#august newsletter

[cetacity]

Our first issue of our mostly-monthly newsletter has been SENT! We're really excited to share Cetacity's latest news and behind the scene previews with you!

If you're not yet subscribed, you can still read it HERE!

[theofficersacademy]

Happy August! TOA is now officially five years old. None of the mods had this milestone in mind five years ago, but now that we're here, how about another five years?

Housekeeping

Current Month in TOA: Lone Moon

This month is event month, so there will be no new mission board! But like last year, the June & July Mission Board will be extended to run through the end of August. The Unaffiliated requirement remains in effect for the Unaffiliated & Faculty-specific tasks.

The event will run from August 1st to August 31st. Signups are now closed - stay tuned for more information tomorrow at noon EST!

Our monthly submission limit on the site that hosts our event signups has been reset so everyone is free to take the quiz for fun now.

We will be announcing a second 5th-Year Anniversary activity on August 4th and another on August 8th. This will not require IC participation. Stay tuned for the details.

Please don’t forget to leave feedback on our feedback poll for this month! We do check the responses regularly, so if you have concerns during the event, the feedback poll is an appropriate place to pop in. Alternatively, the mods’ DMs are always open. We're wiping the Wanted List this month so our character wish list will be fresh for the new year.

Speaking of the event, stay tuned for noon EST for more information!

Important Updates

The requirements to master a lord class acquired for participation in an event have been updated. You cannot master the class with the same event that you acquired it, but any official event afterwards (Arena, Ethereal ball, etc.) can count for its mastery

We are changing our event schedule for all subsequent years: there will now only be ONE Arena event per year, not two, and it will be held in November. Originally, the biannual Arena design was implemented to rigorously test the combat manual, which was brand new at the time. Now that the manual is more or less stable, we've decided that two Arena events is no longer necessary. Because we already had an Arena event this year in June though, the next Arena won't take place until November 2025.

TOA runs a lot of events, and it makes it difficult for our members (and the mods) to have a life outside of TOA or reply to regular threads in a timely manner. Many of our members also have great ideas of their own and have expressed interest in running their own mini events during the year, but there just hasn't been a good time for them when TOA has a big event every other month. We hope that removing the second Arena will give everyone some breathing room.

Other

BIRTHDAYS

August Mun Birthdays: Axl (1st), Arden (9th), Penny (19th), Ren (20th), Harrow (25th), Maxie (28th), Kuno (29th)

August Muse Birthdays: Ephraim (1st), Eirika (1st), Natasha (6th), Laslow (7th), Alfred (8th), Patty (10th), Yuri (12th), Ares (14th), Dheginsea (14th), Edward (15th), Kliff (19th), Shiro (22nd)

MUN ANNIVERSARIES

1st year: none

2nd year: Kano (3rd), Havoc (30th)

3rd year: Birdie (4th), Vio (5th), Vivi (6th)

4th year: Soji (7th), Maxie (8th)

5th year: Ree (3rd)

MUSE ANNIVERSARIES

1st year: Naesala (4th), Henry (6th)

2nd year: Linhardt (3rd), Seliph (10th), Camilla (23rd), Lloyd (30th)

3rd year: none

4th year: Marth (7th), Farina (8th)

Muses who have been in the group for a solid year will also be granted an Academy Brooch to put in their inventory. It doesn’t do anything. It just lets others know your character has been around the block. These characters are also granted a new opportunity to change houses if they wish to do so.

- The House Leaders

[chloehazeljane]

[whatnext10]

August Brought Fall Wildflowers and a Hurricane

Island Sunset I hope everybody had a great summer and is now ready to buckle down and start dealing with getting kids on the bus and helping out with homework. I don’t have to handle any of that, but I know that many people do. Like July, August brought those of us in north central Florida plenty of heat and less than normal amounts of rainfall. The heat was bad enough that I really didn’t…

[the-automators]

August 24, 2023 AutoHotkey Newsletter

Howdy %Name%, As I mentioned a few times I’m reading (and loving) the amazing Atomic Habits book from James Clear. Often we have “high aspirations” to obtain a new goal (Eat healthier, get in shape, learn AutoHotkey, etc.) but, when the goal is a big undertaking, we will find it easy to come up with excuses not to start now. A great way to get around this is to adopt James Clear’s “Two-Minute”…

[lecfosa]

new newsletter 🎐 happy august! or not really...

[basicallyanotherwitchesthing]

O.T.O. Newsletter, Vol. III, No. 9, Summer, Anno LXXV, August 1979

[youngestdaughtersyndrome]

Okayyyyy logging off 💖 door is slowly getting there but ive run out of black and white photos for now so itll have to wait ..... will hopefully be finishing it in the next time gap..... anyways bye blog squad love u all mwah mwah <3

[isupportzaynxliamxziam]

Saturday, 21 August 2021

A new single is coming!!!

credits: Liam's newsletter

A beautiful promotional photo gets released

credits: Liam

[gwyoi]

going back to college is not possible because 1. I don’t have the money and 2. I would kill myself if I had to move back with my mom (sorry) and work part time and go to school part time. so what are my options as someone who specializes in office services …… executive assistants get paid more but almost all job postings require a degree and some background in accounting ….. I feel like I may have hit the ceiling for my wage since I don’t have a degree and I can’t afford to take courses to be certified in some shjt……

[gr-book-worm-1818]

REGULAR. UPDATES. OF MY. FANDOMS. AND. FIXATIONS!!!!! OTHERWISE KNOWN AS…AUGUST NEWSLETTER (not an actual newsletter…i think!)!!!starting today :) will probably not be very consistent.

so i started good omens…and i haven’t watched episode 2 yet because the website im pirating on makes it lag a lot. BUT. i do like it so far. the concept is slightly similar to the good place which i LOVE and i heard it has queer rep and i am always a SUCKER for that, also i actually have ZERO spoilers for it which is very new!

i’m getting into dead poets society, too. might rewatch soon. mostly bc of anderperry. <3

still have yet to start stardew valley, mostly bc of school….i hope i can start it soon

also been reading a lot of jackieshauna lately. i don’t even watch yellowjackets; i can NOT, all the gore and, you know, cannibalism makes me very squeamish. i just finished the first ep, read the summaries of all the episodes on wikipedia, and fed myself a shit ton of edits. i just — i need a sapphic ship to ship, guys. and they’re fucking adorable. but i’m also not calling myself a yellowjackets fan because i can’t actually watch the show; allie’s leg wound alone fuckin’ scarred me.

FICS OF THE WEEK!!! / my fav fics i bookmarked on ao3 in the last few days :}

https://archiveofourown.org/works/39808182 - to be alone with you by wordshakers ; dead poets society, anderperry, T rated & fluffy <3

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13540812 - Keep Promise, Love by WhiteRoseCottage ; dead poets society, anderperry, G rated, very nice and also fluffy!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/37695982 - don’t be alarmed (if i fall head over feet) by sorryforthedead ; yellowjackets, jackieshauna, G rated, gave me motherfucking diabetes. and a strange urge to swear a lot. really fucking sweet.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/23069146 - Matchmaker, Matchmaker by the_original_starfruit ; dead poets society, anderperry, T rated, awesome. there’s a party portion in this fic that i’m…not too fond of (i don’t like party plots in stories), but god, the pining in this one? absolutely stomach swirling, downright butterfly inducing.

and that’s it for today! see you…tomorrow? tomorrow tomorrow? in the next universe? who knows, tbh. i’ll just see you!

[theofficersacademy]

Happy August! And happy four-year anniversary to The Officers Academy! We wouldn’t be here without our wonderful community! Our anniversary event is slated to begin soon - stay tuned!

Housekeeping

Current Month in TOA: Lone Moon

Here's where we usually go 'Instead of a Mission Board, we will be running a month-long event!' Of course, we are still running an event (more details below), but this time around the June & July Mission Board will be extended to run through until the end of August. The Unaffiliated requirement remains in effect for the Unaffiliated & Faculty-specific tasks.

The event will run from August 1st to August 31st. Signups are now closed - stay tuned for more information tomorrow at noon EST!

Our monthly submission limit on the site that hosts our event signups has been reset so everyone is free to take the quiz for fun now.

We will be announcing a second Fourth-Year Anniversary activity on August 4th. This will not require IC participation. Stay tuned for the details.

Please don’t forget to leave feedback on our feedback poll for this month! We do check the responses regularly, so if you have concerns during the event, the feedback poll is an appropriate place to pop in. (Alternatively, the mods' dms are always open.)

Important Updates

This year, in lieu of suggestions and voting for a select number of rank chart & class additions to TOA, we're adding a whole bunch of new prizes to expand the rank chart. Ree's been hard at work coming up with a delightful spread of goodies to choose from.

You can check out the new additions on the rank chart itself, or read on for a summary of additions!

General updates

All new personal weapons and lord event classes have had stats added to the manual, and old ones have been rebalanced

All swords now have a base 15% crit

Swordmaster now grants a new ability, Pursuit, along with Astra, and anyone who has mastered Swordmaster can automatically add it to their stats page. This ability grants a 40% base chance for the unit to make a followup attack, which increases the more points of speed they have, independent of the enemy's speed

Air Superiority now grants +2 speed just by having it equipped

Tantivy has had its dex buff removed and now grants +1 strength and +4 avoid as long as the unit is not under the effect of any ally passives, heals, or rallies

Hagakure Blade has been reworked to have the brave sword stat line, but deals magic damage and keeps its effectiveness against magic wielders/classes. Removed its HP cost and the Miracle ability

Archer now only grants Hit+. Bowrange+ has been moved to Sniper mastery. Anyone who has currently claimed Archer mastery will lose Bowrange+ unless they have Sniper mastered

Great Knight now allows the choice of B+ Lance or B+ Axe to access

Sword Avoid+ has been moved from Dancer mastery to C rank sword and its buff lowered from +6 to +4. If you have mastered Dancer, you will have Dazzle and Refresh, but will no longer have access to Sword Avoid+

The War Monk class has been granted Brawl Avoid+ as an additional mastery reward. If you have mastered this class already, you may add this to your stats page.

The Apocalypse spell has been updated

Rank Chart Expansion

New Intermediate classes: Martial Monk - C Gauntlets D Faith | Mastery: Qi Adept Lance Fighter - C Lance | Mastery: Backup

New Advanced classes: Wolf Knight - C Sword, Lance, OR Axe A Riding | Mastery: Hobble Dread Fighter - B Sword OR Lance B Reason | Mastery: Chaos Style Halberdier - A Lance | Mastery: Seal Speed Enchanter - C Sword B Gauntlets | Mastery: Convoy

New Master classes: Martial Master - A Gauntlets A Faith | Mastery: Diffuse Healer High Priest - B Gauntlets B+ Faith B Authority | Mastery: Self-Healing Griffon Knight - C Sword A Faith A Flying | Mastery: Clear the Way Mage Cannoneer - A Reason A Heavy Armor | Mastery: Let Fly

The Mage Cannoneer class comes with a completely different set of 14 weapons built-in, but cannonballs have limited uses and this class cannot use any other kind of weapon. As a tradeoff, cannonballs do not take up an inventory slot for the Mage Cannoneer class and they have access to all 14 at any given time

New Sword additions: Georgios (A rank) Cinquedea (A rank) Alacrity (A rank)

New Lance additions: Flame Lance (C rank) Venomous (A rank) Adaptability (A rank)

New Axe additions: Hurricane Axe (A rank) Merciless (A rank)

New Bow additions: Lendabair (A rank) No Distractions (A rank)

New Gauntlet additions: Shielding Art (C rank) Flashing Fist Art (A rank)

New Reason additions: Nova (A rank) Resonance (A rank)

New Faith additions: Freeze (A rank) Fracture (A rank)

New Authority additions: Battalion: Garreg Mach Youths (D rank) Battalion: Veteran Duelists (C rank) Battalion: Brigid Hunters (B rank) Battalion: Opera Company Volunteers (A rank) Dual Assist (A rank) Keen Insight (A rank)

New Heavy Armor additions: Arms Shield (A rank) Resolve (A rank) Allied Defense (A)

New Riding additions: Momentum (A rank) Reforge (A rank) Pivot (A rank)

New Flying additions: Air Raid (A rank) Pincer Attack (A rank) Detoxify (A rank)

Other

August Mun Birthdays: Arden (9th), Ren (20th), Maxie (28th)

August Muse Birthdays: Julius (1st), Ephraim (1st), Eirika (1st), Zelkov (2nd), Laslow (7th), Lumera (7th), Alfred (8th), Patty (10th), Yuri (12th), Roy (14th), Ares (14th), Eldigan (14th), Edward (15th), Lyn (21st), Lachesis (22nd), Corrin (M) (25th), Frederick (26th), Sophia (27th), Soleil (31st)

First-year mun anniversaries this month: Kano (4th), Serena (24th), Kristopher (31st)

Third-year mun anniversaries this month: Soji (8th), Maxie (9th), Mirae (21st), Lilly (29th)

Fourth-year mun anniversaries this month: Ree (5th)

First-year muse anniversaries this month: Linhardt (4th), Sophia (4th), Seliph (10th), Anankos (19th), Camilla (23rd), Michalis (28th), Lloyd (31st)

Third-year muse anniversaries this month: Marth (8th), Farina (9th)

Muses who have been in the group for a solid year will also be granted an Academy Brooch to put in their inventory. It doesn’t do anything. It just lets others know your character has been around the block. These characters are also granted a new opportunity to change houses if they wish to do so.

- The House Leaders

[islanderscaper]

Buskers, Desert Bus crafting, writing, and trying to get my feet back under me.

This month's supporters newsletter is now up on Ko-fi!

[josiebelladonna]

why do the organizers of mermay only give people two weeks of preparation

[the-automators]

August 8th, 2023 AutoHotkey Newseltter

Thankfully we’ve been getting really busy at the-Automator which is great! We’re getting a lot of client requests for work and working on a few courses. But we’re getting so busy I realized I need to rethink where I should be spending my time. My general goal is to stop doing things that don’t matter and only work on the things that really make a difference. In this video I discuss how learned…

[afeelgoodblog]

The Best News of Last Year - 2023 Edition

Welcome to our special edition newsletter recapping the best news from the past year. I've picked one highlight from each month to give you a snapshot of 2023. No frills, just straightforward news that mattered. Let's relive the good stuff that made our year shine.

January - London: Girl with incurable cancer recovers after pioneering treatment

A girl’s incurable cancer has been cleared from her body after what scientists have described as the most sophisticated cell engineering to date.

2. February - Utah legislature unanimously passes ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy

The Utah State Legislature has unanimously approved a bill that enshrines into law a ban on LGBTQ conversion therapy.

3. March - First vaccine for honeybees could save billions

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved the world’s first-ever vaccine intended to address the global decline of honeybees. It will help protect honeybees from American foulbrood, a contagious bacterial disease which can destroy entire colonies.

4. April - Fungi discovered that can eat plastic in just 140 days

Australian scientists have successfully used backyard mould to break down one of the world's most stubborn plastics — a discovery they hope could ease the burden of the global recycling crisis within years. 

5. May - Ocean Cleanup removes 200,000th kilogram of plastic from the Pacific Ocean

The Dutch offshore restoration project, Ocean Cleanup, says it has reached a milestone. The organization's plastic catching efforts have now fished more than 200,000 kilograms of plastic out of the Pacific Ocean, Ocean Cleanup said on Twitter.

6. June - U.S. judge blocks Florida ban on care for trans minors in narrow ruling, says ‘gender identity is real’

A federal judge temporarily blocked portions of a new Florida law that bans transgender minors from receiving puberty blockers, ruling Tuesday that the state has no rational basis for denying patients treatment.

7. July - World’s largest Phosphate deposit discovered in Norway

A massive underground deposit of high-grade phosphate rock in Norway, pitched as the world’s largest, is big enough to satisfy world demand for fertilisers, solar panels and electric car batteries over the next 50 years, according to the company exploiting the resource.

8. August - Successful room temperature ambient-pressure magnetic levitation of LK-99

If the claim by Sukbae Lee and Ji-Hoon Kim of South Korea’s Quantum Energy Research Centre holds up, the material could usher in all sorts of technological marvels, such as levitating vehicles and perfectly efficient electrical grids.

9. September - World’s 1st drug to regrow teeth enters clinical trials

The ability to regrow your own teeth could be just around the corner. A team of scientists, led by a Japanese pharmaceutical startup, are getting set to start human trials on a new drug that has successfully grown new teeth in animal test subjects.

10. October - Nobel Prize goes to scientists behind mRNA Covid vaccines

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine has been awarded to a pair of scientists who developed the technology that led to the mRNA Covid vaccines. Professors Katalin Kariko and Drew Weissman will share the prize.

11. November - No cases of cancer caused by HPV in Norwegian 25-year olds, the first cohort to be mass vaccinated for HPV.

Last year there were zero cases of cervical cancer in the group that was vaccinated in 2009 against the HPV virus, which can cause the cancer in women.

12. December - President Biden announces he’s pardoning all convictions of federal marijuana possession

President Joe Biden announced Friday he's issuing a federal pardon to every American who has used marijuana in the past, including those who were never arrested or prosecuted.

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And there you have it – a year's worth of uplifting news! I hope these positive stories brought a bit of joy to your inbox. As I wrap up this special edition, I want to thank all my supporters!

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!