#anyway it's a non-zero amount of progress

[agentkirin]

The prototype is as functional as me now :3

[dragons-in-spaceee]

hello friend. Take this as an invitation to rant about whatever you want :)

YAYYYYYY :)))

okay so this is completely non fandom related lol I just went on a deep (ish) dive the other day about astrophotography! So as you know I do take pictures of space but I’m like the absolute beginner of beginners lol. My current equipment is a tripod and a decent camera and that’s it for photography, so I wanted to see what I’d have to get or what other techniques I could use to progress further. The biggest problem is exposure time - you need a longer exposure to capture the light needed to show the details of such faint objects as nebulae and galaxies, but a longer exposure creates star trails due to the rotation of the earth (nooooo). Also a higher magnification emphasises star trails. There are two ways to combat this: one is time consuming, the other is expensive. The first way, the one I’m going to try first as i do not have money to spend currently, is to stack photographs. I’m going to have to look more into the specifics of how this works once I have the time to try, but essentially you take a lot of short exposures of the same object then layer them all together in the right software to effectively produce a photograph of a much longer exposure. Luckily for me there are at least two recommended softwares that are free (yay!!!) and seem to work well from what I’ve seen, so I’m going to give it a shot at some point. The main thing that seems complicated is apparently you have to have different types of shots to layer? Dark ones and light ones and all sorts so I’ve got more to learn. I will be relying on the Sky At Night astrophotography explainers for this! For the exposures I am aware of the 500 rule: you divide 500 by your focal length (amount of zoom) times the crop factor (intrinsic to the camera) to get the maximum length of exposure time without trailing. I currently go over this limit sometimes as I don’t mind a small amount of trailing, but if I want sharp photos for layering I’m going to have to pay it more heed, which unfortunately means a larger amount of exposures is required to create the final image. Anyway, the second way to combat star trails is to use a tracking mount - a motorised tripod that tracks the movement of the stars across the sky. These are stupidly fucking expensive but by god do I wish I had one as it means you can almost expose for as long as you like with zero trailing. At that point your enemy becomes keeping the contrast high so, as the Sky At Night magazine highly recommends, most people still stack photos and do editing even with a tracker, but again it is not necessary with a tracker if you get the right settings. Plus less photos to stack. Currently, my plan is to first try stacking with my current equipment, then long term to buy the following equipment: 1) a tracking addition for my telescope tripod, 2) an attachment for said tripod that allows my camera to sit on top instead (ie so then the tracker kills two birds with one stone), and finally 3) an adapter for my camera to attach to the telescope itself, essentially becoming one huge zoom lens. In total this could cost up to £1000 so this is very much long term goals but THINK OF THE PHOTOGRAPHS I COULD TAKE!!!! For now, I’m waiting till the sun finally lessens its grasp on the sky and the nights darken again (as, I cannot emphasise how much it does NOT get dark AT ALL here in summer), then my targets will (probably) be the andromeda galaxy, Orion Nebula, and Pleiades for my first attempts at stacking!

[silverview]

so i used to play in a modified dnd game that was set in a sort of fantasy early modern merchant republic, and my character was the ghost of a knight who'd been dead & asleep for 100s of years, since the area was part of a feudal monarchy. so his main thing was was being a fish out of water & grieving the loss of that world + his place within it

BUT he DID find a new purpose, namely, dedicating himself to the service of one of the other player characters. she was a vampire countess from a part of the world that was still doing feudalism. she was strong & a good fighter, but he still LOVED trying to protect/do things for her. she was a natural leader & he loved following her. to him, she represented the elegance & order of the life he left behind. the irony being that she was actually a progressive, irreverent free spirit who hated being a countess & was always trying to find her own identity away from that world. but out of kindness or convenience she let him be her knight

anyways. it still makes me insane whenever i think about it. lady & knight dynamic. undead goths. non-zero amount of innuendo about swords. in one adventure they literally went undercover as a married couple. head in my hands

[mashounen1945]

This phenomenon of apparently widespread panic for "male loneliness" is so funny when I look at this whole thing from outside, but not only because of how blatantly the so-called "male loneliness epidemic" is the predictable result of women growing a backbone and refusing to live the rest of their lives with (or rather, for) some random jerk due to peer pressure. No, there's another thing I noticed here: the men who actively refuse to treat women as human beings, try to force women to live with them through manipulation of societal norms and veiled threats of "thou shalt be alone, sad and miserable forever without me", then get rejected anyway as a result and refuse to admit their own flaws and do better... are the same kind of people who'd also be way too prideful to come out, talk about this (even if "talking about this" would amount to spreading lies and not much else) and start this "panic" in the first place.

And yet, there are newspapers and websites that see this and are like "Clearly, this is a topic of public interest, we have the duty to write news articles about male loneliness and spread awareness on how big this problem truly is".

Like... Where are all these men whining about "male loneliness"? Sure, you could say they're a vocal minority and that's why they're much harder to find in real life, but such minority wouldn't even want to be vocal! Even if "being vocal" about male loneliness merely consisted of wasting saliva to accuse women for having standards and blaming them for not getting laid, these men would still be implicitly admitting failure and they'd still be too ashamed to do that; sure, this idea of "male loneliness" is based on sexism & patriarchy and both things still exist and sometimes it feels like there's been exactly zero progress ever since the time when women were denied citizenship and legally on the same level as slaves, but the sexist norms that punish a woman for exercising her human rights... would punish one of those "male-lonely" men as well (maybe less harshly, but they'd punish him nonetheless), branding him as "not manly enough" and thus ostracizing him and symbolically crucifying him in the eyes of society, for his lack of success in his desperate attemps to slay coochie. Whoever is "affected by male loneliness" is well aware of this.

If there is indeed panic for men "suffering" this "male loneliness", not only is that issue wildly blown out of proportion, but the people panicking for this are not those men themselves. And this is where we have to wonder: who exactly are the whiny pissbabies, with too much money and free time on their hands, loudly faux-panicking on behalf of those men?

-------------------------

P.S.:

A man who fails at starting a relationship with a woman –or doesn't even know how to do that– and is willing to step forward and admit their failure as well... is also the kind of person for whom "male loneliness" would stop being a problem almost immediately: he would cut any non-essential social interaction and stop trying to get laid entirely, deciding that the only company he needs in his life are videogames, social media (perhaps not even all social media, just Discord servers), some nerdy special interest (maybe something he's actually studying in college, where his only social interaction would be going to class), the most unrealistic hentai available (not even porn, just hentai, no flesh-and-blood people suffering sexual and/or worker abuse behind the scenes) and maybe some plushies to remind him of the childhood he probably shouldn't have wasted, a time when life was much more simple.

[nepja]

First fragment I try after voting: Eric makes reference to a murderer being on a crew to Mars while the camera looks directly at Mira. yeah, give it away right there, sure. I quit and did C and D after this one because I got pissed at Eric yelling at the kid.

Finished everything I could of C and D teams. Did get kinda mad when I saw Phi and Diana stabbed and the sound effects of the person walking away sounded like heels clacking, then later couldn't choose Mira when trying to decide between Akane or Carlos for who killed Junpei. There is clearly someone wandering around when they shouldn't be and Mira was already heavily implied (to me) to be violent at this point. LOL at the message for inputting "Gab" tho No endings yet and what I'm able to view of the full timeline shows a lot missing.

Now that I have no more paths to access and no idea of the passwords needed, I have to go back to Q team. Starting off with voting and voted for D instead of C. Mira says the kid just wanted to kill them. stop projecting.

Biolab: ok it's actually kinda funny that Eric feels bad for the penguin. we differ on opinion of the fetus. Mr. Simp is whining about everything. aaand camera again focuses on Mira as Zero describes the murder. I. Get. It. also not buying this stuff about FBR. pretty sure VLR would not exist if FBR was real.

"But is it really possible for thought speed to be slowed down like that?" this bitch NT af.

whoever voiced Eric's dad is very familiar, but I'm shit at names.

and she stabs him in the other path. don't feel sorry for him at all.

study: the portraits are funny and putting the key together was fun. I thought it was an arrow for the crossbow at first.

3 people. 4 outcomes. huh? there's no timer, so ???

kill Eric: I don't think a crossbow bolt wound would gush like that. or the tip cut so well, especially to the point one could remove an organ. she freely admits to having murdery fun times. excessive and unrealistic amounts of blood. finally found an ending again! Q-END: 1 found.

kill Mira: I think I like her most so far out of Q team, so I didn't want to do this. wait, Q announced dead but kid is not dead yet? is "Q" not the kid????

kill Q: uh? "input Q's name." I gotta come back to this fragment later.

pod room: jfc dude. obsessive much? and this constant angry/nice switching with the kid.. he needs some serious help. certainly the abuse he suffered is still majorly affecting him. doesn't excuse his attitude at all, just explains it a bit.

Misc thoughts so far about Team Q:

Eric seems to have a mismatch between face and hand texture. His face is super pale on my screen, but his hands look more tan. It's actually kinda distracting

Kid has a flat voice, like nothing really bothers him. which bothers me, and it shouldn't because I tend to be quite flat in my tone irl so it's hypocritical of me to hate it in fiction, isn't it? also why do we gotta traumatize a child in every game?

Mira is very Obviously Evil. a little tired of Sexy Woman = Evil. that bra looks uncomfortable. get a better fit, girl! your back will thank you.

And I don't think Q is the kid so... is the player an actual player in this one?? I thought they said the "Another Time" thing in VLR was non-canon!

anyway, Q Team and everyone else too really, really needs therapy.

and I gotta figure out what I'm missing, because I can't progress any further right now.

[rahrahkaz]

Clinical Trial Denial #IYKYK

We are approaching six years of Caleb and Dunky being diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy. The hope that emerged during conversations with other families, clinicians and scientists was promising. I wasn’t guaranteed anything, but I was told from many different people that Duchenne will look different for my boys due to the advancements in treatments that were surfacing. It was never said but the sentiment was “If you have to live with Duchenne, now is the best time for this diagnosis."

However, six years later, Caleb (10) is now nearly 100% wheelchair bound and Dunky (8) is slowing down by the minute. Don’t get me wrong, some of those treatments that were surfacing have been FDA approved, have hopes for label expansion or are close to approval. But there is so much we didn’t know six years ago, that we do know now……..none of those treatments will benefit my boys in the near term. Dunky and Caleb have a rare mutation (deletion of exons 6 – 17) which we were told early on may mean they have less impact on their cognitive ability. While that might be true, it is now thought to have an increased impact on their heart.

We are so happy for all of those that are benefitting form promising exon skipping drugs or gene therapy, but we, unfortunately, continue to watch Duchenne rob my boys of their ability to function as normal kids.

Earlier this week, Dunky was screened for a clinical trial. It wasn’t a life-changing treatment, but it was a drug that is thought to slow the progression and keep boys ambulatory for longer. There is more to being ambulatory than a badge of honor, though it feels that way sometimes. Keeping these boys ambulatory helps them burn calories and keeps organs moving that otherwise get lethargic when wheelchair bound. This journey started nearly 9 months ago when both boys were deemed eligible for a screening of this trial. One cohort, to the next cohort and then evaluating BMIs. Dan and I had already decided we wouldn’t put up Caleb as a candidate. It’s really hard to choose when you have multiple children but you evaluate their current state and what they might be able to handle and make decisions. You will never know if they are the right decisions, but you have to go with it and be confident.

In May of 2023 when this trial first came up, Caleb was slowing down at a rapid pace. He was falling a significant amount and we were seriously considering an invasive foot surgery to straighten out his right foot. Due to these factors, we passed on Caleb and he underwent surgery in the summer of 2023. We embarked on a risky surgery as we knew we could get his foot in a good position, but we didn’t know if it would help him walk. We will never know if it helped or hurt, but what we do know is his foot is straight to help with standing and transfers and we have decreased his falls risk to nearly zero given his walking is now minimal if not non-existent.

Back to Dunky, he was deemed ineligible due to his BMI for the cohort at hand. I seriously considered dramatically decreasing his food intake and giving him healthy doses of Miralax prior to the trial screening, just to help him pass. But then I prayed for clarity and answers and realized how ridiculous my plans were. So while the trial worked to eliminate the BMI requirement for future cohorts, we declined the screening.

Fast forward to a future cohort where the BMI was eliminated and we were invited for a screening. Funny enough, the BMI is no longer an issue for Dunky as we have moved him to weekend steroids and that has helped with his physique. Some believe weekend steroids may slow the kiddos down, but there is not data to support that. Regardless, high BMI slows them down anyways, so we decided to make that change. Enough time has passed since initial discussions that this disease has taken so much of my little Dunky. But here we go anyways, we had to give it a shot.

Our little guy was so brave. He reluctantly signed his name agreeing to do all of the things the trial asked of him, and it was a lot. Physical tests that would be no big deal to a typical kiddo, but causes stress on these boys that struggle so much and get exhausted so fast. There were many appointments, blood draws, heart scans, etc but he said he would do it.

And so it began. Things were going well, until the blood draw. You would think he’s had them enough that it would be no big deal, but he screamed bloody murder “you guys….I quit” over and over. It hurt my mom heart. But then it was over and he said it wasn’t so bad.

Time passes with more tests while I wait in the lobby for my brave boy and then it happened. They pulled me into the room and I knew right away based on their faces. Dunky just couldn’t complete one of the two timed tests in the allotted time, it was to get off the ground to standing. What he could do fairly easily just six months ago, had become extremely difficult and nearly impossible.

I sobbed and Dunky asked over and over why I was sad. All I could tell him was how proud I was of him for being so brave, for giving it his all. But what I didn’t tell him is I’m so damn sad that this disease is taking so much from him in what feels like such a short amount of time. I wasn’t sad that he failed, I was sad because it was yet another reminder that Duchenne is winning their bodies over.

We recovered at the hotel with chocolate milk and prosecco and thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our stay. It was traumatic for me, but Dunky only remembers all the chocolate milk I let him have and the sushi we had that night. These boys are so brave and resilient.

While we continue to notice things they can’t do, we are committed to not letting Duchenne win their spirits. As always, we are thankful for all of the love and support as we navigate unchartered territory with this disease. We know we can’t do this alone!

1-22-24

[voidscarredadjudicator]

ANYWAYS hey guys. Obligatory 'not dead yet' post here. Yet another long one, mostly rambling.

I wish I had a proper update after all this time that wasn't just me yelling at the sky or something but simply put I probably have to move for a second time this year but the issue is that I don't know that for sure or even when that would be if I do have to so it's one of those things where I kinda just can't get too comfortable ever at all so that's pretty cool I guess. There has been a non-zero amount of progress made on Act 2 at the very, very least as I am occasionally struck with motivation, but god. It feels like I've been hit with a curse or some shit.

Also, while I haven't been playing the game as of late, I've been keeping my ear to the ground and know that there's that pretty big splatfest right around the corner, so it's pretty cool to see that I've been so slow to get the next act out that the game is already pulling the big anniversary celebration with the theme that's probably gonna have some influence on where they go next with the series. That was sarcasm by the way I wish I could keep up any semblance of a pace that isn't on par with waiting for the heat death of the universe

But hey, at the very least, it gives me more official stuff to work with rather than just making shit up later down the line. To give you an idea of the HE Acts (which is the least I can do at this point), Following Big Run being the focus of Act 2, Act 3 will be the Alterna arc, Act 4 will be a more original arc that's been foreshadowed in Act 1 and also the Harmony story, and Act 5 will be a continuation of that with a final fest kind of splatfest as the backdrop. In the timeline where I could actually pump all this out in a reasonable timeframe and thusly have gotten Act 5 out before now, I would've had to have come up with some kind of climactic theme on my own and I'm kinda punching myself for not thinking of Past, Present, and Future myself because holy shit that is so obvious and works REALLY well with Kaleb's story.

So uh. Yeah. Honestly at this point I'm not sure how many folks still care because of how long this is taking me and frankly I wouldn't blame anyone for losing interest at this point, but I still wanna get this put out there. Even if it takes me far beyond the game's lifespan. Hopefully it won't and hopefully I can actually, for real this time, enter some kind of groove and knock this shit out of the park in a few month's time, but I don't wanna promise anything I can't know for sure. I'm sorry, y'all. Hope you've been doing good.

what do you MEAN it's been two months already what the FUCK

[mayy-bby]

Idk if it’s just me, but I find that 911 has a hard time following through with their character arcs and this leads to redundant storytelling (in some cases). We’ve seen buck go through this journey of never feeling enough/wanted/loved time and time again and somehow we always end up right at the start of it? After buck begins is seemed like they’d keep us in the loop of buck’s therapy and do check ins to see where he’s at in terms of his belonging but they sidelined that and brought it back up now in season 6. Which some people see as them not forgetting the important details, but is that what it is? Instead showing his progress from last time, we get a whole episode on buck coming to the same realization he always comes to (that he is loved and wanted and enough/family is not always blood you you build it). And this isn’t to say I didn’t like the episode but we’ve seen this exact thing before, just with a different set up. And the thing is we always see this part but we hardly see what comes after that. The part he follows through with his realizations. The part where the progress is shown. I know some people are gonna “growth is not linear”. Well yeah, but first, it’s not completely stagnant either and two, this is a tv show and you have to move the story forward at a quicker pace and show progress for storytelling. This doesn’t mean the person can’t have the same issues arise again, but let’s not take the person right back to square one to where the lessons from last time become non existent. Now we have Eddie going on another date which most people are saying is going to be some sort of failed attempt at getting back into things and what will lead eddie to the final buddie realization. Ummmmm, what was Ana’s purpose then? That breakup was so pivotal but there was zero follow through/follow up. And I can already feel some people wanting to say, “well maybe the follow up will happen now after his date with marisol.” But no. We shouldn’t have to wait like this insane amount of time to see the the after math of something major. I can’t even recall if Eddie had a proper conversation about the breakup with anyone? Or even a decent passing mention? It’s like it never happened. Maybe if he continued to talk about it after it happened here and there, then him going on this date would make more sense. Like just knowing a little more about Eddie’s mindset when breaking up with Ana/coming to the realization (beyond the whole instant family thing which was sort of vague ngl) that she isn’t the one and why - it would be soo telling. I mean, they could have at least had Eddie mention something along the lines of “I don’t know exactly why, but I knew for sure Ana wasn’t the one for me. I think maybe because Shannon and I got together and then pregnant so young, I didn’t have that much experience with love and dating. I feel like I’m still figuring that part of myself out and dating Ana helped me find my footing even though she isn’t the one.” Blah blah, etc etc. By getting some insight into his mindset after the breakup, him going on a casual date like this one would make so much more sense. It still would be annoying but at least we’d have some insight into why he’s even trying this when things with Ana ended the way they did. But they just left us with a very ambiguous and coded breakup that said a lot but also very little. But anyway. I actually don’t know if this date will be a one time thing, but either they’re going to be redundant with his love life once again or they’re going to settle with her as the final love interest. Kinda annoying either way

[phis-corner]

demon’s daughter

I decided to re-open the taglist for this fic because I am sometimes a pushover, so now you can either ask or comment to be on the fic’s taglist or the permanent taglist! 

Additionally, I have no consistent update schedule. My first draft is written by hand- I always like to stay two chapters ahead, so I posted this chapter when I finished copying chapter 5 into a Google Doc and proofreading.

Also, fun fact: I hate chocolate. My senses just do not like it at all. I also have a very sensitive tongue and can taste the barest hint of spiciness in foods, which also means I have zero spice tolerance whatsoever. As a Chinese-American with family in Sichuan, this means I get force-fed a lot of extremely spicy foods anyway.

Masterlist Chapter 1 Chapter 2 [Chapter 3] Chapter 4

“Why are you letting them stay? He tried to kill Dick!” Timothy points at Damian, who glowers at him from across the cave as Alfred stitches Richard’s cuts.

Marinette sighs. “Akhi was not trying to murder Richard. If you paid more attention, you would notice that all of Richard’s wounds are carefully placed in non-lethal areas meant to slow him down instead of severely injuring him.”

Batman does not say a word. He hasn’t spoken since Richard called him to verify their claims.

“They were raised as assassins, Timmy. It’s normal that they’d feel threatened a lot, and act accordingly. They’re family now. Give them a chance.” Richard replies, and Marinette blinks. She did not expect to have Richard defend them so easily.

“Pardon me,” She pipes up. “But ‘they’ are currently present.”

“Right. Sorry.” Richard has the sense to look guilty. Timothy just glares.

Damian squeezes her hand three times, their signal for I would like to leave. Marinette sighs as she exits the Batcave. Being accepted into the family is… a work in progress.

.o0o.

Slade is put into Blackgate not long after with the information Ubu gave after being interrogated by the Bats. Damian and Marinette were not allowed to go. 

Too young, Richard had said. They had interpreted that as You cannot be trusted to keep him alive. He did make the right call though. Damian would have tried extremely hard had he gotten the chance.

Of course, the League did dispose of him not long after anyway, but it was the thought that counted.

Damian and Marinette spent their days in the Manor sparring, reading, or practicing their instruments. Richard, who seemed determined to bond with them, bought them both new sketchbooks, for Damian’s drawings and Marinette’s designs. She had discovered an affinity for clothing design while undercover on a mission, and had been designing ever since.

Cass (she insisted that they call her that instead of Cassandra,) was always happy to spar when asked, and although nobody ever defeated her, it was a welcomed challenge to fight someone who knew your every move, sometimes even before you did. Damian grudgingly admits she is a worthy sister, which makes Marinette smile and Cass beam.

Jason had his own home and only visited every once in a while, and Timothy was rarely seen. It didn’t help that Damian continued to make snarky comments whenever they did see him, but if Timothy was scarce, Father was practically nonexistent.

Since they came to the Manor, their father has said a total of two words to the both of them, and that was just their names when he exited his study as they passed by.

Marinette is determined to make her new family work, and so when she finds Timothy completely by accident, typing away on a laptop in one of the less-used rooms in the Manor, she takes a chance.

“You do know we are not trying to replace you, right?” She asks softly, sitting down in an armchair and deliberately not making eye contact with him. 

Timothy snorts. “But is that not what you’re doing? Bruce chose to take in everyone else. I had to blackmail him into letting me be Robin. And then the biological kids show up, born and raised like fucking royalty, so who would care about Tim Drake? The little kid whose parents didn’t even want him and his neighbor only adopted him because he knew his most well-kept secret.”

“We have more in common than you think.” Marinette says quietly.

“Yeah, right.” Timothy laughs bitterly. “The Princess of the League-”

“I wasn’t.” Marinette interrupts.

“Huh? But-”

“I wasn’t the Princess.” Marinette keeps her voice calm with considerable effort. “As soon as I was born, Ra’s gave me over to Lady Shiva. He declared me unworthy because I was a girl, and I was raised as the lowest-ranked assassin. I may have been Shiva’s protege, but that just meant she went even harder on me. I did not know even my last name until after my first death when I was five. I did not properly meet my brother until last year. Ra’s decided that I could be acknowledged, but maintained his stance on feminine inferiority.”

She chuckles hollowly. “You fear being replaced by your father figure’s biological children, Timothy. But your fear is unwarranted. Bruce Wayne chose to adopt you, because he is a good man with copious amounts of generosity. However, it evidently does not extend to his biological children. Talia dumped us at Batman’s feet and left without another word, without looking back. And Father? We may have been a complete surprise, but he has said two words in total to us since that first night- our names. You need not worry, Timothy. You shall not be replaced.”

Marinette stands, her message conveyed, and pauses in the doorway of the room. 

“Have a good afternoon, Timothy.”

The next day, Marinette and Damian watch on live television as their father is killed by Darkseid.

.o0o.

The funeral for Batman is somber. Everyone cries except for Marinette and Damian.

She thinks they should be crying, but Marinette simply didn’t know her father well enough to really mourn him. Damian squeezes her hand, and she squeezes back. The twins stand, faces carefully blank, shoulders straight and unmoving, like rocks in an ocean of tears.

Crime in Gotham runs rampant when they think Batman is gone, and so Richard becomes Batman out of necessity- and chooses her twin brother as his Robin.

Nobody else sees how it crushes Timothy, because Cass has left for Hong Kong, abandoning Batgirl and making her own identity as Black Bat. Jason is holed up in a safehouse somewhere, Richard and Damian are in their own little world as they prepare for their first patrol together, and Alfred needs time to mourn too.

So she finds herself knocking on the door to Timothy’s room, one hand holding a plate of sandwiches and a freshly brewed coffee because he hasn’t left his room since the funeral. Marinette quietly enters upon his muffled “Come in” and sets the plate down next to Timothy, whose eyes are red-rimmed and have even larger bags than normal, and yet he continues to work.

“I… noticed you have not come out to eat, so I brought some food and fresh coffee. Black.” She adds, after a moment of hesitation.

“Thanks.” Timothy mumbles, immediately going for the coffee. “Why are you doing this?”

Marinette shrugs. “Everyone else was caught up in their own situation and had issues to work through too. I am relatively unaffected by the circumstances and therefore my observation skills have not declined.” She says simply. “You should also eat. I will not stop you from drinking the coffee, but you cannot work on an empty stomach, either.”

He begrudgingly eats a sandwich, still typing away at his laptop all the while. Marinette notes the tension in his frame.

“Would you like to talk about it? I have read that venting is significantly better for one’s mental health than keeping it bottled up.” She offers.

Timothy suddenly slams the laptop shut, hard, but Marinette doesn’t flinch. The reaction was trained out of her a long time ago. 

“It’s not- it’s- my entire life, I’ve been trying to prove myself. Robin was- Robin was special. I wasn’t the first Robin, but it was a reminder that I was worth something to someone, that I could do good and be useful. And then Bruce dies, Dick becomes Batman, and he just names Damian as his Robin like my opinion on the matter meant nothing, booting me out of the position, without any semblance of an explanation and-” He breaks off into sobs.

The sight of somebody crying makes Marinette more than a little awkward, because what is she doing? She doesn’t know how to comfort a crying person, but she does know that Timothy was touch-starved as a child. However, she isn’t the most touchy-feely person on the planet either, so she just settles for rubbing his back as he lets it all out.

Once he’s run out of tears, she silently hands him the tissue box she plucked from his desk. 

“Timothy Jackson Drake-Wayne, you are not worthless.” Marinette says sternly. “Nobody is worthless, and you are far from being anywhere near so. You are the cleverest and most intelligent of us all, a capable, quick-thinking strategist, and you have detective skills that rivaled Father’s. I believe Richard chose Damian as Robin because Robin is always supposed to be Batman’s sidekick. He is always taken under Batman’s wing because there are things he hasn’t learned, that Batman can teach him. Richard sees you as an equal, and therefore cannot keep you as his Robin because you have graduated the mantle. It is time you created a new identity and moved on. Do you have anything in mind?”

Timothy sniffs once. “Thank you. I really needed that. And as for the ideas,” He reaches over and pulls out a sketchbook, a smile spreading across his face. “I’ve got a few.”

.o0o.

They brainstorm ideas for almost three hours before Timothy falls asleep. Marinette easily carries his light frame to his bed and drapes a blanket over his shoulders before quietly exiting his room.

Thankfully, she managed to convince Timothy that the cowl was a terrible idea. Marinette returns to her own room for her sketchbook. Batman and Robin will have each other’s backs. But Red Hood works alone, leaving Red Robin with nobody to watch his back.

Timothy is Marinette’s brother too, and everyone else is headed into the field anyway. She, like Damian, also had the phrase ‘justice, not vengeance’ drilled into her head, and Richard had made sure to remind them daily to aim for non-lethal spots. Not that she planned on taking a life ever again anyway.

Marinette flips open her sketchbook to a bookmarked page and smiles. It seems that Starling would be making an appearance very soon.

.o0o.

It is almost time for Richard and Damian’s first patrol as Batman and Robin. Marinette heads downstairs to wish them well, but freezes at the sight of her twin in Timothy’s old suit.

“This is unacceptable!” She screeches, hurrying forward and looking pleadingly at Richard. “You cannot let akhi out into Gotham looking like a traffic light!”

Richard frowns, as does Damian. “But you never had a problem with Tim wearing it.”

“Tt. Timothy had little to no prior experience in combat before being trained as Robin. Damian has been trained to utilize the shadows in combat since birth. Wearing those bright colors will make him stand out and put him at a disadvantage.” Marinette tuts, already scribbling out a new design in her sketchbook.

“Then what do you suggest, ukhti?” Damian asks.

“I have a design in mind. The colors will stay, but the yellow and green will have to be significantly darker, and the red should be dulled as well. Sadly, you will have to wear that monstrosity tonight, but I can have the suit finished in time for patrol tomorrow, as will mine and Timothy’s new suits.” She replies, not glancing up from her book.

“What do you mean, Marinette?” Richard questions, and Marinette feels a tiny twinge of annoyance at how he handled telling Timothy about Robin.

“I mean that Timothy and I have crafted new identities as well. You did not expect him to just stop fighting crime, or for me to just sit at home while everyone else carried out Father’s mission, did you?”

Damian nods, a small smile pulling at his lips. “It will be nice to see you in the field too, ukhti.”

“What will your names be?” Richard prods curiously.

“I will not tell you just yet.” Marinette smirks. She shows her twin the finished design. “Does this look alright, akhi?”

“It looks wonderful, ukhti.” Damian replies. “Thank you.”

She sniffs. “Well, somebody had to fix the lack of fashion sense in this household eventually.”

.o0o.

Everyone else in the family may use capes, but Marinette decided that Richard’s Nightwing suit was by far the best because of its lack of one. Capes were long, heavy, a waste of fabric, and overall useless.

The Starling suit was primarily black, with a dark emerald mask covering the lower half of her face (because why carry a gas mask and rebreather when it can be built in?) with gloves and boots in the same color. A single silver star with curved sides was splayed on her chest, and a dark green utility belt rested on her waist. Her steel war fans had holsters strapped to her thighs.

All in all, the suit was built for the shadows. Marinette had learned to master slipping through the dark, unseen, and Gotham was the perfect place to utilize that. Starling would be nothing more than a ghost, a legend, if she had her way. After all, the less citizens knew, the less likely the information would hit the underworld, and that way, the vigilantes wouldn’t have all their cards out in the open.

Damian looks much better in his new suit as well, and Timothy is also grinning when he steps out of the male’s changing room. (A/N: the new 52 suit. I’m not letting him out of the Cave with that ugly cowl, or the traffic light costume with an extra R. Don’t even get me started on the Drake one.)

Richard, cowl still down, smiles as bright as the sun itself. “Good to see you, Robin. Tim, Marinette, can I ask your names?”

Timothy fastens his domino. “Red Robin.”

Marinette pulls her face mask up and curtsies with perfect posture. “Starling. I wish to work in the shadows, if that is alright.”

Richard puts on the cowl and becomes Batman. “You guys all look amazing.” He grins, and it is unsettling to see Batman smile. Oracle logs into the comms from the Clocktower.

“You all ready?”

They split the city in half. Red Robin and Starling take the North while Batman & Robin will cover the South. 

Starling trails Red Robin from afar, leaping from building to building and only using her grappling hook when the distance is too great to close by foot. They stop four muggings and two attempted assaults, all without Starling being spotted. The criminals think they hit their head on the alley walls or each other instead of her fist from behind.

It’s almost three in the morning when Batman calls it quits and they return to the Cave, changing out of their suits and showering. They are somehow all unharmed, so Alfred sends them up to bed.

Damian and Marinette brush their teeth before climbing into bed and flipping off the lights.

“Tonight was actually quite enjoyable.” Marinette remarks. “It is a nice feeling, to know that you are helping people.”

Damian hums sleepily. “It is good to know that we are continuing Father’s legacy.”

Marinette smiles. “Yes, I suppose so.” She burrows deeper into her blankets. “Sleep well, akhi.”

“The same goes for you, ukhti.”

For once, Marinette doesn’t have a nightmare.

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Note: some of them didn’t work. I am terrible with technology and have no clue how to fix this.

[voxymoxyboxy]

Drabbles for my Various Sam and Max AUs 01- Ghost Max AU

Hi there! I wanted to actually publish my writing for once, so I decided to write a whole bunch of drabbles of my various Sam and Max AUs! I’m gonna try to make at least one for every AU, so wish me luck! Here’s the first one!

P.S. If you wanna hear more about them, please ask! I wanna talk about them! Don’t be shy!

TW: Mentions of Death and Cursing 

Drabble 01- Ghost Max AU

Max had never really seen himself as a ‘people’ person.

When he was a kid, the only ones who’d ever tolerated his presence were his parents and a handful of his siblings, and even then it sometimes felt like that was stretching it. That had been fine by him. Playing too roughly with others usually sent him to time out while playing by the rules bored him out of his mind. At the end of the day, it just seemed easier to keep to himself.

The lagomorph had even preferred it, regardless of that weird pang in his chest.

In all of his life, Max could honestly say that he had grown fond of his workmates. Would never openly admit it, but the signs had been there. Whenever the rabbit teased Sybil, poked fun at Superball, eventually turned into something akin to affectionate after a year of knowing them. Hell, the lagomorph remembered the days he’d spent trying to get them together, leaving notes and gifts as the other.

There was a small part of him that yearned to go back. If anything, they were the only things worth living for.

Being dead put a damper on all that, of course.

In the beginning it had been great! Being a ghost was amazing! No responsibilities (taxes who?), all the free time in the world to do whatever the lagomorph wanted. Sure, not being able to enjoy the luxuries of food was a bummer but flying was pretty neat! It was only when Max tried leaving when it hit him. Literally.

What appeared to be some kind of force field prevented him from leaving his little ramshackle apartment. That hadn’t bothered him at first. After all, learning what ghostly powers he held could keep the rabbit entertained for hours! Could being the key word. While fun to start, progress was slow then came to a stop completely when it became fruitless. Roaming the same halls grew boring. Floating lost its charm. The yellow of the walls started taunting him almost.

Going to Heaven would’ve been preferable to the pseudo-hell he was trapped in.  

A tiny sliver of hope came when the corpse cleaners came a few days after his death. Hermit that Max was, someone must’ve finally called the police after the smell became too much to bear. They’d burst in, covered head to toe in white before getting right to work. Which was weird, but not unexpected. Someone was making sure that his death was but a blip to be forgotten.

That was okay. The lagomorph planned to have the last laugh.

Opportunity struck. Jumping in one of their paths, the rabbit had snapped at the man, laying out every insult in the book (that he’d written, by the way). Imagine the look on his face when the fucker simply walked through him, face set in stone as if he hadn’t heard a damn word.

Because he hadn’t, Max had realized, horror thrumming in his core.

Nobody could.

They left. A few more people entered. The lagomorph tried everything. Shouting, yelling, kicking their kneecaps, pushing a tumbler off the kitchen counter like in those old horror movies his ma told him not to watch. Nothing. No flinching or yelps of pain left their mouths. Only sounds of exertion and mumbling before they too were gone, leaving the rabbit in silence.

Quiet. It was too quiet. Noise kept Max busy, kept that small ball of darkness from spreading through his brain like poison. Silence, for some, was comforting.

For him it was deafening.  

Forced to see the same things day in and day out, the rabbit soon discovered the pang was back in full force. When exactly had it disappeared? The thought, while elusive during the day, always crept back at night, when Max couldn’t sleep to keep it at bay. It grew, evolved into what-ifs and questions he had no answers for.  

How had Sybil and Superball reacted to his death? They had to know it was murder, right? A little bump to the head was the last way he wanted to go out, right behind getting shot but ahead of choking on a gummy bear. Were they looking for the bastard that did him in? A tiny voice from who-knows-where told the lagomorph that the pair didn’t care enough.

Max tended to agree.

What of his family? Funnily enough, getting offed made the rabbit more appreciative of his family. They certainly weren’t the most loving or caring, but there were hints here and there. A kiss on the forehead, an older sibling giving him the slightly bigger half of a cookie, little Milly coming to climbing into his bed during a particularly bad thunderstorm. Despite not thinking about them for countless years, Max couldn’t stop the memories from playing over and over.  

It didn’t take him long to learn that they kept him sane, let him forget the pain in his chest.

(Let him forget how lonely he was-)

It hurt to confess that he desperately craved contact. With humans, animals, anyone! Even a scrap would last him a lifetime at that point-

You could say Sam was Max’s saving grace, as pathetic as that sounded.

The day the dog moved in was perhaps the happiest moment of Max’s- well, not life, but whatever the ghost equivalent was. Non-life? Existence? Guy was noisy for sure. Talked through mundane tasks, whistled random tunes, turned up the tv to the point where the lagomorph was sure the neighbors could hear every gunshot from the noir films Sam was so fond of, all of it blended into a wonderful symphony of cacophony.

Max loved it. Even his terrible banjo playing. Found it endearing even, but he would take that lil’ tidbit to his grave… If he could find it, that is.

The rabbit had watched from afar. Not really a point to creep on the guy up close when the chance of seeing him was zero percent. He was used to stalking people from afar anyway (obviously), so it felt nice to fall into a rhythm.

Watch Sam wake up. Morning routine included bathroom necessities, of which Max had only peeked once (by accident!). Least he could do was give the poor dog some privacy. After that was breakfast. Usually a slice of toast or bowl of cereal (something sugary and tooth-rotting, so the rabbit knew he had good taste) along with the essential cup of coffee. It amused Max to no end that it was more a glorified cup of milk and sugar, yet it was-dare he think it- kinda cute actually.

From all his observations, Max could only assume the dog was a detective of some sort. His oak desk was covered with endless amounts of papers and folders, of which he would spend the entire day looking through until Sam came home to do the same. Almost felt like he was some kind of housewife waiting for her husband.

Almost like he actually meant something again.

If he’d met Sam when he was alive, what would’ve been different?

Everything. There was no doubt about it.

Sam was special.

Max just hadn’t known how much until that special night….

Maybe ‘people’ weren’t that bad after all.

[warrioreowynofrohan]

Rhythm of War Review

PART 1

It feels a little separate from the rest of the book to me at the moment because I read it pre-release, but I think it did a good job setting up the rest of the plot. I greatly enjoyed Navani’s perspective and ideas throughout the book, and the first section established her much more firmly as a character than any of the previous books; her couple of chapters in Oathbringer were more focused on politics and her relationship with Dalinar, so it was great yo see much more of her scientific side.

When I first read Part 1 it felt very Kaladin-heavy, but after completing the book I see how it was necessary to establish his burnout in order to set up the rest of the plot. And Chapter 12 (A Way to Help), in addition to being our only chance in the book to see our trio together, did a great job setting up Kaladin’s later work with mentally ill people, both by establishing the need and showing what kind of help was needed. I was nonetheless quite frustrated by Kaladin reacting to Shallan’s DID with “that would be nice...”. She’s having serious problems, Kal! She’s your friend and could use support, not you regarding her issues as a neat way to take a holiday from one’s own brain! Kaladin’s very kind and caring with those he chooses to protect, as we see with Bridge 4 in TWOK and the mentally ill people in Chapter 25, but sometimes I think he’s not a very good friend. I know he was not in a good place, but in Oathbringer when they were in Shadesmar Shallan had just had a complete breakdown and she still went out of her way to emotionally support Kal, so it would be nice to see his friendships become a bit more two-way. (For similar reasons, I liked seeing the moments of Shallan-to-Adolin emotional support in Shadesmar in ROW, because a lot of their relationship in OB was her relying on him; it felt balanced in ROW as both supported each other.)

PART 2

I loved the Shadesmar arc! The emotional arcs for both main characters were very strong - I had been looking forward to seeing Adolin’s reaction to (in-universe) Oathbringer, and it did not disappoint; the conflict between genuinely loving Dalinar and being unable to forgive what he’d done was well-drawn. I was so pissed off at Dalinar in that last conversation! You burned his mom to death, you do not get to take the moral high ground and lecture him. And I do see a difference between killing innocents, as Taravangian does, and killing someone who’s effectively declared war on you and has a history of treason.

I also liked Adolin’s sense of being generally at sea with his purpose in the world. He’s been trained primarily as a warrior and general, and his combat skills have been made virtually obsolete by the Radiants. And at the same time, the reader can see what makes Adolin special, and it’s not combat skills - though those do give him a big heroic moment in a pinch - it’s his care and compassion for others. The way he interacts with Maya and slowly brings her life is absolutely beautiful. Chapter 35 was such a wonderful Shadolin moment (and starspren are amazing!); he really gets her and understands what she needs. Chapter 24 was sweet too, though super cheesy.

I spent the entire Shadesmar arc side-eying Veil and Radiant, especially with Veil’s takeover stunt at the start, but in the end they genuinely were supporting and helping Shallan. So in retrospect I do like scenes like the one with Veil trying to draw Shallan out by drawing Adolin badly.

Spoeking of drawing, I love the spren art, it’s some of the best art so far, and fascianting to see how they all look!

Kaladin finding non-violent ways to protect, culminating in pioneering Rosharan therapy - and Teft insisting on staying to support him - was everything I wanted for him. His arc could have just been that, and I’d have been perfectly happy. Chapter 25 (Devotary of Mercy) is still my favourite in the entire book.

Unfortunately, then Odium’s forces had to show up and SPOIL EVERYTHING. I’m rather appalled by how quickly Urithiru fell - the enemy forces were literally in the pillar room by the time anyone noticed them.

PART 3

Part 3 was a real slog for me, partly because it is a slog and partly because I hit it at the height of my sleep deptivation. (It’s really...not a good thing to be reading on zero sleep at the literal darkest-hour-before-dawn.) Kaladin’s arc in Urithiru is just so exhausting; he’s so clearly worn to the boneand everything feels so hopeless. Kaladin’s had bad times before - Bridge 4 in TWOK, for example - but then the reader could see progress even if Kaladin couldn’t. (Kaladin: I’m getting nowhere and failing at everything! Everyone else: Kaladin, you were literally just miraculously resurrected.) Here, though - well, I genuinely spent the whole book from Part 3 through to the climax thinking that they would lose Urithiru.

Navani’s arc, and Venli’s, I did enjoy.

The other section of Part 3, in Emul, just felt rather disjointed. It had some interesting moments, but it didn’t have a sense of cohesion or of where it was going. I was entertained by Dalinar’s musings on the merits of despositism and the need to free Queen Fen from having - horrors! - a parliament. (I wonder if the Fourth Ideal will be something like “I will recognize that it can sometimes be beneficial to have people oppose my decisions.”)

PART 4

Again, adored the Shadesmar arc. Really strong character arcs for both Adolin and Shallan, combined with excellent plots and a strong sense of momentum. I was pretty sure Maya would be crucial in the trial, but that didn’t make the moment any less powerful (though Sanders probably shouldn’t have tried quite as hard to replicate his “You. Cannot. Have. My. Pain.” moment from Oathbringer). I need to put together a proper post on the theme of choice in Oathbringer, because that moment - combined with Kaladin’s fourth ideal and the conflict with Lirin over the way he’s inspiring the resistance - really crystallized it for me. To treat a person’s choice and sacrifices as something done to them is to devalue their volition, their agency. Maya is put in the horrifying situation of being used as a prop and treated as evidence of a point that she is diametrically opposed to and turned into a weapon against someone she loves, and it’s enough to drive her to regain her voice and speak for herself. I am very curious to know what specifically led the spren to agree to the Recreance!

I did not remotely guess what Shallan’s secret was, even though in retrospect the Cryptic deadeye should have made it incredibly obvious. I think her fear that she’d lose Adolin if it came out was overblown - he already knows she killed both her parents, he’s not going to be fazed by “I was so distraught over having to kill my own mother in self-defence at age ten that I broke my Radiant oaths”. But obviously it’s not something Shalkan would be able to consider duspassionately. Her arc was rather terrifying once I realized that Formless was, well, basically her, but more specifically, Shallan’s idea of the monster that she was, and her breakdown was driving her to “accept who she was” as being that monster. I like Shallan and was never that into Veil - though she was fairly good in this book and went out well - so I’m not sad to see the back of her.

I haven’t managed to work through all the espionage/mole elements. Yes, Pattern used the box to talk to Wit, and Radiant killed Ialai so Shallan wouldn’t, but who’s Mraize’s spy close to Dalinar?

This arc ended too abruptly. I think Sanderson could easily have traded a Kaladin chapter in Part 3 for an extra chapter wrapping up events in Shadesmar; maybe one where Shallan first goes to see Testament.

I enjoyed the Urithiru arc in Part 4 as well. Switching to Bridge 4 points of view other than Kaladin was a good move - we already know he’s worn to ribbons, so we don’t need to be inside his head to see it. “The Dog and the Dragon” was amazing, and the most appropriate story ever for Kaladin. (I get how Wit’s schtick of telling incredibly topical stories and then saying “no, I don’t have a point, what point?” would be really aggravating in person.) It was nice to see him be gentle with Kaladin for a change, the way he is with Shallan - his two previous encounters with Kaladin read as rather baiting, which annoyed me.

Dabbid was - I don’t know quite how to say this, but his inclusion struck an amazing balance in this book. Navani’s arc is all about two amazingly smart people doing science and making incredible breakthroughs, and that is sincerely valued and given importance by the narrative, and then you get chapters like Dabbid’s and one of Taravangian’s emphasizing that a person’s value and ability to contribute is not determined by their intelligence.

Navani’s arc continued to be excellent. All of her research, and the way the story took you through the process, and her complex relationship with Raboniel, was great.

I loved Venli’s character development, and growing willingness to take risks for the sake of others. To me, her arc parallels Dalinar’s in the last book in some ways. If we can love the story of a bloodthirsty conqueror growing to become a good person, why can’t we equally love the story of a coward coming to become a good person? There seems to be a tendency to be more drawn to strength, even in its most terrible forms, than to weakness. To me, Venli’s confession to Rlain and acceptance of his disgust at her was one of the book’s great moments. (And I can’t understand people saying her arc took up two much space. She had 5 chapters in Part 3, and 4 in Part 4. That’s not very many! I’ll grant that the flasbacks packed less punch than some earlier flashback sequences because we already knew the main events - Brandon acknowledged that even before the book came out - but I still liked them well enough, and Venli’s present-day arc was excellent.)

Anyway, the amount of space I’ve spent on this section relative to Part 3 is another strong inducation of the differences in how I feel about them!

PART 5

I should probably start this section with a discussion of Moash. I’ll try to keep it summarized. here - I could, and may, write a short essay on his development through The Stormlight Archive. The first thing that jumps out about Moash’s arc in this book is his reaction to Renarin’s vision in Part 1. I think that vision is showing Moash who he could still be, in a similar way to Shallan’s inspirational drawings of people - both use the Surge of Illumination. So it’s not that Moash is irredeemable; Renarin is specifucally holding out to him the possibility of redemption.

And Moash’s reaction is to run away in terror. Because he desperately wants his decision to be irrevocable. He desperately wants there to only be one possible path forward for him. Because if there are alternative paths, it means he can choose them, and that would mean facing guilt, facing the fact that his past choices were wrong, and his current choices are wrong. And that is exactly what Moash sought to avoid by giving up his pain and sense of guilt to Odium.

Moash is, nonetheless, very much Moash and not Vyre, as evidenced by his continuing obsession with Kaladin. As with his above need to not be wrong, here he needs to feel that he’s right, and the only way he can feel that he’s right is if Kaladin - whom he still deeply admires - makes the same decision as him, and if Moash can convince himself that he’s doing Kaladin a favour in driving him to that point. It’s ironic that he’s given up almost all feeling abd become almost enturely detached, but his worst actions are driven by his attitude towards the one person in the world who he still does have very strong feelings about. By the end of the book, he’s comprehensively broken, to the point that even when his ability to feel is restored he’s unable to even feel genuine remose over the cold-blooded murder of a friend. I don’t know where he’ll go from here - it would be ironic if he was only ever really appealing to Rayse-Odium, and Taravangian-Odium found Moash too much of a flat villain for his purposes and cast him off.

As the plot climaxes go, I thought the ones for Navani and Venli were excellent and very satisfying. I enjoyed Kaladin’s as well and found it cathartic, but it a was moment we all knew had to come, so it didn’t have quite the kick of some of Kaladin’s other big moments. I did love his reconciliation with Lirin. One of the themes of the book was finding common ground despite deeply felt disagreements - with Navani and Raboniel, with Navani and the Sibling, and with humans and singers/Fused more generally - and Kaladin and Lirin’s reconciliation fit well with that. I am far more favourable to Lirin than most people - if you’ve lived as a pacifist in storming Alethkar, which values the lives of its people slightly more than it does crem, you’re going to have been right a solid 95% of the time, where everyone else was wrong. I can make allowances for the other five percent, especially when Lirin’s life lesson from the last five or so years has been “resisting oppression and standing up for what you believe in will destroy everyone you love”.

And on the topic of finding common ground, Leshwi’s reaction to the revelation that Venli was a Radiant was one of the single most beautiful moments of the book, and one of my absolute favourites. It’s gorgeous and moving, and at the same time rather tragic, because - what might have bern different if Venli had revealed herself to Leshwi at the start of the book? How much of the conflict could have been avoided. Singers don’t appear to attract spren as strongly as humans do, which makes Leshwi drawing joyspren particularly powerful. And then the bittersweet note from “My soul is too long owned by someone else”. (Come to think of it, this is another inverted paralell to Moash. This is someone realizing “I was wrong about everything and I’m so glad about that because it means I have a chance to be someone better than I was.”) Oh my goodness, I would love a Leshwi chapter in a later book, just to check in on her and see how she’s doing in her new life with the Singers.

I also loved the climax of Navani’s arc, and was so relieved, because up until that very moment I wasn’t sure if the Sibling would survuve uncorrupted. I know that some people weren’t pleased because the Sibling didn’t even like her, but to me that became a core part of the story, like I said above - people who deeply disagree finding common ground and common cause. That is a key element of being a Bondsmith - the process of bringing people together in spite of their differences - and something that fits Navani so well given the rapport she found with Raboniel. (Though I was conflicted about the latter. On the one hand, she made amazing discoveries that enabled her to save Urithiru. One the other hand, she...kind of collaborated with the enemy and gave them terrible weapons out of intellectual curiosity and a desire to prove herself?) I will grant that it makes the series, and the characters with the most crucial importance to Roshar, rather Kholin-heavy.

For Taravodium, all I can say is - YIPES. I have no idea how to process the implications of that, but I feel like it will be bad. Really really bad. (Taravangian is probably my least favourite character in the entire Stormlight Archive. The attitude of “I am so brave and selfless for doing evil things and look at how wonderful I am for sacrificing my own morality for the benefit of all, you petty selfish people wanting to be good could never make such a grand sacrifice” drives me absolutely nuts. It’s a complete inversion and twisting of morality, and intensely arrogant.)

Dalinar’s encounter with Ishar was fascinating, and I’m very curious to see where this goes. The spren experiments were deeply creepy! And the way Radiant Oaths can temporarily restore a Herald’s sanity was fascinating - I’m very eager to see where this goes in the next book. I suspect that Dalinar may have made a very serious mistake with regards to this trial my combat, and I have no idea how/if they’re going to fit Szeth’s whole arc into the ten days before the duel. I’ve been eagerly anticipating Szeth’s arc ever since The Way of Kings!

[murasaki-murasame]

Since we’re probably gonna get the patch notes for the 2nd anniversary update within the next few days, I may as well finally get around to going over all of my hopes and predictions for the new update and the anniversary as a whole.

They’re keeping a lot of stuff secret about the anniversary update, but we already know at least some of what we’ll get from different blog posts and stuff, especially the one from a while ago about how the inventory system overhaul is going to affect parts of the shop, and how people will be compensated for it. Which I think they had to talk about in advance specifically because it involves in-app purchases and whatnot, so they can’t just keep quiet about it for the sake of building hype.

We’ve known for ages that they’ve been planning to change the weapon crafting system to make it more streamlined and less overwhelming and tedious, and that whole blog post gave us our clearest idea yet of what they’re planning. And going by what they said, it’s a lot more substantial than I was expecting.

I honestly dunno what I even expected them to do about it, since there’s so many fundamental issues with it all, but it looks like the overhaul is going to affect both wyrmprints and weapons, though the impact on weapons will be more noticeable because of the whole crafting menu and whatnot that’ll get changed. But basically it sounds like we’re only going to be able to have one copy of every wyrmprint and weapon after this update, and they’re deleting some of the storage pack options from the shop since I guess this means there effectively won’t be a storage cap on them anymore. But thankfully they’re also going to be letting us upgrade our weapons/wyrmprints in some way or another so that they can be used for multiple people in the same party. Which sounds way more convenient than the current system, and it’ll at least make it way easier to use multiple units of the same weapon type in the same team.

On top of how they’re going to be automatically deleting everyone’s dupe weapons and wyrmprints [or using them for automatic unbinding of your remaining ones], I think they said they’re going to straight up delete some weapons from the game, which I guess would probably at least mean the 2-star weapons [and wyrmprints], since at this point they serve literally no purpose after your first day or so of playing the game, and just clog up your inventory. I kinda hope they also just delete like half of the void weapons, since they’re only really used for extremely specific fight mechanics in a handful of the void battles. Honestly I think they should just overhaul it so that there’s one weapon set with a ‘Void Boss Bane’ effect that applies to all the void bosses, and then the Chimeratech and HDT Bane weapons. But if they delete any weapon types entirely, I hope they make them available as weapon skins. 

It’s hard to guess exactly how they’ll change the crafting system, since there’s so many parts to it, but I think they’ll revamp the core weapon crafting system so that it’s just linear like the current endgame weapons, and not a weird branching tree of upgrades. If they really want to condense it into a more straightforward progression system, they should make it so that there’s five sets of elemental core weapons that go from 3-star, 4-star, to 5-star, in the same linear upgrade path. At the very least there’s not really much need to have the whole set-up with non-elemental weapons that you upgrade into elemental ones, so just cutting them out and limiting it to a much smaller set of elemental weapons would be easier to work with. I also think they should do the same thing with void weapons if they don’t straight up delete them. 

I also think they should readjust the crafting materials needed for core weapons, since I feel like they can be a huge trap for new players, with how annoying they are to grind compared to how worthless they are at this point.

Going with how we’re only going to have one copy of each weapon/wyrmprint that we just slowly upgrade and unbind, I actually think they might just remove the option to dismantle weapons and sell wyrmprints. The whole dismantling system has always been a massive pain, which they admitted to when they talked about the upcoming changes recently, and I don’t think there’d even be a need to dismantle weapons anymore if we don’t have to worry about inventory management. We can’t even dismantle HDT, Agito, and Chimeratech [I think] weapons, so it really wouldn’t change much.

There also wouldn’t really be much of a need to sell wyrmprints after this update, but they’d still need to tweak how we get eldwater so we don’t just get a noticeable decrease in the amount we get if we can’t get them from wyrmprint dupes anymore.

In general they’ll need to readjust how we get wyrmprints in the first place, but they’ll probably try and keep it as similar to how it is now as possible. I’m betting that we’ll still get wyrmprints as quest drops and event rewards, but dupes will either be automatically used for unbinding, or they’ll get immediately converted to eldwater if you already have a MUB version of that print.

We don’t really know anything about how exactly we’re going to upgrade prints so that they can be used on multiple people, but I assume it won’t be very difficult, considering that facility events expect you to have multiple copies of event prints, and lots of team comps that people use involve multiple copies of prints.

They also recently announced that there’s gonna be 12 whole hours of maintenance to prepare for the update, which might mostly just consist of QA testing, but it still probably says a lot about how big this update will be, at least on their end of things.

And on the topic of other things we know that they’re gonna do in this update, even if we don’t know the full details on it all, we’ve got the Great Rebalance Patch [tm]. Which I’m probably more excited for than the inventory/crafting stuff. I’m keeping my expectations low in case it ends up being a fairly basic, bare minimum type of stat buff to everyone that’s not a shadow unit, but it’d be nice if it’s more ambitious than that.

The minimum I’m expecting is basically just damage mod costs and SP cost changes for all non-shadow elements, so that they straight up do more damage than they do now. Which is probably all they really need to do, but that’d still feel a bit disappointing. I know they’re also going to adjust the stats of bosses to go along with it, but even if they do we should still see non-shadow units clearing content faster than they do now. I mean, with light units for example, if they still clear Tartarus about twice as slowly as shadow units on average, that won’t actually address the whole problem that triggered this balance patch in the first place, lol. It sounds like they’re going to leave shadow units untouched, so non-shadow units should be getting buffed to the point where they can clear content fast enough that shadow units aren’t a meaningful upgrade over them.

I do hope that they do some more personalized rebalancing for specific characters, though, instead of just giving everyone flat stat boosts. Just that alone wouldn’t really fix the issues with certain characters, especially if everyone gets equally buffed. At the very least they really need to get rid of the handful of off-element resistances that some units have, since that really shouldn’t even hinge on them getting mana spirals. And everyone should get 100% status resistance to begin with at this point. But even if they give everyone flat stat boosts, there’s still characters that suffer from problems like slow-charging skills, long attack animations, weak buffs, useless abilities, etc. Incognito Nefaria’s a good example of someone who really suffers from long casting animations, but she’s so new that they’re probably not going to change her much with this patch anyway. But there’s still other stuff like how the Striker’s Energy ability is almost completely useless, or how the Status = Team Strength abilities for a handful of units are just really weak because they’re so hard to trigger.

I think they should also raise the cap on energy stacks to ten, and make it so that energized skills and stuff like Pipple and Yaten’s abilities still just use five stacks of energy, so the extra stacks are just there to make it less likely for you to over-cap on energy and have it go to waste.

They should also probably change the order of operations that goes into skills that give you energy, since from what I’ve heard the energy is provided to you, and then energy is used to energize the skill if applicable, which means that if you use a skill like that when you’re already energized, you just don’t get the energy from that skill afterward and you go back to zero. It should be adjusted so that you use your current energy stacks, and THEN get the new energy stacks from the skill itself.

Dragondrive as a mechanic also kinda feels like it needs to be reworked a bit, mainly since it just doesn’t really mesh with a lot of existing mechanics and buffs and whatnot. Like how Tiki is in such a weird spot where she doesn’t benefit from anything related to dragon damage or dragon claws or so on, because dragondrive is treated as a separate mechanic even when it involves shapeshifting into a dragon.

I know they’re also gonna be adjusting boss stats to go with this, but I really hope that this update will make it easier to solo HDTs. We’re at the point where it’s still important to grind them if only just for dracoliths and stuff, but it’s a huge pain to actually find co-op rooms for them anymore, and most of them are really difficult to do solo. 

But honestly there’s a whole list of reasons why HDTs are in such a weird place, like how the mentor system is absolute garbage and either needs to be removed or entirely overhauled, and how HDT weapons are basically just flat out worse than Agito weapons, and are for the most part entirely skippable. I’m honestly not really sure how to address the fact that HDT weapons are just worse than Agito weapons, with how the game currently works, lol. It’s a pretty fundamental issue with the game’s core design, since you’re more or less intended to only use one weapon at a time. There’s basically no need to ever have two separate weapons of the same element and weapon type, aside from using them on multiple people in the same team, which won’t even be an issue after this update. This isn’t like GBF where you have a grid of like ten different weapons active at the same time, which gives them a lot of room to make weapons that do different things and have different purposes. In DL it’s more like ‘just use the one type of weapon that does the most damage because nothing else matters and all your other weapons are just gathering dust in your inventory’. It’d require a pretty huge overhaul of how the entire game works if they actually wanted to add value to having different types of weapons, but if they just did something like buffing the stats of HDT weapons, or introducing a new tier of them, it’d probably just mean that now HDT3 weapons or whatever are the only weapons worth using, and everyone moves on from Agito ones.

So that’s the sort of thing that I think would require a lot more long-term, fundamental game design changes. Unless they just keep going with the treadmill of weapon powercreep, lol.

They don’t seem to be touching anything about dragon storage and how we obtain dragons and so on, but I think they said that dragons will also be part of the balance patch, and they’ve already hinted that they’re going to introduce a new use for draconic essences. I think they might increase the damage that most dragons do so that they don’t feel like a waste to shapeshift into in the first place, and I think the essences will probably be used for some dragon equivalent of a mana spiral that raises their stats and abilities and stuff. It’d at least be nice if we could use essences to do stuff like upgrade Agni to an 80% strength dragon, or whatever. That’d at least help alleviate the feeling of being left behind in the meta by gala dragons.

And on the whole topic of the inventory system, I’m still hoping they finally implement the encyclopedia system. It might not even have much of a purpose at this point, but it’d at least be nice if it gives free rewards based on completion percentage. But I think it’d be really nice if we could use the encyclopedia to do stuff like get a preview of adventurers we don’t own yet, since you can’t really do that at the moment.

I’m also hoping that they bring back the whole dog system that they said ages ago will eventually become it’s own feature. Even though I don’t really know what it’d actually do, lol. I’m guessing it’d be some sort of pet system where they provide some sort of gameplay benefit, but who even knows how it’ll work.

With the anniversary there’s also a fair amount of basic stuff that’ll happen just based on what happened last year, like log-in bonuses and so on. They’ll probably also reset the co-op wyrmite rewards since they seem to do that every six months or so. And along the same lines I also think they might reset the fafnir medal store, or overhaul it’s contents, since at the moment there’s no real reason to buy anything other than the testaments. It’d also be really nice if they reset the royal regimen rewards for everyone, but that’s probably wishful thinking, lol. Same with how they might eventually reset the event compendium so everyone can get rewards from it all again.

Astral raids are also something that I think desperately needs an overhaul, since they’re just kinda pointless at the moment. The astral raid store is even more boring than the fafnir medal one at this point, and augments are farmable from basically all endgame content, so astral raids are only really there to give you the novelty of re-fighting old bosses, which really lost it’s new shiny appeal a LONG time ago, lol. Now it’s just ‘oh boy I can’t wait to fight Valfarre for the millionth time’.

Most of my thoughts have just been centered around how I think they’ll change existing content, since that’s easier to think about, but obviously I think there’ll be some entirely new features and whatnot introduced for the anniversary that they haven’t even hinted at yet. It’s just impossible to do anything other than speculate about that, though. But I think it’s safe to assume that now that we’ve gone through all the Agito bosses, they’ll introduce the next batch of endgame content, if nothing else. I could see us getting new fights against the royal siblings and their dragons, but I really want a new permanent endgame mode that’s based around wave content, so characters built around those types of fights can finally have some purpose. I could see it just being an extension of Imperial Onslaught that expands upon that whole system, like the progression between the regular dragon trials and the HDTs.

I’ve also always hoped that we’d get some sort of game mode built around the dungeon-crawling aspect that the game’s always had, but never really done anything with. Some of the recent unique stages in the main campaign have really made me wish they’d do more with that sorta thing, and I think it’d probably be a good way for them to also introduce some solo-only endgame content, which the game also kinda needs.

I’m also really hoping that eventually we can recruit the Agito bosses in basically the same way as how Eternals and Evokers in GBF work, but it’s probably too early for that to come up yet.

In terms of events, we know that they’re gonna start a rerun of the 1st anniversary event that’ll go until the new anniversary event starts, and we know that the new anniversary event will tie into both the old one, and the events of the main story. I’m excited to see how that all turns out, since the first anniversary event was so good, but it’s hard to tell what they’ll do with it. Especially since the recent castle story with Audric felt like their way of letting us know that he’s gonna be pretty much ignored by the story from this point on, so I dunno if the second anniversary event will continue all the stuff with him or not.

We also know that the second anniversary event will be a raid, so it’ll presumably give a new free character, and I’m guessing it’ll be a flame event since we’ve been due for one for a while. I think that if we get a new free unit from it, it’ll probably be something like an Audric alt, or just an entirely new character. It’d be really neat if we got a playable version of Notte from it, but we’ll see.

And on the note of new characters, we’re obviously gonna get a new gala for the anniversary like we did last year, and I’m still assuming it’ll probably just be Gala Zena, since the main story’s been pushing her lately. Maybe we could get Gala Audric instead, but I kinda doubt it.

One thing that I actually completely forgot until recently is that we might get some new non-limited characters in the gala at the same time, since they’ve been doing that recently. They might just focus the banner on the new gala unit to make them more of the focus, but they might still introduce some new characters in the anniversary event who they’ll put on the banner at the same time. One way or another I’m planning to skip the whole anniversary gala banner since I don’t have many summons saved at the moment, so I hope it’s an easy skip, lol.

Which also reminds me that we’re almost certainly gonna get free daily tenfolds like we did for the first anniversary. I know that lasted for ten days, but I don’t remember exactly what banners it covered, other than that it was active during the Gala Euden banner. Last year we also got the short extra gala banners that had the old gala units on rate-up afterward, but they might not bother with that this year now that we have the gala remix banners to showcase old gala units. We’ll probably still get stuff like a gala platinum summon or whatever, though.

I think it’d also be really neat if they gave everyone a free dream summon, but that’s probably a pipe dream. I could see them doing a regular dream summon for the anniversary, but I dunno if they’d give one out for free. If they did, it might just be limited to the launch 5-stars or something.

Then there’s the elephant in the room when it comes to gacha-related stuff that lots of people are hoping to see, which is the sparking system from GBF. I don’t really feel as strongly about it as most people do, but it’d still be nice if they put it in. Mostly I just feel like people over-hype it as a feature, and kinda use it as an excuse to ignore any problems that a game’s gacha system might have by going ‘at least it has sparking! :)’. One of the many reasons why GBF is so demoralizing and kinda dull to play is that I feel actively discouraged from ever summoning if I can’t spark someone, but it takes like 4+ months to actually save for a spark if you ignore stuff like the occasional roulette event.

I just hope that if they introduce it to DL, they don’t do something like give us way less free summons each month so that it takes a super long time to save for a spark. At the moment we get around 150 summons a month, so if they did it the same as GBF where you need 300 summons to spark someone, you could do that once every two months in DL, which is way faster than it is in GBF, and most games I’ve seen with sparking systems. So it’d just seem really annoying if they gave us sparking but then gave us, like, half as many free summons every month. They could do something like make it require 500+ summons to spark someone, but that’d just look really stingy and off-putting even if it works out the same as other games, with how long you have to save to spark someone.

They could just port over the spark system in a pretty much 1:1 way as GBF without changing anything, but it’d still be nice if they could improve it by making it so that you can accumulate a spark across multiple banners, instead of having to do it all in one banner. I think newer games with systems like this, like Arknights, do it that way, and I think it’d at least help alleviate the feeling of ‘if I don’t have 300 or more summons saved up I may as well just forget that the entire gacha mechanic exists’.

I’ve also been wondering for a while if they might implement something like gold moons from GBF, to help make it feel less pointless to draw dupes. At the moment they’re just eldwater and nothing else, at least with adventurer dupes, so it’d make sense if they let us get some sort of additional value out of them. I know that recently there was some talk about datamined images that looked like gold moons and the Siero-ticket from GBF, but I think that’s been in the game since 2018 and might have basically been scrapped. But they could still use those assets at some point for something like this.

I think if they manage to introduce sparking without massively tanking the amount of summons we get each month, then that’d really improve the game’s gacha system, since the lack of a sparking system is basically the main complaint people have with it at this point, along with how unfulfilling it is to get dupes. I still don’t see it as the make or break issue that a lot of people see it as, but it’d still be nice to see.

Also, they’re probably gonna announce a new collab event for later this year, which could be literally anything, but I’m leaning towards the idea of a Zelda collab to tie in with the upcoming Hyrule Warriors game. Other than that, I’d actually really like a Re:Zero collab, since I really like that series, lol. It’s been getting a shit-ton of collabs in different gacha games lately, so it could happen. I dunno if it’d mesh well with DL in terms of it’s tone, but I think the character design style could translate over really nicely.

I don’t think they’d announce it until the start of next year, but I think we’ll get a rerun of the MH collab next March, with a part two event themed around the new Monster Hunter game for the Switch that also got announced recently.

Anyway, I think that’s basically all of my main hopes and predictions for the near future. Now I just have to wait until I get inevitably proven wrong about like half of this stuff, and this whole post ends up being a waste of time, lol

[crystalelemental]

General status update for Dragalia Lost progress.

I’m getting my shit rocked at this point.  Not as bad as you think, but still pretty bad.

Every team is now at least 30k might.  So that’s pretty decent, definitely satisfied there.  We can beat every Expert Agito fight on co-op, which is also really nice.  We have not yet beaten a single Master level fight of them, however.  Which is distressing, to say the least.

Maybe I’ve over-emphasized the Shadow Agito weapons, but we really only have resources from Kai Yan left.  I focused on the trees, and have capped out Light, Shadow, and Wind.  Water I need to gather tier 1 drops, and Fire has another 5 upgrades now, so that’s fun.  But I don’t like farming them too much, so I’ve been making Dragon weapons for the non-Shadow teams, using the weekly bonus drops from the High Dragon Trials.  It’s been going alright.  Once I can get the Light Wand to 4 unbinds I’ll be satisfied.  I’m not about to spend resources upgrading the 5-8 unbinds, though.  Those are for Damascus Ingots, no matter how long it takes to farm them out.  Sure I need like 16 and currently have 2, but we’ll get there eventually and I’m willing to be patient on this one.

The main trouble is the Mercurial Gauntlet.  I’m four clears away from having the maximum amount of Eldwater I can get per month.  Yes, that’s only like 1900 eldwater, and that’s really not that much anyway, but I feel like it’s the principle of the matter and I’d like to get there before the payout this month.  Which is proving challenging.

Water is basically deadlocked, in large part because I only have maxed out Chimera weapons on them.  I can’t bring myself to upgrade further than that.  Farming Agito resources isn’t fun, and fuck the High Mercury fight.  To make matters worse, I’m...not exactly sold on the current team.  I have Gala Elisanne, and have been trying to make use of her.  While her attacking skill does incredibly good damage, it...really does not go off very often, so I’m not sure I like it that much.  Pinon and Lily are solid offensive support, but I’m also not that invested in either.  And Nurse Aeleen is...mana spiral when?  The point is, if I’m going to change them out, farming out Agito resources and the rupees needed to make those weapons is asking a lot.  So they’re my weakest team by far, and will likely stay that way until I can figure out what the hell I’m doing.

Wind team is solid.  Maribelle is great for offensive damage with Vayu, while Kirsty and Valentine’s Melody have great poison-focused damage output as well.  I run Akasha for right now, but honestly might swap to Formal Noelle once I can complete her last few mana nodes.  The added damage from Poisoned Punisher is really, really nice, and while I enjoy the faster skill charge from Akasha’s S2, it only happens like twice in the entire two-minute fight with Roy Fafnir.  Which is pretty bad, actually!  Akasha’s another I feel like kinda needs a Mana Spiral.  Maybe one day.

Light’s pretty good too.  Gala Zena, Yukata Curran, Radiant Xuan Zang, and I recently had to make the tough call to swap out Odetta for Summer Cleo.  Triple paralysis focus.  The DPS is strong, but also just slightly under where it needs to be.  I blame this largely on a lack of good dragons.  Seriously, we have Gala Thor, and he’s great, but my only other options are High Jupiter, Cupid, Liger, and Tie Shan Gongzhu.  Whose skill haste is nice, I will admit.  But lacking any unbinds is kinda painful for the overall might.  It sucks seeing your same-element dragon be applied and your might go down a few hundred points from just running Gold Fafnir.  We’re really close to beating the next step, but we’re gonna need a lot more than that to clear four rounds.

Basically, if either Wind or Light can clear their remaining rounds, we’ll make it to max eldwater rewards.  If Water clears, we’d still need one more.  So I’m focusing my efforts on Wind and Light.  And to that end, I’m considering using up my Sunlight Stones.

The big considerations are Vayu, and Tie Shan Gongzhu.  Both of them have no unbindings at all.  Vayu feels more valuable, given the raw damage output that another 20% increase to skill damage and however much strength we gain would do for Maribelle, who stacks skill haste and has Akasha to speed up those skills’ activation.  Tie Shan Gongzhu is mostly because Light is the closest element to clearing what we need, and she might push us over that edge.  I could also start working on farming out Cupid essences.  With ten days left, I won’t quite make max unbinding, but since we have two already we could at least make it to three, which could help.

That said, there’s another option that involves focusing entirely on Wind team.  4 stones to Vayu, two to Mids Zero, and two to Ariel.  That caps out all the dragons being used on Wind team, and would increase a lot of skill damage and skill haste effects being used.  Unfortunately that spends everything at once.  Which isn’t exactly ideal.  I know Sunlight Stones should probably be saved for Gala dragons, and in particular my Gala Poseidon should probably take them since he’s the only other Gala dragon I have.  And then there’s the fact I’d be doing all of this for like 1900 eldwater, and you get more than that just pulling a 4* duplicate unit.  So it’s probably not worth it.  But I am tempted.

Beyond that, it’s mostly just focusing on structures at this point.  I’ve pretty much given up on Master Agito.  It takes forever to even get into a room for one, and you lose pretty much immediately every time anyway.  It’s just not fun at all, and I have no desire to keep pushing for it.  The only other content I’m now stuck on is the Tier 3 raid battles in the current event.  Which I think counts as an Astral battle, so I’m working on getting Void weapons for the Light team up to 5 unbinds, so they can all pack Astral Bane, in hopes that helps.

I’ve spent a ton of stamina resources on farming out elemental orbs and the insignias from Imperial Onslaught.  I’ve capped both Lance, Staff, Wand, and Bow dojos, and am working on dagger and axe.  Those have direct benefits for Shadow team, Wind team, and Light team.  Less directly, it also helps Water team.  I don’t have a single Blade unit or Manacaster unit, and the only Sword unit now is Lea on Fire team, so that one can wait.  I’ve also got one of each elemental altar maxed out, so we’re approaching the point where individual character might is kinda hitting its limit.  Which is good, less to fuss about.

Last thing to note: I have 4 tenfold summon tickets, 30 single pull summon tickets, and over 10k wyrmite.  Which is not even nearly enough for a spark.  Fortunately, I also can’t say I’ve cared about anything since Formal Noelle.  And given the talk about Persona 5 crossover, and Gala Chelle likely not being for a few months, I’m pretty confident I’m in the clear.  With any luck, the pushback about wyrmite output being cut nearly in half will cause them to up their game again, and it won’t take so long to gather resources.  It’s probably because of that, but man, I remember people talking about this game as if it were the most generous thing in the world, and it very does not feel that way at all between limited summoning resources, AND not even getting a single free summon like you do in FEH.

[healthrandomcare]

How To Lose Weight

Hello, World

Get any eating routine book and it will profess to hold all the responses to effectively losing all the weight you need—and keeping it off. Some case the key is to eat less and practice more, others that low fat is the best way to go, while others recommend removing carbs. All in all, what would it be advisable for you to accept?

The fact of the matter is there is no "one size fits all" answer for lasting solid weight reduction. What works for one individual may not work for you, since our bodies react diversely to various nourishments, contingent upon hereditary qualities and other wellbeing factors. To discover the technique for weight reduction that is ideal for you will probably require some investment and require persistence, duty, and some experimentation with various nourishments and diets.

While a few people react well to checking calories or comparable prohibitive techniques, others react better to having more opportunity in arranging their get-healthy plans. Being free to just dodge seared nourishments or cut back on refined carbs can set them up for progress. Along these lines, don't get too debilitated if an eating routine that worked for another person doesn't work for you. Also, don't thrash yourself if an eating routine demonstrates excessively prohibitive for you to stay with. Eventually, an eating routine is just ideal for you if it's one you can stay with over the long run.

Keep in mind: while there's no simple fix to getting more fit, there are a lot of steps you can take to build up a more advantageous relationship with food, check passionate triggers to gorging, and accomplish a solid weight.

Four well known weight reduction methodologies

Learn how to lose weight which are given below.

1. Cut calories

A few specialists accept that effectively dealing with your weight boils down to a straightforward condition: If you eat less calories than you consume, you get in shape. Sounds simple, isn't that so? At that point why is getting more fit so hard?

Weight reduction is anything but a direct function over the long haul. At the point when you cut calories, you may drop weight for the initial hardly any weeks, for instance, and afterward something changes. You eat similar number of calories yet you lose less weight or no weight by any means. That is on the grounds that when you get more fit you're losing water and fit tissue just as fat, your digestion eases back, and your body changes in different ways. Along these lines, so as to keep dropping weight every week, you have to keep cutting calories.

A calorie isn't generally a calorie. Eating 100 calories of high fructose corn syrup, for instance, can differently affect your body than eating 100 calories of broccoli. The stunt for continued weight reduction is to discard the nourishments that are stuffed with calories however don't cause you to feel full (like treats) and supplant them with food sources that top you off without being stacked with calories (like vegetables).

A significant number of us don't generally eat essentially to fulfill hunger. We additionally go to nourishment for comfort or to mitigate pressure—which can rapidly crash any weight reduction plan.

2. Cut carbs

An alternate method of survey weight reduction recognizes the issue as not one of burning-through such a large number of calories, yet rather the manner in which the body collects fat in the wake of burning-through starches—specifically the part of the hormone insulin. At the point when you eat a supper, starches from the food enter your circulation system as glucose. So as to hold your glucose levels within proper limits, your body consistently consumes off this glucose before it consumes off fat from a supper.

In the event that you eat a sugar rich supper (bunches of pasta, rice, bread, or French fries, for instance), your body discharges insulin to help with the convergence of this glucose into your blood. Just as controlling glucose levels, insulin completes two things: It keeps your fat cells from delivering fat for the body to consume as fuel (since its need is to consume off the glucose) and it makes more fat cells for putting away all that your body can't consume off. The outcome is that you put on weight and your body currently requires more fuel to consume, so you eat more. Since insulin just consumes starches, you need carbs thus starts an endless loop of devouring carbs and putting on weight. To get more fit, the thinking goes, you have to break this cycle by diminishing carbs.

Most low-carb slims down backer supplanting carbs with protein and fat, which could have some negative long haul consequences for your wellbeing. On the off chance that you do attempt a low-carb diet, you can decrease your dangers and breaking point your admission of immersed and trans fats by picking lean meats, fish and vegan wellsprings of protein, low-fat dairy items, and eating a lot of verdant green and non-bland vegetables.

3. Cut fat

It's a pillar of numerous eating regimens: in the event that you would prefer not to get fat, don't eat fat. Stroll down any supermarket passageway and you'll be besieged with diminished fat bites, dairy, and bundled dinners. Yet, while our low-fat alternatives have detonated, so have heftiness rates. Anyway, for what reason haven't low-fat weight control plans worked for a greater amount of us?

Not all fat is terrible. Solid or "great" fats can really assist with controlling your weight, just as deal with your temperaments and battle weakness. Unsaturated fats found in avocados, nuts, seeds, soy milk, tofu, and greasy fish can help top you off, while adding a little delectable olive oil to a plate of vegetables, for instance, can make it simpler to eat well food and improve the general nature of your eating regimen.

We frequently make some unacceptable compromises. Huge numbers of us tragically swap fat for the unfilled calories of sugar and refined starches. Rather than eating entire fat yogurt, for instance, we eat low-or no-fat forms that are stuffed with sugar to compensate for the loss of taste. Or on the other hand we trade our greasy breakfast bacon for a biscuit or doughnut that causes quick spikes in glucose.

4. Follow the Mediterranean eating routine

The Mediterranean eating routine stresses eating great fats and great carbs alongside enormous amounts of new products of the soil, nuts, fish, and olive oil—and just unassuming measures of meat and cheddar. The Mediterranean eating regimen is something other than about food, however. Customary actual action and imparting suppers to others are additionally significant parts.

Whatever weight reduction methodology you attempt, it's essential to remain persuaded and maintain a strategic distance from regular counting calories traps, for example, enthusiastic eating.

Control passionate eating

We don't generally eat basically to fulfill hunger. Very frequently, we go to food when we're pushed or on edge, which can wreck any eating regimen and pack on the pounds. Do you eat when you're concerned, exhausted, or desolate? Do you nibble before the TV toward the finish of a distressing day? Perceiving your passionate eating triggers can have a significant effect in your weight reduction endeavors. On the off chance that you eat when you're:

Focused – find more advantageous approaches to quiet yourself. Attempt yoga, contemplation, or absorbing a hot shower.

Low on energy – find other mid-evening shots in the arm. Have a go at strolling around the square, tuning in to empowering music, or taking a short snooze.

Desolate or exhausted – contact others as opposed to going after the cooler. Call a companion who makes you giggle, take your canine for a walk, or go to the library, shopping center, or park—anyplace there's kin.

Practice careful eating all things considered

Dodge interruptions while eating. Do whatever it takes not to eat while working, staring at the TV, or driving. It's excessively simple to carelessly gorge.

Focus. Eat gradually, relishing the scents and surfaces of your food. In the event that your psyche meanders, tenderly return your consideration regarding your food and how it tastes.

Blend things up to zero in on the experience of eating. Have a go at utilizing chopsticks as opposed to a fork, or utilize your utensils with your non-prevailing hand.

Quit eating before you are full. It requires some investment for the sign to arrive at your mind that you've had enough. Try not to feel committed to in every case clean your plate.

Remain persuaded

Lasting weight reduction requires rolling out solid improvements to your way of life and food decisions. To remain inspired:

Locate a cheering segment. Social help implies a ton. Projects like Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers use bunch backing to affect weight reduction and deep rooted smart dieting. Search out help—regardless of whether as family, companions, or a care group—to get the consolation you need.

Steady minded individuals will win in the end. Getting in shape too quick can negatively affect your brain and body, causing you to feel slow, depleted, and debilitated. Plan to lose one to two pounds per week so you're losing fat instead of water and muscle.

Set objectives to keep you inspired. Transient objectives, such as needing to find a way into a swimsuit for the late spring, generally don't function just as needing to feel more certain or get more beneficial for the wellbeing of your children. At the point when enticement strikes, center around the advantages you'll harvest from being more advantageous.

Use instruments to keep tabs on your development. Cell phone applications, wellness trackers, or basically keeping a diary can assist you with monitoring the food you eat, the calories you consume, and the weight you lose. Seeing the outcomes in high contrast can assist you with remaining propelled.

Get a lot of rest. Absence of rest animates your hunger so you need more food than ordinary; simultaneously, it stops you feeling fulfilled, making you need to continue eating. Lack of sleep can likewise influence your inspiration, so focus on eight hours of value rest a night.

Cut down on sugar and refined carbs

Regardless of whether you're explicitly planning to cut carbs, the greater part of us devour undesirable measures of sugar and refined starches, for example, white bread, pizza mixture, pasta, baked goods, white flour, white rice, and improved breakfast grains. Supplanting refined carbs with their entire grain partners and taking out sweets and treats is just important for the arrangement, however. Sugar is covered up in nourishments as assorted as canned soups and vegetables, pasta sauce, margarine, and many decreased fat nourishments. Since your body gets all it requires from sugar normally happening in food, this additional sugar adds up to only a ton of void calories and unfortunate spikes in your blood glucose.

Less sugar can mean a slimmer waistline

Calories got from fructose (found in sweet drinks, for example, pop and handled nourishments like doughnuts, biscuits, and candy) are bound to add to fat around your tummy. Scaling back sweet nourishments can mean a slimmer waistline just as a lower danger of diabetes.

Top off with natural product, veggies, and fiber

Regardless of whether you're cutting calories, that doesn't really mean you need to eat less food. High-fiber nourishments, for example, natural product, vegetables, beans, and entire grains are higher in volume and take more time to process, making them filling—and extraordinary for weight reduction.

It's commonly alright to eat as much new products of the soil boring vegetables as you need—you'll feel full before you've tried too hard on the calories.

Eat vegetables crude or steamed, not singed or breaded, and dress them with spices and flavors or a little olive oil for flavor.

Add organic product to low sugar oat—blueberries, strawberries, cut bananas. You'll actually appreciate bunches of pleasantness, yet with less calories, not so much sugar, but rather more fiber.

Mass out sandwiches by adding sound veggie decisions like lettuce, tomatoes, fledglings, cucumbers, and avocado.

Nibble on carrots or celery with hummus rather than an unhealthy chips and plunge.

Add more veggies to your #1 primary courses to make your dish more considerable. Indeed, even pasta and sautés can be diet-accommodating on the off chance that you utilize not so much noodles but rather more vegetables.

Start your feast with serving of mixed greens or vegetable soup to help top you off so you eat less of your entrée.

Assume responsibility for your food climate

Set yourself up for weight reduction accomplishment by assuming responsibility for your food climate: when you eat, the amount you eat, and what nourishments you make effectively accessible.

Cook your own dinners at home. This permits you to control both segment size and what goes in to the food. Café and bundled nourishments for the most part contain much more sugar, unfortunate fat, and calories than food prepared at home—in addition to the segment sizes will in general be bigger.

Serve yourself more modest segments. Utilize little plates, bowls, and cups to cause your bits to seem bigger. Try not to eat out of huge dishes or legitimately from food holders, which makes it hard to evaluate the amount you've eaten.

Eat early. Studies recommend that burning-through a greater amount of your every day calories at breakfast and less at supper can assist you with dropping more pounds. Eating a bigger, sound breakfast can kick off your digestion, stop you feeling hungry during the day, and give you more opportunity to consume off the calories.

Quick for 14 hours per day. Attempt to have supper prior in the day and afterward quick until breakfast the following morning. Eating just when you're generally dynamic and offering your absorption a long reprieve may help weight reduction.

Plan your suppers and snacks early. You can make your own little segment snacks in plastic packs or compartments. Eating on a timetable will assist you with abstaining from eating when you aren't genuinely eager.

Drink more water. Thirst can regularly be mistaken for hunger, so by drinking water you can evade additional calories.

Breaking point the measure of enticing nourishments you have at home. On the off chance that you share a kitchen with non-weight watchers, store liberal nourishments far out.

Get going

How much exercise helps weight reduction is available to discuss, yet the advantages go route past copying calories. Exercise can build your digestion and improve your standpoint—and it's something you can profit by this moment. Take a walk, stretch, move around and you'll have more energy and inspiration to handle different strides in your get-healthy plan.

Need time for a long exercise? Three 10-minute sprays of activity every day can be similarly in the same class as one 30-minute exercise.

Keep in mind: anything is superior to nothing. Start off gradually with limited quantities of actual action every day. At that point, as you begin to get in shape and have more energy, you'll see it simpler to turn out to be all the more genuinely dynamic.

Discover practice you appreciate. Have a go at strolling with a companion, moving, climbing, cycling, playing Frisbee with a canine, getting a charge out of a pickup round of b-ball, or playing movement based computer games with your children.

Keeping the weight off

You may have heard the broadly cited measurement that 95% of individuals who get in shape on a tight eating routine will recover it inside a couple of years—or even months. While there isn't a lot of hard proof to help that guarantee, the facts confirm that many weight reduction plans fizzle in the long haul. Regularly that is just in light of the fact that eats less carbs that are too prohibitive are difficult to keep up after some time. In any case, that doesn't mean your weight reduction endeavors are destined to disappointment. A long way from it.

Since it was set up in 1994, The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) in the United States, has followed more than 10,000 people who have lost critical measures of weight and kept it off for extensive stretches of time. The investigation has discovered that members who've been fruitful in keeping up their weight reduction share some basic procedures. Whatever diet you use to shed pounds in any case, receiving these propensities may assist you with keeping it off:

Remain genuinely dynamic. Effective health food nuts in the NWCR study practice for around an hour, regularly strolling.

Keep a food log. Recording what you eat each day assists with keeping you responsible and spurred.

Have breakfast each day. Most regularly in the investigation, it's grain and natural product. Having breakfast helps digestion and fights off craving later in the day.

Eat more fiber and less unfortunate fat than the run of the mill American eating routine.

Consistently check the scale. Gauging yourself week after week may assist you with recognizing any little puts on in weight, empowering you to speedily make remedial move before the issue raises.

Watch less TV. Scaling back the time spent sitting before a screen can be a vital piece of embracing a more dynamic way of life and forestalling weight gain.

Read More - How To Take care Of Eyes

[desperationandgin]

Is anyone else doing this?

There is absolutely no one interested in this tl;dr (what is this, Livejournal in 2011?) but every time I try to write fic, my brain only wants me to write this, so I guess it’s a sign to put things out into the universe.

Predictably, I’m doing a little reflection on 2019 and setting some goals for 2020. I didn’t really set any goals last year, but sometime around Summer of Smut, I told my betas that I wanted to be pushed more to expand on moments in my fic when it seemed like I was glossing over things that could be fleshed out. Because they heard that and pushed me to do better, I went from writing teeny tiny short chapters to one-shots that are over 5,500 words. I can literally see the progression of my writing from too concise to more fleshed out. HUGE thanks to the team of support I’ve totally lucked into this year for helping with that. 

I’ll put a read more here so you can scroll by! Before you scroll, I hope you have a good new year!

So, goals for 2020! I’ll get the non-writing ones out of the way first:

Keep my current Duolingo (French) streak going as long as I can.

At first, I was going to just start (well, re-start, because I had this same goal in like...2016 or something) using it in 2020 like a cliche, but instead, 42 days ago I downloaded the app. How do I know it was 42 days ago? Because that’s my current streak! So far the progress is at:

Excuse-moi, comment tu t’appelles?

Elle est Anglaise.

Tu travailles beaucoup.

So, if you ever meet an English woman who works a lot and you need to know her name, I’m your gal! I don’t know what I’m ever going to do with this. It’s nice to know another language, I guess, that in no way benefits my career. It’s what I like!!!

Read 10 novels

I’ve gotten so bad about reading. Three years ago I read 50 books. Two years ago I read 20. Last year and this year? Zero. I reblogged something recently that said reading a ton as a kid/young adult, for a lot of us, was to escape, but now that we have so many ways of escapism available to us (and mine is fic writing and my Firestick), taking the time to stop and read doesn’t seem to happen much. I tried audiobooks once, and I can’t listen while trying to work or multi-task. Inevitably, I focus too hard on the other thing I’m doing and before I know it, I’m lost and have to rewind. So, it’s back to the tablet or the 56849675656 physical books I have. Ten isn’t a big goal. That’s not even a whole novel every 30 days. I’m trying to decide what to read first even though my to be read list is massively long. Let me know if you have any suggestions!

Write more handwritten notes to send in the mail.

The stationary is bought! This is something I want to get better at because...God, who doesn’t just need happy things in the mail sometimes? Is it faster to send an email? Sure, buuuut, there’s just something about sitting down and actually writing out your thoughts to a person. And there’s really nothing like getting old-fashioned correspondence in the mail. You can dramatically read it by a window with only a single candle as your light. Anyway, I have names and addresses and I’m gonna do this.

OKAY, NOW WE’RE TO THE WRITING ONES!!!!!

Write at least 100 words per day.

I wouldn’t only write 100 words per day, of course, but every day I will write that amount as a minimum. Sometimes it will be bad. Other times it could be good and might even turn into something. The simple point is just to write, and I’ve bought a couple of creative tools to help with that. I don’t even know who I would share those 100 words with or if it would be worth it. In any case, by the end of the year, no matter what, I should have 36,500 words total. We’ll see!

Get better about responding to AO3 comments.

I am notoriously bad at this and don’t mean to be. I worry that I sound repetitive or that my appreciation doesn’t sound genuine. I don’t really know how to respond to praise, so if you ever get a reply from me that’s just a heart or just a simple thank you, I’m sorry that I’m not 10x more eloquent in accepting thanks and at this point I’m just grateful people leave it.

Let go of the pressure

I guess that’s self-explanatory, but this fall was not great in my own head surrounding fic. I let a lot of things that were not true make me believe I could only write one thing or nothing at all. Once I let go of that, the one-shots started flowing. I’m happy with my writing right now; not because I think it’s super great, but because I’m feeling it. That may not make sense to anyone else and that’s okay. I was never happy with anything I wrote from August - November. It feels really good to not feel that way anymore and all because I finally listened to my wife and Danielle and took their advice. If the two of them ever gang up on me I don’t stand a chance.

That’s it, I think! Earlier in the month, I thought I wanted to get into meditation; I changed my mind after trying every day for 2 weeks. I also thought this was the year I wanted to start learning ASL, but I can’t figure out a place/time to practice and I don’t want to scramble and stress over something that should be a fun exercise. I have a few other super personal goals that may get talked about at a different point! This is long; if you read it we’re probably actually friends or you are also my wife, in which case please come kiss me.

Happy end of the decade! Hello, 2020.

[nyrator]

cosplay progress and more random vents

the pieces so far- Missing currently is gray paint for the headphones, and something to do a teal “Bi” cheek tattoo with. Also ordered the EVA foam to cover the skates with a while ago but still hasn’t arrived, hope it isn’t lost

And so I decided to dye the wig today

It was a process. Basically realized I might need a whole other bottle of blue dye to make it work, so decided to do maths and figure out what I’d need for the recipe- Basically, regular recipe calls for:

2 cups blue

1/4 cup green

3 tablespoons gray

3 gallons water

instead I used these amounts:

1 bottle blue (.875 cups roughly)

5.25 teaspoons green

4 teaspoons gray

21 cups water

the result was... just blue. Cut off a piece of the wig to use as a swatch, and just kept getting blue. Added a few teaspoons more of green, still blue. Eventually, started pouring the bottle in, at least 3/4s of the bottle. Finally, I got an okay color, but rushed it a bit- Was about to get in a call with friends, so I figured, stir it for five minutes and that should be enough

Well, it looked okay, but part of it felt darker in places, though I couldn’t tell if it was the lighting or not. So later on, I re-boiled the dye, added even more green, and dumped that baby in there (the last white swatch I had came out to a nice green color), so did that, did it for 15-20 minutes this time, and now it’s out to dry. It’s a tad greener... ish...? But I’ll accept it for what it is- Should’ve probably given it a bit more water to swim around in since by the second time, a lot of water had dissipated.

for reference, the color I was after:

now, there’s one problem...

I realize I don’t own a flat iron, I swore I did, but alas. Ordered one on Amazon and should be here Friday, anyway. Hope I can restore it to its original shape

Honestly, feeling a lot of anxiety over this costume- Was originally meant to be some silly non-serious outfit, that just had a bunch of hurdles I felt like tackling head on, and now they feel too overwhelming, I guess. It’s like, I work on the costume, and all I do is feel sick while working on it, but it’s a goal, and so I have to do it, I guess- the money’s spent, no going back, but man, not looking forward to the end result, I guess.

Next time I’ll probably just buy a wig closest in color and just style it properly (though cutting/styling hair is also something I’m terrible at...), the thought of painting the fabric is already giving me anxiety

Also need to do laundry, wash those clothes before I paint them and wash my casual clothes in general- Haven’t done laundry in a month, I think (beyond my dress-ier clothes), just never feel like getting around to it and scraping by with what I can wear

But yeah, anxiety, it’s weird. Tonight’s mostly been a sort of existential type- at least, creatively. Realizing I have no projects I feel like working on and nothing I feel like doing, and the dread of sitting here doing absolutely nothing’s been taking over me- I want to work on RN again, but have no ideas of what to draw or how to get myself to work on the comic again. I think of Skatered things, but zero idea of where to start with anything- Should I learn programming? Make more 3D models? Learn weight painting, finally? Mod JSRF or THUGPro? Hard to say.

Just a weird “wasted time” sense of anxiety, I suppose. But I’ve sort of conditioned myself to “not” think creatively, I think? It’s like, if I start thinking of what I can make, I also start thinking of my past failures and how they’ll most likely just happen again, and how impossible it feels to escape my current creative position

I think I can sum up my desires pretty easily- I really want to create things, and I want Kresna to be happy.

Also, random topic, been seeing random drama over some people I used to watch, it’s kind of weird, since they were my favorites of their groups, but I’m kind of impressed at how little I seem to care about it- Stopped watching them for a while and only just started killing time with stuff recently, now no real reason to keep watching again, just a weird apathetic feeling I guess.

But yeah, otherwise, I just sort of feel like I’m starting to let everything slip away again, and it’s a bleh feeling. Just a bunch of small things eating away at me

I’ll be going to work soon, need to fix my bike tire or something, not looking forward to how to get there

Heat’s on and I want to open windows, but traffic is too loud with windows open and I’m uncomfortable if bugs get inside

Chair and headphones are flaking apart and getting all over me, should replace them/parts of them or something

Want a certain type of desk, but can’t find one like it anywhere (other than places like Pinterest of course so I know it exists), just want a decent shelf-lined hutch mixed with a keyboard tray...

Anxious about displaying things like my Kuja figure in general, about trivial things like dust, sunlight, etc destroying everything I own

laundry, groceries, my mother’s estate things, lots of things slipping by me

etcetcetc

but let’s end on a picture of Kuja for good times sake (I love how detailed he is, I wonder if his FMV model still exists somewhere or if they just really studied the FMVs themselves like I have spent too much time doing, he’s so detailed and accurate, right down to the way his armor looks on the back, and aaa I hope to make his outfit someday... my only real gripe is how his left side seems to be curved...weirdly...

wait did I get a defective Kuja figure

vs

did I really get one that reused the right side piece for both sides

not sure how to feel about that actually, honestly kind of impressed