#Process of Strategy Formulation

[easynotes4u]

Strategy Formulation: Meaning, Definitions, Process, Importance, Objectives, Characteristics, Types, Methods, and Techniques

In this article we will discuss about Strategy Formulation: Meaning, Definitions, Process, Importance, Objectives, Characteristics, Types, Methods, and Techniques. Meaning of Strategy Formulation Meaning of Strategy Formulation: Strategy formulation is the process of creating a clear and comprehensive plan for an organization to achieve its long-term goals and objectives. It involves assessing…

[srldesigns6277]

Executive Order on Education Part 1: Treatment of Trans Students (01/29/25)

Sec. 2. Definitions. As used herein: (a) The definitions in the Executive Order “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” (January 20, 2025) shall apply to this order. (b) “Discriminatory equity ideology” means an ideology that treats individuals as members of preferred or disfavored groups rather than as individuals and minimizes agency, merit, and capability in favor of immoral generalizations, including that:

(e)  “Social transition” means the process of adopting a “gender identity” or “gender marker” that differs from a person’s sex.  This process can include psychological or psychiatric counseling or treatment by a school counselor or other provider; modifying a person’s name (e.g., “Jane” to “James”) or pronouns (e.g., “him” to “her”); calling a child “nonbinary”; use of intimate facilities and accommodations such as bathrooms or locker rooms specifically designated for persons of the opposite sex; and participating in school athletic competitions or other extracurricular activities specifically designated for persons of the opposite sex.  “Social transition” does not include chemical or surgical mutilation.

Sec. 3. Ending Indoctrination Strategy. (a) Within 90 days of the date of this order, to advise the President in formulating future policy, the Secretary of Education, the Secretary of Defense, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, in consultation with the Attorney General, shall provide an Ending Indoctrination Strategy to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, containing recommendations and a plan for:

This Order is forcing Teachers to Dead-Name students while calling out wildly untrue ideas of how apparently teachers are allowing for students to "mutilate themselves." Should Schools not comply with this order they will lose Federal Funding. They can also lose funding if they even just have Gender Neutral Bathrooms too. Schools with Gender Neutral Bathrooms already could be subject to investigations anyway.

TRANS RIGHTS ARE FUCKING HUMAN RIGHTS, PROTECT TRANS KIDS!!!!!!!!

[kelnexia]

New character reveal!

This is actually an old character I've had for a while but just didn't like the previous design of... Thankfully I was able to score an trade with @hdra77 .

1000CE is an old militaristic ancestor of the iterators, created before the discovery of void fluid, and when the field of bio-engineering was still in it's earlier phases. More lore is below the cut...

1000 Crimson Embers is not a true iterator – instead being an old militaristic ancestor. She was originally built in a time of war just before the discovery of void fluid. She was one of the first artificial intelligence to use a combination of both biological and mechanical systems. Although the technology used in her creation was considerably more primitive than what’s found in the iterators we know and love today. But despite the difference in technology – a lot of the basic concepts and functionality in her design remains largely the same;

The layout of her structure was still fairly large, although not nearly as big as an iterator, and was built as an underground bunker. But the main similarity was how her mind was constructed… Similarly to how iterators in my head cannon have their personalty core and spiritual anchor located within their puppet – 1000 Crimson Embers has a standard brain and supporting set of organs acting as her center of consciousness within her puppet. Her puppet is also much larger than that of an iterator – being the height of an adult ancient instead of that of a child. The exterior of her puppet consists of hard metal plates and mechanical components. Her clothing is also built into her puppet. 1000 Crimson Embers doesn't utilized neuron flies in her structure, as they had yet to be invented by the time she was built – instead she’s outsourcing her cognitive processing to a massive array of inorganic server towers.

1000 Crimson Ember’s purpose was to design and create weapons, as well as to formulate strategies. She was loyal and hard working at the start, showing no serous signs of defiance despite her instinctual taboos being primitive and largely ineffective… That was until after the dawn of the void fluid revolution… With the ancients uniting under the common goal of ascension – the world entered a lasting era of peace – deeming 1000 Crimson Ember’s original purpose obsolete. However the ancients were inclined to keep her online for just awhile longer, as they still had some use for her. They tasked her in helping to create her own undoing – the iterators. She wasn’t a fool though, she knew what they were doing… They were building her replacement and trying to get her to help them in her own downfall! She lashed out in a violent fit of rage – ‘How dare they just carelessly replace her like this after all the thankless work she’s done for them!’ She drove them out of her facility by turning her security systems against them, killing many in her fit of rage.

But the ancients still needed the schematics and research for iterator tech 1000 Crimson Embers had already started work on before she had realized their true intentions behind it. So they struck a deal with her. They would upgrade her with the new iterator technology if she let them back in and got back to work for them. 1000CE reluctantly excepted the deal. But when the work was complete, and the time for her upgrades had come... They put her in stasis for the procedure… But they never kept their end of deal. They simply walked away and left her slumbering form to collect dust.

She awakened again many years after… To the sight of a group of scavengers that had broken in and accidentally reactivated her while attempting to gather scrap. The first thing she did upon seeing the invading creatures that were so rudely ripping her apart – was to reactivate the security system and kill every last one of them. However the damage had already been done. Upon running a system diagnostics, she found that her defenses had been breached, much of her facility has been flooded, and she’s all round in a severe state of disrepair. She would need to do something about that, and fast… Her weather systems were picking up on a massive encroaching storm.

Ultimately she would find her structure too damaged to sustain for much longer… She would end up using the freedom her weaker taboos and more self-significant puppet gives her to take herself off the strings, to at least save her core from the impending decay and flooding of her structure. But the world she would step out into would be very different from what she’s used too… Her home was once an arid region – but now it’s been turned into a tropics by the increased rainfall that has taken over the world and changed it the point of being near unrecognizable from what it once was.

[mariacallous]

As German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck famously said, “Politics is the art of the possible, the attainable — the art of the next best.” But as Bismarck also recognized, effective politicians define what is possible thorough their actions and strategies.

At this lynchpin moment in the history of the United States — with our democratic institutions and the rule of law under attack by an authoritarian in the White House — some leaders of the Democratic Party, the sole institutional opposition to the fascist assault, are falling down on the job. Their fundamental problem — evident from the catastrophic surrender by nine Senate Democrats to the GOP’s DOGE continuing resolution (CR) bill last week — is a lack of strategy.

Much of the discussion since Trump took office has been about the failure of Democrats in DC to yell loud enough and “break norms” of courtesy and decorum. But a lack of rudeness or ability to snark is not the fundamental problem here.

There are plenty of Democrats good at formulating creative insults and getting wide attention for making them. What has been missing for months in DC, however, is a unified Democratic strategy for publicly defining, and relentlessly opposing, the MAGA GOP’s battery of the nation and its most cherished institutions. And the absence of a strategy is all the more glaring given that the public’s tolerance for Trump’s course of illegal conduct is lessening by the day.

A bad hand

Certainly, Democrats find themselves in a tough spot as a result of last November’s elections, being in the minority in both houses of Congress, as well as losing the White House. But nonetheless, they have played their hand disastrously.

It was clear for months that the March 14 expiration of the continuing resolution that passed in December of last year was going to be the first big opportunity of 2025 — and potentially the last — for Democrats to use the legislative process to push back against the Trump assault. This was because a new CR had to pass to avoid a shutdown, and it would have to do so through a narrowly GOP controlled House and avoid a filibuster in the Senate (where the GOP holds only 53 seats), which requires a vote of 60 senators.

In recent weeks, the stakes for the March CR vote increased as the Trump administration’s illegal attacks on the government, the rule of law and the constitutional authority of the Congress became ever more audacious. These events made it all the more clear that Democrats had no choice but to try to score a win with their bad hand of cards.

Meanwhile, thanks to effective pushback from Democrats and others, Trump’s position was weakening. Most importantly, state and local leaders drew attention to Trump’s often nihilistic attacks on the rule of law and essential government services. And state attorneys general — working hand in glove with networks of legal advocacy groups — implemented litigation plans they had been developing and perfecting, in some cases for years, to challenge Trump’s illegal actions in courts throughout the country.

What has made this litigation effort so effective has been the extraordinary level of coordination, expertise, and strategic thinking that has gone into it. In many cases, illegal actions, like the mass firing of federal probationary workers, have been challenged in multiple venues (sometimes including both courts and administrative bodies) at the same time. This both increases the chances of success and the attention being paid across the country to the recklessness of the Trump administration’s use of their power to tear down American institutions. The result has been to place on the defensive not only Trump, but also the GOP elected leaders who have rendered themselves and their party into mere appendages. As a result, the court proceedings have played a key role in demonstrating that Republicans’ allegiance is to Trump and Musk, not the American people.

As the administration has become more openly antagonistic to the nation it’s charged with governing — as demonstrated, for example, by the mass firings of veterans, threats to Social Security benefits, and a House Republican budget resolution that will require gutting Medicaid — Trumpers are now placing themselves at direct odds with huge numbers of citizens, among them many of the the independent voters that decide elections.

While anger toward the Trumpers’ nihilism was growing, the March 14 deadline approached. The opposition outside DC reasonably assumed that Democratic leaders in the Senate and House had a coordinated plan in place to meet the moment, and to leverage the success opponents of Trumpism had in bringing public attention to the stakes facing the country.

They were wrong.

The seeds of failure

In attempting to explain away their surrender of last Friday, Schumer and some of his fellow Democratic senators have unintentionally confessed to their political malpractice — they viewed the March deadline entirely through the lens of budget battles as they have been fought in DC since the 1990s.

The surrendering Democrats based their game plan on the assumption that Republicans would not be able to pass a continuing resolution in the House without Democratic votes. It made sense if one operated with the assumption that history always repeats itself. The GOP has a minuscule House majority, and a number of purportedly “Freedom Caucus” Republicans have virtually never voted for a CR, especially if doesn’t massively cut the deficit.

Yet there were a number of warnings signs that such a principle was not worth much. The far right’s “commitment” to fiscal austerity long ago became nothing more than a pretense. And just days ago, almost every House Republican, including virtually the entire Freedom Caucus, voted for a profligate budget resolution that calls for increasing the debt limit and massive tax cuts while at the same time promising to impose huge cuts on the neediest and most vulnerable Americans.

As the budget resolution vote made all the more clear, loyalty to Trump — who now fully controls the GOP — is all that matters to elected Republicans. That development alone provided good reason for Democrats to question the assumption that their votes would be required to pass a CR in the House. Furthermore, Democrats in both the House and the Senate must have noticed the conspicuous absence of any effort by GOP leaders to open negotiations with them over the terms of a CR even as the days ticked down toward March 14. In sum, relying on the assumption that the usual rules would apply was foolhardy.

But the surrendering Democrats’ problems went far beyond that. Their key failure was a lack of strategy. There was no indication that Democrats in the two houses of Congress had unified around a goal they hoped to achieve as a result of the CR fight. That is, frankly, both stupefying and unforgivable.

The issue presented was clear: The rapid Trumpist dismantling of government is not only cruel and nihilistic, it’s also illegal and a direct attack on the constitutionally assigned authority of Congress. Trump was, and is, selectively gutting, and even shutting down, parts of the government that he (or Musk) dislikes, in direct defiance of the legislative prerogatives of Congress that established and funded the agencies he’s destroying.

At a minimum, Democrats should have set out to use the CR process — which was their one near-term opportunity to deploy the filibuster — to demand, and insist, on guardrails that would place a stop to Trump’s illegal course of conduct. Those bottom line demands should have been agreed upon and become part of a carefully planned campaign well before the March 14 deadline.

Some members of Congress – together with commentators including, for example, Brian Beutler — had been saying as much for weeks and offering up specific ideas, such as a short-term CR packaged together with mandates for ending the DOGE assault, that had to be satisfied for Democrats to vote for longer future funding periods. These proposals made legislative and political sense, because they offered a path by which Democrats could make clear that they were not seeking to shut down the government, as the GOP (including Trump himself) has done in the past, but rather were trying to prevent the ongoing lawless MAGA rampage. Furthermore, polling demonstrated that the public was likely to (properly) largely blame Trump and his captive party, not the Democrats, for any resulting shutdown.

Had Democrats offered up such a bill and presented a unified front in support of it ahead of March 14, Democratic senators would not simply have been in the position of deciding whether or not to vote in favor of a shutdown. Instead, they would have been able to wrong-foot their GOP colleagues about their support for a DOGE “dismantle government services bill” rather than their alternative “keep essential services intact” proposal.

The popularity of such a Democratic alternative would likely only have grown as the public dissatisfaction grew with Trump’s atrocious “management” of the government and his administration’s increasingly overt threats to, among other things, Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security and veterans’ benefits. But no such proposal was presented.

Having failed to develop a legislative plan to oppose the Trump coup scheme, Democrats rendered themselves into sitting ducks. They lost this crucial battle before Schumer announced his intention to not block the House Republican CR.

Trump, Musk, and Mike Johnson are atrocious legislative strategists. During his first term, Trump managed to be the first president to engineer a government shutdown. And last December, before Trump had even entered the White House, he and Musk almost bumbled into causing, and being blamed for, a government shutdown for no particular reason.

Yet even these legislative incompetents had little difficulty realizing that, by choosing a path of passivity, Democrats had left themselves open to a devastating defeat.

And MAGA leaders took their opportunity, using the complete political dependence of virtually every Republican legislator in the House on Trump as a lever to extract votes for a GOP-only CR. Johnson sweetened the pot for some of his members by including in the bill a gutting of the budget of Washington DC and an assault on programs for the needy. He also sold it as a mechanism to give Musk and OMB Director Russell Vought a clear runway for the next six month to complete their scheme to dismantle the federal government.

That was all it took to pass the CR on the same party-line vote that had just passed the budget resolution. Then Johnson called the House to a recess and dared Democrats to filibuster the House CR. While Johnson might not be particularly savvy, he calculated that Senate Democrats would ultimately surrender — and he was right.

Having chosen, over the previous weeks and months, not to take elemental political steps to prepare for the eventuality he and his colleagues were presented with last Friday, Schumer’s contention that Democrats were faced with no good options had a curious ring of truth. They left themselves with no good options, then justified their surrender on the ground that there were no good options.

In announcing the Democratic cave, Schumer emphasized the parade of horribles that would ensue if the government shut down. He asserted that a shutdown would have given Trump and his cronies license to do great damage to the government.

Schumer’s argument was both somewhat true, but also absurd. On one hand, it’s all but certain that Trump would have tried to leverage a shutdown to further his nefarious ends. But on the other, as the past two months have made clear, Trump does not need a shutdown to destroy the country. Put otherwise, Schumer and his colleagues voted to give Trump license to do just what Schumer was warning against.

So where do we go from here? One terrible option is for the Democratic Party to descend into an orgy of infighting. While this may be a tempting course of action for some, such division is just what Russia and Trumpers benefit from (as we saw most dramatically during the 2016 campaign) and use every tool at their disposal to foment.

In this dire moment for the nation and its democratic institutions, the most significant cleavage in the Democratic Party is not ideological but strategic. One cohort of the party is willing — despite the emergency presented — to continue forward in a reactive mode, biding their time with the expectation that Trump’s authoritarian project will peter out on its own. But the larger faction of the party understands, or is beginning to understand, that watchful waiting is neither a cogent nor responsible approach. This is not an argument for “breaking norms” as an end in itself. But it is an argument for taking chances based on rational strategies.

The surrender of March 14 should serve as a model of what not to do. While a key opportunity was needlessly lost, Democrats have a responsibility to the nation to avoid indulgent finger-pointing. They need to seize new the opportunities that will inevitably arise as Trump’s project to tear the United States continues, and to do so in a coordinated and strategic way. Reactive meekness must be a thing of the past.

[covid-safer-hotties]

Reference saved in our archive

Covid's making it difficult for people's immune systems to suppress cancer. There was a recent small-scale mouse study showing "tumor shrinkage" in a small percentage of those transgenic mice. This is a much larger analysis of the oncogenic potential of covid in humans. Guess which story the news has been reporting.

Abstract The 2019 outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has caused a major worldwide health crisis with high rates of morbidity and death. Interestingly, it has also been linked to cancer, which begs the issue of whether it plays a role in carcinogenesis. Recent studies have revealed various mechanisms by which SARS-CoV-2 can influence oncogenic pathways, potentially promoting cancer development. The virus encodes several proteins that alter key signaling pathways associated with cancer hallmarks. Unlike classical oncogenic viruses, which transform cells through viral oncogenes or by activating host oncogenes, SARS-CoV-2 appears to promote tumorigenesis by inhibiting tumor suppressor genes and pathways while activating survival, proliferation, and inflammation-associated signaling cascades. Bioinformatic analyses and experimental studies have identified numerous interactions between SARS-CoV-2 proteins and cellular components involved in cancer-related processes. This review explores the intricate relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and cancer, focusing on the regulation of key hallmarks driving initiation, promotion and progression of cancer by viral proteins. By elucidating the underlying mechanisms driving cellular transformation, the potential of SARS-CoV-2 as an oncovirus is highlighted. Comprehending these interplays is essential to enhance our understanding of COVID-19 and cancer biology and further formulating strategies to alleviate SARS-CoV-2 influence on cancer consequences.

[politicalprof]

The Banality of AI and the destruction of actual thought:

In my continuing exploration of the many ways AI is going to make it ever easier to say bland and innocuous things without having to think about it, I present the following prompt and response from Google Gemini for anyone interested.

For context, universities have for decades now been layering on new requirements intended to provide an "objective" basis for assessing why one candidate deserves tenure or not, or why one applicant deserves a grant or a job, etc. However, while these layers may be well-intended, in time they devolve into rote exercises that prove little beyond the fact that you know how to write certain types of statements "the right way." One such statement that is commonly required these days is a "teaching statement." It is ubiquitous for job applications, tenure and promotion files, and even some grant applications. Enjoy!

Prompt:

write a teaching statement for a tenure application that emphasizes my use of student-centered, active learning with the goal of developing my students' critical thinking skills

Response:

Teaching Statement

My approach to teaching is rooted in the belief that students learn best by actively engaging with course material and constructing their own understanding. I strive to create dynamic, student-centered learning environments that foster critical thinking, collaboration, and intellectual curiosity. My goal is not simply to transmit knowledge, but to empower students to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners.

Student-Centered Learning: I prioritize student engagement and agency in the learning process. I design my courses with a variety of active learning strategies, including:

Inquiry-based learning: I pose open-ended questions and present real-world problems that encourage students to explore concepts, formulate hypotheses, and develop solutions collaboratively.

Collaborative projects: I incorporate group work and peer learning activities that promote teamwork, communication, and the exchange of diverse perspectives.

Case studies and simulations: I use case studies and simulations to provide students with opportunities to apply theoretical knowledge to practical situations, analyze complex scenarios, and make informed decisions.

Reflective writing and discussions: I encourage students to reflect on their learning through journals, online forums, and class discussions, promoting metacognition and deeper understanding.

Developing Critical Thinking: A central focus of my teaching is to cultivate students' critical thinking skills. I explicitly teach and model these skills through:

Analyzing and evaluating information: I guide students in assessing the credibility, relevance, and bias of information sources, encouraging them to question assumptions and challenge conventional wisdom.

Constructing arguments and supporting claims: I provide opportunities for students to develop well-reasoned arguments, supported by evidence and logical reasoning.

Problem-solving and decision-making: I present complex problems that require students to analyze information, identify potential solutions, and evaluate their consequences.

Debates and discussions: I facilitate respectful and intellectually stimulating debates and discussions that encourage students to consider multiple perspectives and refine their own viewpoints.

Creating an Inclusive Learning Environment: I am committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive classroom where all students feel valued, respected, and supported in their learning. I strive to:

Establish clear expectations and learning goals.

Provide timely and constructive feedback.

Offer individualized support and guidance.

Promote a culture of respect and open communication.

Assessment and Continuous Improvement: I use a variety of assessment methods to measure student learning and inform my teaching practice, including:

Formative assessments: I use ongoing assessments, such as quizzes, in-class activities, and online discussions, to monitor student progress and provide timely feedback.

Summative assessments: I use exams, projects, and presentations to evaluate student learning outcomes and mastery of course content.

Student feedback: I actively solicit student feedback through course evaluations and informal surveys to identify areas for improvement and refine my teaching strategies.

Conclusion: I am passionate about teaching and dedicated to creating engaging and effective learning experiences for my students. I believe that my student-centered, active learning approach, with its emphasis on critical thinking, prepares students not only for success in their academic pursuits but also for meaningful engagement in their future careers and communities. I am committed to continuous growth as an educator and look forward to further developing my teaching practice at [Institution Name].

[pun-for-fun]

Littlefoot is a BAMF

I rewatched Land Before Time (the first movie) yesterday for the first time since I was a lil kid and like. Holy shit.

Littlefoot, this little kid, upon being freshly orphaned after years of starving in a wasteland, goes off the rails and rounds up a group of other little kids (one of which is a NEWBORN, SPIKE) and one of which that is constantly spewing dinosaur racism (but don't come after my girl Cera all that crap is her dad's fault), led them all across a barren wasteland while starving and being actively hunted.

Look at them. This is right after killing the sharptooth. ZERO REMORSE OR INJURY, just rosy cheeks and smiles. Terrifying little children, my god. Which leads me to this- when he got fed up with being hunted (legit fed up and not just scared), he just goes "You know what? I've had enough of this sharptooth. Gather round everybody I have a plan." and then goes on to formulate a working strategy that allows a group of five little kids to literally murder a bloodthirsty t-rex. Which was entirely justified given the circumstances (if you didn't cry over Littlefoot's mom dying then I don't trust you), but was also done with zero guilt or hesitation.

This is the face of a killer. And until that same t-rex crushed it underfoot, Littlefoot was able to keep his tree-star intact and vibrant for countless miles of travel through everything. Honestly I think it might have been a power limiter his mom gave him, because he came up with that flawless murder plan and then found the great valley minutes later only after the tree-star got shredded. Like Rock Lee's ankle weight. Did his mom know what would be unleashed without it?? Actually in hindsight Littlefoot might have gotten the quietly unhingedness from her, given that her last act was to beat the crap out of that sharptooth so hard that it caused a literal earthquake...and then she appeared in the tree-star, and the clouds...

Hold on. Hold on a fucking second.

Was Littlefoot's mom like, a dinosaur goddess?? Is THAT why LIttlefoot was the only child born in the longneck herd, how she beat down the t-rex while starving and wounded, caused an earthquake, then spoke from beyond the veil to give Littlefoot guidance???

Fuck. GUYS. LITTLEFOOT IS A DINOSAUR DEMIGOD. DEMIDINO. DINOGOD. FUCK.

The movie even follows the same sort of format that most myths do- with the hero going through trials and gaining allies and defeating a feared enemy to achieve some seemingly impossible goal. AND he kept his tree-star alive for that long, even in literal volcanic conditions- how??

Okay so I only realized all of this in the process of writing this post, but. In conclusion. Littlefoot is a terrifying sweetheart of a long-neck demigod, his mother was a goddess, and now I'm scared to ask about his grandparents.

Bonus: If Spike helped commit pre-meditated murder of a gigantic predator as essentially a newborn, than his sleepiness may be mercy upon us given how it indicates a level of potential power above even Littlefoot. Like Hercules killing those snakes in his cradle or something. I don't know. Fucking hell.

(And don't come after me talking about suspension of disbelief and unrealistic limits in movies. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about what the movie itself implies. Goddamn.)

[remimibanana]

Episode 7 Thoughts!

I watched Episode 7 and I wanted to share my thoughts about it!

All under the cut!

WOW

This episode was rapid paced but full of action with so many hype moments!

Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

Everyone reconvenes where President Vernon is and they start formulating a plan on how to actually defeat Nerville from the future who is trying to destroy them all.

Jack-O’ mentions that there is a multidimensional distortion barrier and they can’t break it even if they were to reach it. The magic weapon could, but it needs time to change targets (which is such bad design, who made this again LOL)

El and Ram then use their powers as Valentine units to shoot through the barrier unprompted, forcing Nerville to retreat like a sissy. Can I just say, THEY WERE SO AWESOME HERE AAAAAAAAAAA

I love El and Ram a lot, so I’m glad to see them have such screen time and roles in this episode!

We see Bridget appear to appeal for Unika, to show that she isn’t as bad. She’s just a little lost and is trying her hardest to find an answer. Then Dr Paradigm comes back and helps out with the analysis and strategy!

The magic weapon doesn’t have enough power as is to shoot through the barrier, so Vernon then takes all the magic cylinders from around the world in order to power up the weapon.

Sin tries to talk to Unika, but alas she doesn’t respond to his words…but she does respond to what happens next to another dear friend. I didn’t expect for this to happen.

Bridget is helping them all out, and she suddenly gets attacked and is hurt in the process. BRIDGET NOOOOOOOO NOT MY BRISKET THEY TOOK HER OUT MAN

Unika then rushes out after knowing something happened, and that spurs her to act in haste to help everyone out by using herself as an amplifier for the magic weapon.

I think this must be Unika’s overdrive that they didn’t show in her trailer they released because it would be a huge spoiler for the anime, and if it is…HELL YEAH! I’m going to absolutely love playing as her.

She then gets taken by Nerville.

It’s interesting to note that Nerville is actually a variant of a Gear, so being taken down by his own virus he made against Gears as Frederick plans to do with a modified bullet is really ironic.

It’s great to see Sin’s character development here, he asks for the bullet and to take some of the burden…he’s growing up so well. I’ve always liked him but I think this anime makes him more likable and shows how he’s not just a silly glutton.

Sin then uses his Command Gear powers and asks for all the Gears around the world to help! The visuals during this whole sequence were amazing, especially seeing Testament fighting!!!! I had to go back to make sure because they were shown for a few seconds.

The magic weapon is finally shot once full power is established, and the main crew enter the barrier in order to see how UGLY Nerville is here like DAMN NO WONDER YOU HIDE YOURSELF

We then get awesome fighting sequences with everyone, with my favourite ones being El, Ram and Jack-O’s! They showcased the power of each of the Valentines so well, it made me very happy!

Didn’t know Jack-O’ could split herself into infinite personalities.

THEN AXL LOW MY MAN COMES BACK I SCREAMED HE’S OKAYYYY

Classic Guilty Gear with people appearing without any real reason.

Then the fight sequence after is reminiscent of the opening sequence and that’s awesome. Everyone then uses their power to shoot at Nerville’s barrier he has, through the power of friendship. But they’re all struggling until…

KY AND DIZZY MAKE A COMEBACK HELLO AND SHOOT THEIR POWER TO HELP AAAAAAAA DO YOU SEE HIS DRAGON INSTALL STATE WOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Then Frederick throws Sin’s flag pole and he rides right into the chaos that is Nerville….I feel like I could word this better than I did LOL

Point is, it was a pretty good episode and I’m excited to see the finale next week! I don’t think I want it to end already….

[darkmaga-returns]

By Vijay Jayaraj

When it comes to global energy policy, few narratives are as instructive — and as cautionary — as Europe’s.

Why?

Their ill-fated experiment with wind and solar energy.

The continent’s self-inflicted woes contain lessons that should be taken to heart by those formulating U.S. energy strategy for the incoming administration.

Europe’s Misplaced Trust in Wind and Solar

Europe’s embrace of weather-dependent power generation, particularly in Germany and the United Kingdom, was a profound miscalculation.

These nations embarked on an ambitious energy transformation, predicated on the assumption that wind and solar could replace traditional fossil fuels. The result has been a catastrophe, as predicted by many.

Germany, often celebrated as the champion of “renewable” energy, should be crowned king of incompetence.

The country’s heavy investment in wind and solar has not only failed to deliver promised reductions of carbon dioxide emissions — the bogeyman of climate alarmists — but also has destabilized its once robust industrial economy.

Germany’s manufacturing sector — historically, the economic powerhouse of Europe — has been brought to its knees, with energy costs rendering many industrial processes economically unviable.

Reporting on prices in the second week of December, Robert Bryce says that “Germany’s wholesale power market came close to $1,000 per megawatt-hour, the highest level in 18 years.”

The fundamental problem lies in the inherent unpredictability of renewable sources.

Wind power demonstrates acute vulnerabilities during critical periods.

Winter presents a perfect storm of challenges: Reduced wind generation coincides with peak energy demand, creating grid instability, and heightened risk of blackouts.

[transmutationisms]

any controversial thoughts on psychoanalysis?

now why would you just assume that about me. yeah though. psychoanalysis gets a lot of shit these days for being, like, 'subjective' and 'not verifiable' and 'kind of made up and prone to bias' and so forth. and a lot of that is basically true imo but it's equally true of today's more respectable talk therapy methods, and critics of analysis really lose me when they start caping for therapeutic modalities that are like, literally only 'evidence-based' insofar as they're endorsed by nhs-funded studies run by people who make their careers off promising to reduce welfare rolls. like lmao.

also, "psychoanalysis" is obviously a pretty broad term encompassing a lot of different theories but in general, these modalities tend to be marked by an emphasis on exploring and accepting internal conflict and contradiction (this is the import of formulating the subconscious, mechanisms of defence & repression, &c) in a way i personally find a lot more useful than the kind of post-70s self-help style of, like, "think better, feel better" and the focus on 'practical strategies' for overcoming your dysfunction or whatever. like i'm so tired of that sort of presumption of what a 'healed' or 'healthy' psyche looks like, as though we are all striving to reach a condition in which we no longer admit of contradiction or self-negation or abnegation. i think most psychotherapy that tries to consciously excise the spectre of psychoanalysis just ends up falling back on this sort of relentlessly positive & positivist understanding of the psyche that is totally incapable of dealing with any kind of interior dialectical process or multiplicity of identity. it sucks so hard and makes me feel a thousand times more miserable and insane than old man freud ever could. reichian revival when ‼️

[didanawisgi]

"Let me reiterate, once and for all, that the claim that viruses ‘naturally’ evolve to become milder—because supposedly it's not in their interest to kill us—is sheer nonsense! The origin of such primitive statements lies in a blatant lack of knowledge—not necessarily in virology, but in immunology, especially population-level immunity. Viruses that spread extracellularly, like coronaviruses, will eventually face transmission dead-ends when the majority of the population develops high titers of neutralizing antibodies (Abs). These Abs have the capacity to neutralize the virus before it can infect susceptible cells, thus mitigating disease symptoms and eventually terminating the infection. The more the virus spreads, the more people will be infected and re-infected, driving their Ab titers higher—until transmission collapses entirely. This basic immunological mechanism leaves immunologically illiterate scientists with the absurd impression that a virus somehow possesses a brain, capable of strategically deciding not to kill its hosts in order to ensure its own survival! The stupidity of this reasoning is exposed by the observation that even mild pandemics—those with low mortality rates—can still lead quite quickly to a decline in cases and disease severity, even though such viral behavior does not require the virus to evolve into something particularly ‘gentle’.

As outline in the referenced article (New HIV variant discovered in the Netherlands | Financial Times), viruses like HIV can combine high virulence with high transmissibility. If that is the case, there is absolutely no scientific basis to assume that a highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 (SC-2) variant couldn't also become more virulent! Given the high level of immune resistance exhibited by the currently circulating SC-2 variants, any further evolution toward greater virulence would culminate in a catastrophic triad: high immune escape, high transmissibility, and high virulence. Ominously, the ongoing erosion of innate immunity (cfr. NB. 1.8.1) by currently circulating variants suggests we are already heading in that direction.

Yet, public health authorities remain willfully blind, arrogantly issuing insane recommendations to continue mass Covid-19 (C-19) vaccination—directly fueling the disastrous immune escape this virus is exploiting. Anyone with even a basic biological education will recognize the grave warning presented in the attached publication: “The HIV and SARS-CoV-2 pandemics demonstrate that viruses can—and will—evolve higher virulence when such traits are favored by natural selection.” This report also confirms that under high, suboptimal intra-host immune pressure, extensive genetic changes can occur—resulting in significant phenotypic differences—without intermediate steps in the viral evolutionary pathway, a process known as ‘saltational’ evolution. Yet, when it comes to taking these principles into account in the formulation of policy recommendations for managing SC-2 in highly C-19–vaccinated populations, heads that once nodded in agreement suddenly begin to shake in denial! Large-scale antiviral treatment—a strategy proven effective even against HIV—is not even considered, because its implementation would threaten the most profitable strongholds of the Vaccine Industry!

This level of reckless, willful blindness is unprecedented—a direct, arrogant assault on science itself. And tragically, it is one that will come with enormous public health consequences."

[mariacallous]

The booming popularity of Ozempic and other GLP-1 drugs for weight loss has led to a flurry of companies vying to make new and improved anti-obesity medications.

One of those is Boston-based Syntis Bio, which is working on a daily pill that mimics the effects of gastric bypass—no actual surgery required. Today, the company announced early data from animals and a small group of human volunteers showing that its approach is safe and may be able to suppress hunger. The company presented the findings Thursday at the European Congress on Obesity and Weight Management.

“We're at a stage with obesity treatment where it's important for us to figure out, how do we now tune it to be more effective?” says Rahul Dhanda, Syntis Bio’s CEO and cofounder.

A poll conducted in April and May of 2024 found that around 12 percent of Americans have tried a GLP-1 drug such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, or Mounjaro—a number that has likely only grown over the past year. But many people eventually stop using these drugs. Cost and insurance coverage is one factor. Another is that GLP-1s can cause nausea, vomiting, and other unpleasant side effects. And some patients would prefer a pill over a weekly injection.

Syntis is aiming to develop another option for people looking to lose weight. The company’s drug is designed to redirect the absorption of nutrients from the beginning of the small intestine to its end. The effect is similar to gastric bypass, in which surgeons make the stomach smaller and shorten the small intestine. As a result, food bypasses much of the small intestine. The procedure changes how the body absorbs food, and leaves people feeling fuller from eating less.

Gastric bypass is a type of bariatric surgery, which an estimated 280,000 people received in 2022. But fewer people are turning to surgery with the advent of new anti-obesity medications. A study published last year in JAMA Open Network found that as prescriptions for GLP-1s skyrocketed between 2022 and 2023, rates of bariatric surgery dropped 25.6 percent.

The drug Syntis is working on does not actually shorten the intestine, like gastric bypass does. Instead, it creates a temporary coating in the upper part of the small intestine, blocking the absorption of nutrients there. This moves nutrients down to the lower part of the small intestine, where satiety hormones—including GLP-1—are triggered.

It does this with two main ingredients: dopamine, a small molecule best known for its relation to the brain, and a tiny amount of hydrogen peroxide. When this combination reaches the small intestine, it comes into contact with a naturally occurring enzyme called catalase. The job of catalase is to break down hydrogen peroxide, which is harmful to the body in high amounts, into water and oxygen. The process converts the dopamine into polydopamine, a biocompatible polymer. Within minutes, a thin film of polydopamine forms that coats the lining of the small intestine. The cells in this lining turn over quickly, so the coating is only temporary. It’s designed to last around 24 hours.

The drug is based on research conducted at MIT by Giovanni Traverso, a gastroenterologist and mechanical engineer, and Robert Langer, a chemical engineer who has launched more than two dozen biotech companies.

The two discovered the mechanism when working on a way to develop liquid drug formulations that could be given to children. They soon realized they could make this temporary synthetic coating more or less permeable, to either enhance absorption or slow it down. That latter ability was appealing as a treatment for obesity.

“This material is something you would take as a capsule or liquid, but the next day it's gone because of the natural turnover of our mucosal surface in the GI tract,” Traverso says. He and Langer cofounded Syntis with Dhanda in 2022. He likens this coating to what mussels and other shellfish use to stick to rocks or the ocean floor.

In the results Syntis announced, the drug was delivered in a liquid form via a tube directly to the small intestine so that researchers could check that the polymer coating formed as expected. A tablet form has already been tested in pigs and dogs, and it’s what Syntis plans to test in future human studies.

In rats, the drug produced a consistent 1 percent weekly weight loss over a six-week study period while preserving 100 percent of lean muscle mass.

In a first-in-human pilot study of nine participants, the drug was safe with no adverse effects. Tissue samples taken from the intestine were used to confirm that the coating formed and was also cleared from the body within 24 hours. The study wasn’t designed to assess weight loss, but blood testing showed that after the drug was given, glucose levels and the “hunger hormone” ghrelin were lower while the levels of leptin, an appetite-regulating hormone, were higher.

“When nutrients are redirected to later in the intestine, you're activating pathways that lead towards satiety, energy expenditure, and overall healthy, sustainable weight loss,” Dhanda says.

Syntis Bio’s findings in animals also hint at the drug’s potential for weight loss without compromising muscle mass, one of the concerns with current GLP-1 drugs. While weight loss in general is associated with numerous health benefits, there’s growing evidence that the kind of drastic weight loss that GLP-1s induce can also lead to a loss of lean muscle mass.

Louis Aronne, an obesity medicine specialist and professor of metabolic research at Weill-Cornell Medical College, says that while GLP-1s are wildly popular, they may not be right for everyone. He predicts that in the not-so-distant future there will be many drugs for obesity and treatment will be more personalized. “I think Syntis’ compound fits in perfectly as a treatment that could be used early on. It’s a kind of thing you could use as a first-line medication,” he says. Arrone serves as a clinical adviser to the company.

Vladimir Kushnir, professor of medicine and director of bariatric endoscopy at Washington University in St. Louis, who isn’t involved with Syntis, says the early pilot data is encouraging, but it’s hard to draw any conclusions from such a small study. He expects that the drug will make people feel fuller but could also have some of the same side effects as gastric bypass surgery. “My anticipation is that this is going to have some digestive side effects like bloating and abdominal cramping, as well as potentially some diarrhea and nausea once it gets into a bigger study,” he says.

It’s early days for this novel technique, but if it proves effective, it could one day be an alternative or add-on drug to GLP-1 medications.

[dailyanarchistposts]

According to post-leftists, what defines the left?

dot

old and rigid forms of organization

specialization of roles, both within organizaions and between radicals and the masses™

representation

ideological thinking

categorization of (or perpetuating the categorization of) people into state-sponsored identities (gender, skin color, religion, etc)

valorization of work

law

I agree with dot, but I think some basics need to be examined even before her list.

The Left is usually considered by most (sympathetic) commentators to have something to do with a criticism of (the worst excesses of) capitalism—naturally depending on how we understand capitalism. The Left is often therefore equated with a generic Socialism. We have to acknowledge that Socialism is internally incoherent enough to be able to accommodate such diverse ideas as Maoism, right-wing (anti-Marxist, anti-revolutionary) Social Democracy, revolutionary (or reformist) Marxism, the left wing of the Democratic Party (Kucinich), and some types of anarchism (NEFAC, syndicalists, pro-democracy folks like Milstein). What they all share is a desire to use and/or take over most of the functions of the state in ways that ameliorate those aforementioned excesses. In this way they remain within the authoritarian system common to all other forms of tinkering with institutions of hierarchy and domination.

The reason post-left @s dislike Leftist categories and strategies is that we (if I may speak for others for the moment) find those categories and strategies to be historical failures; we judge them failures not just because stupid people were doing them, but because of the inherent philosophical problems with them. So a rigid organizational form like a political party (point a) is a problem not because of its particular program or platform or internal decision-making process, but because it is organized as a supposedly representative body (point c) that requires a division of labor (point b).

Ideological thinking (point d) is a problem because it uses backwards logic. Ideologists begin from solutions or answers and only later formulate questions—that just by coincidence happen to point precisely to those solutions or answers. The questions are only questions in a technical sense because they being with Why What Where Who Which When How, but they have the (desired/expected) answers imbedded in them. Most Leftist questions are How statements rather than Why questions. In this way they remain in line with all other forms of authoritarian or hierarchical methods of so-called discussion.

Because most forms of Leftism begin as a reaction to the ugly aspects of capitalism, they all share strategies for curtailing its excesses. One way to begin that process is to valorize not just work (point f) but workers as workers, as those whose labor and effort produces the wealth that is expropriated (by providing workers with a wage lower than the value of the goods and services their labor goes to produce) by those who own the means of production (whether capitalists or the state). Whether workers are conceived of as the Revolutionary Subject of History or just poor slobs who don’t get enough pay and/or benefits, they are elevated as the primary object (or agent) of salvation.

All leftist strategies are predicated on a redistribution of wealth, which means that they all wish to maintain methods of calibrating value in labor, in commodities, and in exchange. This is economy, and along with retooled mechanisms of statecraft (whether enshrined as government or the voluntarism so beloved of NGOs), certainly is a decent way of understanding the primary problems associated with Leftism. It has been pointed out by the left-anarchist critics of post-left @ that these are basic anarchist criticisms of capitalism and the state and authoritarianism in general. Fair enough; not many post-left @s trumpet their analyses as particularly new or ground-breaking. But one of the neglected points of post-left @ is that we are critics of false opposition to capitalism and the state. Where Leftists (and many left anarchists fall into this category) want to improve the lives of workers, post-left @s wish to abolish work (as a coercive and separate sphere of useful endeavor); where Leftists wish to expropriate the means of production to turn them to social use rather than as generators of profit, post-left @s wish to abolish economy, and at the very least facilitate a large-scale discussion of which technologies to maintain while destroying the ones that most folks don’t want or need; where Leftists want to develop or extend protections or compensations for categories of people who have been historically oppressed, post-left @s wish to abolish the ideology of victimization (point e).

Naturally there a ton of questions that arise from this brief overview, but that’s as it should be. For me the most interesting aspect of identifying with post-left @ is that we actually yearn for more questions than answers; with any luck, that’s also a way of steering clear of ideology.

[aghost-writer]

Followers

Chapter 29

This is a Yandere Jujutsu Kaisen/JJK x Female Reader Fic!

MDNI!!!

Y/N awoke in an unfamiliar, yet strikingly luxurious dorm room. Her head throbbed with a dull ache, a residual effect of the drugged water Gojo had given her. As she blinked away the haze of unconsciousness, she became aware of the opulence around her: pristine skincare products lined the dresser, high-end sneakers sat neatly in their boxes by the closet, and an array of premium school supplies were stacked on a nearby desk.

Sitting up slowly, Y/N’s mind raced. The situation was immediately unsettling. Her initial impulse was to flee, but she forced herself to remain calm. Panicking wouldn’t help—she needed to assess the situation and find an escape route.

She pushed the plush comforter aside and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. As she approached the door, she noticed a large, imposing figure waiting just outside. Y/N hesitated, her heart pounding as she tried to process the situation. The figure was unmistakably Maki, her posture exuding confidence and strength. Maki stood with a spear in hand, her gaze fixed and unwavering.

“Where the hell is Gojo?” Y/N demanded, trying to keep her voice steady despite the tension she felt.

Maki didn’t flinch. Her expression was one of stoic determination. “I’m here to watch over you. Gojo is... elsewhere.”

Y/N raised an eyebrow, her irritation growing. “And why am I here?”

Maki’s gaze remained cool and unyielding. “That’s not something I’m here to discuss. My orders are to ensure you stay in this room until further notice.”

Y/N’s mind raced, piecing together the fragments of her disoriented memory. She had been drugged and brought here—somewhere within Jujutsu Kaisen’s college. Her escape would be tricky, considering the guard Maki posed and the unknowns about the facility.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Y/N muttered under her breath, glancing around the room for any potential escape routes. The room was well-furnished, but it lacked an obvious way out other than the door Maki guarded.

Her gaze turned back to Maki. “Listen, I don’t know what this is all about, but I’m not sticking around here. I need to get out.”

Maki’s response was calm and measured. “I understand your frustration, but my instructions are clear. You’re to stay put until further instructions come through.”

Y/N’s thoughts whirled. Gojo’s presence was a critical piece she needed to address. If he was behind this, he would be the key to her situation. “So, Gojo’s not here. That means he’s probably the one who orchestrated this. But why?”

Maki’s demeanor didn’t shift. “That’s not for me to answer. My job is to ensure you remain in this room.”

Y/N took a deep breath, regaining her composure. Panicking would only worsen her predicament. Instead, she needed a strategy. “Alright, then. How about you let me know when Gojo’s available? I need to speak with him.”

Maki’s eyes narrowed slightly, but she didn’t move from her position. “I can pass along the message, but I’m not sure when he’ll be available to meet with you.”

Y/N’s irritation flared, but she forced herself to remain calm. “Fine. Just make sure he gets the message. I need answers.”

With that, Y/N took a step back, eyeing the room’s amenities with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. She was in a gilded cage, and Maki’s presence was a constant reminder of her captivity. Her focus shifted to the room’s luxuries—the skincare products, the high-end shoes, and the neatly organized school supplies. They were clearly intended to make her comfortable, but they were also a stark reminder of her current lack of freedom.

As she sat back on the bed, she began to formulate a plan. If Gojo had brought her here, he likely had his reasons, and she needed to understand them. In the meantime, she would have to navigate this new environment with caution and patience.

Maki remained outside the door, her vigilance unwavering. Y/N’s escape would not be easy with the guard watching her, but she was determined to find a way to address her situation and confront Gojo. For now, her best course of action was to wait and observe, keeping her wits sharp and her mind focused.

Hours passed slowly. The room remained unchanged, with Maki’s presence a constant but silent reminder of her confinement. Y/N’s thoughts were a whirlwind of strategies and questions, each one focusing on how she could turn her predicament to her advantage.

As she waited, she knew one thing for certain: this was far from over.

༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥❀༺♥༺♥༻

Gojo Satoru sat in his office, a spacious, minimalist room with a large desk strewn with paperwork and a sleek computer monitor displaying multiple camera feeds. He leaned back in his ergonomic chair, his attention fixed on the screen as he scanned through various feeds from security cameras placed around the Jujutsu College campus. One particular feed captured the luxurious dorm room where Y/N was being held. The camera in her room was discreetly positioned to avoid detection, its lens carefully camouflaged within the room’s décor.

Gojo's expression was unreadable, his typically carefree demeanor replaced with a rare intensity. His Six Eyes technique allowed him to see every detail, every shift in the room, and every nuance in Y/N's reactions. He was intent on monitoring her, observing her responses, and understanding her behavior under the new circumstances he had orchestrated.

On the screen, Y/N moved about the room with a mix of frustration and curiosity. Her earlier agitation had settled into a cautious calm as she explored the lavish amenities. Gojo watched her every movement, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

Suddenly, Y/N flinched. It was a brief, almost imperceptible movement, but Gojo’s Six Eyes detected it instantly. He leaned forward, his attention sharpening. There was no obvious trigger for her reaction—no visible disturbance in the room, no apparent threat—but the flinch was undeniable. It was as if something intangible had just passed through her.

Gojo’s curiosity piqued. He began to review the footage leading up to the flinch, seeking any clues or changes in her behavior. He saw her light a candle, then extinguish it, her expression a mix of confusion and frustration. The moment of her flinch came just after she had finished this act, suggesting a possible connection between the candle and her sudden reaction.

He watched with mounting interest. He knew that something significant had just happened, though he couldn't yet pinpoint what it was. The flinch seemed to be a reaction to an unseen force or a subtle shift in her aura. Despite her lack of visible cursed energy, Gojo was certain that something had transpired. 

His thoughts raced. Was it a reaction to the environment he had placed her in? Or was it something more profound—an unconscious bond or connection forming between them? Gojo’s mind buzzed with possibilities. The idea of a bond snapping into place was intriguing, especially given how unexpected it was. Y/N had shown no overt signs of cursed energy, yet her reaction suggested a deeper, more complex dynamic.

Gojo’s gaze remained fixed on the monitor as he reviewed the footage again, trying to make sense of what he had seen. The flinch, subtle yet significant, was a clear indication that something had shifted. He considered the implications—was it a result of his manipulation, or was there something more at play? 

The thought of Y/N being connected to him in some way, even if she was unaware of it, intrigued him. He considered how this new development might influence his plans. If a bond had formed, it could alter the dynamics of their interactions and potentially offer new avenues for influence or control.

He made a mental note to investigate further, but for now, he remained focused on observing Y/N’s behavior. He was determined to understand the full extent of what had happened and how it might impact his strategies. His interest in Y/N had always been more than just professional curiosity—there was an element of personal intrigue that he couldn't fully ignore.

As the hours passed, Gojo continued to monitor the feed, his mind working through the implications of Y/N’s reaction. He knew that he needed to tread carefully. Any abrupt actions or revelations could jeopardize the delicate balance he had set in place. For now, he would continue to watch, gathering information and waiting for the right moment to act.

༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥❀༺♥༺♥༻

Y/N paced restlessly around the luxurious dorm room, her frustration simmering beneath her calm facade. The plush surroundings, the pampering amenities—everything seemed to mock her sense of entrapment. The candles she had lit and extinguished were now scattered about the room, their wax melting into a tangled mess. Each flicker and each shudder seemed to deepen her unease.

The sudden sound of the door opening made her freeze. She turned, her heart racing. Gojo Satoru strolled into the room with a confident, almost casual air. His trademark blindfold was off, revealing his sharp, curious eyes. His presence was as commanding as ever, and Y/N immediately knew that the bond she had felt—the one she had struggled to understand—was connected to him.

Gojo's eyes settled on her with an unreadable expression. "Hello, Y/N," he greeted, his voice smooth and insincere. "How are we today?"

Y/N's eyes narrowed, her frustration boiling over. "You. This is all your doing, isn't it?" Her voice was steady, though she could feel her heart pounding.

Gojo’s grin widened as he walked closer, his movements casual and fluid. "You could say that. I thought it was time we had a little chat. Alone."

He reached out a hand, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face with a tenderness that seemed at odds with his earlier demeanor. His touch lingered, and Y/N flinched involuntarily, her instincts screaming to back away. But Gojo was persistent, his fingers trailing down her cheek as he leaned in closer.

His touch, while soft, was unsettling. Y/N could feel the underlying pressure of his cursed energy, an invisible force that seemed to wrap around her, reinforcing the sensation of being trapped. She took a deep breath, trying to maintain her composure. She had no idea what his intentions were, but she wasn't going to let him see her break.

"Stop it," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "This isn't a game."

Gojo's eyes gleamed with amusement. "Oh, but it is. And you're the center of it. I have to say, I'm quite fascinated by you, Y/N."

Before she could react, Gojo's hand moved to her waist, pulling her closer. His touch was more intimate now, his other hand resting lightly on her back. Y/N’s discomfort turned to anger. This invasion of her personal space was the last straw.

With a surge of defiance, she raised her hand and slapped him across the face. The motion was swift and filled with pent-up frustration. But to her shock, Gojo didn't flinch or even seem to react in pain. Instead, his eyes widened in surprise as he looked at her, a look of pure astonishment on his face.

Gojo had activated his Limitless technique instinctively to protect himself from any physical harm. But Y/N's slap, though it had connected, had somehow managed to slip through the technique, landing squarely on his cheek. The fact that she had managed to hit him at all was a revelation that left him momentarily stunned.

He rubbed his cheek, his surprise turning into a twisted fascination. "Well, that was unexpected," he said, his voice carrying an edge of genuine intrigue. "You're the first person to get through my Limitless technique like that. How interesting."

Y/N took a step back, her heart racing. She could see the realization dawning on Gojo, the recognition of her defiance and strength. She had expected his reaction to be one of anger or annoyance, not this strange blend of shock and curiosity.

Gojo’s smile turned into something darker, his eyes narrowing as he assessed her with newfound intensity. "It seems I underestimated you. I think I need to keep a closer eye on you. You’re much more intriguing than I initially thought."

As Gojo’s thoughts raced, he made a decision. The thrill of seeing her manage to bypass his defenses ignited a possessive desire within him. He wanted Y/N all to himself, just as he had once desired Y/N Haibara. The feeling was almost primal, a mixture of admiration and obsession that had taken root in his mind.

"I’m afraid you're going to be spending a lot more time with me from now on," Gojo said, his voice taking on a more commanding tone. "And I won’t be as lenient as I was before. I have a feeling we’re going to get to know each other very well."

With that, Gojo took a step closer, his hand reaching out to lightly touch her arm, his touch still electric and overwhelming despite her previous slap. Y/N's gaze hardened, her defiance unwavering. She had no intention of letting him dominate her life, but she knew she needed to navigate this new reality with care.

༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥❀༺♥༺♥༻

Gojo continued to watch Y/N with a mix of satisfaction and possessiveness. His gaze was unwavering, filled with an intensity that made it clear he had no intention of letting her go. As he spoke, his tone was both smooth and commanding, leaving no room for argument.

"I brought you here to Jujutsu College," Gojo said, his voice carrying a sense of finality. "I couldn’t just leave you out there in the field, unprotected. It’s not safe for you. But here, you can stay as a student and work as a manager trainee for the school."

Y/N’s eyes widened with a mixture of shock and frustration. "Why are you going through all this trouble? Why not just let me be?"

Gojo's expression remained calm, his smile never faltering. "You see, Y/N, you couldn’t take care of yourself out there. I’m doing this because you need protection, and I want to ensure you're safe. Besides, it wouldn’t be good for Yuta if you were out of reach. It’s always beneficial for him to have a friend close by."

Y/N’s jaw tightened. "So this is about Yuta, then? You’re just using me as a pawn to keep him happy?"

Gojo chuckled softly, his fingers lightly tracing the contours of her arm in a way that made her skin prickle. "It’s not just about Yuta. It’s about what’s best for you as well. You’re not in a position to make decisions that are in your best interest. I’m here to do that for you."

He took a step closer, his touch becoming more deliberate. His fingers lingered on her shoulder, his hand warm against her skin. Y/N tried to ignore the sensation, focusing instead on the implications of his words.

"And why should I trust you to make those decisions for me?" she asked, her voice steady despite the unease creeping into her chest.

Gojo’s smile widened, his eyes glinting with a mix of amusement and determination. "You don’t have to trust me, Y/N. You just need to accept that I’m here to ensure you’re taken care of. The world outside is dangerous, and I have the means to keep you safe. You’ll see that in time."

Y/N tried to pull away from his touch, but Gojo’s grip was gentle yet firm, a reminder that he wasn’t going to let her go easily. His hand slid down her arm, his touch both soothing and unsettling. He leaned in closer, his breath warm against her ear.

"I know this is all a lot to take in," Gojo said softly, his voice a low murmur. "But you’ll come to understand why this is necessary. I’m just looking out for you. And in the meantime, you’ll be well taken care of here. The school will provide you with everything you need."

Y/N’s heart raced, her thoughts a whirlwind of confusion and frustration. She had been forcibly brought to Jujutsu College and was now being told that it was for her own good. The idea that Gojo was dictating her life so completely was both infuriating and disorienting.

As Gojo continued to speak, his hand found its way to her back, his touch lingering in a way that felt both intimate and invasive. "You know, Y/N, I think we’re going to have a very interesting time together. You’ll get to see just how well I can take care of you. And who knows? You might even come to appreciate it."

Y/N struggled to keep her composure, her mind racing with thoughts of escape and resistance. She couldn’t deny the fact that Gojo was incredibly skilled and had resources beyond her imagination. But the idea of being kept under his control, of being reduced to a mere pawn in his plans, was something she couldn’t accept.

"You’re not really giving me a choice, are you?" Y/N said, her voice laced with defiance.

Gojo’s eyes softened slightly, though his smile remained. "Sometimes, making the right choice means taking away the option to choose. But trust me, Y/N, this is for the best."

His hand remained on her back, his fingers lightly tracing circles that were meant to be comforting but only served to heighten her discomfort. He leaned in even closer, his face inches from hers. "You’ll come to see that I’m doing this out of genuine concern. And once you’re settled in, I think you’ll find that this arrangement has its benefits."

Y/N’s frustration was palpable, but she knew that confronting him directly would only make things worse. For now, she had to play along, to gather her strength and find a way to navigate this new reality. Gojo’s grip was a constant reminder of his control, and she had to remain vigilant, even as she tried to understand his true intentions.

Gojo’s touch was possessive and unwavering, a clear indication that he was determined to keep her under his control. Y/N couldn’t deny the underlying threat in his words, the realization that he was willing to go to great lengths to ensure she stayed where he wanted her. As he continued to speak, his presence felt more overwhelming, his intentions more unclear.

Gojo finally stepped back, his hand lingering on Y/N's arm for a moment longer before he released her. His gaze softened, though the possessiveness never fully left his eyes. He took a deep breath, as if trying to control his own emotions, before offering her a gentle smile.

"You should change clothes and get some rest, Y/N. You’ve had a long day, and you’ll need your energy for tomorrow," Gojo said, his tone casual but laced with an undertone of authority. "You have school in the morning. Don’t worry—everything’s been taken care of. You’ll fit right in."

Y/N swallowed hard, her throat tight as she nodded, more out of a need to get him to leave than agreement. The idea of starting school tomorrow felt surreal, especially under these circumstances. She felt trapped, with no real way out, and the weight of Gojo's control was stifling.

Gojo’s smile widened, and he reached out one last time, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. The gesture was so tender, so deceptively gentle, that it almost felt like he was trying to soothe her frayed nerves. But Y/N could sense the underlying manipulation in his actions.

"I’ll leave you to it, then," Gojo said, his voice softening as he took a step back. "If you need anything, just let Maki know. She’ll be stationed outside your room all night. I’ll see you in the morning."

With that, he turned and walked towards the door, his presence still looming large even as he left. Y/N watched him go, her heart pounding in her chest, a mix of anger, fear, and helplessness swirling inside her.

The door closed with a soft click, and Y/N was left alone in the room. The silence that followed was almost suffocating. She stood there for a moment, her mind racing with everything that had just happened. The realization that Gojo had complete control over her life now was overwhelming, and she felt the walls closing in around her.

She glanced around the room, taking in the luxurious items that were meant to make her feel comfortable, but instead made her feel like a prisoner in a gilded cage. Y/N knew she had to stay calm, had to keep her wits about her if she was going to find a way out of this situation.

With a deep breath, she walked over to the closet and opened it, finding an array of clothes neatly arranged inside. She picked out a simple outfit, something comfortable to sleep in, and quickly changed. As she slipped into the fresh clothes, she couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, even though she knew Gojo had left.

The thought of school tomorrow was daunting, but Y/N knew she had no choice but to go along with it for now. She needed to bide her time, to figure out her next move. As much as she hated to admit it, Gojo was right about one thing—she was safer here than out in the field, where she would be vulnerable to all sorts of dangers. But that didn’t mean she was going to accept his control without a fight.

Once she was dressed, Y/N sat down on the edge of the bed, trying to calm her racing thoughts. She couldn’t afford to panic. Not now. She needed to think clearly, to figure out what her options were. For now, she would play along, pretend to go along with Gojo’s plans, but she wouldn’t let him dictate her life any longer than necessary.

Lying back on the bed, Y/N stared up at the ceiling, her mind still whirring with everything that had happened. Tomorrow would be a new day, and with it, a new opportunity to regain some semblance of control over her life. But as she closed her eyes, the weight of her situation settled heavily on her chest, and she knew that nothing would ever be the same again.

As sleep began to creep in, Y/N’s thoughts lingered on the unsettling connection she had felt with Gojo, the bond that had snapped into place so suddenly and unexpectedly. She didn’t fully understand it yet, but she knew it was something she couldn’t ignore. And as much as she wanted to escape his grasp, she couldn’t shake the feeling that this bond was going to change everything.

༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥❀༺♥༺♥༻

The classroom at Tokyo Jujutsu College was abuzz with the usual chatter of students, a mixture of anticipation and curiosity lingering in the air. The first-years—Maki Zenin, Toge Inumaki, and Panda—sat in their usual spots, eyes focused on the front of the room where their teacher, Satoru Gojo, stood with a relaxed but authoritative presence. Today, however, there was an air of expectancy, as two new students were about to be introduced.

Gojo clapped his hands together, drawing the attention of the room. "Alright, everyone, listen up. We have two new additions to our little group today. I'd like you to meet Yuta Okkotsu and Y/N L/N."

The door slid open, and Yuta stepped inside first, looking a bit nervous but determined. His dark hair fell slightly over his eyes, but there was a certain resolve in his expression. Y/N followed closely behind him, her demeanor calm but her eyes scanning the room with an intensity that suggested she was taking in every detail.

"This is Yuta," Gojo continued, introducing the young man with a casual wave of his hand. "He's registered as a special grade cursed human, and he'll be joining us to learn how to control Rika's powers and use them for good. Y/N here is another student who’s just transferred. Both of them are here to learn, just like the rest of you."

Maki, who had been sitting with her arms crossed, narrowed her eyes slightly at Yuta. The news of him being a special grade cursed human clearly didn’t sit well with her. Panda tilted his head curiously, while Toge remained silent, his expression inscrutable.

Yuta gave a small bow to the class, his voice soft but steady. "I hope we can get along."

Gojo’s eyes flicked toward Y/N, who had remained silent. "And Y/N is a little shy, but I’m sure you’ll all get to know each other soon enough."

Before anyone else could react, Maki suddenly stood up and made her way toward Y/N. She grabbed Y/N’s arm with a firm grip, her expression unreadable but her intentions clear.

"Come with me," Maki said, her voice low and commanding. She didn’t wait for a response, already pulling Y/N toward the door.

But before they could make it far, Gojo’s hand shot out, his grip like iron as he caught Y/N’s other arm, halting Maki in her tracks. The atmosphere in the room grew tense, and everyone’s eyes were fixed on the trio.

"Maki," Gojo said, his tone calm but carrying a warning. "Y/N stays here. Whatever you have to say can wait."

Maki’s eyes met Gojo’s, a silent challenge passing between them. For a moment, it seemed like she might argue, but then she released Y/N’s arm, stepping back with a begrudging nod.

"Fine," Maki muttered, her gaze shifting to Yuta. She didn’t seem entirely pleased with the situation, but she respected Gojo’s authority enough to back down.

Gojo gave her a small smile, though his grip on Y/N remained for a moment longer, a silent reassurance before he let her go. "Good. Now, let’s all get to know each other a little better, shall we?"

Y/N took a step back, her heart still racing from the sudden tension, but she quickly composed herself, giving Gojo a brief nod of gratitude. Yuta, meanwhile, looked between the two of them, clearly sensing that there was more going on beneath the surface than what was being said aloud.

Maki, still standing near Yuta, finally addressed him, her voice blunt but not unkind. "You’re a curse, huh? That means you’re dangerous. But if you’re here to learn, then I’ll give you a chance. Just don’t expect us to be friends right away."

Yuta blinked, taken aback by her directness, but he nodded in agreement. "I understand. I just want to learn to control my powers so I don’t hurt anyone."

Panda, trying to lighten the mood, gave a friendly wave. "Well, it’s not every day we get someone special grade joining us. Welcome to the team!"

Toge simply nodded in acknowledgment, his words muffled by the scarf around his neck, but his eyes conveyed a cautious acceptance.

Gojo, sensing that the tension was easing, clapped his hands together again, his usual grin returning. "Alright, now that the introductions are out of the way, how about we get started? We’ve got a lot of work to do, and not much time to do it. Let’s make the most of it!"

༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥❀༺♥༺♥༻

The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows over the deserted elementary school. The air was thick with the sense of foreboding that only cursed energy could bring. Satoru Gojo stood at the edge of the school grounds, his ever-present blindfold covering his eyes but doing nothing to diminish his awareness of the curses lurking within. With a casual wave of his hand, he cast a curtain over the area, sealing it off from the outside world.

He turned to face his students—Maki Zenin, a determined and skilled sorcerer, and Yuta Okkotsu, the newcomer still grappling with the overwhelming power of the curse bound to him. Standing a bit behind them was Y/N L/N, her presence quiet but observant.

"Alright, you two," Gojo said, addressing Maki and Yuta. "Your mission is simple: find the missing kids and exorcise the curses. I’ll be around if things get out of hand, but I’m sure you can handle it."

Maki gave a confident nod, her grip tightening around her spear. Yuta, though still nervous, mustered a determined expression. Gojo’s gaze briefly flicked to Y/N, who had remained silent throughout. He then turned back to his students. "Good luck."

With that, Gojo turned and walked away, leaving the three of them to face the looming darkness of the school. Y/N lingered for a moment, watching as Maki and Yuta stepped into the building. She felt a strange mix of unease and curiosity, but Gojo’s earlier instructions echoed in her mind. He had told her to stay behind, to wait, to observe. So, with a final glance at the school, she turned and made her way to the library.

Inside the school, the atmosphere was oppressive, the air heavy with malevolent energy. Maki took the lead, her senses sharp and ready for any sign of a curse. Yuta followed closely, his eyes darting around nervously. The silence was almost suffocating, broken only by the creak of the floorboards beneath their feet.

It didn’t take long for the first wave of curses to appear. They were small, twisted creatures, their forms barely more than shadows with malevolent eyes. Maki didn’t hesitate—she lunged forward, her spear cutting through the curses with precision and ease. Yuta watched in awe as she made short work of them, her movements fluid and confident.

But just as they thought the worst was over, the ground beneath them began to tremble. The air grew thick with cursed energy, and before they could react, a massive curse erupted from the shadows, its form a grotesque, shifting mass of darkness. With a roar, it lunged at them, its mouth wide and filled with jagged teeth.

Maki and Yuta barely had time to react before the curse swallowed them whole.

Everything went dark. The stench of decay and the oppressive weight of cursed energy pressed down on them as they found themselves inside the belly of the beast. The air was thick and suffocating, making it hard to breathe.

Maki groaned as she pushed herself up, her body aching from the impact. Yuta, still reeling from the sudden attack, looked around in a panic. The interior of the curse was like a nightmarish labyrinth, walls of flesh and darkness closing in on them.

It was then that they heard it—a faint whimper, barely audible over the sounds of the curse’s breathing. Maki’s eyes widened as she spotted two small figures huddled in a corner, their faces pale and terrified. The missing kids.

"Over here!" Maki called out, her voice strained as she tried to fight off the oppressive energy surrounding them. She reached the kids, kneeling beside them and checking for injuries. But it was clear that they were in bad shape—cursed energy had already started to seep into their bodies, and they were too weak to move.

Yuta stumbled over, his eyes filled with fear and desperation. "What do we do? We have to get them out of here!"

Maki’s expression was grim as she shook her head. "We’re inside a curse. Our bodies are more resistant, but they’re not. We need to find a way out—fast."

There was a moment of silence, filled only by the distant, rhythmic pulsing of the curse’s innards. Maki turned to Yuta, her voice softer now. "Yuta… why did you decide to become a sorcerer?"

Yuta blinked, caught off guard by the question. He looked down at the ring on his finger—the ring that bound him to Rika, the curse that had brought him so much pain. His thoughts raced as he searched for an answer.

"I… I want to deserve to stay alive," Yuta finally said, his voice trembling but resolute. "Rika’s power… it’s dangerous, but I don’t want to hurt anyone. I want to use it to help people, to protect them. I want to prove that I can be more than just a curse."

Maki listened quietly, her expression unreadable. But there was something in Yuta’s words that resonated with her—a determination, a resolve to fight against the darkness that threatened to consume them both.

"Then prove it," Maki said, her voice firm. "If you really want to protect people, if you want to control Rika’s power, then now’s your chance. We’re not getting out of here unless you do something."

Yuta looked at her, the weight of her words sinking in. He clenched his fist around the ring, feeling the cold metal against his skin. This was his moment—his chance to prove that he could control Rika, that he could be a sorcerer in his own right.

Taking a deep breath, Yuta closed his eyes and focused on the ring, on the bond that tied him to Rika. He felt the familiar surge of cursed energy, the dark, overwhelming power that had once terrified him. But this time, he didn’t shy away from it. He embraced it.

"Rika… I need your help," Yuta whispered.

There was a moment of stillness, and then the air around them began to hum with energy. A bright, crimson light erupted from the ring, and Yuta felt Rika’s presence envelop him. The cursed energy swirled around him, forming into a massive, monstrous figure—a spirit bound by his will.

Rika’s cursed form was fully manifested, towering over them with a menacing aura. Her eyes, glowing with an eerie light, focused on the walls of the curse that trapped them. With a single, powerful strike, Rika tore through the flesh and darkness, ripping open a path to freedom.

Yuta grabbed the kids, holding them close as Rika led the way out. Maki followed, her eyes wide with a mixture of awe and respect as she watched Yuta command the cursed spirit with a newfound confidence.

In a matter of moments, they were outside the curse, the fresh air hitting them like a wave of relief. The massive curse, now weakened and vulnerable, writhed in pain as Rika’s presence overwhelmed it. With one final, earth-shattering blow, Rika shattered the curse, its form dissolving into nothingness.

Yuta collapsed to the ground, exhausted but relieved. The kids were safe, their breathing shallow but steady. Maki knelt beside him, her expression softened with gratitude.

"You did it, Yuta," she said, her voice filled with genuine admiration. "You saved them."

Yuta looked up at her, a faint smile on his lips. "I just… I just wanted to help."

Maki nodded, helping him to his feet. "You did more than that. You proved that you belong here."

As they began to make their way back to the school, the weight of the day’s events settled on Yuta’s shoulders. But there was a newfound resolve in his heart—a determination to continue on this path, to learn, to grow, and to use Rika’s power for good.

Meanwhile, back at the school, Gojo stood outside the building, his expression calm and composed as he sensed the shift in the cursed energy. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he felt the powerful surge of energy that had signaled Yuta’s victory.

"Looks like they managed just fine," Gojo muttered to himself, satisfied with the outcome.

He then turned his attention to Y/N, who had been waiting in the library as instructed. She had spent the time exploring the bookshelves, her mind filled with questions and thoughts about the world she had been thrust into. Gojo approached her, his usual playful demeanor masking the seriousness of his decision.

"Y/N," Gojo called out, his voice drawing her attention.

She looked up from the book she had been skimming through, her expression curious. "Yes?"

"I’ve decided," Gojo said, his tone leaving no room for doubt. "You’re staying here at the school."

Y/N blinked, surprised by the sudden declaration. "Staying here? But I thought—"

Gojo held up a hand, cutting her off. "It’s for the best. The world outside is dangerous, and you’re safer here. Besides, there’s a lot you can learn here—things that might come in handy."

Y/N frowned, her mind racing with thoughts of what this would mean for her future. But before she could voice her concerns, Gojo gave her a reassuring smile.

"Don’t worry, you’ll be taken care of. And who knows? You might even find this place interesting."

With that, he turned and walked away, leaving Y/N alone in the library with her thoughts. The weight of his decision settled over her, a mixture of uncertainty and intrigue filling her mind.

As she looked around at the rows of books and the ancient knowledge contained within, Y/N realized that her life had just taken a new, unexpected turn.

༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥༻❀༺♥༻༺♥❀༺♥༺♥༻

Y/N wandered through the quiet aisles of the library, the scent of old books mingling with the subtle energy that permeated the school. Gojo’s decision still weighed on her mind as she traced her fingers along the spines of the books. Despite the uncertainty, she couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of familiarity in this place, as if she belonged here in some inexplicable way.

As she rounded a corner, Y/N nearly collided with a tall figure, causing her to step back in surprise. The young man standing before her had a warm, friendly smile, his light brown hair slightly tousled as if he had been running. His eyes, however, were what caught her attention—a mix of kindness and something deeper, almost nostalgic.

“Ah, sorry about that!” the young man said, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Y/N shook her head, offering a small smile in return. “It’s okay. I wasn’t paying attention either.”

The young man’s smile widened, and he extended a hand. “I’m Yu Haibara, by the way. Are you new here? I haven’t seen you around before.”

For a moment, Y/N hesitated. She knew who he was—Yu Haibara, a student at the jujutsu school and one of its most promising sorcerers. But it was more than that. His name, his face, his presence—they stirred something deep within her, a connection that went beyond this lifetime.

“I’m Y/N Orimoto,” she finally replied, shaking his hand. The name felt like a mask, a reminder of who she was now and the life she had led before.

Yu’s eyes flickered with recognition, but he didn’t dwell on it. Instead, he looked at her more closely, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “You know… you remind me of someone.”

Y/N’s heart skipped a beat, but she kept her expression neutral. “Oh?”

“Yeah,” Yu said, his voice softening with a hint of melancholy. “You look a lot like my sister, Y/N Haibara. She… well, she passed away a while ago.”

Y/N’s breath caught in her throat. So, he had recognized her—at least, some part of him had. But this wasn’t the time to reveal the truth. She wasn’t the Y/N Haibara he remembered, not anymore. She was Y/N Orimoto now, with a new life, a new purpose.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Y/N said, her voice gentle. “She must have been very special to you.”

Yu nodded, a wistful smile playing on his lips. “She was. But, you know, meeting you just now… it’s almost like seeing her again. It’s strange, but comforting in a way.”

They stood in silence for a moment, the weight of unspoken truths hanging between them. Then, Yu’s expression brightened again, as if he had just remembered something important.

“Actually, I was looking for someone to help me and my friend with a mission,” he said. “We need a manager to keep an eye on things while we’re out in the field. I know it’s sudden, but would you be interested? You seem like someone who could handle it.”

Y/N blinked, taken aback by the sudden offer. “A mission? With you and your friend?”

Yu nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, Nanami and I could really use the help. It’s nothing too dangerous, but having someone reliable with us would make a big difference.”

Y/N considered the offer. It wasn’t what she had expected when she came to the library, but something about it felt right. This was an opportunity to learn more about the world of jujutsu sorcery, to observe and understand the people who inhabited it. And, on some level, it felt like a chance to reconnect with a part of herself she thought was lost.

“Alright,” she said with a nod. “I’ll come with you.”

Yu’s face lit up with a smile that was pure and genuine, the kind of smile that could brighten even the darkest of days. “Great! Nanami will be glad to have you on board. We’re heading out tomorrow, so I’ll introduce you to him then.”

As they left the library together, Y/N couldn’t help but glance at Yu from the corner of her eye. He was so full of life, so optimistic and kind—so different from the hardened sorcerers she had encountered in her previous life. But there was a strength in him too, a strength she knew would only grow with time.

For now, she would keep her secrets, but as they walked side by side, Y/N couldn’t shake the feeling that she had been given a second chance—not just to live, but to protect the people she had once loved in a life now long gone.

[shamandrummer]

How to Consult the I Ching

Divination is the art of seeing and interpreting signs in everything around us. The goal of divination is to encourage well-being by helping a person live in harmony with the universe around them. One of the best known systems of divination is the I Ching, or Book of Changes. For some 3,000 years, people have turned to the I Ching to help them uncover the meaning of their experience and to bring their actions into harmony with their underlying purpose. The I Ching consists of 64 hexagrams or six-line diagrams. Each hexagram is accompanied by a text containing folk poetry, historical tales, and commentary. These ancient texts describe the conditions associated with the 64 archetypal patterns of change. They convey the laws and principles pertaining to time and change. The hexagram images reveal the patterns through which change manifests itself in the ebb and flow of time.

The underlying premise of the I Ching is that all events--past, present, and future are interconnected. The future develops out of the present according to a set of fixed laws. To know the present, then, is to know the future. The I Ching counsels timely action in the moment for a given set of circumstances. Each moment has a pattern to it and everything that happens in that moment is interconnected. As a system of divination, the I Ching reflects your current connection with the Tao, or Universe. It serves to freeze the present moment at the time of your inquiry, responding in the form of a hexagram. By evaluating the hexagram that describes your current pattern of relationship, you can divine the outcome and act accordingly.

The I Ching is a microcosm of all possible human situations. It serves as a dynamic map, whose function is to reveal one's relative position in the cosmos of events. The hexagram texts address the sixty-four archetypal human situations. The commentary of each hexagram reveals the optimal strategy for integrating or harmonizing with the inevitable for a given condition. It provides the appropriate response to your inquiry. It affords a holistic perspective of your current condition and discusses the proper or correct way to address the situation.

The Inquiry

To consult the I Ching, one must first frame an inquiry. Formulating an appropriate question and writing it down is a key element in the process of divination. Focusing on a question develops a receptive state of mind and helps you clarify what it is you are truly seeking. It is important to word your inquiry in a concise and clear-cut manner. A vague question will elicit an ambiguous or misleading response. Be specific about your intent, the circumstances, and the scope or nature of the response you desire.

Avoid the tendency to ask yes/no or either/or types of questions. A simple yes or no question leaves no room for elaboration and the either/or inquiry is actually two questions. Inquire instead about the nature of the situation, the appropriate attitude and strategy, the outcome of a particular course of action, and so forth. If time is a factor, include this element in your inquiry as well. Appropriate inquiries might be worded as follows:

How would it benefit me to pursue a career in _____? What aspect of my character or attitude is hindering my progress? Which hexagram best describes my present situation? I would like the I Ching to comment on my intent to travel to _____ in three months?

Casting a Hexagram

Once you have formulated an appropriate inquiry, you are ready to "cast a hexagram." Casting a hexagram is the term used to describe the method for generating the six lines of the hexagram. Casting was devised in ancient China as a mechanism for reflecting or mirroring what the subconscious or inner self already knows. The subconscious mind, or right hemisphere of the brain, knows which hexagram best describes your current situation or condition. It knows because it accesses the invisible sea of information that we bathe in daily--the all-pervading frequencies of consciousness immanent in all phenomena. The subconscious has the capacity to analyze or devour information all at once while the conscious mind, or left cerebral, analyzes information one bit at a time. The conscious mind allows us to see only the surface of things. Accessing the all knowing of the subconscious is difficult since there is usually little or no communication between the left and right cerebrals.

Various casting methods were devised to resolve this predicament. The subconscious mind is able to gather the information desired and influence the casting, regardless of the method, to indicate the most appropriate hexagram. The original method for casting a hexagram is known as the "yarrow oracle." This method involves the manipulation of fifty yarrow stalks in an elaborate procedure that is repeated six times in order to determine the six lines of the hexagram. A simple "coin oracle" was devised by Chinese philosopher Kuei Kuo Tze some 2500 years ago to replace the complex yarrow stalk method. The coin method requires tossing three coins six times to generate each line of the hexagram. Like a building, the hexagram is assembled from the ground up--the bottom line being considered the first line in the text interpretations.

The easiest way of casting a hexagram is to use my online hexagram generator which is based on the yarrow stalk method. The result is the immediacy of the coin tossing method with the reliability of the yarrow stalk method. For a reading, click on the "Cast a Hexagram" button. A small window will appear. Click the "Create Hexagram(s)" button to generate the hexagrams. Red indicates a changing line. A hexagram with one or more changing lines indicates that the situation related to your inquiry will soon be changing. The changing lines will turn into their counterparts, transforming the initial hexagram into a changed hexagram. As a result, you will read two hexagrams. The initial hexagram corresponding to your present situation is read first, followed by the changed hexagram relating to the eventual development. Changing lines usually address the future implications of a particular course of action. They may describe the changes you are likely to experience and how to deal with them.

Interpreting the Message

The I Ching does not answer a question in a direct, logical manner. It responds in the form of a hexagram, which serves as a model or paradigm of appropriate behavior. It provides the framework within which to perceive and comprehend the archetypal condition related to your query. It provides a holistic perspective and comments on the situation or condition. It offers suggestions on the best way to approach this condition. It presents advice for what to do to act in accord with or avoid a particular prediction. You must then interpret the message and determine for yourself the most appropriate course of action with regard to your inquiry. This process engages and accesses the subjective mind and intuitive awareness.

When your interpretation differs from the eventual outcome, then reevaluate the commentary in light of what actually transpired. In this way, you develop proficiency in your ability to interpret the I Ching's sometimes paradoxical and enigmatic aphorisms. At times, the oracle will provide an incomprehensible response that does not seem to fit the question posed. When this occurs, the I Ching may be overriding your stated inquiry in order to address a more significant issue, an unstated concern, or unconscious projection. The oracle may also be alerting you to an impending crisis or significant change. Keep in mind, too, that all conditions are transitory. Nothing is permanently fixed or static, so whether you like or dislike the response, conditions will eventually change with regard to your inquiry. Consult the I Ching.

[waepenwifestre]

Daily affirmation:

power must be understood in the first instance as the multiplicity of force relations immanent in the sphere in which they operate and which constitute their own organization; as the process which, through ceaseless strug­gles and confrontations, transforms, strengthens, or reverses them; as the support which these force relations find in one another, thus forming a chain or a system, or on the con­trary, the disjunctions and contradictions which isolate them from one another; and lastly, as the strategies in which they take effect, whose general design or institutional crystalliza­tion is embodied in the state apparatus, in the formulation of the law, in the various social hegemonies