#I have completely different ways of thinking and opportunity costs to my choices at different times

[orcarnage]

I don't know if I'm just deranged but.... I think this is it, this is the point where things went irreparably south between Guts and Griffith.

Let me try to explain it; in this scene, had guts spoken his mind, it would likely have prevented him from leaving the hawks altogether. Griffith asked this not because he thought he might be cruel, he knows he is. He asked because he wanted to know what Guts, thought; he wanted reassurance. He asked this to Guts knowing he'd reply with something akin to this, because it is something familiar. He knew Guts would downplay it, give some sort of 'and you ask ME?' kind of response.

This was the wrong choice. Griffith predicted it would be this way, and he proved himself right, because he always does that, doesn't he? What he did here was essentially just shouting into a void. Griffith is not content with this arrangement, having Guts just follow him as a soldier, and had he known Guts also wanted to stand equal to him, this scene would have gone a completely different route. This scene separated them, it put them each back into their roles, a leader, and one who is below him.

The face that Griffith makes when he asks that question, his expressions are very delicate but it is a deliberately big panel. His eyes are determined, but he's tense. His eyebrows are about to furrow, his posture is really stiff, and he hesitates. The sorrow in his words is insane, I'm going insane. HE NEEDS YOU TO HOLD HIM!!! GUTS YOU DUMB FUCK!!!

And then this HORRIBLE {affectionate} CONTINUATION.

God this was awful. You said exactly what he expected you to, you ruined the opportunity to speak your mind, im losing my marbles. GUTS IM PUSHING YOU INTO THE SEWER.

That fucking smile. Its so forced. This is the point where Guts puts Griffith on a level he sees himself as being below. This is the point where Griffith realizes his dream will come at a cost.; forever elevated above his peers, unable to stand shoulder to shoulder with Guts, something Guts accidentally made clear with his comment. And Griffith can do nothing but accept it. This will cause him to cling to his dream harder than ever, and Guts will seek to elevate himself to stand beside Griffith. They're so physically close, but they're worlds apart. THIS COULD HAVE BEEN FIXED!!! OH THE TRAGEDY!!!! THE TRAGEDY!!!!! MIURA SENSEI, WHY?????

Anyways I'm very passionate thanks for coming to my ted talk feel free to add on or argue or discuss i just wanted to analyze this scene a bit specifically due to the face Griffith makes.

#berserk #griffith #guts berserk #griffith berserk #character analysis #i hate them (affectionate) #griffguts

[turtlesandfrogs]

One of the things I think about a lot is productivity comparisons between conventional and unconventional agriculture. Mostly because that's the first question you get asked when you talk about anything that's outside the norm*, but, on what metric are we measuring? Per acre? Per hour worked? Per cost of input? Are we measuring yields of product or dollars earned?

This question also, to me, rings of fear. Fear of food shortages, which are really a problem of greed & distribution, not the world's capacity to grow food. If we were really worried about calories though, I think we'd at least switch to pastured animals instead of sending so much corn and soy to livestock (for any non-farmers out there, you do not get nearly the calories out of a chicken or pig that you put in- you get much less**). Or we would put more effort into making cities great places to live so we stopped turning farmland into suburbia. Or we would be much more concerned with how to prevent erosion & loss of arable land. But we don't, and we're not.

I also think of the complexity of non- conventional farming, and how instead of it being a return to the past, it actually relies on new information and methods***.

Take the plot of land that I'm working to make into a market garden. It's soil is, from a farmer's perspective, crap. It's gravely, sandy, very little organic matter. If I were to farm it conventionally, I'd basically have till to open the soil and kill weeds, and then provide all of the plant nutrients through fertilizers, which would cause the plants to kick out their symbiotic fungi, leaving them vulnerable to pathogenic fungi, and more dependant on me for water. There would also be bare soil everywhere, increasing evaporation & providing plenty of opportunities for new weeds. My costs would be very high, paying for fertilizers, pesticides, & herbicides, and I would have to water, a lot. It probably wouldn't be at all economically feasible to grow food on this plot using conventional methods.

Now, I look at it and say, I'm going to do no-till. I look at the hard, weedy, depleted soil and there's no way a seed is going to be able to come up through that. But, I'm not just doing no-till, because I'm not looking at it from a conventional mindset and just trading out one practice. I'm doing basically everything different from above.

Instead of tilling, I'm laying down a thick layer of mulch, to shade out the weeds, increase soil organic matter (increasing the amount of water and nutrients the soil can absorb & good on to), and feed the soil ecosystem. By the time spring rolls around, the soil underneath will be much better, but I'll still add more compost in most cases.

Instead of fertilizers I've had to pay for, I'm using mulches that I got for free from my gardening work & composts made for free from restaurant kitchen wastes****. I'm going to use over crops, plants that fix nitrogen and also serve as perennial hosts to beneficial soil fungi, which will also form symbiosis with most of my crops, increasing their resistance to pathogenic fungi while also providing them with increased access to water and soil minerals.

Instead of bare soil, there will be mulches and cover crops every where. Instead of monocrops & pesticides, I'll be intercropping which will help by hosting beneficial native insects that will chow down on aphids and other crop pests.

From this framework, there's an upfront investment of effort and planning, but farming this land now seems feasible.

And the thing is, each of those choices is backed up by research. We know so much more now about soil and nutrient cycling and how it actually works than when conventional ag really got started. We know so much more, and so many practices are new, so growing non-conventionally isn't a step back into the past of how things were grown.

But at the same time, it's not exactly completely information either- other cultures have different ways of growing food crops, and if you broaden your concept of what cultivating plants looks like, there's examples everywhere. We're just studying it now and providing it scientifically.

*and I honestly think that it's a result of the extractive mindframe that comes from being the decendants of colonizers. Just look at the different perspectives between many western foragers ideas and Indigenous peoples' relationship with the land.

** chickens are one of the most efficient, with a feed conversion ratio of 1.6, which means for every 1.6 pounds of food you give them, you can expect the chicken to gain 1 pound (cows are over 4 pounds of feed to pound of live weight, and pigs are 3 to 4ish). That's the whole bird though, counting all the parts we don't eat- guts, feathers, bones, etc. Even so, a pound of chicken food has over 1300 calories, and is about 20% protein for starter/grower, where as a pound of chicken has about 500 calories and about 30% protein (for dark meat, you get fewer calories from white meat). I'm not saying everyone should give up meat, but I am saying that the amount of meat in mainstream diets has increased dramatically, much of it comes from cafos where animals are fed on grains & legumes, and if we're measuring productivity and yield per acre because we're worried about feeding the world, this is a huge factor. Look up how much of the corn & soy crop goes to actually directly feeding people.

*** from a western, colonizing prospective

**** is this a particular boon from my particular circumstances? Yes. But everyone has their own challenges and resources, there is no cookie-cutter solution to all agriculture, everywhere. You have to find the solutions that work for you.

#thoughts #permaculture #gardening

[rottenshotgungames]

I want to start talking about my personal game design philosophy

Stop Saying “No”

Let’s be honest here, you’ve written a hard limit into at least one of your games. We all have, I certainly have. It’s one of those simple yet effective pieces of tech (one that’s existed since the dawn of games) that can be introduced to bring an option in line with some other option, or to prevent a scaling into eternity, or some other third thing. Maybe skills have maximums, or you can only use a certain number of consumables in a combat, or an item can only be activated every other scene or round. Whatever it is, you’ve written into your game a rule that tells the players, “No. You cannot do this thing.”

I think we overuse hard limits. My goal is to convince you that hard limits, that the “No” you’ve introduced into your rules, is the game design equivalent of junk food: easy to use and bad in large quantities.

My argument boils down to two simple points:

Hard limits are frustrating and boring

Hard limits limit your design

In addition, I will be detailing three alternatives to hard limits:

Costs

Consequences

Balance

Hard vs. Soft

Before we begin, I want to clarify the difference between a hard limit and a soft limit:

A hard limit can generally be defined as, "A rule which expressly forbids or otherwise disallows something, either in a given circumstance or in general."

A soft limit, in contrast, can generally be defined as, "A rule which disincentivizes or otherwise indirectly limits something."

Alright, on with the show.

Hard Limits are Frustrating and Boring

This is what I like to call the, “What do you mean I can’t use my telekinesis to disarm that guy??? That’s fucking stupid!” Put simply, people like using their toys, and people dislike being told they can’t use their toys for whatever reason. Even if you haven’t had as vitriolic of a reaction as the one described earlier, I’m more than positive you’ve felt this way toward some rule in an RPG at some point. Even if a hard limitation is completely reasonable, it can still be frustrating to encounter; I understand why I can’t raise my Skill levels above my character level in Pathfinder, but it was still annoying and saddening the first time I heard it.

There’s this tweet from a while back, in which one Mr. Joshy McCroo (@riseupcomus) argues that any hard CC that fully prevents you from taking actions is inherently poor design as it does nothing but frustrate the person that it’s used on. This is the very same concept, and for the very same reason: it’s just not fun.

The fundamental reason for the frustration caused by hard limits is that they restrict player choice. When you introduce a hard “no,” you often remove an opportunity to create interesting decisions, and decisions are the foundation of play. Boredom with a system or a situation is spawned by a lack of choice, by a necessity to perform the same action over and over or an inability to do anything. When you give players a variety of tools that can each be used consistently—particularly in tactical games—they will use those tools in interesting, creative, and fun ways; if you restrict those tools, restrict the freedom to use those tools as desired, boredom and frustration can set in quickly.

Hard Limits Limit Your Design

This point is less objective and far more experiential / personal. This isn’t meant to demean opposing views or differing design philosophies.

As stated earlier, hard limits are simple, effective, and easy to use. If you come up against a design wall, such as an option being too powerful or players over-centralizing, it can be easy to just institute a rule that says “You can’t use this constantly,” or “You can only have this many Gizmos™️,” but doing so will often deprive you of an opportunity to innovate or otherwise improve your design sense.

For me, learning design was a serious process of Example and Trial. I’d use reference points (such as RPGs or Video Games that I really liked) to guide me through tough decisions, and when I didn’t have that guide I’d just write and revise until something fit. Eventually, I realized that growing as a designer and developing my own philosophy meant expanding beyond (even if ever-so-slightly) my influences, and the balance shifted from Example(60)/Trial(40) to Example(30)/Trial(70). For me, the fun of design is coming up against these kinds of issues and seeing if I can develop a novel approach or take a stale approach and spice it up, and I feel myself getting better every time I try.

Hard limits are easy to use and generally (relatively) easy to implement, as such they offer less opportunity for growth.

Some alternatives to hard limits, and why you might consider using them:

Costs

Two prevalent examples of costs are weapon ammunition and (≥2) times per Scene/Combat/Rest/Day abilities (both of these can be found in D&D 3e onward and many of its derivatives).

A cost is basically just a hard limit that's been a few steps removed, but those few steps manage to turn it into a soft limit of sorts. Costs fundamentally take a hard "No" and turn it into a "Yes, but . . ."

This is probably the easiest alternative to implement, which explains why it's kinda found everywhere. Even spell slots in the Dragon Game are a form of cost limitation. It's also just a generally strong solution, usually removing a significant amount of frustration and adding opportunities for resource management gameplay. However, if not implemented with care or consideration for surrounding options, you could end up with people carrying over 500 arrows at any given time or once more falling into a set rotation of combat abilities that they perform round-to-round (thereby negating the boredom fix).

Consequences

This is my personal favorite alternative.

A consequence, like a cost, is a "Yes, but" that disincentivizes an option or changes how a player thinks about using that option. There are two major differences between a cost and a consequence:

Costs are always negative in nature (you are spending something as part of doing something), consequences can be but aren't necessarily negative.

Costs always lead to a state that acts as a hard limit (once the resource is empty, you cannot do the thing), consequences do not directly involve a hard limit.

Two prevalent examples of consequences are taking damage for doing something (such as the Stress generated by Blades in The Dark's flashback mechanic) and gaining / losing affinity with a person or faction (a la Over War: The Night Comes Down).

The primary benefit of implementing a consequence is the interconnection with other mechanics. Costs are relatively self contained—usually only branching out to a currency mechanic, a weight mechanic, or a leveling mechanic at the very most—because the threat of a hard limit somewhere down the line is often enough to change how players approach a specific mechanic or situation on its own; consequences, on the other hand, necessitate an understanding of and interaction with other mechanics in the system because they literally cannot exist without them. If using a specific ability is going to give you a status condition—for example—that status condition inherently affects other mechanics and how you interact with them as well, changing how you think about that ability and its place in your toolset pretty substantially.

As an example, there's a Priest ability in Hollow Halls (my fantasy dungeon crawler) entitled Glimpse The Plan. Glimpse The Plan doubles the user's Believe proficiency (stat used for casting Parable spells), but also afflicts them with the Blind and Afraid statuses (which are both pretty bad). The Priest playtester quickly realized that if he was Afraid all of the time, then he effectively eliminated half of the consequences—and wouldn't ya know it, there's an option to become permanently Afraid at character creation to increase your health.

All of that being said (and my favoritism clearly on display), consequences can suffer from a difficulty of implementation. Some consequences, particularly the taking of damage, are really easy to throw about haphazardly and thereby suffer from the same "limitation of design" problem that hard limits do; but escaping those, adding consequences that are unique and create interesting choices, takes time and care and an awareness of how certain mechanics can and do interact. Even the easier-to-implement consequences can often take a few tries to fine-tune.

Balance

This is simultaneously the simplest and most complicated alternative. To balance something here means to compare an option to other surrounding options, weigh the value of each, and slowly tweak numbers until they're all in line with each other. Generally speaking, the easiest way to do this is to craft an option as a baseline and balance everything else around that option, but there are times where you'll create a more powerful ability that you don't want to change, thereby causing it to become the new baseline and so on and so forth.

This alternative involves a lot of trial and error, a lot of guesswork, a lot of testing, and a willingness to add, remove, and change elements of any given option. It’s time consuming, stressful, and incredibly rewarding. I don’t recommend going pure nitty-gritty numbers-hound in every situation, or even in every game, but—if used properly—this option can create an incredibly healthy and interesting environment of options.

The primary strength of numbers balancing is that you'll probably be doing it at least a little bit anyways. Unless you're part of the "balance is for pussies" crowd, some amount of balance work will be done on every option you introduce into the game. This is kinda just, y'know, the logical extreme of that process.

All three listed alternatives can be used with each other, even on a single mechanic.

Conclusion

I do not think that hard limits are inherently bad. I really need to make it clear that I DO NOT think that you should never use them (as much as that may be suggested by the title of this post). Sometimes you'll be on a serious time crunch, or you won't be able to come up with a suitable alternative, or it's the most thematically or mechanically sound option, so on and so forth. There are instances in which it will be appropriate, or even preferable, to use a hard limit—but that doesn’t make an over-reliance upon them any better for you or the people playing your game.

Honestly, what I want people to take away from this post is very simple: every design decision matters. Even seemingly inconsequential choices with limited impact can have profound effects on an important moment for some of your players, and as such are worth considering carefully.

Self-Promo

Hey, I'm Gio. I run Rotten Shotgun games. If you wanna support me, or keep up to date on my work, you can find me on Itch.io at https://rotten-shotgun-games.itch.io/

Otherwise, I hope y'all have a great night and a great day!

#game design #ttrpg #indie ttrpg #indie gaming #ttrpg community #tabletop #i wrote this while struggling with intense anxiety #my one published game doesn’t adhere very well to this part of my philosophy #the next one will lol #Footfall RPG

[momentsbeforemass]

“Mine”

(by request, my homily from earlier today)

If you were going to summarize the Gospel we just heard [the parable of the wicked tenants, linked at the end], how would you do it?

For me, it comes down to one word – “mine.”

What we see in today’s Gospel is ugly. And it is nothing other than the end product of “mine,” the most dangerous idea our species has ever come up with.

When I say “mine,” I mean all mine.

Not just me first. It’s not enough that I win. You have to lose.

Taken to its natural conclusion, that is where “mine” ends up.

We’ve all seen it happen, maybe even in our own families. When mom dies. And one of the kids says “mine” about something in the estate. Something that mom left to someone else.

Whether it’s been a long time coming, or it’s a complete surprise, as that estate plays out you get to see a side of someone you thought you knew. A part of them that is truly ugly. And one that has no room for anyone else.

That is “mine” in action.

Or maybe you’ve lived it.

You worked there for ten years. You’re a top performer. Nobody does the job as well as you do. And everyone knows it.

When the chance for a promotion opened up, you were the obvious choice.

And then they gave it some kid who hadn’t even been there for a year.

That was your opportunity! You put in the time. No one was more qualified than you. It was yours. You deserved it. You were robbed!

That is what “mine” feels like.

And that is what we see playing out in today’s Gospel. “Mine” has gotten its claws into the tenants. And once it starts, it doesn’t stop.

That’s why it keeps ramping up, and why it gets completely out of hand. So that they can finally say “mine” – about the vineyard.

The thing is, the parable stops before “mine” is done having it’s way with the tenants.

If the owner hadn’t stepped in, if the tenants had taken over the vineyard?

“Mine” would have kept going. And they would have turned on each other, until only one of them was left to say “mine.”

Because that is how “mine” works. “Mine” means all mine.

It’s not enough that I win. You have to lose.

Taken to its natural, unavoidable conclusion, that is where “mine” ends up.

If you want to know what can destroy the strongest bonds of family, love, and friendship, this is it.

If you want to know what can separate us from God, this is it.

If you want to know what got us tossed out of the Garden, this is it.

“Mine” is the original sin.

And you’re thinking, “That’s not me, my sister was the greedy one when mom died. Besides, I’ve never beaten up a messenger, much less killed someone. None of this applies to me, right?”

I wish.

What Jesus is showing us is where “mine” ends up. But that’s not where it starts.

For most of us, it usually starts in disguise. And you and I are the ones camouflaging it.

We disguise “mine” in all kinds of ways. But whether we clothe in the language of success. Or power. Or influence. Or wealth. Or anger. Or even fear. They’re all just different ways of saying “mine.”

And no matter how we disguise “mine” at the beginning, if we let “mine” get its claws into us, this is where it ends up.

So, what can we do about it?

First, we’ve got to be honest about our limitations. You and I both know that we can’t just tell ourselves to not do something. And then pretend like that’s going to work.

If nothing else, we’ve been through enough Lents, where we’ve tried to give up even the most trivial things, to know better.

If we’re going to keep “mine” from sinking its claws into us, you and I need to do something. We need a concrete, positive way to respond.

This is what discipleship and stewardship are all about. How?

Discipleship is practical. It’s accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And then? Actually living like Jesus is your Lord and Savior.

As our diocesan synod put it, discipleship means making “a conscious, firm decision, carried out in action,” to be a follower of Jesus Christ – no matter the cost to yourself. It’s “a committed approach to living a Christian life within the Catholic Church.” That’s the official stuff.

What it really means is being who you are, as a Christian.

And stewardship? It’s how we put discipleship into practice. In every part of our lives. From how we treat ourselves, to how treat others. From how we use the influence that we have, to how we use the things that we have.

It’s living out who you are, as a Christian.

So, how do you and I do that?

I’m going to tell you something you already know. This is not easy.

And it’s not a one-and-done. This is something that has to be done over and over.

In every interaction. In every decision. In every action.

In every day. In every hour. In every thing.

If you’re serious, here’s the roadmap. From C.S. Lewis,

Give up yourself, and you will find your real self. Lose your life and you will save it.

Submit to death, death of your ambitions and favorite wishes every day and death of your whole body in the end. Submit with every fiber of your being, and you will find eternal life.

Keep back nothing. Nothing that you have not given away will ever be really yours.

Nothing in you that has not died will ever be raised from the dead.

Look for yourself [say “mine”], and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.

Sunday’s Readings

#Mine #Who you are in Christ #God #Jesus #Catholic #Christian #Church #C.S. Lewis #Discipleship #Stewardship #Living the Faith #Moments Before Mass

[whetstonefires]

Hi, I like your mdzs meta (and am interested in the hopefully forthcoming yzy meta) but even that of fandoms I’m not in (your final fantasy meta about the differences in canonical vs fanonical sartorial choices due to coding was enlightening, and I didn’t even know it was dark.) For the ask game: 🦷🐇 🦴 P.S. if you haven’t found it the eldest sibling cinematic universe is all tagged naruto?

thank you! :DDD i do meta posts primarily because i Have Thought that wants to be heard, but it's delightful for it to actually be wanted lmao.

i have filtered my blog for 'naruto' through three different methods without finding the ask where i was asked to crosscast mdzs and naruto. it is a Hidden Value for some reason. if someone finds it, please send me the link through dm or something.

haha only white things! three white items! tooth-bunny-bone.

🦷 ⇢ share some personal wisdom or a life hack you swear on

So when you own a lot of stuff it is so so important to store it in the most organized way you can manage, because the [task burden] of finding the desired item needs to be low enough to keep you from giving up on finding your own things when you want them, because that makes them useless to you.

This is especially important for things like craft supplies and hardware. Put the same kinds of things together, in a closed, clearly labeled container, with some kind of internal partitioning by sub-category, as much as you possibly can.

Take as much of the burden of locating your possessions off Future You as you can; I know it feels like a tiresome outlay of effort in the present keeping you from dedicating the time to actual [activity], but once you make a habit of it it's very much a stitch-in-time-saves-nine that will make [activity] more accessible to you.

This doesn't mean you need to Buy Product, although some of the stuff that's sold for organizing can be very useful. I keep all my embroidery floss in a small wooden chest I bought at a tag sale, sorted by color family into little plastic baggies. So it's fairly trivial now to go in and see 'what reds do I have?' choose one.

Then I transfer the hanks I'm using for my current project into the transparent plastic box with a snap-on lid I got for one dollar from Michaels Crafts, where the embroidery needles live fulltime, and bundle just that into a basket or bag with the hoop and fabric, while the rest of the chest can go back in the closet until it's time to put the remainder away again. Maneuvering the box physically in and out of the closet becomes the hardest part of accessing the materials.

The ability to pick up and move a whole project at once is also very valuable for anyone without like, a whole designated Crafting Area in their space. And for people who do have that, but are always being impeded by their own clutter.

If you have a basket or tray or something you can stack all of a given project onto and whisk away to clear your worksurface at need, you'll be much more likely to actually commit to working on that project when you want to, without feeling burdened by the future opportunity cost of having to completely finish and/or abort progress on it if something else comes up.

Probably not everyone gets stuck on that, especially people who only work on one thing at a time, but I think there are enough people like me that giving yourself permission to use the 'sewing basket hack' is valuable. There are big downsides to burying yourself in stuff in the effort to keep it all near to hand and accessible, but there are also definite, meaningful costs to having to put everything away in its Own Place every time you're interrupted, especially if you have trouble with any part of executive function.

🐇 ⇢ do you prefer writing original characters, reader inserts, or a mix of both?

Egad I have never attempted a reader-insert in the contemporary style. Honestly, I can't stand them.

Writing in the second person is all well and good for textural reasons, but as a way to 1) compensate for the evidently dreadful imagination skills of the audience and 2) shield the writer from responsibility for their own writing choices, I consider the 'reader insert' to be an overall cowardly and limiting construct.

I would much rather see a fic that instructs me to understand myself as a four-foot-tall electric blue parrot than one that attempts to narrate a 'me' generic enough to be plausible to any potential reader; when the 'you' is a giant parrot with discernible preferences and goals it is, of course, an original character.

In fact, so is every reader insert, they're just usually terrible ones. Attempting to write an OC with no traits is so sad.

Anyway I'm fully capable of projecting myself onto a parrot if I want. Otoh I'm not shameless enough to publish old-fashioned self-insert fic, which is a different less craven stylistic approach to the same goal, which is only partly because I was trained on anti-OC backlash and mostly because my standards are such that the few attempts are either 1) plotless exercises in self-gratification which aren't worth finishing once the fun part of drafting the entertaining scene is done or 2) agonizingly honest. I don't feel like being quite that honest with the internet, ty.

I love character creation though so OCs good yes.

🦴 ⇢ is there a piece of media that inspires your writing?

Like. Besides the obvious, given this is a fanfic ask game afaik? Uhm. Diana Wynne Jones' body of work; the way she structured the narratives of her children's novels so the inherent unreliability of any narrator was maximized and played a vital role in mediating between the story and the reader.

I am not naturally good at playing keep-away with information, but I recognize it as a vital writing skill because context is so vital to the experience of media, so I pay close attention to how this sort of sleight of hand is accomplished. I also really appreciated Jones' relative lack of talking down to her child audience.

#ask #hoc est meum #glitterypenguintyphoon #ask game #organization #oc versus reader insert #dwj #people say nice things

[halos-top-alien-model]

Zhar v Vari ficlet

"Forgive this expression of doubt, Arbiter, but... how can we be sure we can trust the San'Shyuum if they are found?"

While he did not want to worry his audience, Thel could not help but hesitate in his answer. It had been many years now, yet the memory of Zhar and that damnable operation at the Rubble would resurface at the back of his mind from time to time. Often, these were thoughts full of regret - and not just because Regret was the one who set them on that path. 

Thel had slain his friend to save the life of Truth, only to be the one that killed Truth in the end. He had killed his friend out of unwavering loyalty to the Hierarchs, regardless of what they'd dictate his fate to be and regardless of the smears on their usually spotless reputations. The "reward" for this murder was to be set on the path of discovering the depths of the Hierarchs' deception and leading his people out of the Covenant and into new conflicts amongst themselves, although Thel 'Vadamee had not known that until the time finally came. At times, the death of Zhar felt pointless and in vain. Yet wisdom would triumph and Thel would remember that everything that happened in the wake of Zhar's death might never have even happened had that crucial moment gone differently.

Before his eyes, it was as if Zhar had been resurrected, purely to ask this question of him. To give Thel another chance to think through all he had witnessed of the "Prophets" and come to a new conclusion. To give Thel another chance to relay this new conclusion to his concerned ally - the soldier under his command and responsibility - and ease the confusion suppressed everywhere except in the comfort of Thel's presence. If he answered differently, would it finally put the ghost of Zhar to rest?

With a blink of the eye, though, Thel's mind completely resurfaced back to reality. The one who stood before him - still waiting for an answer, or perhaps more like reassurance given his nervous shifting of his stance - was Vari 'Damat. As if the brief pause never happened, the Arbiter slipped back into the conversation.

"Do not apologize for having concerns, 'Damat. Had there been more freedom for doubt within the Covenant, a lot of our recent struggles might have been avoided. But we must remember something. It was the Hierarchs the purposefully deceived us. It was they who lusted for power, at any and all costs. Grievance for those actions can only be bestowed on them. For any other San'Shyuum, they must be judged for what they have done - and only for what they have done. And for more San'Shyuum than you think, what they have done is help us, even when it came at a cost for themselves and even when the easier choice would be to forsake us like the Hierarchs.

"There is always risk when it comes to trusting another. Trusting another species, trusting your own species, trusting your family, your neighbors, your... leaders. You trust me, but how can you be so sure? That I will not turn out like the Hierarchs? That I will not fail you? That my chosen path is the right way?

"I no longer hold any faith in gods, for I gained nothing and lost everything when I did. But I will continue to have faith in the people of this galaxy, as long as they prove themselves, as every loss as a result of that faith is evened out by a time that faith was rewarded. And... if I can not trust anyone in this galaxy but myself, then what point is there to doing anything? To emerge from my bed? To preserve myself in this world? To go after any opportunity that life presents to me? To do anything? It is ultimately better to open oneself to trust in others than it is to decay slowly in solitude."

Having remained silently captivated throughout this monologue, Vari dipped his head when he realized that it was over. A moment passed as he digested it, then put his hand over his chest for a salute.

"I am grateful for your counsel, Arbiter... My mind and hearts still fail to reach a conclusion, but I will meditate on this perspective for as long as it takes."

As Vari was dismissed, Thel was hopeful that he had said the right words this time, and that he would not make the wrong choice again when Vari's conclusion was made.

#my writing #poll ficlets #vari damat #vari 'damat #zhar #halo zhar #zhar sangheili #sangheili zhar

[princessprettyprivilege]

Even though I agree with your post about how we as dark skin/minority have to work harder for the bare minimum , I would like to take to consideration that other ethnicities specially white in my perspective only seem to have an advantage because they mostly are more submissive like they are more likely to put up with a lot of stuff that is unacceptable just to keep their place on the scale, plus white people were the powerful ones centuries ago and they set the rules for their own kind to win and anything else specially black people to lose on pretty much everything, also not everything is what it seems on the outside it looks like they are treated better and a lot of the time they, of course but at what cost? they also deal with humiliation and disrespect and abuse like any other women do, and then this system creates competition for different ethicities to try to accept things and want to please the ones with power so they are not treated as bad as the ones below but from my point of view is all an illusion to keep the competition going of course the ones who are privileged to have certain benefits by their color of skin and so on but from my point of view is just like the fool following the carrot just enough to keep them going but still as disrespected and fucked up as the rest of us but more likely behind close doors and praised on the outside and we black women, I personally interpret it as the scapegoat that has to deal with of course the worse part because a lot of times we are not willing to accept certain things and also the society needs someone to fulfil this role of the scapegoat and that have been the minority who actually is not even minority, is part of the smoke screen being casted to keep us all stuck on this mindset we are not deserving and we have done that for centuries because of the lack of knowledge, opportunities and a lot of unjust competition, jealousy, hatred but even still with all that society wants what we have and that's why they also copy us everything but do not give us the respect, credit or acknowledgment we deserve as equals, I don't know if my point will come across correctly, English is not my first language and btw I am not saying I have the last word at all, there are too many things that come into the equation but at least I think it's something to think about, not everything is what it seems and also encourage us black women not to feel inferior because we are worthy of everything we thought we couldn't have, we need to change this mindset we have been passing on for generations and break free from believing what others have to say and take it as the true, and also being ok with occupying space and honor ourselves, we just need to own it and not let the mindset and bad vibes of others make us feel like we are not deserving or we are ugly because we are not❤❤❤

Hello,

I agree with everything you said, your advice and fully understand your message. From that post I made a few months ago, I feel as it cracked me a little because I let outside conditions make me feel I wasn’t worth my weight. I learned it’s really hard to break generational habits and social media conditions you every second if you let it.

Conditioning is a hard pill to swallow since the point is to pad the true messenger and make their thoughts someone else’s. I had to question myself over the last few weeks since asking why something is X, Y and Z even though it’s always been that way is bound to offend them.

Whenever I’d step out of conditioning, every moment felt out of body and I’d receive backlash from people I thought would understand the most. I mentioned before when I stayed off of social media to experience life as it is, nothing was what it seemed and the front door became a metaphor for the faux hierarchy while the side door is the private entrance for those who know.

It’s a shock to have blinders taken off of me for my hair choices especially. Seeing myself with completely straight hair that lacked texture vs. textured, blown out yet straightened hair was like looking at a stranger. Why was it I looked unrecognizable with texture similar to my own, and now with 2A straight hair, I wanted to trash it entirely??

I found out I didn’t like the contrast 2A hair had on my face and nose compared to long 4A hair making my own features stand out. When I was in high school, I also didn’t like how extra long, straight locks magnified insecurities I never knew I had??? 2A made me innately feel like I had to contour my nose to match the hair (even though I’d never ever go to that length & it was never something I’d think) or else it looked like it was wearing me.

It was just 2 years ago femininity became natural for me. It’s really a generational milestone and took blood, sweat and tears just like the journeys we’re all proactively on.

Thank you,

#princesskhalyiah #🍊

[mandala-lore]

Lemme tell you that academics with PhDs are some of the most disrespectful and pompous people I have ever known.*** Even when they try to be nice and inclusive, they often accidentally reveal their disdain for other professionals without PhDs.

I think it has something to do with that constant feeling of inadequacy that academia fills us all with, coupled with a strong need and motivation to justify all the suffering endured and big life choices put on hold in the name of earning that PhD, writing that next paper, completing the next research project.

There's always someone out there smarter and able to access more resources, so PhDs often feel this urgent sense of existential dread. Does what I'm doing even matter if no one listens, reads, or cares, except a small group of my peers?

So when professional staff or industry folks with BAs or MAs stand with them, PhDs instinctively flinch away and try to reestablish a firm boundary, lest the stench of lesser degrees stifle the sweet aroma of their own genius. They're happy to collaborate with us when they need actual work accomplished or when they want to shirk responsibility for students on us.

But god forbid we suggest sharing a space to host scholarly writing hours - for faculty AND staff. Absolutely not. There's no possible way a non-PhD person could be doing scholarly writing /scoff!

Anyway, I'm not bitter or anything.

***OBVIOUSLY this doesn't apply to every single person with a PhD. I know some wonderful people with PhDs in several different fields. But it's a far too common air academics feel they have to put on - even at this tiny, embarrassing school - and it comes at the cost of devaluing others to boost themselves and therefore missing out on connections and opportunities.

#i can feel this inside myself too #like do i want to do a phd because I'm hungry for knowledge and research opportunity? absolutely #do i also want a phd so i can sit at the cool kids table? unfortunately yes #i am not immune to arrogance #but imagine telling the staff members who developed the plan and invited faculty to join being told we're not scholarly by said faculty #make your own club house then #personal

[lgcmedia]

sooooo with future dreams season 5 coming to an end soon, i've been curious about the future of the company. turns out legacy gave me the opportunity to do *just that* at the simple cost of two plane tickets and two concert tickets ( TT_TT ) promise, i had other reasons to go to the usa than just check out some trainees, it just turned out like that ㅋㅋㅋ 

i also saw a couple of fancams the showcases floating around, and while they are good, it was a bit more different in person.

BOYS SHOWCASE

there were 12 boys at the los angeles showcase. of course, they only danced, so i can judge everything, but right away, it was clear that they are a cut below the future dreams boys... that really got me wondering about the girls then. were they going to be overall stronger than the boys too? i'll get back to that later.

when they first came on stage, there was one clear stand out for me: BAI LIN. just standing there his aura was NO JOKE. unfortunately he lost his charm as soon as the music started ㅋㅋ he really cant dance ㅋㅋ

in the end, there were 4 standouts for me! the first was YOO KIHA; he danced the best without question, but i felt like he was lacking a bit in terms of charisma, which is a shame. the other 3 were CHOI KAI, HAN NOEUL and YOON DAYEON; their dance skills are pretty high, even if a bit lower than kiha’s, however they do have the charisma that he lacks, hence why they are neck to neck with him, in my opinion. If you didn't know, HAN NOEUL is the one who performed at the concert. From what i've seen in person, i can understand why he was picked instead of the 3 others; his expressions and ability to embody the concept was the best of them all.

GIRLS SHOWCASE

i was sooo ready for the seoul concert by the time it came! i went with friends and we went to as many panels as we could if you wanna ㅋㅋ hear about that, lemme know!

when it comes to the girls, good news! lgc isn't running out of girl trainees for a while! there were 16 girls on stage. their overall visuals are quite good too, though i had a complete shock when JO SUNHWA stepped on stage. her visuals and aura are crazy!

when it comes to actual dance skills, if i have to pick, i would name CHA SORI as my standout of the showcase. i wouldn't say she's a better dancer than kiha, however, she has the charisma that he lacks. JUNG JIAE and KIM NAYOUNG were also standouts of the showcase, with JIAE being better in terms of skills and NAYOUNG in charisma.

i think it was an interesting choice to pick KIM YUJIN above SORI and NAYOUNG to join the concert with LEE HAYUN. legacy likely had its reasons!

CONCLUSION

overall, these trainees have a long way to go to reach the level of the ones on future dreams but there are several standouts already. i don't think future dreams is coming to an end with season 5 after attending the showcases! in terms of performance, the boys definitely did better while the girls really stood out with their overall charisma.

[ + / – ] EVERY time i think they won't able to cast new pretty kids, they manage to surprise me. i must attend the wrong school because none of the kids in my class look like this, ugh. they look polite and friendly and they dance really well too... watching this while i'm supposed to do homework, i'm such a failure TT they're only trainees but they get to travel and have fun on stage in front of people like this... LGC WINS AGAIN!!!!!!!!... at ruining my life TT [ + / – ] there's a reason why they always have the male trainees perform senior group songs... the quality only went downhill ever since, there's something seriously wrong with this company. i know they're scrambling to save themselves now that DBSD is enlisting but they should at least be subtle about it. the girls weren't much more impressive either. legacy always preaches about their shiny new generation but the future looks pretty bleak right now... [ + / – ] they did pretty well, they're still trainees for a reason right? i'd rather see imperfect predebut performances than have mediocre idols who debut too early and can barely hold a tune. but i still wish it wasn't just a dance showcase. nothing against a good choreography, but when there's nothing new to show, i'd rather just check the original, you know? show the whole package, let's hear them sing!

▷ load next 15 comments?

( A/N: this article is curated by the lgc team ! congratulations to all the trainees for the successful showcase and especially to the standouts !

for standing out for their visuals BAI LIN and JO SUNHWA receive +2 NOTORIETY;

for standing out for their performance CHOI KAI, HAN NOEUL, JUNG JIAE, KIM NAYOUNG and YOON DAYEON receive +3 NOTORIETY;

for being the aces of their respective showcases CHA SORI and YOON KIHA receive +4 NOTORIETY.

feel free to link this post to your points sheet! )

#lgc:netizens #lgc:staffcurated #lgc:familycon2k22 #lgclin #lgcsunhwa #lgckai #lgcxnoeul #lgcjiae #lgcnayoung #lgcdayeon #lgcsori #lgckiha

[detectiveconnor]

"connor is his own stop giving him back to cyberlife" thoughts

this really actually wasn't prompted by anything at all but i'm Here now and i have things to say (they're all. it's a Tone, if this tone does not serve you pls take care of you) so:

"connor doesn't understand emotion": connor was forced to ignore, delete, discount, reduce, label-as-false, dismiss, disregard emotions. he was told outright that they did not matter and entered into no logical equation. he was informed upfront he did not have any emotions and anything resembling them were dangerous errors. connor deviated anyway. connor took the leap anyway. connor saw what was true - emotions are real, and they matter, and in fact are the closest to the truth (are in fact one of the best ways to look for the truth) - and looked for the truth anyway. connor is Free and worked hard to get there, harder than he should have had to, but the lies that he was told were lies and he is aware of that now. the fact he was lied to is not a part of who he is. connor is his own stop giving him back to cyberlife

"connor is/was at any point 'the deviant hunter'": connor deviated on his own and readily prepared himself for the fact it might, truly, be best if he were to die. he knew, outright, one of the first things he did with his freedom, was say 'this is my priority, and i am going to Stand Here and Defend It, even at the cost of my life i only just am able to live') (he never was the deviant hunter. he always Was himself. what cyberlife did with his hands and his body was not ever who connor is or was). 'the deviant hunter'? His name is Connor. connor is his own stop giving him back to cyberlife

"connor should apologise/feel guilty for the people he frightened pre-deviancy": connor did not have a choice. there was not an option for him to Not do the things that he did, at least not in a meaningful way, and certainly not to the extent he 'simply didn't choose option B'; there are instances where, sheerly, he is not able to choose or act in any way other than precisely described by his programming. in some paths he is, literally, unable to deviate. giving him personal responsibility for what cyberlife did with his body implies he was free the entire time, erases the abuse, the manipulation, the very real experience of being non-deviant and having that taken advantage of. connor is his own, stop giving him back to cyberlife.

"connor could have done something different if he 'really' wanted to, pre-deviancy": this is a narrative that lends itself to making Cyberlife appear less abusive, less opportunistic, less cruel. it plays directly into the narrative that Androids are dramatising very real experiences of abuse. there are some circumstances where connor was able to Show Up and make choices that were not consistent with his program but those were exhausting, they were registered as 'errors', they were stockpiled as flaws and written over at any and every opportunity Cyberlife had (he is number -52. there is a very long line of Connors who Tried). the fact that connor is capable of trying, and the fact that sometimes he is able to breathe, is not the same as being able to say 'well he should just have been swimming'. it was so incredibly easy to keep drowning. cyberlife Took from him, it was not a mutual relationship, they took. connor is his own, that was taken from him, stop giving him back - stop pretending he ever willingly belonged - to Cyberlife.

"connor doesn't think he's worth anything/value himself at all": aside from this being factually untrue re. the fact he's worth a small fortune (canon dialogue), the fact that cyberlife lied to him about his importance is actually completely irrelevant to connor's opinion about himself. the opinions of cyberlife and the opinions he was handed at the outset of existence Are Actually Completely Irrelevant To Him. connor's opinions are his own, stop assuming he holds to whatever lies he was told, stop assuming cyberlife's opinions into him, stop giving him back to cyberlife

tl;dr connor is deviant. he spent the vast majority of the game not being able to deviate but he is deviant, now, the way markus and kara both are, the way almost every other android spent the game, full and real and whole people living their lives. connor is a full and whole and real person living his life, stop .. giving him.... back ..... to cyberlife

#hmmmmmmm #headcanon #oh wow i haven't looked at my headcanon tag in Ages #i'm so right good work me

[nykloss]

Okay but people are advocating to get niantic to make it better for rural/disabled player, they have been for years, there are so many passionate people about the game who have given them suggestions and niantic ignores it all and chooses to go with a price increase instead which :( not to mention all the bugs they've chosen to ignore and events they've rushed recently, a lot of people were already fed up with them so ig this is a final straw for a lot of folks 😓

Yeah that's totally understandable!

They did create a feature for suggesting pokestops but I see so few come out of that, and it needs to be better. Gifts have helped a little to alleviate the need for as many pokestops, but they're FAR from a competent resource. Completing enough daily PokeStop spins used to net legendaries, I thought that was a great compromise... Until they started throwing junk in there! The ideas to help rural and disabled players are there, but they're.... Bad, as is. Getting worse, actually. I agree.

There definitely needs to be better opportunities for rural and disabled players, 100%. I just feel like "remote raids" wasn't that–from my understanding they were a temporary solution to a assumed-temporary-problem (the pandemic) that made the game unplayable in it's natural state without them. It was designed to break the game to make it work under different societal circumstances. Making them cost irl cash in additionally proved to me that this wasn't ever meant for rural or disabled players, since they had it be a luxury item. Not to mention it's just having you pay money to deprive you of 90% of the game, the part about going out and exploring and interacting with folks irl (what happens on your phone screen is only like, 10% of what the game is, imo! The social element is the rest). Like, at this point, if you're relying on remote passes, it's not even pokemon go any more, just a glorified pokemon-themed button mashing mini game–even if you are a rural or disabled player there's no way it's fun, y'all deserve better than to pay money AT ALL for a worse experience. I'm surprised it wasn't totally phased out sooner, and I also think they need to phase it out better other than a price increase... But I get that they're trying to wean players off, and the pandemic isn't really over, so idk. I definitely don't think it's being handed well, but it's just weird to see folks angrier at this than the things I mentioned above.

And, to the point, the people I'm seeing complain about the raid pass stuff the most, and calling for boycotts over it.... Are people from my old college campus page, people from the nearby downtown [city] page, etc. These are mostly people who are mostly within walking distance from a gym, people who have been dropping way too much money to grind remote passes out of choice, etc.

And I have seen folks advocating for what you're mentioning, and I think it's great that yall are! I think it's shitty that Niantic is being shitty about the game, it really does feel like they're trying to kill it off and I HATE that (this game is what keeps my mom active, I hate to see the quality dips!) and I fully support advocating for better gameplay and better behavior from Niantic. Just from what I've seen with the remote raid stuff, it's not the same people having those conversations, at least in my community. /This/ just feels like a weird hill to die on, with everything else going on.

(And keep in mind my original post was largely a small personal observation about the conversations happening in my local groups, I didn't intend to get many eyes on it, my bad if it ended up in the tags somehow! It's totally possible more folks in the big-picture are being a lot more nuanced about it–I hope they are!)

#sorry this is so long I am not a concise person #nyklos is typing #anon

[tuesday7econlive]

Microeconomics: Shoes or hats?

In the past couple of years, I have noticed myself getting more and more into different types of shoes and hats. Often times, I will find myself mindlessly browsing through dozens of different hats and constantly checking in on shoe resell prices to see how they have changed day to day.

Now, although I wish I could afford to buy as many shoes and hats I want, I realize that it just isn't realistic. Buying as many of those commodities as I would like would completely drain my bank account, but as I've gotten into collecting these two items, I have noticed a couple ways I can maximize the total amount of shoes and hats that I have.

First off, which seems sort of obvious, would be to get a new job with a higher income. This would cause a positive shift in the curve relating shoes, hats, and their prices. As a result, the "basket" of how many shoes and hats I can afford will increase, as shown in this graph below.

Another possible way to increase my "basket" of goods affordable would be to hope that hat or shoe prices (or both) go down. For hats, this means monitoring the websites and retailers for deals, such as "50% off" offers that lowers the price of one hat. For the shoe market, I mainly look at resold shoes so this could mean that the shoe market has crashed. Some possible ways this could occur could be through the production of more shoes, when the demand just isn't there for them, leading to many people with extra pairs that just want to get rid of them. The effect of this on my budget constraint is shown below.

Furthermore, I also am in a constant battle about whether I should buy a pair of shoes, or multiple pairs of hats. There is certainly a tradeoff, as if I choose to buy a $150 pair of shoes, my opportunity cost of 5 hats that I could have bought as well as the satisfaction I get from adding so much to my hat collection. Looking at it from the other sense, if I bought one hat for $30, my opportunity cost of 1/5 of a $150 value show as well as the opportunity to show off my new kicks. The slope of the line of the graph below represents the tradeoffs of purchasing one good instead of the other.

In conclusion, it is clear that economics is around is everywhere in our day to day lives, whether we are actively thinking about it or not. We make thousands of choices everyday, and there is an opportunity cost and budgeting associated with everything. We simply can't have everything, as much as we might all want to.

Ammar Khakoo (ID: 62051967)

[just6f]

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[robertogreco]

Near the end of May 2022, I received my first watch, and a week later, already in June, I made this post to the watch forum about that watch. The original post had a different photo – I like the one I have used here more even though it doesn’t show the bracelet or any of the straps mentioned in the description. I’m also adding a few additonal notes to the text as I migrate it to this Tumblr.

California Rail Explorer

Last fall, shortly after my daughter returned to campus for her last year of undergrad, she sent me a text letting me know that a classmate had established a watchmakers club. (She'd observed as I'd become increasingly interested in watches during the preceding months.) In January, she encouraged me to commission a watch from the club and put me in touch with its founder. It worked like this: we would order the parts and when they all arrived to her she would take them to the club and donate 20% of their cost in exchange for assembly.

Here are twenty points explaining the choices I made about this California Rail Explorer, my first watch and the product of more than a year of watchless watch enthusiasm:

1. California dial: Not long after I first became interested in watches a bit over a year ago, I learned about California dials and their history. I like them because of that history, but also because they are a bit playful and unserious, and as a long-time resident of California I am legally obliged to like them. This specific dial is from Orion Watches. It has embossed numerals and hour indices and they almost look like they are applied (hard to see that in the photo). [I’m pasting here some more that I wrote about California dials in another place.]

I am a big fan of them, but I agree that they don’t enhance legibility. The story goes that it was about orientation (up and down) too, but I don’t think it really helps in that way either with a watch on the wrist and with the triangle at 12. What I do like about them is what happened next and how that gave them the name California dial. I don’t need numerals to be able to read a watch and I imagine most people don’t – so many watches completely forgo numerals, so for me the numerals represent an opportunity for decoration, and California dials now represent a quirky / goofy / silly way to do that with a cool story to go along with them. (The horizontal marker at 6 is a part of this too for me, because it would probably be more ~rational for that one to be vertical.) And it’s a somewhat subtle playfulness, which is perfect for me.

2. Railroad Track Minute Scale: I like trains and this is the first nod to trains on the watch. A lot of California dials tend to have railroad track minute scales, so that was very convenient. [This is the part of the watch that I have come to appreciate the least.]

3. Sterile Dial: It was important to me that there be no branding or text other than the numerals on the dial. I don't like advertising brands and I don't need to be reminded about any of the specifications or features of the watch.

4. Black Dial with White Numerals: I wanted this watch to have a simple color scheme that would wear well with with any color clothing.

5. No Faux Aging or Patina: This is a new watch and I want my use of it to age it – I don’t want to imitate or accelerate that process.

6. C3 lume: This was mostly about making sure that there was no faux aging on the watch. My second choice hands actually had C1 lume, which I like even more because it’s white and not green. I know that C1 lume is weak (the dial has the faintest lume), but lume isn’t really important to me. Generally speaking broad arrow hands don’t come without lume, so that wasn’t really an option to consider, but I also like the way that the hands look with the additional texture and detail of the lume space.

7. Explorer Case: It’s a classic design. It’s very comfortable. It’s not super thin, but it’s also not a thick watch. I don’t have a need for an adorned or moveable bezel. I ordered this case and the bracelet (notes below) from riyi002 on eBay, but I have since learned from another [redacted] member that this seller also makes signed Rolex cases and that might change my mind about ordering from them again. [No tears for Rolex from me, though.]

8. 36mm: I like smaller watches even though I have a wrist that can accommodate larger watches. 36mm seemed like the perfect size for my first watch and now that I have it, I think that is right.

9. Screw-down Crown: I find this to be a helpful feature for some additional peace of mind because it is more secure and more water tight.

10. Broad-arrow Hour Hand: This is the second nod to trains in the watch, specifically to the hour hands used on some classic Railmasters, but it also plays a role in filling some of the empty space on the dial. This pair of hands from Namoki Mods was a backup set that I ordered because my first choice was out of stock and my second choice had not arrived yet (and might never arrive? maybe I will swap them if they do). [That second choice pair of hands with C1 lume got caught in the shipping slowdowns of the early pandemic, but they did eventually show up.]

11. Dauphine Minute Hand: I am just a big fan of dauphine hands, but they also tend to accompany broad arrow hands.

12. Drilled Lugs: I find this feature to be very practical especially given how this watch works well with a wide variety of watch band types. [I have been doing a lot of that band changing in the year and two months since I got the watch.]

13. Brushed Oyster Bracelet: Like the case, this bracelet is a classic design and is usually paired with Explorer watches. riyi002 offers various versions, and I chose the older design with the rivets on the side because I like the look, but also because the clasp was smaller than the more contemporary version. [I use the bracelet from time to time, but generally like the watch most on two piece nylon straps and the two-piece silicone strap shown above.]

14. 20mm lugs: As part of the case selection, I wanted a watch with 20mm lugs to make my watch band choices as extensive as possible. I think 18mm would have also been fine, but with this case the proportions would have looked off to me. I also like the idea of the straps I use starting off a tad bit wider.

15. Alternative Straps (not pictured): I ordered five additional straps for the watch from Cheapest Nato Straps – a dark brown leather band that tapers some, a light blue ribbed nato strap, a gray seatbelt single-pass, a blue and white single pass, and a multi-color (light blue, red, pink, and lime green) striped single pass strap that glows in the dark and had California in its name. [In the end, I have decided that I don't really like nato straps and single-pass straps, but I plan to convert those into two-piece nylon straps.]

16. Seiko NH38: What can I say? It’s inexpensive, ubiquitous, reliable, accurate, easily serviced or replaced, and as opposed to the NH35 it has no ghost date. I ordered a pre-regulated one from Crystal Times and it has been accurate to within seconds a day since I started wearing it two days ago. [The watch continues to be as accurate as it was when it arrived.]

17. Time Only: I just wanted the time on the watch. I like the second hand because it's a visual reminder that the watch is running.

18. Collaborative: I am a sucker for collaborative work and this watch represents that through the several people involved in its making.

19. International: I am also an internationalist of sorts and I like that this watch has parts designed and/or made in many different countries – China (case and bracelet), Singapore (hands), Japan (movement), Malaysia (movement), US (dial), Sweden (bands and straps), and Switzerland (case and bracelet). It was assembled in California.

20. Solid Caseback: I wanted a blank space for an engraving that I will make myself, but which is still to be done. [I am still debating what to put in that engraving, but I have pretty much decided that it will not be posted online.]

I guess it’s time to change my watch profile. [There was a screenshot of the profile here that included the “zero watches” phrase, which I then changed to be sentence below.]

Watch enthusiast with exactly z̶e̶r̶o̶ ̶w̶a̶t̶c̶h̶e̶s̶ one watch. Watch stories, customization, mods, Frankenwatches, California dials, everything else.

#watches #wristwatches #California dials

[hisfearlesshaz]

hii!! i’m the american anon that wants to move to italy! thank you so much for your input! i saw that you’ve also lived in the Netherlands and that’s a place i’ve also been recently considering as well!! could you tell me a bit about what it’s like to live there? i’ve heard that there’s a bit of a housing shortage as well in Amsterdam recently! do you think it’s difficult to get a job there if you aren’t from there? i also love how people seem to bike everywhere!! i’ve been studying italian for a few weeks because it’s definitely still one of my top choices. my plan is to move to the uk, then eventually make my way over to italy or the netherlands. i feel like that would be a little bit easier for me. did you like living in italy or the netherlands better? i think there will always be cons about every country you go to, but i think i would take the cons of italy, the netherlands, and the uk over the cons of the united states any day lol. thank you!!!! ❤️

Hi!! Glad to help hahah :)))

So! I actually lived in Belgium, not the Netherlands, but I LOVED it. Best six months of my life and I’m not even joking hahaha. I’ve been to the Netherlands and it’s basically the same except for the size because Belgium is reeeeally small. About the size of Maryland but with double the population. The train sister is quite good so you can reach every “big” city in 1h (there are like 3 big cities, so it’s not that hard really hahaha). I lived in Ghent which is in Flanders so they speak Flemish and Dutch (they’re kinda similar but don’t tell anyone I said that) and some also speak French. The weird thing about Belgium is that they have three official languages (French, Dutch, German) depending on the region but as I said to Gina it doesn’t really matter as everyone speaks English. Can’t have a damn private conversation in public ever even though you’re in a foreign country 😂

Belgium is like the less cool sister of the Netherlands but I think it’s very underrated!!!!! They’re very open and welcoming and progressive. Everyone bikes there as well 😂 you have to pay attention because bikes RULE and if you’re on foot you have to stop to let them through (which is absurd to me, being Italian, bc here you see a few bikes and THEY stop lol). Anyway the housing “crisis” is common in both countries, I think. Maybe a bit better in Belgium? Not sure though, sorry 🤷

As for job opportunities, I think it’s easier than in other places (now I’m talking about both countries). They’re very international, and obv it depends on what kind of job you’re looking for an show qualified you are but overall I think there’s a good job offer (my professor once told me that the province I was in had an employment rate of 80% in people aged 20-60). Again, idk anything specific about the Netherlands but I know more than one person that moved there and found a job quite easily compared to Italy.

Now! Moving on to Italy ;))

I can’t say I want to keep living here, honestly. The south is left behind, work is hard to find unless you’re somewhat specialised, the cost of living is levitating and the government sucks. However, we have a history of unstable governments so who knows how long it will last hahah

There are some new awful waves of homo/transphobia and hate crimes + being an ex fascist country that never truly went away completely. However it’s full of people that fucking hate fascists and nazis and manifest their disapproval regarding right wing parties (that are currently governing) and policies. I have to admit that I’m not that much into politics because I’m tiiiiiired of it being always the same shit if not worse and I think this is a widespread feeling (less and less people care and vote so this obviously makes everything get worse 💀).

The transportation is good only in big cities and between them, really. I lived 50km away from uni and it took me TWO HOURS with at least two different means of transportation. Now that I live in the city, though, I can go wherever I want very easily even though I’m in the outskirts. Milan (which is where I live and study haha) is beautiful, but very busy and definitely not the most beautiful city in the country. I like living here though, you have everything you need and more + the cultural scene is quite active and there are always events of any kind. I have to say it’s a bit more clean than, for example, Rome. It’s called the economical capital of Italy so as you can imagine finding a job here is easier than in other places. Many people from the south actually migrate up north to have better job opportunities (which means that the south keeps lagging behind etc etc and it SUCKS because the south is sooo beautiful and the living conditions could be so much better if we had a good government that knew how to handle stuff to use the resources we have ☹️).

So, Milan is good for work and stuff but people are definì less welcoming than the rest of Italy. Everyone is always busy lol. However (it’s fucking sad to say but it’s true) I’m pretty sure that since you’re American and not from somewhere in Africa, South America or Asia.. people would treat better. There’s still this kind of myth about the American dream, you know? I think it’s the remains of our ancestors migrating to America to have better life opportunities (only to be treated as garbage like they threat immigrants here 💀 sometimes I can’t believe how fucking stupid and plainly ignorant some people can be).

I think I also have to mention that Italian bureaucracy is fucking awful. Like. For real. The worst thing ever. It takes ages for the smallest, stupidest things, you still need to do a lot of stuff in person and not online and in general it doesn’t work really well. I have no idea how it works in the rest of the world but I know that it’s been like 9 months since a relative of mine passed away and we’re still waiting for the succession to be done. To make another example: to have the passport you have to take an appointment and the first free slots are usually after at least three months. Then you need to go to that specific place which must be in your province of residence and it takes like 10 mins to sign the docs and let them take them your fingerprints and THEN you wait like two more weeks for it to be ready to be picked up. I swear it’s so!!!!! Frustrating!!!!!!

Now that I read back what I wrote I realised that it doesn’t sound really positive 😂🥲 maybe it’s bc as I said I want to move so I tend to take into consideration all those things that make me wanna go abroad.. Anyway in conclusion I kinda agree with the other anon that messaged Gina. It’s a beautiful place but more like for holidays than for living. In my opinion.

I think that going to the UK is obviously a good choice, but I’m not sure it’s gonna be that easy to go live in the continent afterwards, after the brexit mess and all that. It’s fucked up, really. It was sooo easy before that :((

I think the best option (but, like, I’m no one to tell you what’s best, obviously jdjdjs) is would be to go the the Netherlands or Belgium and from there moving wherever you want. I think it would be way easier since they’re parte of the UE etc. + as I said like ten times they’re very very nice places to live in :))

This has gotten very very long and I’m sorry haha 😅 can you tell I have something to do that I really don’t want to do? Anyway if you have more questions or other stuff you’re curious about feel free to ask!!!

#omg sorry if the formatting is weird i had to write it in the notes bc being on the app it doesn’t automatically save the draft hahahah #hope this helps at least a little bit?? hopefully it’s the lind of information you were looking for haha 😅😅

[brightfuture-123]

Here Are Some Things You Need Before You Become An Official Notary Public

Being a Notary Public isn’t just something that anyone can do; you have to be licensed and qualified in order to legally serve as one in most states. Before you start your journey down this path, make sure that you meet the requirements to become a Notary Public and that you’ve gotten all of the things that are required for this job. This list of what you need before you become an official Notary Public will help guide you along the way.

Are You Sure This Is The Right Career Choice?

Start by considering what kind of notary services you want to provide. Do you want to be a mobile notary or would it be better if people came to your office? Do you want to work in the criminal justice system or the general public? What languages do you speak and write fluently? You should also think about how much time can you devote to being a notary public. Get certified as a notary public by your state’s Secretary of State.

Is It Worth Taking Time Off Work?

Notary services can be expensive, and many people do not have the time to take off work. However, if you already work in a profession that requires a lot of face-to-face interaction, becoming a notary public is worth it. It’s also worth considering what type of notary services you want to offer. For example, if you’re often around children or people with disabilities, then being a medical notary is probably best for you.

How Much Do I Have To Invest?

The cost of becoming a notary public is generally low, but there may be a small fee. If you’re looking for more information about how much it costs to become a notary public in your state, the bright future 123 provides a list of links to each state’s Secretary of State Office.

After signing up for your notary commission, you’ll need to purchase a few supplies. A stamp and bond are necessary to start signing documents as an official notary public. You’ll also want blank books and durable pens (not pencils) to fill out paperwork accurately and neatly. Some states require that new notaries purchase certain supplies, like seal ink or embossing seals, which they will sell at their office.

How Long Will It Take Me To Be Ready?

You will need to be on the lookout for good deals and opportunities because they happen all the time. Some people have been reported to have sold their notary seal for $1,000. It is recommended that you carry a backup seal with you at all times in case your current one is misplaced or damaged. After purchasing your new seal, register it in each state where you plan on notarizing documents by contacting your Secretary of State’s office. Registering your notary seal will help ensure that the public recognizes the authenticity of your signature and reflects the date when it was registered by the Secretary of State. The process usually takes around two weeks to complete but can vary depending on where you live and how quickly other offices work through their backlogs.

Where Will I Do My Training?

The training for becoming a notary public varies depending on the state in which you apply. However, there are typically two different types of notaries:

1) a notary public who is appointed by the state and performs only oaths and affidavits;

2) a notary public who is appointed by private persons or businesses to perform certain tasks, such as taking acknowledgments or administering oaths. Some states require that the applicant complete a course from an accredited institution in order to qualify for an appointment. The National Notary Association offers courses in many states so be sure to check with them first.

Can I Do This Online Or Am I Required To Be In A Classroom?

Becoming a notary public is not difficult, but does require some time and effort on your part. The process usually takes about three months to complete, but it can take longer if there is a backlog of applications.

The first step in the process is to find out if there is a waiting list for new applicants to become notaries. If there isn’t, the next step is to contact your state’s Secretary of State office (the department that regulates notaries) and find out what requirements you’ll need to meet in order to apply for your commission as a notary. Usually, this entails filling out various forms and taking tests depending on your state’s requirements. You may also have to pay a fee of about $200 or so for the application process alone.

What Kind Of Course Materials Will I Get If I Buy From Your Website?

We offer our curriculum in a variety of formats for your convenience. You can purchase the course in paperback, hardcover, Kindle, or PDF download. We also offer lifetime access to our course materials with a one-time payment. Our courses include all the materials you’ll need to pass the exam and are constantly updated with new information as it becomes available.

Contact Us:

Address - 958 Pacific Ave, Long Beach, CA 90813

Email - [email protected]

Phone - [phone]

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Website - Bright Future 123

Blog - Here Are Some Things You Need Before You Become An Official Notary Public

#Official Notary Public