#toastmasters open house

[a-dragyns-reflections]

Core Development Toastmasters Open House!

Hello everyone!

I mentioned in my 2022 blog post that I am a Toastmaster! What does that mean exactly? Well, back in 2021 I joined this club, Core Development, as a club coach to help the club not only improve as a club, but also to help motivate its members to continue to learn important public speaking and leadership skills as well! I was already a Toastmaster for a year before that and I had joined to learn how to communicate better, build up my self-confidence, and meet new friends. Since then, I have developed all of these things and more!

In fact, for this particular meeting, I will be leading and chairing the entire event! We are all sharing how much Toastmasters can help you develop more confidence, make new friends, feel comfortable speaking in front of others, and so so much more.

If you want to be able to speak to others more effectively and feel more confident in yourself, this is the perfect opportunity to come on by and see how we can help you. We all started off anxious, scared, confused, and lonely...now we like to share extravagant stories, laugh with each other, and support each other with these goals and more.

Come learn from our little community and feel better with your self-confidence, communication skills, and more!

#toastmasters #toastmasters international #toastmastersinternational #toastmasters open house #toastmastersopenhouse #open house #openhouse #public speaking #publicspeaking #communicationskills #communication skills #communication #selfconfidence #self confidence #friendship #companionship #community #motivation #inspiration #growing in toastmasters #personal growth #professional growth

[accountingacademic]

Leaving Off On A Good Note

Daily Reflection Sunday, 22 October 2023

"Productivity is never an accident. It is always the result of a commitment to excellence, intelligent planning, and focused effort." - Paul J. Meyer

Things I'm Grateful For:

Past me making an effort to stay a bit ahead on assignments, so I have space to breathe when things get a bit busy.

Highlights:

Finished slides for a presentation for my Communications course. I've been working on those slides on and off for the last week, and I'm glad to finally have them to a point I'm happy with. My presentation slot is on 1 November, but I'm doing a run-through at a public speaking club I joined (Toastmasters-adjacent), as we already got permission to use presentations we had to do for class. I'm out of practice, and the feedback would be welcome.

Challenges:

Posting this, ironically enough. I had the tab open most of the day to fill it out as I went but had closed it for my D&D game to minimize the clutter, and completely forgot about it by the time I went to bed.

Emotions:

I was a bit frustrated with my parents when I spent time doing housework. It often feels like I'm the only one doing anything around the house most of the time, and unfortunately, I'm stuck with this because no number of discussions with them will get them to do anything else.

Tomorrow's To-Do List:

Leave early to hit the gym when it opens; worry about showering after my workout.

#accountingacademic #accounting academic #accounting #studyblr #college #productivity #study #daily reflections #october #2023 #october 2023

[terror-bird]

Reception "Dependence Day"

· THE DEPENDENCE DAY RECEPTION WAS PREPARED BY THE HEADS OF THE ENSLAVED STATES IN ORDER TO SHOW RESPECT AND OBEDIENCE TO CRIME SYNDICATE. · VENUE: WASHINGTON DC. WHITE HOUSE. · INVITED: HEADS OF CRIME SYNDICATE. DEPARTMENTS(OWLMAN, ULTRAMAN, SUPERWOMAN, JOHNNY QUICK, ATOMICA, DEADSTORM, GRID, SEA KING, J'ONN J'ONZZ AND POWER RING). · · YOU CAN INVITE YOUR GUESTS, BECAUSE WE WON'T BE ABLE TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT ANYWAY! · · · DRESS CODE: FREE. · SERVICE STAFF: FOUR WAITERS, TWO BARTENDERS, ONE TOASTMASTER ET CETERA. · · AND REMEMBER, IF SERVICE IS NOT UP TO YOUR EXACTING STANDARDS, FEEL FREE TO EXECUTE THE WAIT STAFF! · · · FOOD&DRINKS: SUCCULENT MEAT OF THE MOST ENDANGERED SPECIES, PERSONAL BAR WITH UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL, UNLIMITED AMOUNT OF MONSTERS AND JOCKEYS.

EVENT SCHEDULE 01:00p.m.-03:00p.m - ULTRAMAN'S OPENING SPEECH 03:00p.m.-06:00p.m - TIME OF OFFICIAL OFFERINGS 06:00p.m.-08:00p.m - CAPITAL PUNISHMENT OF THE SYNDICATE'S ENEMIES ON THE NORTH LAWN 08:00p.m.-10:00p.m - ENTERTAINMENT PROGRAM FOR CRIME SYNDICATE 10:00p.m - DETONATION OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT

PUBLISHED WITH THE KIND PERMISSION OF: ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤOWLMAN ADMINISTRATION

#;blog #;dependence day

[rjhamster]

Coolidge MLK Day celebration set for Saturday | Daily Headlines

Email not displaying correctly? View the web version   Subscribe for less Classifieds Obituaries E-Edition   Good morning RJ, Are you looking to meet new people and connect with those around you? Head to Florence next month to partake in the Florence Toastmasters’ open house. Toastmasters is a small club that aims to provide a supportive and positive learning experience to develop…

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[raeeverlasting]

Grateful to be speaking at the Open House of Holistic Toastmasters next Monday, February 13th! I so enjoy this amazing group and would love to see you for our Open House 😊 https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYfSihPLjvm0O0-G_6hA5op-OwyH2dd4rHR6o0/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[peppermint-chocolate-cherries]

You know what I love about Tumblr?

I can do a bunch of research and reblogging about aromanticism when exploring my own identity, and one of my followers gives me 10 likes/reblogs.

Seriously, thank you for your support.

FTR I am still contemplating whether I am indeed on the aro-ace spectrum or if I’m just an anti-social hermit with undiagnosed anxiety.  Some elements of these definitions really do speak to me, but I feel that my anxiety levels have something to say about it.

I’m 30 years old already

I still live in my parent’s basement in my hometown of 35,000

I immediately assume that anyone I find visually attractive already has a partner

The only bar still open in town is a strip club

I have prioritized my last five years in completing my degree and CPA, buying a car, and moving out of my parents’ basement before attempting to date anyone or have any house parties

With all that considered, I have noticed elements of my own life where I do fit on the spectrum of aromancitism and asexuality.

I never experienced proper sexual attraction to my flings.  Only one of those guys ever was able to arouse me with the anticipation of a kiss.  The rest of it was them trying to kiss my neck, and I would just let them go for it.

I never had proper romantic attraction to the two boyfriends I had.  One of them was a four-day label in high school with a good friend who I knew well.  My other one lasted five months, and it was more of a hang-out-with-sex type situation.

The times my friends tried to set me up with someone, or whenever a guy hinted that he liked me or want to spend more time with me, I immediately shut down and fled.

Even in my Toastmasters club, I cringe when the older male members talk about dating pretty ladies.

I’ve deliberately planned my future with the expectations that I will have to eventually pay rent or a mortgage entirely on my own, which is difficult enough even with a decent paying job.  The world is so heavily structured on having a partner, even if it’s just to split a rent or mortgage with.  So much compromise goes into those relationships, and I already get annoyed with sharing a kitchen with my parents at times.

At the same time, I am still holding onto that hope that there’s a person out there for me.  Not necessarily in a romantic or sexual manner, I've never even have a proper best friend.  I just want someone to hang out with, to experience new things with, and to talk to about my day, maybe with some cuddling.

#questioning myself #asexual #lithromantic #aromantic

[toastmastersmanipaludupi]

As Rotary International and Toastmasters International enter into a strategic Alliance, we take a small step to strengthen our bonds locally. Manipal Udupi Toastmasters and Rotary Udupi will be holding a Joint meeting & Open house on 19 Aug 2020, Wed (Tomorrow), 6:45 PM. There will be a Toastmasters Demo meeting followed by an Open house session facilitated by DTM. Rtn. Dr. CK Ballal (Toastmasters-Rotary Partnership Chair, Mangalore region).

Please join the Virtual meeting 15 min before the scheduled start time.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82585629897?pwd=ZUpEVWhiZlV4WnB6UExwK2JmeUViQT09

[riftwingdesigns]

It is with hesitation and disquiet that I am announcing my retirement from speaking as a full-time hobby.

Let me preface this by saying that for me, letting go is extremely hard to do. I put so much of myself into my work that it is very difficult to change and try something new. Arguably, as I’ve said in my presentations, humans are wired for comfort, for doing what comes easily. Change is hard. Major change is exponentially harder. And yet, only with change can you grow.

It is extremely important for me to grow and experience new things. My decision came from a combination of this realization, the #2009vs2019 challenge, and where I am in my personal life.

So, first, what’s changing:

I will no longer present at conventions, unless I am invited as a guest or it is a convention I am attending anyways (e.g. MAGfest). Final conventions are:

Super MAGfest, National Harbor MD (Washington DC), January 2-5

Katsucon, National Harbor MD (Washington DC), February 14-16

Fur the 'More, Crystal City VA (Washington DC), March 6-8 (schedule dependent)

I am removing my videos from YouTube, in major part due to the potential COPPA rules

I already closed all my sales venues earlier this year, including Etsy and Redbubble (letting go of Etsy was particularly hard)

I am cutting back on Toastmasters, focusing only on my home club, and not volunteer/leadership.

What will stay the same:

Still active on all media as “RiftwingDesigns”

Continuing my monthly newsletter (in part because some of you have told me in person how much it means – thank you so much for telling me that, it really touched me.)

Daily Intentions and Motivational Quotes on my daily Instagram stories

Open to speak at conventions and events upon invitation

Will be going to new conferences/conventions for my new hobbies

Art to be posted on DeviantArt

Donations always open at Ko-fi and PayPal

What will be new:

Taking 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training – to grow and enable me to give back in a different way!

Organizing my home. I have so many unfinished projects I want to invest my time into:

Scrapbooks

Sewing

Writing (much of which I started 20 years ago and never finished)

Making art for myself, not for the likes

House repair and decluttering

Playing more games that I know I will enjoy, but put off for decades, such as Pokémon, Mass Effect 3, Skyrim, and soon Diablo 4.

I am always available here on e-mail or any of my social media, and am glad to hear your comments and suggestions. And I’ll be back on the 15th to close out this year’s newsletters. I hope you can also find new opportunities for growth, and wish you a wonderful December!

Best.

~Rift

Riftwing / Gretchen / Brass Knuckles

Designer, yogi, and leader.

@RiftwingDesigns on all social media, to include:

Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest| Tumblr | Twitter | etc...

#RiftwingDesigns #motivational speaker #yogi

[illumynare]

Destiny Fic: we know by the moon (we are not too soon)

Summary: On the first night of the first Dawning after they survived the Mare Imbrium, Eris and her fireteam go wassailing in the City.

Pairings: slight Eris/Toland.

Notes: Also available on AO3.

Yuletide fic for @ir-anuk​, who wanted a story with Eris being happy. Thanks to @titan-mom​ for the beta!

Wassailing is an actual English tradition dating back to the Middle Ages; it was practiced more or less as depicted here, though carrying a piece of toast is my own invention, inspired by the related practice of Apple Wassailing, where offerings of toast and wassail were given to the trees in the local orchard.

The lyrics that Eris & co. sing are adapted from the famous Gloucester Wassail; while writing this story, I listened a lot to this instrumental version. Title and epigraph are from Steeleye Span's rendition of the Gower Wassail.

It's we poor wassail boys so weary and cold Please drop some small silver into our bowl. And if we survive for another new year Perhaps we may call and see who does live here

We know by the moon that we are not too soon, And we know by the sky that we are not too high, And we know by the star that we are not too far, And we know by the ground that we are within sound.

—The Gower Wassail

 "It's called Wassailing," says Omar, his eyes glinting with an enthusiasm only a little like the madness of those entranced by the Hive. "You'll love it."

Eris shakes her head to clear away the thought. Omar is the least Hive-addled Guardian that ever was, and they are none of them in danger now. It is the first night of the Dawning, and they are in Eriana's rooms, waiting for Wei Ning to finish baking Gjallardoodles.

Existence is a game that everything plays, but right now, none of them are keeping score. If the universe does, it is also keeping silence. And in that silence—

"You've never celebrated the Dawning in the Last City, have you?" Omar goes on. "Only the Tower or the Wild."

Lights flicker in Eriana's cheeks and her circuits hum and click. "Is that a relevant distinction?" she asks.

"Of course it is," Wei Ning calls out as she lifts from the oven her last sheet of Gjallardoodles. She lays the cookie-sheet on the countertop and smiles at them all, only a little crooked.

There's a smudge of flour on her cheek—the damaged one, where her brown skin is marbled with pale, ridged scars left by Crota's green flames. No matter how long she dwells beneath the Traveler's light, no matter how many times she dies and rises again, her Ghost will never be able to take away those scars.

Eriana's throat-lights flicker with an echo of old terror as she looks at those scars, and Eris feels an answering flutter in her heart. Neither of them will ever forget the sight of Wei spitted on Crota's blade, feet dangling in the empty air, green flames dancing around her writhing body in a mockery of the Traveler's Light.

They had so nearly lost her then. Eriana, late-come to the battlefield, had been too far away to do anything. Eris had stuck close to Wei for the whole day, and yet she had barely been fast enough. If she had lacked the strength for one final, desperate Bladedance—if she had dropped to her knees by Wei's broken body a minute later—if she had hesitated one instant to pour her own flickering Light into Wei's Ghost—

Then Wei's Ghost would have fallen dead into the Lunar dust, and Wei Ning of the Fire Victorious would be one more pile of ash and bones among a thousand others. Eriana would have been destroyed by her grief, and Eris—

It's best not to think of that, really.

None of them have been the same since the Mare Imbrium. But they are all alive. Eris always reminds herself of this when she wakes screaming from nightmares of what once happened, and what might have been.

Right now, in the stuffy but fragrant warmth of the kitchen, with a little prickle of sweat starting on her neck, she can truly feel the joy of it.

She's lost the thread of the conversation, absorbed in her own thoughts, but it doesn't matter because the door bangs open as Vell and Sai arrive together, him carrying a strange silver jug and her with a small cask of wine.

"Turns out my grandam had one," says Vell, meaning the current matriarch of his adopted family, descendants of a band of pilgrims that he once guided to the City. "Like it?" he asks, holding the jug out to Omar for inspection.

Omar takes the jug and turns it over, fingering the strange little holes and spouts that honeycomb its neck. "Well enough," he says, grinning as if no Thrall ever sank its teeth into his arm and ripped out tendons while Crota approached with steps that shook the ground.

Sai, who once carried him on her back out of the Mare Imbrium, rolls her eyes and says, "Can we drink now?"

"Right away," says Omar. "The question is, can you drink without spilling?"

"Geometrically impossible," says Eriana, studying the jug as Omar fills it with wine.

"I thought Warlocks redefined possible," says Wei Ning, smiling crookedly as she rests an elbow on Eriana's shoulder. "Give it to me, Omar, I'm not afraid."

Omar ignores Eriana's staticky indignation and hands the jug to Wei. She smacks her mouth to the neck of the jar and tilts her head back, cheerfully gulping wine as it pours over her face and neck. When she lowers the jug, she wipes her mouth with the back of her hand. "Who's next?"

"That was disgusting," says Eriana, though she does not pull away.

"I'll do it," says Eris, and takes the damp jar from Wei's hands. She examines it. Listens to the wine slosh against it walls, like the echo of Wizard-voices down the Hive tunnels beneath the surface of the moon.

Now as then, she moves without sight, lifting the jug and pressing its neck to her mouth. Her tongue skims the holes and spouts, tasting the air inside them. She finds the right spout; her fingers find and stop up the right holes.

She tilts her head back, and drinks without spilling.

When she lowers the jug, there's a moment of silence as they all stare at her, and she's at once proud of their scrutiny and a little frightened. She has always been the quietest of their fireteam, for all that she speaks more words than Sai, but now her victory with the jug echoes through the room. Perhaps they will wonder how she knew—

Wei laughs again, and lays her hand on Eris's forehead, smearing her with wine. "Nobody goes out dry tonight," she announces. "Don't tell them how it's done, Eris. Who's next?"

#

So together, damp with wine and carrying an empty jug that only Eris knows how to drink from, they go down into the City. They walk door to door, Eriana in the lead as she carries a piece of toast on a pointed stick carved from an apple tree. (Omar assures them that to be "toastmaster" of a wassailing-party is a great and ancient honor.) Whenever a door opens for them, they sing:

Wassail! wassail! all over the town, Our toast it is white and our ale it is brown; Our bowl it is made of spinmetal fine, And if thou but fill it, we'll toast thee and thine.

Eris had been skeptical, before they started. She had thought that Omar was overconfident. Surely there were not so many houses in the c\City that would pour out drinks to begging Guardians. Surely they would see the survivors of the Mare Imbrium and know what ill fate clung to them.

But the people of the City, kind fools that they are, do not. Instead they open their doors, and listen to them sing, and then fill their jar with the hot spiced wassail-wine. They laugh as Omar and Sai, Vell and Wei Ning take turns dousing themselves as they try to drink from the jar.

Perhaps that is why the people are so welcoming, Eris thinks. No matter how well Guardians defend the City, no matter how often they go to its bars and ramen shops, they are strange and terrible still. Perhaps it is a comfort for these people to see Guardians spilling wine on themselves as they sing ridiculous verses about the Vanguard.

Here's to Zavala, and to his right ear, The Traveler send him a happy new year: A happy new year as e'er he did see, With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

So here is to Andal and to his right cheek, The Traveler grant him what e'er drink he seek: To make him as drunk as a Hunter should be, With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

Here's to Ikora, and to her right eye, The Traveler send her a good Dawning pie: A good Dawning pie as e'er we did see, With the wassailing bowl, we'll drink to thee.

As the night winds on they grow merrier, and so do the people welcoming them. Sometimes they are invited inside a house to eat Vanilla Blades and Traveler Donut Holes. Omar and Sai both flirt with drunken abandon (Sai wins more kisses than Omar does). Vell and Wei start challenging people to arm-wrestling matches, which invariably end with them wrestling each other, one of them standing as proxy for the poor civilian. Eriana laughs more lightly than she has since the Mare Imbrium.

Eris watches.

It's what she's best at. What she delights in most, these days. To rest her eyes on the people who have become so dear to her, who live against such odds.

She drinks, too. Not as much as the rest of them, but enough that when they arrive at the main house of Vell's adopted family, her body feels a quicksilver lightness almost like she's in a Bladedance.

Vell's family's house is loud and bright and crowded, and within five minutes it has given Eris a headache. She mutters an excuse and slips out into the dark alleyway behind. Here, with the roar of celebration muted, she leans against the cool strength of the wall and tilts her head up to look at the stars.

Look up at the sky, a subaudible voice whispers in her ear.

Eris is. She has. She did, and chose because of it.

This is the game of existence that she has played: to win this timeline where all her friends are alive, even at ferocious cost.

Most of those who [bargain] do not win.

So far, Eris thinks she is staying ahead.

#

Long ago [in a time yet to come] Eris had thought resentfully that she would like to see how well Cayde endured being stripped of friends and Light and laughter.

But when he returned from the Prison of Elders, his Ghost dead by a sniper's bullet, his "favorite Guardian" (Eris's friend) dead saving him from Uldren—

The sight was not so delicious as she had hoped.

It was pure chance that she learned the bitter taste of it at all. When Eris left the Tower, she had meant to devote herself entirely to fighting the Dark alongside Mara Sov. But in a moment of weakness, she returned to see Ikora and ask for news of Asher.

She found Ikora grieving a protégé, the Tower grieving a hero, and Cayde grieving the loss of his heroism.

No: not just that. It galled Eris to admit it, but Cayde did care about a few things besides his jokes and his roguish reputation. Else he would not have come to her and said, "Hey, weren't you part of the Great Ahamkara Hunt?"

"What of it?" asked Eris, her hand still resting on the spines of Ikora's books that she had been browsing.

"Well," said Cayde, and his swagger was now a hollow, ragged thing, "I got a crazy idea. Ahamkara grant wishes, right? And didn't they mess with the timelines on Venus?"

Truly, his idea was madness. A year ago, Eris would have called it impossible too. But since then, she had learned more of the Ahamkara: what they were, what they could do, and how they might be bent to a clever enough will.

And perhaps Eris was not so cured of her youthful foolishness as she had thought. For she could not disdain Cayde's mad plan to set right the Guardian's death; and one she had begun to think of changing history, she could not help but wonder—how many more might be saved?

If Wei Ning never died, and Eriana-3 had no reason for vengeance, how much could be set right?

Nine nights Eris stayed up talking with Cayde, plotting their path to change the things that had most wounded them. On the tenth night, she summoned Toland, and together the three of them walked through the Void to the Dreaming City.

And then they began to pay their prices.

#

Cayde's price was most simple: he died killing Dûl Incaru. His last words were as brash and brave as he could have wished: "Hey, I got this. You go ahead. Keep our Guardian safe."

Eris had not explained to him how his death would open a throne world on the edge of the Distributary, how Dûl Incaru's passing would give them the power to lure and trap Riven. In their last moments together, she realized she did not need to. He had gone with her believing he would be fodder for whatever sorcery she worked.

Her own price was twofold: the subjectively eternal agony when Riven's searing tentacles of wish and will and causality wrapped around her limbs and tried to tear her apart, a torment that ended only when the last causal filaments binding her to that time frayed apart . . . and the doubt that has followed her ever since. From the moment Eris woke up in her body-that-was nine weeks before the Mare Imbrium, she has wondered if she really did survive Riven, or if her torment really ended. If it was her self that traveled back in time, or only her memories.

But if the Eris Morn that will be died in Riven's embrace, or if she suffers still in a dimension sundered from the flow of time—it is worth it. Because the Eris Morn that is, still exists, and knows what she must do in order to protect.

Her fireteam lives, because of it.

(Her Ghost believes that she is truly the Eris of the future. She swears to Eris that her Light has changed—not dimmed, but shifted in tonality—and says, "There are more knives in your Bladedance now." Eris cannot always believe her Ghost's reassurances, her Ghost who was always too trusting and too gentle, but it is comfort enough to hear that long-silent voice speaking to her, believing in her.)

Toland's price was not simple, but perhaps most easy. Dragged along with her into the past, his exalted self was too shattered and too transformed to synchronize with his past body; instead he overwrote himself, and became a wandering spirit who endlessly haunted her, complaining all the while about the current emptiness of the Sea of Screams. Eris rolled her eyes at him, but never bid him be gone.

(And there were nights where he summoned the strength for a semi-corporeal body, and he rested against her with nearly human weight, and he kissed every one of her fingers and ran his own, too-long and too-jointed pale fingers through her dark auburn hair as he whispered, My dear squanderer.)

So they have all made their [bargains], paid their prices. Eris knows there is more yet to be paid of hers. For when the Guardian rises again, she must take up the mantle of Crota's Bane. She will share what she knows, and keep her promise of vengeance even when the deaths she avenges are null and void. And then perhaps she will tell Ikora the truth—all of it—about Oryx and Gaul and Mara Sov, and what Eris herself has been and has become.

She will keep her promise to Cayde as well. When (if) Uldren starts down his path of ruin, she will do whatever it takes, go to the Prison of Elders with Cayde himself, to keep their Guardian safe.

And then—

One day, if she has the luck to survive that long, she will be free from her burden of knowledge. She will face the future as blindly as any other Guardian—and she will be a Guardian, will have all the lore she learned in the Dark yet still possess the Light as well.

The thought of that far-off day feels . . . almost like hope.

A strange, but welcome feeling.

#

"Wæs þu hæl," says a quiet, female voice.

Startled from her reverie, Eris turns. Beside her stands an Exo wearing a Hunter-like hood and cape, a pulse-rifle strapped at her back. Yet she's not a Guardian: no Ghost floats at her side, and Eris can sense no hum of Light from her presence, only—

A soft, sibilant whisper that is almost Darkness, but not quite.

Old Tower rumors and the Guardian's stories crash together in her head. Eris straightens.

"You're the Exo Stranger," she breathes.

"Yes," says the Exo, and then continues, half-turning as she speaks over comms to someone not present, "Yes, I just found them. Can't it wait?"

Insufferable rudeness, Toland mutters at Eris's shoulder. What conceit.

The Exo Stranger turns back to them, eyes picking out the spot where Toland hovers. "Unlike you, Shattered One?"

"You know what we are?" asks Eris, warily starting to reach for the Light. Her Ghost appears silently at her side. They both know she is not like those the Exo Stranger is said to help.

"What you did was abominable," says the Exo Stranger. "There are reasons the Ahamkara were hunted to extinction."

Eris meets her gaze steadily. "There are reasons for what we did."

Toland winks into sight, a little white ball of glowing light that floats imperiously toward the Exo Stranger. "Do not preach to us, causality-bound simpleton. Have you parsed the ascendant geometries? Have you watched the laws of reality rewrite themselves upon the Sea of Screams?"

"Yes," the Exo Stranger says bluntly.

Eris can't help feeling a flicker of amusement at the way Toland bobs back, surprised into silence.

"I'm not going to redact you," the Exo Stranger goes on. "This timeline is surprisingly stable. Some factors have even . . . improved. But if you're to interfere at this level, I need to know if you've chosen a side. And which one."

"A simple-minded question," Toland hisses, "fit for those bound by liminality, who do not understand the possibility of—"

"He stands with me," Eris interrupts.

A soft noise almost like a chuckle escapes the Exo Stranger's visor. "And you?"

"I choose the Light," say Eris, steadfast-sure. "I protect the Guardians and the Last City."

The Exo Stranger cocks her head. "Even at the cost of your own Light again?"

Eris hisses, Hive-sibilant, Darkness-soft, remembering the weight of three eyes and the agony of slow, poisonous tears.

"Yes," she says. "I have. I will. I do."

In every world, in every timeline, she will be a claw in the throat of the Dark. She will make any unholy bargain that she must, to accomplish it.

The Exo Stranger nods, strange and solemn. "Yes. You do. —What's that?" She turns away suddenly, speaking again to her distant companions. "Well, start charging the canons, then. Prepare to fire on my mark."

She looks back over her shoulder. "There's so much more out there in the Dark than even you know. But you're beginning to learn. We'll meet again, Erisia Pyatova-Hsien."

And she vanishes in a shimmering web of light.

Eris stares after her, ignoring Toland's muttered discontent. The name Erisia Pyatova-Hsien echoes strangely in her head, knocking at still-forgotten memories. A vertiginous thought strikes her: she knows her own origin as little as she does the Exo Stranger's.

More mysteries are in motion around her than she had guessed at.

That, too, feels like hope.

And Eris, who was once Crota's Bane and will be again, who has walked in and out of timelines and bent an Ahamkara to her will, who has been a creature both Light and Dark, and who once (perhaps) was Erisia Pyatova-Hsien—

Eris sets the mysteries of herself and the universe aside for the rest of the night, and goes back inside to drink with her fireteam.

#eris morn #destiny the game #destiny #destiny fic #fireteam heartbreak #my fic

[jam2289]

I Went to a Writing Group Today - February 27th, 2019

The writing group was a full table today, and great as always.

The prompt today was to write a story about a door. There were six pictures given, along with descriptions at the bottom. It's amazing what people come up with, but I'll go into that after my story.

It's so hard to capture what I'm thinking while I'm writing fiction. So much is occurring subconsciously that it's hard to be aware of it. I thought it would be cool to have an observer looking out of a window and something mysterious about the door. Then, I thought it might be interesting if he was watching a kid kick around a ball, and then involve a door somehow. Then I thought it might be interesting to move through character viewpoints throughout the story. It's risky, it could go bad, but writing exercises are a place to experiment. That experiment didn't work out. I was thinking about writing that way, but it just wouldn't go that way for me. So, it turned out differently. Here it is, I shall call it "The Boy, the Ball, and the Door".

- - - - - -

Jack looked out of the window. In the courtyard between the buildings there was a boy kicking a ball. He played by himself every day that it wasn't raining.

If the boy happened to be playing on Thursday at 2 o'clock he would stop when a woman walked by. The woman wore a red hat and always walked with purpose. She always went directly to the same place. A door across the courtyard from Jack's apartment.

The woman would walk up to the door. The boy would run to get a good angle to watch. The woman would linger at the door for a moment, then go in. The door would shut and the boy would go back to kicking his soccer ball around the courtyard.

On other days the boy would go up to the door too. There was no handle, but he would touch the squares on the pattern of the door. Nothing would happen, and then he would go back to playing with his ball.

This went on for months. Theories lept to the front of Jack's mind, only to be discarded moments later. Jack wanted to go to the door himself, to go talk to the boy, to stop the woman and ask her... something. But, he couldn't. He was limited to his view from the window.

On Thursday, May 16th at 2 o'clock, the woman in the red hat walked through the courtyard and entered the door. On Friday, May 17th at 1 o'clock, the boy walked up to the door and touched some of the squares. The door opened. He entered. Jack never saw the boy again. His soccer ball lays stained and flat in the grass on the side of the courtyard.

- - - - - - -

Some people noticeably reacted to the story when I was done, so that's good. I've been editing a lot of horror stories for the project I'm working on with my friend Oleg from Russian, "Horror Without Borders". I think that's why it took that darker twist near the end.

The idea for the next paragraph came from the paragraph that preceded it. I didn't really have much of a plan. It's amazing how that works. I added one "the" when I was typing this, otherwise this story isn't edited at all. This is exactly how I wrote it down at the meeting, other than it being written in pen in my notebook.

There are so many decisions to be made that you can only make them intuitively. You can analyze after you have something down, but it's dangerous when you're writing to try to analyze it when you're putting it down, it can stop the whole process. For instance, in my last paragraph I said the ball was flat. I could have said deflated. Why didn't I? I don't know. That's just the way it came out. I can make up a reason now, but I didn't have one at the time. There are so many decisions that it has to be done intuitively.

I needed our observer to only be able to observe for some reason. I realized that I didn't have a good reason, so I didn't put one in. When you read it you just assume the answer. I call that closure. When you leave the appropriate gaps in writing the reader fills in the rest, if done right it can make the story much better than explaining every detail.

There were many other good stories. Several people tried to lower expectations for their stories before they read them. But, then they were good. I'm split on whether that's good or bad, so I don't give anyone advice about it either way. I don't qualify my stories, or at least I try not to. I also have a tendency to lack confidence and I haven't found that very useful for myself.

It was mentioned how different all of the stories were. It was also mentioned how similar all of the stories are. I think that's because a door is a powerful symbol. It's the archetype of the unknown, of crossing a threshold, and of mystery. Someone mentioned that that's why there shouldn't be glass doors, lol. So, the stories are all about that archetypal idea, but they all do it in different ways.

One story was talking about the slow death of magic. It was strong enough that one woman almost cried about it. I think it's curious that epic fantasy often deals with the death or potential death of magic, but I've never read a story about the birth of magic. That might be worth considering.

I was happy to see my friend Jon at the meeting. He read one of these posts from my blog and decided to stop by. I know him from a Toastmasters public speaking group. He is a decent speaker, but he is an excellent writer. He wrote from a woman's perspective, which I struggle with, covering a huge portion of her life in a tiny story and it had solitude as a personified male antagonist. It was somber, and great. There's also a woman in the writing group that I took a reading tutor class with before who has good insights. It's nice to be surprised by showing up to places and knowing people there when you aren't expecting it.

One of the most interesting things about the meeting was the personal introduction portion. We didn't do separate introductions this time. You could just introduce yourself however you wanted before you read your story. I liked this format better, I think it works better. Most people don't really say anything about themselves. Many people just state their name. That's fine. I can even see why it may be better. But, I decided to say something about myself.

I wanted to keep it writing related so I said something like this: "Hi, I'm Jeff Martin. I write a chaotic blog at JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com. I'm also editing two horror story anthologies for a publishing house in Russia. I was recently recruited to write a comic book by an illustrator in Muskegon. And, I'm writing a series of speeches for the Harry Potter festival in Sparta this summer. I guess that's about it."

That last line got a little laugh because people thought that was a lot of stuff. I cut my activities way short though, otherwise the intro feels too long for people. I didn't mention that I'm writing a play, a series of philosophy essays for the International Society For Philosophers, and that I write a weekly article analyzing lyrics for 88.9 Hey Radio out of North Muskegon. Even if I mentioned all of that it would be cutting my writing activities way short. I'm keeping extensive notes on a whole bunch of things ranging from various fiction projects to philosophy articles to memoirs. I have notes for over 100 articles on my blog that I haven't written yet. I have dozens of good story ideas. But, I seem to need time to let these ideas germinate. I know many other writers have had this same need. Writers from Mark Twain to Michael Crichton have thought about story ideas for years before beginning to write them. It still seems odd though.

The session was great as always. The reason it works so well is that it's just a fun exercise to push yourself and see what happens, you only write for twenty minutes, it's always a pretty open subject, there is little feedback and it is wholly supportive, we jump right into the writing exercise at first and then go around reading them, and the whole thing is done in an hour. It's highly enjoyable and really helps me to open up my perspective.

Here are my articles on the last two sessions I went to:

I Went to a Writing Group Yesterday - January 23rd, 2019

http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/01/i-went-to-writing-group-yesterday.html

I Went to a Writing Group Today - January 9th, 2019

http://www.jeffreyalexandermartin.com/2019/01/i-went-to-writing-group-today.html

________________________________________________

You can find more of what I'm doing at http://www.JeffreyAlexanderMartin.com

#writing

[maryannmccarra-fitzpatrick]

#Peekskill #toastmasters #city of peekskill #city of peekskill new york #cityofpeekskill #open House

[rochestertoastmasters]

Today is the day!

The State Fair Toastmasters Sampler is happening today (Friday, August 31st), from 3 to 5 p.m. at the NEW, TPT booth on the north end of the fair.

There will be a sampling of Toastmasters roles, which include speeches, table topics, and evaluations; the three key aspects of Toastmasters meetings.

We need an audience, and this means YOU!

If you have a choice of time to be at the fair, we could use you to come and fill up a seat. We will be starting off with Mark Skipper delivering a speech. Mark is a District 6 International speech contest winner and a very entertaining speaker.

TPT booth is at the corner of Underwood St. and Lee Ave. It is directly across the street from the ‘old iron show’ on Lee street and is on square Q12 of your Minnesota State Fair map, available at every entrance to the fair, or just click here: https://www.mnstatefair.org/general-info/maps/.

Allow plenty of time to get there as it is expected to be a crowded day at the fair. If the weather predictions hold, and daily record attendances continue. In true Toastmasters tradition, we will start only moments after 3 p.m.

Come for any part of the two hours, unlike a meeting, this is an ‘Open House.’

If you have any questions, please contact Dan Grundtner at [email protected]

See you AT the Fair!

#Toastmasters #publicspeaking #leadership #d6tm #speech #mnstatefair

[asspkuwait]

ASSP Kuwait is inviting you for ASSP Kuwait Toastmasters club "OPEN HOUSE MEETING

When: Oct 30, 2021,

at 06:45 PM Kuwait time GMT+3 and India 9.15 PM (GMT+5.30)

“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

— EPICTETUS, Greek Stoic philosopher.

So what are you waiting join us to Listen at open house meeting and speak in Table Topic Session.

Please Register in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZcrdeGqqzIiHNBqQ7IQvO463sxF8U8PRviN

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

#asse kuwait #safety #asspkuwait asspkuwait infoassekuwait kuwait.assp.org asspkuwaitchapter assekuwait kuwaitassp congratulationsasspkuwait safetyasspkuwaitchapt

[naoko-matsumoto-matchmaker]

I am going to attend the Toastmasters Open House on Nov. 2nd, 2021. ⁡ This Toastmasters club is for everyone who wants to learn both English and Japanese speech. ⁡ If you are interested in this club, you are most welcome to attend the open house. ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ ❤️Japanese Beauty Newsletter and the latest information about our female members. ⁡ ⁡ ⁡ For more information, please contact Naoko @naoko_matsumoto_matchmaker https://TJM.bz ⁡ #nyc #meetjapanesewomen #japan #japanesewoman #japanese_woman #asianwomen #japanesewomen #dating #matchmaking #matchmakernyc #japanesematchmaker #onlinedating (NYC) https://www.instagram.com/p/CVlQCtXvRz6/?utm_medium=tumblr

#nyc #meetjapanesewomen #japan #japanesewoman #japanese_woman #asianwomen #japanesewomen #dating #matchmaking #matchmakernyc #japanesematchmaker #onlinedating

[britishzee]

Good Morning, Universe. . Ladies and Gentlemen, TSL (The Speaker's Lounge) Toastmasters Club in Seoul, Korea #KoreaIntenatioanalSpeakersClub is Proudly Present: "TSL Open House" Featuring a Keynote Speaker : "A Treasure Trove of Speeches" by TM Michael Wader, An American Veteran With: *26 years of leadership experience *25 years of corporate training and public speaking experience *Global experience teaching in 16 countries ready to help you! . Pull out your calendar and mark the date: on *Saturday, July 24th, 2021, Time : Please come prior 30mins before The Meeting start for Guest Introduction. at 8AM (UTC+7) Jakarta at 9AM (UTC+8) Malaysia at 10AM (UTC+9) Korea . Theme :"Personal Growth" WOD : 자신 (Jasin) / Confidence . Let's book yourself a seat by clicking this link : https://bit.ly/TSL_RSVP . (The zoom link ID and Password will email directly to you, right after you registered, and you may check your spam if not available in your inbox ) . Please find Facebook Event link: https://facebook.com/events/s/open-house/633316310981925/ This meeting is open for public, which means you may invite your friends and family members to attend too.. But..seats are limited to 100 participants. So make sure you grab it fast! See you there 🙌 #젊은 #대중연설 #배우기 #말하기클럽 #영어를배우다 #KoreaInternationalSpeakersClub #TheSpeaker’sLoungeToastmastersClub #Toastmastersinternational #whereleadersaremade #publicspeaking #speakingclub #Seoul (at Seoul,korea selatan) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRnvcBmsebJ/?utm_medium=tumblr

#koreaintenatioanalspeakersclub #젊은 #대중연설 #배우기 #말하기클럽 #영어를배우다 #koreainternationalspeakersclub #thespeaker #toastmastersinternational #whereleadersaremade #publicspeaking #speakingclub #seoul