#Goal-based Delegation

[asrarblog]

Framework for Delegation 3 – Asrar Qureshi’s Blog Post #1071

[translucio]

the next dragon age

some thoughts about what id like to see if we get a da5.

leaving thedas - i think they are setting up for going beyond thedas with the lore reveals surrounding qunari and questions about whether elves exist elsewhere on the planet. personally i think it could be cool to have the next game center around finding out what's across the sea. i would still want to have some parts set in thedas... maybe major plot points around how thedan (thedosian? idr the exonym) politics react to / clash with whatever they find across the sea.

qunari focus - i think it's long overdue to give the qunari more depth and more of a spotlight. especially after their disappointing portrayal in veilguard. they definitely set up for this to be a focus in any future games, so i hope we see more about what its actually like to live under the qun, how different qunari view the societies and cultures of thedas, what groups of qunari live outside the qun and why, what their history is, etc. i REALLY hope we get to see a qunari city. i think it could be cool to see the qunari homeland across the sea too.

bring back at-will dialogue trees with world npcs and companions - this is a must honestly. i really hope they listen to feedback and bring this back as it adds a lot of needed depth and player autonomy.

more dynamic companion relationships with player character - i don't necessarily have a problem with veilguard's "scrappy team that you're motivating and helping solve their problems" approach, but i think the next game would do well to have its companions feel less unified in purpose and mindset. i would love to have characters that really react to and change based on your decisions beyond just taking your advice / doing what you tell them. it would also be nice if they reached out to the player character and had thoughts about what you should do, to change it up from veilguard's approach of having to go to them and focus on their problems.

more impactful romances - i want the romances to really change how characters interact with you, and where their stories go. also let me smooch my romanced companion at will.

poly romances - i really think this is a natural extension of bioware's inclusive approach to gender and sexuality that would be great to see in the next installment. it'd also allow people to see more content without having to replay. i think the best version of this would be having characters react to it in different ways a la bg3, but i would settle for just letting you do multiple with only minor acknowledgement from other characters.

other locations - there are a few places in thedas we still haven't been that would be cool to visit. kal sharok, nevarra city, par vollen, other places in the free matches. would really like to see actual cities in rivain. also i think it could be really nice to revisit locations from dao and da2. i would love to go back to denerim! even though they destroyed it i guess. orzammar and kirkwall would also be nice to see again. also, maybe it's just me, but i would be interested to see a mage circle or college after the new divine took over.

[strialternatives]

bonus:

:inhales and slams hands on the desk: akechi. palace. pitch.

disclaimer: the setting for this is all about vibes and aesthetics, it kinda got away from me when i started hashing out the plot around it two months ago so now we're here. in hell. (i'll probably have to make a secondary post i made wayyy too many concepts,)

yes i made an ost for this idea, here is a youtube playlist of chill european jazz

AU details under the cut-

Akechi Goro's palace is "Ampitheatrum Doloris”.

KEYWORDS: Akechi Goro, Tokyo Highcourt, Amphitheater

Akechi's psyche is a massive collection of locked doors, puzzles, and contradictions. He wants to be seen but not understood—heard but never known, ect. This makes his palace infiltration a waking nightmare (affectionate).

His palace is made up of five main layers. They each mirror a stage of grief:

1) There is the outer layer of with the appearance of a Venice-esque water canal maze, there is a door that must be opened to reach the entrance to infiltrate the second layer underneath the amphitheater. The puzzle's actually pretty sentimental and revolves around Akechi's interest in literature.

(This layer is depression, Goro mourns what he lost and the fact that the choices he made for the sake of revenge ultimately led to nowhere. This is reflected in how desolate/meandering the outer layer feels, it is the largest and most time consuming part of the palace for this reason. It takes weeks to finish. AKA, Akira and Morgana have a terrible, no good, very bad month of May.) 

2) The Labyrinth under the amphitheater; it is full of shadows for the arena champion to use as fodder for the enjoyment of the masses. ‘Loki’ resides here—this layer’s theme loosely plays on the Minotaur myth. 

The only way to escape is through a pulley/elevator mechanism which leads to the surface after shattering the Champion’s chains by force. Loki taunts in Old Norse, but gives Akira (and the party by extension) genuine hints on how to escape.

(This layer is anger, Goro is always angry, about the hand he’s been dealt, the futility of his own actions, and the fact that his life has always been a dead end, written in the stars.)

3) The Audience Stands; full of human cognitions and Akechi’s former clients and fans, despite everything, like Sae, he sees them as ‘people’ and is disgusted by them. Their compliments are shallow and empty, surface level like Goro’s facade. Cognition Sae is delegated to a middle manager-type role, and leads Akira and Co. through puzzles.

Different cognitions from Akechi’s shitshow of a childhood throw riddles based around philosophy and the nature of justice at the party, if the answer is ‘wrong’, there’s a mini-boss fight. Answering everything correctly yields a prize—a key, this process is made difficult by all of Robin’s ‘hints’ (which the Thieves can directly ask for) being lies.

(Bargaining. Goro always thought he could still salvage his revenge despite his enemy being essentially invincible, even now deep down he thinks he can salvage all the effort and sacrifices he put in.)

4) The Stage; Robin Hood appears proper instead of in cameo appearances, this is the lead actor's stage. To earn the right to stand with him, Akira has to have to prove his worth in one-on-one combat while showing the crowd a rousing show. The goal is to use the key obtained in the bargaining layer to unlock the Performer's cuffs.

(Denial, Goro doesn’t believe he needs or deserves saving or a life outside of his revenge, he believes there is no other way forward.)

Hereward and the 'treasure' are in the Imperial box area, which I'll save for part 2 of this I think! The second half of this'll have less focus on the environments and more on general plot and character design.

EDIT: here's part two and part three

[reasonsforhope]

"Polish presidency of the EU Council announced breakthrough in early hours after marathon overnight talks on food waste reduction targets and measures to limit a throwaway clothing culture.

The EU has set its first ever legally binding targets for member states to cut food waste, with lawmakers agreeing on a 30% cut across retailers, restaurants, caterers and households by the end of the decade.

For food processors and manufacturers, the 2030 goal is a 10% reduction, with both targets based on the average in the three years to 2023. EU estimates suggest that over 59 million tonnes of food is shovelled into dustbins every year, representing a loss of €132 billion.

Reforms to the EU’s waste framework directive, agreed this morning [February 19, 2025] after a marathon negotiating session behind closed doors between MEPs and government delegates, also target the textiles industry.

New harmonised rules on extended producer responsibility (EPR) mean textile producers and fashion brands will have to pay a fee to help fund waste collection, sorting and recycling, based on how circular and sustainable their products are.

In a measure directly targeting ‘fast fashion’ practices such as cheap, almost disposable clothes from online platforms, EU governments are also empowered to adapt these fees based on the durability of garments.

“The rapidly growing e-commerce market brings many opportunities, but also represents a significant challenge, especially in terms of environmental protection,” the agreed text runs.

The legislation gives leeway to penalise aggressive marketing strategies that encourage clothes to be discarded before they are worn out, practices that according to the legislation are “likely resulting in an overconsumption of textile products and, consequently, an overgeneration of waste”.

Criteria that can be considered include the width of the product range offered by a retailer, and the provision or lack of a repair services and incentives.

Anti-waste campaigners welcomed EU action, but were disappointed by the level of ambition reflected in the headline targets.

“The EU and its member states committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals 10 years ago, including a 50% reduction of food waste across the entire supply chain,” said Theresa Mörsen, a policy officer at the Brussels-based NGO Zero Waste Europe...

The agreement is provisional, subject to a rubber stamp from government ministers at an EU Council summit – a procedure which is normally a formality."

-via EuroNews, February 19, 2025

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Oliver Willis at Daily Kos:

Democratic lawmakers are preparing to travel to El Salvador with the goal of securing the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father who was abducted by the Trump administration and mistakenly sent to a brutal maximum security prison in the Central American nation. On Sunday, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen sent a letter to Milena Mayorga, El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States, requesting a meeting with President Nayib Bukele to discuss the matter. “If Kilmar is not home by midweek – I plan to travel to El Salvador this week to check on his condition and discuss his release,” Van Hollen said in a statement. Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida offered to join Van Hollen on his trip. “We must all stand as a united front against the kidnapping and illegal detention of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in El Salvador,” Frost said in a post on Bluesky. Recently elected Rep. Yassamin Ansari of Arizona said she hoped to join the delegation, as has Rep. Robert Garcia of California. While Democrats are the minority in the House and Senate, these members are using the power of their elected offices to draw attention to Garcia’s wrongful detention and possibly secure his release. Democrats have been under fire from their base for not doing enough to oppose Trump’s lawless actions since he took office in January. On Monday, at a White House appearance alongside Bukele, Trump pretended to be powerless to secure Garcia’s release. His administration has admitted in court that Garcia was wrongly deported to the notorious CECOT prison in El Salvador. Bukele also claimed he was unable to release the man and referred to him as a “terrorist threat.” Despite the Supreme Court ruling that Garcia, who is a Salvadoran citizen and legal U.S. resident, should be returned, Trump called reporters “sick people” for asking about the issue.

A group of Democrats, including Sen. Chris Van Hollen (MD) and Rep. Robert Garcia (CA), will travel to El Salvador in a bid to free the wrongly imprisoned Kilmar Ábrego García.

[workersolidarity]

[ 📹 A father checks on his injured son laying on the floor of a local hospital after the Israeli occupation forces bombed their home in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, resulting in a number of casualties. ]

🇮🇱⚔️🇵🇸 🚀🏘️💥🚑 🚨

273 DAYS OF GENOCIDE IN GAZA: ISRAELI OCCUPATION SENDS DELEGATION TO RENEW HOSTAGE EXCHANGE TALKS WITH HAMAS, GAZA TO FACE DISASTER AS FUEL BEGINS TO RUN OUT, ISRAELI OCCUPATION ARMY CONTINUES MASS SLAUGHTER OF PALESTINIAN CIVILIANS

On 273rd day of the Israeli occupation's ongoing special genocide operation in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli occupation forces (IOF) committed a total of 4 new massacres of Palestinian families, resulting in the deaths of no less than 58 Palestinian civilians, mostly women and children, while another 179 others were wounded over the previous 24-hours.

It should be noted that as a result of the constant Israeli bombardment of Gaza's healthcare system, infrastructure, residential and commercial buildings, local paramedic and civil defense crews are unable to recover countless hundreds, even thousands, of victims who remain trapped under the rubble, or who's bodies remain strewn across the streets of Gaza.

This leaves the official death toll vastly undercounted as Gaza's healthcare officials are unable to accurately tally those killed and maimed in this genocide, which must be kept in mind when considering the scale of the mass murder.

The Israeli occupation Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his Security Cabinet have implemented the decision to send a delegation to meet in Doha, Qatar, for hostage exchange talks with the Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

Netanyahu met with his negotiating team prior to their departure to stress "again that the war will end only after achieving all of its goals, and not one moment earlier."

Meanwhile the occupation Prime Minister held a phone call with US President Joe Biden where Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to the Israeli occupation's goals in its ongoing genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, even as the occupation sends it's delegation to meet with the Hamas resistance group he swears to destroy.

The Israeli negotiating team will be led by the Mossad Chief David Barnea, who is expected to meet with the Hamas delegation prior to the arrival of the rest of his team, who will be brought in if the negotiations progress.

US Officials say they are optimistic that a deal can be reached, and the Americans said they welcomed the decision of the Israeli Prime Minister to send his delegation to Doha to continue with talks.

An anonymous American official who spoke with Reuters on Thursday evening said the Hamas proposal “includes a very significant breakthrough.”

"It can serve to advance negotiations. There’s a deal with a real chance of implementation. Though the clauses are not easy, they shouldn’t scupper the deal,” the official continued.

Another senior official told reporters on a conference call on Thursday that Hamas had made a significant adjustment in its demands for a hostage exchange deal, and expressed hope that it could lead to an agreement that would be a step towards an eventual ceasefire.

“We’ve had a breakthrough,” the official said in the call, going on to add that there were still some outstanding issues related to implementation of the agreement, and that a deal was not expected to be closed for several days.

The latest proposal is closely related to the one outlined by President Biden in a speech he gave back in May, which would introduce a format based on three stages of talks, which could ultimately lead to an eventual ceasefire and the release of all hostages.

The Israeli Prime Minister has faced intense criticism from both sides; some that want the government to reject all talks, versus groups such as the mother's of the hostages being held by the Palestinian Resistance who continue protests, demonstrating in Habima Square in Israeli-occupied Tel Aviv, joined by more than a thousand protesters to demand the Netanyahu regime come to a deal for the release of all hostages.

Meanwhile, in other news for Friday, July 5th, the World Health Organization (WHO) is warning the Gaza Strip faces a fuel shortage which could result in "catastrophic" consequences, as the enclave's healthcare system faces a potential collapse of basic services that require electricity to function.

Speaking on the social media platform X, WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that "Further disruption to health services is imminent in Gaza due to a severe lack of fuel."

The WHO warned that just 90'000 liters of fuel entered the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, even as the healthcare sector alone requires a minimum of 80'000 liters daily just to provide basic care.

Fuel also must be provided to the some 21 ambulances which are still operational in Gaza, while the WHO said that fuel supplies were currently being rationed to "key hospitals", including the Nasser medical complex and Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis, as well as the Kuwaiti Hospital in the city of Rafah, in Gaza's south, while the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Yunis has been out of service since Tuesday under threat of Israeli bombardment.

Further, Tedros Ghebreyesus gave warning that “losing more hospitals in the Strip would be catastrophic.”

In other news, the skin disease known as "scabies" has begun to spread widely among the Palestinian populations in densely populated camps, where Palestinian refugees in Gaza have taken shelter during the ongoing genocide.

Medical sources in Gaza say the accumulation of sewage water between the tents of the displaced, combined with the lack of hygiene due to the scarcity of clean water and basic necessities such as soaps and detergents, threatens to cause the accelerated spread of various infectious diseases and epidemics.

Currently, around 2 million displaced Palestinians live in shelters and camps under harsh conditions, with few resources or necessities that the population needs.

Worse still, a severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies threatens complications for the sick and wounded, who've packed into Gaza's hospitals by the hundreds and thousands. Already, dozens of Palestinians have died due to the shortage of medicines and supplies.

Since the start of the Israeli occupation's genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, international institutions and non-governmental organizations have warned of the spread of disease and epidemics among the displaced as overcrowding and a decline in personal hygiene has overtaken the majority of the population.

Medical sources have confirmed that thousands of Palestinians remain under threat of death as a result of continued lack of medicines, supplies, hygiene products and fuel for generators at the handful of remaining hospitals after 10 months of Israeli bombardment.

At the same time, the Israeli occupation's genocide of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continues unabated as the occupation army intensified its bombing and shelling of residential neighborhoods and shelters, as well as public infrastructure.

In some of the latest attacks, Occupation warplanes bombed the Sheikh Nasser area, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, resulting in the deaths of two Palestinians who were transported to the Nasser medical complex in the city.

Similarly, Israeli fighter jets bombed a house in the Nuseirat Camp, in the central Gaza Strip, killing four civilians and wounding several others, while two others were killed after Zionist air forces bombed a gathering of civilians in the Al-Mawasi area, northwest of the city of Rafah, south of Gaza.

In another atrocity, Israeli occupation aircraft bombed a house belonging to the Al-Rifai family in the Al-Daraj neighborhood of Gaza City. After the bombing, civil defense crews and local residents managed to recover the bodies of two citizens killed in the strikes.

The horrors continued in Gaza's north when the Israeli occupation army bombed a site in Jabalia al-Balad, killing 5 Palestinian civilians, including at least 3 children, and wounding a number of others.

At the same time, occupation artillery shelling pummeled several areas in the town of Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip, as well as the Nuseirat Camp in central Gaza.

In another assault, Zionist warplanes bombed a residential home belonging to the Al-Bardawil family in the Al-Daraj neighborhood, east of Gaza City, resulting in the deaths of 4 civilians and wounding several others who were taken to Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital in the city.

Simultaneously, occupation fighter jets bombarded the eastern neighborhoods of the Al-Shujaiya neighborhood of Gaza City, coinciding with intense gunfire from Zionist soldiers, who detonated a number of homes in the neighborhood, continuing the army's systematic destruction of Palestinian housing.

In another massacre, Israeli occupation forces bombed a residential house belonging to the Khader family on Old Gaza Street in the town of Jabalia, north of Gaza, killing 5 civilians, including Bassam Khader, his wife and three children.

The atrocities continued with the bombing of an Israeli occupation drone, which targeted Al-Sikka Street east of the Jabalia Camp, north of Gaza, resulting in the death of a civilian and injuring three others who were transported by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya.

Another body of a Palestinian who was killed by the occupation army near the Tahrir Station on Salah al-Din Street, east of the city of Rafah, was transferred to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.

Meanwhile, Israeli artillery shelling targeted the Al-Nasr area, northeast of Rafah City, while at the same time, Zionist armored vehicles and other military vehicles penetrated into the Abu Halawa and Abu Al-Hussain areas, as well as the outskirts of the Al-Nasr area, east of Rafah City.

Additionally, occupation fighter jets bombed a home belonging to the Radwan family in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, resulting in the death of Adly Radwan, and wounding his wife, who was transported to the Nasser medical complex in the city.

The Israeli occupation forces also fired flares in the southeast of Khan Yunis, while Zionist warplanes bombed an uninhabited house in the town of Abasan Al-Kabira, east of the city.

The Zionist army went on to hammer the northwest of the Al-Nuseirat Camp, in central Gaza, using artillery shelling and gunfire, while occupation artillery shelling also targeted the north of Al-Zahra'a city, also in central Gaza.

As a result of the Israeli occupation's ongoing war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, the endlessly rising death toll now exceeds 38'011 Palestinians killed, including upwards of 10'000 women and well over 15'000 children, while another 87'445 others have been wounded since the start of the current round of Zionist aggression, beginning with the events of October 7th, 2023.

July 5th, 2024.

(No updated figures for death toll have been announced for July 5th)

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#videosource

@WorkerSolidarityNews

[zaczenemiji]

Tabito Karasu Headcannons

where reader is a hyper-independent eldest daughter of an Asian household who also happens to be the student council president

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

These HCs are based on my 5-chapter-long Tabito Karasu x Reader on AO3. I highly recommend reading that too as it contains all the emotions, details, and the full story.

MASTERLIST

✧ "What can I say? I've got a talent for winning,” he says whenever someone asks how he scored the student council president.

✧ After training, he’d go back to school to fetch you whenever you stay behind to finish your student council duties.

✧ Always insists on helping you—he doesn’t stop at the polite offer or the half-hearted “Let me know if you need anything.”

✧ He simply did things for you, without question, without hesitation, and without making you feel like you owed him anything in return.

✧ Brings you food at the student council room whenever you’re so caught up in work that you didn’t notice it was well past lunch.

✧ Then he would sit across from you as if it were the most natural thing in the world to keep you company.

✧ The list goes on: Karasu helps you review for exams, reminding you to take breaks when you were clearly overworking yourself, or simply showing up when you least expected it.

✧ He would take on tasks you stubbornly refused to delegate, even if it meant showing up early or staying late himself.

✧ But he doesn’t try to take over or do things for you that you could handle yourself. He simply… supported you.

✧ Hates seeing you put everyone else’s needs above your own. And he hates how no one seemed to notice—how no one insisted you take care of yourself.

✧ Wants to be the one you relied on—the one you turned to when the world felt heavy.

✧ He cares for you in ways no one else ever had—quietly steps in when you needed it most, without taking away the independence you valued so deeply.

✧ Karasu always finds excuses to stay with you a little longer together.

✧ NEVER lets you walk home alone. He listens to you talk about your day as carries your bag without asking.

✧ 24/7 tells you you’re beautiful—all the time, followed by a kiss—on your forehead, cheeks, lips, anywhere his lips could touch you.

✧ Whenever he hugs you, he’d hold you tight as if to make the moment last forever.

✧ To say that your family loves him is an understatement. He quickly became a part of it in ways that surprised even you.

✧ He’d play soccer with your younger brother and would lift your little sister onto his shoulders and swing her around until she was giggling uncontrollably.

✧ Sometimes when your schedule gets hectic, he’d offer to be the one to fetch your younger siblings on your behalf and they would end up picking you up instead.

✧ Always brags about you in front of his family. So when you first came over to his house, you were referred to as the girl he can’t stop talking about.

✧ He’s definitely a girlfriend’s boy—“Sorry, I’ve got plans with my girlfriend,” he’d say, unapologetic to his friends, choosing to spend his free time with you.

✧ His possessiveness came out in subtle ways—a hand on your back, an arm slung over your shoulder, or fingers intertwined with yours. He wanted everyone to know you were his.

✧ “Let them stare,” he’d say, smirking.

✧ Loves you so much—you are everything to him.

✧ So if he loses at soccer, if he doesn’t become the greatest striker in the world—it’s fine. Because he has you.

✧ That was his real goal. You were his greatest win.

@mianbaobaoo @thetwinkims @arlecchinoftl @karasuglazer @axjisai @egoistlino

[astrodice]

What career suites you best based on destiny matrix? (part 1/3)

To find out what career suits you best and what can you do to succeed, we have to look at the number under the dollar sign.

1 - Magician

People with magician energy are very talented, ambitious and hardworking. They are early satisfied with mediocre results and salary. They always try for more and they have all the right tools to achieve all of their goals. Negative aspect of this energy is that people might lie and use other people to get benefits or they can spend their life wasting their talents by doing nothing.

The most suitable career:

tbh, they can do anything

Challenges that affect career:

laziness, hoping that everything will be figured out by itself

detachment from colleagues, lying

using people, being selfish

2 - High Priestess

People with high priestess energy are highly intuitive and may I say slow (they need more time to come up with a plan). A career that requires making fast decisions is not suitable for those people. On the contrary, they need a job that will allow them to move at a stable measured pace and use their intuition.

The most suitable career:

healer

psychologist, therapist

artist

Challenges that affect career:

avoiding conflicts

being afraid to show off your skills

not being able to make quick decisions

3 - Empress

People with empress energy are definition of "beauty and brains". Such individuals easily identify points of contact with the interests of other people, solve all problems quickly and confidently. Also, since they feel confident around women, it's easy for them to make career in a field focused on women or women's needs.

The most suitable career:

CEO

medical worker

florist

beauty industry worker

Challenges that affect career:

pride, sense of superiority

power abuse

being overly materialistic

irrational spendings/hoarding

4 - Emperor

People with emperor energy are executive, demanding (of themselves and of others) and they quickly gain credibility and respect. Such individuals have every chance to take a high position or open their own business.

The most suitable career:

analyst

accountant

auditor

lawyer

policeman, soldier

CEO

Challenges that affect career:

being controlling, demanding

inability to find compromises

power abuse

5 - Hierophant

People with hierophant energy have high intelligence and excellent memory. They are also charismatic which makes them to be a good speakers, they just know how to make public listen.

The most suitable career:

teacher, professor, coach

analyst

historian, librarian

lawyer

marriage counsellor

medical worker

Challenges that affect career:

being demanding

unwillingness to delegate responsibilities

unwillingness to learn something new

6 - Lovers

People with lovers energy have an eye for seeing pros and cons and can skillfully transform one into the other. The have aesthetically pleasing taste, empathy and good artistic skills.

The most suitable career:

designer

interpreter

artist

psychologist, therapist

marriage counsellor

beauty industry worker

Challenges that affect career:

working in a field that you hate

being overly emotional during decision-making

people-pleasing

imposing your opinion

7 - Chariot

People chariot will succeed in any field where they will be active and hardworking. They are disciplined, good at controlling their emotions, they also have an ability to react quickly and clearly to any change in the situation.

The most suitable career:

traveller, travel-blogger

flight attendant

driver

travel agent

Challenges that affect career:

Inability to rest (workaholism)

lack of goals, incorrect goal setting (goals are too easy or impossible to achieve)

rushed decisions

[cepheustarot]

What awaits you in September?

Attention! This reading is for entertainment purposes only. This tarot reading does not give a 100% guarantee that all the described situations will occur or being ultimate truth. You build your own life and destiny and only you know yourself best.

✧ Masterlist ✧ Paid readings

Pick a pile. Choose one or more pictures. Trust your intuition.

Pile 1: You have probably been experiencing feelings and severe stress lately, as a new stage or a new period begins in your life, perhaps you will have to move to a place unfamiliar to you, someone may be waiting for exam results, someone will have an interview for a new workplace, someone may be waiting for an important answer from a certain person is waiting for news about a situation that has been  continuing on for a long time and everything like that. I want to please you with the fact that soon your experiences will end and in their place will come a strong relief, you will get the result you wanted, the answer you have been waiting for a long time, and if you have worked hard on something important to you, then your efforts will bear fruit. The beginning of September will finally be the period when your life will regain balance and harmony, you will again begin to feel a surge of strength and footing. The cards recommend enjoying this period to the fullest, devoting time to yourself, giving yourself time to fully recover. The beginning of September is also good for those who have long thought about starting to realize their plans and desires, but could not find the strength or time. The main thing is not to overdo it, do everything based on your condition, do not forget to rest, because now it is a priority. The main thing is your comfort.

In September, you will also meet new faces in your life. You may feel very shy and excited about upcoming acquaintances, but the cards recommend that you relax and behave naturally. Your social circle will be filled with good people, very attentive and caring, they will support you during periods when you feel sad and you need support. These people are also very open, communication will be established between you quite easily and quickly, there is a high chance of becoming close friends.

Many of you are going to work hard or study this month, you are full of enthusiasm and ambition, you have probably already set yourself several tasks and goals that you want to accomplish in the near future. Perhaps some of you have set yourself the task of becoming a better person, making a glow-up and changing a lot not only externally, but also internally. There is a risk that in the pursuit of achieving the ideal, you will greatly overdo it and face unpleasant consequences for yourself, at least with burnout and apathy. So the cards remind you again to take care of yourself and act to the best of your ability and strength. Remember that changes come gradually, there is no need to hurry.

Pile 2: In early September teamwork will be important for you. This may apply not only to the work or study area, but also to the family area. Some will have to work on a specific project or work together in order to get everything done by the deadline. The main thing to remember is that you do not need to take on a lot of yourself, it will be appropriate to delegate your responsibilities and rely on the help of other people! This way you can achieve a better result. If we are not talking about work / study, then perhaps you and your family will seriously consider a matter that needs to be approached responsibly, for example, you are planning to repair a house or open a family business (anything can happen here, I'm just giving examples). Based on this, you and your family will really approach this responsibly, plan a budget, discuss your wishes, discuss whether certain things that you would like to buy will be practical and everything in a similar spirit. In any case, the beginning of the month will be filled with discussion with other people and immersion in teamwork.

Also this month, you may expect some kind of deadlock in your relationship with a loved one (it may be your partner or best friend or family member), a conflict situation will occur between you and it will be difficult for one of you to compromise, or none of the proposed solutions to the problem will suit you and then it will be formed this is the dead end. The two of you will worry, you may even distance yourself from each other for a while, you may feel lost, not know what to do. But all conflict and difficult situations not only indicate changes in personal relationships, but also stimulate personal growth, strengthen the inner core. Whatever the outcome of this situation, the most important thing is that you will be able to discover something new that will help you in the future (alternatively, you will feel greatly relieved after this situation, become more open and sincere in expressing your feelings, or your views and some priorities will change, this is no less important and valuable).

The event at the end of September is closely related to what happened at the beginning of the month, namely, you may encounter unforeseen circumstances, force majeure may occur, and this will take you and your colleagues/your loved ones by surprise, which will add even more excitement and stress. The situation between you and other people can become tense, everyone will be on edge and may be angry/annoyed at someone, but most importantly, do not give up what you started halfway. I hasten to please you that everything will end well, you will get the results you need, as you have put a lot of effort into it.

Pile 3: For some, a meeting with old acquaintances/friends will be relevant at the beginning of the month, some of you may also return to your hometown or go to a place that you often visited as a child or teenager. But here the main thing is a kind of reunion with the past. You will feel not only pleasant nostalgia, but also a surge of vitality, your mood will noticeably lift, vitality will increase after this event. You will feel again as if you are living through those days that brought you joy and left pleasant memories in your memory. There is also a chance that a person who was once dear to you and with whom you had a close relationship before will write to you. A dialogue will start between you and there is a high probability that you will start communicating again the same way as before.

This month, the cards warn you about possible financial losses associated with fraud and manipulation, deception by strangers. Moreover, in order not to lose even more of your accumulated money, you will be required to take quick and decisive action, as well as promptly respond to the problem that has arisen. The cards also recommend staying vigilant and attentive, treat strangers with caution and a certain distrust in order to avoid possible problems or at least minimize your losses.

The cards also warn that you may over-idealize the person you like or have recently started dating. This is natural, since you may be going through a period of falling in love, when you still do not notice the flaws in each other and enjoy the time spent together, however, be careful, as you may not notice red flags. This person can also promise you a lot of things, but in fact does not fulfill his promises, they can deceive you or omit some details, give incomplete information about himself. There is a risk of entering into a dependent relationship, so the cards recommend immediately noticing the moments that happened between you and that made you uncomfortable, caused you doubts or made you worry.

Thank you for reading! I will be glad of any feedback 💕

[thebrightestwitchofherage]

The UN's Official Mission report on Hamas' Sexual Violence in Israel was published

Please take your time to read this. Israeli \ Jewish victims deserve the same protection as any other women.

The brief version can be read here.

----

***I am not going to include any graphic detailing.

The pattern of Sexual Violence used by Hamas is very clear:

It was one of their key goals and tactics on October 7th.

You cannot say "Female Hostages are treated well. you're lying by saying they're raped" anymore!

Notice how they also said **Children**

Civilians were in fact burned inside their homes

This is also clearly a pattern used by Hamas, as this is just one of many examples they detail. -Hamas has also burned soldiers alive in their dorms and offices. That is also further detailed in the report.

This is not fake or propaganda

I can't believe I have to write this but this report is an official report (finally) made by the UN's Sexual Violence Office, as part of their yearly report.

They had a 2-week delegation that toured the actual Kibbutzim (turned crime scenes), interviewed eyewitnesses, spoke to families of victims, etc...

___

I do have to say I was mistaken in my earlier post, besides their conclusion, they have also written their recommendations:

...." V. Conclusions

Overall, based on the totality of information gathered from multiple and independent sources at the different locations, there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred at several locations across the Gaza periphery, including in the form of rape and gang rape, during the 7 October 2023 attacks. Credible circumstantial information, which may be indicative of some forms of sexual violence, including genital mutilation, sexualized torture, or cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment, was also gathered. 22

With regards to the hostages, the mission team found clear and convincing information that some hostages taken to Gaza have been subjected to various forms of conflict-related sexual violence and has reasonable grounds to believe that such violence may be ongoing.

The mission team was unable to establish the prevalence of sexual violence and concludes that the overall magnitude, scope, and specific attribution of these violations would require a fully-fledged investigation. A comprehensive investigation would enable the information base to be expanded in locations which the mission team was not able to visit and to build the required trust with survivors/victims of conflict-related sexual violence who may be reluctant to come forward at this point.

Regarding the occupied Palestinian Territory, while its scope did not extend to verification, the mission team received information from institutional and civil society sources as well as through direct interviews, about some forms of sexual violence against Palestinian men and women in detention settings, during house raids and at checkpoints. Though the mission team did not visit Gaza, the Office of the SRSG-SVC will continue to monitor the situation for any relevant allegations of CRSV in the context of the ongoing hostilities. The relevant UN entities present in the occupied Palestinian Territory will provide UN-verified information for reporting to the Security Council on allegations of CRSV, which will be complemented by the information obtained by the mission team.

VI. Recommendations

The mission team makes the following recommendations: a) Continue to encourage the Government of Israeli to grant, without further delay, access to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, to carry-out fully-fledged investigations into all alleged violations that would deepen the preliminary findings contained in the present report. b) Urge Hamas and other armed groups to immediately and unconditionally release all individuals held in captivity and to ensure their protection including from sexual violence, in line with international law. c) Call on all relevant and competent bodies, national and international, to bring all perpetrators, regardless of rank or affiliation, to justice based on individual, superior and command responsibility, in accordance with due process of law and fair trial standards. d) Encourage the Government of Israel to consider signing a Framework of Cooperation with the Office of the SRSG-SVC to strengthen capacity on justice and accountability for CRSV crimes as well as security sector engagement, training, and oversight to prevent and address CRSV. 23 e) Strengthen the capacity of the United Nations to monitor and report on incidents, patterns and trends of CRSV in both Israel and the occupied Palestinian Territory through the establishment of the Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Arrangements on CRSV (MARA), convened by dedicated technical specialists, namely Women’s Protection Advisors (WPAs), deployed to the region to ensure prevention, protection and coordinated multi-sectoral assistance to survivors/victims. f) Encourage relevant actors to uphold information integrity and ethical, trauma-informed representations of conflict-related sexual violence, including by respecting and safeguarding the dignity and identity of survivors/victims and witnesses of sexual violence, as sensationalizing headlines, media pressure and scrutiny, exposure of identity, political instrumentalization and pressure, and/or fear of reprisal can result in the suppression, silencing and discrediting of survivors/victims and witnesses, further compound trauma and increase the risk of social stigmatization. g) Urge all parties to the conflict to adopt a humanitarian ceasefire, and to ensure that expertise on addressing conflict-related sexual violence informs the design and implementation of all ceasefire and political agreements and that the voices of women and affected communities are heard in all conflict resolution and peacebuilding processes....."

Israelis have been repeatedly saying all of this for months now, while you deny it. I've personally had people tell me it's all "fake propaganda". You should all be ashamed.

I am infuriated at the fact that for 5 months, our evidence and word isn't enough for Anti-Zionists. Here is some undeniable proof for you.

Believe Jewish Women.

[anim-ttrpgs]

drow rpg thoughts

Yesterday I got excited and did a design outline for another game, this time about drow. Don't worry, the Eureka Patreon updates will keep coming monthly and we are even close to another free public beta release, but i have been under a lot of stress and might need to work on something else for a few weeks after that, even if only because i think it could actually be something i could make fully playable within a short time.

It is based on a particular setting written a while back by me and a close friend, the purpose of which was to reimagine drow with reasonable post-hoc explanations for the way they are portrayed in Forgotten Realms. It would be a very specific game, sharing a few design ideas with Eureka's rules, but not as broad and generalized.

This rpg will certainly come with a bunch of lore, but for right now the only thing you need to know is that in this setting, "Drow" is a title and referrs only to the female warrior-caste of dark elf society.

Many of the mechanics will be asymmetrical. A “party” will consist of one Drow and any number of her servants, with the goal of surviving incredibly dense hierarchical social situations

>problem will come up that could embarrass the Drow, threatening her Reputation (stat)

>Drow has to delegate tasks to servants that will fix the problem

>due to stupidly dense and impossible etiquette, actually delegating these tasks is not very clear or easy. Screwing up tasks and failing etiquette will reduce a servant’s perceived Competence (stat)

>due to high pressure, impossible working conditions, and garbled instructions, these tasks are not easy and are very likely to be screwed up

>the Drow has to contend with and smooth over the screwed up tasks. She can lose Reputation if she doesn’t discipline incompetence, but harsh discipline is only going to make the servants less able to complete the task.

>Failure state for the servants is if their Competence ever reaches 0, and failure state for everyone is if the Drow’s Reputation ever reaches 0.

Half the Game Master’s job will be keeping track of the strict and deliberately impossibly overcomplicated etiquette by which servants have to address Drow, and docking their Competence when they screw up(and possibly docking Drow Reputation if anybody else sees her letting that slide), and keeping track of the strict militaristic code of honor and (evil) morality that all Drow are expected to exemplify whether they actually enjoy being cruel psychopaths or not, and docking Reputation when the Drow fails to uphold the right standard of evilness in front of other Drow.

The servant part of the “party” will either have to humorously manipulate Drow while hiding that anything is wrong, or they and their Drow will all have to all work together to maintain a facade of this brutal hierarchy

Drow lose Reputation and servants lose Competence when they fail to adhere to social etiquette that covers like 15 pages of instructions (designed to be impossible to follow). In that way, it might be considered similar to Paranoia, with a similar sense of humor.

Some of the servants’ etiquette would be like

>don’t speak out loud to a Drow unless told to by that Drow

>at the same time, don’t remain silent when a Drow expects them to answer a question even if she didn’t explicitly say they could speak

And this is why the Drow has to be a PC, because this same servant etiquette is a pitfall for the Drow. if she doesn’t make her expectations explicitly clear, it puts the servants in an impossible situation, where they will embarrass her with their incompetence(even though it’s her fault) and she will be socially obligated to go out of her way to discipline them. Of course in the in-setting society, the fault lies with the servant, because they should have intuited when they were being given permission to speak or not. Some Drow will be self-aware enough to realize that they caused this situation, most won't.

The structure of their society will often incentivize a tactful Drow to "roll with" mistakes made by servants, e.g. "No, my servants did have permission to address me out loud, you just weren't clever enough to catch it."

Each will have to cover for the other, and/or hide things from each other and the Drow's social rivals.

[windvexer]

Hiya Chicken, hope all is well with you! Something’s been on my mind and I would love your perspective.

The thrust of it is: can the will of the universe (if there is such a thing) override spellwork?

For context, I lost my job earlier this year, and have been working some magic to get re-employed (along with a metric shit ton of mundane legwork). None of it has been fruitful, and in attempting to troubleshoot, I realized that several of my spells had conditions along the lines of “this new job will serve my highest and best self.”

I’m still a novice at casting – frankly, I’ve not had much success with *any* magic (😞) – so I’m guessing the more immediately pertinent issue has to do with raising power/magical headspace. But, I’m curious if that nebulous “highest and best” would get in the way of producing results.

Also, where exactly does that language originate?? I think I’ve seen it when people talk about petitioning the universe for guidance, or getting in touch with your purpose/path in this life, but is that from a certain tradition or set of beliefs? And if everyone has a pre-determined purpose (or something else that counts as becoming your highest and best self), would including such a statement cause spells to fail if whatever you’re casting for doesn’t align with that purpose? Because real talk, my unemployment has run out and I don’t have time to wait for the highest and best job any more.

Thanks so much for your time, I appreciate you!!

It's New Age.

FUCK your highest/best self.

Even if it exists it can go suck a room temperature limp pickle.

Bear with me my guy. Let's be bears together, peacefully watching the sunrise of this idea over the serene forests of wisdom:

What in the good fuck is the point of being a witch if not to DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE SHIT UNIVERSE HAS DELEGATED FOR YOU.

It is changing fate.

It is CHANGING FATE.

WITCHCRAFT IS CHANGING FATE.

THEREFORE HOW CAN YOU DO THAT IF YOU JUST ASK THE UNIVERSE TO KEEP DOING WHAT ITS DOING?!

"Hi I believe in this life I have been assigned a True Goal and Best Outcome. I don't know what it is! The Universe could decide it's in my best interest to never escape poverty so my soul can learn some shit. But whatever this Best Outcome is, I will obey it :) blindly :) Spells, go do my bidding! But not if they change my fate. I'm on those train tracks, baybeee. Full speed ahead towards the same place I've been going since birth."

YOUR SPIRITUALITY FOR HOW YOU CHOOSE TO STRIVE TO BE A GOOD PERSON, AND THE PERSONAL WORK YOU DO TO BETTER YOURSELF, SHOULD PROBABLY BE INTENTIONAL I BET.

What is your highest good? Because I kind of feel like you shouldn't leave that up to a nebulous force you don't understand. My guy, and I mean this in the best possible way, you don't even know the widely popular faith (New Age) these beliefs are coming from. I don't think you understand this concept of The Universe; and yet you seem to be willing to place your fate in its hands.

And I think you may also be horrified by the realization that you are ceding autonomy of your ambitions, your goals, your needs, even the very core of your morality, to some fucking Power or Presence or whatever.

What is your highest good? I'm sorry, I mean this genuinely - you do not get to let someone else decide that for you. We all have to read some philosophy and smoke weed and look at the stars with friends and decide for ourselves what it means to be a good person who lives well. Many of us will grapple with this our entire lives.

There is no shortcut. You can't be your best self by doing whatever you want and delegating the decision making to some outside force, hoping that a smarter and more benevolent power will just cancel out any bad decisions you make based on a rubric you don't understand.

If we do have Highest Selves and soul evolution, I do not believe we can evolve based on always letting someone else make the final call for us.

YOU CAN HAVE GUIDANCE. You can have help. You can have plenty of it!!

That's what the witch's familiar is for. That's what tutelary spirits are for. That's why so many people turn to gods for guidance. You can research someone, or ask for a specific kind of help, and say, "hi I want to cast a job spell but I don't know sorcery great, can someone help me craft this so that I don't end up doing something disastrous?"

That's what I do all the time! I'll be about to do some stupid shit about twice a week, but the spirits who love me and help me are like, "Hey! please do not do that sweaty :) That would be Bad," and I listen to them, because they are not nebulous faraway forces; they are my very good friends whom I have known for years and trust completely.

But at the end of the day, they can't make decisions for you. A very creepy truth, that I believe is actually true, is that gods and spirits of Witchcraft will not make decisions for you. They will not cancel out spells if it's not in your "highest good." They will let you do anything you want in your own worst interest.

They will help you and they will guide you. But it's like I said: you can't end up being your best self by doing whatever and hoping someone else picks up the slack.

I don't think it's possible to ever achieve any highest good or best self by never making an actual decision.

And that's what it is, I think. That's what it is when you say, "let me have a job if someone else thinks it's a good idea."

That's not your decision. That's not your choice. That's not your power. That's raising your hand in the back of class and hoping teacher will call on you.

Fuck the Universe. Fuck the highest good. How about some of that live deliciously shit? When do YOU get to eat? Your highest self must be stuffed at the table of delicacies harvested from every moment of your life that you sacrifice to it while you are here with your unemployment run out.

Look in The Universe's eye and tell it to start calling you daddy.

Command. Do not ask, do not intend. Force; compel. Dominate.

next I visualize that the candle is full of prosperous energies if Earth-Goddess wills it in my highest good- NO.

"Listen to me. Listen to me, Earth. Listen to me, Sky. Listen to me, my own Soul. For 27 goddamn years I have been doing whatever I think you want me to do. Now you're all going to do what I want to do. It is not my normal voice that speaks, but the voice of my power. The power within me laces every word, it seeps into the air like water into paper."

Do you feel like someone is suddenly squeezing you by the throat? Do words suddenly become hard to find? Do you feel a bit dizzy? Do you have a strange moment where you can't remember why you started any of this, like you're not sure how you got there? You're on the right track.

"On this day of Jupiter, on this hour of Jupiter, I am giving a command. I command that the magical pathways of this candle be opened, so that the free-flowing and freely given benevolent powers of Jupiter will empower and charge my spell."

(Do not command Jupiter, of course. We're engaging in a little courageousness, not trying to get struck by lightning)

"I do not need to visualize the movement of energies. I know the truth because I have commanded the truth and I am a creator god born into this flesh: The candle is filled with the power of a God, I have the ability to channel the freely-given power of one of the Seven Governors whom has been worshiped by humans since the start of time, it is here and I have claimed it as is my right, as was offered to me:

This candle spell will bring me the fate I desire, because I have designed that it will occur, and no god, spirit, beast, or man will stand in my way."

It should feel fucked up, my friend. It should give you stage fright. It should make your palms sweat and your stomach queasy. It should give you the same emotional sensation as having a heartbreaking conversation that you know will change a relationship forever.

Sorry, reality. Sorry, fate. It's just not working out. And since we can't get divorced, you two need to shape up your act because right now I'm in charge of this polycule. When the spell is over, we can be equals again.

And if you do it right, it should make you have to sleep for probably about a week. If your health allows it of course, I recommend not trying to restrict carb intake for the next few days. Keep headache medicine on hand also.

Thank you for being a bear with me. I hope you enjoyed this serene forest of wisdom.

[ultra-violetra]

the reason why red team wins isn’t because they submit tasks last minute. that isn’t even the biggest part of their strategy, so let me tell you what red is doing to win:

delegating tasks: each member has spent most of their time collecting whatever resource the team needs. they work together to come up with specific goals (eg. enchantment table, mining iron, getting string) and then send specific people out to do that task, usually whoever’s free at the moment

helping each other: they would all drop everything at a moment’s notice to help a teammate in trouble

sharing resources: red team shares literally everything they own. most notably, bings and personal quest items

personal tasks: they all help each other out to finish these, and they make sure everyone active gets them done. i think a good chunk of their points come from this category actually, since the other teams don’t seem to prioritize it as much

not seeking fights: ok sure, they’ve gotten in a decent amount of fights, but usually the fight comes to them. they aren’t spending their time searching for people to kill, rather most of their kills have been from running into others in the wild or at spawn (foolish did spend time looking for tina today, but that was mostly looking for blue base as a strategic point)

using time wisely: to kind of add onto the point above, they aren’t spending all their time walking thousands of blocks to others’ bases. they also are very communicative about how much time they have left and what to use it for. they’ll ask how they can help the team with their last ten minutes, for instance

communicating: red team spends almost their entire time on the server in a vc together. I know this isn’t exactly every creator’s thing, but they could still type in chat if they didn’t want to talk. red team have even been leaving discord messages to their teammates to tell them info when they’re not online!

varying their points: i think this is the most important thing tbh. instead of only focusing on tasks or kills, etc. they do a little bit of every. they make sure to do well in every possible point category

being silly: it’s the best part!! the silliness boosts team morale

seriously though, the red team doesn’t just sweep the win at the last minute. if that was true then they wouldn’t log in until the last ten minutes. all the active members spend their 5 hours (or however long they’re playing that day) working on gathering materials and being useful for the team. the only advantage they have from being online later is they know how many points they need to get to catch up. so they can sort of measure how many kills or resources they’d need, etc. but knowing what they need doesn’t guarantee they’ll get it. the red team puts a lot of hard work into their wins it’s not just a cheap sweep. they are clever, resourceful, and strategic

[hygienic-soap-dispenser]

Hws Nordics as University Students Headcanons

Because I am a suffering student and you need to suffer with me <3

Denmark

The clown of the group

Has trouble focusing/paying attention

Will use other Nordics in group study session with the goal of body doubling to keep each other in check and focused, but often devolves to laughing and banter instead

Offers good moral support and asks a lot of questions in class, has great participation marks, but can go off topic

Rallies people to meet when need to discuss group projects, again he is great moral support

When writing he either cannot write anything or speed types and hyperfocuses, no in-between

Appears self-confident and social but can actually struggle with self esteem and seeming like he's incompetent or "too much" for people, tries to compensate by being extra likeable and useful

Bonds with people over humor, socializing and making friends are more important than grades to him

Only chooses classes that interest him, does surprisingly well as a result

The most likely of the Nordics to be late for class

Goes to a lot of college parties

Sweden

The mom of the group, always checking in on people and making sure everyone feels included

Reformed high school bully, but still gossips with Norway about classmates and faculty

Has very high standards for himself and his work, will force people in his group projects to do at least 2 rounds of editing

Can really get in the zone and hyperfocuses when studying, but to do that he needs his noise cancelling headphones, his stim toy, perfect room temperature, comfy study clothes, and his daily ritual to actually start

Refuses to pull all-nighters to finish assignments, sleep is more important to him (king)

Is professional with group projects, is calm and good with delegating work

At the same time, he is very opinionated and loves to debate people in and out of class. Often argues with specific students

Easily overwhelmed from noises, activities, and group projects, needs to find quiet places to hide

Gets good grades, professors either love him or forget he exists

Is part of some interest clubs, like for art and woodworking

Norway

The mysterious hottie who sits in the back of class

Hates group projects, doesn't contribute much to them unless it's with his favourite people (other Nordics, specifically Sweden)

Doesn't contribute much in class, but when he does it is good

The class health nut, goes out for 6 am and 11 pm jogs (he is insane)

Also tbh he gives off the vibe of someone who'd be a health nut but also really into drugs at the same time?? Like he does sports and yoga and tracks his water consumption and macros but at the same time experiments with drugs to "expand his spiritual worldview"?

Is fine with concentration, doesn't really struggle unless there's a lot going on in his head at the time

On that topic, he frequents the counseling and medical clinic. There have been rumors about his frequent medical visits...

His writing is okay, nothing to write home about, but then sometimes can get very poetic and profound, especially when it's a personal topic

Gossips a lot with Sweden, they like to people watch together

Skips a lot of classes, somehow still passes

Finland

Perfectionist and an over-achiever, bases a lot of his self-worth on grades. Will get upset if he gets anything below an A-

Can feel like he's in a competition with classmates for good grades and approval from professors, will ask a lot of questions and tries to start discussions in class

Will talk to the professor right after the end of the 1st class to introduce himself and establish dominance

Tries to humble brag about school and his work ethic by telling classmates how often he crams and pulls all-nighters

Very anxious about grades, always does well (at the cost of his mental health)

Mostly sustains himself on energy drinks and coffee

Doesn't like group projects because he thinks no one else cares about doing well as much as he does

This isn't helped by the fact that he has trust issues and thinks others will let him down

Frequents the counseling center and medical clinic on campus. The former because of stress and trauma which worsens school stress, the latter because of medical issues as a result of said stress

Professors either love him or hate him

Despite how he acts in class he's actually a people-pleaser, but his over-achieving nature can be hard to deal with

Goes to the campus gym at least once a week to lift weights, probably part of the school hockey club

If he survives, will pursue graduate school

Iceland

The freshman, trying to figure things out

Thinks that because he did well in high school he'll have an easy time in university (he won't and will be humbled)

Sits in the back of class but secretly wants to sit up front with the "nerds", doesn't want to risk making a fool of himself

Overanalyzes group projects and panics. Double/triple checks his work before sending in his contributions because he wants to seem competent in their eyes

Usually reserved but once he opens up will say the most out of pocket things, sometimes it slips in his quiet phase

Surprisingly, is among the worst of the Nordics in terms of grades. This is mainly because he is unconfident in his own work and views, so he often ends up self-sabotaging his work or doing the bare minimum

His friends are his main priority in school, not grades

Like Fin, is a people-pleaser. Unlike Fin, he is easy to get along with

[professor-doc-emeritus]

I love the dichotomy we get between jinshi and the emperor that shows off how the traits that make jinshi a great prince, boss, friend (husband 👀👀👀👀) are the very same traits that will make him a terrible emperor.

His hard working streak that lets him handle his weird assignments with grace and manage the clashing egos of the inner palace is what will get him killed by overwork as emperor since he has no real head for delegation. It took 11 volumes and the intervention of most of his immediate family just to get jinshi to hire a secretary. The emperor always being free to host parties, sleep with the consorts, and bust jinshis balls in-between it all is, much like lakan always being free to annoy maomao, actually a sign of him being god-like at delegation and organizational management.

His lack of ego and willingness to look the fool if it gets the job done is great for avoiding political snafus and getting to the truth of things. It's genuinely the thing that makes all his expeditions to the western capital so wildly successful: he really doesn't gaf about how he's seen by the public, so long as the job gets done and his friends aren't in immediate danger. It's also the exact opposite of what you need from a head of state who's legitimacy is not-insignificantly based on the public perceiving you as an instrument of the will of heaven. The emperor being willing to kill people and their families over slights jinshi (and most sane human beings) would be willing to let slide is cruel and inhuman, but it's also what keeps the populace at large from being able to organize against him and challenge the imperial power.

Jinshis compassionate streak, his urge to save as many people he can and find the best solution for everyone possible, makes him great to work for. He'll give you assignments that match your hyper fixation, work around your crippling social anxiety, give you a post that just-so-happens to involve you staying with the love of your life for a few months. More over, he isn't gonna risk his life and your position over petty ego or greed when he can find a peaceful solution instead. But the hesitation he feels at using people like tools, and his unwillingness to act if it means throwing people under the bus, is what will lead to death and destruction if he's the emperor. Especially in a time of war. The current emperor is willing to ruin lives and crush nations if it reaches a goal, advances an agenda.

Finally, jinshis loyalty, I'd say even more than his looks, is what draws people to him. He loves his toys, can't stand to give them up. It makes him a great romantic figure. But when you're the emperor, and you need to be willing and able to marry someone for political ends, produce as many heirs as possible regardless of who with, and set aside the feelings of those women for your own sake, that loyalty is poison.

Idk, so often in stories with these systems they sorta follow the logic of "if he's a good person he'll be a good leader." I think it's cool to have a series talk about how being a leader involves being EXTREMELY comfortable with being an asshole, for a myriad of reasons, and how someone being pleasant to work for wouldn't make them an effect monarch.

[porterdavis]

[I hope this isn't pay-walled...]

[[I don't...um...see pay-walls]]

"Sometimes a constitutional crisis sneaks up on you, shrouded in darkness, revealing itself gradually. Other times it announces itself dramatically. Elon Musk, to whom Donald Trump has delegated the task of neutering the congressional spending authority laid out in Article I of the Constitution, could hardly be more obvious about his intentions if he rode into Washington on a horse trailed by Roman legions.

“This is the one shot the American people have to defeat BUREAUcracy, rule of the bureaucrats, and restore DEMOcracy, rule of the people,” Musk wrote at 3:59 a.m. today on his social-media platform. “We’re never going to get another chance like this. It’s now or never. Your support is crucial to the success of the revolution of the people.” Here is Musk, as proxy for Trump, casting himself as a revolutionary force and embodiment of the popular will, demanding extraordinary powers to fight some unstated emergency.

Why, exactly, is eliminating these programs right this very instant so important? If, as Musk says, they are teeming with waste and fraud, presumably Congress could pass legislation to reduce or eliminate the problem, and if that were to fall short, it could try again later. Instead, Musk cites a vague crisis that requires suspending normal operations and concentrating power in his own hands. According to various reports, he is holed up in the Eisenhower Building with a small team of young engineers who possess neither government experience nor the authority to question his impulsive judgments, on the hunt for Marxist plots lurking within long-standing federal programs.

The situation exposes a well-known flaw in the design of the Constitution. The Founders, famously, failed to anticipate the rise of political parties. They assumed that each branch of government would jealously guard its own powers, and thus check the others. But political parties created a different incentive system, in which members of the legislative branch can see their role as essentially employees of the president. Trump, who has convinced the Republican base that his interests are indistinguishable from the party’s and transposed his overbearing Apprentice boss persona onto his relations with co-partisans in Congress, is exploiting these incentives more than any other president in history.

In theory, Congress ought to revolt against the prospect of Musk deciding which federal programs should live and which should die. In reality, its members largely share Trump’s goals—and to the extent that they don’t, they correctly fear that opposing him would invite a primary challenge. What’s more, this particular constitutional crisis has an inherent partisan asymmetry. If Trump and Musk succeed in taking the power of the purse from Congress, they will effectively reset the rules of the game in favor of the right. Congress’s spending powers would be redefined as setting a ceiling on spending, but not a floor. A world in which the president could cut spending without exposing Congress to accountability would hand small-government conservatives the opportunity to carry out policies they’ve long desired but been too afraid to vote for.

And so, although a handful of conservative intellectuals, including the budget wonk Brian Riedl of the Manhattan Institute and the law professor and former Bush-administration lawyer Jack Goldsmith, have described Musk’s ambitions as unconstitutional, most of the establishment right has cheered him on or stayed quiet. Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina conceded that Musk’s project might not be strictly constitutional, but nonetheless told the news site NOTUS that “nobody should bellyache about that.”

Making things even more disturbing is the chaotic legal gray area in which Musk is operating. Musk and his team are working in secret, without hearings or public debate. According to Wired, they gained access to the Treasury Department’s federal payment system, shoving aside the long-time staffer overseeing it and ignoring its safety protocols. Democrats suspect that Musk is breaching numerous federal laws, but without any oversight, it is hard to tell precisely what he is doing. In any case, Musk might not have much reason to care about following the law. Trump has already made plain, by issuing mass pardons and commutations for the January 6 insurrectionists, that he will protect illegal conduct on his behalf.

Meanwhile, Musk has adopted Trump’s habit of deeming opposition to his actions inherently criminal. He has called the United States Agency for International Development, a decades-old program with support in both parties, a “criminal organization.” After an X user posted the names of the young engineers working with Musk, previously reported by Wired, he responded, “You have committed a crime.” The X user’s account has since been suspended.

Reporting on the identities of powerful public officials is, in fact, not a crime—even, or especially, if those officials have assumed public powers without going through formal channels. Musk has nonetheless gotten backup for his threats from Edward R. Martin Jr., a former “Stop the Steal” organizer whom Trump installed as U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. In a vague but menacing message posted (naturally) on X, Martin warned that “certain individuals and/or groups have committed acts that appear to violate the law in targeting DOGE employees.” Martin declined to identify either the individuals or the laws they’d allegedly broken, nor did he acknowledge that reporting about or criticizing Musk’s work constitutes First Amendment–protected activity. Whether Martin acts upon these threats remains to be seen. In the meantime, however, he is contributing to the atmosphere of menace surrounding Trump and Musk by delivering their threats with a legal sheen, like some kind of MAGA Tom Hagen.

Read: The ‘rapid unscheduled disassembly’ of the United States government

The courts will have the final say over Trump’s audacious power grab. In all likelihood, they will affirm congressional authority to set spending levels authorized by the Constitution. But the Constitution ultimately means whatever five Supreme Court justices say it means. The Court’s more conservative justices often apply the most right-wing interpretation of the text they can plausibly defend, and occasionally one they can’t plausibly defend.

What’s more, Musk seems to have intuited that he can destroy programs and bureaucratic cultures faster than the system can restore them. Firing officials en masse, throwing the people and clients that rely on those programs into confusion and financial risk, and striking fear into the whole federal apparatus can break down the institutions and destroy their institutional knowledge. Rebuilding is painfully slow; destruction is rapid. This may be the dynamic Musk has in mind when he insists that his work must happen “now or never.”

Not even the most committed small-government-conservative lawmaker would design a process like the one now occurring: a handful of political novices, many of them drinking deep from the fetid waters of right-wing conspiracy theorizing, tearing through the federal budget, making haphazard decisions about what to scrap. And indeed, no elected body has designed this process. Trump and Musk have arrogated the power to themselves. The true urgent cause is to return that power to the legislature before the damage becomes irreversible.