#Highly Convenient

[steve-ottomanelli45]

Auto concierge services are popular among car enthusiasts for the convenience and high-quality service they provide. They not only coordinate car services but also work to ensure the vehicles are properly cared for.

[stjohnstarling]

Full text of article as follows:

Tumblr and Wordpress are preparing to sell user data to Midjourney and OpenAI, according to a source with internal knowledge about the deals and internal documentation referring to the deals. 

The exact types of data from each platform going to each company are not spelled out in documentation we’ve reviewed, but internal communications reviewed by 404 Media make clear that deals between Automattic, the platforms’ parent company, and OpenAI and Midjourney are imminent.

The internal documentation details a messy and controversial process within Tumblr itself. One internal post made by Cyle Gage, a product manager at Tumblr, states that a query made to prepare data for OpenAI and Midjourney compiled a huge number of user posts that it wasn’t supposed to. It is not clear from Gage’s post whether this data has already been sent to OpenAI and Midjourney, or whether Gage was detailing a process for scrubbing the data before it was to be sent. 

Gage wrote: 

“the way the data was queried for the initial data dump to Midjourney/OpenAI means we compiled a list of all tumblr’s public post content between 2014 and 2023, but also unfortunately it included, and should not have included:

private posts on public blogs

posts on deleted or suspended blogs

unanswered asks (normally these are not public until they’re answered)

private answers (these only show up to the receiver and are not public)

posts that are marked ‘explicit’ / NSFW / ‘mature’ by our more modern standards (this may not be a big deal, I don’t know)

content from premium partner blogs (special brand blogs like Apple’s former music blog, for example, who spent money with us on an ad campaign) that may have creative that doesn’t belong to us, and we don’t have the rights to share with this-parties; this one is kinda unknown to me, what deals are in place historically and what they should prevent us from doing.”

Gage’s post makes clear that engineers are working on compiling a list of post IDs that should not have been included, and that password-protected posts, DMs, and media flagged as CSAM and other community guidelines violations were not included.

Automattic plans to launch a new setting on Wednesday that will allow users to opt-out of data sharing with third parties, including AI companies, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, and internal documents. A new FAQ section we reviewed is titled “What happens when you opt out?” states that “If you opt out from the start, we will block crawlers from accessing your content by adding your site on a disallowed list. If you change your mind later, we also plan to update any partners about people who newly opt-out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training.” 

404 Media has asked Automattic how it accidentally compiled data that it shouldn’t share, and whether any of that content was shared with OpenAI. 404 Media asked Automattic about an imminent deal with Midjourney last week but did not hear back then, either. Instead of answering direct questions about these deals and the compiling of user data, Automattic sent a statement, which it posted publicly after this story was published, titled "Protecting User Choice." In it, Automattic promises that it's blocked AI crawlers from scraping its sites. The statement says, "We are also working directly with select AI companies as long as their plans align with what our community cares about: attribution, opt-outs, and control. Our partnerships will respect all opt-out settings. We also plan to take that a step further and regularly update any partners about people who newly opt out and ask that their content be removed from past sources and future training."

Another internal document shows that, on February 23, an employee asked in a staff-only thread, “Do we have assurances that if a user opts out of their data being shared with third parties that our existing data partners will be notified of such a change and remove their data?”

Andrew Spittle, Automattic’s head of AI replied: “We will notify existing partners on a regular basis about anyone who's opted out since the last time we provided a list. I want this to be an ongoing process where we regularly advocate for past content to be excluded based on current preferences. We will ask that content be deleted and removed from any future training runs. I believepartners will honor this based on our conversations with them to this point. I don't think they gain much overall by retaining it.” Automattic did not respond to a question from 404 Media about whether it could guarantee that people who opt out will have their data deleted retroactively.

News about a deal between Tumblr and Midjourney has been rumored and speculated about on Tumblr for the last week. Someone claiming to be a former Tumblr employee announced in a Tumblr blog post that the platform was working on a deal with Midjourney, and the rumor made it onto Blind, an app for verified employees of companies to anonymously discuss their jobs. 404 Media has seen the Blind posts, in which what seems like an Automattic employee says, “I'm not sure why some of you are getting worked up or worried about this. It's totally legal, and sharing it publicly is perfectly fine since it's right there in the terms & conditions. So, go ahead and spread the word as much as you can with your friends and tech journalists, it's totally fine.”

Separately, 404 Media viewed a public, now-deleted post by Gage, the product manager, where he said that he was deleting all of his images off of Tumblr, and would be putting them on his personal website. A still-live postsays, “i've deleted my photography from tumblr and will be moving it slowly but surely over to cylegage.com, which i'm building into a photography portfolio that i can control end-to-end.” At one point last week, his personal website had a specific note stating that he did not consent to AI scraping of his images. Gage’s original post has been deleted, and his website is now a blank page that just reads “Cyle.” Gage did not respond to a request for comment from 404 Media. 

Several online platforms have made similar deals with AI companies recently, including Reddit, which entered into an AI content licensing deal with Google and said in its SEC filing last week that it’s “in the early stages of monetizing [its] user base” by training AI on users’ posts. Last year, Shutterstock signed a six year deal with OpenAI to provide training data.

OpenAI and Midjourney did not respond to requests for comment. 

Updated 4:05 p.m. EST with a statement from Automattic.

[rubenhopclap]

the thing about Jace getting cc'ed on everything Ruben does is... why?

if he was actually unable to be swayed or shift from the plan at all while under the influence of Ankarna, why does Jace have to get cc'ed?

why that level of oversight? is it because of his low intelligence score there's literally nothing in his characterization to explain this. he isn't a doofus at all.

but really, why isn't Ruben trusted to do the less question-raising, obviously controlling thing of just... forwarding everything to Jace after he receives it?

the only possible thing i can think of that jace's open involvement adds otherwise is that it gives specifically Lola someone to get frustrated at instead of Ruben. (Ruben's not a diva making highhanded demands, it's that damned Jace.)

but idk seems like a lot of trouble for that, when Ruben seems like he'd actually revel in going "at the thistlespring tree ONLY , and have a bowl of m&ms in my changing room but no red ones"

[mantisgodsdomain]

3,4,15 for any member of team snakemouth!

...how about all three?

(for this ask game)

3. Obscure headcanon

For Kabbu, though we may have noted this before, we think that the North is quite firmly considered a patch of Deadland - and its inhabitants, as a result, tend to be very, very strange from the perspective of the rest of the world. For Kabbu, specifically, this means a variety of things, both biologically and culturally - though Northern beetles are a lot more common in Bugaria, deadlands in general come with a very high rate of mutation and a very high rate of death, and that means a high rate of superstition both in things that actively impact survival and in things that do not - as well as the simple fact that a constantly-changing set of genetics means that what a northern beetle is like is often very, very open to change.

Kabbu is an example of a burrower - a subspecies of sorts primarily identified by claws designed, very specifically, for digging. His claws grow into a sort of broad shovel shape and tend to be much sturdier than an equivalent beetle's - getting underground in moments in soft ground isn't really an exaggeration! Though he can dig through harder ground, it takes time and effort, and he can't go at it with the sheer speed of softer soil - technically, he could burrow through solid rock given enough time, but it would be both hard and extremely painful. It's a trait that's heavily prized in the North for its ability to create shelter and safety - beetles dominate the North's underground, and there's nothing that can really pose a threat to them. Tunnels are safety, and it really surprises and disorients him when things underground attack him, because back home that just kind of doesn't happen unless it's Another Beetle specifically targeting you.

In terms of more social things, he has a lot of trouble getting used to the concept of mimics. This is mostly due to the fact that mimics as a whole don't really... exist in the north, at least not in the means of gaining benefit from mimicking anything else. If you can talk to them as any other awakened bug, they're usually exactly what they say they are, and species mimicking normal geological features and plants haven't found any success, unless you're willing to get extremely generous with describing the snow-bank camouflage of a Northern Silk Moth's topcoat.

Though sand wasps or "white bees" still exist, the thing they're mimicking no longer exists in the same area. Any Hive that once was in the North is long dead, overly-large groups of bugs tend to die out quickly thanks to the handful of large predators that may decide the benefits outweigh the consequences when enough tasty beetles gather in the same place, and when the enemy you're dealing with is both too heavily armoured to be really deterred by most weaponry and capable and intelligent enough to stalk your group through the snow until the cost outweighs the benefit of eating you... well, the sort of small groups generally sent to start a new colony of social bugs really don't stand a chance.

It is, occasionally, very hard to get used to the fact that southern silk moths only grow a few heads taller than him. He's used to them presenting a lot more of a threat.

For Leif... we think he's completely, 100% blind. His eyes are frozen over due to quirk of his biology - the thing about his integration that makes him a failure, specifically. With any of the Snakemouth cordyceps, they do not naturally transfer the immunity to their own magic that any other variety of mage would have, and so need to alter their hosts in order to get the appropriate biology across. With Leif, that protection is not sufficient to protect the host, much less to preserve valuable organs - eyes, especially, are fragile, after all. The cold he naturally generates exceeds the host adaptations he provides, resulting in, even beyond the blindness, unusually brittle chitin, extremely stiff and easy-to-damage tissue, organic food processing efficiency appropriate for a bug currently freezing to death...

Well, you get the idea. Functionally, if alive, a host body would be in a state of perpetual hypothermia, prone to breaking down over time and needing persistent repair that his strain of cordyceps cannot provide, as any repair he could offer that's not within his host's natural healing capabilities requires manually breaking down and reconstructing any parts, which... is inconvenient at best. As he is, he gets around most of these issues by simply replacing his host body's soft tissue with cordyceps, but that has its own issues, mainly in making him look and move incredibly uncanny. Injuries take a very long time to repair, relatively, though the less tissue damage is done the easier it is to fix - being cleanly sliced in two, for example, might be easier to handle than any sort of crushing damage. As far as his eyes go... eyes of any sort are delicate, and the slightest damage can permanently blind someone. Any of Snakemouth Den's cordyceps tend to go blind anyways as the fungus burrows into ocular nerves - if anything, this is better for hiding, since the frost over his eyeballs conceals any mycelium in the eyes themselves. In theory, it can be repaired... in practice, it would be far too much of a pain for work that will be undone the moment he overtaxes his ice magic again.

...also, he doesn't really care. Sight is not the most important sense a moth has and his scent and ability to sense pheromones is fine, along with a general sensitivity to things like vibrations in the air. More than fine, even, since he's now kind of hybridized with both Ant and Bee and the number of pheromones he's sensitive enough to sense has shot through the roof. This on top of the "magic sense" he has means he has absolutely no trouble getting around, though reading books requires more or less sticking an antenna or fungal tendril over them and parsing out where the ink is by scent and texture. He full-on didn't notice he was blind until after the cordyceps reveal.

For Vi, while this might be one we've mentioned before, we headcanon that she's got a bit of minor mutation throwing her antenna... maybe 2% more towards a non-social relative, which gears her just slightly more towards being able to detect "foreign" scents - predators, prey, and any pollen or nectar in the area. Unfortunately, this slight shift in what scents she's made to pick up comes with a reduced sensitivity to pheromones and pheromone communication within the hive, along with loss of the general innate understanding that an average bee would have of how she's meant to "fit in" to a structure that utterly cripples her communication and social life in the hive.

It's minor enough of a mutation that she's never been flagged - she's a mutation of a social bee, not a normal variant of a solitary - but she smells weird, and she doesn't pick up on pheromones quite enough, and the variation in signals she puts off means that she both fails the communication to get across what she might need and fumbles the communication conveyed back to her about what she should do. Subtle things build up over time, and within the Hive, the negatives far outweigh the benefits - the Hive is only built with bees that fit to a standard in mind, and even minor deviations can get you dragged far, far behind.

This is getting very long so, uhh. Here's a cut. Everything else is below it. We enjoy getting very long-winded. There's a lot in here.

15. Worst thing they’ve ever done

Well, this one will depend on if it's "in general" or "by their standards". Putting any sort of objective moral judgement on just about anything is ridiculously difficult, especially with how values vary by culture or individual.

There is no such thing as objective worst, and we absolutely don't guarantee these would line up with your idea of worse, and so we'll offer two options here - what we believe they would think of first if posed with the question, and an alternative answer that would likely crop up.

For Kabbu, his own response would be easy - abandoning his teammates to The Beast. It haunts him to this day - really, what sort of beetle abandons their swarm to a fate like that? If he was a little faster, a little braver, a little less of a coward - but no. He abandoned those he was meant to care most for, and they died because of it.

For the other...

There are some things that are necessary, to survive somewhere as harsh as the Deadlands. Not everyone can be saved. Not everything can be helped. Not everyone can be taken in. Tradition and law is the heart and soul of the North - rules that everyone must comply to, if not for the sake of themselves, than for the sake of those they may interact with. To break a law, for any reason, is to be shunned by the community, most likely to your eventual death.

She broke a law. It could have been for understandable reasons, or not - it doesn't matter. She put the community at risk, and for that, she couldn't stay. She was put out in the cold, despite her pleading to the contrary. She was allowed to beg and plead and bang on the door, and yet, it meant nothing. The beast she would have lead to them caught up, eventually. He would still believe it was justified.

For Leif, his first response would be... exactly what you expect of him, really. The body he took without a care. The life he stole. He might vary on whether it's the action of stealing it or the lies he's told with that body, but the answer would be the same.

For the one he wouldn't think of... He could have spoken up. He didn't. He met their eye, slated for execution on crimes that he could parlay them on if he implicated himself, and he said nothing.

The look on their face still haunts him sometimes. It hurts more now that he's two, rather than one. It's what was needed to protect his family.

For Vi... a fault in a machine. The instructions were boring, and confusing, and hard to read. She tried to do whatever she thought might work, instead of following the manual. There was an injury. Then another one. It was her fault, really, for rigging it wrong, but she was tired and angry and she argued instead of just sucking it up and fixing it when confronted on it, and it went unfixed for days more. A minor fault can very well lead to deaths, and though this one didn't, it came close - one more inch, a slightly looser bolt, and it would have cracked a bug's shell clean open. It's a miracle it turned out as well as it did. It's a miracle that no one connected it to her enough, even when it was fixed. Someone else was punished, and she was old enough to know not to step forward - she's not stupid, after all.

The guilt still haunts her. The "what-if". The possibility of it. If someone died of her own stupid negligence, if she made someone else take the fall - she would let them, really, her sense of self-preservation isn't that bad, but she's not sure she could live with it after.

With the one she wouldn't think of personally... considering the background she's got, the journey to the Ant Kingdom, and the fact that it's already stated she took jobs before canon? We think there's a fairly good chance that Vi's off jobs got... shady. It's not like she has much in the way of morals when it comes to money, and "will do just about anything for enough cash" is a decent market. If you're willing to forsake your morals, you can get more money than your heart desires - at the cost of just a bit of risk, at that!

She doesn't think about it, really. It wasn't something she needed to think about. They were threatening her, they were a risk to her team, they were the price she had to pay to eat, the specifics of what happened don't matter much at this point. Put in the position again, would she choose their life, or hers? It doesn't matter. They're dead, anyways. She should know. She was the one to take the payment for it.

4. Favorite line?

We're copy-pasting these straight from the game! These Direct Quotes are all sourced from @aquilamage's Bug Fables Transcript project, which we highly recommend checking out! It's an excellent resource for double-checking dialogue without having to replay the game first, and a repository for just about all the dialogue in the game (provided it wasn't taken out by previous patches, of course).

We will be honest: there's a lot of dialogue in this game. This might not be our absolute favorites, as a result of a general poor memory as well as Too Much Game. Also, we have blatant favoritism towards Vi in all ways. Most of these are favorite interactions, rather than anything else, so...

For Leif:

Kabbu: Leif. If you need to take a break, let us know. Vi will carry you. Vi: That is not happening. Leif: Oh, the fatigue, it kicks in... Vi: I said it's not happening!

...and for Vi, we're fond of this dialogue, specifically because the first time we encountered it we misread "exploring" as "exploding".

Leif: Science looks like a lot of hard work. Vi: It's like uh...the thinking version of exploring!

But of course, our favorite Vi Dialogue as well as our personal favorite dialogue in the game in general would be the Bee Guard overworld spy.

Leif: Vi, you're the only Bee explorer, right? Vi: Huh? Uh, yeah! That I know of... Leif: We've been thinking it's a bit weird, to see so many Bee guards, but only one explorer... Vi: Look, they're not guards because they want to or anything, okay? Vi: They were born to be guards, so they guard. That's it. Kabbu: That's a bit somber... Vi: ...That's just how the Hive is sometimes.

"I'm allergic to bouncers" is a close second, of course. In terms of story implications, we pull on her Jaune interactions and especially the point just after getting kicked out of the studio for the first time during Jaune's request, but that's... it's less we "like" it, per se, and more that the implications are fun to toy with. In terms of the actual dialogue, it just... makes us feel sad. Sad, [], and maybe a bit angry on her behalf. We've been there more than we care to admit, after all.

We... wouldn't wish something similar on anyone. And no matter how good the good gets with Jaune, it still can't really outweigh the fact that the bad starts ticking boxes about emotional abuse in a way that makes relationships like Mothiva & Zasp that more people are willing to try and call out pale in comparison. We probably need to finish that essay some time...

Anyways, we like it when Kabbu gets mad enough to yell at people.

Kabbu: This is ridiculous! You realize you could be dooming us all!? Kabbu: What if the Termite King loses trust in the Queen!? Kabbu: What if you lose to the Wasp King without our help!? Kabbu: Have you gone completely, utterly insane!? Have you lost all intelligence! Mothiva: Yikes. You're overthinking this WAY too much. Mothiva: The Ant Kingdom's way better in our hands than with you LOSERS. Kabbu: We have SAVED YOUR LIFE BEFORE, you WITCH!

[wool-string]

Bite supremacy but like.. Rip is SO BRATTY and well.. you know me. I liked him wayyy more than I thought i would.

Also like how he’s clearly not used to the Chief scolding him much. Look how pouty he got 😭

And even then the other two are quick to defend their chief 😖

All in all I’m liking his character. I’m wondering if he will get character development or if his bratty attitude will be his downfall.

[decamarks]

had a dream last night that slowly progressed into a labyrinthine nightmare, involving a hospital's winding hallways and countless casualties at the hands of a nurse-like entity and the airborne neurotoxin expelled from its skin. when i escaped there was a sunset and a beautiful sea and i was so happy to have survived. i spotted a trout swimming in the water, which then started gurgling and wouldn't stop. i said "dude can you PLEASE shut up" and then it bellowed with the guttural force of a 60 year old man and it was so fucking loud that i woke up

[manawari]

Count On Me

two.

            "Can't you heal a little faster?!"

            "I'm trying!"

            "Hurry up!"

            Ju-hee gritted her teeth as she pushed more of her mana into healing the hunter's severe wound on his leg. The others were already fighting the boss. She could see some of them had been wounded too, yet kept on fighting instead of seeking for her aid, which made her feel useless on her role as a healer. Most of the hunters were way too stubborn and viewed her as a hindrance, and only then to mmon her for help was when they got hurt in a vital part.

            Ju-hee never understood them. In her first raids, the hunters never treated her like she was a hindrance. At this point, she would've handed over her resignation to Baek Yoon-ho, but since her payroll was bigger than the ones she had received, Ju-hee decided to endure it for a little longer.

            And besides, her family was also satisfied with the amount she had sent them.

            Ju-hee drew her arm across her forehead as she got up while the hunter joined the battle for the finishing blow, judging how the monster had gotten less powerful than the first time she had seen it. This time, Hee-jin was the one who took the wheel and while the hunters were holding the monster down, she drew her staff in front of the face and blasted a deep hole through the skull.

            Green ichor splattered on the ground and even landed upon some of the hunters' bodies. Hee-jin panted. Ju-hee sighed in relief, yet held herself back from rushing to the hunters — the sight was a bit disturbing for her and a small part of her feared that it might get back up.

            *slash!*

            Or not.

            Kim Chul shouted in victory as he proped his foot on the decapitated head of the beast, raising his sword. The rest of the hunters, including the healer, just stared at him deadpanned.

            "Why is that lunatic not fired?" Ju-hee heard Hee-jin mutter.

            Once the dungeon was cleared, the hunting party left the mining team to bring the deceased monsters from the dungeon and returned to the building. The hunters celebrated with yet another successful raid as Ahn Sang-min began to hand each of them an envelope that contained today's payment. Baek Yoon-ho was off to spar with the other guild masters at the gym, thus leaving the chief of the 2nd Division Management Department in his stead.

            Ju-hee opened her envelope to take a peek on her salary. Her eyes lit up. Next to her, Hee-jin was giggling at the amount she got, along with the rest, who rejoiced at their money.

            "Hey, Ju-hee! Let's go somewhere!" Hee-jin beamed.

            "Go where?" Ju-hee raised an eyebrow.

            "Eat! I know a place around the block. It's been quite some time since I've last gone there." The mage tugged her arm. "Come on!"

            Ju-hee let out a chuckle. "Okay!"

            Despite the age difference, Hee-jin acted as if she was around Ju-hee's age, or Ju-hee acting like she was in the same age as Hee-jin. The B-Rank mage still remained the only person Ju-hee had gotten along in the guild other than Yoon-ho, who made sure to check on her as long as he was around.

            Ju-hee wondered if her skills as a healer were truly that effective to make the guild master want her officially recruited in his guild.

            However, she still hadn't made her decision. It had been a week since she made an agreement with Yoon-ho. If she got herself almost killed or found herself in an imminent danger, she'd retire for good — Ju-hee reminded herself of that every morning and every night.

            "Dear? How are you doing?"

            Ju-hee smiled at her mother's voice. "I'm doing great, mom! It feels relieving to hear your voice."

            "Well, you can always come home once you get the chance. I assume that everything is treating you well?"

            "Yes, mom. Guild Master Baek is very kind to me. He's not as intimidating as you see in the television, he is a great man."

            "If that's the case, I am happy that you're working in a healthy environment. I tried not to worry too much since I know you are working hard as a healer and still won't quit."

            Ju-hee bit her bottom lip. She hadn't told her mother that she was supposed to retire. "Y— yes. And I don't think I can quit yet. I like to help people and keep them alive as much as I can."

            Something inside of her pinched.

            Keep people alive? Many had already died in front of her eyes. . .

            "Alright. Take care, okay? Love you, sweetheart!"

            "I love you too, mom."

            Once the line was cut, Ju-hee let out a deep sigh. She tucked her phone to her chest. No one in her family knew about the most traumatic thing had happened to her, but it wasn't as if Ju-hee was going to tell them. They were already worried about her well-being. And she didn't wish to get them worry more, knowing that she almost lost her life.

            She promised them that she'd be fine.

            And besides, Ju-hee still wanted to help the hunters regardless of her desire to retire. She believed all of them had families to reach out to just like hers.

            The door clacked open.

            Hee-jin stepped out, now clad in her casual attire of a white blouse and black skinny jeans with a pair of leather brown boots. Her mage uniform was kept inside of the paper bag she held in her wrist. "Ready to go?" She asked the healer.

            Ju-hee nodded her head and smiled.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

            Byung-gyu shoved his hooded armor into his rucksack. Sirens blared in the background as some miners barked out commands to the others before entering the dungeon. The rest of the hunters had gotten out and were regaining their strength after a strenuous battle with the monsters. As he drank on his water bottle, a finger tapped his shoulder.

            "As promised, Min."

            Byung-gyu looked over and saw a brown envelope. His lips curled into a broad grin. "Thanks, hyung!"

            Choi Jong-in nudged his glasses on his temple with his finger and cleared his throat. "You know. . . If you joined my guild, you'll get a higher income since you're an S-Rank. The spot is always open." His lips was curved into a grin.

            "Is this about your goal on having two S-Ranks under your guild? Sorry, hyung, but you know that I don't like being officially involved in a guild." Byung-gyu shrugged.

            "But if you changed your mind—"

            "Nope!"

            "Oh, come on—"

            Byung-gyu laughed. "You really want to make things go in your way, huh? No wonder why you and Yoon-ho are always at each other's throats."

            "Not always," scoffed Jong-in. "Anyways, I'll call you again or tell me if you're free for our next raid."

            "Yes, sir!" 

            The hunter rolled his eyes and went away. Jong-in had been frequently asking him to join the Hunters Guild due to Byung-gyu's skills as an S-Rank healer, as well as the only one in the country, but Byung-gyu refused like he usually did when he got similar offers. Min Byung-gyu knew the risks if he pursued being a healer in a guild: the fame, the attention, the possibility of no longer taking a break, having to witness hunters die, and the potential call of death.

            He didn't want that.

            Sure, he wanted to help and protect people, but in his own way.

            Yoon-ho understood his reasons, which was why he was the only guild master who never offered him to join. Byung-gyu still wanted to live a normal life amidst getting himself involved with gates.

            Byung-gyu placed his money inside of his bag and zipped it closed. Several of the corpses had been brought out and miners carried out bags of diamonds taken from the inside of the gate. Such things always cost an immense fortune, not even an average person would be able to afford products from magical beasts. Byung-gyu threw his backpack over his shoulder and began to walk away.

            "H— Healer Min!"

            He stopped on his tracks. Byung-gyu diverted his gaze to his back and saw one of the Hunters Guild members running toward him. "Healer Han?" He said.

            Han Se-mi panted for a little before she fixed her posture and cleared her throat. "Are you, uh, going home already?"

            "I guess so," Byung-gyu shrugged. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

            "Uhm— no! Not really!" Se-mi's cheeks flushed. "It's just, uh. . . Are you free for today? I was hoping that you could join us for dinner."

            Byung-gyu let out a smile. "I'm afraid I can't. I have a show to catch up on and I can't miss another episode."

            "Oh, I see," Se-mi nodded. Though, she seemed she was trying to restrain her frown.

            "Maybe next time? I will try to allot some of my time for you guys." Byung-gyu suggested.

            It made the healer's eyes lit up. "Okay!"

            Byung-gyu nodded and continued his way, unaware of the wave Se-mi had given him when he had his back turned to her. Even though he only joined occasionally, the whole guild was fond of him as much as how Jong-in constantly asked him to be a healer in his guild.

            Turning on the ignition in his motorcycle, Byung-gyu placed his helmet over his head and drove away from the area. The lights reflected across the clear window of his helmet in a flickering speed. Unlike most riders, Byung-gyu preferred not to dash between two vehicles, only then if there was a wide space between them for him to come through. He was not in a hurry to come home anyway. Just because he was a healer and could heal himself didn't mean he must be reckless.

            The traffic light turned red and Byung-gyu pressed the clutch to reduce his motorcycle's speed and maneuvered his foot on the ground to halt the vehicle in the middle of the road. The car behind him stopped as well. As he waited for the pedestrians to cross the lane, he looked at the buildings on each side of the road.

            Seeing the vendors and restaurants reminded him that he hadn't bought any dinner yet. Byung-gyu knew he still had some ingredients in his fridge, but then he remembered that he had some money from the raid, he thought that he should treat himself.

            When the signal turned green, Byung-gyu activated the engines again and this time, he took a turn instead of going straight. He drove his motorcycle to the front of the ramen restaurant and parked it next to the pavement. He turned it off and removed his keys to walk toward the door, pushing it with extra strength to allow himself inside.

            Smells of fresh seafood and vegetables danced in the air. Customers dined in the tables around the area, each having indulging in various noodles from the menu. Byung-gyu made his way to one of the three lines and ended up standing behind a young woman, whom he suddenly sensed something about her. She looked rather familiar. Craning his head to the side, Byung-gyu received the sideview of the woman's face.

            "Ms. Lee?"

            She met his gaze with her blue eyes and instantly drew a sharp gasp in surprise. Byung-gyu laughed.

            "Nice to see you here," he said.

            "Er, same here? I mean—" Ju-hee cleared her throat to speak properly. "Likewise, Mr. Min. It's been quite a while since I've seen you in the guild."

            "I'm a freelancer, remember? I don't work in one guild for too long." Byung-gyu replied. "For instance, I just came from raiding a dungeon with the Hunters Guild. You know that guild, right?"

            She nodded. "It's known as the most powerful guild in the country."

            "Exactly. The guild master had already paid me for my service, so I thought I should buy something." Byung-gyu shrugged. "So, how are you doing at the White Tiger Guild?"

            "I'm fine, thank you," said Ju-hee. Then, she took a step forward when the customer in the front left the counter. "The hunters are still stubborn though. They refuse to be healed unless they feel like they're going to die from their wound."

            Byung-gyu scoffed. "They must be forgetting that you are a healer, not a necromancer. You won't be able to help them anymore if they die."

            Suddenly, Ju-hee fell silent. The S-Rank's heart clenched at his choice of words.

            "Oh, sorry! I must've said something bad." Byung-gyu apologized. "I just—"

            "Don't worry about it!" Ju-hee cut him off. "You are right, Mr. Min. A healer's job is to help someone as long as they're still alive."

            "Are you sure? My words might've hit a certain spot."

            She chuckled. "You don't have to be concerned any longer. If anything, you had just given me a reality check since I got too deep on the problem I have with some of the hunters."

            "Is it always like this? You know, I can just talk to hyu—"

            "No!" Ju-hee exclaimed. Then, she flushed at the volume of her voice. "Y— you don't have to. Really. I can just learn how to deal with them."

            Byung-gyu nodded. "If you say so. . . "

            "Next please!"

            Ju-hee noticed the other people in front of her had disappeared, which meant it was her turn. She took several steps forward and met the cashier, she looked down on the menu plastered on the counter and began to scroll through her options.

            "I'll have the crab and seaweed one but with less onions. And oh! The ramyeon too with tofu instead of kimchi." Ju-hee said as she moved her finger across the surface to point her desired food.

            Byung-gyu whistled in amusement. "Wow! Today's raid must've stressed you hard that made you order two noodles. I didn't know you have a large appetite, Ms. Lee."

            "I have someone with me."

            "Oh."

            The cashier snorted before clearing her throat. "Which drinks shall I add, ma'am?"

            "Just iced tea, please," Ju-hee nodded.

            Byung-gyu watched her walk away and his gaze followed her until he spotted her return to the table she shared with none other than Park Hee-jin, who was also a member in the White Tiger Guild. The two immediately got into a conversation which Byung-gyu was unable to make out of.

            It appeared that the B-Rank healer was not entirely alone after all.

            Hee-jin was one of the friendliest people he knew. She joked and bickered around her fellow hunters, yet was soft and kind to those whom she believed to deserve it. It was expected that the new healer would get along with her.

            "Sir?"

            "Hm? Ah, yes!" Byung-gyu snapped back to reality and glanced down on the menu. "I will have—"

            The next day, he showed up at the White Tiger Guild. Byung-gyu had received a call from Yoon-ho that his powers as an S-Rank healer was needed for the guild's raid in the A-Rank gate. It had exploded next to a hospital where the association sent a couple of healers to the check on the amount of people who got hurt, especially the patients. Fortunately, the dungeon hadn't wrecked half of the building, only a portion that destroyed six floors, but everyone were still told to leave.

            A few people had their lives taken away during the explosion. They were set down on the parking lot, covered in blankets. The sight was aching to the heart, it almost made him not want to continue joining the raid. Byung-gyu hated it when gates appeared in such populous places.

            It was the reason why he sent his family away from Seoul and bought a house in a safer location far from the city where dungeons wouldn't appear.

            He couldn't bear having them to become victims of a dungeon break.

            After parking his motorcycle in the corner of the lot, Byung-gyu rushed to the A-Rank gate where the hunters must've been waiting for him. This time, he wore his silver armor underneath a red hooded jacket, topped with a brown one for extra protection against whichever climate kept within the gate. His mace clung on the strap on his back. He also had on a pair of brown pants with black combat boots. The S-Rank healer pushed through the crowd, evading the urge to glance at the victims, until he saw Yoon-ho.

            "Byung-gyu! Just in time." The hunter said. "I apologize if I might have disturbed you."

            "No worries, hyung. You guys needed my help." Byung-gyu said. He glanced up to the gate, it was tremendous and had a thick black outline, radiating a strong mana. It sent shivers on his spine. "So. . . Shall we go in?"

            Yoon-ho nodded, and shouted at the hunters in front of him. "Let's move!"

            The guild began to step through the portal. Passing through it brought prinkles on his bare hands. A-Rank gates were different than other dungeons, Byung-gyu had encountered them a lot, but it didn't stop him from feeling a tinge of uneasiness in his veins.

            The portal disappeared the moment the last hunter set foot in the dungeon. The twigs crunched beneath their feet. Tall trees towered over them, branches whispering through the wind, and the atmosphere was subtly cold in their fingertips. Byung-gyu inhaled the air and smelled a petrichor scent, figuring it must've rained in the dungeon or they were perhaps in a rainforest.

            Forest.

            There could be many potential enemies the hunters might encounter. Gigantic lizards, hybrid serpents, furry beasts alike, and monsters that have wings. Usually, only S-Rank hunters and stronger guilds were able to take on A-Rank gates, and sometimes the Knights Guild too. It must take a lot of manpower to conquer the dungeon. And by this, many would summon the S-Rank healer, considering how his buff skills were needed more than anything.

            "Let's start walking. We don't have to wait for the enemies to attack us first." Yoon-ho commanded. He went forward and led his group deeper into the wilderness. His black clothing embraced his frame firmly, showing his built physique — it was suitable for someone like him to survive in such a place.

            "Be sure to watch out for the trees!" The guild master exclaimed. "Someone could shoot from any hiding places. Protect the healers too."

            "I'll be fine, hyung. I will just heal myself if anything." Byung-gyu shrugged.

            Yoon-ho flashed him a disapproving glare. "Real funny, Byung-gyu."

            "What? I'm just trying to ease the pressure here. You guys don't have to protect me!"

            "Ha ha," Yoon-ho rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I need two A-Ranks with me."

            "Me!"

            "I am, Mr. Baek!"

            "Pick me!"

            "Not you, Kim Chul. You'll be the one in charge here." Yoon-ho said. "Moon! Kim! You two are with me."

            Kim Chul frowned and grumbled under his breath. The chosen hunters stepped forward and made their way on each side of their guild leader.

            "We'll search for the boss monster while the rest of you can stay here, fight if the monsters attack, and once we found the boss, we'll alert you as possible as we can." Yoon-ho explained.

            "Good luck out there, hyung!" Byung-gyu said.

            Yoon-ho grinned. "You too, Healer Min."

            Byung-gyu rolled his eyes at the formality, yet nodded and watched them disappear into the woods.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

            Ju-hee was feeling anxious.

            It was her first time entering an A-Rank gate. Hee-jin had told her about her experiences with such a high-ranked gate; it was terrifying and dangerous, and nobody was able to get out unless the boss monster had been defeated. A lot of hunters, even healers, had died in A-Rank gates. Upon hearing the last statement, shivers clawed the underneath of Ju-hee's skin, not because of the climate in the dungeon.

After Yoon-ho declared his commands, the hunters were left in their circle. Kim Chul was in charge. And a few moments later, the assigned leader ordered the group to start walking instead of waiting for Yoon-ho's return. Ju-hee found herself close to Hee-jin as usual. The mage reassured her that she wouldn't be severely harmed, though Ju-hee reckoned otherwise.

Luck was never in her favor.

If fate was going to be cruel, she'd find herself in the midst of excruciating pain for not being careful. Or worse, having a lack of awareness in her surroundings. Ju-hee would have to spend her own mana into herself rather than others.

"Seems like we're not in the enemy's territory yet," said Hee-jin. "If the night falls, we'll have to find somewhere safe to rest. Time works differently in A-Rank gates than the real world."

"What if we take more than two days here?" Ju-hee asked.

Hee-jin huffed. "Trust our guild master! He can transform into his white tiger form and blend into the wild. It's like he's in his own environment. Mr. Baek will return soon."

"Okay," Ju-hee nodded. "But I do hope we—"

*thud!*

The group stopped their feet. The air collapsed in a deafening silence. Ju-hee glanced over and suddenly. . . Something gripped the air in her lungs tight. And her hands grew pale.

On the ground was a hunter. He was laying on his pool of blood and his arm was detached from his body.

She first let out a piercing shriek.

[pocketgalaxies]

honestly though fjord had it right when he said we're either a team or you're on your own, decide. like ik there's a lot of shit going on with caleb and his backstory etc etc but as an outsider? like...Yeah

[zerodownpaymentcondo]

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[nerdie-faerie]

I've got two family events coming up during term time and I'm trying to decide if the trips are worth the cost by asking if my family is actually going to be attending them and my mum's response was 'I might be able to convince your dad if we know you're going :)' girl I'm not spending nearly £60 just to come down for the weekend only to then find out I'm going by myself

[m1d-45]

i’m having shining nikki sagau thoughts everybody beware. so first of all like i remembered that elves canonically exist in miraland (idk if we ever mentioned this before) and there’s elves or at least elf-like creatures in teyvat…… i’m connecting the dots (<- they’re not connecting shit)

second of all. the new skins. “sailwind shadow” and “blossoming starlight” are SUCH designer’s reflection names like if i opened up shining nikki and saw those there they wouldn’t even be out of place. idk about everyone else but i think it would be cute if sailwind shadow was bandit. i have more to say but i need time to put my thoughts in Order - teddy anon

shining nikki!!

honestly despite red being in my head on and off, i didn’t even CONSIDER sailwind shadow and that is a tragedy. i have his skin but didn’t do the quest relating to it yet (it’s a costume he wears for a play right?) but the entire thing with this event. god he’s so perfect.

blossoming starlight is probably just klee but higher energy and less fear, and while i don’t doubt the power of klee dps i do doubt your conscience allowing you to bring a child into battle, double so after red split. she’s just. a little girl. so we move on.

sailwind shadow. i’ll choose to interpret him as a mix of the dagger bandit and kaeya himself, which makes for a fun little guy in my opinion. always trying to sneak you off to somewhere “more interesting than sitting around all day, no?” and thinks that the others are being far too uptight. does he understand the gravity of the hunt? absolutely. but whereas red (and the two archons) want to keep you safe in the cave you’ve made home, he’d much rather whisk you away down a path in the forest.

less for combat, i’d imagine, leaving that to nikki and the others. has quite a few stories to tell, most made up but some gathered from his weak memory. dislikes kaeya, but less so than red, surprisingly. he seems to view him as having no other choice, that he’s “already conflicted enough without that fake touting him about as their sword.” he views kaeya with more pity than anything else.

he and red have a.. strange relationship. at their cores, they are diluc and kaeya, but that affection is hidden beneath the several layers of trauma painted over. they both worry for the other in their own ways—he checks red for injuries from afar when you all regroup after a fight, and red makes sure to make chicken mushroom skewers when he’s having a bad day—but it’s still a tough trial. it’ll probably go quicker than diluc and kaeya, but you’ll have to wait a while before they connect properly.

in his early stages, he’s not all that dissimilar from red. clingy and always hesitant to leave, but does do more to try and keep your attention on him. he’s kaeya at his core and the costume is from a play, so he’s got quite a few tricks up his sleeve to prolong his stay.

(these tricks commonly include starting to tell you a story only to reveal that the ‘ancient artifact’ is one of fischl’s arrows, or red’s rings. your laughter is enough to keep him stealing them back—anything to be the source of that shine in your eyes.)

less prone to violence than red, and definitely safer to take out in public after everything’s over. at worst, he’ll make a passing comment, but is too worried about his image. what if you see him sneer, or if the other person sees and tells you? no no no, it’s far safer to just pull you away again, even if he has to lie as to why. you’ll understand if the crowds are getting to him, or if he feels trapped indoors, right? you were meant to be amongst nature anyway, so if anything he’s just doing you a favor, surely.

(he doesn’t often leave your side as you sleep, but he did see red in the middle of.. taking care of some things once. while he prefers to keep his hands clean—it’s awfully hard to lie to you, and he doesn’t think he could stay quiet if you asked—he doesn’t look down on red’s choice of problem solving. he recognizes the person beneath his boot anyway, hands slightly twitching at the memory from earlier today. when the two of them return to camp by morning, he lets red do most of the talking, only adding in the small half truth of “just having some fun” when prompted. he did his best to wipe his sword clean of any unsavory stains, but does keep it safely in it’s sheath whenever you’re around.)

however, just because he’s less violent than red doesn’t mean the source of said violence went away. he still gets jealous, and if he finds his theatrics don’t make you laugh as much as they used to, he‘ll begin to panic. are you growing bored with him? are his stories getting predictable? do you look down on him for running away with hunters with you instead of staying like the others do? he promises he’s not just dead weight! please, what does he have to do? do you want him to be more like barbatos? he can’t quite help you fly like he can, but he can try to pick up a bow! do you like red more? he’d really rather not get blood on his outfit, but anything for you. anything, anything at all… just keep your attention on him for a little longer. please?

[cupiare]

walking into work tomorrow for the staff training day after i got rejected for the job i was near guaranteed to get and didn’t find out the news from my boss who i was with the whole morning in TUTOR PLANNING DAY FOR NEXT YR FOR TUTORIALS THAT TUTORS WOULD BE DOING THAT I WAS BOOKED INTO WITH THE TUTORS THE ROLE I APPLIED FOR AND HAD A VERY GOOD INTERVIEW FOR i found out from a noreply auto generated email from hr that was sent out as soon as i stepped out of the meeting room :) and then got invited back to the meeting for the rest of the day where my manager repeatedly talked about taking my good ideas from my interview and implementing them into tutorials next yr. after i got rejected via generated email. How we doing guys 😆

[unusualshrimp]

The Article is questionable and presumptive but now that we're talking about it, did the timeline of "All tma creators insist the show is over and they're glad it ended -> RQ has financial troubles -> The creators of tma suddenly decide they want to keep continuing the story. for no reason 🥰🌸" not seem suspicious at all. the Kickstarter goals situation terrified me

[dontmeanyoudontmissit]

My toxic trait is that when ever an Amazon order I place is delayed I complain to customer service

[mainfaggot]

omg so many thoughts on paradox killer

[wellnesscard]

stumbled across the tiktok term "ingredients household" the other day. everything coming from that app makes me go insane. food is ingredients is ingredients is food the fuck do you mean. and i did look it up dont try to explain it i looked it up alr chill. im just venting here bc i think its stupid, nonsensical, and basically just means low/minimally processed so like. how are you gonna look at for example what i packed for lunch today and not see food in front of your fucking eyes. idk. yall are too much. whats actually not a real food is these "snacks" made in some factory providing you all the nutritional value of sand off the beach.