuseno could manage to acquire from various ‘unbreakable’ sources too, but who is still fighting with such flimsy defenses, is most definitely not. Any willpower/fighting spirit that Genos has is still pent up within the confines of his hard head without correctly reaching the extremities of his own limbs. He’s not effectively using his body as an natural extension of himself when he can’t even see himself as human anymore. Again, he’s mentally bound. Oh, Genos...    

Metal Bat is just one example allowing for the possibility of strengthening the inorganic, Garou is another for showing the grueling process of developing ‘fighting spirit’ too, while Saitama is the ultimate example of everything coming together in a complete package. For Genos to successfully develop the same, to the point he can push past the output of his own frame and achieve greater power too, we need to reexamine his key components: his fuel (goal), willpower, and limiter(s).

Just how exactly can Genos improve?

First, what fuels him to keep going? For whenever he flings himself into battle, with deadly precision and almost an entire lack of self-preservation, what does he have that’s so important to him, it compels him to resist and keep going no matter the hopelessness of the situation? He’s already established upfront that his mission in life is to become strong enough to find and defeat the Mad Cyborg that destroyed his hometown and family. For 4+ years, he’s been running on those intense, pent up feelings of hatred, rage, frustration and grief…manifested into the desire for revenge, and by dedicating his remaining life and humanity for the sake of the dead. Without having a proper emotional outlet or time to grieve and heal from his trauma, he’s essentially been running around this whole time chasing intangible phantoms from the past. Is that even a goal viable enough for the long-term? (It’s definitely not a very healthy or constructive one, that’s for sure.) What about his plans after?

Ch108 of the webcomic even asks the hypothetical questions, what if the Mad Cyborg’s already dead, what would Genos do then? Or if he’s still alive, how can Genos even gauge if he’s strong enough to defeat him as he is now? He can’t know. Based on memories he can barely remember and leads that are virtually nonexistent, it’s still too fuzzy and inconclusive of an objective to adhere all his efforts towards or use as a guidepost for his progress. He needs something with much more reliability, clarity, and viability, because in the desperate throes of the moment, something vague won’t help him when his actual life depends on it. So Genos, what else is there? Attaining the S Class top 10? Still not strong enough, or even with enough personal value to risk his life for, when it’s incomparable to the heights of Saitama. Ah. There it is. Saitama. As Genos progresses over the course of the story, his priorities have started to shift as he reflects on what is most important to him. Rather than focusing all his intent and efforts on those who are already dead, it’s much better to live and fight for those who are still alive. For those who matter to him: Kuseno and Saitama, who are now part of his new makeshift family, they allow him the chance to finally heal emotionally and find new inspiration to live for. By living with Saitama, Genos has even started to form another goal that’s worth striving for that will sustain him through the long-term even after the Mad Cyborg: to become strong enough to remain by Saitama’s side.  

Next, his willpower. Some of his most defining traits are his dead-set seriousness and determination. (To the point it’s comically and affectionately referred to as ‘no chill.’) He should have loads of useable willpower/fighting spirit at his disposal, yet his performance still turns up short. Having a viable goal to work towards and sustain it, and then being able to correctly channel it (as mentioned with Metal Bat’s example) are important, but so is overcoming the subconscious mental barriers holding him back. For one, is Genos even aware of the current power he holds, without attributing the credit to others or his special parts? Because there is at least one instance where he demonstrates the willpower to achieve the otherwise thought impossible:

Not just a moment to simply dismiss as a freak incident, because here (during the fight he was directly inspired by Saitama by the way), his refusal to be dismissed compelled him to fuse his severed body back together again. A feat previously thought impossible for him (just how on earth could he ‘heal’ severed metal?!), yet right then, he momentarily gained the power to surpass his body’s limitations. And yet, the incident practically goes by unacknowledged by him, as he’s shortly taken down by acid and distracted by Saitama’s answer for ‘more power.’ But the potential is still there for him! He can do it if he only perseveres and realizes! (And not by asking or relying on others to just give him all the answers either!)

So what is ‘more power’ to him? How can the willpower he already has be developed and trained even further? We’ve seen what Garou’s had to endure to get stronger, but to Genos, suffering the same physical pain won’t have the same effect on him. Instead, his tailored ‘hell’ to endure and overcome must come significantly much more from the psychological side. Through stressors that repeatedly tax and test his mental state to the brink rather than just his body. (The mental factors for Genos just keep piling…) And so, much of the growth we’ve actually witnessed from him over the course of his development comes from overcoming the torment of repeated failure.

A harsh punishment that could discourage and/or break the will of anyone, so it’s quite miraculous that even after all his losses, he’s still never stopped coming back to try again later or permanently gone off the deep end by now. It’s a strength that he’s never mentally succumbed under the relentless frustration and pressure. Instead, he always analyses what he did wrong, learns from his mistakes, and applies that into how he can improve next time. Little by little, by comparing him from the start of the story to now, he’s definitely improved. By becoming more aware of himself and his surroundings (to not always let his guard down!) and utilizing more efficient battle tactics, he’s turning into a much wiser fighter. Even coming to acknowledge the value of his own life much more than before.        

^Yes Genos, be aware of your limits, because in this story, you are forcibly bound by many that you’ve yet to overcome.

Then what are his limits? Can Genos eventually break his limiter too? Does he still even have one? It’s a question often debated. His brain certainly still has one (along with many compounded mental barriers), but if his curious placement on the monster side of the spread during Dr. Genus’ limiter explanation means anything (EDIT: Murata’s since edited that spread for the published volume), would his similar ‘transformation’ into a new body make him gain a new limiter EACH TIME it’s replaced? Then uhoh, Genos needs to slow down and stay with one to acclimate as his perceived, natural ‘body,’ or he’ll be stuck in an endless loop trying to surpass his rebooted limits every time. (And he won’t get anywhere like that!) If that’s not the case, and his cyborg body doesn’t even have a limiter anymore (unlikely, because the output of his physical frame is always limited), then his brain’s still applies anyway. In either case, he will need to learn to fully accept, cherish, and value himself (as human!) first.

That’s why it’s so important he remains in contact with Saitama. Saitama’s calming influence is extremely vital to the stability of Genos’ wellbeing. Before they’d ever met, Genos was heading down such a self-destructive path, he really could have gone off the monstrous deep end to no return… ONE could still take his character arc down many dark possibilities, since Genos will likely have to endure much more psychological torment to grow stronger… (And then his once hidden placement on the monster side of the limiter spread becomes that much more ominous. But ONE won’t simply make his story a rehash of Garou’s either; he’s got different, long-term plans for Genos.) His road will be long and arduous regardless, as a gradual slow burn over the course of the story rather than neatly contained within any single arc. But no matter what happens, Saitama will be there.

If Tareo is Garou’s important link to his humanity, preventing him from fully becoming a monster, then Saitama (and Kuseno) are that vital link for Genos to remain in touch with his humanity as well. Vital enough to bring him new inspiration and newfound purpose in life to the point he will no longer have the necessity to think of his ‘self-destruct’ option as his last resort anymore.  

Therefore, the words Saitama gave at the beginning of the story:

Where he mentions the familiar terms of ‘mental strength’ and ‘spirit’ in his advice to Genos...have actually always rung true. What the reader was originally supposed to take away as a throwaway line within Saitama’s bs, has in fact been a relevant chekhov's gun all along. This whole time, ‘a change in mindset will yield to greater strength’ has always been a viable approach in the path towards achieving greater power. :’) 

Thank you for reading, and always keep an open eye out for what ONE has in store next! :D