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A cat and his blade

I had a little bit of a neurospicy moment I've been encouraged to share! "How many times has this guy flipped his dagger? Hmm?"

Well, I did the maths:

Rogues' Guild was released in patch 2.4, and assuming he came with it, that occurred on October 28th, 2014; 3,742 days ago.

If we assume he has engaged in this activity non-stop since that time, disregarding maintenance, DDOS, and other biological functions, that comes out to: 89,808 Hours; OR 5,388,480 minutes; OR 323,308,800 seconds.

His rotation appears to be on a 7.5 second repeat with 6 knife flips each rotation; lending to: 43,107,840 rotations; OR 258,647,040 flips of his blade.

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Back again. ♥

I should be working on some cute shots soon! ♥

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occasional posts from users

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Yuhli's villain arc.

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October 5th, 2013.

Ten years ago today, the first formal Grindstone event happened on the Balmung server in Final Fantasy XIV. The game had only relaunched as A Realm Reborn a month and change earlier, but already the roleplaying community was coming together to establish, well, a community.

Originally started by the Eorzea Free Trade Company as a more low-key place for roleplay, there were only two rules if you wanted to participate: No killing, no magic. At the time, the community at large didn't really have a ton of lore to go on; Everything was new and exciting and not everybody had the means to level everything all at once. The ceiling for what people wanted to express in the play space was so high you couldn't really see it from the ground, and that's exactly where the Grindstone was designed to exist.

Let the High Mages have their omnipotence and unimaginable power. We just wanted to fight.

...I say "we" as if I was there from the beginning. I wasn't. I only heard about it some time later, and to demonstrate how immature I was as a roleplayer at the time, I thought the idea was kind of absurd on its face. Rolling dice to see if you succeed? That's entirely random! It's unfair! That means... GASP! I might LOSE to someone I feel I shouldn't! It's a mentality that I (and many others who got a better grasp of what the point of the event was) would grow out of. It wasn't about winning. It was about the writing.

Within the first year there was the expected churn of organizing and hosting an event; Volatility between players and factions, the fact that a weekly schedule in primetime meant your Saturdays were locked down if you wanted to stay consistent, real life getting involved and forcing absences or changes. Sigyn Shieldbreaker gave way to Sindl Arahan. Sindl gave way to a loose coalition of people familiar with the rules. For a brief period of time, the future of the event was uncertain. That's when I figured "Hell, I can do this."

Ta-da.

I have a lot of extremely fond memories at the Grindstone. I've got a lot of not-so-fond memories, too. More than that, so do a laundry list of other people. The Grindstone means a lot to me, but the fact that it also means so much to other people is really what makes me proud of what the event has achieved over the years. Strangers met and became friends. Sometimes more than that (I would still like an invite to the wedding when it happens). Stories were etched, characters were developed. People who had no idea what roleplaying was about walked by, saw a crowd and hung out. Every night was anyone's night, and everyone has a story to tell.

A fishing rod. A frying pan. Arrows tipped with paint. Someone fighting with hair brushes. Impossible come-from-behind victories. That time someone fighting for the first time winning the whole show. The several dozen times that happened, in fact. The time that one guy wrote "attaks with all his mite" and nearly won the night. That hand that got cut off. That lady who emoted giving birth on the sidelines. That kid who kept trying to fight. "FOOOOOORE!"

If you attended the Grindstone at any point of the years, at least one of those probably just touched a memory. That's the thing I keep thinking about as we're on the cusp of this event turning ten years old. Ten! The Grindstone's seen three US presidents, five English Prime Ministers, outlasted the Confederacy by twofold! Children who were not yet conceived when the first fights happened are now old enough for you to talk to and have a conversation with.

The list of names involved both in front of the curtain and behind it is entirely too long to name, or even recall. At least for me. I'm incredibly proud that folks have volunteered their time and their nights and their energy and efforts to make sure the Grindstone exists and will continue to do so. I'm happy that so many people, even if they only showed up once and didn't really like it, at least got to experience it. They got to take something away from it. The Grindstone got dropped into the middle of an extremely large lake and boy did we make some ripples.

Today is October 5th. It's not a date many people could recall many details about, but for me it's always going to be special, even if I wasn't actually there the first night. I hope that everyone who got to experience the Grindstone in their own way feels that way, too. That sometime when the air is just right and someone notices it's a Saturday night, that they can just know that the Grindstone is happening in the same place it always has been.

Everyone night is anyone's night. This coming Saturday, it's everyone's night.

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I AM GOING TO TRY AND DO ALL OF THEM THIS YEAR. If you have me on discord, feel free to poke me and make sure I do as many prompts as possible! ♥♥♥♥

FFxivWrite2023 Begins September 1st!

Artist Volunteer sign-up is now open ✨

Thaaaaaat's right - WE'RE BACK for year 7 of the FFxiv 30 Day Writing Challenge! The official rules post will go up in a couple of weeks. In the meantime you can learn more on the challenge website:

✨ ffxiv-write.carrd.co ✨

Artist volunteer sign-up will be from August 1st - October 1st, 2023

Visit the challenge website for more info, and for a sign-up link:

✨ ffxiv-write.carrd.co/#volunteer ✨

See you on September 1st, 2023!!

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I need to stop injuring myself.

So I am in a shoulder sling for no less than five weeks, rotator cuff injury and MRI isn’t until the 24th and Orthopedic Surgeon appointment isn’t until September 26th. Woo. xD

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Clever Librarian...

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Reblog if you’re 30 or older

This is an experiment to see if there really are as few of us as people think.You can also use this to freak out your followers who think you’re 25 or something. Yay!

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Dancer Stretches. ♥

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SHOUT OUT TO EVERYONE WHO STILL TRIES TO GET BACK INTO THE SWING OF THINGS AFTER DEPRESSION HIT THEM HARD. THERE ISN’T ENOUGH RECOGNITION FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO KNOW THAT THEY’RE GOING TO LOSE INTEREST AND MOTIVATION AGAIN BUT PUSH THEMSELVES TO DO STUFF ANYWAYS. YOU ARE FIGHTING A DAILY BATTLE WITH YOUR OWN THOUGHTS AND YOU’RE STILL COMING OUT ON TOP, YOU’RE ALL BRAVE AS FUCK

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Nephy goes to the Vet!

Nephy goes to the vet this morning to get her treatment and likely her shots. I will keep everyone posted on how it goes ♥

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“Th’ moon brings me comfort. Always has, I s’pose. Always thought it funny considerin’ m’a Suncat, an’ not a Mooncat.”

the werewolf

there's something inside a werewolf that's sharp, thorns and barbs coiling up in tight knots of vine even on their best days. halfway through a conversation, you'll forget your happiness and the pain comes back in a flash. you never meant to, but the sharpness has done harm on your behalf. it's defensive. it's leftover artillery from a battle you spent so long fighting that it still doesn't feel like it's truly over, does it? you want so badly to be soft. to take the hand that you are offered instead of baring your teeth. and it might be hard to believe, but you are soft. you're the softest one out there. it'll just take a while to untangle those vines enough to know that very little is often life-or-death, and not everything touches to hurt.

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Let the music play! I would dance away— Dance till the dawn of the bright young day! Wild notes are sounding—swift lights are glancing, And I—I am mad with the rapture of dancing— Mad with a breathless delight. With thine arm to enfold me, Thy strong hand to hold me, I could dance through an endless night.

--Anonymous

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Vacation Pheli is a mood.

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super special award for every1 who survived 🥇