#...Why are those two examples between folk with A and S initials...

[thegoddesswater]

Hi!!! Happy STS :D

Do you write stories with familial relationships? Do you write about found or blood families more often? Are these relationships usually good or bad?

If you don't write stories with familial relationships, why?

@flock-from-the-void

Hi Feathers!! Happy STS!

Familial relationships? Me? Oh god yes. Depends on the work whether the bonds are more by blood, or if they’re found family - but I definitely do both! Miadhachain Legacy is still a damn Gordian knot when it comes to families and bloodlines, and that's after I've pared it down over the years. (Things used to be really weird, sprawling, and gross there. Now they're more just weird and sprawling.) Talentless, on the other hand, has more of a found family bend to it - of course, due to world building reasons, there's not always a lot of blood-relations for some folks.

Whether the familial bonds are good or bad can depend entirely on the characters. ML, for example, has two characters who grew up in the same situation, but one of them is very connected to his family, and the other one is estranged from everyone but his brother. My messier representations usually tend to happen in the parent-child type bonds, rather than in the sibling type bonds, though. Not to say that it's all sunshine and rainbows where siblings are considered, but the challenges mostly appear in relationships with the parental figures.

No matter what, family dynamics usually have a significant role in anything I write though; it's probably because of how foundational family can be to shaping someone.

[fermented-writers-block]

Lus and the Human Portal Clone Theory

Even before Keeping Up A-fear-ances aired, I have been working for almost a year now on running through all the possible various suspects with wonderful folks like @sepublic​ , @anistarrose​ , and @elementalist-kdj​ . Like the post title indicates, from sheer process of elimination, the only conclusion that made sense to me was a clone made of Luz by the portal door, and I’ve been working on refining and reworking said conclusion up to the version I will lay out here.

Now, as @safetayy​ , @theowlhouseheadcanons , and @50shades-of-blue have heard from me before, the portal I've long suspected was not made to go from the Demon Realm to the Human Realm, but rather to go from the Human Realm to the Demon Realm by humans, for humans. This is because it then could tie into the hypothetical existence of a Luz clone without having the issue of asking where Eda, Lilith, and King's clones are, as the clone in this case is the result of a function of the door to create a basic level duplicate of any human that passes through it rather than it happening for just anyone that passes through.

With this, it's because the suitcase form of the portal looks as thought it indicates it was used for temporary trips to the Demon Realm, much like how suitcases were used when railways and international boats made travel more accessible for the middle and lower classes. For example:

Going by the way the door “faces” and the way it swings open, the ergonomics of the portal makes it look an awful lot like a right handed out swing door, with the Human Realm on the “inside” and the Demon Realm on the “outside.” And the arrow in the diagram depicts the general direction of traffic that such right handed, out swing doors are typically design with in mind - ergo, showing what way the portal appears to facilitate travel in.

Now, before you ask, the reason why I think the portal could have been created in the human realm in the first place is that it might require an extra component/bit of help or two from the Owl Deity which I’ve discussed before in the past as hinted by these connected designs:

I’ll explore how I feel the revelation that such a twist about the portal’s origins could play into the themes and narrative of the show under the cut, but overall, I feel these are potential significant details to keep in mind for the rest of this arc of building a new door and handling the idea of Lus having initially been made as a temporary-duration clone, hence how "Luz" comes off so uncannily in the letters as she wasn't meant for long term impersonations.

That, and why I named this the Human Portal Clone theory, for those wondering about the name.

Alongside this, my thought has been that walking back through the portal to the Human Realm basically makes the portal send a recall signal to tell the clone to return to it, where the clone would be reabsorbed into the portal and its memories are given to the original. However, with Luz going back into the Demon Realm for a brief time in YBOS, I am of the mind that it doesn’t just make another clone, but rather that doing so merely made the door turn off the recall signal and allowed "Lus" to resume the impersonation.

And as for the clone itself and why they’re writing letters to Camila, well, imagine it from Lus' perspective. To her at the time of creation, the last thing she probably knew was that she had been chasing the cute little owl that took her Azura book into the woods, and right when the bus to Reality Check Camp was about to arrive.

Also, if you think about it, Lus being the work of someone we/don’t know yet raises way more plot threads/questions than answers compared to being the work of the portal, as outlined below:

TLDR at end of post for those wondering

Belos? How and why before YBOS where he actually started paying attention to Luz for the first time and actually got his hands on a portal? 

Eda? Why would she do all this and not tell Luz she can goof around without needing to worry about her mom or the camp/in time to fool the camp, especially when it took a good amount of time for Eda to even start feeling that close to Luz? 

Hooty got ruled out from the getgo since he can’t hold pencils, King just isn’t that subtle, and everyone else that Luz knows has the major issues of just straight up not knowing about the camp in the first place. Well, that and a lack of another known method of getting to the Human Realm in the first place.

The camp? Why would they worry about a missing camper whose disappearance is all HER fault and thus would more logically result in a call to her parent than some convoluted clone conspiracy? 

And finally, some currently completely unknown third party?

If we’re talking a Changeling, A) it’d be easy for Luz to dismiss them and B) that just makes all the ominous portrayal of Lus super straightforward instead of a subversion like is the show’s shtick.

If we’re talking dimensional counterparts, A) they have to REALLY have led a very similar life to Luz’s in order for there to be enough common ground for Luz to listen, and B) dimensional counterparts aren’t even a confirmed or likely thing that people cooked up from Episode 1 side characters influenced by Amity’s concept art.

And if we’re talking some complete surprise third party group or another, it doesn’t make sense to introduce a third party and their motives and plans to the show this late in when Belos is already taking up the bulk of it all.

Hell, if anything, the continued existence of the duplicate in of itself would indicate that the target of the conspiracy is none other than Camila Noceda than anything to do with Luz or Eda, especially with the complete lack of anyone taking advantage of Luz and or Eda. 

From the getgo, Witches Before Wizards already hard-baked into the show the idea that Luz is NOT inherently special or anything into the foundations of the show from the getgo - ergo, Camila likely just is an absolutely regular human being, someone who has no justification for such a convoluted conspiracy to surround them.

That said, I believe that the idea of the portal having originated from the Human Realm could potentially play into some interesting stories to be had with Camila and Lus here, especially as the conspiracy board shot from the promo was confirmed by Dana to apparently be from S2A, not from the episodes past Yesterday’s Lie:

After all, with Luz searching the library for a way home this coming episodes, perhaps she might figure out something the next couple of episodes that allows her texts to send through, which would logically lead to the above picture. That, and Camila and Lus being confused by and trying to figure out what’s going on there.

I mean, the cabin in the woods likely has a very close connection to the portal and it’s origins given how closely tied the two structures seem to be, and as far as we can tell, Luz never mentioned the cabin in her videos to Camila, but if Lus tries to retrace her steps, that would be a natural vector to lead Camila to the cabin and thus allow us a chance to actually investigate it.

That said, all following the trail would do is lead her and Lus to a dead end at the abandoned cabin, where they would have nothing else to do except discuss their complicated relationship concerning Luz and twiddle their thumbs while waiting for Luz to finish things on her end - which while something I think would be interesting to see, I just don’t see how much of a way to keep them in the greater picture of the show without some kind of project or activity that the two of them could work together on on screen. 

And that’s what leads me to a particular train of thought here, starting with the question of what if Luz FAILS to make a working portal over the course of S2A and such?

With the possible in-universe mystery over what the heck is going on with Lus, perhaps the cabin might hold some notes from the original last human owner - if not potentially the creator - of Eda’s portal as well as potentially some of the same materials and such from previous trips.

Cue CAMILA building a working portal, following in the footsteps of the original creator and such and thus finding a reason to stay on screen, all the while potentially demonstrating both why Belos wanted the portal instead of making his own, as well as diving into the Owl Deity’s connection with the original portal. Heck, maybe the Owl Deity is only accessible in the Human Realm and that plays a part in Belos wanting to get to the Human Realm, which would bring Camila directly into contact with the magic her daughter has been interacting with.

Also, just imagine the internal conflict going on here with Lus. After all, helping Camila build a portal to get the original Luz -and hoo boy would that be a tough thing to grapple with- would most definitely do that and make both Lus AND Camila question how much the latter likes Lus vs Luz.

Like, just imagine it. There would be major chances for Lus and Camila to discuss what would happen if and when they’re finished with the portal, and what will happen to Lus’ relationship with Camila if and when Luz gets back.

Does Camila really prefer her daughter to be all more “normal” like Lus, or does she prefer the old, “weird” daughter from before the summer with Luz?

Perhaps she might be able to figure out how to strike a nuanced balance between the two, and all on a metaphorical journey to truly build a better connection between her and her daughter(s?). 

TLDR: Or in short, I can’t help but feel it would be fitting to see Camila building a bridge WITH Lus TO Luz. 

Particularly, by being the one to craft an actual working portal in the Human Realm instead of Luz in the Demon Realm, showing a parent putting in an active effort to get down to their child’s level rather than waiting for said child to try to get up to their parent’s level even if they can’t or find it incredibly hard to do so.

[mystic-sanctuary]

A (Hopefully) Helpful Guide to Syskids

A very quick disclaimer here: This is based on my own experiences as a Caretaker with the kids we have had and currently have within our own system. Some of, or even many of these things may not hold true for other systems.

Written by; Bronya (Admin, Archivist, Caretaker)

[GUIDE BELOW THE CUT.] [WARNING: VERY VERY LONG.]

Topics covered below;

Some Miscellaneous Basics

Getting to know your SysKid

Caring for your SysKid

Caring for your SysKid - Headspace Specifics

Navigating SysKids and Trauma

Okay, with that out of the way! Dealing with SysKids can be challenging, just like dealing with outside children, though with a few extra challenges because these children are in a system and that can make just about anything challenging at times!

Each SysKid can bring their own unique challenges, so there's no real "every SysKid can be handled like [x]" type situation here. The very first step to learning how to care for your SysKid(s), however, is to get to know them!

Their interests, their dislikes, and for lack of better phrasing, their maturity level. Do not expect your SysKids to always be 100% like their age group. Remember, they have a much older brain now, so for example, your 4 year old SysKid may have a wider understanding of things than, say, a bodily 4 year old might. That doesn't mean they won't still react to those things like a 4 year old would, though! Another 4 year old SysKid, however, may be a lot more similar to a bodily 4 year old. There's no way to tell for sure until you interact with and get to know them!

Our system is both Polyfragmented and Gateway, which means I have seen many SysKids come and go, and we currently have quite a few as well!

Some of them behave more like their age group than others, some seem to fluctuate between an age group (for example, one of them is in the 4-6 range). Some SysKids are nonverbal or some form of altverbal.

Unless otherwise specified by your SysKid, it's absolutely okay to treat your SysKid like an outside kid- as long as you aren't rude or patronizing about it. Yes, I know, "why would I be that way to a kid", but unfortunately I've seen this happen.

Syskids also have their own various boundaries and capabilities. We have a few SysKids who are able and allowed to front alone, provided we are at home.

This isn't plausible for everybody, of course, due to various personal situations the system may have at home, and not all SysKids are able to front on their own anyway.

There are also systems who cannot control their switches which can lead to a SysKid in front alone, and to all of you, you are not a bad person for ""letting this happen"", it isn't your fault if you can't control your switches. Tips for you& include leaving notes for your SysKid if need be (we have a personal discord server we often use for this, for example, which has exclusively us in it), or letting close, trusted friends know about the SysKid in advance so they can help if they're able and needed.

In the case of the two SysKids we allow to front on their own, we know they are responsible/"mature" enough to follow the rules we've set for them without needing to be reminded/regularly enforced/etc.

These rules are pretty basic and by large focused entirely upon their safety: Who they can and can't talk to, discord servers they can and can't talk in, websites we know are safe for them vs websites we aren't sure about or know have inappropriate ads on them that occasionally manage to worm their way past our adblockers.

We also make sure they know, at all times, SysMates they can pull to front or call for help when or if they need it. For us, this includes myself, the Protectors, and a few others who are either Caretakers or have good parental or caretaker-y inclinations. This is something that, while they've both teasingly told us we don't have to keep reminding them of, we often keep reminding them of before or while they front.

"So, how do I get to know my SysKid(s)?"

Find out what they're interested in and spend time with them! Spending time with SysKids is very important, in my experiences. This may include playing with them in headspace, depending on your systems headspace situation, or even watching movies with them while fronting together!

Some SysKids may be shy- they may open up more as they get comfortable around you, but they also might not! If your SysKid is shy, you may need to approach them with more caution and gentleness than other SysKids might require. Some SysKids may not adjust as quickly as others to their new surroundings, either.

Think of... Getting a new pet, for example. They don't know you, your home is new to them, and that can scare them. You have to get them to warm up to you slowly; no rushed movements and soft attempts to initiate play times, etc.

Running with this same analogy, some new pets don't have a problem with any of that, and are in fact just excited to see all their new surroundings and meet all the new people around them!

SysKids have as much variation! For explanation on why I went with this analogy, I know a lot of folks do not have experience with children outside of Systems, for any number of reasons (not having younger siblings, never babysitting for others, etc.) and getting a new SysKid can be just as unique and even as challenging an experience as getting a new pet!

"How can I care for my SysKid?"

One SysKid can have a different set of needs than another, so the answer to this question can vary quite heavily. However, a few examples I can give are:

1. Spending time with them! This can range from coloring together to watching a movie with them! If you live with another system who has SysKids or live with somebody who is comfortable interacting with SysKids, you could even arrange playdates with them.

2. Giving them snacks or treats while they're in front, or even in headspace if your headspace functionality allows for this. Everybody's headspace is different, and some don't have a headspace at all, so this may not be possible outside of front and that's okay!

3. Like the above, depending on your systems headspace situation, this one may not be possible outside of front. However, this one also depends on your SysKid! Some SysKids can get grumpy after a little while without sleep. If you have multiple SysKids, this can get a bit challenging because you'll be trying to arrange multiple naps at once- not everybody is going to want to lay down at the same time.

4. Depending on your systems communication and the verbality of your SysKid (we have a kid who can only say one word, for example), you can also ask your Kiddo what they need or would like to do.

Obviously with this one, you may have to use your own judgement. We've all been kids at one time or another, and SysKids are often no exception to the "wanting to do things they see 'big kids' doing" mindset.

And of course, as with any SysMate, do not force your SysKid out of their comfort zone. This can be damaging to any SysMate (and your relationship with them), so of course it can be just as much if not more so with SysKids. If it's a situation where it's something the body needs that the SysKid is uncomfortable doing and your fronting situation allows you to: do it yourself or have another SysMate do it unless your SysKid has expressed wanting to become more comfortable with whatever it is.

For example, several of our SysKids are uncomfortable with things like going to the bathroom! That can seem like a weird, simple thing they "should be able to do", but keep in mind they are a child and your body isn't. That's a big difference! We are typically able to do fairly fluid switches, so we are able to switch the SysKid out of the "Main Seat" so to speak to do this for them, or "with" them if they've said they want to be more comfortable with it.

"What about in headspace? Do I need to watch them all the time? When should I check on them? Etc."

For me personally, I'm usually with most of our SysKids a good portion of the time. Of course, some of them have other SysMates they'd rather be with most of the time or spend time with sometimes, and that's okay too!

We usually try to keep an older SysMate with all our SysKids, but depending on your headspace, this might not be absolutely necessary.

For us, our headspace is not only incredibly large (an entire world in it's own right, at this point), but dangerous. Even a lot of older SysMates use the buddy system when traveling outside the main city just in case they run into more dangers at once than expected.

If your headspace is safe enough for your SysKid to be alone, it's still a good idea to check in on them! How often you should check on them probably depends on your SysKid's age and how they behave! For example, particularly chaotic SysKids may need to be checked in on more than SysKids who aren't quite so chaotic, just to make sure they aren't getting themselves into any trouble.

If your SysKid is usually fairly loud and there's a period of silence, that'd be a good time to check on them! If your SysKid is usually pretty quiet, you may need to use your own judgement for when to check on them! For example, you might be anxious about leaving them alone if they're pretty quiet, so maybe you'll feel more comfortable checking on them every 5-10 minutes or so.

And of course, if you hear them getting angry or crying, etc. that would definitely be a good time to check on them! Chances are they tripped while playing, can't get a toy to do what they want it to/can't figure out how to get it to do what they want to, or even messed up something they were drawing or coloring.

Personally, when I'm leaving our SysKids momentarily unsupervised for any number of reasons, I check on them anywhere from every 5-15 minutes, varying depending on amount of noise they're making and what kind of noises they're making, but it's important to keep in mind that I'm watching several SysKids at any given time!

To help myself stay organized, and because we have an entire city so this was a plausible option for me, I run a sort of kindergarten-daycare type thing within headspace! All our SysKids have an older SysMate they live with, and not all of them need or are interested in keeping up with any sort of solid education within headspace, so it more or less functions as both!

It's also possible your SysKid might not want to be left alone at all, maybe just at first while they adjust or even indefinitely, and that's okay too! A lot of kids don't like being left by themselves. In this situation, having them hang around another SysMate they like would be a good idea if you aren't sure who to put your SysKid with in this case.

In any case, if you are checking in on your SysKid, it's important to remember that you're not just making sure they're okay! Seeing you check in on them, whether you say this or not, reminds them that you're there for them and to help them/to care for them.

It's also important to remember that your SysKid might try to convince you to sit and color or play with them for a while during one of these check-ins! If you have the time to sit with them for even just a few minutes, I recommend it! It might not seem like much, but in my experience it often means a lot to them and can strengthen your bond with them.

"How do I navigate SysKids and Trauma?"

This can be challenging. Whether it's your systems own traumas, the SysKid getting stuck in front with somebody in a bad state of mind (it happens! front can be finnicky and disagreeable at times, even for those of us who can usually control their switches), your SysKid having ExoTraumas of their own, or even your SysKid being a Trauma Holder!

An important thing to remember in these situations is that, despite the trauma, your SysKid is still a kid! They may not fully understand the trauma they're experiencing (or witnessing). It can be hard to explain things to them if they're asking about it, and you may not even feel comfortable explaining it to them. In this case, it's absolutely okay to try and boil it down in a way a kid might understand- like adults often try to do with bodily kids.

Obviously, Trauma can be likely to stress your SysKid out pretty heavily. Like with older SysMates, coping skills will be helpful for them. Because this is a kid, these coping skills may be pretty different. It can include giving them their comfort item if they have one (for example, a favorite blanket or doll), playing their favorite movie and watching it with them, holding them while they're scared or upset, and comforting them (I usually go with soft "shh" noises and "it's okay", while reminding them that I'm here for them and they aren't alone. Also, just listening to them the same way you would a friend! They may not make as much sense in some cases, but they appreciate having an ear just as much!)

In the case of systems with trauma, avoiding putting your SysKid in situations you know triggers the rest of you because of that trauma as best you can is a good idea!

For a personal example, due to one of our own traumas, we are very Hydrophobic. Things like Showers and Baths are nearly impossible for us most days, and we never get out of them without anxiety attacks or bad dissociation. So even the SysKids who have said they "don't mind" taking a shower or bath through the body do not get to do this.

Some days we have a hard time even drinking water, so on those days we either make sure whatever we're drinking isn't water when the SysKid/s front, or we don't let them front that day.

Again, we are usually fairly in control of our switches, so this works for us, but things may be more complicated to navigate for other systems depending on the nature of their trauma/s and fronting capabilities.

Since that is not our situation, I will not try to make assumptions for how you can navigate your situation if this is how things are for you- given more information, I could certainly try to give you advice, however this is a random tumblr post, and I almost definitely do not know most of those reading this!

Ending notes!

For now this is all I really have, though I can always edit or reblog with more at a later date if need be! If you read this far and have any questions or comments, you're welcome to leave a message on this post, send us a DM, or drop an ask in our inbox! We have Anon turned on as well, for anybody who gets anxious about asks that are off-anon, etc.

[thegrapeandthefig]

The Mushroom Discourse

This is what I get for having stupid questions. Before I jump into the clusterfuck this post is going to be, let me just explain how I got there in the first place: It's fall and mushrooms are just *everywhere* currently and it came to make me wonder about the phallic shape some of them have and how curious it was that this trait hadn't been used by the Ancients in some way.

And this simple observation led me down a deep rabbithole, because clearly no one gives a fuck about the history of mushrooms in the ancient world, but everybody cares about psychoactive shrooms. As a result of that, there's very little material about mushrooms in a typical ancient Greek's life, but A LOT of speculative material from a particular side of academia that is, for the most part, not really taken seriously by most scholars.

If this is so fringe, then why mention it at all? Well, because, like with other questionable content *cough cough Robert Graves cough*, I see it being taken by pagans as fact and not being critical about it. I could be writing an actual useful post but here I am, I guess.

The Shroom Theory

What I jokingly call the "shroom theory" refers to the idea held by a handful of scholars, that the secret of the Ancient Mysteries are psychoactive mushrooms.  Initially, what sparked the idea is an interpretation of the Pharsalos stele, sometimes called “The Exaltation of the Flower”, dated somewhere between 470 and 460 BC. 

When the stele was discovered in 1863, scholars have interpreted the two women as being Persephone and Demeter holding flowers (poppies or roses). Recently, the interpretation of those two women being Demeter and Persephone has been re-evalued and it's more likely that the stele represents mortal women, not goddesses.

In 1911, Rufus B. Richardson was the first to suggest that those looked like mushrooms, without making any further comment. It is only in 1955 that writer Robert Graves suggested the use of mushrooms for their entheogenic properties as part of the Eleusinian mysteries. As I've stated in a post earlier this week, Graves' hypothesis know little popularity amongst historians. For the most part, this trend checks out when looking at the scholars who did stand by this theory: ethnobotanist Terence McKenna, psychedelics researcher Giorgio Samorini, ethnomycologist R. Gordon Wasson, chemist Albert Hofmann... The only actual classicist still alive today to support this theory is Carl A. P. Ruck.

Carl Ruck: a look into the theories

In all honesty, the summary of the idea he shares with Wasson is basically, and I quote "entheogens were the origin of religion". I think it's important to point this out. Wasson and Ruck especially, do not just think that entheogens have something to do with greek Religion particularly, they think religious experience at its core was created from the hallucinogenic properties of mushrooms. And so, in Ruck's bibliography, you will see him go over the Eleusinian Mysteries, the Dionysiac Mysteries, Mithriasm, Renaissance art, and the fucking forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden because at this point why the fuck not, I guess. 

If there were any kind of credibility to his theories, it's definitely where he lost it. Even in his more recent articles, like the one from 2016, there are so many mistakes and jumps to conclusion that you do wonder if he wrote it high, because it sure looks like it. For example, when mentionning restina (the Greek wine with pine resin, that I have written about in the past), he completely fails to mention pine resin at all. Instead, the citation goes this way:

"Since the alcohol produced by natural fermentation is limited to around 13%, after which concentration the aqueous environment becomes too inhospitable for continued growth of the fermenting yeasts, the toxicity of the wine was due to these fortifying herbal additives. These included even deadly poisons like hemlock in sub-lethal dosages and venom milked from serpents. This tradition survives in the modern Greek folk wine of retsina and in the demotic naming of the drink not ‘wine’ ([w]oínos), but the ‘mix’ (krasi)."

That is an extremely misleading statement. Because Ruck fails at giving a proper description of what retsina is, you are led to believe retsina is composed of either a "fortifying herbal additive" or "deadly poisons". Except, retsina is no stronger than a regular wine, and pine resin isn't a dangerous substance.

This is a detail, but it shows how Ruck words his work in a way that voluntarily omits information to serve his argumentation.  To conclude this long rant, I will only add that his bibliography is also concerning, as he obviously doesn't have a lot of authors to choose from to support his theories, and so, he has the tendency to either cite himself, or himself and his co-authors.

Last words This is not to say that psychoactives do not or did not have any place in ancient societies, or even ancient religions. There might be a layer of truth somewhere in all this, but Ruck et al. go too far in their speculations. We simply do not have enough evidence to make claims of this nature. Don’t just believe them blindy. Keep in mind that I’ve summarized a lot, there’s much more that is just so far-fetched that it’s just ???

If you want to read Ruck’s works and judge for yourself: 

R. Gordon Wasson, S. Kramrish, J. Ott, C. A. P. Ruck, Persephone's Quest : Entheogens and the Origins of Religion, 1986

C. A. P Ruck,  Mushroom Sacraments in the Cults of Early Europe in: NeuroQuantology, 2016

[botwstoriesandsuch]

Hi I was hoping to ask for your advice on writing. I’m trying to write from headcanons to little short fics (like one shots) from the readers pov but I’m finding it difficult to do so smoothly. Any idea how to do the transition without it coming out as a fanfic readers worst nightmare?

Well, I cannot guarantee the quality of my “advice” but I will give it a shot! 

Apologies for you folks that hate my big essay length posts, but I do love infodumping about the writing process :P 

So just click “J” to skip the post (if you’re on mobile...sorry just exercise your scrolling finger a bit more)

- - - - - - - - - - 

So I’ll start with the distinctions between a headcanon and a fic. On one hand, you got simpler sentences, that summarize a broader idea or scene. You might have visualized the entire thing in your head, but at the end of the day all you do is write down a few sentences or pieces of dialogue that give the broader basis of an idea and/or scene. That’s not to say writing headcanons is easy, but it is, bluntly, the simpler method.  

Writing, obviously, is more complicated. Not only are you trying to convey a more abstract idea to your reader, but you’re doing so with more layers and complexities, given that what you are trying to write is generally more detailed. You have to not only account for what your basic premise is, but the method in which you convey it. So, in a “good” fic, it typically doesn’t just focus on the basic “what is happening right now” in a scene, but can give subtleties and intricacies with its tone, themes, point of view, connotation, foils, imagery, symbolism, sentence structure, diction, context, figurative language, narrative, foreshadowing, setting, irony, character arcs, and the thousands and thousands of other layers that go into constructing story. 

And I say “story” there deliberately, as I think the best way to summarize the differences is that a headcanon is a plot, while a one-shot is a story. Your one-shot has the ability to tell different messages, details, and themes, and give several points of interest to your reader, while your headcanon is limited to the structure of its initial premise.

[And before you English nerds bash me for my definition of story and plot, please know that I am using my film teacher’s old definition, which (to quote this quizlet I found) is “Story is all of the elements of a narrative that are involved, both shown and un-shown on screen. Plot is only all of the elements of a narrative that are shown on screen.” So yeah, it theoretically could be rewritten as a headcanon is a scene, and a one-shot is a story, but I’m just nitpicking at this point half of you don’t care and want me to move on anyway, apologies!]

So how do you transition between them? Well, in honesty I don’t exactly have a sure fire way for you, saying I do would be very hypocritical. However, what I can do is point out the “gap” between headcanons and fics, and perhaps from there you might be able to forge your own path..? 

Chances are, if you’re already familiar with writing headcanons, you’ve already knocked out half of the work. See in a story, specifically in our case, fic, you have eight elements that construct it. You’ve got

Plot

Setting

Conflict

Character

Point of View

Tone

Style

and Theme

With a headcanon, (assuming it’s slightly more specific than “Headcanon that this character likes peaches!”) you’ve already got plot, setting, conflict, and character down. 

Plot: being the actual premise of your story. What happens, why things happen, how other characters react, the beginning and ending, etc.

Setting: Being the location and time of your scene/plot. The setting might be a contingency to your story, such as a prison break that takes place in prison, or maybe it is the time that is essential for your High School AU fic

Conflict: Typically goes hand and hand with your plot, although not always (obviously, plot and conflict aren’t essential when talking about fics, *winks at the nsfw side of tumblr*) But if your headcanon does have a basic plot, then it probably has some sort of conflict whether external (The Calamity kills everybody) or internal (you’re character is going through grief)

Character: This whole aspect is practically already done for you. Whether by canon from the video game or media you got it from, or perhaps by fanon, with the collective fandom agreeing on certain traits about your character(s) in question. Obviously, if you got an OC, that’s another thing, as you have to create their traits, and construct a believable way that that character reacts and makes choices throughout your plot, depending on how you characterized them

So congrats! In writing up your everyday headcanon, you’re now halfway there to making a full on fic! Obviously, 50% is still a lot, which is probably the reason you were seeking advice in the first place, so now we should move on to the other half, and arguably it is this other half of elements that give the entire distinction between a headcanon and a one-shot. So in theory, if you get these elements down, you’re on your way to writing that much faster!

Quick additional note: Another way to think of your headcanon is as an outline. While not in every case, a good way to jump from your headcanon to a fic is to stick with the major elements of your headcanon, and weaving your writing style in between. Think of the headcanon as your skeleton, and the story being the meat and muscle. Idk if that makes sense, blame my old English teacher for the metaphor

Alrighty, so for demonstration purposes I’m gonna use the very first headcanon I’ve ever written as a basis. Bear with me for a moment:

“Zelink Headcanon: Zelda Just Wants Some Snacks

Everyone always jokes and adores about how Link eats so much and cooks great food in the game (he’s gotta carbo load guys, he walks like 9 miles everyday!)

However I propose, equally hungry and feral Zelda

After Link and Zelda defeat Ganon, one of the first things they do is stop by the nearest cooking pot and eat

She hasn’t eaten for 100 years!! She’s gotta be starving!

Link just cooks up some meat skewers

“…wait I forgot the Goron spice, gimme a sec…”

But Zelda just immediately snatched it off the fire and eats the whole thing in two seconds

Link keeps trying to go out of his way to make really nice food but Zelda is just like “I DON’T CARE RIGHT NOW PLEASE LINK”

So yeah, their first date is basically just Link cooking Zelda a buffet until his inventory empties out”

Again, this headcanon has already given us half of the answers. 

We got our plot: Link, a talented chef, is cooking food which Zelda scarfs down without fear and hesitation

Setting: They are by a cooking pot, perhaps in the wilderness, away from the prying eyes of nosey villagers. This takes place sometime after the initial defeat of Calamity Ganon.

Conflict: Link keeps trying to cook “good” food, but despite the Princess’ royal upbringing, she has no care for the whole “show” of cooking with spices and garnish. She is starving, willing to eat anything

And Characters: Link and Zelda. You know... (Today unfortunately is not the day in which I construct a thorough character analysis of the two...perhaps one day...)

So, now that we have this, we start adding the meat and muscle of our story with point of view, tone, style, and theme. These elements, could be summarized as your writing style. Yes, writing style is more intricate than those four elements alone, but they do fit in with its broad definition. 

So, in essence, a way to transition between headcanon and fic is to find out what kind of writing style you’re comfortable with. 

How do you do that? Well... shocker, I know, you gotta write. 

Write first, plan the elements of your one-shot later!! 

Allow yourself to write complete utter garbage. I know you said that you don’t wanna create a “fanfic reader’s worst nightmare,” but if you become more concerned with the quality of your content before you even start writing, you will never ever ever get anywhere. You’re gonna be stuck in writer’s block for eternity, so just let the garbage and nightmares out and write. You’ll never improve if you don’t have something to improve from, you feel me? 

So, now that your mind is open and ready to write anything, whether garbage or gold, let us dive in to the parts of your writing style. 

Point of view: Do you prefer writing in third person? First? Second? Each have their pros and cons. Second person is good for your “x reader” inserts. First person is good for your narrator’s characterization. Third person is good for describing elements of your surroundings that might not be inherently obvious to your characters or audience. There are hundreds of other pros and cons to the different POVs that you can search up online, but it’ is ultimately up to you to decide which method you like best. 

When you find the method you like best, make sure you use it to it’s full potential! Use foreshadowing with your third person POVs. Use connotation, and diction to further characterize your narrator in first person. Elevate the mood and senses of a scene when in second person.

Tone: Now, this element is often confused with another literary device, mood. The difference being that you as the author have more control over the tone, than the mood. The tone, is the attitude that you as the author (or as a character/narrator, depending on your POV) have towards something. For example, your tone might be suspenseful if you withhold information from your reader, or if you have a certain choice of diction. It is typically better to look to the type of genre you’re writing for to identify what kind of tone you want. 

Mood is the feeling that the reader experiences from your writing. It’s really much more simple, a beloved character dying give a depressed mood. A cute couple hanging out will give the reader a happier mood. This is your angst and fluff feelings, if you will. (Although, please remember than mood and tone are not a binary thing, it is a spectrum, as broad and diverse as the capabilities of human emotion)

Style: Ok yes this is a bit meta, me explaining how to use style to help you construct a writing style. Blame the bendable definitions of the writing world. So just think of this as the face of your writing. The more obvious and apparent part that is unique to you and your personality. 

Think cake. Your story is a delicious cake, it is a chocolate, Zelink cake. Now, your style is the way that you present this cake. Pink frosting? Yellow? A full cake or just a slice? Chocolate ice cream cake? Chocolate lava cake? Five tier cake? Cake pops? These possibilities are the infinite ways your style will present the story.

Style, sometimes called voice, is the combination of your use of tone, mood, POV, syntax, diction, and other literary device that you commonly use in your writing. This isn’t something you learn, it’s just something you do naturally when you write. It’s what readers will like about your fics, because they like the way that you use this or that, or the way you describe this thing or that person. It’s something that can change and improve over time, but in essence, it’s what readers can read and identify as you, without even looking at the username.

Style isn’t something you have to remember, per say, like other literary devices, but it is something to be aware of as you should try to keep it consistent through your whole story. Sometimes have people have different writing styles depending on their own mood, or what they’re writing about. That is fine, so long as you keep it consistent through your whole work. A good trick for this is to listen to music that fits with the style of your writing. Use that one catchy love song whenever you’re writing cute headcanons or fluffy one shots. Use that anime opening theme for your adventurous fics and fight scenes. This way, you are keep in a consist atmosphere and your brain will be in the “Oh! It’s time to write ____ stuff!” mood. 

So just be aware of when you’re in a descriptive style, a narrative style, argumentative, or whatever style you like using. You style might even derived of the way you already create headcanons!

Theme: This is a big one. Have a cohesive theme can easily bring any story from good to great! I like to think of it as you’re story’s destiny, or reason for existence. 

Theme is an outlier for the other elements in that not only is it not necessary for your fic, it is also not necessary for your writing style either. It’s really not necessary... at all. Yet, people always use theme in their writing, even accidentally. 

Theme is your story’s underlying message, or lesson. Yes, yes, if you paid attention in your basic English class you probably already knew that, but this is a big pet peeve of mine. 

The theme of your story isn’t “true love,” the theme isn’t “innocence”, or “failure”, or “trauma”, or whatever. Theme isn’t a broad idea, it’s a specific question and an answer. 

For example: The theme of Breath of the Wild isn’t “exploration” or “time”. The theme is there is always something to seek and find, so long as you have the curiosity and courage to find it. The theme is despite the eternities of time, we still found each other. 

Your theme shouldn’t be a broad, one word answer. What about love are you trying to convey? What specifically about failure are you saying?

Theme is the entire reason why the entertainment medium exists, because artist found a way to create something compelling and interesting while also connecting them to real life things. 

When you give your reader something to really chew on, even days after they finished reading your fic, then you did a brilliant job. Essentially, you want to use theme in your story because it is what will stick with our readers even years after they’ve read your work.

While that’s all sentimental and sappy, that’s still not your biggest problem, is it? You still need to practice, you still need to learn how to use the things you’ve learned to actually write. So, a summary of what I advise you should do.

Look over and improve your old headcanons, and keep making more! Keep making headcanons and litte prompts, and let them grow bigger and bigger, and more desprictive. This could help you ease into actually writing paragraphs a bit more

Find out what you like to write. Yes, you probably already have a fandom in mind, but think back to those first four elements. What types of plots are you comfortable with, what settings, characters? Genius is only the work of enthusiasm, if you don’t like what you’re going to write, you’ve already failed

Write, write, write. Practice, practice practice. Let yourself write complete and utter garbage and nonesense. Then read it over. See what you don’t like about it. Then change it and write again. I MEAN it when I say you should write garbage. Write a completely terrible, nightmarishly cringe scene. See what you don’t like. Then rewrite it again. Repeat, repeat, repeat. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be a scene or something from your fandom. Let it be your description of a shirt, let is be some cringy poem from 7th grade. Just write and learn how you like to write. It will be so much easier in the long run

Read stuff. The stuff you read usually seeps into how you write. When you get used to reading things a certain way, you usually unconciously try to imitate it when you write. So, got a favourite fic writer? Read their stuff over and maybe even analyze the elements you like (again, think back to those eight elements I talked about) and hey, writers like it when you analyze their stuff so maybe even hit them up and talk? We like book reports we swear, most of us don’t bite. 

When you finally think you’re comfortable with your writings, maybe think about what kind of themes you’re into, or what kind of messages you want to say. It doesn’t even need to be that complex. Could be as simple as “I love this ship because it shows that you can still have flaws and be loved” Again, themes are the rEASON for eVERYTHING in the entertainment world

For further demonstration purposes, I’m going to come up with further elements for a hypothetical fic I would write based on that Zelink headcanon. So I’ve got the plot, setting, conflict and theme down. Hmm... I’ll probably use a third person POV as that is what I’m most comfortable with. With third person, I can better highlight the descriptions of Link and Zelda’s surroundings taking in the atmosphere and the aromas and and tastes. The tone will be more happy, focusing on the fun of Zelda and Link’s banter, I’ll try to create a mood in which the reader is laughing along with them, and enjoying the scene. My style will be more descriptive, again with the tastes and smells and other senses of the scene. However, I might go into a more narrative style for Zelda and Link’s banter and dialogue. While typically some people don’t want to use two different styles, I am personally familiar with the styles and know how to write them so as to blend them together more seamlessly. I might have a hint of angst at the end of the fic, as a little climax, given that the setting of the fic is after the defeat of the Calamity. I might through in some themes about how it wasn’t the material power of Hylia or the Master Sword that saved Hyrule, but the courageous and wise bond between Link and Zelda. Then...idk, a little romatic kiss for resolution because this is a fic and I can throw in some fanservice because my writing my rules. 

Babam! I just converted a headcanon to a fic.

So yeah, go write your headcanons. Then maybe next a paragraph. Then next a scene, and then you’re well on your way to one-shots and chapter fics. Happy writing and good luck!

[liqvid-gold]

GIA Task #01: July

If your character’s in a bad mood, do they prefer to be left alone or have someone try to cheer them up?

Ionna tends to prefer to be alone with Pingu, but even they admit that sometimes they need help processing or comfort. it’s hard to be upset when you have a fluffy dog giving kisses. Sometimes, though, you need to go for a run to cool off. Or you need a friend, some good cannolis, and some dumb movie.

How do they deal/have they dealt with conflict in their relationships with others, past or present?

It’s taken a lot of mishandled conflict for Ionna to learn not only her limits, but that others have them too. And sometimes you just have to feel what you’re going to feel before you can talk about it honestly. Her relationship with her parents is evidence of this.

When she was initially contemplating dropping nursing school, they fought pretty regularly. They were supposed to be setting an example, after all. And wasn’t she just so sure when she started? This was a huge commitment. What was the plan? Did she have one? Was she sure?

They only wanted the best for their child, but it initially felt like a personal slight to suddenly reject such a significant investment.

Ionna felt betrayed by their disappointment.

It was weeks before everything was outlined properly. They decided to present a business plan, a draft of the one she was intending to use for her applications for licensure and permits. The family was able to talk it out properly at that point, and move on, but it took work.

Who or what is your character currently proudest of? Why?

Ionna’s pretty proud of herself. She had a dream and she built it and while it doesn’t always thrive, it is surviving. And she gets to run her business her way, and has the support to do the parts that she wants to do the most. Supposedly, it’s the american dream.

Explain why your character has moved to/stayed in NYC?

She got familiar with the city initially when she started doing her internships with non-profits and charities in between semesters of college. There was (and is) so much need, and while they know there’s need everywhere, they had the connections there to start building their dream of running a point of contact for resources and help out of a bar.

Was it crazy? Absolutely.

Would she do it differently? Absolutely not.

If your character was having a bad day, which of these would they prefer as a means to cheer them up? Their favorite dish, a massage, or some space?

Food. Hands down. No question. Ionna loves food. And wine. But mostly food. Her family was pretty quick to instill that particular love. Family dinners. All-out feasts for holidays and festivals whenever possible. Teaching the basics of cooking at a young age.

Her grandma’s spanakopita is one of the best savory comfort foods.

There’s a section of the menu dedicated to Greek cuisine that’s often designed by Ionna, and like most of the menu, is adjusted seasonally to compensate for the local farms and business support.

What usually jump starts their day? Coffee? Exercise? A Shower? Breakfast? Or something else entirely?

Pingu decides how and, often, when the morning starts. Morning walkies is sometimes morning joggies. And then a shower, unless it’s a gym day.

Does your character thrive in order or chaos?

They eat most flavours of chaos for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but even they have their limits. They’re very grateful for their office staff who tend to handle the Order of the bar a bit better.

Would your character say that their parents were/are good at being parents?

Their late twenties into their thirties came with a certain change of perspective. Her parents were definitely parents. Sometimes their choices sucked, but their hearts were in the right places and they never meant any harm. They weren’t bad, but they definitely had the practice to deal with her baby sister and have, in Ionna’s mind, done a lot better in some respects.

What scares your character the most?

After losing her bar? Internally? Being alone. Or having to face hardship alone. They put so much of themselves out into the world that the worst feeling in the world would be to not have anyone there when they need someone most.

What did the last relationship your character was in teach them?

If they make repeated, passive aggressive comments about your profession, it probably runs as a deeper problem and they can either figure it out and get over it, or it’s time to move on. It’s just not worth the time wasted combating their negative fixation on something that’s a core part of her life.

If your character could choose 1 superpower, what would it be and why?

I think she’d want to be super fast. Or the ability to read minds.

What’s something people often misunderstand about your character?

Socially, she’s very awkward without meaning to be, and it’s not really because she’s poorly practiced or anything in particular. They have just ended up three or four steps ahead in the conversation (in her head), and assume the other person has managed to stay on the same page when they’re two and a half pages behind because that’s how time and conversations work.

What is something your character tends to procrastinate on?

Paperwork. It’s boring. It’s not pointless but it feels obvious. It’s necessary. But it’s still boring to such a degree it should be a sin. Ionna doesn’t know what to do when all of her office staff end up having vacations or emergencies all at the same time.

Well. She does. She just hates doing it so it takes three times as long as it really should.

Where does your character like to go/what does your character like to do for inspiration?

When she’s working on menus, they tend to throw “parties.” They are less party and more test bed for future food or drink items. But the guests don’t necessarily know that. It does mean they tend to happen more at season change time once she knows what fresh produce will be available.

There’s always a big spread of lunch and dinner samples, and she tends the bar herself on the condition that it’s dealer’s choice on the drink.

Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t.

They still haven’t gotten the mulled pumpkin spice mead to work out properly and haven’t figured out why.

Does your character usually follow their head or their heart?

They lean pretty heavily on their heart to start, but the head does catch up to what’s going on eventually and evens the keel.

Who or what brings your character the most joy in their life today?

Pingu for a who, though Calliope is always a delight to be around. Who condensed sunshine and infused it with that girl?

She also really loves it when a client who’s been referred to support services comes back to visit in a better position than when they’d initially stumbled into their bar. It’s not necessarily a reminder of why they do what they do, but it does bolster their resolve to keep going.

Does your character have a hero or someone they admire or look up to? If so, who and why?

With the perspective of proper adulthood, Ionna’s really come around to admiring her parents. They’ve worked really hard to build what they have, and they didn’t succumb to the desire to continue expanding and end up over-stretching themselves. They decided what they were going to do and how much they wanted to put into it and what they wanted out of it, and then they didn’t give in to the pull to do more than that.

From a business owner perspective, that seems like such an easy trap to fall into. Ionna does want to keep expanding the supports available, yes, but she doesn’t want to fall into the trap of having multiple locations for the sake of profit. That’s not what she’s here for. She’s here to help, to be a safe place for folks to have a good time, and to treat her employees well.

Is your character much of a reader? If so, what author(s) do they like?

They’re less for literature and more for recipe books. But books, not necessarily websites with inane blog posts that drone on for twelve paragraphs too long. Other how-tos are also appreciated, since they like to at least try and do things on their own.

Does your character like surprises? How do they tend to react to surprises?

Ionna likes nice surprises. Less so surprises from Pingu since those are often smelly, if few and far between.

Gifts are pretty important to them, for a lot of occasions. It’s not necessarily common in American culture, so whenever anyone remembers it’s a joy and tends to leave her impressed for a good while afterward.

Is there anything that your character collects? If so, what is it/what are they?

They have a sizeable collection of corks from favoured bottles of wine or bottles from special occasions. Eventually they want to turn it into a table, but they don’t have enough yet.

[thedancingpetal]

[Dr. Stone Analysis] The smooth ‘change of narrator’ in between the end of prologue and beginning of main story

I’m totally fascinated by the storytelling of Riichiro Inagaki. I have taken note of his writing style since his previous work, Eyeshield 21, and that’s also why I decided to read Dr. Stone—however, the later series has brought me to another level of fangirling. I especially love the transition in between the end of prologue and the beginning of main story. In my opinion, it is simply fantastic.

[The part I am talking about takes place on chapter 12 to 13, in which is equal to anime episode 5 to 6]

What makes me fancy that part is there’s a change of narrator in addition to the change of arc. Prior to the changes, the story is fully narrated by Taiju. Short summary to the chain of events: when he wants to confess to the girl he likes, a sudden mysterious beam appears and petrifies him, as well as everyone else in the world. By the time his stone cracks, thousands years have passed.

[The rest of story is available on streaming site, or manga, I don’t want to spoil. Not because I’m lazy, really. Oh okay, I’m lazy indeed..]

Taiju’s narration during this periode is important for reasons. Set aside his immense physical fitness, Taiju is rather an ordinary person. He is just high school boy who can’t read between lines, thinks everyone is good person, and his best answer to ‘the most important thing we need for a technological civilization’ is …

… smartphone.

[But who can blame him? Even Senku wants one too]

Taiju represents those modern folks who live all their life with technology within reach of hand—or, in simpler word, us. Through his point of view, we can see how petrification event affects normal people; how normal people likely reacts to it. This is the first importance of Taiju’s narration.

The second one is balanced introductory to Senku, the protagonist, and Tsukasa, the antagonist.

[… also known as the ‘husbando’ and the ‘boyfriendo’]

The conflict between Senku and Tsukasa is clash of ideology. In order to make us (reader/audience) engaged to the conflict, it is important to make both side of arguments come across to us impartially. Through Taiju as third party, we can fully understand where Senku and Tsukasa’s conflict comes from, as well as see Senku and Tsukasa as equally awesome characters.

[Taiju the third wheel, I mean, third party]

Taiju’s narration ends with the Taiju trying to revive Senku from his (temporary) death. This also marks the end of prologue. From this scene onward, the main story begins and the narrator button is passed down to Senku.

Here we are brought back to the day Senku is freed from petrification. Senku has been freed half a year before Taiju. So, during the entire prologue, he is already experienced with basic survival skills and acting as helpful NPC to Taiju. Only after this flashback did we get to know that Senku isn’t as overpowered with cheat knowledge as we initially thought. The way he survives through the disastrous event is amazing, but he isn’t without struggles. After all, he is alone in the world that has no civilization.

[In fact, Senku has to start his career from rock bottom]

We also get to know that Senku can get emotional too. He desperately shouts to petrified Taiju, asking him to be awaken. Coincidentally, by the string of fate pulled by Inagaki-kamisama, Taiju in the present time is just as desperate and saying similar thing in front of unconscious Senku.

As I stated previously, this is the part where I am so awed by Inagaki-sensei’s storytelling. I like how Inagaki-sensei cut the prologue off, then reboot the narration by doing a flashback, then put the flashback and the present time as mirror to each other. This transition is very smooth, very emotional, very engaging, very well-built. I can’t put my feeling into words.

[Other anime: nakama poweer!!]

[Dr. Stone: now we will show you how it should be done]

To be honest, during the prologue, I got confused. Senku is visually flashier than Taiju, but why is he a side character? I think I’m not alone in this. There are several people I read in forums that drop this series early, because they think Taiju is the main character and they are uninterested in him. I’m just lucky not dropping this due to my faith on Inagaki-sensei.

I also got confused when the story suddenly did a flashback. Like, why do we need to go back to Day-1 again?

Only after the flashback ended, it finally sank down to me that Senku is the real main character and the flashback is his side of story that’s previously unseen. When I first figured this out, I feel enlightened.

[But not this kind of enlightment]

That marks the time when I realize the true awesomeness of Inagaki-sensei. His story telling is very unique, hands down. I often find the change of narrator in novel, from first person to third person, or one character’s to another, but I rarely find such case happens in manga.

(I occasionally do, though. The most memorable one is from my another favorite series, Naruto, when Sasuke does narration in chapter 699 to conclude the main story of Naruto.

In other manga I have read so far, the change of narrator might have happened only for one or two sub-events. For example, when a side character is brought to spotlight, he/she will do a narration, either telling back story or his/her allotted arc. That’s usually not something that affects the major plot line as in Dr. Stone and Naruto, so I barely have recollection of them.)

Those reasons I stated above are already enough to make Inagaki-sensei one of my favorite shounen writer of all time. I believe there are many good points of his writing style that I haven’t talk about yet, such as his sense of humor (which totally much to my liking), or his cleverness in incorporating real life knowledge into manga story without boring exposition like discovery channel certain tv program. I may write about those things in the future if I can think of interesting theme.

Thank you for reading.

(Although I don’t think anyone will be interested in reading this.)

[lvrdfiji]

Top 10 greatest inventions That Changed the World

Human beings are a nifty little species. Though we have been on earth for a comparatively short period of time (Earth is normally 4. five billion years old), contemporary Homo sapiens possess imagined up and created some amazing, far-out sometimes, things. From the brief moment somebody bashed a rock on the ground to make the first sharp-edged tool, to the very first of the wheel to the development of Roter planet (umgangssprachlich) rovers and the Internet, several key advancements stick out as revolutionary particularly. Here are our top picks for the most crucial inventions of all right time, along with the science at the rear of the invention and how they will come into being.

1- wheel

Prior to the invention of the wheel in 3500 M. C., humans were limited in just how much stuff we’re able to transport over land severely, and how much. Evidently, the wheel itself wasn’t the most challenging component of “inventing the steering wheel. ” In order to come period for connecting a non-moving system compared to that rolling cylinder, issues got difficult, relating to David Anthony, a teacher of anthropology at Hartwick College. “The stroke of brilliance was the wheel-and-axle idea, ” Anthony told Live Technology previously. “But then which makes it was also hard. ” For example, the holes at the guts from the tires as well as the ends of the set axle assemblies had to be almost perfectly circular and soft, he stated. How big is the axle was a crucial factor also, as was it is snugness inside the hole (of course not too small, however, not as well lose, either). The hard work paid, big time period. Wheeled carts facilitated commerce and agriculture by enabling the transportation of goods to and from marketplaces, and also easing the burdens of people touring great distances. Right now, wheels are essential to the lifestyle, present in from lighting to automobiles to generators.

2- The nail

Without nails, civilization would crumble. This important invention goes back a lot more than 2, 000 years to the Ancient Roman period, and became feasible just after human beings developed the capability to cast and form metal. Previously, hardwood structures needed to be built by interlocking adjacent boards a more arduous construction process geometrically. Before the 1790s and early 1800s, hand-wrought nails were typical, with a blacksmith heating a square iron rod and hammering it on four sides to make a point then, according to the College or the University of Vermont. Nail-making machines came between the 1790s and the early 1800s online. Technology for designing nails continued to progress; After Holly Bessemer created an activity to mass-produce metal from iron, the iron fingernails of yesteryear waned and by 1886, ten percent of U. S. fingernails were produced from soft steel wire, regarding the School of Vermont. By 1913, 90 percent of nails stated in the U. S. was a metal wire. In the meantime, the mess a more powerful but harder to- insert securer is considered to have been invented simply by the Greek college student Archimedes in the 3rd century B. C.

3- The compass

Old mariners navigated by the stars, but that technique did not work throughout the day or on cloudy evenings, therefore it had been unsafe to voyage far from land. The Chinese invented the first compass sometime between your 11th and 9th century; it was made of lodestone, a naturally-magnetized iron ore, the appealing properties which they had been learning for years and years. (Pictured is a style of a historical Chinese compass from the Ryan Dynasty; it really is a south-indicating ladle, or Sinan, manufactured from polished lodestone. ) Soon, the technology passed to Arabs and Europeans through nautical contact. The compass enabled mariners to navigate definitely not land safely, raising ocean trade and adding to age Development.

Also, learn Why Inventors Switch to Professionals Like Invent Help

4- The printing press

The German Johannes Gutenberg invented the printing press around 1440. Key to its advancement was the tactile hand’s mold, a fresh molding technique that allowed the quick creation of large levels of metallic movable type. Although others before him - including inventors in Cina and Korea - acquired developed portable type made from steel, Gutenberg was the first ever to create a mechanical procedure that transferred the ink (which he created from linseed essential oil and soot) from the removable type to paper. With this movable type process, printing presses increased the acceleration with which book copies could possibly be made exponentially, and thus they led to the widespread and rapid dissemination of knowledge for the very first time in history. Twenty million volumes have been printed in Western European countries by truck. Among other activities, the printing press allowed wider usage of the Somebody, which resulted in alternative interpretations, including those of Martin Luther, whose “95 Theses” a document imprinted by the hundred-thousand sparked the Protestant Reformation

5- The inner combustion engine

In these motors, the burning of gas releases a high-temperature gas, which, since it expands, applies a potent force to a piston, moving it all. Thus, combustion engines convert chemical substance energy into mechanized work. Years of architectural by many scientists proceeded to go into designing the inner combustion engine, which required its (essentially) modern type in these half from the 19th hundred years. The engine ushered in the Commercial Age group, as well as allowing the invention of an enormous variety of machines, including modern aircraft and cars. Pictured will be the operating steps of a four-stroke inner burning engine. The strokes are the following: 1) Intake stroke - air flow and vaporized gas are used. 2) Compression stroke - energy vapor and air flow are compressed and ignited. 3) Power heart stroke - gasoline combusts and the piston is pushed down, powering the device. 4) Exhaust system stroke – exhaust is certainly driven out.

6- The phone

Though several inventors do pioneering work on the electronic tone of voice transmission ( many of who later submitted intellectual real estate lawsuits when telephone make use of exploded), Alexander Graham Bell was the first to be awarded an obvious for the electric phone in 1876. His patent drawing above is pictured. Even though many creators did pioneering focus on digital voice transmission ( a lot of whom later on filed rational property legal cases when telephone use exploded), Alexander Graham Bell was the first ever to end up being awarded a patent pertaining to the electrical telephone in 1876. ( His patent drawing is usually above. ) He drew his motivation from teaching the deaf and appointments to his hearing-impaired mother also, according to PBS. He called the initial phone an “ electric speech machine, ” relating to PBS. The invention took off and revolutionized global communication and business. When Bell passed away upon Aug. two, 1922, regarding PBS, U. H. telephone assistance stopped for a full minute to honor him.

7- The lamp

When all you need is daylight, productivity is bound to hours of sunlight. Lights changed the global world by allowing us to be active at night. According to historians, two dozen individuals were a key component in inventing incandescent lights through the entire 1800s; Thomas Edison is definitely acknowledged as the principal inventor as they produced a totally functional light system, including wiring and generator in addition to the carbon-filament bulb like the one above, in 1879. And also starting the introduction of electrical power in homes throughout the burkha, this invention also had a fairly unexpected consequence of fixing people’s rest patterns. Rather than going to sleep in nightfall (having nothing at all otherwise to accomplish ) and sleeping in sections through the entire night separated by intervals of wakefulness, we have now stay up except for the 7 to 8 hours allotted meant for sleep, and, ideally, we rest all of them at once.

Also, learn The vibrant business of invention ideas

8- Penicillin

Is actually probably the most famous discovery tales ever sold. In 1928, the Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming observed a bacteria- packed Petri dish in his lab with its cover accidentally ajar. The test experienced become contaminated with a mold, and the mold was almost everywhere, the bacterias were lifeless. That antiseptic mold ended up being the infection Penicillium, and over another 2 decades, chemists purified it and created the drug Penicillin, which fights a wide array of microbial attacks in humans without harming the human beings themselves. Penicillin was being produced and advertised by 1944 mass. This poster mounted on a curbside mailbox advised World Battle II servicemen to consider the medication to rid themselves of venereal disease. About 1 in 10 folks have an allergic attack towards the antibiotic, according to the study published in 2003 in the journal Clinical Critiques in Immunology and Allergy; even so, most of those social people go on to be able to tolerate the drug, experts said.

9- Contraceptives

Not really only have birth control pills, condoms and other forms of contraceptive sparked a sexual trend in the developed globe by enabling women and men to have sexual intercourse designed for leisure instead of procreation, they will also have significantly reduced the common quantity of offspring per woman in countries exactly where they are utilized. With fewer mouths to feed, modern families have achieved higher standards of living and can offer better for every young child. On the other hand, around the global level, contraceptives are helping the human population level off gradually; our amount will stabilize by the finish of the century probably. Certain preventive medicines, such as for example condoms, curb the pass on of sexually transmitted illnesses also. Herbal and organic contraception offers been used for millennia. Condoms arrived to use in the eighteenth century, as the earliest oral contraceptive “the tablet ” was developed in the past due 1930s by a chemist called Russell Marker. Researchers are ongoing to create developments in the contraceptive, with some labs even pursuing a male form of “the pill. ” A permanent birth-control implant called Essure was approved by the Drug and Food Administration in 2002, though in 2016, the implant was warned by the FDA would need more powerful warnings to tell users about serious risks of using Essure.

10- The internet

It certainly desires no introduction: The global program of connected with each other computer systems referred to as the web is used simply by billions of individuals worldwide. Countless people helped develop this, however, the person most credited using its invention is the computer scientist Lawrence Roberts often. In the 1960s, a united team of pc scientists doing work for the U. Ersus. Protection Department’s ARPA (Advanced STUDIES Agency) built a communications network to connect the computer systems in the company, called ARPANET. It used a way of data tranny known as “packet switching” which usually Roberts, a known member of the team, developed predicated on the prior function of additional computer researchers. ARPANET was your predecessor of the web.

[opensafetyglobal-blog]

Are You Prepared For Rebreathers?

A rebreather failure could go unnoticed.  When open circuit regulators fail, it's immediately obvious.  Either you get no air whenever you suck on the mouthpiece or (much more likely) you obtain a lot of and also a surprising rush of bubbles on your face.

Why You May Want To Think Twice

Needless to say, that a rebreather doesn't make you immune to DCS and nitrogen narcosis. Those risks remain, though the more sophisticated closed-circuit rebreathers can adapt your gas combination to reduce the DCS hazard.  The advantage of this rebreather's long term for most folks is you can make a few pitches on a single load of scrubber and cylinders.

Silence. Rebreathers exhaust few or no bubbles. That you do not hear that roar of exhaust bubbles, and do fish.  That allows one to get closer to marine living, and this explains the reason why rebreathers are very popular with professional photographers and some research workers.  You may not be rendered invisible, however, you appear to be alarming to most fish.

Atleast that is my guess after spending a lot of monthly studying and diving rebreathers.  It ends up that they will have some very real, valuable advantages over open-circuit, tank-and-regulator methods.  However, they possess some evenly real and serious pitfalls too.  When you possess some odd requirements and would be happy to make some sacrifices of the time and money, a rebreather may be godsend. However, most divers, for most purposes, will remain to prefer open circuit scuba for a long time in the future.

 Coupled with a rebreather does not give you that cotton-mouth feeling and doesn't chill you as muchbetter.

If a rebreather fails, the signs, if any, are somewhat more subtle.  You are still able to catch your breath as before since you are only passing the identical gas back and forth between your lungs and the breathing loop.  Even the CO2 content in that gas might be rising and the O2 content might be falling, but this won't be instantly apparent without signs, monitors and alerts. Rebreather diving is similar to flying on instruments, not by the"seat of your trousers."

Their stealth and extended bottom times have made rebreathers popular with technical and military divers for all decades.  Recently, lower prices and"userfriendly" designs have made rebreathers more appealing to recreational sailors just like you and me personally.  Really, several models are aimed specifically at the recreational sector.

Long dip times. The most important advantage of a rebreather is petrol efficacy.  Just one fill of a little petrol cylinder or cylinders as well as CO2 scrubber can last for anywhere from one to half an hour, based which rebreather it's. Unlike open circuit scuba, your gas duration on the rebreather is nearly independent of thickness, and that means you might, theoretically, spend all that time at the ground.

On the other hand, should you watch your devices and detect the issue promptly, you'll probably have more hours and energy to deal with it to a rebreather than you would on open circuit.  

Optimum gas mix.   They can continue to keep your own PPO2 constant regardless of thickness or exertion, or alter it on the fly for needs like de compression.  The advantage can be less nitrogen uptake and faster off-gassing --Put simply, more bottom time with less DCS risk.  Rebreathers are not created equal, however, and the less-expensive designs don't need this ability.

Is the possibility of diving?  Are traditional open circuit rigs bound for that oblivion of duck fins and two-hose regulators?  Are you ready to get rebreather diving?  Are rebreathers ready for you?

Even a rebreather failure could be deadly.  A rebreather is constantly mixing the gas in the breathing loop, removing carbon dioxide and adding oxygen.  Either component within the wrong percentage is noxious.  Much of the plan effort and a lot of the complexity of rebreathers goes into making that mixing function as accurate and reliable as possible. Nevertheless, it's not likely to get to the certainty of available circuit, where everything you breathe is simply what went in to the cylinder.  An open-circuit"bailout" jar and regulator is a good idea when Functional Safety in Diving  using conventional gear, however it's crucial with a rebreather.

The Very Initial Measures

Cost, weight, majority, advantage, etc..  These minor facets all weigh contrary to rebreathers.  Though the expense to buy one is scarcely minor, you are frequently told you'll save yourself money on every dip as you never need to refill tanks too frequently.  However, you do need to purchase scrubber compounds, and maintenance may be more expensive.  And can this 60 two-tank dive ship offer you a rebate unless you need to make use of its tanks?  Not likely.

Rebreathers, for example, bail out bottle, are often thicker and lighter than one tank and ruler, plus so they don't really fit well in to the tank-rack-and-bungee-cord gear channel standard on dip boats.  Airline traveling with tanks may be struggle and matches for oxygen and maybe even nitrox could be more difficult to locate, particularly in distant places.

Since you'll need to be coached by an instructor certified within your specific make and version, you might need to go to a different town and stay there for five weeks or for your own training class.

Here is what to anticipate, bearing in mind that every rebreather differs and requires a unique procedure.

Various rebreathers use marginally different sorts of CO2 absorbent and differing granule sizes, however it all looks much like kitty litter.

You will pour the absorbent in to the canister, then tapping on the canister sporadically to be certain the absorbent dissipates and thoroughly meets the canister.   You then'll seal and close the canister along with the simmer bottle or skillet.  Many anglers do that endeavor in home until the dip visit to minimize the clutter.  

Every Day on The Water

First is decided which rebreather to get.  Rebreathers differ significantly in not just price but capacities, the excellent split being if or not they truly have been closed circuit or semiclosed-circuit InDesign.

Closed circuit rebreathers have the best gas ingestion, the ideal mix control and, broadly speaking, the maximum capability, however, tend to be somewhat more complicated and costly. Semiclosed-circuit rebreathers are easy, robust and more affordable, with gas ingestion rates somewhere within closed circuit rebreathers along with open circuit scuba.

You could also think of such matters as depth and time limits, copies to restrain apparatus along with fail safe mechanics, guarantees, and just how many components have been completely being used and for the length of time, and much more.

Meanwhileyou will begin to construct a distinctive tool and spare parts kit.  You are probably going to need one or even maybe more spare oxygen tracks and assorted solenoids and detectors to your more complicated units. Additionally gas analyzers along with flowrate evaluation apparatus, based upon the machine.  Enhance this mouthpiecesbatteries, orings, tie wraps, silicone grease, etc..

More than open circuit, a rebreather dip starts before you will get wet and finishes once you are tender. Pre-dive and postdive look after that rebreather are crucial each time and can not be skipped.  Expect to devote an additional halfhour on every end of this dip.

Fill canister (s). Many semiclosed-circuit rebreathers make work with of one cylinder of nitrox.  You are going to need to decide beforehand that nitrox mix you'll utilize therefore that the skip valve orifice might be paired to it.  Most closed circuit rebreathers utilize two tanks, of oxygen and also a diluent (usually atmosphere, though other pollutants maybe options). Either way, but particularly if working with nitrox, you must analyze the gas your self to produce sure what exactly is from the canister.  If your bail-out system employs another cylinder, then you can require to refill this too.

Afterward there is training.   After that, just about any rebreather manufacturer will ask that you simply just consider a rebreather training class lasting 4 or 5 days.  The expense of the will probably be extra, normally at $500. Section of this program covers in-water skills such as how to translate resumes and tracks and also just how to change to backup systems.  The following part is trained in gathering and disassembly, servicing and upkeep of one's specific unit.

Pre-dive

Let us say you've believed the advantages and disadvantages and decided that you intend to dive using a rebreather.  What is the drill?

Build the rebreather.   Do not expect you'll build your rebreather between your dip briefing and the"pool open!"  C all.

Since you descend, upping pressure can fall the counterlungs as it drops BCs and dry matches.  

In to the water. Waddling round the deck at a rebreather was justly compared to carrying dual tanks, but once you are at the water the majority of the trouble stops.  A couple of differences to open circuit diving will hit you though.

Postdive

You'll have to become stingy when inflating your BC or draining your mask as gas employed for gas lost from the significantly smaller full source.  To precisely exactly the exact very same reason, you want to see your indicators carefully and you and your friend have to be attentive for air escapes.

One is you can not simply shed the mouthpiece in to the sport, because water will fill out the breathing loop and also the scrubber canister.  There's a valve to the mouthpiece you need to consider to close until you go from your own mouth.

Here, semi-closed - and - closed circuit rebreathers fluctuate greatly.  Generally, however, you are going to join the counterlung (or lungs) into the absorbent canister and then put in them at the framework of the rebreather.  You'll test the one time valves at the ducts and then attach them into the counterlungs. You can set up the canister (s) and assess their valves.  This could demand twelve hose links.

Still another is you can not impact your buoyancy by inhaling or exhaling, as the exact identical quantity of air simply goes backwards and forwards between your own lungs and also the rebreather rather than affects volume or buoyancy.  If you should be utilized to exhaling to obtain below the surface, then that wont do the job.

If you're intending yet another dip that afternoon and also have enough petrol and scrubber time , whatever you have to do would be to turn the rebreather off throughout the surface interval.  It's really a fantastic strategy, though, to inspect the breathing loop to get water indoors.

Additionally, while you descend as well as the counterlungs enlarge, the rebreather will port gas. This really could be the only real time that the rebreather purposely disturbs a substantial quantity of gas, and also why"saw tooth" profiles are particularly ineffective. You may likely realize that the rebreather doesn't port gas fast and you also become buoyant, and that means you ought to manually ditch from the BC, your drysuit or by the rebreather.

Then you'll examine the full unit for air escapes and water flows.  Leaks are potentially severe.  You've little gas up to speed you can not afford to drop any.  If water flows cause the machine to flooding, it is going to end up exceptionally negative.  And water from the CO2 scrubber induces a reaction with an sterile referred to as a"caustic cocktail"--an awful mouthful that could burn your own lips, throat and mouth.

At the start of an ascent onto a semi-closed-circuit rebreather, then you also have to purge the loop to enhance your breathing mix.   Closed- circuit methods add oxygen .

For those who experience an oxygen track and other electronic equipment, you also are going to test them.  When you get a constant-flow semiclosed rebreather, then you'll want to inspect the leak rate of this orifice.

In case this can be the very final dip for a couple of days, you need to disassemble and wash out the rebreather thoroughly.  The hot, moist environment within the lymph is excellent for growing bacteria, therefore it has to be disinfected with all the remedy that the manufacturer urges, subsequently rinsed well and dried.  Drying the interior the breathing loop, even having its baffles and corrugated hoses, which can be exceedingly hard.

Should you work remarkably hard--when you've got to swim against a current, such as --your own body will simply just require oxygen from their breathing loop faster than usual. Closed circuit passive and systems semiclosed-circuit systems will feel that this and add extra oxygen.  Active semi-closed systems may not, nevertheless. If that's the instance you must be sure to"purge the breathing loop" by massaging this oxygen-poor gas throughout your nose therefore that the rebreather replaces it using wealthier gas.

The used CO2 absorbent must be dumped and the scrubber canister has to be thoroughly dried and cleaned.  Electronics and oxygen sensors have their particular care requirements.  Plan on spending one hour postdive maintenance in the beginning, though you're going to get faster without experience.

Somewhat harder self-mixing semiclosed-circuit rebreathers add oxygen and a diluent separately through fixed orifices or (regarding this diluent) a demand valve.  They also may use less gas, but might be subject to larger variations in the air content of this gas mix.

Fully closed circuit rebreathers aim to control the oxygen content in your breathing gas.  They add only the gas you require, when you need it, and do not waste any.  Ergo, zero bubbles the majority of that time period and also a longer gas duration. This fine control of gas inclusion comes from a electronic wizardry.  Normally, detectors analyze the oxygen of the lymph and also in form a computer, that adds oxygen diluent as needed to keep a preselected"set point" to your oxygen partial pressure.  Redundancy (frequently three oxygen detectors and two computers) creates the wiring and plumbing diagrams confusing, but the idea is fairly easy.  

Semiclosed-circuit rebreathers have the simplest gas controller mechanism.  Fundamentally, it is simply a fixed orifice, an opening that enables a continuing flow rate into the respiratory tract.  Any excess above that which the system absorbs is vented to the water in a stream of small bubbles, and that's the reason why the device is called"semiclosed."

On both sides of the scrubber there is a counterlung, just a flexible bag that expands and contracts to adapt the exact on/off nature of your breathing.   The counterlung in the side has a input where more oxygen or nitrox is added.

Oxygen sensors have a life span and have to be replaced, usually every 12 to 24 months, based on just how far that they used.  (They deplete themselves in atmosphere about 50% as fast as when stirring.)  After diving, some divers remove them by the rebreather and seal them to extend their own life.

Exactly how many electrons have been injected in to the inhalation counterlung, and also the way the injection is controlled, determine whether it's semiclosed-circuit or closed-circuit.

Some manufacturers recommend that the entire unit is given a comprehensive review and overhaul every year.

Long Term Maintenance

Each canister has a first and another stage regulator that demands annual support.  These are typically just normal open-circuit regulators which can be serviced by the local dive shop.  Cylinders need to be hydro tested and visually inspected like some other person.

Each of of rebreathers are built around the principle of a one-way breathing loop.  One hose takes your exhaled breath to the CO2 scrubber, and the other brings back it (without the CO2) for a mouth.

"Passive" semiclosed-circuit rebreathers inject petrol just ondemand.  Numerous mechanisms to trigger the gas injection could be used, nevertheless they are mechanical.  By way of instance, a system of ratchets and levers measures how big a counterlung, when it gets below a specific size (because the body has removed that much oxygen out of the breathing loop), it activates a valve to inject further gas.  Passive systems use less gas than busy ones, however the actual material of the gas mixture from the breathing loop might be more variable.

The Drager Dolphin and Ray are popular instances.  They are called"mass flow" or even"active" semiclosed-circuit rebreathers--active as the unit is definitely injecting brand new gas.  The orifice, which controls the flow rate, needs to be selected before the dive to coordinate with the nitrox mixture chosen.  This type of rebreather is on or off: Whenever the air valve is fired up, gas flows in to the breathing loop at the rate determined by this orifice. Manual inclusion valves and also another plumbing might complicate the picture, but that's the nature.

Computer controls have batteries that have to be replaced periodically.

Insert a mouthpiece using a valve to reduce flood, a one time valve in each breathing hose therefore that your breath circulates the perfect way, and also several other equipment and you have a basic rebreather.

If you're diving tomorrow, however, you'll need only disinfect the mouthpiece and corrugated hoses.

Are You Really Ready To Get a Rebreather?

Are you currently self-disciplined?  Pre-dive, through the dip and postdive you must make up the brain to check out procedures and checklists exactly.  Filling the scrubber canister and building the breathing loop until the dip involve measures that have to be followed and evaluations which can not be skipped. Exactly the same care has to be obtained if cleaning and interrogate the rebreather after the dip.  And through the dip you've got to view gauges more tightly compared on circuit.  Are you really meticulous concerning maintenance of one's open circuit gear, as an instance, or would you"hose and proceed"?

Rebreathers promote what is called"mission creep" A number are effective at dives far beyond the practice of the majority of recreational sailors.  Components that could modify the gas mixture throughout the dip are specifically appropriate to decompression diving.   You are going to discover just how to work the system, however maybe perhaps not the particular areas of technology diving such as heavy diving and cave consciousness, such as.  "Mission creep" usually takes the seemingly benign type of adding additional non-technical but rough gear too so on.  Employing a intricate camera rig may divert you in tracking your rebreather attentively, such as.  

You'll want to appear not within the rebreather but on your own.  Some personality types are more satisfied than the others to the requirements of caring and using to get a rebreather.  And a few folks probably shouldn't consider it.

Can you accept liability for the own safety?  You've got to choose the attitude that the right performance of one's rebreather is dependent for you alone.  The thought that producer, the instructor or another person is responsible could be satisfying for your heirs but won't keep your own life in case of a collapse. Have you been familiar letting the ship team or a dive buddy put your open circuit gear for you personally, or can you insist upon doing this you?

Rebreathers are somewhat more technical than open circuit set ups, and you'll need to be self-explanatory for meeting cleaning, maintenance and plenty of the repair, as the odds of the community dive shop with an expert are slim. Even the easiest rebreather on average has each of the sections of one's open circuit installation, and far more. These parts, and also the relations between them (you will find 50 or even more o rings in a normal rebreather), will need to have routine care.

[avantigrpinc-blog1]

The Labor Market in Saudi Arabia: Foreign Workers, Unemployment, and Minimum Wage

The trouble of overseas hard work in Saudi Arabia is now one that touches all corners of the globe. Since 30% of Saudi Arabia's populace of 27.Three million are immigrants from other countries, modifications in Saudi exertions laws affect not best the people but their households round the arena. According to an IMF take a look at (International Monetary Fund), remittances from overseas exertions in Saudi Arabia account for 6.2% of Saudi Arabia's gross home product (GDP) of $927.8 billion  and are an important supply of profits for many nations (International Monetary Fund, 2012; The World Factbook, 2013).

On the other hand, Saudi nationals have witnessed high degrees of unemployment for the beyond decade. Unemployment peaked in 2011 at 12.Four% (Saudi Ministry of Labor, 2012); this turned into due in particular to structural issues including competition from lower paid overseas workers. In addition to the trouble of the various unskilled Saudi people who need education on the way to be incorporated into the hard work market, there's a demographic problem: the biggest age group is the teens among 20 and 34. The exertions marketplace wishes to house this large number of employees each year, expected to be round three hundred,000 (Fakieh, 2013), making up almost half of the unemployed population of 622,533 (Central Department of Statistics, 2013).

Therefore, the Saudi authorities, with its new labor minister, Adel Fakieh, who changed into appointed in overdue 2010, commenced drastic measures to lower the unemployment fee by means of introducing innovative packages that affected the deliver and call for of hard work inside the Saudi hard work market. In this report we have a look at the results of those interventions on the wage price. We use the worldwide labor mobility idea as a framework for our analysis, similarly to the general hard work deliver and call for concept.

International Labor Mobility in Theory

The concept of worldwide exertions mobility shows that workers will circulate from their domestic nations to foreign nations looking for better wages (immigration). This in turn will reason a upward thrust in wages in the home nations due to a smaller deliver of workers, and a lower in wages within the foreign international locations due to will increase in the supply of people. This is particularly actual for low-professional workers because there are more unskilled people migrating at any point in time, because of the scarcity of skilled hard work. Below is a graphical interpretation of the principle(Krugman, Obstfeld, & Melitz, 2012).

From the graph we are able to see that because the supply of exertions will increase with the float of immigrants the brand new equilibrium point is at a lower wage charge. This has been empirically examined in many research. For instance, Dr. George J. Borjas, Professor of Economics and Social Policy on the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, in his paper for the Center for Immigration Studies within the United States, said that a 10% growth in the size of the immigrant hard work pressure in a particular talent group will cause annual earnings to drop by way of 7.1% for salaried employees. Overall, immigration has an negative effect on wages and employment of competing natives (Borjas, 2004).

Whether or not this is right for the financial system is an problem broadly debated within the United States. People advocating less complicated immigration rules argue that permitting extra immigrants to go into the marketplace allows groups to be extra aggressive in the global market and consequently help the financial system grow as a whole: companies will grow and therefore rent greater workers, that allows you to boom income with the intention to consequently growth consumption.

On the alternative hand, folks who oppose simpler immigration guidelines argue that immigrants are greater desperate to work and could paintings for a great deal less than natives, making it impossible for natives to compete with them; these policies might motive many natives to lose their jobs or to paintings for a lot much less money that they might grow to be requiring social welfare resource.

So it'd be safe to say that whilst companies may additionally certainly gain extra from immigration than by using preserving native people, from a macro point of view both facets have affordable arguments.

The Saudi Labor Market

The Saudi hard work marketplace may be defined as fairly depending on foreign exertions, mainly within the non-public quarter; for example, in 2010 Saudis accounted for best 7% of the labor inside the non-public zone and forty seven.1% of the general exertions pressure(Fakieh, 2013). There are many motives for this, one being the massive call for for employees in the oil industry, that's the most important contributor to the economy; every other is that Saudi Arabia is a large country and has mega-infrastructure initiatives that require brief hard work handiest during the initiatives and consequently do not offer at ease jobs for natives. Other motives are cultural; as an example, human beings locate it shameful to work as janitors, binmen (garbage creditors), or cleaning in general, or in jobs like plumbing, production, and gardening.

Having all of these overseas people means that Saudi Arabia has two awesome exertions markets: one for Saudis and one for foreigners. They are distinct because they have very distinct characteristics. For instance, the average monthly wage for Saudis is $1,280, while the common monthly salary for non-Saudis is $250(Saudi Ministry of Labor, 2012). Also, there may be no unemployment within the foreign labor pressure, because all expatriates need to have a activity settlement at every factor of time they are within the u . S . A .. This offers them much much less mobility than Saudis, who can easily change jobs. From this we are able to see that a part of the unemployment trouble in Saudi Arabia is because of the large range of overseas employees who get hold of appreciably decrease wages and are restricted to work with their sponsors, making them a great deal more appealing than Saudis to the non-public quarter.

Unemployment in Saudi Arabia

When looking more carefully at the 2011 unemployment discern of 12.4%, we discover that one aspect making it so excessive is the woman region of the Saudi hard work force. Females have an unemployment charge of about 35%, in place of 7.Four% for adult males. So the query is why the female unemployment fee is so high. When looking at the historic facts, we discover that the female unemployment price became 15.8% in 1999, 26.Three% in 2006, and 35.Eight% in 2012. The price of male unemployment has been an awful lot extra consistent, and there will be numerous motives for this(Saudi Ministry of Labor, 2012).

First, culture and faith make it more difficult for ladies to locate appropriate jobs, and in order that they have fewer employment opportunities. Second, Saudi tradition is changing, with greater girls looking to go into the hard work pressure as opposed to staying home to elevate youngsters (similar to the changes that passed off inside the US exertions pressure beginning within the Nineteen Sixties). Third, a few aspect may be exaggerating the quantity, so that the actual unemployment fee is lots decrease. This may be defined by way of the reality that with the introduction of a social welfare software (Hafiz) by using which a person with out a task ought to follow for a monthly allowance of about $500, 80% of the folks who implemented were women. It may be argued that making use of for an effortless $500 monthly allowance is different from actively searching out a process(Fakieh, 2013). Finally, when the minimum wage became added, unemployment increased for girls because they had a decrease salary price than men, and so the distance widened between individuals who wanted to work and those who genuinely located a process. This can be graphically interpreted as follows:

Saudi Government Intervention

To deal with the problem of unemployment, the government had to set up strategies that might solve the structural troubles built into the labor market; fiscal and monetary policies would not do the job, because the economic system became growing and didn't want any stimulus. The concept was to let the personal area take at the mission of using greater Saudis (Saudization) with the aid of imposing a minimum Saudization rate in all non-public agencies (Nitaqat). They additionally initiated labor laws that prompted the deportation of about 20% of the foreign hard work; this made opposition less extreme among natives and expatriates. Finally, they addressed the difficulty of reluctance to paintings due to low wages by introducing a minimal wage for Saudis. This, in theory, might growth unemployment, because the number of folks that would like to paintings underneath the minimum wage charge might exceed the demand for employees through organizations; however in the Saudi case, because of the call for created through the alternative programs, jobs have been available. We will now move into slight detail approximately every of the 3 tasks and their effect at the salary price.

Source: http://www.inquiriesjournal.com/articles/905/the-labor-market-in-saudi-arabia-foreign-workers-unemployment-and-minimum-wage

[thegloriouscollectorlady]

Daryl’s role as a father figure

I haven’t done a lot of posting recently because I haven’t had much to say throughout the season. I really really enjoyed season 9 and overall thought Angela Kang did a great job but I haven’t had much to comment on. It wasn’t until after the season 9 finale that some really important themes jumped out at me and in recognizing them I wanted to share my thoughts. I am going to put them under a read more because like usual this got a bit long. 

               So first I am going to take this way back to when Angela Kang wrote Still in season 4. That was the first episode where we saw Daryl really open up to someone about what his past was like. About how he grew up and more importantly about how that made him feel. Daryl shared small pieces and hints of his story before that but not in a way that indicated how it made him feel. It was more so the audience could begin to piece together what his life looked like before. In Still we begin to understand how those formative life experiences made Daryl feel about himself and the world around him. The most important aspect of this arc which continues into season 5 is that because of these experiences Daryl does not see himself as a worthy person. He has not been loved enough to have the confidence to believe he is a good person. Now the audience knows that everyone around Daryl sees him as someone who is strong and capable but Daryl doesn’t see himself that way which is why I believe Daryl bonds so deeply with Beth. In multiple ways Beth tells Daryl over and over and over again that he’s a good person. She literally says as much at the funeral home during Alone and Daryl finally feels something he’s never felt before and that’s acceptance and love and in feeling those things from someone who Daryl perceives as a good person he is finally able to believe them about himself. This is a huge emotional leap for Daryl and one he does not maintain but it’s hugely important because it cements Daryl’s bond to Beth.

So the question that arose from Daryl’s time with Beth was what did this relationship mean to them and what was its context within the story itself. Now the writers left this ambiguous and to this day its never been clarified by those who are actually part of the show. The actors Emily and Norman hinted at a possible romance and didn’t deny that it would be possible. But with no actual clarification from anyone officially connected to the show a certain portion of the viewing audience felt very strongly that Beth and Daryl’s relationship was a familial one of either an older brother and younger sister or of a father and surrogate daughter. I personally don’t feel it’s either of those and but the older brother younger sister thing bothers me the least because it implies there wasn’t a huge age gap because there isn’t typically between siblings and in reality Beth and Daryl were not related in any way. So even if Daryl had initially approached their relationship that way things can change and personally I didn’t see Daryl’s responses to Beth in Alone as brother sister and I think they actually mirror a relationship we’ve seen this season and the show which was most certainly a romantic relationship. But one thing we absolutely have learned from season 9 is that Daryl’s relationship with Beth was not in fact that of a surrogate father and daughter.

So how to do we know this? Well that would be from the narrative itself which clearly indicated this season that Daryl would become a first time father this season. Aaron talks to Daryl about it early in season 9 (that one day he will know what it’s like) and then confirms later in the season that Daryl has indeed taken on the role of a father figure. All indications from the writers are that this is a first in Daryl’s life and not a role he has taken on before. Then of course we actually have the relationship that the writers are presenting to us for Daryl. . . where Daryl is the surrogate father figure to. . . a teenage girl. In  watching 9X16’s The Storm we actually see Daryl in his role as a surrogate father figure to a teenage girl and what that looks like for Daryl. We can ascertain from the passage of time that Daryl has been in this role for at least a short time. As long as he was with Beth we can assume. Oddly enough Daryl’s father daughter relationship with Lydia is pretty typical. He brings her food, protects her, defends her, and overall looks out for her well being. But in no way does it mirror Daryl’s relationship with Beth during season 4 and especially during Alone. I doubt for example that we will see Daryl drinking moonshine with Lydia, that he will bridal carry her, that he will seek out reasons to touch her including holding her hand (Daryl’s scene with Lydia at Henry’s pike was a mirror of the graveyard scene with Beth during Alone) and placing his hand on the small of her back, or that Daryl will gaze longingly at Lydia while she is engaged in activities that she enjoys such as when Daryl watched Beth play at the funeral home. I would also expect that we won’t see similar conversations to what occurred between Beth and Daryl during Alone. Two jump out at me as very important. The first is when Beth implies to Daryl that he is a good person.  This conversation happens when Daryl observes that someone has been keeping the food stock from collecting dust and the implication is that the person might come back. So Daryl tells Beth that they will only take what they need and leave the rest (in case the person returns) and Beth observes see I knew there were still good people implying that Daryl is one of those good people.  He then gets all shy and bashful and in order to lighten the moment he scoops jelly out the jar with his fingers causing Beth to joke that his actions are gross. Beth’s observations please but also embarrass Daryl and he isn’t ready to talk about them. Contrast that moment to the second important conversation that Daryl has with Beth where he is also eating jelly but in a different manner. In the second conversation right before Beth is taken Daryl is eating jelly out of a jar with a spoon indicating subtly that he is ready to talk to her about good people. Very seriously Daryl tells Beth that he now believes in good people and when she asks why he implies that it is because of her leading to the very emotionally charged “oh” moment where Beth possibly gets a hint to how much she’s been able to influence Daryl and how much she’s begun to mean to him. The nonverbal cues in this moment are intense as Daryl who doesn’t make it a habit to maintain eye contact with folks because of his vulnerabilities makes prolonged and significant eye contact with Beth in possibly one of his most emotionally vulnerable moments on the show. He is literally baring his soul to her and he looks her in the eyes while doing so. It’s an intense moment for Daryl and it shows a deep level of trust between Beth and Daryl that indicates an equal give and take relationship.

So by listening to what the writers are saying within the narrative and by observing how the characters interact we can ascertain that Daryl’s relationship with Lydia is his first foray into a surrogate father role. Daryl’s relationship with Lydia on screen is nothing like his relationship with Beth but there was a relationship on the show this season that I believe was actually an intended mirror of Beth and Daryl’s relationship and it explains a lot about the onscreen narrative choices that were made even down to some of the dialogue in the finale such as the moment Daryl asks C@rol who she sees when she looks at him. So to hash this out a bit when examining Beth and Daryl we have a dark haired, emotionally closed off, pessimistic, abuse survivor paired with a blonde haired, optimistic, thoughtful and emotionally available individual who was raised in a loving household by available parents. Now who does this dynamic remind you of from this season? If you guessed Lydia and Henry you would be right. The writers even drove this point home by paralleling Henry so strongly with Beth at the beginning of the season and using those moments to remind Daryl of Beth through Henry. Now of course Lydia and Henry got their own story but within that story Henry paralleled Beth and Daryl parallels Lydia. The descriptions of the characters are the same Lydia is a dark haired, emotionally closed off, abuse survivor (childhood abuse survivor exactly as Daryl is) and Henry is a blonde haired optimistic individual who comes from a secure and safe home with loving parents (Ezekiel and C@rol). I would just like to take a moment to point out how far in advance the writers were planning this dynamic before I continue. Way back in season 5 when Daryl is searching for Beth he picked up a book in the shelter that C@rol took him too. It was on surviving childhood abuse and at the time it seemed that Daryl picked up that book for himself especially in light of his conversations with Beth but it would appear now that instead that book was most likely foreshadowing Daryl’s arc with Lydia. Which means that the writers have been planning this particular part in the story for quite a long time. We often see this with TWD. There are hints in the story that don’t come into play until seasons and seasons later indicating that the writers have a very long term plan for characters and they take their time setting those arcs into motion.

But I digress from my original point which is that the writers purposefully set up an arc where Daryl is parenting a young woman who is a parallel to himself right down to her relationship with Henry/Beth.  We even saw in 9X16 a parallel to Daryl in 5x10’s Them with Lydia wandering away from the group multiple times to try to harm herself and just like with Daryl in Them it was C@rol that followed Lydia away from the group. Just like in Them it’s C@rol that reaches out and touches Lydia in a way that matters. For Daryl she gave him Beth’s knife and told him he needed to let himself feel his pain and with Lydia she tells her she is strong. She provides the thing they both most need to hear in their grief. I also think the awkward bit of dialogue that viewers struggled with when Daryl asked C@rol who she saw when she looked at him was about this. C@rol says first that when she looks at Lydia all she sees is Henry meaning she is only focused on her own grief and not on this young woman for who she is. Daryl then says who do you see when you look at me and C@rol says that of course she sees him. But I think that moment when C@rol follows Lydia to that barn is when she really sees her for the first time and I think what she sees breaks her heart. I think she sees in Lydia an echo of Daryl that tugs at her heartstrings in a way she can’t deny because C@rol knows what losing Beth did to Daryl and she on some level I think recognized that Lydia is suffering the same way and she truly saw her as her own person for the first time. It’s a very powerful but very subtly done sequence of events that only comes together in hindsight.

I think the finale also pointed out another really important piece of Daryl’s story that I think has been largely overlooked and it’s the idea of home. Throughout this arc Henry is wearing a compass shirt and Angela did an amazing job of pulling together the theme of compasses and home and what it means this season. In the episode where Negan escapes he takes Judith’s compass and leaves the ASZ but by the end of the episode he realizes that ASZ is now home and he returns. This theme goes all the way back to Carl telling Judith when she was a baby that if she ever gets lost to follow the north star home. It also ties into Ezekiel’s speech at the end of the episode where he talks about a house not being a home (callback to 4 Walls and a Roof) and that home is where your heart is. Where the people you love are. Henry was wearing a compass shirt because he became Lydia’s north star and he guided her to a place where she felt safe and where she thought she might have a home. Without him she is completely lost and she says as much during 9X16 when she is talking about not fitting in anywhere and no one wanting her around. But this theme is larger than even Lydia and it goes all the way back to season 4 with Beth and Daryl. At the end of Alone Daryl tells Beth he wants to try staying at the funeral home. He wants to make it a home because that is where Beth is even if no one else from TF is there. Fast forward through all of seasons five, six, seven, eight, and nine and notice one thing. Daryl has no home. He never fits into the ASZ when they first arrive, he bounces from community to community during the war with Negan, afterwards he’s at the Sanctuary for Rick, and then in the woods looking for Rick, and then this season Ezekiel offers to Daryl that he can stay at the Kingdom if he wishes (before Henry’s death). This all indicates that Daryl has not had a home since losing the prison and since losing Beth who like Henry is a north star. Beth is Daryl’s north star and without her he is as lost and aimless as Lydia is without Henry.  So it fits writing wise for the writers to pair Lydia and Daryl because these two characters have traveled on parallel arcs to this point. All the set up between Beth and Daryl back in season 4 and 5 plays into the Henry and Lydia arc this season and also points to where the story might go from here.

So after the season finale there was a moment where it hit me that the writers had set up a very deliberate paralleling of arcs and in doing so had defined very clearly some things about relationships that up until this point had been ambiguous and the way they did so was very subtle unless you look at the story in its entirety. I think what they set up has some really interesting implications for Daryl’s arc moving forward and what it means and also for C@rol’s arc and where that is going. I also think that the seeds of where Daryl and Lydia’s arc is headed were planted in the finale and I also think those are very interesting. I have some ideas about where the direction of the story is headed and I will post them in a separate post because this one is long enough and I have a feeling that one will be quite long as well. I also have another really interesting idea I want to look at that came to me watching the finale and I can’t wait to hash that out because it has to do with character deaths on the show and how they are used and it has some really interesting implications for what happened in season 5 and how that might affect Daryl in the coming season.

[funkymbtifiction]

In one of your recent asks, you answered the following (in part): "3) They don’t understand the difference between high Ne and high Si, so they assume having “a lot of ideas” or reflecting makes them an N." I was just wondering if you could clarify why/how those two as dominant functions could be so often confused/misunderstood? Thanks!

People confuse them, because they aren’t self-aware. It’s that simple.

Most people do not have a clear perception of themselves. And if they mistype, they adopt the mantra of whatever functions they think they use, but could not “prove it” or put it into their own words when you press them to do so – which would reveal that is not, in fact, their true type. If, for example, you are a Fi who believe you are a Ti, your understanding of Ti is skewed by your Fi. So you are saying things that sound like Ti (because you’ve read that’s what Ti does) but it is inconsistent with your self-expression. You do not ‘get’ Ti on the visceral gut internal way that you will, when you see yourself doing it as an actual process and realize that’s how you’ve always been, only this is the first time you are aware of the cogs of your brain turning in that particular way.

It is only when you can gain an independent understanding of the functions, and are able to observe yourself actually doing those things in that manner (and not giving lip service and/or falling back on someone else’s definition of that function when someone asks how your function works) that you are truly seeing yourself. Once you find your type, you can actually SEE your mind working – you become consciously aware of and amazed by it.

What you ask me to do in this ask seems simple but it’s difficult. I have pages and pages of INFP vs ISFJ contrasts. I have talked endlessly about what SiNe and NeSi do. I have used characters as examples. I have theorized on what the functions do, at various points in the stack, and I still get asked this on a regular basis. But the easiest explanation may be the one that is most often ignored – one of them is an intuitive, the other one is a sensor.

The intuitive lives, breathes, and speaks “intuitive.” What they say is often abstract, vague, or generalizing; they will come to you with a problem, outline it in vague terms (or sometimes “the facts” of what someone said or did), and not elaborate until you ask them to, on the details – because it never occurred to them you would not intuitively pick up on the meaning between the words; because it is natural for them to do that, themselves. To not ask for clarification on what YOU say, either, because they think they know what you mean (and do not need details, to answer you) or because they know what you mean. I know if I were to press my intuitive-feeler friends in one of two ways, they would become frustrated and/or eased depending on their functions.

The INFP in my life would become angry, defensive, and abstract if I pressed her to tell me how she felt about something; she relays to me the facts but often what comes across in the undercurrent of her words is the high Fi frustration that the world wants me to conform, to be part of this group, and it’s not what I want, and people there are so shallow; I can see right through them. That is not how she says it, but that is exactly what she means – and I get it, because I too am a Fi. I have the exact same internal bristling over the very things that frustrate and anger her most – not because we share the same values (we don’t) but because the same things irritate a Fi – being told what is or what isn’t appropriate to a situation, being asked to conform in a way that we do not want to do, the idea of us or anyone else being “forced” to do anything against our/their will (even if it’s “just” a company picnic whose attendance is “mandatory”)… the sort of things that set us off, where a Fe would think, “but that’s how the game of life is played… yeah, it’s stupid and I’d rather not go to the picnic, it’s lame, but you are overreacting here, just do it for pete’s sake…” but to them it’s not this deep-rooted INSULT or assault against the very foundations of Fi.

That sort of internal resentment toward “the group” is absent in a Fe-user, who would also not become angry, resentful, or resistant when pushed to “share” their feelings – the Fe would open up and be easily able to tell me about them, in plain words. Part of the reason a Fi would become defensive is, to a Fi and their feelings – asking them to tell you how they feel is like asking them to describe the ocean to a person who has never seen a drop of water. Now, to a Fe user, that sounds insane. Emotions have words. You can find a word and use it to describe your feelings! But a Fi has all this wordless, soundless color inside them that is their feelings. They are all tangled up, and it makes the Fi frustrated and angry when they WANT to share and CAN’T put it into words because it feels like none exists.

Trying to describe high Ne is also difficult. It is as if I walk through my day with no expectations and no preset ideas, only to encounter information, and have an instant response, connected idea, or explanation form in my mind – to the extent that if you asked me to speculate on the motives of that person, or what might be a consequence to this action, or how it connects to something else, I could fire off an instant response, treating and mostly believing that my initial instinct not only has merit, but is probably true. Sometimes I am right, sometimes I am wrong, but I believe what I am saying at the time, and it is never about the tangible things, it is always a theory about something related to it, or “other.”

Today, I was talking to someone, listening to them vent about an ongoing issue they have with a friend, and suddenly my Ne said, “They are doing THIS for THAT reason. Ask them if that’s what they are doing.” And it was. I knew it, so I laid out my intuitive perception (”I think what is happening is that this is messing with you on this level, and you are retaliating with that response, because it is a self-preservation mechanism that makes you feel safe… is that accurate?”) and found out it was right. I do this a lot, because I am working with connections. Unseen connections. That is what strong Ne does. It is not “just” ideas. It is not farting unicorns barfing rainbows. It is not being “bubbly” (kill that stereotype with fire). It is not stupid conversations for their own sake, though we can do what for fun when we get bored. It is the total belief that we are right in what we assume / know about someone, even if we have zero observable evidence to confirm it.

(I do not say this to go “woo, look how awesome intuition is,” because if you use it wrong or do it prematurely or lack enough knowledge to allow yourself to build a broad scope of connections… you will get it wrong a lot of the time and wind up looking like an idiot. And the result of this can be living in the land of delusions and coming across like a moronic asshole. Intuition is serious business, folks. It’s not a cool toy. And the best possible thing you can do for yourself is to not believe your intuitive conclusions about others without proof when you can just ask them, “This is what I think is going on – is that true?” The more you ask, the more you will learn about them, the more accurate your N.)

You will find this in intuitives – the tendency to trust and believe their intuitive insights about the future, about other people and their motives, about what is actually being said by that movie, or song, or television show… is a “fact.” Because in their mind, it is. Ne saw what was there, connected it to something else unconsciously, and handed them a strong perception. Sometimes that is the right perception, and sometimes it is wrong. I have been wrong. My intuitive friends have also been wrong when they have asked me, “Is this why…” or “I think you…” and I have said, “No, not at all.” The thing is, though, N is quick to leap to a conclusion – and N’s have to learn to slow it down to get it right.

I have tested this tendency to operate on Suspicion by spending days where I took note of everything I said, for which I had no tangible evidence or proof – how each time, I assumed I had the intuitive answer. I shocked myself at how many times I inferred things and was eager to leap on them without confirmation – only to easily abandon that perception as soon as contradictory facts or new statements challenged it. And I have also seen how my Fi has influenced my Ne – and in those cases, my intuition has been “off” – I am much more likely to read negative things into people’s motives if I have an “issue” with them which is clouding my judgment than I am to be emotionless and “pure Ne” in assessing something (so that’s also something to think about, if you’re an N – are you being pure N right now, or is your personal bias driving your conclusions?).

What I have just written is intuition. And I can tell you, ISXJs do not think the way I do, nor the way the INFP does. She is like me. So much like me that the only way you could tell the difference is my ability to respond quicker (dom Ne vs aux-Ne) and that her need to push back against any attempts to force her into conformity drives her intuition; it shapes it, so that it is almost always influenced by Personalization – her Ne’s attention goes to herself, her interests, her passions, her beliefs. Her Ne is saturated with her Fi. That is not something I can describe with words, but I can “see” it when we talk to each other. Her Fi is who she is. It is the air she breathes.

I can also “see” Si in my ISFJ friends... but from the outside, it’s something far different than what it is from the inside. Jung had a point when he said that Si creates its own sense of wonder, which is different from intuition, and built entirely of Self. I cannot describe it; I wish I could, because it fascinates me.

For comparison, here’s a post from a Si-dom that talks about their cognitive process; and they have 20 pages on Si in their introverted sensing tag.

- ENFP Mod

[minaminokyoko]

Captain Marvel: A Spoilertastic Review

Well, here we are. Our first female-led Marvel movie (unless you count Ant Man and the Wasp, which I kind of do because Scott was basically useless and Hope ran the whole movie like a boss, but too bad she ran the show on a dull, rushed movie). How does it measure up?

It's fine.

I'd coin Captain Marvel as good, not great. It's definitely a popcorn flick, in the same vein of Ant Man for sure in terms of where it fits in our giant pantheon of MCU movies. I'd rank it dead center, so slightly underneath Cap 1 and Thor 2, but above Doctor Strange. I think Ant Man is a good comparison for the tone and the enjoyment of this movie, although it does do more to characterize the main lead than Ant Man did for Scott Lang. To be fair, though, somehow they end up in the same spot for my personal rankings.

So let's dive in and see why.

Overall Grade: B-

Pros:

-Plenty of action. No shortage on that whatsoever.

-Lots of off-world adventures, for those fans who sometimes are annoyed that too many MCU movies are earth-based. We don't hit earth until about the halfway point and there are still some shenanigans then.

-The dynamic between Carol and Fury is a lot of fun. Larson and Jackson work off each other's energy very well and the banter feels fun and familiar without ever veering into any weird territory. Fury is just as effective as ever at her side, and it's before he becomes full on grumpy Dad Fury, so he's a lot less cold and it's fun to see.

-It was also delightful getting to see Coulson one more time, although it's a cameo, not a whole role as some of the trailers sort of imply.

-The female relationships are probably the strongest in the Marvel lineup, aside from Black Panther. Particularly Carol, her best friend Maria, and Maria's daughter. We don't see a ton of it, but it's just enough to put a huge grin on your face. It's very warm and endearing. I also like that Maria was not only a supportive best friend struggling to get over her loss, but she got to join the action as well, and it was badass. I really am happy with Marvel pushing forward to give black women more representation in the superhero genre. Too many folks think black women in film are only sassy best friends or baby mamas or Tyler Perry stereotypes. We love sci-fi/fantasy just as much as everyone else, and so I loved seeing two beautiful black actresses shining next to Brie Larson and Samuel L. Jackson. It lends the film a lot of heart.

-Brie Larson is relatively decent in the role. She has some moments better than others, but overall, she did a good job. It never felt like she couldn't handle the work of beating some ass, and she sold me far more than Gal Gadot did as Wonder Woman. Which, yes, I know, it's unfair and kind of tasteless to compare them, but I have to note it since I didn't care for the WW movie that this is what I was talking about with film presence. Gal Gadot, to me, looks like a supermodel wearing a Wonder Woman costume. To me, she never embodied the poise, agility, and strength that Diana has in the comics or in the animated series. I believed Gadot more during the softer parts of the WW movie, but she couldn't pull off the action because she just doesn't have the presence. Larson does, imo. She carries herself in a manner that makes me feel like she can kick your ass. She has a stance and a stature that allows me to feel her strength, and it's in line with other Marvel women like Widow, Okoye, or Scarlet Witch.

-My favorite part of the movie is hands down the "I'm Just a Girl" by No Doubt scene. Oh my God. I was internally squeeing and singing along with the lyrics while she kicked ass. I was so delighted to see them perfectly use that song that I already liked in high school anyway, and it just worked so well.

-I also liked the montages of Carol getting back up. That is a really, really important image for the girls growing up to see. It's not about how many times you fall. It's about how many times you still get back up. That's great. We fall and get dirty and scuffed and mocked and hated. But we still get up and try again every time. Love it. It's very empowering.

-The de-aging looked pretty good. Jackson is tougher since he's gained weight since the size he was back in the 90's but they filled in his wrinkles well enough. Coulson's looked better, although I did notice just it a tad bit during the stairwell scene, but overall, I thought it was well done.

-Gosh, her costume looks amazing. I want it. I want to wear it for Halloween. It's gorgeous.

-The sequence of the Skrulls acquiring her memories was very neat and uniquely done. Kudos.

-THE MOTHERFUCKING FIRST END CREDITS SCENE. Y'ALL. I SCREAMED. I SCREAMED AND CLAPPED MY HANDS SO HARD I HURT THEM. OH MY GOD. SHE'S ON EARTH. THE QUEEN IS ON EARTH AND WE SHALL ALL BE SAVED. SHE IS GOING TO TURN FUCKING THANOS INTO FUCKING PURPLE CLAM CHOWDER WITH HER BARE HANDS FOR KILLING FURY AWWWWWW YEEEEEEEEEEAH BOIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII. Ahem. Sorry. I am really goddamn excited about that tiny piece of Avengers: Endgame because Marvel and the Russos have been so fucking stingy with details. We still don't know the plot. We only have that 30-second Superbowl spot and the Sad Stark trailer. I was livid they didn't give us a final trailer in front of this movie, but I guess with it a month and change away, they're just banking on us frothing at the mouth wanting more. Jerks. But anyway, yes, this fucking scene is mint and I wish I could rewind it.

-Nick naming the Avenger Initiative after her was a great cherry on top moment.

-I fucking lost it when Nick started singing “Mr. Postman.” Deadass, I just started listening to that song about a month ago thanks to that one famous Vine where those dudes sung it acapella. I was dying. You go, Nick. 

Cons:

-This movie overall has a bit of a bland taste to it. It's most revolving around Carol. The problem is that I think they were too chicken to dive deeply into who she is and her personality and her desires because they were afraid the feminists would complain that they made her too soft, so they replaced it all with action. Which is fine, some people just want a girl kicking ass, but I think it did Carol and Larson a disservice by rushing everything and doing drive-by characterization. The dialogue doesn't stick as well due to the bland flavoring, for example. If you ask me who Carol Danvers is, I can't really tell you. I can tell you what she does, but not who she is. I regret that probably the most out of everything. This movie is a bit of a vehicle than a movie where we discover who she is. We discover what she is, but not who she is. She's kind of just every tough, stubborn, smartass female lead you could see in maybe an Avengers OC fic on AO3. She really needed more distinct quirks and likes and dislikes, and I really fault them for cutting out her life on the Kree planet. It would have shown us so much more about her if we knew what her Kree life was like juxtaposed against her original human life, and it could up the stakes and help them sink it, and give more immediacy and concern to the dangers she faced.

-The villains were telegraphed. Again, people ding Marvel for this all the time. It's because they seem to struggle with balance. Often, the villains are thin to cut down the running time by not developing them at all. It's a shame. I've always found Jude Law very entertaining and I think they should have given him something to work with other than Obvious Bad Guy Pretending To Be Good. It was so transparent, much like the bitchy sister villain from Incredibles II. He might as well have been twirling a mustache. I mean, any dude who tells you your emotions are bad is probably not on the up-and-up. And it would have been better to see him and Carol square off at the end in an emotional battle than for it to just be a cheap shot and a joke. But I digress.

-While there was a lot of action, aside from the "Just a Girl" sequence, I will forget it all by morning. I think they wanted the movie to have mass appeal, so a lot of it comes across as generic. The stuff that stands out more are bits like finally seeing what alien Goose actually was or some of Fury's quips and the bits with Maria's daughter and Carol. The action itself is serviceable, but I'd have liked it to have more flavor if possible.

-Not outlining the limit to Carol's powers. This is going to be tough lining up with Endgame because she's so god-like we're gonna wonder if she just bitchslaps Thanos and that's the end. She feels overpowered without the chip limiting her, so I would have liked them to give us some kind of idea as to how she won't just wipe the floor with him in retribution in Endgame.

-Nitpick: Nick losing his eye to Goose annoyed me. People called it. I didn't want them to be right, but ugh, they were. It was a bit too silly for me.

-Nitpick: They really didn't need to waste our time with the second end credits being Goose puking up the Tesseract. We knew he did. You didn't have to show it, dummies.

-Nitpick: Was hoping for some 90's era cameos from at least one other Avenger, but no such luck. Damn. What a letdown.

I had fun, and I am eager to see her fit into the rest of the MCU. And I am also selfishly even more interested in Kamala Khan someday popping in as the new generation of heroes. Please, God, give me Kamala Khan. I want her and my son Peter Parker to team up and be the cutest superhero dorks ever. But until then...God help us all. Endgame is coming.

Enjoy the sunlight coming off of Ms. Danvers.

Because it's finna get dark up in here, my children.

See you in Endgame.

Kyo out.

[bruhchantite]

Apprentice questions

I stole this from @pumpkunbread !!

Maybe some basic information first?

1. Where is their favorite place to hang out in Vesuvia? Why?

The shop, because they love to see the different kind of people to come through and look at their things or have a chat. Also the marketplace, mostly because of the Baker but also some other people with their shops and stands who treat them nicely.

2. How does your apprentice feel when they are called a witch?

They don’t specifically like it, mostly looking a little annoyed by it, but it really depends on the way the word itself is said.

3. Do they have a familiar? Why did you choose that animal? How did they meet?

Yes, they have a Crocodile Skink named Kankangre, Kan for short.  They got her on a walk through a far off city’s market place, passing through a stand that sold all kinds of animals for pet keeping or eating. They caught her just as she escaped a customers hands, hiding her out of instinct before anyone saw. Nien felt a connection the moment they touched.

4. Are there any of Nadia’s sisters your apprentice would like to hang out with?

Most likely Nazali and/or Natiqa.

5. What is their opinion of each of the courtiers?

Very wary of all of them, but they trust Vulgora the most, funnily enough. (”At least they’re honest about loving violence”)

6. What did they do while at the clinic?

Nien helped where they could, specializing in numbing pain and helping to a calm undisturbed sleep, which they have gotten quite good at.  They are not specifically open with emotional support but if someone wanted to know the truth, they would tell them. Some appreciated it, some didn’t, so Nien learned to differentiate between the people who actually wanted to hear it and those who just thought they did.

7. What are their tasks around the shop? What can they make?

They are very good with different tinctures, pain killers, sleep medication but also calming and soothing food. The mostly medical things come, in fact, from their time at the clinic. Even after being revived they seem to have the muscle memory to make these potions and herb packs.

8. Describe their daily routine.

They wake up early in the morning, mostly well rested since they go to bed early, too. They get ready for the day with some washing up, getting dressed and then heading out to the market, often when it’s still dawning. They get bread from the baker, take it back to the shop and have breakfast with Asra if he’s around. After, they open up shop until taking a break mid day, to get some food and rest while the day is the hottest, before returning to the shop.

In the evening they often wash up any dirty utensils and dishes, before heading out to go for a few drinks or just to spend time with their friends (with Fae, @wir-sind-jaeger ‘s Apprentice, for example). Occasionally they stay in and chat with Asra, play games and just enjoy each others company.

9. What Major Arcana would they be closest to? Is their a Minor Arcana card that suits them more?

Likely The Hermit

10. Describe their magical abilities. What are they best at? Worst?

Easing pain and, (very special Snowflake here, I know but let me have fun) every now and then they have visions in the form of feelings and presentiment of events to happen. They haven’t completely figured out what triggers it or how they can best pin point what exactly will happen, but they have been right not too rarely, earning them the title “The Oracle” in some parts.

They’re not very good at tracking spells and, sadly, protection spells above the easier levels of magic. Some simple disguises work, but anyone with a little knowledge of magic could easily look through those if they wanted to.

11. How do they get along with all the animals in the game? (Faust, Malak, Chandra, Pepi, Inanna, Camio, Melchior and Mercedes)

Mostly fine.  Animals are a lot easier to handle than humans, since they don’t concern themselves with lies or half truths. Not that Nien is bad with people. Animals are just easier to get along with when you know what they want or how their minds work.

12. Did they have a certain opinion about the palace and court before the events of the game? Did it change?

They did not like the way the count handled the city or the people in it.  Generally, Nien tends to be distrustful and suspicious of any wealthy and royal folk. They find that they often can’t and do not want to understand the struggles and problems of the common people.

13. How do they feel about traveling in the realms?

They are very excited and honestly, they will explore anything they can find out about it as soon as they have a little breathing time.

14. Where is their least favorite place in Vesuvia? Why?

The Castle always gave them a constant feeling of dread and uneasiness. In Lucio’s times as well as after.

15. How did your apprentice feel about Asra leaving all the time? Taking care of them?

They certainly get annoyed, especially with all his secrecy. They don’t like spending weeks alone in the shop. A day or two are fine, but after being used to constant contact it feels weird for longer.

Asra never really took care of them after they recovered from… uh... death and relearned to speak and do things on their own. Sure, he taught Nien the magical basics again, helped them discover lost things about themselves, but they generally are a really independent character. A lot of the times it ended up being the other way around, when they noticed Asra was having trouble with memories (we all know which) keeping him from sleep or upsetting him.

They appreciate everything he has done for them greatly.

16. Name one thing your apprentice wants to see happen, or say to someone.

Before their death they wished Asra and them could have spoken one more time, but generally they didn’t regret a lot about their life.

Now they just really want to tell half the royal court that they can’t stand their faces.

17. What is the outcome you see happening for your apprentice and their significant other?

I haven’t thought about this enough, yet but I am a big fan of the Asrian/Apprentice OT3. Hah.

18. What would drive your apprentice so far as to strike a bargain?

They are very cautious with dabbling in that kind of magic, but probably what most others would: Bringing back loved ones, fixing major mistakes with horrible consequences, etc.

19. At this point in the game, do they care more about recovering the rest of their memories or living as they are now?

They want both. Nien can’t stand to not know something this vital, they are very curious and hungry for knowledge.

20. Would they be up for another Masquerade despite all that has happened? New outfit theme?

No. No way. They prefer drinking in pubs and making fun of people there.

21. What is their first reaction seeing their LI cry?

Irritation and confusion. They don’t always know what to say in situations like this but they will comfort them, after some initial shock.

22. Are they scared of what they have learned? Of the powers they have developed?

No, they are rather happy about how much they figured out, even if not all of it is positive.

23. Do they like snow? Have they seen it before?

They have. Before their death, before they got the shop, they lived in a colder part of the world. Snow reminds them of home and they feel it brings some well liked nostalgia with it.

24. A magic lamp is found in the shop, and a genie inside gives them three wishes. What are they?

They will think very, very long and thoroughly about their wishes and will formulate them over and over before actually wishing for things, if at all. Genies are dangerous and the consequences of your wishes can be awful. 

They wouldn’t wish for things immediately, more when there are no other ways out of a situation without its help or something they vitally need.

On top of this they would expect that, whoever left the lamp in the shop wanted to harm either them or Asra more than do them any favors.

25. Are they still scared of the Lazeret?

No, they never were. When they entered the Lazaret they had already accepted that they were going to die. It was more of a comfort to know their suffering was finally coming to an end.

26. Do they have nightmares? Will it continue/develop after recent events?

They get nightmares when they start remembering. Dying takes its toll on everyone and they are secretly horrified over the fact of it even being possible to bring people back from it.

27. What is the best thing their significant other could do to cheer them up?

Physical affection, lots of attention and good food are all Nien actually lives for.  Also a good wine or other alcoholic beverages.

28. Describe what their magical realm gateway would be like?

A great valley surrounded by enormous mountains.  On one side is a big, clear lake you can see the bottom of if you step close. It seems to have big colorful fish, scales reflecting the sun and colors of the valley and the water plants are a dark, rich blue-green dancing softly to the waves. Around the lake are full, thick meadows full of exotic plants and grass. The air is clear, fresh and cold and it seems to always be dawn.  A forest is on the other side, almost only pine trees with only few softer trees. But don’t step to close to those, they can be dangerous and never lead anywhere good.

On the tips of the mountains there is snow. You might reach it if you take one of the many rocky paths.

[akocomyk]

Top 10 Books I Read in 2018

2018 is a year of fantasy for me.  I say that because I read a lot of fantasy books this past year.  Fourteen out of the 27 books that I read in 2018 is classified under that genre.  Why that much fantasy books?  Blame it all on Harry Potter and Tiffany Aching.

Unfortunately, the top spot for my 2018 list didn’t go to a fantasy book.  It would’ve been great to see a fantasy book rank first since I started turning into a bookworm because of fantasy.  But in order for that to happen, I have to be really moved by such book.  I have to laugh and cry.  I have to remember a lesson from it.  I have to have a hangover or some sort.  You know, those things that Narnia and A Monster Calls gave me.

YA reigned supreme this year, yet again.  Although honestly, I’m middling with that genre as a whole.  Sometimes a YA book can be really inspiring, relevant, and very impactful, other times they’re just plain stupid and reminiscent of awkward puberty stages.

Fourteen books were shortlisted for this Top 10.  Initially, I had more books than that because for most of the 27 books, I felt like they deserve to be in the Top 10 after I finished reading them.  Eventually, I removed some of them for various reasons—and I also cut it to one book per series.

Honorable Mention: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (2011)

This book is very commendable for its amazing “production value”.  You know, like if this was made into a decent film, it would probably snatch an Oscar for Achievement in Art Direction or Production Design.  The circus in the novel was so vividly explained, it made me wish that it was a real place and that I can go there.

Unfortunately, that was the only beautiful thing about that book.

10.  A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’engle (1962)

SCORE: 4.015

If I had been younger—say for example, thirteen years old, when I started my love for reading—I would’ve been very amazed by this book.

But it makes me sad that I was only able to read it now.  Being an adult takes away most of the magic of this book—at least, I think that’s what happened with me.

Fortunately, nostalgia recuperates with that dilemma.  I got into reading because of the Chronicles of Narnia, and reading this books reminds me so much of that.  When Narnia is full of magic and fantasy, A Wrinkle in Time is full of scientific wonders.

9.  The Strange Fascinations of Noah Hypnotik by David Arnold (2018)

SCORE: 4.070

David Arnold has a special place in my heart… the same way all indie folk music has.  To me, he’s like my literary indie folk author.  That’s what I love most about his books, they attach themselves to me effortlessly because of their quirkiness, simplicity and marvelous character development—one thing I wish Night Circus had.

This one is very different from his first two novels.  It’s the most ambitious, and, to me, it felt like it totally flew out from my indie zone.  This novel is like a full-on, contemporary YA novel with a bit of a sci-fi and paranormal undertones.  And I really, really love it.

8.  A Knight of Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin (2013)

SCORE: 4.100

If you’re tired of waiting for the next book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, this is a good I’ll-read-this-for-the-meantime replacement for it—especially because it happened in the same world and story, just a few hundred years before.

It’s the first published compilation of the Tales of Dunk and Egg.  I will no longer dig further into what it is since you can freely search about that on Google.

Anyway, this book reminded me of why I fell in love with the series in the first place.  It contained the same amount of intrigue, nobility, and bravery, just without much of the gorey brutality and sensuality of the main series.

7.  Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling (1999)

SCORE: 4.120

THIS IS OFFICIALLY MY FAVORITE HARRY POTTER BOOK.  I just love the complexity of all the characters, and how that paved way to the whole plot of the novel, and how that affected the series as a whole.  And… it’s just the perfect length, the right amount of magic, plot twists, and, all in all, the adventure.

One magical experience for me here: despite the fact that I already know how the entire story will go, I can still feel the natural urge to read further.

6.  Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman (2007)

SCORE: 4.275

This is one of the most lyrically beautiful books I’ve ever read.  The way it was written was so poetic.  Though I do agree to some people who say that this lags the book a little bit, I don’t mind.  It’s not everyday that you read a book written this beautiful.

And like... E.L. James should definitely learn a thing or two from Aciman on how to properly write a love scene.  Grey felt like it was written to arouse the sleeping sex life of old women.  It was so tacky and eerily repulsive, bordering on downright hilarious at some points.

In Call Me By Your Name, the love scenes felt like it was really scenes about love.  You can feel the beauty of the romance seeping through the words.  You won’t get aroused—not unless you fancy this kind of stuff—you will instead feel awed.  And you will feel the love that resonates between the two characters, and the hurt that results from the unrequitedness of it.

5.  Wintersmith by Terry Pratchett (2006)

SCORE: 4.495

For quite a long time, this novel topped my list.  Still, I wasn’t contented by the thought that this would take on the first spot.  It’s not that the book was not good.  It’s just that I kept on asking myself, “This is it?”.  Thankfully, I was able to read great books that I think is better than this one.

This is the third Tiffany Aching book, AND IT IS MY FAVORITE out of all the five.  I love the tinge of romance in it.  A little bit creepy, but it is what drove me to read on further.

What I love about Tiffany Aching is that… In the story, Tiffany was growing, and that makes sense since she was  a few years older after every book.  I love that the foundations of her personality remained the same, but as she grew, these personality stemmed out to build a better, more mature Tiffany.  The way she grew up to be was written so well, it made me think that Tiffany is one of the best characters in literature.

4.  A List of Cages by Robin Roe (2017)

SCORE: 4.505

This is another book with amazing characters, although actually, the book is unnerving because of its blatant and honest themes about child abuse and mental illness.

Still, it’s very touching.  The horrendous stuff that it tried to address was handled pretty well, it made the book wonderful.  It reminds us that no matter how bad life turns out, you’ll always, always have a reason to be hopeful.

This book is not for the faint-hearted because there are unsettling parts in the story that will really tear your heart out.

But you know me, that’s what I love about books.  Prepare a box of tissues if you’re planning to read this.

3.  The Wise Man’s Fear by Patrick Rothfuss (2011)

SCORE: 4.540

Second book of The Kingkiller Chronicle, and a sequel for The Name of the Wind—which ranked fifth in my last year’s list.  It deserves to have a higher rank this year.  I just think the story’s a lot better than the first book.  It’s more exciting, and it’s more fun to read.  And lemme just say that Patrick Rothfuss is such a literary genius.  There are parts in the book that I’m thoroughly wowed.

Kvothe is probably one character that I can never forget—the way I can also never forget Tiffany Aching.  Kvothe is like the perfect hero who can do whatever it is that he wants to do, and he just doesn’t get it from nowhere.  He learns them.  You can feel his struggles in the story when he wants something achieved.  He’s a hero, but you can also tell that he’s human.

It sucks that I still don’t know when the last book in this trilogy will be released.  The wait is as agonizing as the wait for the next A Song of Ice and Fire book.

2.  They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera (2017)

SCORE: 4.575

IT WAS TOTALLY FINE WITH ME IF THIS BOOK GOT FIRST PLACE. But it didn’t.  Of all the books in here, this is the only one that I actually wrote a review of and then posted it in my blog.  Because why wouldn’t I review this book???  It completely shattered my soul.  Some of the scenes still haunt me to this day.

Why rank second, though?  It has a lower score in Goodreads—I incorporate the Goodreads ratings and my personal ratings, and then get a total.  The one that took first place has a significantly higher Goodreads rating.  Don’t get me wrong, I both gave them the same personal rating, so I’m okay with any of them bagging the first place.

(Here’s my original review for this novel)

1.  The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (2017)

SCORE: 4.780

I love a book that’s not afraid to address difficult themes… and that’s what I adore about this book.  I think this is probably one of the most relevant novels in this century.  It reminded me so much of To Kill A Mockingbird—which is one of my favorite books of all time.

Reading this wasn’t as painful as They Both Die at the End, but it is more enlightening.  To me, They Both Die is more about seizing the day, The Hate U Give is more than that.  Bigotry.  Prejudice.  White Privilege.  Bullying.  Stereotyping.  Injustice.  And, of course, RACISM.

And to think that the novel was able to tackle these stuff gloriously makes me love it even more.

Another thing that I like about this book is its characters, particularly Starr who is the main character.  She’s so real and relatable.  You will root for her to the very end, and you will sympathise with her when things didn’t go the way she wanted them to be.

Reading this opens your eyes to the sour realities of our world.  There are people who die simply because of the color of their skin, or what they are perceived to be based on the stereotype.  And they don’t even get justice.  They’re left to the dirt.  Forgotten.  And then we stay silent about all of this as if it’s okay because we’re already so used to it.  And we don’t speak up about it as much as we should.

Why can’t we try to speak up more? 

[ask-the-wolf]

So, I know Legends : Arceus is just out, but even so it’s got me thinking about the inevitable Gen 9 games, and I have some thoughts and hopes I’d like to share and get folks opinion on?

First of all, Location:

I honestly think that Australia would have such huge potential! So many unique creatures (like monotremes!) would make for perfect regional ‘mon. “Australian” versions, like Kangeskhan. A surprisingly large variance in biomes too. And there’s so much mythology in Australia that could easily be tweaked into that regions legendary Pokémon. Rainbow snake Pokémon anyone? Then you have the gen “quirk”. We’ve had Z moves, mega evolution, giant Pokémon… what with didgeridoos being somewhat easily recognisable, maybe certain tones can have certain effects? Honestly needing some thought and polish there, but moving on.

Open World.

The wild Area was great, if a little confusing to navigate at first. Arceus’s wider world is even better, combined with riding Pokémon. Keeping that openness would be amazing, more so if they stretch out the distance between cities. This would also link into the new harvest/crafting system Arceus introduced which, honestly, would make so much sense if you had to travel for days to get somewhere rather than your the entire region in an hour or so.

I am not suggesting it takes actual days to get anywhere, let me be clear. But the camp addition was popular for sword & shield, so why not enhance it?

Thirdly, and we all crave this…

New Eeveelution(s).

There are 10 types that still don’t have an associated eevee. Now, admittedly, some of those are going to be difficult. Bug type for example would be quite odd, as well as Dragon. But poison? Ground type? Quite easily adjusted to the Eevee template in my opinion, and you can see so many awesome fan made versions everywhere. Which leads us to…

New Pokémon.

Now, this one is a given. However, with the previous controversy with the National Dex (still personally salty about that), if it was set in an Australian region, that gives 2 opportunities. Firstly, if they need to limit it for any reason (at least initially) Australia has a very well documented reason why they are so strict with invasive species. And gives us a chance to create a whole brand new Pokédex. Like, easily 100+ unique Mon. Ambitious? Yes. Realistic? Also yes! Bringing back my comment about fan made Pokémon, there are so many creative folk out there, so many ideas and themes that I honestly believe it wouldn’t be too difficult.

And finally… a break from the “become champion” goal.

Although Sun & Moon tried to do things differently, it was still technically the same old formula. Arceus however still has challenges, but it’s fresh and exciting instead of levelling up until you bulldoze through everything in your way. Honestly, I think we can expand on that further. Give us challenges. Do we have to unblock a path? Navigate treacherous terrain? Give us something new to overcome that we can’t just grind like hell for.

Still, I’d love to hear peoples thoughts, agree or disagree! Please leave a note or two!