#supplementary exercises

[mrs-luigi-vargas]

Lowish-effort Aro Mario and Aro Bowser icons for @arospecfanworksweek! They're very simple but I like making them I should do it more often :D

Anyway there's whole lot of rambling about the headcanons under the cut if you're curious, haha. I guess it makes this entry technically match Day 1's prompt but honestly I wasn't intentionally trying to follow said prompts at all, lmao

~~~

OK, so I've headcanoned Mario as aro for a while, now. Part of it is me projecting, of course. But also I think it would be interesting if he was, mainly because of how it would affect his dynamic with Peach. Because, you know, the hero and the princess; the knight and the damsel; he was a boy, she was a girl - at least a lot of the Toads seem to think that it couldn’t be any more obvious. But Mario wouldn’t think it was obvious. And any suggestions otherwise would just be mostly awkward and off-putting for reasons that are difficult to get across to the romance-minded. He and Peach were already close, as friends. That's all they needed to be, right?

But anyway what I'm trying to say is a major appeal of this headcanon for me is the like…inherent defiantness of it. Standing in step with so many normally romance-coded things and doing them platonically despite what everyone wants or expects. And then also me projecting, like I said before 😊. Wrote a couple of fics about it even, if you wanna read them~ 😁

As for aro!Bowser, though, it's only something I've vaguely been thinking about recently. 'Cause I read a whole bunch of Bowuigi fic last year, and in almost all of those they gotta wave away/retcon/reconcile Bowser's attraction to/kidnapping of Peach, right? So one way I've seen of doing that is something to the effect of Bowser kidnapping Peach because Junior needs a mom. Which is such an interesting rationale to give him, haha. But to be fair its usually not by itself; there's usually a sense of 'well, Peach is very kind and beautiful, so marriage is definitely the way to go on this (or so I thought'. But sometimes it isn't and that's very funny to me. The things shippers do to pull their stories off are something to behold sometimes 🤭

But still! It got me thinking. What if Bowser's crush on Peach was completely manufactured? Unknowingly, of course; in the sense that Peach is very kind and beautiful and powerful and the monarch of a nearby kingdom in his age range so that's how these thinks are supposed to go, yeah? He wasn’t totally sure; becoming King didn’t really leave any room to know otherwise, with how much work there was to be done every day. At least Kamek had seemed to think so, though, talking about alliances and heirs and a bunch of other things Bowser hadn't been really listening to. Though Kamek was hardly wrong about anything important, would it kill him to be a lot less boring about it?

But even still, Bowser's proud and headstrong and stubborn, so when the marriage-alliance with Peach doesn’t work out then he decides to make it work out. And then the kidnappings start. And then continue. Because "it'll totally work this time, this plan is perfect!".

Like trying to jam a square peg into a round box over and over with no clue that there's anything wrong. Or maybe an inkling of a clue that we've decided to ignore because, you know, "I'll kidnap Peach for good, this time, you'll see!"

Also I remember seeing discussion somewhere about how Bowser could be interpreted as someone with abandonment issues, which could play into this too; people will stay if you keep them by force, after all, whether by kidnapping, marriage, or both.

So yeah. Not the greatest outlook on things, obviously.

Regardless, I think that in this universe where Mario and Bowser are both aromantic they both get on track to consciously realizing it post-Super Mario Odyssey.

Mario because as he and Peach are flying home Peach obviously wants to know why he snap-proposed to her like that. To which Mario has to sheepishly explain how his inner competitiveness had flared up when Bowser had tried to propose to her again. To which Peach sighs because yeah, of course it was that. And then Mario gets around to asking if Peach is okay, to which Peach describes the nightmare of a past while she'd had because of this wedding business, to which the conversation pivots to weddings in general, and then romance in general.

And Mario contributes to the conversation as best he can, but… he knows from watching Luigi's romance-related ups and downs over the years that the way he himself thought about the concept wasn’t…correct.

But Peach won't stand for Mario thinking that there was something wrong with him; it takes an overnight stint or three in the castle library (to Toadsworth's chagrin) before she finally finds an answer for him. So she invites him to the castle for tea, and for a vocabulary lesson that'll change his life.

Meanwhile Bowser sits on the moon,. Reflecting on his utter defeat that must have been more crushing than he'd thought for him to not even remember how he got out of that cave, thinking about how even aside from Mario being on his tail the entire time this whole wedding planning business was more of a stress-filled ordeal than he'd initially thought it would be, considering the fact that the post-wedding future that he'd figured he'd figure out as it came had stubbornly remained an amorphous blob of ambiguity instead of snapping into place during those final hours, despite the Broodals' assurances to the contrary. He'd indulge in a rare bout of self-reflection, maybe, about these inconsistencies.

And then he would shrug, get up, and make his way home. Because while he wasn’t particularly sure about marrying Peach anymore, he knew he would still be kidnapping her. Because of the engaging process of making and executing perfectly laid plans, because of the adrenaline rush of a good fight, because of the future bonding experiences with his kids, because the rest of his minions needed something to do, ha.

Because of the fact that he was Bowser, King of the Koopas, and he's absolutely not the sort of person to just give up, even if his core motivations have shifted slightly! And just as Mario would always show up to ruin his plans and take Peach back home Bowser would just make new plans, and he was going to successfully pull a kidnapping off and beat Mario once and for all, he just knew it!

[gawrkin]

On making a Welsh version of the entire story of King Arthur:

No Lancelot and No Affair. PERIOD. And absolutely no compromise or cheating on this one: you cannot turn anyone else (coughBediverecough) into a Lancelot analogue. You must sacrifice the Love Triangle completely - no "duty vs. love" drama. You're going to have make do without that conceit. You must exercise your own creativity and forge a different dramatic conflict for Arthur and Gwenhwyfar, if at all.

Supplementary to the above: Divorce is legal.

Arthur is at the forefront. Sometimes, Cai, Gwalchmai and Bedwyr is the focus of a particular adventure, but Arthur is a Man of Action, who often outdoes his own warriors. And in particular, he may not even be a King - he may even just be a military chief (Wleddig, Ameraudur or Dux Bellorum), freeing him up to rove around.

Giants, not fairies, as the primary supernatural race Camelot interacts with. Next to that, Saints and Deities come afterwards.

Note that Queen Guinevere herself is the daughter of a giant.

On the legal side: Celtic Law is Tort Law - a weregild system is at play, known as Saraad (Insult/Honor Price) and Galanas (Injury/Homicide Price). Livestock as a measure of wealth. Inheritance system is Gavelkind (although tribal politics may come into play. See Tanistry).

Emphasis on Poetry, Song and Poetic Speech. Englyns are recommended. Bards as serious authority figures.

Be liberal with the supernatural. Mystical items are always fought over and Knights have cyneddf, or mystical abilities.

The Grail Quest has to be whole sale rewritten and given a new mythos: it's either "The Raid on the Otherworld" where the story is about the capture of a mystical Cauldron (Preiddu Annwfn). AND/OR. It's the Peredur version of Perceval, involving a Severed Head instead of a Grail - Maybe its Bran the Blessed himself! - and possibly a battle with the "Nine Sorceresses"

Exceptions to the "No Affair" rule: Medraut and Melwas. The former requires commitment to Traitor!Guinevere and the latter ends with Arthur winning and taking back Guinevere, whether Melwas lives or not.

The Fall of Camelot - There 3 options for how it should unfold without Lancelot: a) defaulting towards Historia Regum Britanniae's version of events. b) the Gwenhwyfach feud. And c) Non-Traitor Medraut ending. The first, similar to the No Affair exception, requires commitment to Traitor!Guinevere. The second involves establishing Gwenhwyfach as a character in her own right. The third and last is the most difficult: the writer must concieve a sufficiently satisfying third party as an opponent for Arthur and Mordred for a tragic last stand.

No Incest. Medraut remains Arthur's Nephew.

No Villain!Morgan

Optional for the above: Iddog Cordd Prydain as an instigator for the hostilities between Arthur and Medraut

As an extention of the "No Lancelot" rule, No Lady of the Lake and No Galahad either.

Arthur assumes the throne through normal means - No Sword in the Stone or Sword from the Lake. Kings Lot and Urien are allies all they way. Excalibur/Caledfwlch is part of a set of Three Holy Weapons, the others being Rhongomyniad and Carnwennan.

Exceptions to the "No Affair" rule: Edern ap Nudd as Guinevere's lover. Highly unrecommended, either for potentially establishing a Love triangle (defeating the whole purpose of removing Lancelot) and for potentially resulting in Arthur's early, non-Camlann death.

Trystan and Essyllt potentially do not end in tragedy (Total omission of Brittany, Isolde White Hands and the Black Sails motif) (Writer's choice). Although Mark could still treacherously kill them both, ala Prose Tristan.

King Mark as potentially Conomor the Cursed.

[bloodb3nders]

part four.

| shota aizawa (eraserhead) x fem!reader |

wc: 2k

content warnings: reader being stupid oops

a/n: filler chap im sowyyy

NOW PLAYING: guilty as sin? t. swift

the morning sun filtered through the windows of class 3-a as you arranged your lesson materials on your desk, trying to ignore the way your pulse quickened every time footsteps echoed in the hallway. tt had been two weeks since exams had taken place, and shota's demeanor toward you had begun shifted ever so slightly. small changes that you told yourself meant nothing, but couldn't quite dismiss. eyes lingering on you longer than they should, small hellos passed between hallways, awkward conversations about the weather.

a soft knock pulled you from your thoughts. you glanced toward the door, expecting to see a student, but your breath caught when shota's familiar figure appeared in the doorway. he looked different somehow, less guarded than usual, though still maintaining that stoic expression that gave nothing away, even though years ago, you could see through it.

"sorry to interrupt," he said, his voice carrying a gentleness you hadn't heard since high school. "i brought the supplementary materials for the joint exercise next week."

you blinked, confused, your brow scrunching. "joint exercise?"

"the psychological evaluation training," he clarified, stepping into the classroom with a small stack of papers. "i thought your students could benefit from practical stress management techniques."

the students began filing in as he approached your desk, their conversations dying down as they noticed shota's presence. some of them were still just as terrified of him as they were when they were in class 1-a.

you accepted the papers, your fingers brushing against his for just a moment, the contact sending an unexpected jolt through your chest.

"thank you," you said softly, aware of twenty pairs of eyes watching the exchange with barely-concealed curiosity.

something flickered across his expression before he nodded. "your approach to psychological training is thorough. the students respond well to it." he said, before leaving your classroom, glaring at the watching students as he did.

thorough.

"your analysis of the villain's psychological profile was thorough," shota spoke, sliding into the seat beside you in the UA library. "most people would have focused on the physical quirk manifestation."

you looked up from your hero psychology textbook, and smiled at him. shota rarely ever praised you or hizashi, usually scoffing affectionately at the two of you. not to mention, hizashi wasn't the best at his course work, so he never really shared any academic achievements. however, your class had been assigned some psychology homework for a change, to better understand villain mindsets, and you'd scored the best out of the three of you.

"thanks shota! this is kind of what my mom does for a living, so i guess i just channeled her," you'd said softly, hoping the heat rising up your neck wouldn't give away how fast your heart was beating at his close proximity. "one day, after i'm done being a pro, i think i'd like to do what she does."

he nodded, his dark eyes studying your notes with interest. "i think you'd be great at that," he said softly, offering you a rare smile. you failed to notice the faint pink dusting his cheeks, to wrapped up in how giddy you felt at his compliment. trying to hide your feelings, you buried your nose back in your textbook, missing the way his eyes lingered on your face before he quietly returned to his own work.

"sensei l/n?" nejire hado's voice pulled you back to the present. "are you alright? you look a bit dazed," she spoke, and embarrassment flooded your features.

you shook your head, refocusing on your students. "sorry, just thinking about today's lesson plan. let's discuss the psychological impact of quirk discrimination in hero society," you rattled quickly, opening the textbook on your desk quickly.

but even as you launched into your lecture, your mind kept drifting to the way shota had said 'thorough.' like he'd been thinking about it, about you, for longer than just this morning.

two days later, the night brought another surprise. you were grading papers late into the night in your teacher's quarters. however, you felt sleep heavily weighing on you, as you struggled to keep your eyes open. a knock at your door startled you, a small yelp escaping your lips as you got up, and walked slowly to your door, grabbing the robe on your bed and wrapping it around your figure. you were in a baggy shirt and some tiny sleep shorts. you slipped on your slippers, before opening the door, pulling it back slowly.

on the other side of the door stood shota, a mug of steaming coffee in his hand. his hair was pulled back, and you couldn't help but stare a little at the tight black t-shirt he wore and some flannel pajama pants. your heart quickens, body feeling fuzzy as you realize you've been staring at him for too low.

"brought you some coffee, assumed that it was a late night of grading when i saw that your light was still on," he said softly, and you smiled thankfully.

"thanks, i could really use this," you said honestly, taking the mug at him. you tried to ignore the way electricity surged through your fingers as they brushed his. you stood there for a moment, holding the mug, watching him for his next move.

"your lesson yesterday on trauma-informed hero work," he said quietly. "it was... insightful."

and then he was gone, leaving you with coffee that tasted like consideration and a growing suspicion that somehow this coffee was something of an olive branch.

the memory that surged to your mind hit you like a physical blow: seventeen-year-old you, exhausted and running on fumes during final exam week, slumped over your desk in the common room at 2 AM. You'd been surviving on vending machine coffee and pure determination, your notes scattered around you like fallen leaves.

you'd fallen asleep at some point, face pressed against your hero law textbook, when the gentle touch of a blanket being draped over your shoulders had stirred you awake. through bleary eyes, you'd caught a glimpse of messy black hair and tired dark eyes before the figure retreated.

"shota?" you'd whispered into the darkness.

"go back to sleep," his voice had come from somewhere across the room. "you'll hurt your neck sleeping like that."

but when you'd lifted your head, you'd found a cup of hot tea waiting beside your books, still steaming. by morning, both the tea and shota were gone, leaving you to wonder if you'd dreamed the whole thing.

you'd never asked him about it. had never been brave enough to acknowledge the small acts of kindnesses that he'd gone out of his way to do for you throughout your final year, the way he'd wordlessly slide his notes across the desk when you'd missed a class due to a training injury, how he'd always seem to appear when you were struggling with something too heavy to carry alone, the careful way he'd check on you after particularly difficult training sessions.

you'd convinced yourself it was just shota having a hard case of senior-itis. he'd totally do the same stuff for hizashi. nothing more than him being a good friend.

the pattern of small gestures continued throughout the week. extra whiteboard markers appeared when yours ran dry. relevant research articles showed up on your desk with sticky notes in his precise handwriting. your classroom's perpetually broken heating system was mysteriously fixed after you'd mentioned the problem to hizashi.

each interaction was brief, professional, but there was something underneath it all that made your skin feel too tight and your thoughts turn to dangerous territory. the way his eyes would linger on you for just a moment too long. the careful distance he maintained, like he was fighting some invisible pull. the way his voice went softer when he spoke to you, losing that sharp edge he used with everyone else.

it was during your free period on thursday that you found yourself in the teacher's lounge, grading papers and trying not to think about the way shota had looked at you that morning when he'd asked about your weekend plans. you'd been so surprised by the question that you'd probably given him a completely incoherent answer about grading and cleaning your apartment.

"you look deep in thought," hizashi's voice interrupted your brooding as he collapsed into the chair across from you. "let me guess—thinking about shota?"

you nearly choked on your tea. "what? no, I was just—"

"Oh, come on," he grinned, his voice thankfully lower than usual. "you think I haven't noticed the way your so called old crush seems to still leave you dumbstruck? it's getting painful to watch, y/n,"

"sorry you have to suffer at the expense of my feelings. he went to hating me to suddenly being nice again!" you protested. "we're colleagues now, but i know that's all it'll be."

hizashi's expression shifted to something more serious, more knowing. "you know, back in high school, I used to think you two were the most oblivious people on the planet."

your heart stuttered. "what do you mean?"

"I mean," he said, leaning forward conspiratorially, "that you were both so obviously gone for each other that it was painful to watch. and apparently, some things never change."

the memory surfaced unbidden: your second year at UA, after a particularly brutal training session that had left you battered and discouraged. you'd been sitting alone on the steps outside the gym, holding an ice pack to your ribs and trying not to cry from frustration.

"rough day?" shota's voice had been gentle as he'd approached, settling beside you on the steps without invitation.

"i'm never going to be strong enough," you'd admitted, the words tumbling out before you could stop them. "everyone else has these amazing combat quirks, and i'm stuck with these two lame blue orbs i barely know how to control. i'm just, me."

"just you?" he'd repeated, something sharp in his tone. "y/n, your quirk is one of the most versatile in our class. you can read opponents, predict their moves, understand their psychology better than anyone i've ever met. that's not 'just' anything."

you'd looked at him then, really looked, and seen something intense burning in his dark eyes. "you think so?"

"i know so," he'd said firmly. "any villain stupid enough to underestimate you is going to find themselves thoroughly outmaneuvered before they even realize what hit them."

the conviction in his voice had made your chest tight with something you hadn't been able to name. you'd wanted to tell him how much his words meant to you, how much he meant to you, but the words had stuck in your throat.

instead, you'd just whispered, "thank you, shota."

he'd smiled then, a real smile, rare and beautiful, and for a moment, you'd thought maybe, just maybe, he might feel something more than friendship for you too.

but then hizashi had burst through the gym doors, loud and exuberant, and the moment had shattered like glass.

"earth to y/n," hizashi's voice brought you crashing back to the present. "where did you go just now?"

"sorry," you mumbled, focusing on your papers to hide the flush creeping up your neck. "just tired."

"uh-huh," he said, clearly not buying it. "you know, shota asked me about you yesterday."

your head snapped up. "he did?"

"mmm," Hizashi hummed, looking far too pleased with himself. "wanted to know if you were settling in okay, if you were happy in the dorms we have. very casual, very 'just wondering' kind of questions." he said, amusement at the edge of his tone.

"that doesn't mean anything," you said quickly, but your heart was racing.

"doesn't it?" Hizashi's grin widened.

"i should get back to grading," you said quickly, gathering your papers with hands that shook slightly.

"y/n," hizashi called as you reached the door. "for what it's worth, i never told him how you felt. but i also never told you how he felt."

that evening found you in your living quarters, trying to focus on lesson planning but failing miserably. your mind kept wandering to hizashi's words, to the memories that had been surfacing all day, to the way shota had been acting lately.

your phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number:

"it's aizawa. the police want you on the shie hassaikai raid."

all likes, comments, and reblogs are always appreciated! mwah!

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[grey-sorcery]

[Title]: Magical Potency: Improving the Efficacy of Magic

Suggested Reading

Finding Balance Threshold Theory Correspondences  Conceptualization Vs. Visualization Visualization: Effective Implementation Basics of Energy Work Basics of Spellcasting Spell Logs Intro to Gnosis Bias in Witchcraft The Subtle Body Axioms of Energy Work The Wellsource Energy Work & Spoon Theory Shadow Work: First Steps Intro to Grounding

Introduction

Magical potency refers to the efficacy and strength with which a spell is executed. This encompasses the accuracy with which the ritual is performed, the precision of the elements involved, and the intensity of focus and energy channeled into the endeavor. In simpler terms, it's about increasing the likelihood of a spell's success, assuming all other requisite and advantageous factors are adequately addressed. 

The significance of magical potency cannot be overstated. For practitioners, the objective is not merely to perform rituals but to execute them in a way that yields measurable results. In the same manner that a scientist would aim for exactness and reliability in an experiment, a magical practitioner should aim for a high degree of potency in their workings. Achieving this standard is more than a matter of personal pride or skill; it is about the responsible wielding of one's abilities to bring about change. When potency is elevated, the outcomes are more predictable, thereby enhancing the reliability of the magical practice as a whole. Moreover, it minimizes the risk of unintended consequences, which can range from inconsequential to potentially hazardous.

The Magical Potency of a Vast Majority of Publications, From Tumblr to Books

Candle Magic

Candle magic serves as an excellent entry point for neophytes in magical practice. Its allure lies in its straightforward design and uncomplicated mechanics, making it accessible for beginners. However, the simplicity that makes it attractive also serves as its Achilles heel. A plethora of publications, ranging from social media posts to books, frequently omit crucial details that are indispensable for ensuring the spell's effectiveness. For instance, many resources neglect to delve into the nuances of "intent," often misconstrued as mere desire, even though it is actually  one's personal truth. Furthermore, these publications have a tendency to reduce the complexity of the practice to mere lists of correspondences, thereby overlooking the intricate mechanics that govern how a spell functions. This dearth of comprehensive information is a disservice to newcomers who seek a robust understanding of the practice, and it impedes their ability to enhance the efficacy of their spells.

Candles & Twine "Cord Cutting"

Another practice that has gained considerable attention is the use of candles and twine for what is commonly referred to as "cord cutting." On the surface, this practice provides valuable insights into personal relationships. However, a closer examination reveals significant shortcomings. Most notably, the ritual fails to fulfill its purported function of severing emotional or psychic connections—what is commonly referred to as "cord cutting." Instead, it remains an exercise in symbolic action that lacks the mechanics necessary to bring about real change. The information provided in popular publications often restricts itself to symbolic associations, failing to offer a comprehensive guide to the mechanics or other vital elements that could make the practice genuinely effective. Consequently, any results are likely psychological in nature, rather than stemming from genuine magical activity, unless utilized as a tool for divination.

Sigil Magic

Sigil magic enjoys widespread popularity due to its accessibility and the relatively common understanding of its mechanics—albeit mainly within the framework of the psychological model. Its versatility is another strong suit, capable of serving as a supplementary element in various other magical practices. However, it's crucial to scrutinize the limitations of this method. The preponderance of popular sigil crafting techniques derives from, or modifies, the Spare method, which operates solely within the psychological model. In essence, this approach amounts to subconscious suggestion rather than authentic magical action. As a result, practitioners may find themselves constrained by a limited scope of magical efficacy. Furthermore, the lack of accessible information on alternative methodologies exacerbates the problem, leaving practitioners with a narrow, and sometimes misleading, understanding of what sigil magic can achieve. The ubiquity of this practice also means that misinformation and misinterpretation are rife, further muddying the waters for those seeking to deepen their understanding and improve their skills.

Increasing the Magical Potency of Common Practices

Candle Magic

To augment the efficacy of candle magic, a considerate approach is essential. First, it's crucial to identify the traditional symbolic associations of various elements involved in the spell and consider whether your own personal correspondences might be more effective. Next, identifying a central point of focus, or state of gnosis, can serve to concentrate your energy more efficiently. This focus should align with your own deeply-held beliefs or personal truths to maximize the spell's efficacy.

Another vital step involves contemplating the specific means by which the spell will manifest its effects. This doesn't merely involve wishing for a particular outcome, but rather planning out the logical steps and mechanisms that will make it happen. This also involves doing conscious energy work that goes beyond mere mental imagery. Instead, one should focus on manipulating energy via the subtle body and energetic senses, perhaps using breath work, gestures, and/or vocalizations as aids.

Identifying the emotional state that will best serve the spell is another significant aspect. This emotional state should be in harmony with your personal truths and can serve to fuel the spell's energy. Additionally, writing out the specific mechanics of how the spell will function can provide clarity and enhance focus during the actual performance. Memorizing all actions or incantations can also prevent disruptions that might break your concentration during the ritual.

Cord Cutting

For those looking to enhance the efficacy of cord-cutting rituals, a complete overhaul is likely required. 

Before the working, contemplate the means through which the spell will manifest its effects as to avoid any negative or harmful outcomes. Utilizing twine and a knife—or scissors, for those concerned about safety—can create a strong symbolic action that aids the spell. It's also beneficial to use correspondences, either mental or physical, that are directly connected to the target individuals. This requires either a strong personal knowledge of the individuals involved or a potent taglock to symbolize them.

Conscious energy work is again advisable, and this should be done without relying solely on mental imagery. Maintaining a state of focus, or gnosis, throughout the entire working is essential. To deepen your understanding and improve the potency of the ritual, you might also study various philosophies or religious teachings concerning the concept of fate or destiny. 

Identifying an emotional state that aligns with your personal truth can also serve to fuel the energy of the ritual. Once the primary cord-cutting action has been performed, the common chords and candles approach can be employed as a form of divination to gauge the likely effectiveness and manifestation of the spell.

Sigil Magic

For those looking to venture beyond the well-trodden path of the psychological model in sigil magic, a multitude of avenues are worth exploring. To start, one should consider researching or contemplating how sigils could function within different paradigms or frameworks. This might involve developing an entirely new method of sigil crafting that deviates from the commonly used Spare method.

Contemplating the mechanics of how a non-psychological sigil could function is equally important. This might involve studying different cultural practices or philosophies to gain new perspectives. Researching various methods of charging and activating a sigil can also yield valuable insights. Different modalities might be more effective depending on the specific nature of the application in which the sigil will be used.

When incorporating a sigil into another spell, it's crucial to think critically about how the two will interact and complement each other. Drawing the sigil while in a state of deep focus, or gnosis, can enhance its accuracy, If this state is backed by strong emotional energy that aligns with your personal truths, its momentum will increase. The precision of a sigil can also be highly increased by performing energy work consciously while drawing the sigil. Finally, selecting a method of charging and activation that complements both your own capabilities and the specific nature of the working can serve to greatly enhance the overall potency of the spell.

General Practices and Methods to Improve Magical Potency

Research, Study, Experimentation, and Recording

The cornerstone of enhancing magical potency lies in a rigorous approach that involves research, study, experimentation, and detailed recording. When conducting research, it's imperative to look beyond sources that merely resonate with you on a personal level; instead, aim for a diverse array of reputable sources to avoid cognitive bias. Subsequently, study these materials assiduously, revisiting them often to consider ways you might expand or refine the practices described.

The use of experimentation, formulating and documenting predictions about how a spell will manifest is invaluable. These predictions should be dated and revisited to assess the spell's effectiveness. Sharing these predictions with other practitioners can serve as a check against confirmation bias. Conducting low-stakes spells can also serve as a useful methodological testbed, helping you refine your approach based on outcomes.

Maintaining a log of your spells is an essential practice. This archival process will facilitate a retrospective analysis, enabling you to discern which variables contributed to or hindered a spell's effectiveness.

Being Critical

Critical thinking should permeate your magical practice, although it's best applied either before or after a working, not during, so as not to disrupt your focus. Discernment in planning a working can preemptively address potential issues. After the spell's completion, seek feedback from anyone aware of the working but not of its projected outcomes. In your analysis, consider mundane factors that could have influenced the result, recognizing that magical outcomes often manifest through seemingly ordinary means. Keep a record of both successes and failures, and understand that setbacks are educational opportunities, not indicators of personal inadequacy.

Helpful Practices

Regular meditation can serve as a foundational practice for enhancing focus and understanding your inner landscape. Additionally, action flow states can be achieved through rhythmic, lyric-free music coupled with physical activities in sync with the beat. This can facilitate a trance-like state beneficial for magical work. Shadow work, while in no way is necessary, can help you uncover deeply rooted personal truths, while the development of personal symbolic associations can facilitate more potent states of focused awareness.

Energy Work

Contrary to popular misconceptions, energy work is neither a form of mental imagery nor a misapplied concept often referred to as "intent." It involves a nuanced understanding of one's subtle body and its energy centers. Identifying your Wellsource—the origin point of your energy—can further deepen your practice. Mastering the art of manipulating this energy effectively can be a powerful tool in improving magical potency.

Appropriation and Decolonization

It's crucial to recognize the importance of decolonizing one's magical practice. This entails a conscious effort to eschew cultural appropriation and to respect the origins and contexts of various magical systems. While learning from diverse traditions can enrich your practice, it should never involve taking elements out of their cultural context for personal use without proper understanding and initiation. Decolonizing your magical practice is a significant endeavor that requires sustained commitment, self-awareness, and active engagement. Here are some steps to help you in this important journey:

Educate Yourself: The first step in decolonizing your practice is to become knowledgeable about the histories, cultures, and traditions from which various magical practices originate. This will help you understand the contexts in which these practices were developed and how they have been affected by colonization.

Acknowledge Origins: Always give credit to the cultures, traditions, and communities from which certain practices and tools originate. This is not only a matter of respect but also a way to counteract the erasure that often occurs when practices are appropriated.

Assess Your Sources: Evaluate the materials you are using to learn about magical practices. Are they written or produced by individuals from within the tradition? Do they provide historical and cultural context? Are they respectful and do they avoid exoticizing or commodifying the practices they describe?

Reflect on Motivations and Entitlement: Examine your reasons for incorporating specific practices or tools into your own practice. Are you doing it because it's "trendy" or because you feel entitled to pick and choose from other cultures? Such motivations can be indicative of a colonizer mindset.

Avoid Cultural Cherry-Picking: Engaging deeply with another culture's practice means more than just adopting its magical or spiritual elements. It involves an understanding and respect for the culture as a whole, including its history, struggles, and contributions.

Engage in Dialogue: If you are interested in a practice that originates from a culture different from your own, try to engage in a respectful dialogue with individuals who belong to that culture. Seek their perspectives and listen to their experiences, and ask for their insights into ethical engagement with their traditions.

Prioritize Marginalized Voices: Elevate the voices and teachings of individuals from marginalized communities who are sharing their own traditions. Their perspectives are often sidelined but are crucial for a genuine understanding of these practices.

Financial Support: Whenever possible, support practitioners from the culture of interest by paying for their services, buying their products, or donating to causes they recommend. Economic empowerment is a form of reparative justice.

Revise and Reassess Continually: Decolonization is not a one-time action but an ongoing process. Keep updating your practices as you gain more knowledge and understanding. This may mean abandoning practices or tools that you now recognize as inappropriate for you to use.

Be Accountable: If you make a mistake—and most people do when they are learning—own it. Apologize, learn from it, and make amends if possible. Then take steps to ensure you do not repeat the same mistake.

Advocate and Educate: Use your platform, however big or small, to educate others about the importance of decolonizing magical practices. Share resources, engage in conversations, and challenge instances of appropriation you encounter.

Practice Humility: Recognize that the process of decolonization involves continual learning and that you won't have all the answers. Be open to criticism and willing to change your viewpoints and practices accordingly.

How Appropriation Negatively Affects Magical Potency

The act of appropriation in magical practices not only raises ethical concerns but also has deleterious effects on the potency of the rituals involved. One of the most glaring issues arises from the isolation of a practice from its original cultural context. Traditions, rites, and spells often have deeply ingrained cultural meanings and histories. When extracted from their native milieu, these practices lose the richness and nuance that contribute to their efficacy. The symbols, words, and actions employed in a ritual are often deeply tied to the specific geography, language, and folklore of its origin. Stripping away this context can dilute the ritual's power, rendering it a mere simulacrum of its original form.

Another significant concern pertains to the connections with spirits and ancestors that are inherent in many magical systems. These relationships are often built over generations and are rooted in specific cultural narratives, myths, and practices. When one appropriates these systems without a genuine link to the cultural lineage, the connection to these spirits and ancestors becomes tenuous at best. In some cases, this could even be seen as a form of spiritual trespassing, which not only questions the ethical standing of the practitioner but also diminishes the effectiveness of the ritual. These ancestral and spiritual links act as conduits for magical energy, and without them, the practice becomes hollow.

Lastly, the issue of alignment with one's personal truth cannot be ignored. Each individual has a unique set of beliefs, experiences, and perspectives that inform their magical practice. When one adopts practices from another culture without proper understanding or respect, there is a high likelihood that these borrowed elements will not align well with one's personal truths. This dissonance can create an internal discord, which in turn weakens the potency of the magical working. A harmonious alignment with one's core beliefs and experiences often serves as the bedrock upon which effective magical practice is built.

Implementation of the Concepts Discussed

The efficacy of magical practices can be significantly bolstered by adeptly incorporating cognitive techniques related to memory and repetition. One such method involves capitalizing on short-term memory. After assimilating beneficial information, executing a straightforward magical working immediately afterward can aid in embedding the newly acquired knowledge. This rapid recall and application essentially serve as the anchoring of the information more firmly by immediate utilization. This technique leverages the brain's natural propensity for retaining recently processed information and puts it to practical use, thus enhancing the likelihood of a successful magical outcome.

Subconscious memory plays a similarly pivotal role in the refinement of magical practices. The consistent and repeated consumption of relevant information can precipitate a subconscious framework that thereafter influences your methodologies. Over time, this reservoir of deeply ingrained knowledge becomes an almost instinctive guide during magical workings. The more frequently you engage with this material, the more it seeps into your subconscious, ultimately serving as an internal compass that steers your practices toward greater potency. Hence, the diligent study of reputable materials can lay the groundwork for a more effective and nuanced magical practice.

Repetition, both cognitive and practical, stands as another invaluable tool in solidifying one's magical practices. Repetitive engagement with the material, whether it's through written summaries, vocal articulation, or mental rehearsal, can fortify the neural pathways associated with that specific information. Furthermore, the regular enactment of magical workings that incorporate these concepts can engender a form of habituation. These practices, through repetition, become ingrained behaviors, thereby increasing the ease and fluidity with which they can be executed. This habitual nature, in turn, contributes to an overall enhancement of magical potency.

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[williceunleashed]

The Fruitsaladshipping Kids !

It was time for a post about them 😭 They are born a few years after the end of BW2 ! They all have a first name and a middle name so that both N and Dardanne could pick a name for each. Dardanne cursed his kids with the Kalossian names, and N cursed them with special interests related names.

Also both N and Dardanne are AuDHD. Which means the kids are AuDHD SQUARED

Supplementary infos under the cut !

-> The three of them are fully bilingual and are fluent in both Unovan (from N) and Kalossian (from Dardanne). Funnily enough, N isn't fully fluent in Kalossian yet, so while his children will talk to him in almost perfect Kalossian, he will respond in messy Kalossian with a strong Unovan accent.

-> Right now, Appoline is the only one with the ability to talk to pokémons. It is likely that Calixte can do it too, but he is too young to be certain yet.

-> The children evolve in N and Dardanne's house, alongside their parents' pokémons. This means that they basically grew up in-between humans and pokémons for their whole childhood, making them very good at understanding pokémon body language and cries, even if they didn't all inherit N's ability to communicate with them.

-> N keeps Zekrom in this version of the story, and reunites with Zoroark and Klinklang, so these three are also part of the family. These kids were born with a dragon god in their household

-> Family-wise, Anthea and Concordia are very present. They happily babysit the kids and have galarian tea parties with them. The children are very close to their aunts and gladly spend time with them. Anthea and Concordia need more love and they would 100% be there for their brother's kids. They most likely have a specific day in the week for family time where Anthea and Concordia come around to spend time with the children.

-> Alder (N's father figure) and Rood (Dardanne's father figure) take the roles of grandpas/great-grandpas for the children. Despite their age, they act playful with the kids and play along with them. While Rood is sweeter and gentler, Alder nurtures their natural abilities for battle (It makes N grumpy, but whatever). Alder and Appoline tend to be very close, because Appoline keeps trying to beat the crap out of his team with her tynamo. Alder sees Appoline has massive potential as a trainer, and gladly takes her under his wing to mentor her. Rood, on the other hand, tries to be the best version of himself around the children, trying to right his wrongs on N's education by taking great care of the kids.

-> While Appoline is more of a classic trainer type and will most likely capture different pokémons later in life, Scoot seems to only be interested in psychic types. Calixte seems to favor steel types.

-> N and Dardanne still don't approve of the Pokédex and the use of Pokéballs, but they don't impose their belief on their kids, letting them choose their own path in life. Appoline wanting to be the next Unovan Champion does make them anxious, but they understand that Appoline's tynamo is just as competitive as she is and that Pokémons can genuinely enjoy battling. And so they still nurture her dreams. They are trying to unlearn the idea that "battling is inherently bad", and Appoline's determination to become the next Unovan Champion is a pretty good exercise fo that.

-> Dardanne's family has no tie with the kids, and for all they know, Dardanne has been missing for years with no sign of life.

-> It is very likely that N tried to reconnect with Ghetsis out of guilt and genuine compassion, despite Dardanne desperately trying to stop him. (I mean N accepts his parallel-universe father back with little to no questions in Pokemasters, knowing that this Ghetsis isn't the broken inoffensive one, but the unstable BW2 one. N is way too good and caring and wouldn't want even his father to suffer). Ghetsis didn't care much about reconnecting with N, seeing how psychologically damaged he is post BW2. Trying to get his father out of his lethargic state, N tried introducing him to his children once they were old enough. At first Ghetsis didn't care much either, but slowly came a bit back to life when he had to interact with them because the three of them kept causing chaos and mischief in his house. Genuinely, Appoline, Scoot and Calixte are revenge for his abuse of N. They drive Ghetsis insane and they destroy his furniture. Appoline must have instructed her tynamo to thunderbolt Ghetsis at least once. Usually Melony is 100% on the kids side and gladly helps them to drive Ghetsis nuts (Melony will never stop bullying Ghetsis)

-> N and Dardanne don't really let the kids near the Driftveil Safe House, because they fear the grunts would start worshipping them the same way they worship N because of the brainwashing they went through in Plasma.

-> Bianca, Cheren and Gray (BW1 protagonist in that story) hang around a lot. Cheren is the most "adult" in the group and struggles a bit with children, but Bianca and Gray will happily spend time with the kids.

-> In general, the kids have no knowledge of Plasma and N and Dardanne's backstories. For all they know, Dardanne rescues Pokémons and has a part-time job at a Pokémon Daycare, while N works in engineering (Becoming the ferris wheel man he always wanted to be). Later in life, when the children are old enough, Anthea and Concordia babysit the children for N and Dardanne to travel and explore the world outside of Unova.

-> As for nicknames, they call N "dad" and Dardanne "papa". I know some English-speaking folk sometimes use papa as a name for their father, but "papa" is the universal name for fathers in French so here it is 😭

[tokidokitokyo]

習

音読み シュウ

訓読み なら(う)

意味 learn

The kanji 習 is often associated with learning or with customs.

習う ならう to take lessons in; to be taught; to learn (from a teacher); to study (under a teacher); to get training in

Words ending with ～習

悪習 あくしゅう bad habit; bad custom; evil practice; vice

因習 いんしゅう convention; tired tradition; old custom (negative nuance)

演習 えんしゅう practice; exercise; drill; military exercise; seminar

慣習 かんしゅう custom; convention; common practice; becoming accustomed (to)

学習 がくしゅう study; learning; tutorial

教習 きょうしゅう training; instruction

講習 こうしゅう short course; training

実習 じっしゅう practice (in the field); training (esp. practical and hands-on); practical exercise; drill

常習 じょうしゅう custom; common practice; habit

自習 じしゅう self-study; teaching oneself; studying by oneself (at school) while the teacher is absent

独習 どくしゅう self-study; self-teaching

風習 ふうしゅう custom

復習 ふくしゅう review (of learned material); revision

補習 ほしゅう supplementary lessons

予習 よしゅう preparation for a lesson

練習 れんしゅう practice; training; drill; (an) exercise; workout

Words beginning with 習～

習慣 しゅうかん habit; (social) custom; practice; convention

習合 しゅうごう syncretism (the amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought)

習得 しゅうとく learning; acquisition (of a skill, knowledge, etc.)

習作 しゅうさく (a) study (e.g. in music, art, sculpture, etc.); etude; practice piece

習性 しゅうせい habit; behavior; trait; nature

習字 しゅうじ penmanship; calligraphy

習熟 しゅうじゅく proficiency; mastery; becoming proficient (in)

習俗 しゅうぞく manners and customs; folkways; usage

[drdemonprince]

Hey Devon! Quick ask about your books and their order! I finished unmasking autism (took me a year on and off, and still want to do the exercises, I listened to the audio book). I am now unsure about whether to continue with UA2 or unlearning shame - as I feel so much of my (un)masking has to do or is rooted in shame. So I feel I would benefit from unlearning shame before diving into the second one. However I also feel like i’m already in the process of dramatically changing my life lol so UA2 might feel like a nice supplementary guide along the way. Maybe I’m just overthinking this, but I thought you might have a clear thought about that, since you know your books lol. Thanks anyway for reading!! Cos

I think UA2 is more practical and grounded. Shame is heavier! and more political and abstract.

[beatcroc]

homest[ar/uck] posting. this was meant to be supplementary to the gerome comic as him 'explaining the joke' but i uhhhhhh forgot.

i'm not much for crossovers in the the traditional sense, but it IS one of my favorite character exploration exercises to just go like 'if x media existed in this universe, who would and would not be a fan of it?'. and these ones are pretty notorious and always very fun to mess with for that and so here we are

[wistfulcynic]

i teach english as a foreign language to corporate clients. What that means is that companies hire the school i contract for to enrol their employees in courses that include a run of online grammar, vocabulary, listening, and reading exercises; accompanying speaking classes with a teacher (that's where i come in); and supplementary "skills" exercises including writing.

the *only* one of these that matters to their ultimate success or failure in their course is the online exercises. That's bad for a number of reasons i won't bore you with but tl;dr the students "pass" the class if they complete the online course.

which means that the supplementary writing exercises have ZERO impact on their success or failure. They aren't even required. The ONLY reason to complete them is to practice writing as a skill and get feedback from a teacher (me et al). Mistakes are corrected but never criticised. This isn't a scenario where anyone loses face by using the wrong preposition or verb tense. It's an opportunity to practice and improve, that's all.

and yet. Increasingly i am getting writing assignments that are clearly, obviously written by genAI. They are grammatically flawless in a way that is impossible for students at the levels i teach to produce. Which means there's nothing to correct. No feedback to give. No learning opportunity whatsoever.

my school's policy is just to ignore this. Our students aren't students in the traditional sense, they are clients. More precisely, they're employees of clients but the effect is the same. Their employers are paying us for the expertise, guidance, etc that we can provide and if they choose not to make full use of what we offer then that's their call.

still it pisses me off. Because why. Why use genAI to complete an optional exercise that has no impact on your ultimate course success? There is zero reason to do that. No benefit to anyone. The students learn nothing and i get paid to make up some bullshit "feedback" to a paragraph i know the student didn't write. Why? Why waste all our time with an obvious farce?

(i mean, i know why. Because it's easy. Because they believe that the product and not the process is what's important. Because they don't want to learn, they want to have learned. They are the ones who are always trying to get me to reveal some secret magic trick that will make them able to speak perfectly without them putting any effort into it whatsoever. They are, if i tell the stark honest truth, on the whole not people i can help.)

this is, ultimately, why i am against any and all use of genAI in education. Full stop. There's simply no pedagogical benefit to it. The learning process involves trying, failing, receiving correction, and then trying again. Over and over and over if necessary. We have already seriously damaged this process by caring only about results--test scores, essay marks, etc, achieved by any means necessary--and forgetting both as students and teachers that failure (or at least not perfect success the very first time) is an essential element of learning. Use of genAI skips over the learning process entirely. It basically finishes what years of over-testing and grade inflation started. It's bad and it's wrong and it accomplishes nothing other than giving people more of an excuse not to think for themselves, not to try, not to learn.

it needs to be stopped.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

A Cat in the Kitchen

Part 1 (ft. Riddle and Silver) I Part 2 (ft. Trey and Kalim) I Part 3 (ft. Jade and Lilia) I Part 4 (ft. Deuce and Jamil) I Part 5 (ft. Malleus and Ruggie) | Part 6 (ft. Cater and Rook) | Part 7 (ft. Sebek and Floyd) | Part 8 (ft. Ace and Idia) | Part 9 (ft. Leona and Epel) | Part 10 (ft. Jack and Vil)

In which Gordon Ramsay-kun is isekai’d into Twisted Wonderland. Part Food Wars, part Hell’s Kitchen, all Master Chef—Night Raven College isn’t ready to take on this Michelin Star celebrity!!

Ready for a short supplementary cooking class?🌟 A day in the life of Prefect Gordon and his familiar Grim, told in three parts: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After all, food is tastier when it's shared with friends and family~

Imagine this…

Gordon Ramsay stirred before the rats and the ghosts of Ramshackle dorm did. He was up by 5 am most days, first exercising and then rustling around in the kitchen fighting the gas stove to light (and stay that way!) and taking inventory of the dwindling ingredients in the pantry. At 7 am, the delicious smells would start up, rousing his housemates from their slumber.

This was the magic of a human incapable of spellcasting or sorcery.

"Mm... You're up super early again," Grim muttered from the doorway as he rubbed at his eyes. He yawned, still struggling to shake off the last remnants of sleep that clung to him. "I dunno how you do it."

"Not so hard once you've got the hang of it," he grunted in response. Gordon wiped his hands off on a dish towel before sliding a plate toward Grim. "Eat up now, we don't have much time before classes start."

"I dunno, I'm not too hungry."

"You? Not hungry?" Gordon's brows raised. "That's new. You feeling under the weather?"

Grim leapt, looking as though he had been caught with his entire body stuffed into a cookie jar. "N-No, I'm not! Yup, there's my hunger comin' back to me!"

He hurriedly yoinked a tuna sandwich and chowed down.

"See?! Ah'm jus' fine," Grim insisted, cheeks stuffed.

"Hmm, alright." Gordon tucked into a small bowl of oatmeal--prepared with baked bananas, almond milk, and dried cranberries.

"You got class today too or what?"

"Yup. Ashengrotto and the smaller Shroud this time."

“Think they’ll drive ya mad like the rest of them did?”

“I’ll hold my tongue until I’ve seen how they are in the kitchen for myself.”

“Keh, you’re no fun.”

The beast’s ears flattened. The blue fire that burned so brightly seemed to dim. Something weighed on his mind—of that, Gordon was certain.

“That means you'll abandon me before lunchtime again..." Between chews, Grim complained, "How come I gotta be just a student and you get to be a teacher too? The great Grim-sama oughta be showin' these newbies a thing or two!"

"I only teach what I know. I'm still a student in some ways, learning new things about food every day." Gordon shrugged, giving his friend a rough ruffle on the head. "You can be a teacher when you've mastered everything there is to master--neither of us is quite there yet."

"Why can't it be? I wanna fast forward to the part where I become an archmage already!!"

"Don't be impatient about making progress. I’ve made hundreds of dumplings in a day and still came nowhere near the level of perfection of a dim sum master.“

“Tsk, that sucks. Didja at least get to eat the bad dumplings?”

“It was all I had that day. They weren’t fit to serve to customers.” Gordon shook his head. “My point is, you’ll get there one day. Nose to the grindstone, Grim. You've got to work hard to earn it."

He spooned up the remainder of his oatmeal, then deposited his dirty bowl and spoon in the sink. Gordon plucked up Grim, who still had a mouth full of tuna, and tucked him under one arm.

“M-Myah?!“

“Right then, let’s head out. Brisk morning jog to wake up the senses—it’s a brand new day!”

“Lemme finish my breakfast first, sheesh!!”

Three classes before lunch, and they all went about as well as Gordon had expected them to. (That was to say, not well at all.)

During first period Alchemy, Grim had earned the ire of Crewel by disregarding the potion recipe. In spite of Gordon's reminders and warnings, Grim had taken one too many missteps. The wrong ingredient, the incorrect amount, the temperature too low or too high, the stirring too much or not enough.

He was then caught catnapping during Magic History and extensively told off by both Trein and Lucius. (The meowing had gotten very intense.) Gordon had apologized profusely in Grim's place.

Flying had not fared any better--Grim struggled to concentrate, his unsteady magic causing his broom to wildly buck, attempting to chuck him off. Gordon had to stop his rep of 100 push-ups to fetch his friend out from a shrub. Twigs poked at him, leaves caught in his fur.

By the time they were dismissed back to the locker rooms, Grim had melted into a furry puddle on Gordon's shoulder. "Maaan, I'm beat!! That was rough!"

"Rougher than usual." Gordon crunched on an apple. He had taken to the habit of eating small platters or snacks throughout the day over whole meals—it was more efficient for his lifestyle. “Something you want to tell me, or…?”

“N-Nothing’s up!” Grim snapped. "Quit worryin' about me. It's the boss's job to do that for their minion."

The chef rolled his eyes as he set Grim down on the floor beside him. He handed off a boxed lunch wrapped in a checkered cloth. "I'm off to teach. You'll be fine on your own, right? Find Trappola and Spade, settle down with your food, and don't cause trouble."

"I got it already!" Grim huffed. "Catch ya after...?"

"Always." His smile was strained, a bit tired but true. "Maybe I'll bring back some disastrous stories to share with you over dinner."

One last pat on the head, and then he was gone. Hustling down the hall, the white of his pristine chef’s jacket vanishing behind a corner.

Grim managed the rest of the hike to the cafeteria, balancing his lunch in his paws. He squeezed past the legs of various mob students, emerging safely on the other side. They rushed to line up for trays of food.

Suckers, Grim thought, paying in cash for food. Luckily for me, I’ve got something way better than whatever they’re serving.

“Oiiii, Grim! Over here!!” someone called to him. He looked—and there they were, the duo of troublemakers, marked by a heart and a spade upon their faces.

“Ace! Deuce!”

He scampered over to the two Heartslabyul freshmen. They had already secured their lunches, as well as an open seat for him.

“Hard night? Looks like you didn't get much sleep," Deuce commented. A fluffy omelet wobbled atop a mountain of ketchup fried rice on his plate.

“He's right, you really do look awful," Ace added cheerily--blunt as ever. He had opted for a slice of some savory pie, vegetables and meat oozing out from a buttery crust.

"Sh-Shuddap! The great Grim-sama was up all night cookin' up something big!" He slammed a paw down on the table. "Just look at your sorry lunches. They can't compare to what I have!"

"Did Prefect make your meal again? You should try to not trouble him too much.”

"’S not like I tell’m to! He does it on his own!” Grim snickered to himself. "He takes all these cheap ingredients and throws'm together to make these tasty dishes."

"Well, don't keep us waiting in suspense," Ace groaned. "Show us what you have already."

“Let’s see, let’s see!”

Grim undid the fabric knot that held his lunch in a swathe. The checkered pattern peeled back and the lid, once removed, yielded a creamy, cheesy bed of tuna bake.

Gordon had taken his beloved canned tuna and fried it down into flakes. It was then combined with a special mixture of seasonings, pasta shells, melted cheeses, onions and broccoli, and topped with bread crumbs. After a generous bake in their ancient oven, the dish had come out golden brown and bubbling.

“Whoooa, smells delish!!” all three of them drooled.

“Lucky bastard,” Ace muttered. He quickly put on a cheeky grin, his spoon prepared. “Ne, ne~ Lemme try some, Grim!“

“D-Don’t be cheeky, Ace! You can’t demand to mooch off of someone else’s lunch,” Deuce scolded his peer. “… Even if it does look really good.”

“Paws off!!” Grim shielded the box with his body. “My minion made this for me and me only!”

“Tch.” Ace’s expression dropped. “You get to eat like a king for free while the rest of us have to shell out and make do with whatever’s on the school’s menu.”

“It’s not that bad,” Deuce pointed out. “It’d be nice to be able to eat for free but I’m happy with the quality of food we get for the price.”

“This comin’ from the guy who was running low on pocket money for a snack the other day?” he smirked.

“H-Hey, I need to budget, okay?!”

While the duo bickered, Grim had started to shove his face into the box (silverware was too difficult to maneuver) and wolf down his meal. Cheese sauce painted his fur, bits of broccoli and tuna dotting his jaw.

It was heaven—or as close to heaven as he could get on the earth.

He licked his lips appreciatively, mopping up what was left on his face. Not even a little could go to waste. Grim was determined.

As he went back in for another mouthful, he felt a phantom hand cascade across his head, his back. Advice from that morning filled his mind.

“You’ll get there one day. Nose to the grindstone, Grim. You've got to work hard to earn it."

He shut his eyes, making a silent vow.

I’ll definitely… definitely pay ya back for all the hard work you’ve been puttin’ in too, partner.

Gordon bid farewell to the ghost chefs on his way out of the kitchen. The day’s leftovers and unused ingredients overflowed from his arms—a perk of the teaching gig, which helped to feed him and his feline roommate. He mentally parsed through what was available, dreaming up new dishes for the days to come.

There was a nice chunk of fresh tuna (Grim would love it) in his brown paper bag. Perhaps he’d sear it with a sesame crust, then drizzle the seafood in a yuzu-lime dressing to brighten it. He’s plate it with a microgreens salad. Chives, arugula, celery, radish, and ruby sorrel to encourage Grim to eat a variety of vegetables.

He made his way out of the school building and down the long, winding path to Ramshackle dorm. The sun was still out, warming the worn Prefect.

On the front porch, he rustled around in his pants for the keys. When he finally fished it out and inserted the teeth into the lock, Gordon swore he heard a series of suppressed giggles from beyond the door.

Odd.

The door swung open, and he was immediately accosted.

"Welcome baaack," the Ramshackle Ghosts chirped. One ushered him in from behind, another too his groceries off of his hands, and a third tugged him along by the arm.

"Come this way! Grimmy's got a treat for ya!"

"He's been working hard on it the second he got back from his last class."

"Oooh, you're gonna LOVE it!"

"What about dinner?" Gordon protested, watching his beloved ingredients sail off.

He was thrusted into their dingy kitchen--which doubled as the dining room, thanks to the table and chairs set up in one cobwebbed corner. The same old Ramshackle he woke up to every day. Rusty knobs and hinges, chipped cupboards, electricity and running water that blinked in and out.

But there, set on a table with uneven legs and splintered wood, was something extraordinary.

It was a stout cake, iced in light blue with a layer of dripping white and several lit candles stuck into the top. Black frosting formed the vague shape of a fish, TUNA piped over it in white. A single lollipop--pale blue, and in the shape of a paw--casually rested against the cake, as if it had been tossed on top for an extra flair.

A furry mass tackled and hugged Gordon's leg.

"Grim?!"

He was suited up in his own little chef's uniform. It was deep gray, verging on black, his apron tied with a striped-purple ribbon. A tiny toque--a chef's hat-- sat between his ears, a bandage over the bridge of his nose. A smear of white icing decorated his left cheek, and he carried with him a telltale piping bag squeezed thin.

Gordon blinked. "You did this?"

"Nyahahah! Were you surprised?"

"You told me you couldn't cook to save your life."

"He can't," a ghost piped up as he deposited the groceries onto a counter. "He's worse than I was when I was alive!"

"That's why Grimmy's been getting up in the dead of night lately. Been, what? Gotta be a few weeks now."

"He's been practicing his baking and then cleaning up the traces of his crime before you get up."

"What..."

"I wanted to pay ya back, yanno! For all the cookin' and cleanin' and whatever," Grim mumbled shyly, kicking at the ground. "So I figured I'd treat ya for once! I was thinking of a sticky toffee pudding at first since that's your favorite, but... it gets so sticky, it was hard to work with!"

He patted his stomach. "I couldn't put my stuff in the trash can or else you'd notice, so I had to eat up all my mistakes too! It was a lotta effort and way harder than it looked, so you'd better be grateful!!”

Grim looked away, rubbing at his bandage.

“… It helped me better understand and appreciate all the things you do on the daily.”

It clicked.

Everything suddenly made sense. Grim's tiredness, lack of focus, decreased appetite, defensiveness—it was all for this very moment.

"... I see." Gordon bent down, a smile taking shape on his mouth. A steady kindling in his chest. “This is your way of saying ‘thank you’.”

“M-Maybe! An archmage has gotta take good care of his minion,” Grim muttered.

The prefect laughed softly. “And you’re doing a great job at it. Hang tight, I'll get the stove going and whip us up some seared tuna to go with the cake."

“Myah?! Y-You’ve got tuna? Like, the real stuff?!” Grim’s eyes were wide and sparkling. A line of drool ran down his chin. "Fancy tuna...!!"

"Yeah. We can plate some for the ghosts too--so they can join us for a meal in spirit." Gordon nodded at their other roommates. Their pale faces brightened with excitement.

"Can we really?"

"It's been so long since I was last invited to a celebration like this!!"

"Oh, but we can't eat... Ghosts don't have digestive systems. The tune would pass right through us."

"... Grim, you have eat their shares. More importantly, it's being together for the occasion that matters, right?"

"Whoo-hoo!! You're the best minion an archmage could ask for!!" Grim cheered, leaping into the air, furry fist pumping.

“Let's get this dinner party started…!”

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Abby Monteil at Them:

A new Supreme Court case threatens to escalate LGBTQ+ book bans and, according to a new report in Vox, could potentially implement policies similar to Florida’s draconian “Don’t Say Gay” law in public schools across the United States. On April 22, the Court is scheduled to hear oral arguments for Mahmoud v. Taylor. The plaintiffs in the case — a group of six Christian and Muslim parents from Montgomery County, Maryland — seek to be notified if their elementary school-aged children are going to be taught LGBTQ-inclusive books, and to have the option to remove their children from classrooms where these books might be part of the curriculum, even as non-mandatory supplementary learning materials. The plaintiffs are represented by Becket, previously known as the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty. The Catholic legal group previously ran a full-page New York Times ad in support of California’s Proposition 8 — which outlawed same-sex marriage in the state — and represented a school that fired a 15-year veteran guidance counselor for being gay. The group is also listed on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website as one of several “hardline groups promoting ‘religious freedom restoration acts’ to justify anti-gay discrimination.”

In 2022, Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) added six LGBTQ-inclusive books to its supplemental curriculum for pre-K through fifth grade, assigning one book for each grade level. At the time, MCPS communications director Jessica Baxter told Bethesda Magazine that these titles feature “joyful stories of folks who happen to be part of the LGBTQ+ community” and “celebrate and positively portray LGBTQ+ identities through an asset-based lens.” Parents behind Mahmoud v. Taylor initially filed a lawsuit against the school district in 2023, arguing that it had infringed upon their religious rights by not allowing them to remove their children from potentially being exposed to books featuring LGBTQ+ characters and stories. According to GLAAD, the Associate Superintendent of Curriculum and Instructional Programs for MCPS responded to the plaintiffs in a court filing, noting that the books were not mandatory. Teachers were instructed to “incorporate the [books] into the curriculum the same way that other books are used, namely, to put them on a shelf for students to find on their own; to recommend a book to a student who would enjoy it; to offer the books as an option for literature circles, book clubs, or paired reading groups; or to use them as a read aloud,” per a district official.

MCPS also filed an appeal, which lists five books at issue: Uncle Bobby’s Wedding by Sarah S. Brannen; IntersectionAllies: We Make Room for All by Carolyn Choi and Chelsea Johnson; Prince & Knight by Daniel Haack; Love, Violet by Charlotte Sullivan Wild; and Born Ready: The True Story of a Boy Named Penelope by Jodie Patterson. Two other books — Pride Puppy! by Robin Stevenson and My Rainbow by DeShanna Neal and Trinity Neal — were initially approved by MCPS, but later “reevaluated pursuant to standard MCPS procedures and removed from instructional use.” A district court previously denied the plaintiffs a preliminary injunction in their case, which they sought based on claims that not being able to opt their children out of classes where the books were used violated their free-exercise and substantive-due-process rights under the U.S. Constitution and Maryland law. The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court’s decision. The Supreme Court subsequently agreed to hear their case.

The Mahmoud v. Taylor school curriculum case set to be heard at SCOTUS could very well bring Don’t Say Gay or Trans policies to schools nationwide.

[dogtoling]

today's idea for a concept:

me trying to fix the inkling mouth breathing problem. With supplementary text:

Inkfish in particular have a multi-layered respiratory system with several adaptations to an active, terrestrial lifestyle. The paired gills have a large surface area in the chest area of the organ sac, and are the primary method of gas exchange. However, Inkfish also have a separate air sac in their chest for supplementary air capture. This air sac is a specialized chamber developed over time from a part of the stomach, and in modern Inkfish, it is used for breathing and vocalization. The gills and air sac function in tandem, although one can be momentarily disabled, and either function can be given priority. Breathing over the gills is typically a passive process of the body, whereas use of the air sac, or “lung”, ramps up in times of strenuous exercise, or in dry environments where it may be prioritized while the absorption efficiency of the gills is reduced. On top of these two methods, the thin skin of Inkfish also allows for somewhat efficient gas diffusion throughout the body’s surfaces.

It is thought that Cephalings and Inkfish specifically first adapted to breathing through their buccal cavities in their early land stage, during which their gills were fairly inefficient. Therefore, gulping air into the stomach and intestine became a method to absorb extra oxygen into the bloodstream, which helped the early Inklings thrive and keep up high levels of physical activity in spite of their early land gills and somewhat inefficient oxygen transportation. Over time, a part of the stomach modified into an air sac and separated from the stomach entirely into a large gas chamber. This also paved the way for complex vocal communication. 

[glowettee]

｡𖦹 °✩creating your perfect comeback strategy - part 3/5 🎀｡𖦹 °✩

1st post 2nd post

posted by: glowettee

hey gorgeous studybugs! ♡

time for the most exciting part of the bad grade recovery series - planning your academic glow-up!!!!!! after analyzing what went wrong, we're now going to create the most effective (and aesthetic) comeback plan ever. this post will seriously help you with any class.

♡ setting goals (but make them realistic)

let's break this down into manageable pieces:

short-term goals:

identify the exact grade you need on next assignments

set weekly study targets (be specific with hours!)

plan concept mastery checkpoints

create mini-deadlines for improvement

long-term goals:

final grade target

overall understanding improvements

study habit transformations

confidence rebuilding

♡ your new study schedule

this isn't just any schedule - it's your academic glow-up timeline, so make it important:

morning routine:

quick concept review (15 mins while having your morning tea)

plan your study goals for the day

organize materials needed

set up your study space

daily study blocks:

45-minute focused sessions (i use a cute timer app)

15-minute aesthetic breaks (stretch, hydrate, quick tiktok check)

alternate between subjects

include active recall exercises

evening review:

30-minute summary of what you learned

prep materials for tomorrow

quick self-quiz

celebrate small wins!

♡ the actual study techniques (that actually work)

here's what really helps:

active recall methods:

teach concepts to your stuffed animals (seriously, it works!)

create practice questions

draw concept maps (make them pretty but functional)

record voice notes explaining topics

write summaries without looking at notes

understanding checks:

can you explain it to someone else?

can you solve problems without references?

can you connect different concepts?

do you understand why, not just how?

♡ resource maximization (because we're being smart about this)

time to use everything available:

professor/teacher resources:

office hours (schedule them in advance!)

email questions (keep them specific and organized)

extra materials they recommend

past exam reviews

study support:

form a study group (2-4 people max)

use tutoring services

online resources (but pick reliable ones!)

practice problems from textbook

supplementary videos

♡ your accountability system

staying on track is crucial:

daily checks:

study log (track actual study time)

concept understanding rating

questions that came up

what worked/didn't work

weekly reviews:

progress check

study method effectiveness

time management evaluation

goals met/missed

adjustments needed

♡ creating your perfect study environment

because aesthetics actually help:

physical space:

clean desk (but keep it cute)

good lighting (natural light is best!)

comfortable seating

all materials within reach

minimal distractions

study essentials:

colored pens/highlighters

sticky notes

planner

water bottle

healthy snacks

background music playlist

♡ emergency backup plans

because life happens:

plan b strategies:

alternate study locations

backup study materials

digital copies of important notes

emergency contact list for help

quick review sheets for cramming

stress-relief techniques

this isn't just about recovering from one bad grade - it's about creating a sustainable study system that works for you! - it needs to be consistent, personalized, and something you'll actually stick to!

the next post, i will talk about how to actually execute this plan (and what to do when things get tough).

xoxo, mindy 🎀

[german-enthusiast]

I want to start learning German (I have German ancestry) and was wondering if you had any suggestions for where to start

Hi!!

Cool that you're interested in German!

I think a soft but useful entry to learning German is Nicos Weg by Deutsche Welle (DW); you follow the story of a young Spaniard arriving in Germany with barely any knowledge of German. The (completely free) course is built around the video-series about Nico and his discovery of German, complemented by grammar information, exercises, scripts etc.

included in every unit:

DW also courses for A1-C2 levels, though I don't know much about the upper level courses (not important for you yet anyway)

Lots of learners also like the youtube channel "Easy German" for audio input and cultural knowledge, but that isn't structured to your level (beginner), which I think doesn't matter when used supplementary but you should definitely find a structured resource you follow for main information. This can also be a German textbook from a local library though!

Feel free to reach out with any specific questions!

Grüße aus DE! ☀️

[falconearring]

Hello Falcon, first off LOVE you're AU and designs, their so unique. I was just curious and I don't think anyone's ever asked this but.. What did everyone do before the Apocalypse? Aside from Scar which you already answered. :)

Hi hi! So happy to hear you're enjoying! I think here and there I've mentioned bits and pieces of some character's pre-apocalypse lives, but never all at once. Here's a comprehensive list of everybody's prior occupations, with some supplementary info for the characters that I've thought about the most.

Etho worked on an industrial farm. He was mainly tasked with planting and harvesting vegetables, and other miscellaneous labor tasks. When he wasn't working, he spent much of his time with Cleo and Bdubs. He's notorious for leaving his flip phone on the kitchen counter in his apartment when he goes out for the day, so it can be a bit difficult to get a hold of him. In general, he's pretty content with his life, and enjoys the routine his job offers.

Joel sort of just goes through the motions. He works a number of minimum wage jobs during his adult years, and doesn't really do much else. It isn't until the apocalypse, when he starts to meet new people and he realizes being lonely sucked. If you ask him, though, he's never felt lonely in his entire life-that would just be silly.

Grian spends his late childhood learning how to cook in a local restaurant. The owner and staff look after him best they can, but despite their hospitality, he resolves one day to grab as much cash as possible and head to a seaside town to start his early adult life. There he finds a small funeral home, and lands an apprenticeship only because they could really use the help and the owner themselves isn’t particularly concerned if they have to cut corners. It isn’t long before his inexperience starts to cause problems, and he takes off yet again when it comes to light the name he had been going by was stolen from an obituary a few cities over. He continues as he was, from place to place and name to name. It’s become somewhat routine for him to cheat every person he comes into contact with, in some way shape or form.

Scar, as we discussed in this post, has an extensive criminal history. Him and Grian somewhat deserve each other in that regard.

Cleo does a lot of crafting in their free time. I don't think I ever decided what she does for work, but on the side she does jewelry making, pottery, crotchet and a bit of sewing. She often sells some of what she makes, or gifts it to friends.

Bdubs does a trades program and is just starting out doing construction work. He takes up drawing as a hobby, mainly life drawing. His two best friends are his whole entire world, baby! He somewhat struggles with his independence, and usually wants to spend his time with Etho and Cleo.

Martyn is a hypnotherapist who specializes in past and future life progressions/regressions. He also claims to be a surgeon, but it's unclear what kind or when exactly he got a PhD.

Bigb was a racecar driver. Later in his career, he switched from cars to offroad motorcycle racing. He fell in love with modifying bikes and became a really knowledgeable mechanic.

Tango was a paramedic. Not much time for anything, but when he can he usually would meet up with some of his buddies to play board games.

Ren worked at the saw mill where Etho's friends are set up. At the time, he was living in a cabin in the woods not far from his work. He was somewhat of a hermit, and he has all sorts of woodsy knowledge and equipment at the ready.

Impulse has a bachelors of engineering and worked as an electrician for a few years. Loved his job, loved having to take out all his piercings most days a lot less. He's always been very close with his brother, Skizz, and they meet up often.

Skizz worked a 9-5 office job, and genuinely could not be any happier about it. He's the type of person to make extra time to exercise, or wake up early just to have some quiet time.

Pearl was an art student on exchange from Australia. She has a passion for installation pieces and painting. Some of her work is a bit strange.

Mumbo was a programmer. What did he program? I don't know. I'm sorry Mumbo fans. If it's any consolation he is so disoriented and so scared and so stressed.

Jimmy lived on a small farm with his family. It was all he knew growing up, and it was all he really knew going into adulthood.

Lizzie had a part time job at an aquarium in her town. She gave tours and sometimes did workshops with the kids where she did aquatic themed arts and crafts.

Scott.... I have a hard time imagining what he was up to before everything happened. Who can say for sure what he did in his spare time? (<- the guy who is writing the AU and can't think of an answer)

Hopefully this is helpful! Sorry some of it is more sparse than other parts. Take care, thank you for reading ^_^

[selfhelpforstudents]

Acing Exams: The Ultimate Study Hacks Every Student Should Know

Girls in Finance project server // other posts

Studying for exams doesn't have to be a daunting task. Equip yourself with these proven study hacks to boost your preparation and increase your chances of acing those exams:

1. Prioritize Your Material:

Identify key concepts and focus on high-priority topics outlined in your syllabus.

Break down larger subjects into manageable sections to avoid feeling overwhelmed.

2. Create a Strategic Study Schedule:

Develop a realistic study schedule that considers your peak productivity hours.

Use techniques like the Pomodoro Technique to break study sessions into focused intervals with short breaks.

3. Active Learning Techniques:

Engage in active learning methods, such as teaching the material to someone else or creating flashcards.

Utilize mnemonic devices and acronyms to remember complex information.

4. Diversify Your Resources:

Explore various learning materials, including textbooks, online resources, videos, and supplementary materials.

Choose resources that resonate with your learning style for a more effective study experience.

5. Practice with Past Papers:

Familiarize yourself with the exam format by practicing with past papers or sample questions.

Analyze your mistakes and focus on improving in areas where you may be struggling.

6. Utilize Visualization Techniques:

Visualize complex concepts or create mind maps to establish connections between ideas.

Use color-coded diagrams and charts to enhance your understanding of relationships within the material.

7. Join Study Groups:

Collaborate with peers in study groups to gain different perspectives and share insights.

Teaching and discussing topics with others can reinforce your own understanding.

8. Healthy Lifestyle Habits:

Ensure you get adequate sleep to support memory consolidation.

Maintain a balanced diet and exercise regularly to keep your mind and body in optimal condition.

9. Mindfulness and Stress Management:

Practice mindfulness techniques, such as deep breathing or meditation, to manage stress.

Break down your study sessions into smaller, manageable tasks to reduce anxiety.

10. Reward Yourself:

Incorporate rewards into your study routine to stay motivated.

Treat yourself to breaks or small rewards after completing challenging study sessions.

Remember, everyone's study journey is unique, so feel free to tailor these study hacks to fit your personal preferences and learning style. Consistency and dedication to your study routine will play a key role in your success. Good luck!

Join our Girls in Finance project if you want to learn more about studying finance and the financial world <3