#Critical component

[mariafraniayu]

The Importance of Theoretical Foundations in Nursing Research

Nursing research is a critical component of the healthcare field, as it provides the empirical foundation for evidence-based practice and the continuous improvement of patient outcomes. At the heart of this research endeavor lies the need for robust theoretical frameworks that can guide investigations and deepen our understanding of the complex phenomena that encompass the nursing…

[variksel]

im a fan of dnd In the sense that i cant min-max for shit, i hate spell components, i still dont know how to make subclasses work and when i dm i go "yeah thats funny you can just do that or whatever." im a fan of dnd in the sense that i listen to dungeons and daddies and the adventure zone and legends of avantris

[armysonemeu]

My Roman Empire is Marisha PCs seeing/making/looking up to Laura PCs (as) their god/religion/faith and the undying and eternal love of Laura PCs to Marisha PCs that stem from their loneliness and need to be loved. It really opens up to the whole matron/worshipper (follower?) dynamic that Laura and Marisha PCs have in every campaign (and yes that includes Vex and Keyleth as well).

[ohsweetflips]

ik i’m a perfectionist but my experience of getting specifically 95s on essays in grad school is like “why is some of this criticism scathing”

[bluebirdlester]

rt for sample size perhap. tell me about it. are you dangender or philgender and or transphannie

[apostatively]

About BioWare's Beef with "Fetch Quests" vs. Embrace of "Faction Quests"

[[Some minor spoilers in this post re: a few side quests in DA2 and DAI, and various routine faction quest events and requirements to get the "best" possible ending you're allowed to have in DATV.]]

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I think one of the things BioWare is missing about the transition to "no fetch quests ;DDD don't worry!" in Veilguard is that the vast majority of "faction quests" have mechanics that are far more mind-numbing to me than the majority of totally optional side quests in DAI/prev. games.

I am so tired of almost every Veil Jumpers quest being "look for missing people" > "oh no they're all dead" > "figure out how they died" > "return and tell the quest giver they're all dead".

It's so unimaginative. I'm so goddamn exhausted.

"Bob and Jill haven't come back from scouting these ruins! They should have been back by now-" They're dead. They are ALWAYS DEAD. I can save us all a lot of time and repetition by just telling you now. Something has killed them because the Magic-Is-Science Woods are full of ancient evils that are constantly killing everyone who goes in there, and yet we keep doing it, in large and eager groups. And expecting me, personally, to care about the lives of this faction who clearly don't have a bare-minimum thought for their own continued existence.

(Also: is it just me, or did the quest where everyone dies except for their pet nug, who you later learn VERBALLY SCREAMS if parted from its dead owner's belongings, feel weirdly offensive, like we weren't supposed to care about the people because rescuing the nug was the secret/real quest objective? Were we supposed to feel gratified that everyone died, but "at least" an animal was saved? They immediately snatch away that potential feeling of vindication too, in the resulting missive! Not a drop of dopamine to be had in that quest outcome, and there's no skipping it unless you want your companions to pay a hugely disproportionate price later.)

Even the shorter quests feel completely unnecessary, like when you first recruit Emmrich, an otherwise interesting and well-acted character who is doomed, like so many of the companions, to have his personal quest mechanics revolve around walking back and forth to fixed points within an area. I like the general idea of cute little wisps, but every time I have to double back to the entrance of an area, that I have already traveled through, just to grab a wisp and run all the way back, KILLS ME. I HATE it. There is no POINT to running through the area twice. "I have to get through this part because it's required to recruit this character" is in no way a fulfilling emotional hook.

In DA2, you were perfectly free not to interact with the random local magistrate who wants you to quietly recover his son. But the very pitch of the quest that he gives you is shady from the beginning, and if you decide to pursue it, you get the emotional payoff (depending on your choices) of removing a dangerous serial killer who is preying on marginalized children. This outcome makes the player feel good - like their time has been well-spent, that they are playing as a heroic figure in a fantasy adventure game. (And if they choose routes that are harmful, they potentially also have fun playing an "evil" character, as some folks find really amusing! There is still gratification involved, and it feels as though your actions in the game had a purpose.)

In DAI, you don't have to spend forever in the Hinterlands. Despite the prevalence of memes about this area of the game, you truly are not forced to stay there, you just have to do barely enough quests to accumulate a certain number of points denoting your influence in the area, so that you now have enough "power"/influence/reputation to proceed to the next step of the game where you speak with high-ranking individuals (valid story-relevant reasons). But here's the thing: often even the most simple of "fetch quests" in the Hinterlands has some degree of emotional payoff for the player. Like a lot of folks, I have a select few NPCs I want to interact with every single playthrough, because they have enough emotional depth to make an impression on me: I always get the Fantasy Asthma Medication from the estranged son of the woman with breathing trouble, and always feel sympathy for this family because of the son's reaction that he genuinely didn't know his mother was struggling while he's been away. I always place flowers on the grave of a woman at the behest of her widower, and track down the templars who murdered a woman's husband to retrieve his stolen wedding band, because that's just the kind of stuff that resonates with me. It feels like your character is doing good: you're starting to construct a persona for them of a local hero, if you so choose. There are emotional hooks to lots of side quests - but as above, for those who find them boring, you don't have to spend more than a bare minimum of time in this area. It's not a requirement, the way DATV's "faction quests" effectively are.

Long story long, you don't have to complete every single Hinterlands quest for your companions not to die at the end of the game. (In DATV, even as a completionist who is normally excited to find every easter egg a game has to offer, I found myself deeply resenting being basically forced to complete all the quests so that my companions don't die horribly...and then feeling cheated that you still can't save absolutely everyone, that a true "happy ever after" is impossible in DATV, even if you comply with the devs and finish their scores of side quests, knowing they have a gun to your favorite companions' heads.

It felt as though BioWare expected new players to the series to be able to resonate with this game immediately while also expecting the inclusion of B-list DA characters from their "neutral" world state in books and comics not everyone has read to be emotionally resonant enough for players to want to complete boring side quests just to please these NPCs (who you are allowed to interact very little with in the game). Unfortunately, the "new" players or returning ones who don't read or didn't care for the books and comics have zero reason to do this, and are far more likely to be punished by the game for not having an appropriate amount of "commitment" that simply is not inspired by the game itself.

TL;DR - replacing an abundance of optional "fetch quests", many of which are well-written with strong emotional hooks, but ultimately don't force players to complete them, with "faction quests" that lack emotional resonance and interesting mechanics but ARE required to be 100% completed to get a "good ending" to the game, is a huge step backwards for playability. It's troubling that the game writers/devs don't seem to understand that, or BioWare wouldn't be crowing about the "improvement" in removing "fetch quests" when they've simply rebranded them and made them less interesting and unskippable.

[sunlight-shunlight]

the veilguard cursed boba tea weapons are really making me laugh for some reason. why did anyone make those... they're SO ugly, i'm sorry. i want to see their pinterest reference board bc i am so curious about what the deal is. why the Orbs?? why do the swords not even look SHARP? like what was the intent? it does NOT look spooky except if you're directly trying to activate someone's trypophobia, it just looks vaguely gross and impractical 😭

[jasontoddsno1simp]

Listen...

All I'm saying is that if the narrative is gonna bend over backwards to justify every shitty action Bruce Wayne does (up to and including literal fucking child abuse) cause he watched his parents die at age 8, it's my duty as a contrarian faggot to do the same for Jason

[thematronofravens]

something i’ve been thinking about the past few days, is that the spells Laudna cast when Orym was asleep (darkness and wither and bloom) have verbal components…

now, i am an extremely light sleeper and will wake up to even super quiet noise, and i don’t have a 33 perception.

if laudna would have gone with blight, it also has verbal components

should she have had to make a stealth check?

i mean like, yeah it doesn’t matter cause he woke up anyways, but just a thought.

[moonchild-in-blue]

Thoughts on The Artist's Way (by Julia Cameron) so far, plus some interesting passages:

So the book is like a 12 week course in getting in touch with your creative self - it provides some tools to help cultivate you creative/artist brain. It's been on my shelf for years and only now I'm getting into it.

Before the course/program begins, she opens with some introductions on what is the creative act, and 2 daily/weekly habits to maintain in order to nurture the artist brain (aka maintain consistent creative habits).

There's an initial introduction where she establishes a link between Creation and Creator (both the Artist and a Higher Creator), and how creation (aka making art) is inherently a spiritual activity. It sounds a bit weird at first, but it's actually quite interesting. There's a not-so subtle Christian undertone, but absolutely can be read as a connection/energy with Life itself (this is mentioned in the book too).

One of the things that stood out to me was:

We are, ourselves, creations. And we, in turn, are meant to continue creativity by being creative ourselves.

Then she moves on to "what to expect" from this book, which is basically a means to creative recovery (whether be an artist's block, a drought, or just a perceived lack of imagination / ideas / time / motivation / confidence in your own work / etc).

She talks about how it's important for us to have a mourning period for ourselves, and to allow that grief and pain to be transformed into something new. The book uses the term "withdrawal" as a reflection of an interior retreat - as in, we withdraw inwards during that non-creative/mourning period.

Then the concept of Morning Pages are introduced - which is what I'm particularly excited to see. It's a daily exercise where you start your day with writing 3 pages of literally anything. A long stream of consciousness, about absolutely anything and everything that comes to mind.

Almost like a meditation of sorts, or a mindfulness habit. By allowing your brain to be emptied of all that is negative/ bothering you/ occupying your mind, you make space for the artist brain to thrive.

It's a way to fight your Censor - the logical part of your brain that questions everything you do. The Censor is a self-preservativon mechanism - a survival instinct - that deems everything outside of your comfort zone as dangerous.

I love the way she put it like that, because I am SO guilty of letting that part of my brain dictate how I should/shouldn't live my life - and by proxy, it affects the way I approach my art. From my own notes:

[the Censor] is a form of self-sabotaging. We do not need to live in survivor mode. There is comfort in safety and familiarity - nothing grows in comfort.

The second tool/exercise introduced is the Artist Date. Like in a real relationship, an Artist Date is a weekly allocated time where you do something creative (strictly yourself), as a way to engage with the world from an artist's perspective, and nurture the creative part of yourself. To "fill the well" as they put it.

There's a huge emphasis on how important it is to keep our creative well (I personally call it "library") well stocked. From my notes:

Art is a wordless language. Is an "artist-brain pursuit" - a constant, life-long commitment. That language is sourced from all the sensations we experience and translate into a visual medium ; into patterns and symbols.

To keep those sources, we must participate in life, not just observe it. Art comes from detail, "from attention". From a mind void of the Logical [Censor], and with enough space for the artist to wonder. It is self-intimacy.

Avoiding ourselves, avoiding the hard questions, the reality we don't want to face, is to avoid our creative selves. Self-sabotaging.

The next chapter is Week One, which will effectively mark the beginning of the program? course? thing? Not sure if I want to start tomorrow, or if I want to sit with this for a few days first (or the week). But yeah!

So far it's pretty great, love the way some things are worded. I know a lot (if not all) of you are creatives in some way or another, or otherwise struggle with similar questions, so I'm kinda sharing this in case anyone needs it. Also just to document this aside from my notebook, accountability and all.

[aetherdecember]

Another snippet from my Flipping the Coin au. Probably won’t make it into the actual fic, but I’ve been obsessed with these two and keep finding myself writing moments like this ^^

…

Mordred was sprawled over Arthur’s chest, with his thumb tucked in his mouth, and blue eyes serious as he listened to the story with the gravity of a judge. The two of them are slumped in their favorite armchair, the red velvet blotchy from numerous spilled drinks, sticky snacks, and misguided attempts at crafts. It was too warm for a fire, but in the dim evening, with the lone table lamp for light and the window cracked open for a breath of air, it took Arthur back to countless evenings spent in another room. One built of stone and lit only by candle flame.

Aloud, Arthur read, “Because he was the king…”

Personally, it wasn’t his favorite retelling, but Mordred had seen his name on the cover and insisted on hearing it, so he had conceded. Maybe he should’ve waited until Mordred was older before telling him that there were stories about characters who shared their names, but in these last few years, the events from long ago had been so close to mind Arthur had wanted to share it. He assumed Mordred would fixate on the sword fighting and tournaments. Instead, Mordred had picked a book that started with babies being sent out to sea.

“Two by two, he carried—“

Mordred pulled his thumb out of his mouth. “Did you really do that?”

“No.” Arthur marked his spot with a finger and ruffled the thick, black curls. Still damp from the bath, they were in need of a comb. And soon, if Arthur hoped to avoid dealing with tangles. “I never did that.” Dipping his fingers to tickle the back of Mordred’s neck, he smiled as Mordred giggled and tried to escape. “I could never.”

Sitting up, Mordred’s knobby limbs found all of Arthur’s soft spots as he settled knees first on top of Arthur’s chest. “If you had to, could you?”

“Would you,” Arthur automatically corrected.

“Would I?” Mordred’s pitch went comically high. “Nooooooo! Would you!”

Arthur gave him a look, one that Mordred immediately leaned in and mimicked with a giggle. “Would I, Arthur Penn, a man far removed from the ancient past, cast a boat full of babies into the ocean? Absolutely not.”

“What if Merlin told you to?”

He’d never had to. History hadn’t played out like that. But Arthur couldn’t tell his young son that he definitely knew it hadn’t happened because he couldn’t even explain his own past and all that entailed. All Mordred knew was that his father was named after King Arthur, so that meant he’d been named after Mordred. Because they were father and son and that was how it was supposed to be. He didn’t know that in another life they hadn’t been related and that the first time Merlin met Mordred he had helped save him.

“Nope.” Arthur popped the ‘p’. Out of Mordred’s sight, he set the book on the ground. It was time for a better story anyway. “Not even then.”

“What if Merlin did it?”

“Listen, let me tell you about the—“ He almost said ‘the Mordred I knew’ but luckily stopped. Instead, he says, “—the story I heard. It took place when Uther was still king. The first time Arthur met Mordred he was only a little boy…”

[prettyflyshyguy]

............................................. I'm regretfully writing a fanfic.

It's not gonna be big, but dialogue has been running in my head 24/7 and if I don't write it down I'll explode. Writing is a fun break from drawing besides and I genuinely feel like slowly dissecting other characters is helping me revisit my original stories, and dissect my own characters and bring more continuity and subtlety into them.

[tachyon-omlette]

is it strange that the Enigma of Combination was so vilified(?) for being the Thing That Makes Combiners or is it just 5am

[creaturefeaster]

can a mime die in host? if so what happens?

Yes they can. They are susceptible to almost all of the things their host would have been, were they still alive.

If they die in host, they die as a mime. It's the trade off for experiencing life. Their influence stays within the body, and the body remains pale and color coded, unlike when they leave their dead host & the body's natural colors return.

Typically though, mimes will expell themselves from a host that they cannot save/is no longer viable. As long as they leave a fatally wounded host before it dies, they will be okay.

[awkwardrocker]

People love to negate the intelligence of drivers and assume they just hop in and give no feedback. They might not know what's happening in terms of specifics of the design, but they sure as hell know when things feel different and what they did to feel that way. They can recreate issues for more data and drive in specific ways to help investigate issues. Do you guys think those testing sessions are exclusively about engineers reading sensor data as drivers mindlessly circle the track?

[lilith-of-stardust]

Golden and Green feat. The Humble Humidifier