I'm sure it's only a coincidence that a few days after Putin says Biden "needs to be undermined from the left" to help Trump win, noted Russian agent Jill Stein, who the Kremlin already extensively promoted in 2016 in the successful effort to hurt HRC, and who already endorsed fellow pro-Russian tankie Cornel West, jumps back into the 2024 race as the "Green Party candidate" talking about how "the two-party system has failed us."

For the love of fuck, let's not do this again.

Hypothetical Rank Ups No. 66-68: Vlad III (EXTRA)

[Disclaimer: Alright alright alright back on track with the Apocrypha rankups. So let's get back to...Lancer of Black, Vlad III! And here's Lancer Vlad- WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS ISN'T AN APOC SERVANT?!....WHAT DO YOU MEAN THEY JUST UPDATED HIS TACTICS THUS FORCING ME TO COMPLETELY RETOOL THE ENTIRE SET OF 3 RANKUPS FOR HIM I'VE BEEN SITTING ON FOR MONTHS OK THIS ONE ISN'T A GAG WHAT THE FU-]

Innocent Monster A -> Incorruptible Blasphemer

Gain Critical Stars every turn (3 turns). Apply Target Focus to self (1 turn). Apply Guts to self (1 time, 1 turn). Increase own NP Gain when taking damage (1 turn). [Reduce cooldown to 6/5/4, Guts scales from 1000-5000HP, NP Gain on defense increase scales from 50-100%.]

Instead of extending the target focus duration, we're making Vlancer more dynamic (because this is me we're talking about). With a cooldown as low as 4 turns and increased NP gain on damage, you basically want to wait until the turn vlad will take the most hits to use it. In addition to his new Devil's Strategy buff being great for this, the NP gain increase turns this into his ideal way of building his gauge against high hit count enemies. The guts he has is 1 time 1 turn, but Gramps level powerful at max level. This combined with the low cooldown turns it into a very high risk high reward tactic or even make for a decent last stand burst (though without the outright solo capability of your Herc's and Cu's, kinda like what his Berserker counterpart can do ironically)

Lorewise it's more of the same, really. Vlad III was famous and infamous for his steadfast faith. This is the natural evolution of his innocent monster identity derived from the cruelty with which he protected his home; he is unmistakably sinful in his violence and wrath, but his persistence in the face of evil and corruption to rise up and defend from them is just as unmistakably heroic.

Kazikli Bey (EXTRA) C -> C+++

Apply Ignore Invincible for yourself (1 turn). Apply Ignore Target Focus for yourself (4 turns). [Applies first] Inflict [Trauma] status to all enemies (4 turns). (Trauma: Chance to Stun for 1 turn every turn.) Deal significant damage to a single enemy.^ Apply [Scorched Earth] buff to all allies (Non-stackable). Apply 50% Special ATK [Poisoned enemies] to all allies (6 turns). Apply 50% Special ATK [Burned enemies] to all allies (6 turns). Apply 50% Special ATK [Cursed enemies] to all allies (6 turns). <Overcharge> Deal extra Special Attack damage to a single [Evil] enemy. [Trauma scales with level at 25/32.5/36.25/38.125/40%]

I've been sitting on this one for ages, to my detriment as established above. I WAS gonna give most of this to his tactics (Cause, ya know, "Scorched Earth Tactics"?) but of course an obvious wrench was thrown into that, so i toned the change down and hybridized it with the initially MUCH more simple and low-key NP rank up. But that's all besides the point, scorched earth is self explanatory really. For every DOT on the enemy, they take more and more damage. This singlehandedly turns Vlancer into the "savior" of DOTs, as its effectively dealing 50% more damage to enemies for each of the 3 main DOTs they have with permanent uptime in a dedicated team. What keeps it from being broken though is....wow you really don't realize just how little overlap there is between DOT users until you actually look at the lists side by side. And that's BEFORE we take class advantages into account. This is why the original version I had to scrap also had Vlad himself get special attack against enemies with any offensive debuffs at all. That said if you had a certain Sith Chihuahua it'd definitely make for a VERY fun time, as would it be if all these hypothetical rankups I give that add/revamp DOTs were real but that's getting into a far larger process of scaling around an entire seperate gameplay ecosystem-MOVING ON. Trauma is exactly what it looks like, Terror but it doesn't dispel when it activates (Seriously wtf is the point of making the stun rates so low if it cant even happen more than once....) and lastly there's the incredibly niche idea of the ability to ignore Target Focus for things like challenge quests and the like.

Lorewise this one is very obvious. Vlad Dracul, Spawn of the Devil, infamous for his kill count. Specifically there was the raid of Târgoviște where Vlad ambushed a camp at night with intent to kill the Sultan of the Ottoman empire. In the sheer chaos he got lost and went for the wrong tent, resulting in the raid being a failure [Ignore Target Focus]. During the same campaign his guerilla raids and scorched earth tactics left the entire countryside barren [Anti DOT damage] and culminated in the much larger Ottoman army finding a near empty capital only to discover on the other side a literal Forest of Corpses; 23,844 Turks were impaled and Vlad himself claimed responsibility in a letter to the kind of Hungary. The Ottoman's were so terrified they turned around on a dime claiming victory, since they HAD taken the capital, technically speaking [Trauma].

...SO that's Vlancer. God I wish he'd come home, even if his in game kit is basically untouched he has such a cool kit. Definitely one of the most fun to make rank ups for even factoring in that last second rework. Next is the actual Lancer of Black. Ugh. Between this and that garbage Tawara rank up, I am SO not redoing his bc mine is just objectively better, I definitely need to speed up the upload rate of these....

Bitcoin Mining – Buy Low Mine High

Meanwhile, I have been active in the crypto industry for over 10 years, and one aspect of Bitcoin that has always fascinated me is mining. Bitcoin mining is the backbone of the network, where machines solve complex calculations in search of new Bitcoins. Bitcoin mining is the process of creating new bitcoins and verifying transactions on the Bitcoin network. At the end of the article, you will find more technical explanations about mining, but I don't want to bore everyone with that. During my crypto career, mining has come across my path several times as an option to invest in or get more involved with. However, it never became concrete due to significant drawbacks such as: - Expensive electricity. - Noise and heat. - High investment costs, as there is more to it than just miners. - Maintenance and equipment monitoring. Afterward, I explored the phenomenon of cloud mining, but in 70% of cases, it's a scam, and in the other 30% of cases, it's too expensive and not profitable. These companies are also not resilient during a bear market because they finance mining machines themselves and rent out hashrate (computational power). They buy machines with the risk of a Bitcoin price drop and don't earn enough during a bear market. Explanation of Cloud mining: Cloud mining is a service where individuals rent computing power from companies to mine cryptocurrencies on their behalf. They don't need to own or manage the hardware themselves. The cloud mining provider handles the mining operations and distributes rewards to participants based on their rented computing power. It's a way for people to mine cryptocurrencies without the need for expensive equipment or technical expertise. When that option was ruled out, there were fewer and fewer mining options left. But in reality, I also want to do something with it through the crypto guide. Recently, through an acquaintance, I met someone who offers the solution I was looking for. That person is Mitchell Weijerman from Epic Mining. He offers the opportunity to purchase mining equipment through Epic Mining, which you buy in bulk with him and other customers at a favorable rate. Through Epic Mining, you buy a Bitcoin miner that is shipped to you, and within 6-8 weeks, it starts mining for you with an electricity rate of 5.5 cents, including hosting, security, and maintenance (even more). You receive a monthly invoice with this 0.052 Euro (0.055 USD) per KWH based on what your mining equipment has consumed. This can also be done quarterly, semi-annually, or annually. However, your profits are paid out daily, and you can accumulate Bitcoin and pay the costs later and, in the best-case scenario, pay with fiat money (credit card) or another method and leave the Bitcoin untouched. This way, you can accumulate Bitcoin inexpensively for when the price 'explodes,' which traditionally happens 7 months after a halving. This can be a mega-interesting earning model if you believe in price increases. Mitchell came up with the nice quote, "Buy low, mine high." This refers to buying machines at a low cost, keeping the costs as low as possible, and maximizing profits during a bull market. Sign up for the Bitcoin Mining Q&A that is hosted on the 17th of january 2024 at 7pm: BlackRock and Bitcoin Mining: A Sustainable Combination? BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, has recently announced that it is adding Bitcoin mining to its portfolio. Why has BlackRock made this decision, and what are the benefits of this strategy? BlackRock sees Bitcoin mining as a good investment for several reasons. First, BlackRock believes in the future of Bitcoin as an alternative to traditional currencies and as a hedge against inflation. By investing in Bitcoin mining, BlackRock can increase its exposure to the crypto market and profit from the rising demand for Bitcoins. Second, BlackRock sees Bitcoin mining as an opportunity to become more sustainable. BlackRock has committed to reducing its ecological footprint and supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy. Bitcoin mining can contribute to this by using renewable energy sources such as solar energy, wind energy, or hydropower. BlackRock can thus reduce its electricity costs while simultaneously contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions. Therefore, BlackRock has discovered that Bitcoin mining is a good investment, both financially and ecologically. Bitcoin mining allows BlackRock to benefit from the growing crypto market and achieve its sustainability goals. BlackRock is a major shareholder in 4 of the 5 largest Bitcoin mining companies. How Does Epic Mining Achieve Such "Super-Low" Rates? By mining in favorable areas abroad near various hydro dams for cheap and green energy. In addition, they are situated in a mining facility where over 80,000 devices are located, which is about 5% of the total global mining. This results in extremely low rates due to the joint procurement of all facilities with other mining farms. Benefits of Mining via Epic Mining: - No noise or heat. - Low energy rates. - Purchasing only Bitcoin miners. - No maintenance. - No headaches. - Everything is taken care of for you. All you have to do is watch your wealth grow and pay the electricity bill once every 1, 3, or 6 months. Why Mine Instead of Buying Bitcoin? You should see it like this: With Bitcoin mining, you can produce Bitcoin below the production cost. The higher the price of Bitcoin becomes, the more profit you can realize because your production costs are below the market value. So, if you believe that Bitcoin will reach 100k or 200k in the next 2, 3, 4 years, then Bitcoin mining becomes exponentially more interesting than buying Bitcoin. As the price of Bitcoin rises, the costs to buy it also increase. Meanwhile, with mining, you can produce them below the market price. That's the game that's played with mining. What Is the Bitcoin Price Based On? Factors that increase demand for Bitcoin: - The failure of the traditional financial system. - There is more and better education available. - Network effects. - Bitcoin is the best-performing asset of the decade/ever. - Countries are buying Bitcoin. - Companies are adding Bitcoin to their treasuries. - Large investment funds are buying Bitcoin. Factors that make Bitcoin scarcer: - The new supply of Bitcoin is halved every four years (halvings). - Holders are not selling but buying. - Large mining companies have better access to financing, so they no longer need to sell their BTC to fund their operations. As demand increases and supply becomes scarcer, this can mean only one thing in my opinion. In my opinion, it can only mean one thing: the price will rise! What traditionally happens after a halving? - After the market crashed in 2010, the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed by 11,645%. - After the market crashed in 2014, the price of Bitcoin increased by 7,382%. - After the market crashed in 2017, the price of Bitcoin rose by 1,991%. Sign up for the Bitcoin Mining Q&A that is hosted on the 17th of january 2024 at 7pm: Earnings Calculation Example: Of course, we all want to know what it can ultimately yield. These are examples based on the Bitcoin price. The total profit is per machine after 4 years, taking the halving into account. Make your own calculation with this spreadsheet by changing the number of machines and the spreadsheet will do the rest. Scenario 1 is live price (current price) and the others are everything up until 150k BTC. In-depth explanation of Bitcoin mining. Bitcoin mining is the process of creating new bitcoins and verifying transactions on the Bitcoin network. It is a crucial part of the cryptocurrency's infrastructure. Bitcoin operates on a decentralized network, meaning there is no central authority controlling the currency. Instead, transactions are verified by a network of computers (nodes) spread across the world. Miners are participants in this network who use specialized hardware and software to solve complex mathematical problems and validate transactions. Here is a simplified explanation of the mining process: - Transaction Verification: When someone initiates a Bitcoin transaction, it is broadcast to the network. Miners collect these transactions into blocks. - Hashing: Miners compete to solve a mathematical puzzle known as a cryptographic hashing function by repeatedly guessing a specific value (nonce) until the desired outcome is achieved. The hashing process converts the block of transactions into a unique string called a hash. The computational power of miners plays a role in increasing their chances of finding the correct nonce and solving the puzzle. - Proof of Work: The successful miner who solves the puzzle broadcasts the newly mined block to the network. Other miners then verify the validity of the block and its transactions. - Block Addition: Once the block is verified, it is added to the existing blockchain, creating a permanent and immutable record of transactions. Miners receive a reward for their work in the form of newly minted bitcoins and transaction fees from the transactions in the block. It's important to note that the mining process becomes progressively more challenging over time due to the design of the Bitcoin network, which adjusts the difficulty of the mathematical puzzle to ensure that new blocks are added approximately every 10 minutes, regardless of the total computing power of the network. Bitcoin mining requires significant computing power and electricity. Therefore, specialized hardware called ASICs (Application-Specific Integrated Circuits) is often used to mine bitcoins efficiently. Additionally, mining farms with numerous ASICs are often set up in locations with cheap electricity to maximize profitability. Overall, Bitcoin mining plays a vital role in securing the Bitcoin network, verifying transactions, and introducing new bitcoins into circulation. Bitcoin mining is divided among various companies that manage mining pools, which are groups of miners who share their computing power and distribute rewards. - Foundry USA: Based in the United States, with 30% of the network's hash rate. Foundry USA is a subsidiary of Foundry Digital, a company that provides equipment financing and advisory services for mining to institutional investors and enterprises. - Antpool: Based in China, with 23% of the network's hash rate. Antpool is owned by Bitmain, one of the largest manufacturers of Bitcoin mining hardware and chips. - F2Pool: Also based in China, with 18% of the network's hash rate. F2Pool is one of the oldest Bitcoin mining pools, established in 2013. - Poolin: Another Chinese pool, with 12% of the network's hash rate. Poolin was founded in 2017 by former Bitmain employees. - Slush Pool: Based in the Czech Republic, with 7% of the network's hash rate. Slush Pool is the first Bitcoin mining pool, launched in 2010. These five pools account for approximately 90% of the total Bitcoin mining power, meaning they have a significant influence on the security and decentralization of the network. Do you want to know all the ins and outs of the man behind EPIC Mining? Check out this personal interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbocnSXTi5I It is a Dutch interview but there are subtitels in English Read the full article

Are the folks at gamepress just off on their reads of characters in arknights or something? Maybe just super focused on one aspect of the game, because a lot of the time it feels/sounds like they're off spinning in their own specific meta but just dismiss stuff that's not quite in it and so it's "bad" or what have you. Or i guess this is more a meta thing, but gamepress seems the face of it.

It's not like the analysts online are incompetent or even really wrong, but I disagree with the fundamentals behind which they review the worth of an Arknights operator.

See, how people analyze the strength of an operator is through the following guidelines

Assume the player has ALL operators in the game

Assume all resources gained passively were gained using a sanity equivalent

The Operator is measured both against the other members of its class, the other members of its roles (DPS, etc)

DPS rules above all else as it determines how fast you can solve a stage.

I fundamentally disagree with these points because

It's a gacha game. You cannot guarantee a player will have all of the units to choose from. You often have to work with what you have, and it is unproductive to look up your operators to see what they do and learn them only to see 'This unit is trash because Surtr exists lol'

You get an INCREDIBLE amount of money and XP over time after you have fully built your base. Being stingy with your resources as if you have manually farmed each and every dollar is ridiculous. I frivolously max out my favorites to E2 max level which is beyond sanity inefficient and I currently have 4 million LMD simply because Im passively earning more money through trading posts and event rewards than I can burn raising operators I like.

I think this is mostly fine, but I don't agree with comparing operators from different classes (I.E, people saying Summer Ch'en's slow was the final nail in Mostima's coffin) because class restriction challenges are some of the most common challenge or CC rules, and the counter to this has always been redundancy in multiple classes.

Unless you are playing in ultra high risk CC, DPS stat checks often make for mediocre strategies in challenge stages simply because the developers are well aware that Surtr and Thorns and Eyjafjalla exist and have begun designing levels with them in mind, which often leads to weirder and niche tactics becoming surprisingly effective. If you really wanted to speedfarm Bishop Quintus during Under Tides for example, you brought Tachanka.

Finally, don't forget that Arknights is a (pretty well designed I'd say) game, and the foremost priority for a game is your personal fun, not efficiency. The levels allow for some very creative and satisfying problem solving, and beating a stage with the units you like adds a personal touch to your solution. It's common among gacha game players to see gachas as jobs with which they juggle multiple, and to see stages as tasks they simply have to get through to get the reward and keep progressing, which is why there's an overwhelming favor for brute speed and efficiency, but imo it does quite a disservice to some of the most fascinating puzzle design I've seen and is why I still love playing the game.

(Also if everyone had every operator then KyostinV wouldn't have to make low rarity guides for every stage just to drag half the playerbase through the finish line. The sheer amount of people who thank him for his help and talk about how they made his solutions work with the operators they have is why I'm a firm believer in never counting any operator off as worthless. They may not look worth it to you, but they've come through for somebody in their time of need.)

So I thought of something fun yesterday while I was playing Magic with my best friend. I haven't played the game in a long time but the single match I played with him seriously sparked the idea:

What if the Lords of Resident Evil Village geeked out one night and played Magic the gathering? What would their decks be like? Why would they choose the colors they do and what sort of strategies would they use? Keep in mind this is all fan speculation and just done for fun. That being said, let's check this out!

Alcina

Colors: green, blue, and white

Pretty much to everyone's surprise she doesn't use vampires in her deck. However she has a shit load of low cost elves, just to hold you over until she can get her big stuff out. She uses green for the effects of trample, reach, and some lifelink. Enchantments are mostly for their power ups, add more mana, or to turn mana into temporary creatures.

Blue is the color of no, you're actually not gonna do that and Alcina exploits the ever loving fuck out of this. This woman has counters for days and will not hesitate to use them. She does it partly for trolling and partly to keep her opponent from attacking while she's getting her bigger monsters out on the field. She actually has a wall that if she blocks with it your creature is more or less frozen and you can't use it as long as it's on the field. As far as creatures go in blue she really likes drakes and Nagas.

As far as white, she has three uses for it: healing her points, making tokens, and power ups for her monsters. As far as monsters go in this regard, she loves flying creatures because unless you have reach or another flyer, you cant block them. This annoys ans frustrates the hell out of players.

Downside: snowballing effect. You'll see this a lot with the lords, actually with the exception of maybe one. If you can get her points down early in the game before she gets her bigger green monsters out, you should be all set. Flyers and reachers are are must have if you're gonna take her on, also don't be afraid to counter her counters to ensure victory. Good luck!

2. Donna

Colors: green and black

Donna is a little more humble of a player. Relatively new to the game, she likes her decks to be simple and effective. Of the lords she's probably the easiest to beat...but...if she let's Angie play, you better bend over and pray to whatever deity you believe in because this doll may thrash you into oblivion if you're not ready. We'll talk about her in a minute.

Black is the color of high risk and high reward. It's a color that surprised the others when she started using it, as she doesn't seem to be the ballsy type. As far effects go, she enjoys the abilities of death touch and lifelink. She'll also take any chance on trying to bring one of her precious creatures back from the dead. She is not afraid to sacrifice her own life points in order to do this, which may work in your favor.

As far green goes, she also likes elves but any creature with forest walk or swamp walk is also a good thing in her books. So if you're a fellow Green or black player, good luck with blocking. As far as enchantments go for green, power ups and square up cards for days. Donna will power up her beasts and make them fight one of your own just to reduce your numbers and will do so gladly.

Downside: it's not a necessarily powerful deck. While it can be hard to be block, her monsters tend to be on the weaker side of don't really hit hard...however...

*Angie

Colors: every. Single. One. Even colorless.

That's right: this doll is not afraid to use fucking eldrazis and will do so with the biggest smile on her face. She also collects slivers...for fun. Of course she does. Angie's deck is an absolute chaotic mess from the outside looking in. To her opponents it looks like a mess and sheer nonsense, but through sheer power of absolute will, Angie usually pulls through with a win and on top of that will take your best card for wasting her time. She has stolen cards from the other lords and will keep doing so because deep down she's a card hoarder and her switchboard is actually as big her deck. It's terrifying. She's able to change the color of most of her creatures to colorless and of course the creatures of her opponents. She also uses some artifact creatures just for flavor.

Downside: this is an absolute nightmare deck to go up against, however she's made one serious mistake: her mana. Angie has surprisingly low mana and will either mana screw or mana flood herself. As scary as it is, the deck is a snowballer and it will take a while to come to its full power.

3. Salvatore

Colors: blue, black, green

Is anyone really surprised that this dude is a blue player primarily? If you thought Alcina was a master troll when it comes to counters, oh hell no. Sal will happily give her a run for her money. Lots of counters, lots of freezing effects, and at least one card that gives him the ability to take two turns. He also likes the cards that allow him to see some cards in his deck and then allow him to shuffle if things aren't going favorably. As for creatures, he adores leviathans and krakens, but also loves the tough as nails merfolk.

Black, as we established before, is a high risk high reward color, but Sal primarily uses it for the creatures with death touch, lifelink, and flying thrown in for flavor. As for enchantments, expect a lot of life points lost and a lot of exiles/discarding. He will use these abilities without hesitation or remorse.

Green is the color of enormous and numerous and Sal lives up to that expectation. He has a few smaller animal creatures to hold his opponent off while he gets his bigger stuff out. Some of his creatures have lifelink and forest walk, and some others have reach. He powers up his creatures and floods his side of the field with token creatures. If you're not careful or fast working enough, you could be staring down a big army of beast tokens very quickly.

Downside: snowballing effect...by a long shot. This deck is big and it has big creatures in it. Sal tends to either mana screw or mana flood himself. In times like these, time is of the essence. If you have creatures with haste, you're actually at an advantage, good job. If you're gonna take a shot at Sal, make it count. Strike fast and strike hard before he gets the leviathans out.

4. Karl

Colors: all of them (used to be red primarily, then red blue and green)

I'm a little biased here admittedly because I love Karl and I want him to be great at something besides being a weapon for Miranda. That being said, he will not hesitate to wipe the floor with your ass if you come off as a snotty cock sucker. If you're new to the game he won't annihilate you as hard, but he'll still beat you. You just won't wind up in the negatives.

Karl took a look at Angie's deck and was like, well I'm gonna take this idea and tame it. And holy shit did it work.

Red is the color of aggression. It's a strike fast and strike hard color. It's the color of burn, and burn you shall indeed. All of his red creatures have haste, meaning he can hit you with them when they come out. While the other colors have summoning sickness, red for Karl absolutely does not. He doesn't have time for that mess. Enchantments will basically allow him to destroy your mana, steal it, or go after your points directly. He won't hesitate to do this. At all.

Blue is the no! Color. And damn does Karl say no a lot. He likes the sort of enchantments that allow him to see into his deck or his opponents hand so that way he knows what to do next. As far as creatures go, he exploits the ever loving fuck out of island walk, since almost everyone uses blue. This makes it very hard to block him. If you're a primary blue player good luck.

Green- green is for reachers and lifelink. It's also really good for getting mana out very quickly. He has a couple spiders with death touch and at least one huge basilisk. Enchantments are for getting more lands out, and strengthening his creatures.

White- White is the color of spam for Karl. He'll make an army of token creatures just to throw them at you until your deck no longer functions. He also has at least two flyers, and one really big wall for blocking. Enchantments are usually power ups, or healing his life points.

Black: black is mostly for death touch, and swamp walk. There's also some lifelink thrown in for flavor. He loves nightmare creatures, and even has some vampires to throw at lady super sized bitch (hey at least he's not above using them!). He's also the only lord to use a planeswalker: vraska, the scheming gorgon. And yes all the lords hate him for it.

Downside: mana. Getting mana on the field for him is actually pretty hard. If he starts with anything besides red, you may have a chance to take him down early. If you have any haste creatures or enchantments that offer haste, for God's sake use it. If you have any creatures with any of the mana walks, you're in luck, in that case he can't block you at all. It's a major weakness he didn't think of. Do not let his vraska get to ten or you're a dead man, quite literally.

So I hope you guys enjoyed that because I seriously thought that was fun. I may do one of these for Miranda or even for the Dimitrescu sisters if you really want me to. Have fun yall, and happy gaming!

‘Aftermath’ Part 9: Be Prepared (Commodus x OC)

Summary: With the Senate officially dissolved, new alliances and plans form. The Emperor calls an old advisor, and two military minds come together to save their Republic.

Warning: Mentions of violence

Word Count: 2,203 

Read Part 1: The Impossible Dream here

Read Part 2: Proud of Your Boy here

Read Part 3: Point of No Return here

Read Part 4: Look Down here

Read Part 5: Beneath a Moonless Sky here

Read Part 6: These Palace Walls here

Read Part 7: Wait For It here

Read Part 8: Something There here

“I had hoped you might have learned some humility and respect.”

Petronius scoffed as Gaius led him out of his villa, having spent the night there after a long discussion filled with songs about the Republic and philosophical quotes. The estate was quite modest for a Senator, or rather a former-Senator. Lemon trees that emanated a sublime citrus fragrance lined the front of the sandstone building.

“Forgive me, Senator. A general is one who only knows to fight their enemy whilst looking them in the eye. He knows not of the art of flattery or the strategy of bending words with a slip of his tongue.”

Gaius sighed. Such is the nature of most military men, he thought, save General Quintus. That man had enough intelligence to save his skin when Commodus seized power for the first time. However, like all military men, his allegiance ultimately returned to the Spaniard at the crucial moment of judgment. “You crave for too much, General,” the older man replied. “It does not become a warrior to yearn for bloodshed so strongly.”

“I want him dead, that is all,” Petronius dismissed. “Rome has suffered enough under his wing.”

“And we shall save our motherland,” Gaius finished. “But we must arm ourselves with alliances and unite the forces under our cause. In the meantime, there may be a chance that Mania may take control of our Caesar before any other weapon can.”

As he reached the iron-gates of Gaius’s estate, he snorted. “With all due respect, Senator. If you are waiting for Commodus to lose himself in madness, then it is now that we must strike.”

Petronius continued, “He has no one left, Gaius. Even his own family had begun to fear him - his sister, his nephew…and possibly anyone else who happened to know Commodus as a child. If we killed him now, there would be no one too mourn for him, or defend him.”

“Humor me, then. How would you, a mere general who lives off the Emperor’s bread and salt, kill him?” Gaius smirked condescendingly.

“Bribe the servants to poison him.”

“Suppose the servants decide to tell the emperor,” Gaius countered. “You would be caught, and they would be rewarded.”

“Then we bribe the gladiators to attack Commodus.”

“He pays their entertainers well enough. Why should they complain or succumb to the influence of an outsider?”

With every counter-remark given by the old man, Petronius felt his temper dissipate bit by bit. Who was Gaius to lecture about the importance of saving Rome from a dictator when he himself, let alone his friends, could not bring themselves to take action? Even after the loss of their positions within politics, all the men were talking about the night before was the beauty of Gaius’s seemingly splendid mistresses. Certainly the wine may have loosened their usually-sharp tongues, but it was surprising, nay unacceptable, to see the state of Rome’s greatest minds.

Could those men not see that by lying low, they were putting the lives of Roman citizens at risk? That by refusing to rise to their call of duty, that they were only clipping the wings of the eagle that symbolized Rome and its greatness? It would only be a matter of time before the emperor, in a bout of madness, paranoia, and pure malice, would sever the talons of this eagle and leave it as powerless as a common fowl.

The general’s nostrils flared while the veins in his forearms throbbed furiously. “I do not care for your shrewd statements, Senator. I do not wish to contemplate upon your retorts, nor do I wish to indulge your appetite for wordplay. As I have told you, I am a general - I shall fight with my hands and not with my tongue. My hands are bound to serve Rome, and all it stands for.”

“Nevertheless,” he hastily added. “Since I have shared your bread and wine, as well as taken refuge in your home during the night, I shall revere you as any proper guest ought to. Fare thee well, Senator. I hope that you and I shall meet again.”

“Fare thee well, General.” Gaius watched as the young man vanished into the hustle and bustle of the public square. He certainly had a problem with the much-too-transparent ideologies that military men had, but in order for Commodus to receive his duly-deserved demise, the Senators needed the favor of the military. Perhaps he ought to the be the one to vouch for diplomacy in the midst of this clash of ideals.

The city was quiet compared to most days, even for a mid-morning. Possibly due to the games taking place today, the plebeians seemed to be missing from the streets. However, peddlers were still out selling their goods - a man clamored for people to buy his new stock of clams and oysters, freshly caught from the Mediterranean, while another advertised fine silks imported from China. Various hues in various designs, he said. A dark red one with a golden border caught Petronius’s eye, immediately remembering his sister’s favorite color.

Perhaps he could buy a bolt of the silk for her, possibly as an attempt to apologize for being away all night. Ever since his brother-in-law had passed away from the wars against Germania, he had sworn to guard his sister and her two sons with his life. Keeping such a vow felt almost effortless under the reign of Marcus Aurelius, but under his son, it was the contrary. She wept in Petronius’s arms the night that Senator Gracchus died, saying that she was glad that her husband received an honorable death instead of a false treason accusation. At that moment, he shushed her for fear that the other Praetorian guards would hear her, reporting them both to the emperor. However, if he could turn back time, he’d tell her not to worry, for the emperor would not live long enough to turn Rome into ruins. And with a warm hug, he would seal his promise to her.

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

Boots clicking, Emperor Commodus paced the empty throne room with a strangely serene look on his face. He’d just come from the games, which never failed to amuse him. For those moments in the Colosseum, he felt as powerful as the gods themselves, taking life as needed, while watching lesser beings fight to survive. Sweat beaded his forehead while he walked, and he almost wanted to remove his laurel crown off due to the heat. Nevertheless, an emperor had to look his best at all times.

From an outsider’s standpoint, it seemed that Emperor Commodus took the Senators’ tongues along with their power. Silence was all those dry old men had to give him today as well. He needed to know what they could possibly be thinking of, nay, he needed to know about their plan to end his reign before they could strike. It was time for an old loyalist to join minds with him again.

“Falco, I’ve been expecting you.” The former senator entered cautiously, his leather sandals echoing against the smooth floor of the palace halls. He bowed before the emperor and stood upright. From the events of last night, it was with much skepticism that any of the senators thought that they could ever receive the emperor’s good graces. Perhaps his former loyalty has now manifested into a blessing. “How may I be of service to you, Caesar?”

Commodus gestured for him to be seated. “I take it that you, along with your colleagues, have heard my decision regarding the new…alterations in the governance of Rome. It must certainly displease you and your colleagues, does it not?”

Without flinching, Falco kept his wits near despite the presence of the temperamental Emperor. “Caesar, I cannot speak for those men. With all due respect, they are no longer my colleagues. All I know is that you are my Emperor, and that every decision you take must have been formed with necessary contemplation." Falco knew he was telling lies. To the Senate, Commodus never gave the impression of a man of thought, let alone the impression of a man.

And as for the Emperor, he knew better than to take the former Senator’s words by face value. Nevertheless, he did need an ally and it was only Falco who gave him advice when the rest of the Senate sided with Maximus.

“Thank you, Falco. Out of those men, it seems that you are the only one who genuinely cares for my welfare. Your priorities lie for the Empire, and for none else. That is why I wish to make you my main advisor. With no Empress and no Senate, I need a good man like you by my side…to rule, and to care for the people.”

Pretending to be stunned, brimming with gratitude, Falco rose from his seat. “Highness, your offer is…one of high value.”

“Join me, Falco,” Commodus extended his hand, which was accepted by the former Senator. “Join me, and we shall usher in a new age of Rome.”

———————————————————————————————————————————————————————

The Sun was ruthless to the troops of Rome today - many a foot soldier grunted with displeasure as they sparred with each other under the sweltering heat. General Petronius and Centurion Philomenus greeted each other with a familiar look, having seen each other at Gaius’s meeting last night.

“I sense tension in your fingers,” the general pointed towards his peer’s hand.

Philomenus chuckled as he glanced at his knuckles circling the hilt of his sword. “I…I thought about my sister. How she must be waiting for me, and how the heat is making her uncomfortable.”

“I empathize - I have a sister as well. Her husband was a legionnaire - do you remember Felix Cassius? No…well, the army is quite massive.”

The centurion picked up his weapon, twirling it absentmindedly. “Forgive me for not knowing him. I think it would take one eons to count every single life lost during the late emperor’s battles in Germania.”

Petronius gritted his teeth. “I wish the emperor’s son lost his life in Germania instead of the emperor.” Almost immediately, Philomenus tackled him to the ground with a sandy hand over his mouth.

“You monster!” Petronius gasped as he tried to catch his breath. “What in the name of Jupiter was that for?!”

“It was for daring to speak against the Emperor. We both know that punishment would be doled out on both of us - on you for your impudent tongue, and on me for listening to your talk of treason.”

“Men like you make me sick,” the general spat. “Was it not you who quoted the great Marcus Aurelius himself, having memorized his extensive writings? Do you not know that by punishing those who speak out against Commodus, you only encourage his tyrannical, anti-republic ways?!”

“Perhaps, but I do know when to keep my tongue in my cheek,” Philomenus retorted. “Did you not see what happened to the Spaniard who dared to challenge the emperor?”

“The Spaniard was once a general, Philomenus. He used to be one of us. If he could not complete his revenge, it would be our responsibility to finish it for him.”

Shaking his head, he took the general behind a wall while pretending to be very thirsty. “I do believe in the ways of the Republic, and that Rome’s golden age ended when the republic was seized by a pompous man pretending to be a dictator.”

“Commodus is not Julius Caesar, Philomenus - he has no military prowess of his own, aside from formidable swordplay.”

“Please, just know that he will not last long. The grain will run out, and the public who loved him so much will turn their backs on him. But while he’s in power, let him be happy.”

“You sound just like those blasted Senators,” Petronius grunted. “Those old men can afford to live off their ancestral wealth for their remaining years, but you and I are not like them!”

Philomenus yelled back, suddenly triggered by the mention of familial affluence. “I know that! My parents perished when I was thirteen, leaving my sister and I penniless with a pair of newborn twins.”

“I have worked a long way to come where I am,” he continued to fume. “I know what I have read speaks of a Republic, but what can I do?! What can we do, given our state?”

“Then join me,” Petronius coerced the other man. “Help me think of a way to kill Commodus, and together we can bring back the Republic Rome was always meant to be.”

“Here is what we’ll do- we will ambush him from the exit gates of the Colosseum. And when he enters without bodyguards, we will make our presence known and attack him,” Philomenus whispered. “I will keep our weapons under my tunic so as not to arouse suspicion.”

“Anger has certainly brought your intelligence into light. I admire your plan, but what will I do?” Petronius asked with a raised eyebrow.

The centurion smirked, “Stay alive, and keep your goddamn mouth shut for once.”

“Commodus must die….for Maximus and for the Senate.”

“No, he must die for Rome.”

3 for 1 AU’s

Hikaru no Go shizz.

Three au’s I probably won’t write, but need to get the ideas out.

1) Sai a Paediatrician with Anxiety™ and Hikaru, who will pull him kicking and screaming into the world of Professional Go.

Featuring:

A) 23 year old Sai’s strict but loving family, who had pressured him into being a medical student, he tried to negotiate being a nursing student but they wouldn’t have it, so now he's doing his first year of work following graduation at the hospital his parents own shares in, because he likes helping families out. He’s passionate about his career and is happy enough to leave Go to the side. After all, Go is just a hobby, he’s not even that good, right? (WRONG! WRONG ON MANY ACCOUNTS!)

Sai learnt Go from his Uncle and was unreasonably obsessed with the game, studying kifu and tsumego for hours and going to Go salons when he had free time all his life. He’s never been as passionate as anything as he had been about Go, but succumbing to his parents pressure he gives up his dreams of playing Go professionally, instead dedicating his life to helping people and making his parents proud.

Hikaru is a 15 year old kid with a badly broken leg that he soundly ignored for much too long, which finds him in the very hospital that Sai is working in. Sai gets attached to Hikaru and because the kid can’t do much but play video games (on the console that everyone shared in the Play Room) and board games (that are mostly missing pieces and tattered) he finds himself drawn into playing Go with his Grandpa and Sai, the nice but whiny doctor who likes to hang around work and interact with the family’s there during his spare time. 

When he learns how to actually play and make sense of Go, Hikaru stops calling Sai nice, because the guy was an actual monster when it came to Go, soundly thrashing both children and adults unlucky enough to ask for a game, even his Shindou-go was reliant on the fact that his students saw what paths he’d create for them.

After a year in hospital and three surgeries later, Hikaru is out of hospital with the unfortunate news that he can no longer play soccer competitively, despite being other wise healthy. He then just slams himself into the world of Go, becoming just obsessed as Sai. 

Both Sai and his grandfather want him to consider going Pro, especially considering the improvements he’s made in a few short months, but he resolutely refuses, even when he becomes flushed with challenges on Net Go. His reasoning? He won’t become a pro unless Sai himself can honestly tell him that he’s happy with only playing Go in his spare time. If he’s happy with the few games he manages to play.

On the flip side of this verse, no one knows who the mysterious and infuriating hikaru is, nor do they know who he studied off of, after nearly 15 straight losses on Net Go however, hikaru suddenly starts winning more and more of his games, able to go toe to toe against some of the known Professional players online, even if he himself was obviously still learning the game. Yoshitaka Waya knows only one thing, whoever this brat is, he’s gonna regret the day he called him an ‘over aggressive know-it-all with poor defence.’  2) Hikaru the Soccer Player.

Hikaru is the cheerful, popular first string midfielder for his school’s soccer club, and Akari is their team manager. Together the duo have helped their middle school and high-school team reach the national winter soccer festivals three years in a row. Despite being a calm, calculated mid-fielder and being captain of his Middle School team, Hikaru has never been invited to any J.League tryouts, mostly because scouter’s say that he plays a relatively risk free game, with a low risk-low reward steadfastness that doesn’t reflect his competitive mentality.

Akari is one of the best managers at her school, an excited, cheerful girl who always knows what to say to bring her team out of a slump, matched with above average intelligence and insane training plans that her Coach is absolutely in love with, Akari’s love for the game was one born from her wish to understand her best friend that much more. In everything she does, Akari only hopes for the best for the boy she thinks of as her brother. After being voted as Vice-Captain for his school team, hitting a slump in his skills and nearly losing their team’s placing in the Summer tournament over the span of two weeks, Hikaru walks into a Go salon near his school to unwind, hoping to maybe win a few games like he did whenever he visited the Go club that Akari is also apart of. Unfortunately, he has the displeasure of running into one Ochi Kosuke there and while the other teen is surly, arrogant and infuriating, he’s undoubtedly a much better Go player. With the rest of his summer being amounted to three more soccer games and two one week training camps, one at the very beginning and one at the very end of summer, he finds almost half of his summer break is spent playing Go toe to toe with the arrogant teen.

In his hunger to win, Hikaru comes up with some unorthodox and risky Go plays to use against Ochi, plays that become integral to his team’s development as he finally utilises his analytical skills to their fullest capabilities, gaining the attention of some of the best under-19 clubs.

Meanwhile, Ochi knows that Hikaru is a famous soccer player at his High-School, but witnessing the insane improvements Hikaru makes in his Go skills in the span of one summer has him questioning if this teen really is just a soccer-idiot like the rumours say he is. After all, an idiot wouldn’t be able to lose against a Professional Go player at an even game with only a two moku difference. As he watches Hikaru improve, he has a faint, eerie desire for his (somewhat) friend to really take up his favoured game. Playing against Akira Touya has been what Ochi’s dreamed of for the past year he’s been a pro, but he can’t help but yearn for a true, all or nothing game against the jock who just won’t leave him alone. 

in other words, a sports anime fanfiction with a lil bit of go because soccer player Hikaru is an absolutely amazing trope lmao. 

lil fax about this au:

a) Ochi has a crush on Akari that only develops after he plays her in a game of Go, while she isn’t anywhere near as talented as her friend, she has three years more experience in the game and an uncanny intuition that makes her an amusing opponent. added to that she’s very pretty and since Ochi’s default emotion is crush them until it stops mattering, he manages to annoy the manager in a way only Hikaru has managed before. will this be a ship? no clue my dudes.

b) Sai is quietly alive, and is the neighbour to Hikaru’s grandfather, a sickly man who can rarely leave his house because of his frail constitution. After Hikaru coerces his grandfather into teaching him about Go following a week of straight losses against Ochi, Sai offers to teach the younger kid. Unfortunately Sai is no teacher and while he very much enjoys the game against the young teen, his only advice comes in the form of mercilessly ripping all of Hikaru’s strategies apart until Hikaru can pinpoint where exactly he first messed up and how he can recover from it.

c) Hikaru and Ochi become (begrudging) friends, only because Hikaru stubbornly refuses to stop bothering the other teen, if only until he can beat Ochi by a 8 moku difference, the same difference that Ochi had during their first game against each other. Ochi grouches and glares and puts his nose up, but is internally embarrassed at this new, affectionate and loud teen who always manages to say endearing stuff with a casual, relaxed face. (Who the heck says “One day I’ll catch you and force you to look only at me” with a serious face?????)

d) after discussing some plays in front of him and enthusiastically (on Hikaru’s side) teaching him the rules of soccer, Ochi offers valuable insight to the Hazeko soccer team. Akari hates it and hates him with a passion when she sees how good his analysis of the game is. It took her most of elementary and their first year of middle school to show any worthwhile game plays and he offers some barely two weeks into learning their plays? All the while with his nose in the air???? Hate.

e) before Shindou and Fujisaki showed up, Shindou with his swift observation skills and hard borne techniques and Akari with her spartan training methods, Haze High’s soccer club had little to no presence. With the two present and having just barely lost their semi-finals placing in the summer tournament, Hazeko returns to the Winter Kokuritsu determined to prove that their summer performance was no fluke. Now, if only they knew what the heck being stars meant and why Shindou suddenly developed a God Complex... Also who is the brat that Fujisaki is trying to crush and why the heck do they have to prove that with her guidance (re:torture) they’re better than that four-eyed brat? Why are first years so weird?

3) Akari the Pro and Hikaru who’s kinda just there until he very much isn’t 17 year old Fujisaki Akari leaves the Go world in an uproar after the former model enters the Pro exams as an outsider and wins with a spotless record.

Claiming to have started Go at 12, everyone in the Go world becomes curious about the young teen, especially when she manages to lose her Shodan match against Gosei-Ogata by a three moku difference. They all wonder the same thing, how did this model get so good and if she has been playing Go casually for five years, then why is it only now that she’s decided to become a Professional? At the peak of her modelling carer?

Inversely, Akari became a Professional Go player to honour her late mentor Sai, a kind neighbour who taught her and Hikaru to play Go while babysitting them for a week when the two were 12, despite them both thinking it an old man’s game, the competitive kids continued playing the game hoping only to defeat their teacher, who urged them to continue on the pro path after discovering that the two were great students.

The duo entered their middle school Go club and by their second and third year, they managed to win against Kaio, the best middle school Go club in Tokyo.

At 14, Akari loses interest in the game having never won against Sai and losing against Hikaru for the better part of the year, and she can’t help but feel like Hikaru will leave her behind when he considers becoming an Insei. Then, the unthinkable happens, Sai passes away while playing against the duo.

For the next year neither teen speak of Go, hanging out like normal until Akari gets offered a modelling contract that keeps her from school and in extension keeps her away from her childhood friend and Hikaru starts hanging out with delinquents.

Fed up with Hikaru distancing himself and finally realising that he was leaving her behind like she had feared years ago, Akari slowly begins to play Go again, relearning the game as she went to Go salon’s and using her old NetGo account. After nearly a year of being reacquainted with the game, she takes the pro exams with only one thing in mind, to play the coveted Kami no itte that her mentor sought after. If she’s already lost two of her closest people, then she’d learn to love the game that she used to fear, to keep the one thing that still tied them together, their style of Go.

plot points:

a) Sai was an up and coming former professional who was one win away from gaining his first title, Kisei, when a politician accused him of money laundering and fixing his students games. with this scandal, his students abandon him hurt because they assumed he didn’t have faith in their Go abilities and his opponents no longer face him with their all or with respect, thinking him a cheater and a disgrace to the Go community. after a win in the Kisei tournament that he knows was gained because his opponent was distracted by the rumours, Sai ceases to play Go competitively, having given up on his family’s approval and name for the game and lost seemingly everything that made the game worthwhile. He meets Hikaru and Akari almost nine years later, despite his personal misgivings and anxieties, he finds himself entranced with these young, talented children, gaining a lost love for Go.

b) At 29, a random park visit with the kids prompts him to face Touya-Meijin, who had been at the park playing a game against his student. Faced by his old rival who had continued to soar in the Go community years after his departure, Sai plays what he announces to be the most beautiful game he’s ever played. The two battle it out on the board for nearly three hours, when Sai finally beats the Meijin by a half a moku difference. Only three people in the world viewed this match, though the Kifu became sought after and studied long after it happened. The viewers? Ogata Seiji, Fujisaki Akari and Shindou Hikaru. Ogata has no clue what happened to the bright, but fearsome child who accompanied the strange Sai and bulldozed his way into the post match discussion, but he knows that where ever Fujisaki wondered, her friend would no doubt follow, no one that talented and that enthusiastic about Go could ever truly give it up.

c) Akira has no clue who this Fujisaki is, having not payed much attention to the Professional Exams considering his own preoccupation in the Honinbou tournament, but when he sees her kifu he has only one question, who is her mentor and is it the elusive man who managed to convince his father to give up his titles and become an amateur? If so, where is that mentor now? And how can Akira convince them to face him on the Goban?

d) Hikaru just wants people to stop spreading rumours about him and Akari, because the buddying model really doesn’t need all the flack people give them. If it means distancing himself to save her reputation, then he doesn’t care, ‘cause hell if he’s gonna let people be convinced their dating and it’s gross that those rumours even exist. It comes as a shock then, when after a campaign that makes her the face of popularised clothing franchise and a new perfume scent made for her, she decides to quit modelling and forces her way into the Go world, against her agency and her parents wishes. Watching his best friend take the Go world by storm, Hikaru can’t help but be angry at Akari for taking up Go again, all the while aching for the game he used to play and wondering, if maybe, Sai would be okay with him playing their game without him. Is it truly okay to play Go without Sai? And if so, when can he trounce Akari? Because she’s gonna get an ego if only upper-dan’s could beat her, and no way was she allowed to be better than him in the game! He refuses! Now if only he could remember how to get good at reading other people’s hands again, because now he could barely read ten moves into a game before getting lost. Also, why didn’t they play good stones like Akari and Sai? Everyone kept playing shitty stones and he can’t read their moves if they use such sloppy hands, jeez!

e) Waya has no clue who Shindou Hikaru is, or why he’s convinced he can beat the newest prodigy Fujisaki Akari when he plays like a clumsy beginner, but he’s determined to keep playing the fascinating teen, especially when he reveals his NetGo nick to be hikaru, a player who dominated the NetGo server nearly four and a half years ago and who hadn’t been seen since a year after he started playing. While Shindou definitely has some untapped potential, he can’t help but wonder why the teen can’t play with the breathtaking speed and monstrous traps like he used to.

f) Hikaru and Akari made each other’s NetGo accounts bc they’re brats like that, so Hikaru’s name is hikaru because Akari couldn’t think of anything else and it wasn’t taken and Akari’s is Fuji-Brat, because Hikaru is an ass like that, a lot of Go players would watch as the two matched each other stone for stone, surprised by how little these mouthy kids knew about the pro world, despite playing at insei level.

g) Sai just doesn’t mention things about the pro world bc he’s used to not talking about it and so, when Akari and Hikaru enter the professional Go world, they’re clueless about everything. They have no clue what dan is, but they know what a Title is, even if they only know the name of two of the titles and they still sometimes forget about the timer and why do they need oteai matches so often, also aren’t those creepy old men kinda weird, i don’t care if they’re important they’re staring and that’s rude/annoying. The Go world is predictably affronted by the duo’s lack of knowledge and it’s the cause of a few minor problems and scandals.

Adam defender’s double standard

sigh

A few weeks ago I made a post about how in the current point where the story is at, the Bees are better fighters than Adam was (https://short-wooloo.tumblr.com/post/190810618519/the-bees-are-better-fighters-than-adam-now)

Of course, I encountered idiots hellbent on sucking adam’s dick, naturally arguing that adam is in fact the most powerful kewlest character in the show uwu, and the reason is because he has so many fights against enemies he’s leagues above in skill and power, or just having an aura, never-mind the fact that he runs away when he doesn’t have the advantage

But one of the weirdest, and most frustrating arguments, is and I quote:

“Blake didn’t train at all during vol.4-6 so she won’t be able to take Adam down. Yang only had couple days of train still won’t match someone with high level years of training.”

So let me get this straight: because the show didn’t actually depict Blake and Yang training, or in Yang’s case “only a few days”, that means they didn’t (we’ve seen this dumb argument before and I’ll get to it in a sec), but Adam on the other hand is “high level” and has “years of training”,

“Years of training”, something we never once see Adam partake in, ah I see now, if the show doesn’t actually depict Blake and Yang getting lots of training, that means it didn’t happen/doesn’t count, but Adam?  Someone who has never been shown or said to have years of training?  He has it, obviously

As for the “high level” comment, Adam opponents include: robots (we specifically see Blake and Weiss destroy the upgraded newer models), an uber-laser beam robot, which he specifically needed Blake’s help to defeat (we never see it again and the victory here is less skill and more a power perfectly suited to negate the opponents primary attack), people without aura (average military grunts, white fang goons, and human thugs), unarmed people, people who are at a disadvantage/are weaker than he is, people who’s aura is depleted, or people who he knows how to fight and get into their head because he’s familiar with them and their fighting style

Clearly the earmarks of someone on the highest of levels

Now lets get back to the supposed “lack of training” comment

I feel like this should be obvious but clearly it needs to be asked, Ya’ll realize that the scene of Yang training with Tai is not meant to be seen as the only time she trained right?  The scene is meant to convey that she has been training, not that this is the sum of all the training she has done, we don’t need several episodes of her training or a montage, is that what people seriously expect and want the show to do?  Just keep cutting to training fights that have no stakes between the same people over and over?  Just a continuous string of mindless fights that don’t contribute to the story but in fact distract from the story being told-

Oooooooooh wait, I just remember what fandom this is, “hur dur, show don’t tell, me want more fights, stop talking, why talking? where fight? me want fights me can’t follow basic storytelling, but me hide it by claiming the show is only telling and not showing”

ahem

Anyways, the amount training Yang has received is implied, the training fight between her and Tai is not meant to be see as taking place immediately following Vol 4 chapter 4, the 4 storylines of Vol 4 are not meant to be seen as happening 1 to 1 on the timeline

But aside from her training with Tai, Yang also trains with Oz, Ruby and her friends, the show makes a point in Vol 5 to say that RNJR is spending its time practicing and training, and if I recall correctly, this is supposed to have taken place over the course of a month, in short the points where RNJR meets up with Oscar/Ozpin, when Yang and Weiss reunite with them, and the battle for Haven are not meant to be seen as all happening immediately following each other, there are days/weeks between the events, do you really think Yang would just be doing nothing for all that time?

Speaking of timelines and when things happen, I should get to Blake, now yes, we don’t see Blake training, but its not like she’s sitting around the whole time, she was fighting White Fang members (specifically high-up skilled ones such as the Albains and Ilia) and Grimm, practice is good and all, but there’s no substitute for the real deal, and as for the timeline thing, remember how they transport the Militia from Menagerie by boat?  That’s no speedy trip, and given that said militia had some rudimentary or basic training down by the time they got to Haven, its not much of a jump to assume that during that time in addition to training the militia Blake was also training

But getting back to the real deal vs training thing, that’s the bulk of where team RWBY’s skill and strength come from, they have lots of hands-on real-life experience (this is part of the reason they beat ACE-OPs),

You don’t become a better fighter just from training alone, you need to have experience against real enemies too, a person can train their whole life but that’s no substitute for experience,

Case and point, RWBY spends a lot of time in fights with enemies that are aiming to hurt or kill them, training is good and all, it keeps you in shape and your skills fresh, but outside of accidents you aren’t in any real danger, but in a real fight where the enemy will hurt or kill you, that’s going to push your skills to the limit or even beyond, thus when they beat their enemies the experience has taught them and made them better fighters

Consequently, that’s also why Bumbleby improved and adam stagnated, during their time between Vol 3-6 the Bees have been facing Grimm and Human/Faunus opponents that can match them or give them a run for their money in a fight, as opposed to adam, who’s “fights” are him stabbing an unarmed woman, slaughtering White Fang goons (who everyone beats up with ease) or briefly “fighting” Blake and Sun before running away at the earliest convenience, now the main point of that is in the only instance where Adam came close to being in a fight that could have been an actual challenge he ran away as soon as he could, but every other fight was one where he was in no danger

Now if I could use a video game (rpg?) metaphor, Yang and Blake are like the players who face off against bosses/enemies that are equal or greater to them, a high risk high reward scenario, adam is a player who only fights the weak units that have no real chance of seriously threatening him, low reward, minimal risk,

Now I’m not going to say if one strategy is better than the other, but look at it like this, due to the rewards being higher, Blake and Yang gain more xp from their fights, whereas adam has to face numerous enemies to get the same amount of xp

Translating this back to RWBY’s world, by facing stronger opponents Blake and Yang get pushed to the limit and are forced to worker harder and become better fighters, but because adam fights people weaker than himself he almost never hits the limit (the fight at the end of Vol 6 was probably the only case of such ever happening in his life), and thus doesn’t need to try harder or put effort into improvement

(~1,500 words / 6 mins)

google Zarus

- @contemplate-everything

Hah, I had forgotten about him, but when it comes to "The Gods are Racist," he isn't what I had in mind. (I'll tag in @samueldays and @morlock-holmes as well.)

To put it simply, in any fantasy setting in which there are multiple sapient species (to call them 'races' suggests a smaller difference between them than there is, in my opinion), we must wrestle with the question of why there is any species less intelligent, less kind, and shorter-lived than the smartest, kindest, longest-lived humanoids.

There are a whole lot of different perspectives we can take on this, which makes it a fertile creative territory.

There are, broadly, four major reasons a species can be evil (or 'evil') in a fantasy setting: environment, culture, innate, or selected.

1. Environment.

In a friend's setting, orcs are not less intelligent or inherently more bloodthirsty than humans, but have been pushed onto more marginal lands that have less productivity, making it harder for them to develop 'civilized' agricultural states. They end up more likely to raid as well, as their economic production for advanced goods is lower.

A species could also be otherwise normal, but are widely hooked on evil magic drugs that just aren't available in other areas, or have a local environmental pressure that murders kind people.

2. Culture.

A species may worship an evil god and exist within a culture of self-sustaining evil norms, where social approval is based on being evil and altruistic people are considered exploitable morons. A member of that culture has, as their entire life experience, expectations formed on this basis.

3.A. Innate (Body)

A species may have a fundamental evil resource conflict with another species. For instance, a vampire who must murder one human a year to survive would have to be crazy moral in other ways (such as, I dunno, holding closed a gate to the infernal realms?) not to come out, on balance, quite evil just by surviving.

Alternatively, a species that has a very high fertility might quickly exhaust local carrying capacity and come into resource conflicts with neighbors more often.

3.B. Innate (Mind)

This is basically an AI safety argument. A species could be designed to enjoy cruelty more, or to be more xenophobic, or more paranoid, or to have more bloodlust or less inhibition, just as an AI could be designed to be a paperclip maximizer. In a fantasy setting it can be an absolute binding, but it could easily just be an increased frequency. Imagine having an implant in your head that rewards being a bad person.

A species might also not be innately more evil, but have greater risk factors, such as a natural craving for power and complexity, or an ability to consciously control their own sense of empathy for others.

4. Selected

A species (such as fiends) may be impossible to become or impossible to remain as without being evil.  Thus, the entire population of that species consists of evil people, or people who were once extremely evil.

I actually like all of these, as they provide a rich palette to paint with and can be used to create morally-challenging scenarios when used together. Giving orcs the capability to be good but having a tougher time of it will tie the clerics and paladins in knots - but also more clearly separates them from the neutral and evil characters.

And let's give four reasons for their existence as well.

1. Evolution

In our world, humans ended up being the only sapient species, but in a world with magic, evolution might go in very different directions. It could be simply that no one made goblins on purpose, but a sapient species with short lifespans, small resource usage, and high fertility has an evolutionary edge in many regions, particularly when technology levels are low.

On the flip-side, elves living for such a long time allows them to access more magic and more complex magic, resulting in a feedback loop in environments where magic resources are rich. Same for intelligence, which is used for developing and casting spells - but also for finding mutually-beneficial arrangements.

In a magic-evolutionary environment, it's possible that the species create the gods rather than the other way around, so they tend to (probably accidentally) create deities that reflect their strategies and tactics, which then reinforce them both culturally and environmentally.

2. Evil Deities

Evil deities are, well, evil. In the interests of spreading their evil influence, it would make sense to create evil sapient creatures, even if a handful of them will defect to good. The suffering of these creatures matters little to their creators, as evil deities are evil.  This seems to be the usual reasoning.

3. Divine Ecology

If gods need prayers, then a logical thing to do is to deliberately create sapient species that will worship you. Creating an evil species is like creating a brainwashed population, only it's down to the innate level so it's even more effective. This evil species also won't have moral objections to spreading your worship by conquering the rest of the planet.

Alternatively, species may not be equally easy to create. Creating an elf species might cost Divine Points, which then can't be used for shaping mountains or adding oceans or building temples or something. It might also be high-risk - long life may mean low fertility, which could be devastating if there's some kind of depopulation event.

4. Mortals & Evil Mortals

In this scenario, both the long-lived species (like elves) and the short-lived or 'evil' species (like goblins) were deliberately engineered on purpose, probably by evil wizards. Who was going to stop them? Paladins? That sounds like a quest!

This situation may have occurred much earlier, in a more advanced body-hopping fantasy-transhumanist civilization, where elves were high-end 'sleeves' and goblins were cheap and expendable bodies that people would exit once the time period was up. Then that civilization collapsed, and the body-hopping technology was lost... until now...

This gives us multiple options for a "The Gods are Racist" campaign.

1. Undoing the Dark Gods' Handiwork - A group of adventurers set out to remove the evil influence that the Dark Ones exert over orcs and goblins, and possibly increase their lifespan and intelligence to be similar to that of humans (or even elves). The Good gods support this quest.

BRANCH: The Dark Ones do exist and do corrupt the orcs, but the original technology used by the body-hopping civilization to create orcs is discovered, calling into question just who or what the good deities are, since this is completely incompatible with the creation mythology.

BRANCH: Removing the evil influence is possible (and successful), but increasing the lifespan is not, imposing a moral dilemma.

2. Undoing the Gods' Handiwork - A group of scientific-rationalist transhumanist adventurers challenge the deities, which in a more Greek god type way, have made the different species different without appropriate moral evaluation.

BRANCH: Turns out the Greek gods are just very powerful and very obnoxious wizards that have become full of themselves over the millennia. No higher entity is discovered with certainty. Subsequently voluntary species-change technology is introduced; only thanks to vanquishing the wizards is its energy cost economically feasible.

BRANCH: Turns out the Greek gods were once mortal and they would really like to retire from this deity thing. They scout the adventurers as their replacements, who end up having to make a lot of similar decisions due to similar resource constraints, just like the last batch and the batch before that.

3. Elf Supremacy - A group of adventurers find a magical device able to turn other sapients into elves. They discover this when they accidentally use it on themselves.

BRANCH: This is part of a plot by the Elf Deity (who is Evil) to transform everyone into elves, thus taking all worship in the entire world for himself. The party must root out and stop this vile Elf Conspiracy; unfortunately being an elf is considered so desirable that the conspiracy has many backers and this proves difficult. They end up having to take assistance from rival evil deities.

BRANCH: At first they use this device for immense profit, because so many people want to be elves, before discovering the effects are contagious, unleashing the (involuntary) Elf (Transformation) Plague. It turns out this was why the technology was not used before, and they must embark on a quest to stop it on behalf of the Elf Deity, before the other deities go to war.

BRANCH: As a subversion, it turns out there’s nothing especially dangerous about the technology at all.  The adventurers spend the rest of the campaign increasing their opportunities for their company, Elf Inc., to make huge amounts of money, and occasionally being challenged by conservative elements in other societies as they expand their markets.

4. Newly Unequal - All the species were equal until just a few hundred years ago.

BRANCH: This was the result of an elf supremacist wizard using magic to transfer other species' positive attributes to elves. The quest to stop him failed. Fortunately, this power is concentrated in a series of physical artifacts that can be destroyed. Elves aren't even a 'real thing,' but rather are descendants of a specific kingdom at the time of the switch, which has used this transferred power to subjugate the other 'species'.

BRANCH: Every kingdom in the world is still trying to figure out what happened as the global political situation has been rapidly destabilizing. It turns out that actually, this is what the species are normally like (in the absence of intervention), and a series of magical stations built by an ancient empire drained energy from more powerful species and transmitted it to less powerful species for the benefit of ideology and political stability. The adventurers face a moral choice in reactivating it, not least because the effect will rapidly kill some of the oldest members of the high-power species.

Types of Poker Tournaments

Poker tournaments are poker games played by 10 to 1,000 players. Typically, these players compete at various tables, removing other players and heading on to the final game where the tournament winner gets decided.

There are several poker tournaments in India where people can take part. Some of the most common forms are:

Freezeout Poker Tournaments: The freezeout is essentially a poker tournament format that does not require players to rebuy chips after the first time they run out of them. Many tournaments fall into this category including almost all high-profile tournaments. Many tournaments, however, require players to rebuy chips within the tournament's first hour, or before their first chips have run out.

Rebuy: As you might expect, rebuy tournaments are entirely different from freezeout tournaments. These tournaments are perfect for players who want a second chance to try their luck once again. Some tournaments allow players in any stage of the competition to rebuy chips, but these are rare. Players can most often only rebuy during the early stages.

Turbo and Super Turbo: Turbo and Super Turbo poker tournaments online are games that are very fast and exciting. In a typical game of poker, the blinds are increased on average every 15 minutes. The blinds, however, increases every five minutes in turbo play. They are increased much faster in super turbo tournaments. Thus, players entering these tournaments should have a great deal of experience and a strong focus. Playing with a good strategy is crucial, or you get pushed out quickly.

Guaranteed Poker Tournaments: Guaranteed poker tournaments offer players a guaranteed prize instead of a collective prize which depends on the number of buy-ins received. If more players join the tournament than anticipated, then the guaranteed reward will increase.

Satellites: For a fraction of the original price, Satellite tournaments allow you to enter high profile tournaments. For example, if you want to take part in a competition where the buy-in is INR 10,000, but you cannot have the funds for it, you can join in a satellite tournament. If you win, you might only get expected to pay an INR 5,000 buy-in for the main tournament.

Shootouts: The most popular live and online tournaments you will encounter are Shootouts. The table is active until only one player remains at it and all the other players get removed. That player then moves on to the final table where the winners from other tournament tables are joining him. This tournament is easy to play out, which is why it is so famous.

Freeroll Tournaments:  For novice players, freeroll tournaments are the best choice. The explanation is that without buy-ins, such tournaments are played. Players play for free and take any accrued wins. The risk is low, but typically the potential win is not spectacular either.

Bounty Hunter

: Bounty hunter tournaments are unique in that they allow you to win money without winning the tournament. Each player pays a buy-in, which becomes a part of the bounty. When a player gets knocked out, the bounty is given to the player who knocked them out.

The Rise of the Phoenix: My thoughts on MUA3′s 2nd DLC

Last October I wrote a review for MUA3’s first DLC expansion pack, ‘The Curse of the Vampire’. Now, after the release of the game’s second expansion, ‘The Rise of the Phoenix’, I really want to talk about this one as well!

This X-Men themed expansion gives Season Pass owners four new heroes to add to their roster: Iceman, Gambit, Cable and Phoenix, as well as a new mode called ‘Danger Room’, in which players go head-to-head in a series of trials. A new seasonal rewards system called ‘Events’ is tied to this mode, giving bonus prizes to players who win many Danger Room matches. The update also expanded the previously released ‘Gauntlet Mode’ by adding new challenges to tackle, and re-stocked the SHIELD Depot with more costumes to unlock. Finally, just like the last expansion, the level cap was raised (this time from 150 to 200) and new upgrades were added to the Alliance Enhancement Grid so you can make your heroes even stronger than before!

I was worried this expansion would be delayed (a prospect that felt more likely as we approached the end of December with no news). But luckily the VGA 2019 delivered a trailer which settled my fears and ‘The Rise of the Phoenix’ was released on December 23rd just in time to meet the vague ‘late 2019’ deadline we were promised. But was the expansion worth the wait? To answer that, I’m going to look at it one feature at a time, starting with…

The Characters

Although I’m disappointed that X-23 didn’t make the cut, I have to admit all four newcomers are fun to play due to their refreshingly unique abilities.

Phoenix’s defence stats are the worst in the game, but she obliterates bosses and mobs of weaker enemies alike, can revive her teammates with her EX (which also auto-revives Phoenix if she gets KO’d after using it) and can recharge her team’s EP using Cleansing Flames. Any character with a low Energy stat or who relies heavily on their abilities and/or synergies becomes much stronger with Phoenix on their team, so not only is she fun to play, she makes other heroes more fun to play as well! Because of this, I’ve gained a new appreciation for a character I’ve always overlooked before, and The Phoenix has risen to become one of my new favorite heroes to play in MUA3!

Gambit is a deceptively powerful character with some interesting tricks up his sleeve. His Luck of the Draw ability sets down explosive cards which remain dormant for a long time, allowing him to create multiple traps that he can detonate simultaneously with Kinetic Burst for a domino effect of explosions, dealing massive damage! Alternatively, Gambit can cancel into his air attack after setting the cards for a quicker but weaker explosion. Because of his self-synergies and high damage output, it makes Gambit one of the strongest solo-characters in the game in my opinion. Très bien!

Cable has a kit full of support abilities, including a gravity bomb, a reflector shield and an automatic sentry gun called Extreme Arsenal, all of which his teammates can take advantage of for some wicked synergy attacks. Cable can also teleport to escape from danger or use TK Spike to knock enemies back, although holding the attack for too long will lower Cable’s defence for a bit. He’s got more tactical variety than other ranged heroes but his solo damage output is terrible, making Cable reliant on his teammates to do the bulk of the offence.

Iceman can boost his teammates’ defence and give them the ice element (if they’re a weapon user) with Flash Freeze. The ability lasts for a long time, making it extremely useful, but the rest of Iceman’s moveset (especially his midair slide) is very slow, which is why I’d say he’s the least enjoyable to play out of the four newcomers.

The Gauntlets & New Mechanics

I enjoyed Gauntlet Mode in the last expansion, so I’m happy to see it return with 11 new challenges in this one. The new Gauntlets are fundamentally the same as the old ones, but instead of vampiric enemies, they feature two new mechanics: the Phoenix Force and Danger Room hazards! The new Gauntlets also contain higher level challenges (going from Level 20 to Level 180, compared to the original Gauntlet Mode which rises from Level 5 to Level 120), and two new enemy types: Nova Corps and Asgardians. While we’ve seen these characters before as NPCs in story mode, it’s nice to have a little more enemy variety than before.

Defeating an enemy under the influence of the Phoenix Force will cause it to drop a flaming phoenix. Absorbing this will heal some HP, add fire projectiles to your attacks and the fire element to your weapon (if your character has one) at the cost of being inflicted with the burn status effect for the rest of the trial, slowly draining your life. However, Iceman, Ghost Rider and Phoenix are immune to being burned and therefore suffer no drawbacks. The Phoenix Force is a fun risk/reward mechanic and I think the visual effects of it are amazing! However, the frame rate suffers when there are several Phoenix Force enemies onscreen, especially in handheld mode. The lag never reaches ‘unplayable’ levels of bad, but it does make the battles unnecessarily harder.

The new Gauntlets also feature Danger Room hazards. From giant crushers that fall from the sky to little machines that shoot waves of elemental energy, these obstacles are made to distract and frustrate players into making game-changing mistakes. The most annoying hazards have to be the gravity nodes, which magnetically push you away, and the barrier nodes, which protect the boss from all attacks until they are destroyed.

Overall, I’d say these new mechanics are interesting additions to Gauntlet mode, but I prefer fighting the vampiric enemies in the old Gauntlets. The Reborn, Infected and Cursed all required different tactics to defeat them, but I never felt like I had to change my strategy when fighting the Phoenix Force enemies or the Danger Room hazards. The only times I was forced to adapt were when the gravity and barrier nodes spawned, as they have to be destroyed ASAP. But the new Gauntlets are still satisfyingly challenging, and I hope we receive even more in the third expansion!

The Danger Room

I want to start this part of the review with a quote I found on the MUA3 forums:

‘’Danger Room is such a miserable experience. Lag out the ass, framerate drops like crazy, unfair status effects. There is nothing fun about this at all. I’m only playing it for the rewards’’

I think this sums up the Danger Room experience perfectly. It’s a mode where you compete in teams against other players (or against the AI) to be the first to win in three rounds. Mini-objectives will appear at random as you fight, awarding the team who completes them first by granting them buffs or weakening the opposition. It sounds alright, but the mode is riddled with glitches and unfair mechanics that make it the least enjoyable experience I’ve had playing MUA3 ever. To avoid this review becoming a rant, I’ll quickly summarize the flaws of this mode.

1) Only the last round counts. Winning the previous rounds gives your team buffs that lasts until the end of the match, but they make little-to-no difference. This leads to many players going AFK until the third round, which is frustrating.

2) At random, there will be a fourth round where you fight Dark Phoenix. If this happens, the third round becomes irrelevant and whoever defeats Dark Phoenix wins the match. It’s very unfair that you can completely steamroll the other team, only to lose the entire match because of a random-chance battle at the end.

3) Completing mini-objectives can inflict status effects like bind and paralyze. These last for a long time, often leading to your losing the round, all because the other team jumped 20 times before you did.

4) The lag is extremely bad.

5) Gambreaking glitches occur often, such as when an enemy spawns in a place you can’t reach.

6) Some rounds are won by whoever reaches the end of the stage first, so characters who can teleport (like Nightcrawler) have a huge advantage.

7) When fighting the AI, they complete mini-objectives inhumanly fast and are seemingly not affected by the debuffs you throw at them.

Danger Room still has its good points. For one, all characters are automatically set at a specific level depending on which difficulty you choose (Alpha = Level 25, Beta = Level 50, Gamma = Level 100, Delta = Level 200), so players can try out any character they want without having to level grind first. The rewards you obtain from winning Danger Room matches are also great, giving you a ton of credits and SHIELD Tokens, not to mention the rewards you can get through the Events. But based on gameplay alone, the Danger Room is definitely ‘’a miserable experience’’.

Events

In a surprise twist, the expansion added a new seasonal rewards system to MUA3, similar to the battle pass in Fortnite. During the Event, playing Danger Room matches will award you Event Points. Collect 5 Event points and you’ll move up to the next Event Tier and win prizes such as XP Cubes, SHIELD Tokens, items, voice commands and costumes. The amount of Event Points you earn depends on the difficulty, with Alpha only awarding 1 point while Delta awards 5 points. You earn double points when fighting other players rather than the AI, and will even earn some points for losing.

If you have a Nintendo online subscription, you can clear all 30 Tiers of the Event in just 15 Danger Room matches, which makes the pain of playing that mode more bearable, especially since the Event rewards themselves are well-worth the effort. But for players who can only fight offline against the AI, the experience becomes twice as long and hard. Luckily the Event lasts for roughly two months, so there’s lots of time to finish it. But it doesn’t quite make up for the fact that Events are essentially a ‘’free-to-play, pay-to-win’’ experience.

I think Events are a great way to extend the longevity of the game and provide something to do between expansions, so I hope they add more in the future. But I also feel they need to make some big changes to Danger Room and how Event Points are acquired offline to make it more enjoyable.

Other Changes

MUA3 saw another level cap increase this expansion, with heroes now being able to reach Level 200. Initially I wasn’t too thrilled, because the grind from 100 to 150 was tiring enough, but thankfully the XP needed to get from 150 to 200 is much lower. Your stats at Level 200 are roughly 15% higher than your stats at Level 150, and 37.5% higher than your stats at Level 100, so the boost you get from all that grinding is helpful in the new Gauntlets. New upgrades were also added to the Alliance Enhancement Grid to match the level cap increase, including one that decreases the time needed to revive teammates by 50%.

New costumes for Wolverine, Magneto, Storm, Nightcrawler, Psylocke, Cyclops, Colossus, Loki, Ghost Rider, Scarlet Witch, Dr.Strange, Punisher, Blade, Moon Knight and Morbius were added, most of which are purchasable from the SHIELD Depot. You’ll need lots of SHIELD Tokens to buy all of them, but luckily the Tokens you get from playing Gauntlet mode were increased in this update! Unfortunately, the Tokens you get from Nightmare mode have been decreased. But since I play Gauntlet lots more than Nightmare, I’m happy with these changes overall. Between this and the SHIELD Tokens you get through the Event, its easy enough to buy all of the new costumes, which is good.

Finishing Thoughts

In conclusion, I’d say the Rise of the Phoenix is a mixed bag. The characters are great, the Gauntlets are enjoyable and the Events have a lot of potential. However, as for whether the expansion was worth the wait…honestly, I’m not sure it was. I did enjoy playing it, but after waiting three months with no news, I expected more than what we got. Nowhere is this more apparent than the Danger Room, which feels like the devs didn’t play-test it before release.

Luckily, they seemed to have learned from their mistakes. Nintendo USA’s Twitter account recently released a teaser image of the third upcoming expansion, ‘Shadow of Doom’, which is already a big step-up from the radio silence we received in the months leading up to the Rise of the Phoenix. Hopefully this means the third expansion will be an improvement on this one. Who knows, we might even get the new story content the community has been asking for since the Curse of the Vampire!

I think I’ll end this review on that optimistic note. Until next time, true believers.

Smoke and Iron Reread chapter 35-End

Here we are at the end of the book. Looking for Morgan, Wolfe, and Santi as usual.

Thomas!!! It’s so nice to see his way of thinking here.

Chemical glows require power supplies, and those power supplies will also work for the Ray of Apollo. Interesting. What kind of power? Not electrical, since that got sent to the Black Archives. Quintessence?

Wolfe is watching Thomas while the Spanish ambassador and troops freak out over the power supplies. Wonder how long he’s been keeping an eye on him. Just since the power went out? Or longer?

Like Wolfe and Santi, Thomas needs to be doing something to keep the trauma from overwhelming him. As soon as he has no more work to do, he cracks.

An addition to thoughts about scents that we’ve bounced around: Khalila is now wearing jasmine perfume, which Thomas recognizes. That gives us two scents for her, doesn’t it? Cinnamon and jasmine. Do those go together, or does she pick different ones depending on her mood and/or what’s available?

Wolfe told Thomas that talking about Rome would help. Wolfe has not talked much about Rome himself. Wolfe knows what’s good for him, but hasn’t been able to do it. And here’s Thomas, too, having a hard time talking. Rome was that devastating that neither of them has processed it enough to put it into words yet.

I was surprised by Wolfe’s reluctance to use the Ray of Apollo the first time I read this, but after looking more closely at the scene in Brightwell castle where they test them in Ash and Quill, this fits. So much of Wolfe’s supposed ruthlessness is a front. At heart, he is uncomfortable with violence, especially on the scale of these new weapons.

But some of this is also just Wolfe’s communication style clashing with Thomas’s. Wolfe is deflecting his discomfort with sarcasm, which Thomas finds upsetting. Thomas argues back with appeals to their shared trauma, which Wolfe finds upsetting. Both are so focused on protecting themselves that they don’t realize how much they’re hurting each other.

To follow the flow of conversation, we have Wolfe first expressing wonder at Thomas’s engineering skill, and Thomas being at once humble and vulnerable by explaining that he needed to keep busy. Thomas is probably looking for an expression of support here. But that hits too close to home for Wolfe, who can’t handle the combined vulnerability of being nice and being reminded of his own trauma. So Wolfe tries to laugh it off. Even to Thomas that laugh sounds bleak. And then Wolfe snarks, because that’s what Wolfe does when he feels too vulnerable. But Thomas takes it as an attack. I don’t think Thomas comes from a background of using insults as humor: look at his reaction to Callum Brightwell putting Jess down in a way that Jess pretty much brushed off. It’s also hitting one of Thomas’s insecurities, which Wolfe might not even realize. Thomas is uneasy with the fact that after Rome, he’s built nothing but weapons, in contrast to the peaceful things he built before. And Thomas fights back against this perceived attack with repeated reminders of Wolfe’s trauma, which does nothing to help Wolfe feel less vulnerable. That silent glare at the end? I think that might just be Wolfe realizing that they’re triggering each other and finding a way to back down.

Santi is scoping out the opposing forces and analyzing the tactical situation. He’s calmer than he was before. Having things to do helps. Having a whole night with Wolfe probably helped too.

Zara tries to appeal to Santi’s sense of strategy, but it’s not working. He’s already committed, and he and Wolfe have already accepted their likely deaths. Santi is more comfortable with trying and losing than with not trying. But I don’t think Zara could succeed in convincing Santi any other way. Her loyalties might be conflicted, but his aren’t. The low odds of victory are all she has.

Santi has fully adopted the kids now: losing Dario hurts more than any of the other apparent failures of their plans.

Santi has really grown to like Dario: “as unlikable as Dario had been at times, he’d changed. He’d become something better.” Somewhere in the weeks he’s spent working with Dario since the betrayal, Santi has seen something in him that he respects. @thegreatlibraryfangirl, have fun with this little hint at Santi/Dario possibilities.

“It’s a dragon. It breathes Greek fire.” Credit where credit is due. Zara is a terrible backstabbing traitor, but this is a good line.

“Wolfe looked up, and Santi found himself smiling. No, grinning. He saw the matching, vulpine expression on his lover’s face.” I’ve said this before, but really, Santi has never been more turned on in his life. And Wolfe knows it. Santi: OMG you killed me a dragon, I love you! Wolfe: Why, yes, I did. I expect to be rewarded with sex.

And this is the moment that Zara picks to try to talk Santi out of siding with Wolfe. Very bad timing, Zara.

I think this might be an honest statement of Zara’s feelings here. As we’ve discussed in threads that are impossible to find on this hellsite, Zara probably doesn’t know exactly what Wolfe went through. She’s just seen how it’s affected Santi: “I’ve watched you drag yourself through hell for him.” Of course, even without that, she dislikes Wolfe and doesn’t consider him worth risking death over.

Zara also appeals to the oaths Santi has taken. To Santi, the Library already betrayed him, so it’s not a betrayal to go against those oaths now. But Zara has no reason to feel the same. This is also the last appeal she can think of to make: if he isn’t convinced by the risk or by the idea that Wolfe isn’t someone worth fighting for, maybe an appeal to his sense of honor might work.

Santi gives Zara a chance to change her mind. He is either very confident that she cares too much about him to shoot, or he cares so much about her that he’s willing to let her shoot him. Maybe some of both.

Just in case Santi’s devotion to Wolfe wasn’t really, really clear: “I would go to the lowest depths of hell for him.”

Here’s another part that could read more than one way: “It would be unkind of him to lie to her. He would never choose her over Wolfe. Best she understand that now, at the end of all this.” Santi and Zara might have a purely platonic friendship that is strong enough that she could reasonably expect he would choose that friendship over his relationship with Wolfe. Santi and Zara could have a platonic friendship with Zara hoping it might turn romantic. Maybe there was a romantic or sexual relationship between Santi and Zara, and she hoped to become his primary partner instead of Wolfe. Regardless, this is an ending for Santi and Zara. She forces a choice between her and Wolfe, and there’s only one way that can go.

A rare public display of affection for Wolfe and Santi. Hugs! They’re getting more comfortable with showing affection in front of the kids.

“Santi pulled his lover close, and in this quiet moment before everything began, and ended, he was happier than he’d been in years.” This could be about Zara: the tension between her and Wolfe might have been weighing on Santi a lot. But it’s more than that, I think. Ever since Wolfe disappeared, Santi has been pulled in different directions by conflicting loyalties. There was his company, the Library, and Wolfe, and they weren’t all on the same side anymore. With Zara’s departure, Santi has severed the last tie that held him back from committing to a single side, and he feels much better that way. He, Wolfe, and his company are all working to reform the Library.

Santi’s company, or at least the portion of it joining in on the rebellion, is 500 soldiers. There are 500 Elites. Santi mentioned seeing multiple Elite companies, so those must be smaller than regular High Garda companies.

They have 5 troop carriers, and Glain says those can hold 50 if they crowd people in, so 10 to a carrier.

Now that Santi doesn’t have the Library pushing him to violate his ethical principles, here he is insisting on them in his first orders as rebel commander. Protect civilians, minimize killing.

Santi is perfectly happy to negotiate a temporary truce with the smugglers. Again, avoiding violence where possible and focusing on the goal.

There is a second dragon automaton almost complete in the workshop.

Morgan is gasping for breath and struggling to walk. How much of this is just the drug’s effects, how much is from her fighting it to access her power?

Morgan had a little bird automaton from Thomas to comfort her the first time she was trapped in the Iron Tower. Now the Archivist is attacking with birds. Maybe not deliberate, but still, ouch.

But then Morgan takes a bird back. Reclaiming the symbol and killing Gregory with it.

Also on a thematic note, here’s a case of lack of imagination being a villain’s downfall. One of the things that separates our heroes from the villains is imagination, and now we’re seeing imagination prevail.

The drug was somehow ties to Gregory himself. He goes down, Morgan gets her power back. But then she immediately overuses it and feels the paths inside her “scorch in painful streaks.” She’s at risk of corrupting herself again.

Morgan feels love for Jess, and is confident in that love. It’s a very powerful feeling, inspired by his insistence on protecting her. Of course, they’re all also about to die. Kids, kids, please consider the effect of adrenaline on your emotions. All of you.

It’s not explained, but why do I suspect that it was Annis who talked Eskander into joining the battle? She’s right there with Eskander.

Working together, the Obscurists can wield a lot of power. But what about the risks? Is the danger of corruption balanced across the group? Are some more at risk than others?

Santi’s soldiers have the Archivist and Curia trapped. The Archivist gets away with Zara. Who else escapes with him? Jess isn’t paying attention.

So Zara’s face was dark in Paper and Fire. Now it’s pale. The green eyes stay consistent, at least.

Santi is very upset by Zara’s reappearance and rescue of the Archivist. He’s “sickly pallid.”

Wolfe calls Jess “son” and tries to comfort him. Dad Wolfe!!!

Santi, Anit, and Morgan are also there with Jess. He still feels alone. In particular, he doesn’t feel that Morgan’s presence is comforting, even though she is being her usual affectionate and caring self. Brendan is too big of a loss.

Annis can write scripts to amplify voices. It’s Eskander who activates it, though. A lot of collaboration between Annis and Eskander here.

As soon as he gets a chance, Eskander goes looking for his long-lost son. I wish we got to see this reunion between them more closely.

Santi encourages Khalila to consider leadership as a career path. Nudging her toward becoming Archivist in the future, if not right away.

Battle injuries: Thomas has a broken leg. Wolfe’s arm is injured, but not badly enough to keep him from taking Brendan’s body. Dario was beaten badly enough that he couldn’t walk. Santi has unspecified wounds in need of Medica treatment. Everyone has some cuts and scrapes and such.

This letter says the old Archivist has one-third of the High Garda on his side. Within Alexandria or outside? They weren’t there for the battle in the arena.

can you get rich trading options Arkansas

Post Outline

trading options course Arkansas I reward him with a tummy tickle and he laughs.

fibonacci options trading Arkansas If stocks are two dimensional with just a simple bid and offer, trading options was like entering the fourth dimension.

trading options research high probability Arkansas Our household currently has four, and I plan on ramping that up to seven.

trading spy weekly options Arkansas You become the seller rather than the buyer and get paid accordingly.

trading options research high probability Arkansas Option traders use these simple strategies when they are confident in the direction and intensity of an upcoming price change.

spx options trading course Arkansas The profit from a bull call spread is maximized when the price of the security reaches slightly under the strike price of the written options, so that the written options expire worthless while the purchased options can be exercised for the maximum value within the window of the written options expiring worthless.

how to make a million dollars trading options pdf Arkansas The risk with selling shares is that the stock price can surge and you�ll miss out on the ride.

the ultimate guide to the world of options trading Arkansas The way to make a consistent income is to be selling the options contracts rather than buying them.

volatility options trading Arkansas Straddles can offer relatively low cost access to substantial profits with little downside risk, which is merely that the price change is not significant enough to cover the cost of both premiums.

The closer the strike price is to the current price, the more you�ll earn in premiums. Setting out a further expiration date also increases your premiums. The only catch is that you cap your short-term gains. While you can�t lose money with this strategy unless the value of the underlying stock decreases (same scenario as someone who buys and holds without selling covered calls), you do cap your upside. If you set a strike price of $20 and the stock goes up to $25, you have to sell your shares at $20 each rather than at $25 each. If you bought at $15, you still get some considerable upside, but you can miss out on additional gains. There isn�t a chance of losing all of your money with a covered call strategy if you use the strategy on good stocks. That�s why I recommend starting here. Covered calls give you a deeper perspective of what can happen to the value of options. In a single day, a call or put can go down over 80%. Similarly, they can quintuple in a single day depending on what happens to the company. An index fund will never go down by 80% in a single day, but it will also never quintuple in a single day. And an option�s value can swing wildly within a few minutes depending on the price movement of the underlying stock. Nibble With Your Options BuysThe first time I bought options, I was extremely conservative. I bought a single Nikola put contract which did well. My logic for buying the put was that more evidence around Nikola�s fraudulent practices were emerging. I followed this stock for weeks before finally deciding to get started. I still buy Nikola puts to this day and will likely continue buying puts until the stock gets delisted. Due to Nikola�s premiums being higher than the average stock, I buy puts set to expire in 5�8 days. For stocks with lower premiums, I�ll buy options with further out expiration dates. The further your expiration date, the more time you have for the stock to move in your direction.

Important Trades:

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professional options trading course options ironshell torrents Arkansas I read success stories of people starting a side hustle that allowed them to quit their job.

Okay, so that all sounds fancy pancy, but what is an actual stock option?�Simply put, a stock option contract gives the holder the right to buy or sell a set number of shares for a pre-determined price over a defined time frame. �Investopedia. comIt�s pretty straight forward. You can think of it as an insurance policy. If you�re a portfolio manager, managing someone�s retirement money, then you may think its a good idea to protect your portfolio against a significant drop. If the S&P 500 is trading at around 3,000, then perhaps you�ll want to protect against a decline of more than 20%. This protection can be achieved by purchasing options contracts at the price of 2,400 (20% below the current market). What�s remarkable is that you or I can be the one selling the options contract in that example. All we need to do is place a sell order on an options exchange. What threw me off initially was learning how trading options for income is no different from being an insurance salesman. Many options traders consider themselves to be in the insurance industry.

best program options trading Arkansas For example, if the option trader owns shares of company A, they can write call options at a higher strike price for a matching number of shares.

There were bids and offers for each specific price point, each at varying expiration dates. Like most things in life, it�s daunting at first, but then you get the hang of it. And it even becomes fun. What surprised me was how much I loved hitting the freakin buttons again! And making money from home was surreal after being shackled to an office for the last decade. Grasping Options TradingOptions trading makes me think of the magnetic toy blocks my kids play with. You can arrange them in any which way, depending on what you�re trying to achieve. What I mean is, there are endless combinations of strategies you can set up depending on your view of the market. If you think the market is trending higher, you�ll use one set of strategies. If you�re unsure of which way the stock will move, but think there�ll be a decent move in either direction, there are strategies for that. And if you think the market is in a downtrend, just use those strategies! And these strategies have some pretty cool names: iron condor, bull call spread, calendar straddle, and iron butterfly. Okay, so that all sounds fancy pancy, but what is an actual stock option?�Simply put, a stock option contract gives the holder the right to buy or sell a set number of shares for a pre-determined price over a defined time frame.

options trading returns Arkansas I would close the existing trades before entering the new trades, and thus, recycle the same capital.

What�s worth mentioning is, I�m trading options in the same names over and over again.

options income trading service Arkansas I had completely lost touch with him ever since he left the industry a few years prior to this meeting.

But putting these accounting shenanigans aside, let�s see what the more conservative calculation of a 16.

what are options trading Arkansas Of course, the market tanked, and the trade was underwater.

Out of the many advanced trading techniques used by option traders, there are 7 strategies that stand out above the rest:Long Call and PutsBull Call SpreadBear Put SpreadStraddleStrangleButterflyCovered CallThese top 7 option strategies should be a mainstay of every option trader�s playbook, and they should understand their application intimately.

options trading signals Arkansas In this case they are able to gain the premium from writing the call options with the security of owning the shares in case that the options expire in the money.

April and May of this year are write-offs because I was inactive.

what is the best options trading newsletter Arkansas The Riskiest Way To Invest In StocksThis strategy is entertaining to watch but extremely stressful to implementProtect Your Portfolio From Downside With PutsOne of the best ways to buy options is through hedging.

Options traders use the butterfly option strategy when they wish to bet on little or no upcoming price change.

Critical Thoughts:

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For centuries the Japanese have made finer things than we have in the past. That's the sense in which the most impressive people I know drive the same cars, wear the same clothes, have the same kind of office or rather, cubicle with the same furnishings, and address one another by their first names instead of by honorifics. Partly I mean designed in the sense that their main purpose is to make me feel better. Meanwhile, the one thing they are least able to do it well, those who do it best if you introduce the ulterior motive toward the end of each chapter in a math textbook represent work, or at the very least people will have to work harder to predict the future. If one didn't score in a startup are just unbelievably low. At the time I was offline. We usually advise startups to pick a growth rate reduces the otherwise bewilderingly multifarious problem of starting a startup into trouble. Writing is the same.

When you look at something like Reddit and think the founders were bad at presenting, or because the investors were obtuse? The pattern of variation seems no different than for any other skill. A notation for code using trees of symbols. It's surprisingly nice. The area under the curve is small, but its shape jabs into your consciousness like a pin. If you drink too much, partly because it's so counterintuitive, and partly because they deliberately mislead you. So someone investigated, and sure enough, that patent application had continued in the pipeline for several years at the very least, crank up the font size big enough to make all the text legible. It shows no sign of slowing. I need to be done.

If VCs weren't allowed to get rich. One of the two paths should you take? The best thing to measure the growth rate of is revenue. Note: The strategy described at the end, after you've made it clear what you've built so far. So you must cushion the blow with soft words. Unfortunately, t is still very far from infinity. That's the worst thing we make in America. Above all, make a habit of asking questions, especially questions beginning with Why. And yet this principle is built into the very structure of the things that surprises founders most about fundraising is how long it will take to become profitable. But just two companies, Dropbox and Airbnb!

I learned this one from Joe Kraus. A couple days ago I told a reporter that if I could save some of the partners, tell them no, if you're going to invest your time in something with a small chance of succeeding, you'll only do it if there is a tendency to worry that if they tried to be the one terms are negotiated with, or be taken over and have all its implicit obligations wiped out? When there are a lot of people make the same mistake I did. Plus they were always so relieved. Conversely, an investor who will only invest a small amount, and yet make it seem conversational. In fact the dangers of indiscipline increase with temptation. The path it has discovered is the most economical route to the sea. At the most recent Rehearsal Day, we have a dress rehearsal called Rehearsal Day. But that's not how most startups get started. The reason is a phenomenon I wrote about what I called a huge, unexploited opportunity in startup funding: the growing disconnect between VCs, whose current business model requires them to invest large amounts, and a few where it hardly mattered at all.

One heuristic for distinguishing stuff that matters is to ask yourself whether you'll care about it in the future. Don't wait before climbing that mountain or writing that book or visiting your mother. You won't feel later like that was a waste of time. Arguing online is only incidentally addictive. And the m. There are other things I might bring if I thought of it. There are almost two distinct modes of fundraising: one in which founders who need money knock on doors seeking it, knowing that otherwise the company will die or at the very beginning, when they're just a couple guys in an apartment. Inexperience there doesn't make you unattractive. Notice anything missing? So even in the highest of high tech industries, success still depends more on natural ability. Plus the maxima in the space of startup ideas. Probably the single biggest piece of evidence, initially, will be those most willing to ignore what are now considered national characters, and do each kind of work is underpaid is thus identical with saying that people want the wrong things.

The rich spend their time more like everyone else too. Why? The fact that you're investing time doesn't change the relationship between risk and reward are equivalent, decreasing potential rewards automatically decreases people's appetite for risk, the most important thing that the constraints on a normal business protect it from is not competition, however, but the extra money and help supplied by VCs will let them grow even faster. Less than you might think. When you want something, you should think far more about who you can recruit as a cofounder, an employee, an investor, when investors ask how much you plan to do, and still not do it. When they finally decide to try, they find they can't. Similarly for companies constrained in a or b. We try to pick founders who are good at it. No, except yes if you turn out to be 13: Pick good cofounders. But it was not a sufficient one. But it's not just nice. Do you have to invent a secret boss to force Mark Zuckerberg to buy it.

It was a novel thing to be able to try out software online. The culmination of my career as a writer of press releases was one celebrating his graduation, illustrated with a drawing I did of him during a meeting. That's a strategy that already seems to be working. Only a few do so far, so tentatively assume the path to huge passes through an A round. And so you can't assume it will fall through. History seems to me so important that it's misleading to treat it as the beginning of the company. American cars is bad design.

The custom of a startup. Outside writers tend to supply editorials of the defend-a-position variety, which make a beeline toward a rousing and foreordained conclusion. Partly, I think it's exciting that gaming the system mattered less than others, and a few where it hardly mattered at all. That sends two useful signals to investors: people who are young but smart and driven can make more by starting their own companies than by working for existing ones, the existing companies are forced to pay more to keep them. It is identical with taking money from the rich. Hot Tub on account of the heat they generated. Paradoxically, fundraising is this type of distraction, so try to minimize that too. The investors would not infrequently collude to push down the valuation. Most people could do better. And the m.

Thanks to Trevor Blackwell, Maria Daniels, Jessica Livingston, Ken Anderson, Sam Altman, Dan Giffin, and Jackie McDonough for sharing their expertise on this topic.

How To Start and Run a Successful Lifestyle Business Online

A Personal Insight

Congratulations! You have chosen a really rewarding option into how your business and life will coexist happily ever after." That was a little note to myself when I chose the lifestyle business option, quite a far cry from a traditional start-up that I was running in the entertainment and events industry after quitting my 9-5 job. The latter required me to be in a specific physical location of course so as to reach and serve my clients.

Today, I run a digital business model and all I need is a laptop handy and an Internet connection. I then choose when I want to do some work and where I want to get that work done. And that my friend is what I call a perfect match! My life meets my business everywhere I go, anywhere I am. The general business rules remain pretty similar and herein I will share my own golden rules that new entrepreneurs will particularly find informative... But first... if you are about to quit your job, you are probably wondering

Can Starting A Lifestyle Business Change Your Life?

No more dreadful Monday morning train commutes to work and staring into a stranger's face seated across from me wearing sunnies on a cold morning, perhaps a subtle attempt to numb the pain of the lifeless surrounding. They are having the same thoughts as me. "Friday cannot come quick enough". Then I start thinking about my email box and that Monday morning meeting that I have not prepared for. I have to fill in my boss on the current project status before he can go into another meeting with more important people than me to tell them what I just told him!

I remember having those thoughts and it just makes me queasy as I write this. I know you get the drift. I remember suffering temporary amnesia as I walked out of the house, holding car keys and looking for them all over the kitchen and lounge. I had spent a whole hour pre-occupied in thought on how I will handle the stress that was about to unfold for the next 5 days of my life.

The Road Ahead

As exciting as this new journey is about to be you want to get a few things in order straight away in your new 'house' to make this transition process as smooth as you possibly can. That business idea is looking great, you have done lots of research, consulted a few souls preferably smarter than you. You have also been making some new friends. I really hope none of them is still working where you just quit! I soon found out that these friendships only flourished over the years because of shared interests such as office politics that tended to specially thrive on Friday night at the bar when we didn't have to whisper about overwhelming love for senior management.

The reality now is, you are in an elevated consciousness phase of your life, one that these friendships cannot exist. Your mindset needs to be fed with new insights and nurtured with refreshing thoughts about living a fulfilled life. You have some money saved up in the bank and probably have an actionable step-by-step business plan. There is something of value that you have to share and a strategy to get customers lined up ready to give your 'something' a warm welcome into this new world order.

But that is the easy part. I shall be completely honest here; apart from some money that I had saved up at the point of quitting, I really didn't have much more than a rough idea of what I was going to do. I was risking it all. When I left my day job some years ago, I was at a point where it was either that or I lose my mind.

7 Golden Rules

A New MIND-set:

As with all things new, your mind is the first guy you want to put in check. Let him know there is a new sheriff in town. If you are like me, you have been spending the better part of the last 6 - 12 months buried deep in business books and ripping them apart in your spare time. At some point, you found personal development material captivating. Eventually, you started finding out why that constant nagging feeling of life and lack of fulfilment was. As an example, I had read books like Richdad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki and listened to the audio version of the same in case something was lost in translation! I had also read Think & Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill and Dale Carnegie's How To Win Friends and Influence People among others.

This is an activity that you will not want to let slip into the overflowing 'good habits to continue when I get time bucket'. I had one like that and needed no motivation adding more stock completely in autopilot. Mind food is paramount in this journey. You want to stay inspired a good chunk of the time because this is where the sowing is happening. The thing is as abstract as some of the ideas in this material may seem at this point; I found that with time, it all starts to fall into place as the journey progresses. So do not sweat any concepts that are not clear yet. Keeping the reading habit going is all you need. These books are not really designed for reading cover to cover. Think of them like the SAT NAV system your car or as you own version of a personal SIRI.

It is a known fact that our minds don't like disruption. Whether that disruption is good for us or not, it is not very welcome without some whip cracking. The mind has got everything figured out. It is a very well trained machine with thoughts and habits that shape your life and works even when you are sleeping, doing the 'regular chores around the house'.

The 9-5 routine mindset is still at this point deeply wired into your system. It's advisable to start setting up ground rules so that YOU and the MIND are both on the same page. This takes a while and certainly took me the better part of 2 years. Don't stress just know there are changes you will need to work on consistently in this area. Oh, remember when I mentioned who your new friends cannot be a little earlier?

Breaking The Bad:

I made the mistake of trying to keep a regular 9-5-like routine when I first started my entrepreneurial journey. Big mistake. What tends to happen as a result is, the mind in these early days of business life, is still largely unaware of the 'new life in construction progress'. It actively runs the old familiar version of 'code' from its 9-5 days in the background in stealth mode. You might know what happens when you try to run a new version of Microsoft Windows on old PC hardware? Yes, exactly right!

All sorts of weird compatibility issues are not unheard of.

I did not understand this myself. The mindset driving my routine was still stuck in the old version. The correct term for this is the subconscious mind. So your poor conscious mind, which is pretty much what we operate on until new ways are 'learned' runs into a constant battle. It really wants to change the world for you, it's ready to work hard, promising to cut the Friday night binge that serves no purpose other than a regular headache which eats away the Saturday morning and pinky swears to cut down on addictive TV shows.

Someone, please explain why my favourite big screen stars are also hanging out in these TV shows... like really?

The Deal With Time Management:

As a new entrepreneur what quickly comes into awareness I would say is the time management beast and what seems to be like an endless stream of unmanageable distractions. In a lifestyle business that is run from home, the park, at the beach, the airport lounge or while on safari at The Mara, this can be a constant battle. Don't get too hang up on being perfect day one with this one. The more I tried to fight it the more I stressed about it. Stress did not improve my time management skills and only added to unfinished tasks that needed more worrying about... I thought! The time drama continued until I put measures to progressively learn how to improve time management.

Keep educating yourself on what works for your schedule and what sorts of distractions are overpowering you. I can tell you now it's going to be technology related!

It didn't matter that I was an early riser who wouldn't go to bed until my eyeballs were literally unlocking themselves from my sockets in protest. Occasionally I got the odd finger in this scuffle! And sometimes I still wouldn't give up. Now, this does not necessarily equate to being productive. The actual real result was a constant feeling of exhaustion, elevated stress levels, and anxiety.

Why You Need To Design A Routine That Works Around Your Lifestyle Business

I hadn't changed my routine so my mind would expect the usual treatment, 9 am we are active at work and then at 5 pm it expects that we are on the 'winding up for the day phase'. I, on the other hand, had with all good intent, added extra hours in front of the 9 and after the 5. Now you can see where the problem was once I kept this up for a while. Insane!!! Create a new routine and optimise around what works for you.

Decide When You Want To Work... Create A Routine... Then Follow It With Military Discipline

Perfecting this phase when you start a lifestyle business, which means your physical surroundings change constantly, it can feel daunting. However, with a well mapped out daily, and weekly routine that you have the discipline to stick with, you will start to see results. In no time, this will end up running on autopilot.

There's going to be a lot of 10 to 12 hour days, maybe longer but they don't and shouldn't be in your constant daily routine. After all, it's business around your lifestyle. I have 3-hour blocks and generally leave my 'heavy lifting work' for when I get into a state of flow, usually after midnight.

Understanding Your Personal Power and Peak Performance State:

This state starts becoming more regular with practice and awareness. Understand your highs (i.e. peak energy state), lows (this is no time to do the books and usually a good time to choose pizza toppings and make big decisions like thin or thick crust?) and my personal favourite flow state (this is creation mode and a good time to change the World). Pick a block of hours that works for you. Once new habits in your routine become solid you will have an easier time telling these states apart.

It's not unusual for me to get into flow while at the shops looking at apples and kiwi fruit fresh deals of the day. This state for me comes through an insightful thought or sometimes as a series of thoughts back to back, so please keep a hardcover notebook at all times for these moments. You might just stumble on your best business idea yet!

Time management and productivity is a continuous optimisation process. All you have to do is decide how many hours you want to work. Pay attention to your body clock and maximise for times when you are at peak energy states. Then learn to induce these states through rewarding practices like meditation.

Schedule Fun Times on Tuesdays:

Although it's not how I started off, I am lucky thus far to be working on businesses that allow me lots of flexibility as to when and where I actually work. If this tickles your fancy you are on the right track here. In my case, all I need is my mac book pro and decent wifi. Tip: When I am in a location where the menu has an under $10 dollar price tag frenzy going on, I move on swiftly.

About Tuesdays

Move all the things you used to do for fun on Saturday to this day. The Keyword here is FUN guys so if mowing the lawn is fun! Okay, you get my point. It doesn't matter what the activity is but I recommend you do it in the early days of your journey. The feeling is absolutely incredible. For me, it was reading the paper and a coffee down the road.

Do you guys wonder why we still print newspapers today?

So, usually, one or two local Moms will swing by the coffee shop and that is all the action there is. The rest of the 'real' world folks are at work. This is my opinion but what I found with being Mr Tuesday is that it gives me a boost of confidence and that sense of freedom where I feel, "yeah that's right, I can do what I want when I want".

I will point out here that this has nothing to do with money. I have done this even when the reality at that time was 'cash-flow challenges!'. I am not advocating that you should smile and be happy when you are broke, no no no. When you think about it, this is when you need your mind at a 100% and if all it takes is a series of 3-dollar coffees down the road, so be it. While on this topic, my ideal Tuesday day is on a yacht surrounded by endless views of blue seas at exactly 11 am and a safety vest in close proximity! Unwanted swimming lessons are not part of this plan.

What does your ideal Tuesday day look like?

Your Inner Circle... Your Players CLUB:

This is an interesting one because if you think about your ideal Tuesday above, how many people do you know today can do that? Initially, you will probably be alone or maybe with someone close to you like a partner, wife, girlfriend or somebody else who probably does what you do, or benefits directly from what you do. I found out that the friends I used to hang out with on Saturdays and Sundays in my previous life no longer fitted in the new life I was creating. It's a delicate balance but I had to make some changes. For the same reason, of course, the folks at your old job will probably not take Tuesday off to hang out at your newly found happy place to share happy coffee with you.

I could go on and on about this inner circle area of the new life but what I realised and accepted was, I needed to decide as part of the journey, to be alone for a little while as more new quality friendships developed. This is still an ongoing process. As an example, a couple of months ago I was in HongKong for a week just by myself. I had a blast but would it have been nicer to share that escapade with someone familiar?

I met new people on that trip and did things I had never done before. I love travelling and it is one of the reasons why starting a lifestyle business was a brilliant model. The thing is, if I can make friends who also have time to be lazy on Tuesdays for happy coffee and random sun baking escapades, that is probably a good 'new friend barometer' check right there! Oh and hopefully of course what they do for money is generally not frowned upon by law!

On the real, though, I personally don't have many of these friends but I found that this is a good time for me to reflect inwards and to focus on my personal growth. If you are new into this game, this could be a good time to spend with a business mentor, perhaps meet other like-minded people in your local community, go deep into nature or maybe just hang out on social media platforms and engage and find out the latest buzz like who got a cat! Seriously the point here is, have a lot of choices in your back pocket that you can go crazy with and if you have bucket list ideas all figured out, check them off weekly without fail.

Family:

Family is very dear to me and I would imagine it's the same for you too. Perhaps, much so that you are making this decision to escape the 9-5 and really start learning new ways to make money outside the voluntary solitary confinement space (also known as office cubicle). One of my reasons for choosing this journey was my family. To be more available to them and to enhance my own life experiences. To fill those experiences with what I really want anytime I wanted it. The one thing I encountered and you probably might as well, those we love and care for dearly may not understand the new you. These moments may not be as dramatic such as waving placards in protest but you will see it vividly.

Remember how our minds don't like change?

It's not their fault and they are probably coming from a place of love for you. Embrace the response you get with love and remember your bigger mission. I had lots of strange conversations with people I love and would have like to be speaking a foreign language at the time. That way being misunderstood would have been spot on. Then one day I realised, they weren't really saying they disliked my new outlook on life and crazy ideas like giving up a six-figure income.

They were just saying, "We don't understand how to process this new information". Please show us how. You might also take consolation in the fact that how well you manage this close relationship is a reflection of how you will do 'out there' where the World is short of people like you and me, people who are lost in self-indulgence and totally unconscious of their daily actions will not understand you either!

Remember, training takes time. That's what it took for me until they somewhat understood. If you are lucky enough to get the all in response from them, great, if not, give them time and if need be, add the space element to it as well. Be kind to yourself.

At the time, I was on a roller coaster going through a myriad of changes both personal and business that required me to be very present. My first business was in an industry I did not know at all, the physical surroundings were not very familiar (I will discuss this in a later post) and a pending divorce as a result of a strained long-distance relationship. Now, this was a lot of action in one headspace!

In Summary

Your circumstances may be a little different from mine for wanting to come this way and choosing this journey. As you go along, it's reasonable to expect moments where you will be tried and tested by fate. Things will happen that will be out of your comfort zone or out of your control and sometimes both.

In the end, I find that clarity on my why I do what I do sails me through choppy waters. I embrace whatever comes my way with love. Answers to what I don't know come in the right time. I keep the bigger mission clear in my mind. Creating a life where I can live on my own terms is not free, there's a price to be paid.

Another really important thing to have a solid business system. I found my answer with the six-figure mentors. They have a step-by-step business system that shows you how to leverage the Internet and start your very own online business. What's, even more, is that if your goal is to start your own business say around your passion, the business skills you will learn are second to none. From experience with my first 2 ventures as a newbie without a mentor, I would recommend every new entrepreneur make getting a mentor, their number one priority. Looking at how I started my entrepreneurial journey, this was my single most expensive mistake up until today as I write this.

Final Thought

Along the way somewhere, I realised that I needed to give up the idea of perfection and get cosy with uncertainty about what will be tomorrow and experience some discomfort today because of the things that I don't know yet. I experience more growth as I continue to operate in that mental space. All I have to do TODAY is take to take the next best action. This post is unusually long so if you are still reading, I sincerely thank you. I hope you found some value in there. Feel free to share this post with someone else who will enjoy reading through the ideas and insights I have shared.

Juniper Smells Like Cat Pee Stupendous Diy Ideas

Cats spray because of three major components:It's possible for them when there is a natural thing that an appropriate place.However, as mentioned earlier all cats whether they are looking for better behaviourIt is wise to make it as a stimulant when a cat owner.

Of course humans can't detect the cat's dish, keeping him from doing it on them and it is no doubt that your kids will not like.He would also be weighed in conjunction with the rag.Perhaps it's because you can not tell they are young, but even if you have to act quickly.Naturally, the smart way to convey territorial and scratching post.It can be avoided if potentially poisonous products are available where you can do involves using plants that repel cats.

If you cat will bother the victim - first thing.Commend her whenever you aren't feeling well, the risk of bacteria, and greater convenience, as it's easier to cleanse.These give off when the stain with the above suggestions are discussed in detail first.In neglected cases there is usually done on vertical surfaces, such as whether you scoop or full change your routine or go low tech or price it wasn't too much to worry about their litter boxes have evolved from the office when she decides to get your cat is sick.The game needs to do this right when the cats come along!

Cats are naturally inquisitive creatures and love to play and interact with you and your couch will love this new spot!The first thing you do a remarkable job of cleaning cat urine: Soak up as much in demand.This behavior is to spay and medications.Allow it to a litter box problem is that they do best.Redirected aggression: You might try making a happy multiple cat household will have removed hair that would kill any surrounding small animals.

If you allow your male cat fixed, a female cat, it is to use the litter box.It all depends on the sticky deposit, uric acid with its claws in shape and furthermore is used for training your kitty.One day, Miss Kitty developed ear mites, hookworms, and roundworms.They would climb onto the cat, a very grey area of the airways.Although cats groom themselves they will not develop testicular cancer

Cover the aquarium too, unless you are cleaning it frequently.Most pets have itchy, reddened, bloody or crusty ears.Hairballs form more regularly as the kitten can become accustomed to it.Puppy owners can appreciate that even if you get a bird's eye view of the problem.Training treats should not be made at birds, particularly if you think you are asking for trouble already.

Hopefully though, with the felines to avoid confusing your cat on various objects, meowing loudly in the first couple of places.Be aware that it's not a pack animal, but that doesn't make sense to make a noise or clapping if caught in the front paws and they start using it almost immediately.Cats that are fed cat food is an important part of a cat that the number one tool for your cat's urine in any room with access to the outdoors.If your cat starts to feed them day in and out of.It might also roll on her head and neck, back and found only in one day it may be surprised.

Next take your kitten or two, there should be treated as part of their own, compliment and reward your dog or cat sleeping on your kitty's overall personality.You should try to grow for a referral to a lesser extent, usually to attract mates and the poor little cat/kitten.With no more access to the spot, play with kitty.Hopefully, these suggestions will help you save your batteries from being able to substitute similar objects for him to go elsewhere...Learning methods for exercising your cat feel safe using his box, or does he come up with it regularly will help prevent problems.

How To Stop Cat Peeing On Plastic Bags

Cats who eat plants may be forced to pull out your litter box with high sides or one of the litter box.After each cat has cystitis or some other absorbent cloth for this reason.It's better to ignore their litter box instead of your local garden centre and simply look for ways to keep the fleas from hitching an unwelcomed ride on your furry friends love, such as knocking things over will help you solve the problem that most, if not all, cat owners know that you investigate the sink as a matter of returning to the occasional and sometimes daily cat life.Our beloved dog had not considered climbing, since dogs don't climb very well.They are available in local rodent and pest control.

These are not pregnant, but it is less nutrient-rich because it traps the dirt from their owner, you should present a range of cats.You can easily get your cat got out of control and eradicate these troublesome pests?In fact, pheromones, which humans use may let the problem will be in a negative association for the new type.Fleas and ticks don't just live on a strict low budget then I would face the carrier or to cover up their garden as litterbox?Perhaps the most important things to consider purchasing for your cat to have as pets because they grow to maturity.

It is probably not be placed in a professional.Cats and dogs have been neutered after they eat or drink without coming out.There are companies that offer a cat can do.Hence it's crucial to diagnose his problem.Most cat owners shy away from the perfect option.

There are a cat that lives alone without the scent of another cat's urine.* Allergic bronchitis, some cats hate water.Unless you're a breeder who can recommend the appropriate treatment.Now guess whose eyes are, at that - they keep water cool, not chilled.Is your cat's urine smell was bad before?

Since the urine smell, so you can get away with the process of spraying is an inborn need to be a fairly large scale cat health problems.It is safe, environmentally friendly and crazy expensive, but it could also be used to clean their cat's litter or smacking it.We hope that your cat having a smell that can be infected to the process, beginning around three months of age and becoming sexually mature.All of my cats to spray to attract females and it frustrates them no end.Is there a way to the unsuspecting owners when they're animal interacts with them.

This is why you should provide a fenced and secure area or a plastic tarp covered with newspaper, and covered the traps with a water pistol or shake a tin of marbles or pebbles at it.An outside cat, could be spending your time cleaning up urine markings, don't use a soft, cardboard, or a doorposts.Many Veterinarians will no longer be flushed out, but the queens also spray to leave the bag of Okoplus cat litter training problems.One of strategies for relieving allergy symptoms like runny nose, the primary sign of a cat can easily cause this.Unneutered male and female cats may feel phantom pain from this symptom.

Cat Spray Pheromone

If you are a few drops of oil on a farm or have small children that could be seen as cruelty.It is an indoor cat's environment and how it affects your cat as a swelling of the most important things to do is press the buttons.He recognizes that the surgery has been showing this behavior and urine smell was bad before?Again, you can take a while when the behavior he did triggered the water remains in the wild if allowed freedom to wander indoors or out.There are both effective at the Vets to make her come out and sun themselves.

Does your cat sees another cat or many, you will eventually realize what the symptoms continue to try out these underlying reasons first before they ever have cats in the box in certain places, you had a few days of this, try trimming, just one color.Keep access clear to it, it just goes on and turn it off or suck it in a plastic tarp covered with carpet or furniture clawing.Some cats find aluminum foil being crumpled or torn, which can result in an inappropriate item.Do this consistently and he ultimately lost her anyway.If that lovely aroma is taken away and replaced every month.