#and ultimately boost efficiency.

[learning--tech]

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[clairdelunelove]

badges of honor

simon 'ghost' riley x reader

genre: fluff! (sticker drabble!)

warnings: slightly suggestive, cursing, protective!ghost

synopsis: ghost doesn't understand the appeal of receiving stickers, a tangible reward, after the completion of successful missions. never thought it was necessary for his efforts. however, his mindset changes when he finds out you're the one handing them out–

a.n. just a silly lil blurb that floated around in my mind for some time! decided I'd write it and I'm thinking about writing something similar for könig too! hope you're all well! and if you wish to show more support here's my kofi! <3

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holding onto the belief that ghost would stubbornly swallow his pride and allow you to decorate him in cutesy unnecessary stickers.

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it starts with price’s recommendation of implementing a routine of handing out stickers after successful missions. he insists it’s a great way to dial into intrinsic motivation. to keep the task force motivated to dedicate their best into every operation. a way to recognize positive behavior. a byproduct of hoping for the most favorable outcome in war where the only images are bloodshed, conflict, and hostility. it’s a stark difference. “who knows,” price’s shoulders lift into a casual shrug as he addresses the fierce group settled around him, “it might just help you lads.” it’s a harmless and cost-efficient idea to justify the boxes of tangible reinforcements that are shipped to the base. literal cartons of sticker books that range from the traditional ‘great work!’ to ‘prized soldier!’ and the notion seems childish (disguised to be more of a scheme, in all honesty). that is, until the pieces of sticky, illustrated adhesives start working– boosting the soldiers’ determination for the taste of victory– because you’re the one handing out the affordable versions of chest candy. they adore saccharine treats. and over time, so does ghost. 

ghost who initially loathes the new process that price endorses. he’s good at his job. knows he’s an expert in clandestine tradecraft. doesn’t need a miniature label tapped on his chest to recognize that no one does a better service in infiltrations or sabotages in risky environments than he does. he’s in and out like a gust of wind. well, more similar to a grim reaper that takes and punishes whoever he deems fit. a brutish force not to be reckoned with. and he reasons that this little sticker ceremony ultimately wastes time. precious alone time that ghost exploits to catch up on some well-deserved rest or exercise. because training after an intense mission totally makes sense to the lieutenant. yet, he’ll doggedly line up with the rest of the task force and await getting crowned with the bane of his existence. doesn’t wish to stir the pot with price and sit through being lectured. so he stays. and he’s a bit taken aback when he catches a glimpse of you handing out the stickers; a beaming smile on your lips while you press an overly exaggerated thumbs-up design onto the front of a soldier’s vest. 

ghost who rasps, “I’ll pass,” before your fingers can pin the sticker onto him. unaware that his voice would come out grainy from the weeklong mission and, involuntarily, blunt. brash. the complete opposite of how he wished to sound towards you. notices the surprise in your eyes due to the acidity of his voice and how you instinctively shrink from him. he shifts, straight away, and hastily tries to take back his tone of voice. to right his wrongs. to atone for his mistake. however, your nervous movement is swiftly replaced with your usual upbeat nature as you plaster on a grin and dramatically bring the back of your hand to your forehead to mimic a fall, “woe is me.” you exhale pointedly while mentioning, “whatever shall I do with all these stickers then?” and ghost understands that it’s so typical of you to hide your hurt with witticism. you’re too considerate. too bright. a touch of color to his monochrome soul. venturing a step closer to you, he lightly scoffs at your melodramatic behavior and remarks, “woe is most definitely not you. now get up, pup.” and before you can comprehend, his gloved hand wraps around your wrist to gently pry it away from your face. “changed my mind,” he murmurs while indicating to the book of stickers that you casted aside, “pick one f’ me, will ya.” 

ghost who refuses to comment on your shaky fingers to save you from embarrassment. it’s endearing that despite the layers of heavy clothing, you’re still hesitant to touch any part of him. “you’re all set,” you quickly chirp before stepping back to admire your handiwork. or so you tell yourself that excuse. in reality, you’re teetering on the edge of becoming distracted by the heat that he radiates. and he savors how your gaze dances across his masked face but evades his intense eyes. the most profound part of him that reduces you to stumbling on your words like a drunk. intoxicated by him. it’s like he’s drinking you in and allowing himself a selfish taste of your beauty. a thought that causes you to heavily gulp. to take your mind off of the blatant yearning, you teasingly raise the sticker book up to him, “how about I add another one? this one has glitter—” “that’ll do,” ghost interjects and turns to leave. his immediate answer and retreat brings about a genuine laugh from your lips. it’s music to his ears. wagering a glance to his chest, he notes the sticker you chose for him. cursive letters twisting into ‘you’re a star!’ followed by a smiling gold star draws his attention. you don’t spot it but as he leaves, his gloved fingers reach up to smooth the sticker over his vest. to pat it down so it stays a while longer. 

ghost who attempts to convince himself that his disinterest toward the small slips of adhesive paper is still the truth. they’re just for show, right? no one really pays attention to how some of the stickers varied in size. they’re all mature adults. and it was completely unrelated how there’s regular bickering amongst various recruits that compared their hard-earned rewards. doesn’t admit that his chest visibly swells with pride whenever the other soldiers point out that ghost always receives the biggest sticker. purposefully taunts them by stating, “get better then, yeah?” he also fails to acknowledge that you’ve coerced and conditioned him to accept them like a pavlov experiment. after all, your unwillingness to comment on how he noticeably leans over so you can put stickers wherever you wished must mean that it doesn’t happen. and in the scenario where it could perhaps occur, you shouldn’t blame him because ghost was certain no one else had the willpower to brush you away. you with gentle fingers and an angelic voice. singing him a siren song whenever you mutter, “for your excellent work, lieutenant,” as you smooth on another ridiculous sticker. his heart stutters in his chest when he feels how your hand tentatively flattens against his chest. the broad muscle causing you to hum appreciatively before gracing him with a coy smile. an interaction that replays in his mind whenever he’s awake and follows him to sleep. 

ghost who clenches his fist so tightly that his blunt nails bite into his own palm when he overhears a lowly recruit outrightly insult the implemented routine. hears them utter (when you’re out of earshot of course because goodness forbid that they have courage) ‘bullshit’ and how you were ‘off your rocker for putting up with this waste of time.’ and ghost isn’t usually responsive in situations like this. he’s got a covert operation to focus on in about 15 minutes. a level-headed person was far more intimidating and efficient during classified matters. now, however, his heavy boots thud against the floorboards when he stalks toward the recruit. an abrupt wave of darkness and unabridged horror before the recruit is face-to-face with ghost. “problem?” he asks challenges, voice dead and devoid of sympathy. his head slowly tilts and the action creates a dismal shadow over the eye sockets of his mask. ominous and menacing. everything that ghost is infamous for. knows he’s won when the recruit’s apology is nasally and on the verge of crying but their reaction isn’t his personal interest. what he does undertake as his responsibility, though, is when he’s called into price’s office for a debrief. he pockets some of the miscellaneous sticker books that sit on the superior’s desk. wordlessly hands them to you when you’re both briefly passing each other in the hallway. and while you profusely thank him for the additional sets (vaguely wondering what caused the change in his behavior), you playfully press a sticker above the lower portion of his mask– right where his lips are. somewhere new. you leave him rooted to the spot, the sweet gesture sending him into a stupor, and call over your shoulder, “compensation for the stickers!” he watches as you hurriedly dart away before he can react but there’s no need. he unabashedly smuggles more stickers from price’s office in hopes of reaping a similar repayment again.

ghost who reasons that stickers aren’t that bad if you’re the one giving them out. he organizes himself with the rest of the force, a brooding figure that patiently waits in the back of the line. favors being the last one because you’re able to utter more than a few words of encouragement to him. if he’s lucky then you converse and excitedly share your day with him– like you currently are. “want me all to yourself, do you?” you heartily tease him upon noticing that he’s consistently been last in line for the third time in a row. he shifts on his feet, makes a show of looking around at his fellow team members that are filtering out of the room, and deliberately concedes, “‘suppose so.” his frank answer is followed by a flustered roll of your eyes but it’s the genuineness that causes your heart to flip. you force yourself to concentrate on the task at hand– giving out prizes. unsteady fingers lifting at the sticker page, you skim the options before spotting a perfect one. your teeth catch the edge of your bottom lip as you can’t help but question, “you say that to everyone, simon?” his real name on your glossy lips. a prayer that he desires to hear being chanted over and over as he holds you in his arms. the gaze he wraps you in is burning. tempting. exhilarating. you push yourself up on your toes to reach out and place a sticker on his cheek. on the hard shell of his skull mask that you’ve learned will ultimately end in halfhearted chiding because the adhesive is difficult to remove off of it. ghost catches a glimpse of the sticker that you’ve picked. the bolded words of ‘#1 lieutenant’ flashes at him. and the sticker is like a brand you’ve adorned him in. an embellishment that he proudly displays and wears because it’s what you’ve given him. he hums, dark and inquiring, when he leans to graze his masked lips against your inner wrist. his eyes are heady and half-lidded. clouded with a violent craving for you– always you. visibly strains to make contact with your exposed skin by tilting his head to place another chaste kiss on your hand while murmuring, “just to the sweet ‘n pretty ones that I fancy.” 

[shuttershocky]

There's a thread on the arknights reddit asking why is Eyja so resistant to powercreep. About half the answers were because the devs virtually give no other casters the amount of res ignore she has and she was just made right from the start and casters past her are either meh or Goldenglow.

It's a fun problem to talk about and these answers are correct, but I would argue that fully understanding the issue of Eyjafjalla's effect on Arknights' design and why she's so hard to powercreep comes down to understanding the combination of four things:

Arts damage is calculated by reducing the initial damage by a percentage given by the target's RES

Arknights is a Tower Defense game

Eyjafjalla was first and with a very overloaded S2

Closely related to #3, Arknights is a live service (gacha) game

I'm not sure if I can explain this very cohesively, but I'll try. This is going to be a very long post going over all 4 points in detail, after the cut

I'll go over info you definitely already know to explain Point#1, but please be patient.

Arts damage in Arknights is calculated like how Magic Resistance works in many games—it's reduced by a percentage of the target's RES, vs Physical damage being a flat reduction by DEF or ATK - DEF. Let's explain Physical first.

The flat reduction from DEF means that while Phys damage does almost nothing if it's below an enemy's DEF, slowly slowly increasing the phys damage being outputted will get over the enemy's DEF until it starts being effective. The higher you boost the phys damage over the initial DEF, the more effective the attack becomes. 2000 DEF may be extremely tanky, but if you deal 10,000 damage per hit in one second, you're still dealing 8000 DPS. On the other hand, if you deal 1000 damage per hit 10 times in a single second, you're doing basically nothing (a minimum of 5% damage per hit) to a 2000 DEF target despite having the same DPS.

Meanwhile, Arts damage being reduced by a percentage dictated by enemy RES means that the actual damage per hit doesn't matter. If you make a 10,000 damage Arts attack hit an 80 RES target once per second, you do 2000 DPS. Do the same thing where an attack does 1000 damage Arts hits 10x in 1 second to the same 80 RES target, and you do 200 x 10 or 2000 DPS. This means Arts damage ultimately only cares about DPS, no cares about whether it gains it from boosting ATK or ASPD, it will be the same in the end.

Moving on to Point #2, other games that calculate magic resistance in this way aren't Tower Defenses, but Arknights is. Being a tower defense means that the objective in any stage is to beat all AI enemies in a stage before they finish their set path to your goal, and no matter what strategy you go with the only approach to victory involves killing all enemies in some manner. This foundation means that DPS is inherently king (as in many games, but with Tower Defense's especially), as your only form of gameplay involves destroying the AI enemies with set patterns, everything else only serves that purpose. The hypothetical ultimate Arknights unit is not the one with the best utility or versatility or strategic potential, it's the unit that can kill the most number of enemies onscreen more efficiently than everyone else. So when it comes to units that deal Arts damage, Arts units that can kill the most enemies the most efficiently are the most valuable.

In other games in completely different genres but with the same approach to magic resistance (a very big logical leap I know but hear me out I swear), DPS numbers cannot be the end all-be all. For example, Dota 2's magic resistance works the same way, and they even have heroes with similar approaches to the game, but being a human player vs human player game and actually being unable to win by killing all enemies alone creates nuance.

Lina and Skywrath for (an extremely simplified and obviously overlooking many, many more nuances) example, are both squishy magic damage nukers whose goals are to surprise one enemy and then destroy them as fast as possible with very high magic damage. However, they are usually incomparable, because they're not just fighting set AI enemies walking on pre-determined paths, but human players who will react in different ways to the smallest differences between the two characters (ex: Skywrath has no way to completely stop enemy movement so he'll have a partner nearby to watch out for, Lina has a stun so she's more likely to be alone, but there's no dodging her homing Laguna Blade like you can with Skywrath's ground-targeted Mystic Flare so kill her before she fights back). Also, you can only win in Dota by destroying the enemy's base, so a team with 100 kills can actually lose to a team with 30 kills if the team being beaten up constantly dodges fights but manages to destroy the enemy base still. The ability to kill your enemies must actually be in service of your ability to destroy buildings (which are normally magic immune), meaning a caster that can annihilate enemy players is the blink of an eye but is useless at breaking buildings or defending may become a liability if they don't help their team at pushing faster than the enemy or can't help defend their buildings. To put it short: in other games, the non-linearity of both the objectives and combat encounters means increasing raw magic DPS cannot always be a solution

So now we go into Point#3 and 4, Eyjafjalla was the first 6 star Caster, and Arknights is a live service game meaning it must change over time.

Eyjafjalla having an automatic and powerful skill with RES shred, multiple charges, and even AOE on her S2 spelt doom for the entire Caster class, even more than her infamous S3. With S2, Eyja was cheaper than Casters with AOE, dealt more DPS than them while having their AOE, didn't require any manual input from the player, and even shredded enemy RES.

Now Eyjafjalla's S3 could be competed with, as it was a long cd multitarget DPS skill. Ceobe came with her own machine gun on S2 that could scale off enemy DEF, while Carnelian came with true AOE rather than a 6 target limit (though Eyja's S3 was still better in the end lol). However, her S2 being so easy and so powerful in a tower defense where efficient and strong DPS is the most valuable trait you can possibly have means HyperGryph either have to directly powercreep it with a similar skill, or work around it, which is where Point#4 being closely related comes in.

HG's approach was trying to work around it, which is why other Casters have clearly tried to stay out of her way either via utility or new features. Goldenglow has global range, Ebenholz sacrifices DPS for instant burst (but then eventually got a DPS module anyway), Mostima has big slows, Dusk creates summons to block enemies, etc. But even with all the utility or features being put into other Casters, if Eyjafjalla kills enemies just as quickly and easily as she did at release, then there's no real reason beyond your own fun to use anyone else. Eyja's S2 is still killing everything. That means enemies also have to change.

If Eyjafjalla killing enemies so easily with either S2 or S3 is a problem, then the only solution without being able to nerf her is make enemies harder for her to kill alone. This is why Patriot Phase 1 had 90 RES, so Eyjafjalla couldn't just kill him like she did all other bosses while Amiya's S3 had True Damage. Later enemies would also try other gimmicks, like the enemies in Lonetrail starting with very high DEF and RES that would lower after multiple hits, so strong DPS casters like Eyja can't instantly kill them with S2 (although her S3 will kill them from rapidfire lol).

However, unlike someone like Exusiai who had low ATK but monstrous DPS from multihits and ASPD, simply raising the floor of enemy RES will negatively affect ALL Casters, because of point#1— Arts only cares about DPS because of how it's calculated, damage per hit doesn't really matter. While Exusiai players can still play around with her by attempting to boost her DPH above the enemy's DEF threshold (and run the math on whether they should just try to lower enemy DEF instead), Casters will react the same to boosting ASPD and ATK, while lowering enemy RES will become more and more efficient the higher enemy RES gets, and hey, guess who comes with a RES shred? Eyjafjalla's S2.

Eyjafjalla trapped Hypergryph's design team. Keep raising RES and other Casters quickly become more and more useless without RES ignore / RES shred of their own, becoming a second support class when Supporters already exist for the idea of "Casters but supports". In fact, as RES gets raised, Eyjafjalla and other casters like Ifrit become more and more valuable as DPS units (in a tower defense where DPS is king), since they can ignore / shred RES when most cannot. Keep the game playable for other Casters however, and it means Eyjafjalla will continue to reign supreme.

HG tried to do a balancing act. This is how we got enemies start to get more RES over time, which weakened Casters overall enough that HG made a module for Core Casters to ignore 10 RES (that Eyjafjalla also got LOL). This is also how we got into the current state where Eyjafjalla is still comfortably killing 90% of the game and seen as near impossible to powercreep, because if she can't then people without her (and there WILL be people without her, because it's a gacha game and she's not guaranteed) would be totally screwed. Try to directly powercreep her by making a second Eyjafjalla with bigger numbers, and not only will you be pissing off people that rolled for Eyjafjalla, but you'll be creating an even bigger problem instead of fixing the first one.

So to tie it all together

Point # 1 means that Arts damage is a lot less nuanced than Physical damage, leading to raw DPS by any means coming out on top

Point # 2 means that if the only way to win is to destroy all enemies, then the ability to destroy enemies with damage faster and more effectively will always be the strongest solution

Point # 3 means that since Eyja was first and also very overloaded with features, everyone else was created with the knowledge of that they'll be competing against her, meaning you either had to directly powercreep her, or stay out of her way. HG chose the latter

Point # 4 means that while Arknights tried to address her, by either making tankier enemies or by event game mechanics, they were trapped by their own design. Because of Points #1, #2, nullifying Eyjafjalla too much would be screwing over everyone else because of the end result of Point #3, which is everyone tried to stay out of her lane when it came to DPSing. Not everyone can have Eyjafjalla because it's a gacha game and who you get is all RNG, and while you want new units to be attractive to make money, directly powercreeping old characters screws over your own players and makes them angry, while powercreeping Eyjafjalla directly will not even fix the problems created by points #1 and 2, it just makes an even more problematic, second Eyjafjalla.

Thanks for reading this far! If anything wasn't clear just ask and I'll try to explain it again

[materialsscienceandengineering]

The Carnot Engine

The Carnot cycle is a specific thermodynamic cycle with four parts first designed by Nicolas Leonard Sadi Carnot. The Carnot engine, theorized by the same man, is a theoretical heat engine that operates on the Carnot cycle. It is an idealized, reversible process operating between two temperatures that represents the highest possible efficiency of a heat engine (between those two temperatures) - any irreversible process will have lower efficiency, any other reversible process will have equal efficiency. The second law of thermodynamics can be stated with the Carnot engine in mind, and mathematical study of this cycle ultimately lead to the discovery of the concept of entropy over thirty years later.

Sources/Further Reading: (Images source - Mechanical Boost) (LibreTexts) (Wikipedia)

[tumblydovereviews]

Could a LazyTown Revival Work?

Earlier this week, it was announced that Magnus Scheving, the creator of the hit preschool live-action series LazyTown, had bought back the rights to the series from WBD, with impending plans to bring the series back to a new generation as a reboot under his wings.

This would not be the first time LazyTown has, or attempted to be, revived. The original series only lasted two seasons before being commissioned by Sprout for two more after the series' massive success in the USA. After the end of the show's run, a movie was pitched, but ultimately ended up being scraped for unknown reasons.

In concept, this seems like a great thing. LazyTown was initially created as a combative show against rising cases of childhood obesity worldwide, and the Icelandic obesity rate actually dropped as after the release of the show. LazyTown encourages kids to be healthy- to get outside, eat nutritiously, and take care of themselves and others. With the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic still impacting today's children, bringing this show back to a new audience would be great.

And, LazyTown wouldn't be completely unknown to the public, either. According to a Collider article, LazyTown's following hasn't died down in the slightest, with the show amassing over 5.5 billion views on Youtube alone. It is clear that Sportacus, Stephanie, and Robbie Rotten are long from being forgotten totally.

However, not everything about a reboot would be too exciting.

For instance, there would be no Robbie Rotten. Stefan Karl Stefansson, Robbie's actor, passed in August of 2018 after a battle with bile duct cancer. While Robbie's actor could easily be replaced or his character in general be swapped out for a new gimmick, nothing would be completely able to mimic the personality of the iconic villain.

Also, if the show did come back, there's a high chance that it wouldn't be in the same form that we all know and love. Shows such as Caillou and Barney have also made their triumphant returns, albeit in the same CGI models, straying far away from their original forms, 2D and live-action respectively. Animation, specifically 3D, is more efficient to produce them mixed media or live action, and with more children flocking to brightly-colored, YouTube based animation, making LazyTown an animated series would not only result in flexibility in choosing actors for the characters, but also boost ratings more likely than not.

This isn't to say that live-action reboots, such as Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock, and the upcoming Yo Gabba Gabbaland can't be successful- it's just not necessarily in the norm.

Now that Magnus has the rights to the show back, the question also arises on which channel this reboot, if produced, would air on. LazyTown did air on Nick Jr. at one point, and also made appearances on the now-defunct Sprout. Chances are since they willingly gave up the rights to this show, WBD channels probably will not be airing it, assuming it goes mainstream and doesn't become a Youtube-exclusive.

If done correctly, I think this reboot could be very successful! After all, it has happened once, so why not again. But, it goes without saying that it certainly wouldn't be the same for what we are used to from the franchise.

[teaberrii]

Chapter 15: The Stuff of Nightmares

You've been Cupid for as long as you can remember. You've brought countless soulmates together, yet you've never found love.

When you're assigned to bring two childhood friends back together, it should be simple until you unexpectedly catch feelings for the mysterious and cold Ph.D. student, Dan Heng, the man with a soulmate… the man with answers to your past.

Dan Heng/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on Ao3

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

Cloudy skies loomed above the palace the day Luocha had passed his exam to become a certified doctor. He’d gotten the news from his teachers today and couldn’t wait to spread the word to the family. You were nowhere to be found, which lead him to suspect you were probably with Young... again. Luocha reached his parent's room,  but just before he could slide the wooden door open, he heard the familiar voices of the maids.

“Surely, that’s just a nasty rumour. How could Master Luocha not be their son?”

His heart almost stopped.

"It was a conversation I was not supposed to hear. But, the Queen admitted it! Besides, haven't you ever wondered why he looks a little… different from his sister?"

Luocha heard something like an object hitting something soft.

“But he has his father’s eyes!”

“That’s because he’s the king's son, not the queen’s!”

“Luocha?”

Startled, Luocha turned around and saw Jing Yuan. Suddenly, the doors opened, and Luocha heard a gasp.

“Master Luocha!” Luocha turned and saw the obvious surprise on the maids’ faces. Then, he looked in the room, and one of the maids quickly said, “T-They paid a visit to the village. We haven't seen them return."

“And my sister?”

“We…” The maids glanced at each other. “We haven’t seen her since this morning.”

They quickly excused themselves. As they hurried off, Luocha saw one gently hit the other as if to chastise her for what she’d said. Then came Jing Yuan’s footsteps. Soon, he stood beside him.

“You look a bit pale,” Jing Yuan said. “Are you all right?”

Luocha didn’t know why he couldn’t look his friend in the eyes. Perhaps it was because he was still reeling from what he’d overheard. He knew better than to believe the words of gossiping maids, but he knew they wouldn’t go around spreading lies, especially something as serious as that. There had to be a grain of truth, no matter how small. But this was too much.

“What… What are you doing here?” Luocha finally asked.

Jing Yuan was a rising commander in the ranks. With the developing relationship between the North and the South, the kingdoms often held military training together, which explained Jing Yuan’s growing presence in the North. But today was no training day.

“We’ve received new equipment today, so I was asked to test its quality.”

“That’s not something you’d usually do.”

"You're right. I have a motive, if I'm being honest," Jing Yuan said. "I stayed because I wanted to spend time with your sister."

Luocha finally looked Jing Yuan in the eyes. “Are you… interested in her?”

Jing Yuan looked down and smiled slightly. "I hope I have your blessing."

“If there’s anyone my parents would want her to be with, it’s probably you.”

Jing Yuan curiously looked at him. “I answered your question. So, shouldn’t you answer mine?”

“I’m fine. I… passed my exam, so I can officially start training to become a doctor.”

“Well, this calls for a celebration.”

The last person Luocha was expecting to celebrate the good news with was Jing Yuan. But he was a good friend. So, Luocha nodded and pushed what he'd just heard to the back of his mind, not knowing that it wouldn't take long for him to confide in the commander.

“...which will ultimately help boost efficiency and productivity. Are there any questions?”

Jing Yuan is sitting at the end of a large desk, the latest project proposal in front of him. He barely got any sleep the night before as he was trying to piece everything together, and the ultimate question he came up with is whether there was a way to get all of his memories back… at once. He'd brought it up with Lan the other day, and the god's answer sounded too ominous.

“There has to be a trigger powerful enough,” Lan said.

Jing Yuan gestured for him to go on. “Like…?”

“Extreme happiness… sadness�� hatred… an event that mirrored one of your past to trigger a powerful emotion. But”—Lan walked over and poured himself a glass of alcohol—”that’s just what I’ve heard. I haven’t tested this theory myself.”

“In other words, you don’t know,” Luocha said.

Lan shrugged. “I never had to get my memories back.”

Jing Yuan still has nothing to go on. How can he mirror a past event if he has no memory of them? That’s just ridiculous. Then, he thinks about you.

Jing Yuan subconsciously starts twirling the ring with his thumb. Do you know about this theory? You and he are clearly connected, but you hate him. While Jing Yuan has no idea what he did, he feels there's no other way. He needs to get back into your life… whether you like it or not. He likes to think he's doing you a favour.

His golden eyes flash toward the presenter as he crosses one leg over the other. After firing a series of questions, Jing Yuan says, "We need to address these problems first. Fix 'em, and then let's talk."

Jing Yuan is the first to leave the room, but it’s not long before a tall man wearing a black suit approaches him from behind.

“You have a visitor, Boss.”

Jing Yuan turns the corner. “Schedule him for later. I—”

“He says he’s willing to pay.”

Jing Yuan stops and turns around. “Who are we talking about?”

“The government official.”

Only one person comes to mind: the father of the latest victim of The Withering. They crossed paths years ago as Caelus's father almost put one of Jing Yuan's own behind bars. However, with Jing Yuan's blackmail, the situation quickly reversed. They would keep each other's dirty secrets and pretend not to know of one another for years. But after finding out about Caelus, Jing Yuan wonders how long it'd take for their paths to cross again.

Jing Yuan enters an exclusive area, and just before he steps into the elevator, he says, “Send him up.”

By the time Caelus’s father arrives at Jing Yuan’s office, Jing Yuan is sitting on a sofa with his laptop. When he hears the door open, he looks up.

“It’s been a while, Mr. Official.”

“Not long enough,” Caelus’s father says with a frown as Jing Yuan gestures for him to sit on the couch across from him.

“Oh, come now. Why the long face? We haven’t seen each other in years. The least you can do for me is smile.”

“I’m here for business.”

Jing Yuan crosses one leg over the other. “Well, shoot. Time is money.”

“...I need your help. I need you to find somebody.”

Caelus’s father reaches into his pocket, pulls out a note, and puts it on the table. Jing Yuan looks down and sees a scribbled message: your father’s one of the useless ones. can’t do anything about the disease that’s killing your brother. why don’t you die too

"Somebody sent that note to my daughter." Jing Yuan looks up as Caelus's father continues, "I checked all the security cameras around the house. Nothing."

“What about your son?”

“He says he’s fine.”

Jing Yuan almost feels sorry for the family. Who knows when Caelus's lie will blow up in his face? How devastated will his family be when they find out? Jing Yuan would almost pay to see their reaction.

This sounds like a job for the police,” Jing Yuan says. “You know… actual law enforcement.”

"I can't afford to wait. There's already an article that will run about the government's incompetence to discover anything worthwhile about this disease. I've managed to stall its release, and that's what I'm focusing on."

Jing Yuan can see the frustration all over the man's face. His furrowed brows, his inability to sit still, and the dark circles under his slightly red eyes. Jing Yuan almost finds it amusing. A father who’s more concerned about public opinion than finding a person who’s threatening his daughter? Well, whatever. As long as he’s willing to pay. Jing Yuan can make anything happen… as long as his client has the cash.

Jing Yuan twirls the ring on his finger with his thumb. "Why don't I solve both of your problems? At a price, that is."

Caelus’s father narrows his eyes. “As long it’s within reason.”

Jing Yuan slightly leans forward, looking at the man as if he’s his next meal. “Do you want results?”

Of course, Jing Yuan has his motive. Who's threatening Caelus’s father? How do they know about Caelus? How do they know about The Withering? Perhaps it’s just a psychopath. Jing Yuan vaguely knows about Stelle, so maybe it’s a deranged fan? Regardless, something tells him that whoever this is shouldn’t be taken lightly.

Jing Yuan smiles upon seeing the look on the other man’s face. It’s telling him everything he needs to know. He leans back and says, “I accept cash only, like always.”

◆◆◆

Ever since Luocha came under suspicion, you and Dan Heng made an active effort to check on Caelus every day. However, Caelus's hostility towards you doesn't go unnoticed. So, you've stopped your visits and left them to Dan Heng. After telling him about your special ability, you thought Dan Heng would consider telling Caelus. However, it's just recently Dan Heng tells you and Pom about his stance.

"I never thought I'd say this," Dan Heng said. "...But we can't use that to cure him."

"Are you thinking about the consequences?" Pom asked. "That Caelus could die through some other means?"

"That too. But"—Dan Heng sighs—"he's... been acting strange lately."

"In what way?" you asked.

"He's been telling me about who he used to be."

Pom tilted his head in confusion. "Who he... used to be? As in his past life?"

When you saw Dan Heng nod, a million questions came to mind. But most importantly: Where was getting Caelus getting this information from? Dreams? Visions? Was that why he was so hostile towards you?

"...This is going to sound crazy," Dan Heng said quietly. "But, I've noticed that the more the disease spreads, the more he tells me."

A small pause.

"I'm starting to think The Withering isn't really a disease... but more of an actual curse."

You're visiting Caelus today as you want to see for yourself how much Caelus knows. According to Dan Heng, Caelus hasn't talked about you, which makes you wonder if Caelus is purposely hiding something. While Dan Heng wants to go together, you might get a bit more out of Caelus if you go alone. Of course, there's also Luocha to watch out for. But you, Dan Heng, and Pom are one step ahead. At least... that's what you thought.

When you arrive at the hospital, you get a text from Dan Heng that he'll be there in a couple of hours as he's supervising an undergraduate chemistry class. You also get a text from a Pom that he has safely arrived at Stelle's place. She had messaged him, saying she wanted company as everyone else was busy. 

You're about to reach Caelus's room when the door opens, and you stiffen upon seeing Luocha coming out of the room. As he closes the door, he looks over at you and smiles.

“It's been a while. Here to see Caelus, I assume.”

“How is he?” You hope you don't sound as tense as you think you do.

Luocha's face falls. "Not good, if I'm being honest." You put a hand on the door, but Luocha's hand is on yours so fast that it surprises you. "...You have something to do with this curse, don't you?" His voice is low, borderline threatening, and you're almost afraid to look at him.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

“You can’t play dumb forever… Cupid.” Your eyes widen when you hear the nickname. Finally, you look at him. He’s staring at you, but you’re no longer feeling like it’s the gentle doctor you first met. "That necklace... it's meant to protect you and you alone, isn't it?" At your silence, Luocha scoffs. "Caelus has been regaining his memories. He’s been telling me things… things that I don’t think you want to hear.”

You hate how it sounds like he’s one step ahead.

"Are you sure you should rely on one person?" You glare at him. "Do you even know what he's talking about?"

"I know about doppelgangers and reincarnations." His polite smile is back. "Your friend, Lan, was so kind to provide that explanation." You clench your fists. "I'll let you in on a little secret. I've known about The Withering long before Jing Yuan. My father was the first victim."

His father? Your heart almost stops. But if his father was the first victim, and Luocha was your brother in the past, did that mean the King was the first victim of The Withering? Your heart drops to the pit of your stomach. If you’re the one who created The Withering, why in the world would you curse your father?

"I've had suspicions that the disease isn't what it appears to be." Luocha smiles as if proud of himself. "I've withheld a lot of information."

"Why are you telling me this?"

Luocha steps toward you. You step back. This continues until your back is against a wall.

"Because I've been trying to figure out who started this damn thing in the first place. Why is it even here? And because of you, it looks like I can finally start piecing everything together." He smiles as if he's proud... of you. "I never thought you'd had it in you. You completely changed, Sister."

Your eyes widen.

"I don't know how much you know, but let me tell you something." His gaze turns cold. "There are no heroes in this story. Not even you." He nods toward Caelus's room. “Maybe you should talk to him.” Then, as if reading your mind, Luocha says, “I’m not going to keep him quiet.”

You hear him walk a few steps, and then, “Trust me, Sister… I’m not your enemy. Jing Yuan’s not your enemy. Not in this time period, at least.”

As Luocha finally walks away, you hear your heart hammer. You slowly look at Caelus's door. You want to take that step forward, but it's as if your body is frozen in place. What can possibly be awaiting you behind that door? 

Suddenly, you feel a light breeze on the nape of your neck and flitters out to your shoulders. It’s as if you can feel someone’s hands on them, reassuring you, but when you turn around, the windows are closed. Then, you gently grip the pendant around your neck. You can do this. You have to do this. You have no choice. So, you turn around and open the door to Caelus’s room.

It’s eerily quiet when you slide the door open. You look around the nearly empty room and see Caelus sitting on his bed, facing the open window. The notebook sits open on the nightstand. When you get closer, a breeze comes in and flips the pages of the notebook. That's when you realize he's been using it… a lot. You see scribbles of illegible words, but then you start seeing drawings. But before you can get a closer look, Caelus suddenly speaks.

“It's been a while.”

You quickly look towards him, but he hasn’t turned to look at you.

“How are you feeling?” you ask.

Caelus looks over his shoulder. His eyes are slightly reddish, and the pigment has already reached the front of his neck.

“What do you think?”

“What have you been telling Luocha?”

Caelus looks back out the window. “Stories."

...Stories?

"The more this thing spreads, the more my story expands." He stands and fully turns to you. His head is slightly tilted, and one of his hands has been taken over by the pigment. “Today, I told him about the story of me... and you.” He walks toward you, and with a tight smile, he says, "Should I skip straight to the climax?"

You hold his stare.

"I helped Jing Yuan kill Young."

It felt like someone punched you in the gut, but the shock morphs into a bubbling rage…

The night was not nearly as quiet as the others. A crowd had gathered on the palace grounds. Some were holding torchers while other onlookers were whispering amongst themselves. You had just returned from the forest to the palace grounds to a growing chant of “Execute him!”

You forced your way through the crowd, your fear escalating with more of what you saw. Finally, when you reached the front, the scene ripped your heart out of your chest. Young was naked from the waist up, in handcuffs, and on his knees where his ankles were chained together. His back was riddled with deep scars; some still had blood oozing from the gashes.

“...No!”

You didn't even get close to him when two huge men grabbed you from either side. You quickly looked from side to side and saw they were your father's people.

“Let him go!”

One stared at you with dead-looking eyes. The other was looking at you as if you’d gone mad. Young slowly looked over his shoulder, and as soon as your desperate eyes met his, all he could do was give you a little smile.

“I was wondering when you were going to show.”

As soon as you saw Jing Yuan, everything snapped.

“You son of a bitch."

Jing Yuan stood in front of you, blocking your view of Young. Then, he leaned toward you and said, “Am I really the bad guy when I have so many people on my side?”

"If you kill him, you will kill the entire nation," you spat. 

Jing Yuan almost laughed. "You think I'm dumb enough to let this start a war?" He cupped your face. "I'm smarter than that, Princess."

You literally spat in his face.

"Fuck you."

After wiping your spit from his face, Jing Yuan said in a low voice, "You really shouldn't tempt me, sweetheart." He lifted his hand, ready to snap his fingers. "I'm going to give you one chance to apologize. Or else Young gets the whip."

"Kill me instead." Your nails dug into your skin so forcefully, you almost bled. "Please." You couldn't stop the tears anymore. "Let him go."

“You’re willing to die for him?”

"Yes.”

Jing Yuan clenched his fists. He was angry. You could tell. The bob of his throat when he swallowed. He was glaring at you but turned the other way when you held his glare. “How romantic. Unfortunately, only one of you dies tonight.” Finally, he looked back. “Your fate will be worse than death.”

You couldn’t see it, but you heard the sound of a whip against flesh and Young’s muffled cry of pain that shattered your heart.

“...Please,” you begged. “Please stop."

When you heard footsteps approaching, you finally looked to the side and saw a young man with short, silver hair wearing a yellow and black hanfu.

"...You," you said quietly.  The man was looking at you with such hatred that could only be explained if you had done something personal to him. It wasn’t until much later that you figured out the reason why. "Why are you..."

Jing Yuan suddenly snapped his fingers, and you saw a large man carrying an axe begin walking towards Young. When Jing Yuan stepped aside, you saw Young was now facing the crowd. Facing you. There were patches of dirt on his face, and there was no life left in his green eyes. Yet, when he saw you, you saw that familiar sparkle in his eyes. Coupled with that smile, it left you trembling.

You desperately struggled to free yourself from the two men. You were struggling so much that they had to force you to the ground. When the man raised his axe, tears were falling from your red eyes.

Young smiled and the wind carried the sound of his broken voice.

“...I love you.”

And the axe came down.

You can’t see it, but your eyes have become darker. You’re standing in front of Caelus with a hand around his neck. He's still looking at you as he tries clawing his way out but to no avail.

“...You.” Your voice sounded slightly distorted as you tighten your grip on his neck. You know he can’t breathe, yet you’re relishing in his suffering.

Suddenly, a hand is over yours, but it’s not Caelus. The touch is warm and gentle, and it’s when you look to the right that you see Dan Heng looking at you.

“...Let him go,” he says softly.

You don’t.

So, he tries again. “Please." There's a desperation in Dan Heng's voice that instantly snaps you back to reality. "Let him go.”

Your hand is trembling as you slowly release Caelus, and the man falls while holding his neck and coughing continuously.

Dan Heng takes your hand in his and puts another around your head. The way you’re pressed up against him, he can hear your thundering heartbeat. He reassuringly strokes your hair as he calmly says, “Everything’s okay.”

Dan Heng was on the train to the hospital when it entered a dark tunnel. He’d been thinking of you… and about Young. Young was in love with you, perhaps so much that he became tied to the world after his death. But, why? Was he waiting for you? Waiting for you to regain your memories so the two of you could move on together?

Dan Heng looked down as he contemplated his feelings for you. Were they genuine? Or were they because of his connection to Young? Was everything that was happening a repeat of the past? Things that he’d experienced with you… were any of them new?

When Dan Heng looked at his reflection in the door, he immediately sensed something was wrong. He turned and saw that the other passengers had disappeared, but he also saw Young who was standing in the middle of the empty aisle.

Was Dan Heng dreaming?

“You need to look after her,” Young said. " Help her.” His voice was fading away. “...Help her move on.”

Then, Dan Heng blinked once, and everything was as it should be.

“Let her go, Dan Heng.” Dan Heng looks at Caelus who slowly gets to his feet. “You saw what just happened. She’s dangerous.”

Dan Heng pushes you behind him as he says, “What’s gotten into you?”

As soon as he sees his friend's clouded eyes, Dan Heng knows something is not right. But before he can do anything, Lan suddenly appears in front of him. The god looks over his shoulder and says, “Take her and get out of here. Now.”

Dan Heng doesn't hesitate. Once you and Dan Heng are in the hallway, he notices the colour still hasn't returned to your face. He puts his hands on your shoulders, which makes you look up at him. But before he can say anything, you look back down. Instead of prying for answers, he hugs you in silence.

The door slides open, and Lan quickly slides it closed as he steps out.

“We need to talk,” he says. “All of us.”

Chapter 16

Tag list: @suoshiii @lordbugs @lxry-chxn @seirenspinel @tanspostsblog @theprinceofkhaos @nqctre @lunavixia @akwardbiscuit @kplatzman @sunsethw4 @hiqhkey @n8mareee

[wachinyeya]

Since 2019, The Ocean Cleanup has been collecting the floating plastics for later recycling. And with a new $15 million grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust — tied to World Ocean Day on June 8 — the group will continue its efforts to remove the garbage, a $189 million project that aims to ultimately remove 15 million pounds of plastic.

—

The latest iteration of the organization's system, funded by the Helmsley grant, involves a ship, which takes about five days to even reach the site, the largest plastic accumulation zone in the world. The ship then drags a nearly mile-and-a-half-long barrier at about walking pace to collect the plastic. AI monitoring allows the ship to steer toward the areas with the greatest plastic density, and underwater cameras monitor for any marine animal life caught in the "retention zone." If an animal is spotted, a safety hatch opens to allow the animal to escape.

"It was mind blowing," says Egger, who has completed the trip to the patch twice. "You have this pristine environment. It's a beautiful open ocean and you see a toothbrush just floating by, you see a kid's toy floating by. You realize the extent of the pollution that we caused is so vast that we created this garbage patch in the middle of the open ocean far away from human beings."

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch got its name from oceanographer Charles J. Moore, who coined the term after returning from a sailing race in 1997. About 85% of marine litter is plastic, according to the United Nations. Once these plastics enter a gyre, or an ocean vortex, they stay there until they degrade to microplastics.

"That garbage isn't going anywhere, it's staying in that location for the most part, breaking down, and entering our food system," said the trust's Panzierer. "It is so important for us to work collectively as an entire society to remove this because it has not only health problems for America, but has health problems for the entire globe."

Ocean plastics harm marine life, too. Animals often confuse the plastics for food because of their size and color, which can lead to malnutrition. Sea turtles caught in fisheries operating around the patch can have up to 74% of their diets composed of ocean plastics, according to The Ocean Cleanup.

And ocean wildlife can get caught and die in discarded fishing nets, also known as ghost nets, which make up 46 percent of the mass of the garbage patch according to the Ocean Cleanup.

In addition to the health effects of ocean plastic pollution, there are economic costs too — plastics in the ocean cost roughly $13 billion per year, including the clean up costs and financial losses to fisheries and other industries, according to the United Nations. The new funding will help the organization, which relies on donations, transition to using the new, more efficient cleanup system and scale it up.

To clean up the entire patch, Egger said, would cost billions.

The United Nations is currently negotiating a global plastics treaty that aims to develop a legally binding agreement to address plastic pollution by the end 2024.

[krawlernyannyan]

HSR VERSION 2.3 UPDATE LIVESTREAM ROUND-UP

The end of 2.3 is drawing ever closer and we've got a lot of big news coming in the next patch! Like, no, really, there's two miles of news below this cut.

The patch will be arriving on June 19th.

STORY NEWS

After the Sunday Incident, the Family is dealing with waves of bad press and souring public opinions. In order to turn things around, they've moved the remainder of the Charmony Festival aboard a massive luxury airship in the Dreamscape, the Radiant Feldspar, where the Express crew has also been invited to participate in post-Incident negotiations.

Those negotiations include the IPC, who have been digging up dirt on the Family around Penacony and intend to make their claim.

Firefly is back, and so is Sparkle and her "blow Penacony up" buttons.

NEW CHARACTERS

Firefly is a Fire/Destruction character and member of the Stellaron Hunters. Her Technique summons the SAM mecha, which flies up into the air before crashing to the ground to attack nearby enemies (this also inflicts Fire Weakness on all enemies in those waves). Once in battle, Firefly uses the SAM mech in two forms.

In the normal form, using her Skill consumes HP (Firefly sustains less damage at lower HP as on offset).

Using her Ultimate puts Firefly into her second form, the Complete Combustion state, enhancing damage dealt and increasing their Speed. In this state, the Weakness Break Efficiency of her attacks, along with the Weakness Break Damage dealt by her attacks, is increased, and attacks will regenerate HP instead of depleting it. Additionally, her Skill in this state can inflict Fire Weakness on enemies.

Once Firefly enters the Complete Combustion state, a timer appears on the action bar. When this countdown reaches the end, she returns to her normal form.

Firefly is explicitly stated to work well with characters that buff Weakness Break Efficiency or provide Super Break.

Jade is a Quantum/Erudition character whose Basic Attack inherently deals AOE damage to a single enemy and adjacent enemies. Her Skill buffs an ally, letting them deal increased damage at the cost of expending HP with each attack (if Jade chooses herself as a target, the Speed boost and HP-draining effects do not apply). Once Jade or her allies attack a certain number of enemies, she unleashes a follow-up attack. Her Ultimate deals damage to all enemies while also enhancing this follow-up attack. Her Technique causes enemies around her to not attack her, while also linking them together into a single multi-wave battle once attacked.

NEW BANNERS

Firefly is the first banner of v2.3, and will be running alongside a returning Ruan Mei. Along with them and their respective Light Cones, the 4-star characters Gallagher, Misha, and Xueyi will be appearing, as well as the 4-star Light Cones Memories of the Past, Day One of My New Life, and Eyes of the Prey.

Jade will be taking the back half of the patch, and is running alongside a returning Argenti. They and their Light Cones will be paired with the 4-star characters Serval, Natasha, and Asta and the 4-star Light Cones Shared Feeling, Trend of the Universal Market, and the new Erudition Light Cone After the Charmony Fall.

NEW MAP: The Radiant Feldspar

The Feldspar is a luxury liner built by Family head Oti Alfalfa and has been flying in the skies above Penacony's sea of dreams for an Era, only grounding recently due to the Sunday Incident. The Family's negotiations will be taking place here, as well as the remainder of the Charmony Festival and the new Simulated Universe branch.

NEW SIMULATED UNIVERSE

Screwllum and Dr. Ratio have collaborated to create a new branch of the Simulated Universe, the Divergent Universe: The Human Comedy, focused on human experience, rather than Aeons. The key gimmick of this version of the SU is based around Equations, combinations of Paths that are randomly generated at the outset of each run. By acquiring certain numbers of blessings related to those Equations, further benefits are unlocked.

Equations can be changed mid-game at Workbenches of Creation to better suit the player's lineup, and vice-versa: Lineups can be changed wholesale to better suit the chosen Equation. Workbenches can also be used to trade out unwanted Blessings for new ones, or enhance them.

As part of the Divergent Universe update, Curios are being upgraded to include Weighted Curios that benefit specific Paths or Types. There are also new Wealth and Escapade Domains, where Cosmic Fragments can be used to gamble for rewards (with Negative Curios a possible outcome).

In the Divergent Universe, underleveled and unequipped characters will be boosted according to the current Equilibrium Level and given suitable equipment (all temporary, of course). In other optimizations, Restart Challenge is now allowed in the SU, allowing the Trailblazer to retry failing fights or even swap out lineups to more advantageous teams.

The relic grind is also being optimized: After completing a run in the Divergent Universe, players can save the loadout (Blessings, Equations, Curios, etc) from that run, then simply choose which boss you want to fight to immediately confront them with those enhancements. This skips the entire rest of the simulated world.

NEW EVENTS

Alongside the new branch of the Simulated Universe, v2.3 is adding a new endgame mode, Apocalyptic Shadow, tied to the followers of the Finality. This is accessed by the Dreamscape Sales Store in Penacony. This features multiple levels of difficulty, and tasks players to defeat two enhanced bosses using different buffs, similar to Pure Fiction's buff system.

The first time Apocalyptic Shadow is cleared, players can earn a free copy of 4-star character Xueyi.

The first Apocalyptic Shadow will release the same day as the v2.3 update. After that, a new challenge will be issued every two weeks in the order of Apocalyptic Shadow, Pure Fiction, and Memory of Chaos. Each challenge will last for six weeks. In addition, rewards for each of these modes has increased from 720 Stellar Jade each to 800.

Other events include:

Origami Bird Clash - a Bejeweled-style event that features multiplayer elements.

Stellar Shimmer - a combat event where players defeat waves of enemies using unique mechanisms, such as gaining extra actions after inflicting Weakness Break or offering infinite revival.

Gift of Odyssey is returning.

The double-drop events for the patch are Planar Fissure and Realm of the Strange.

NEW EQUIPMENT

In the new Divergent Universe, new Planar Ornaments can be acquired. Alongside this, a new Cavern of Corrosion is opening up, and the new 5-star Light Cone Eternal Calculus is being added to the Simulated Universe store.

Duran, Dynasty of Running Wolves is a set that benefits follow-up attack teams.

Forge of the Kalpagni Lantern is a set that benefits SPD and Break Effect.

Iron Cavalry Against the Scourge is a set that supports Break-focused teams. It increases Break Effect and allows its wearer to ignore an enemy's DEF when dealing Break or Super Break damage to them.

The Wind-Soaring Valorous is a set supporting follow-up attacks and DPS characters focused on their Ultimates. It increases ATK and Critical Rate, and increases the damage dealt by the wearer's Ultimate after they use follow-up Attacks.

OTHER NEWS

Firefly will be receiving a Myriad Celestia and an animated short prior to her release.

After the 2.3 update, Trailblazers can activate the Path of Harmony immediately after acquiring the Path of Preservation.

New Erudition Trace Materials will become available in the Grand Theater. These are necessary for Jade's Traces.

v2.4 TEASER

We also got a brief teaser for the story in the patch after v2.3! The Xianzhou is holding an important sporting event, the Wardance, with each ship sending a delegation to participate and show their supremacy. We got multiple characters teased, including a mystery character!

[deafeland]

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[tea-with-barbatos]

ULTIMATE GUIDE TO PLAYING OBEY ME: NIGHTBRINGER FOR FREE! - SECTION 1 - HOW TO GET CARDS!

So, cards... cards are hands down the most essential part of Obey Me. You can't have ANYTHING without cards. Not even a pact with Mammon. But fortunately there's 3 different ways to obtain cards. Some require luck, some require extreme patience. You have plenty of those though... right?

Number 1 - the Gacha Method

The most effective way to acquire new SSR+ cards is by performing 10 pulls at a time. (See the right side of the photo.)

These ensure you will receive at least 1 SSR or above each time. Fortunately, with some grinding these aren't hard to achieve. I'll describe 3 different methods of doing 10x pulls from most efficient to least efficient:

✅ Using the 1 time 10x pull for 150 devil points in event gachas

Every time a new set of event cards is released, there is a limited 1st time 10x pull for a discounted 150 devil points (dp). A new set is released every 2 weeks, so try to save up at least 150dp by the new release if possible. You’ll always receive 1 free pull too!

✅ Using 10 demon vouchers

Demon vouchers (dv) are easily gained by buying the level up congrats sets for 99dp. You’ll need to buy these sets twice to acquire the 10dv needed for a 10x pull. 198dp total. This will save you 72dp per pull. You can also gain dv from events, achievements, login bonuses, and by exchanging 45 raven. Make sure to save dv until you have 10, even if it takes a while.

Congrats sets pop up after levelling up. At first it's every 5 levels, then 3, then every 1. They cost 99 dp to buy and give 5x dv + other goodies. Try to buy them whenever you can afford them. It's ok if you miss out. There will be more.

✅ Using 270 Devilpoints

Really I’d advise saving your dp for the congrats sets, even if you have plenty. It's more cost effective. However, if you truly don't mind spending the extra 70dp, then use them! Especially if you might miss out on a limited time card of your fav(s) if you don't.

❌ Single pulls

For 30dp or 1 dv, you can do 1 pull. This is high risk and low reward. You aren't guaranteed anything but a shot at your dreams. I don't recommend doing this. But if you can't resist temptation then at least Diavolo will find it relatable. You do get a free pull in A, M, and G pools often though.

General gacha advice:

Using the limited event gacha is amazing for potentially getting UR+ cards and is usually your best option. However, you will not be able to get non-event UR cards from these pools. DO use the A box occasionally to get UR cards, otherwise you’ll only have repeat SSRs after a while. (These UR cards also come with outfits.)

Event cards give you bonus points in current events. These are worth getting to help you grind event rewards, including unique URs and SSR memories!

In general pulling for memory cards is not worth the cost. You can get plenty from daily free pulls + playing the events. 80k points for event memory SSRs isn't too difficult with consistent playing. 

Save up your raven from repeat cards to buy dv or outfits for your fav(s).

Number 2 - the Hard Mode Method

The second most effective, and most reliable way, of obtaining new UR+ cards is by playing hard mode.

By reaching S rank in hard mode boss battles or extreme songs, you will unlock the ability to receive UR+ shards. If you collect 80 you can forge a UR+ with 60k Grimm. While this sounds like a LONG grind, and it is, it will be worth it. You can even pick what card(s) to aim for. So go get your fav(s) guaranteed. These cards are as powerful as the gacha ones.

✅ Getting duplicates is useful too in order to raise the level cap and skill tree cap of the UR+ as well. Even just one of these UR+ can boost your power immensely.

Number 3 - The Event Method

Every 2 weeks a new event is released in NB. With it comes a new SSR memory card (80k event points (ep)), UR card (160k ep), and a UR memory card (240k ep). These are the best rewards from the events. Unfortunately, receiving these cards involve a mixture of grinding AND luck. (Example below).

Box events are unpredictable. You might get an event UR in like, 120k ep, but it's unlikely. It might even need 250k ep. Do be careful with them as they involve more gambling.

However, you should at least be able to get the SSR memory if you log in a few times a day to use your AP on the event. Slowly but surely you’ll get there, even without the event card bonuses. You might need to watch a few ads or use some dp though.

Getting the UR card is possible if you get lucky in the event gacha. Even if you only receive the SSR, if you use jokers to raise its skill level you can get even more ep per play. You’ll have to play consistently though, watch some ads and use energy drinks to achieve your goals. It's unlikely you’ll be able to get these URs often if you're free to play. So try to save up your resources for URs of your fav(s).

❌ Event memory URs are impossible to get without paying, so either pay to get them or act like they don't exist.

❌ Ranking for a UR card is difficult without paying too, and it can be precarious. So avoid that unless you're hardcore (and rich).

LINK TO SECTION TWO - DEVIL POINTS

LINK TO MASTERPOST

[acceptccnow]

Discussing Customer Experience, GRUBBRR Self-Service Kiosks, and The Covid Effect

In today's ever-changing food service industry, keeping up with the times is essential for success. Self-service kiosks have gained traction as a means to enhance the dining experience. With the challenges brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic, the adoption of cutting-edge technologies such as GRUBBRR's self-service kiosks, which seamlessly accept credit cards and streamline payment processing, became vital for both businesses and customers.

The Transformation of the Customer Experience At the heart of any thriving business, particularly in the food service sector, is the customer experience. GRUBBRR, a prominent provider of self-service kiosks, has been a pioneer in reshaping this experience. Their kiosks are thoughtfully designed to boost efficiency, precision, and overall satisfaction.

Before the pandemic, self-service kiosks were seen as a convenient addition to the dining experience. They empowered customers to leisurely browse menus, customize their orders, and make payments using these user-friendly kiosks, creating a more personalized experience. However, with the arrival of Covid-19, the role of these kiosks transcended mere convenience.

The Pandemic's Influence on Dining The Covid-19 pandemic caused a seismic shift in how we approach dining out. Restaurants had to pivot their operations to ensure safety and compliance with social distancing guidelines. The demand for contactless solutions, including self-service kiosks that accept credit cards and streamline payment processing, surged.

Customer preferences underwent a significant shift during this period. Customers sought minimal physical contact with surfaces and staff. Businesses had to adapt to these evolving expectations. Self-service kiosks, like those offered by GRUBBRR, provided customers with a way to place orders without physically handling menus or engaging closely with waitstaff.

Enhancing Safety and Efficiency with Self-Service Kiosks For restaurants striving to provide a safe and efficient dining experience, GRUBBRR's self-service kiosks emerged as a savior. Customers gained access to full menus, the ability to customize orders, and an option to pay through these kiosks. This eliminated the need for physical menus and reduced direct interaction with staff. By accepting credit cards and optimizing payment processing, these kiosks ensured swift, secure, and contactless transactions.

The merits of self-service kiosks stretched beyond safety considerations. They elevated operational efficiency by minimizing order errors and wait times. With self-service kiosks, customers could carefully peruse menu options, ultimately leading to heightened satisfaction and improved order accuracy.

Merchant Account Processing: A Streamlined Solution An indispensable component of the self-service kiosk ecosystem is merchant account processing. GRUBBRR's kiosks are intricately linked with payment processing systems to guarantee secure, reliable, and swift transactions. This integration empowers businesses to seamlessly accept credit cards, delivering a hassle-free payment experience to customers.

By facilitating seamless payment processing, self-service kiosks ensure that customers can wrap up transactions without any glitches. This heightened level of convenience not only enriches the customer experience but also aids businesses in streamlined operations and the maintenance of a consistent cash flow.

[shuttershocky]

Shutters I've obtained Penance, how good is she if you already have Mudrock?

My personal opinion is that Mudrock is generally more useful than Penance, though that's not to say Penance is weak at all.

It comes down to their approaches to the Juggernaut class, which are Defenders with very high ATK and can't be healed.

Mudrock's approach is by constantly regenerating 3 layers of shields that heal her whenever they break, and each shield can block one instance of damage no matter how high it is.

Penance on the other hand, grows a barrier on her health bar every time she defeats an enemy, capping at a Barrier that's 3x the size of her Max HP if she defeats enough enemies.

Both of them are indomitable solo laneholders that can be near impossible to kill. Mudrock's regenerating shields (and self-heal if running S2) is a lot easier to manage as it's all automatic and self-sufficient, while Penance is reliant on a steady stream of weak enemies she can efficiently trade blows with in order to build Barrier faster than she's losing it, but she DOES have a ridiculously powerful +400% ATK buff at S3M3, giving her an incredibly high DPH that lets her take on armored opponents that would be incredibly annoying for Mudrock to kill (usually any enemy over 1.5k DEF would make Mudrock struggle).

My opinion for who's more useful is ultimately based on their niches. Mudrock's shields make her irreplaceable, she's the one operator that can tank the untankable as her shields block all damage sources no matter how high, such as Colossi with their 3k damage hits, or Manfred's cannon which deals a huge burst of true damage. As long as their attacks are slower than the rate Mudrock regenerates her shields, she can keep tanking them forever, and it's something no one else can do.

Penance on the other hand, already relies on the situation of having a lane with many enemies to feed on, both for her barrier and to charge her defensive SP type S3, and then unleashing her S3 to 1v1 an incredibly tough enemy as a giant stat stick. This puts her in direct competition with many other melee bosskiller operators, including fellow Defender Eunectes who ALSO becomes a massive unkillable statstick at S3 that goes "1v1 me bro" (though Eunectes would much rather have a lane with fewer enemies as she's only Block-1), Gavial the Invincible with her 50% damage reduction and massive ASPD boost with S3, or Surtr, who does Surtr things.

It must be stated however that Penance has the all important distinction of having very satisfying bonks with her hammer, a trait that lets her stand apart from the pack.

[shantitechnology]

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[harmonyhealinghub]

Feng Shui: Balancing Your Space for Harmony and Positive Energy Shaina Tranquilino January 5, 2024

In today's fast-paced, technology-driven world, finding balance and tranquility in our lives has become more important than ever. Feng Shui, an ancient Chinese practice dating back thousands of years, offers a unique approach to creating harmony and positive energy within our living spaces. Whether you're looking to improve your home or office environment, incorporating Feng Shui principles can have a profound impact on your overall well-being. At its core, Feng Shui is about the flow and arrangement of energy, known as "Qi," in our surroundings. By understanding how Qi moves through different spaces and how it interacts with elements such as light, colour, furniture placement, and natural materials, we can create an environment that supports and nurtures us.

One key aspect of Feng Shui is decluttering. Clutter not only overwhelms our physical space but also affects our mental state. According to Feng Shui principles, clutter blocks the flow of Qi and hinders opportunities from entering our lives. By removing unnecessary items from our surroundings and organizing our belongings thoughtfully, we can open up space for new possibilities.

Another fundamental principle of Feng Shui is balancing the five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water. Each element represents specific qualities and characteristics that contribute to a harmonious environment. For example:

1. Wood symbolizes growth, vitality, and creativity. Incorporate wooden furniture or plants to introduce this element into your space.

2. Fire embodies passion, excitement, and transformation. Use candles or bright colours sparingly to bring in this element while avoiding overwhelming effects.

3. Earth signifies stability, nourishment, and grounding. Decorate with earthy tones such as beige or brown and include natural materials like stones or ceramics.

4. Metal represents clarity, precision, and efficiency. Introduce metallic accents or décor pieces made of metals like copper or silver to enhance this element.

5. Water embodies calmness, reflection, and abundance. Add a small fountain or mirror to create the illusion of water in your space.

Additionally, paying attention to the Bagua map can help guide you in optimizing different areas of your home or office. The Bagua is an energy map divided into nine sections, each corresponding to a specific area of life such as health, wealth, relationships, and career. By aligning these areas with their respective elements and enhancing them accordingly, one can attract positive energy and improve various aspects of life.

It's worth noting that Feng Shui is not about blindly following rules; it's about creating a space that resonates with you personally. While general principles are essential to consider, ultimately, trust your intuition and what feels right for you.

Incorporating Feng Shui principles into your living or working environment can bring numerous benefits. It can enhance overall well-being, boost productivity and creativity, foster harmonious relationships, increase abundance and prosperity, and promote better physical and mental health.

If you're new to Feng Shui or unsure where to start, consulting with a Feng Shui expert can provide valuable insights tailored to your specific needs. They can help assess your space and make recommendations based on its unique characteristics.

Remember that Feng Shui is a continuous process – regularly reassessing your space as circumstances change ensures that the energy remains balanced. By investing time and effort into creating a harmonious environment through Feng Shui practices, you'll find yourself surrounded by positive energy that supports your goals and aspirations.

[earthstellar]

took a nap and had a dream about beetle!Ratchet lmao

the original post is here, for context 

I still love this idea, and with ROTB featuring beastmode bots, I guess that whole concept seeped into my subconscious lmao (even though technically this would be an insecticon mode but then maybe not, IDK) 

but here’s what I remember from the nap dream: 

-beetle!Ratchet using the hard outer shell covering of his wings as a shield while attending to battlefield casualties 

-he makes a bug house/insect hotel outside the base for him to hang out in and relax in alt-mode when he gets the opportunity. it’s like a huge shed-sized one lmao. being covered makes him feel safer and better able to efficiently recharge; the bug house has solar panels on top, super helpful for boosting additional electrical power in a desert   

-the bug house has a combed section towards the top of it, for Bumblebee to fill with energon honey (who I guess has a a literal bumblebee alt-mode in this dream/AU, IDK) 

-Miko got yelled at for trying to climb up the ground bridge console in order to try messing with Ratchet’s antennae or at least touch his chevron horns (she got nowhere near close enough, but it was the intent that counted) 

-beetle!Ratchet freaked out after Raf got mildly injured at P.E. at school one day and showed up at base with a wrapped up ankle, and immediately bridged himself to a forested area to gather large leaves and damp mud to bring back and construct a beetle nest for Raf in their little sofa/TV area 

-he is slightly mad at himself later for the whole mud thing because it made somewhat of a mess, but he ultimately considers it worth it because it calmed down his alt-mode instincts enough for him to actually get some work done (and also as far as he’s concerned Raf absolutely needed a beetle nest because humans clearly cannot take care of their young properly and it is up to him as the Team Medic to make sure further injury does not occur) 

-when teammates are injured and when it is appropriate to do so, he can’t help but wrap them up in a large metallic-looking tarpaulin like a cocoon (some beetle species do similar stuff with leaf fibres, clay, and other materials in order to protect eggs/larvae) 

-everyone tolerates this because they know it makes Ratchet feel slightly better and actually it is sort of nice 

IDK I just think beetle!Ratchet is cool lmao 

[financeadvisor1]

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