#presented figures and data to PEOPLE IVE NEVER MET BEFORE

[astrobei]

genetics is so unserious sometimes i was just in a meeting where it took me like ten minutes to realize that when they were saying “bag of marbles” it was the actual name of a gene .

[rasshu-benaiokny]

[Disobeyed]- NSFW Night Club AU

A Short Gyutaro x Club Owner Reader fic

Based on the Modern KNY “Braveblood” AU

[Y/N] and Gyutaro are both 40+ in this context

NO MINORS

[Setting: [Y/N] and your trusted partner in business; Gyutaro Shabana have built a small fortune running a naughty night club in the busy streets of your city. You both met in college a long time ago and he’s one of the people that you trust the most. You’re a stern owner with an iron fist, often regarded as “boss” lovingly among your workers. Tonight was a hard night for you specifically… so your mean partner has to take drastic measures to keep you sane]

Cooped up in your office made from sleek black walls, your fingers push into your forehead as you take a triple glance at your documents. The red neon lights that rim the edges of your walls pulsate with the smooth jazz exclusive to your room. You’ve known that you are the temperamental type that can stress out in a moments notice so you set your own calm atmosphere to keep these situations in check. Unfortunately, tonight has been testing you well… Keeping a firm grasp on your head, you look at the papers and then your screen once more. Something isn’t adding up and you can’t figure out what error occurred to skew the data presented. The finances look correct. The workers monthly papers are in order. Even the income is consistent. What the hell happened?

You were so caught up in the stress that you didn’t even notice the long lanky man come in. Dawning his signature black vest with a red marble-like shoulder trim, his eyes tiredly dart to you sitting at your huge glassy desk… it was normal for you to be stressed around this time. Probably overlooked some shit. Sauntering over, he let out his usual scowl as he crushed his lit cigarette in an ash tray specifically meant for his usage only. Leaning his hulking body over the desk enough for you to finally take notice, your red eyes look up at his blue ones irritated.

[Y/N]: What now… As you can clearly see, I’m clearly busy enough as is. Whatever you are about to say… can you please hold it till I’m done…

Gyutaro Begrudgingly: Still cooped up here Huh… Let me see what you’re dealing with- bet its something stupid anyway, knowing you.

[Y/N]: Ive checked the finance tab, I’ve checked the cost to insure the workers, Ive even looked at expenses. Shabana… this is getting the best of me

Gyutaro: …

[Y/N]: …

Gyutaro: I think I found out the deal… some of the stage isnt working properly right? Nothing harmful yeah? Well, that stage is hella costly… and I went ahead and scheduled it to be fixed next month…

[Y/N]: Communication wouldn’t HURT once in a while, would it? At least let me know these things before you spend GOD KNOWS WHAT?

Gyutaro: Shut ya trap [L/N]! I didn’t know they would take out the payment so fucking soon, but now we know.

With more frustration building up, you close your eyes and rub your temple even more… You appreciate Mr.Shabana… afterall, he shares the load just as much as you do, on top of being the head bouncer here… But he never communicates soon enough when huge changes happen. Hell, you’re the reason why this business has extra funds to spare in the first place! But… at least thats one project solved… on to the next thing, you presume.

Gyutaro can tell that he made you pissed again. So he takes out a cigarette just to take one drag before putting up for later… He’s not the type for apologizing for his shittery, but he has a way to atone.

As you bury yourself once more in paperwork, your shoulders relax a little knowing that you’re not in a stand still anymore. Typing away with a bit of clarity. Failing to notice the man behind you, hunching more and more over your body until his hands force you up! Your glasses tumble to the ground as he hoists you up and props you on the desk! With his hand firmly against the center of your chest, he gently pushes you down, as your hands grip onto his biceps. You knew exactly what he was trying to do but you swore up and down that you were “fine”.

[Y/N]: Mr. Shabana, this is not the time for this crap! Save your shit for later! I need to plug in numbers!

Gyutaro: this aint for me, shithead- Now lay the fuck down.

Warmth crept onto your face and you couldn’t help the idea of having a small stress reliever right about now. With the heat steaming from you, and the nice cool breeze flowing underneath your monochrome dress, it was nearly impossible now. Loosening your legs just enough that it was easy for the man to crack them open, Gyutaro leaned his head down as his free hand did some work. Slipping two fingers in, he gauged how desperately you needed this, the wetness nearly palpable as his grin grew slightly. You could feel his warm tongue lick up your folds as he drove his digits in.

Pressing his thumb against your hood, you gave a subtle gasp… Lifting back up into view, your partner in crime was leaning over you on the desk. his other hand slowly unbutton your shirt, leaving your soft skin exposed to his liking… leaning in, he kissed your stomach grinding his fingers against that familiar mound of yours, he knew yours body even more than his own. One leg twitch later, let him know to move on to the next phase as he went back down… His magical tongue drew circles down your abs eventually to the core. Slipping his fingers out, he licked the viscous juices clean off his hand before greedily cupping his mouth around your folds.

His hands latched onto your waist as he swiveled his tongue ferociously, tasting that pent up core of yours. Cupping your own mouth, you don’t dare to make a sound as the soft jazz surround the both of you… it wasn’t an acceptable business practice, but just the thought of doing such inexplicable things with this crude man made your stomach writhe with pleasure beyond means!

And just like clockwork, your walls began to shiver and clench while Gyutaro sucked on your critical spot! Your strong legs nearly squeezing the sense out of him as he snatches his head from your death vice! Savoring in his business partners release, he licks his fingers once more before cleaning up his face… With a domineering glare, he gets up and leaves you in your office, still reveling in the high…

Soon, you’ll be back to work like nothing happened… He is your trusted partner afterall, he knows you best.

[heartwoodventures]

Primary Access Required: Run, Rabbit, Run

Aislinn made her way into the room, giving a wordless nod of greeting to those already gathered. She zeroed in on a chair and sat slowly and stiffly down onto it, letting go a breath as she did so.

Alexi took a glance around as he came down the stairs. "Oh! So there are others around. I was beginning to wonder."

Aislinn lifted her gaze to the Hrothgar as he appeared at the edge of the room. "Aye. Here and there. As I understand it, there's to be a meeting shortly." she said, her subdued voice barely carrying across the way.

Alexi quirks a brow and leans against the door frame, arms folding. "A meeting? What about?"

Haila glanced back to nod in greeting towards Alexi. "A discussion of a not so recent expedition that one of our members organized. But I'll wait for the news to be given more officially in a few moments."

From where he sat on the couch, Mivo'to flickered his eyes, his red companion finally coming to rest atop his waist after a handful of stern glances. "Business as ever. 'Twould seem Heartwood is not to be offered reprise by the Twelve."

Aislinn nodded, glad to let someone else do the talking.

"As much as I wished to call this business the usual... 'Tis not anymore. Not after the near endless time I had with our little mechanical guests to figure out more. But once more, time to wait just a tiny bit for those coming." Haila explained, sighing as she reached for a small canteen on her side to open and take a few sips. Of what, only she knew.

Alexi Grenasch: "Either way, I've been looking for M'shara. She left the Bozjan front before me by quite a while and I had hoped to find her upon my return this morning. She wasn't at her home, so I decided to just wait here for her."

Mivo'to offered a single blink before the Hrothgar's ponderance, his still expression drifting to the slumbering rodent atop his legs. Nary a twitch pulled at his lips, thoughts drifting elsewhere as he offered an idle scratch to the Panda.

Aislinn's gaze skated away from Alexi, also avoiding his words. She just didn't have it in her to say more.

Rising Lotus was mostly watching the fish swim about as she sat  on the counter before the tank, she wasn't quite sure what the latest had been with the whole situation as of late.

Once more, Haila's ears twitched, this time at the sudden sound of the front door bursting open. She stood quickly and rushed to the lobby to check. Upon seeing Altani out of breath on the floor, she went to her side, gently tapping the Viera on the shoulder as if to let her know that they were there.

Alexi sat up straight, his ears perking up at the sound from the other room! With a grunt, he stood and followed...

Mivo'to followed the attention of his Panda as its eyes snapped to the thunder of the door, swiftly exiting from its brief slumber as it scampered forth. "Twelve's name..." He murmured softly, chasing after the inquisitive beast - Only to grind to a halt upon the scene.

Altani rolled onto her back curling her fist into a ball smacking herself on her chest another loud cough coming out of her, she stayed silent for a moment before sitting up glancing to the crowd facing her, she never did much like crowds and now it only made her feel even worse as she tried to speak up "W-We...Shite...W-We went l-look for Vanriri..." Whatever she was trying to say it clearly wasn't easy as she choked up looking down at her thighs.

N'yami ears flicked as her ruby gaze turned towards the Viera who came bursting through the door, pushing herself off the pillar the Seeker turned to see what was going on. Why was Altani out of breath? The hell's happened? The confusion was clear on Yami's face, maybe she needed to come around the house more to keep up with everything.

Aislinn pulled herself to her feet, her expression blank as she followed in the others' wake.

Rising Lotus followed suit, wanting to see the commotion her self, and it felt kind weird to just be sitting there alone.

Mivo'to Laaski twisted his figure around, eyes falling upon the recently vacated study. With a raised finger, the Keeper would gesture forth, ears flapping through the air. "Pray, might we make arrangement for the Miss? She is clearly in a state of shock." He spoke, attention trailing to and fro between the trio and their newly arrived Viera. "I shall fetch water - Poor Miss is probably running on naught but willpower."

Haila Wetyios 's expression turned rather grim, so the news she'd suspected and found data on were probably about to be confirmed. She looked up towards Mivo'to and nodded. "Aye, bring some water quick. And you, take a breath first... We'll need you to tell us what happened with a clear head."

Aislinn stared at Mivo'to a moment, as if it was taking her time to process his words. Then, with an inhalation of breath, she pushed herself forward towards the Viera. "Can you stand? Do you want to come sit down?" she asked with perfunctory calm, eyes moving critically over the woman, looking for any glaring injuries.

Alexi just stood back, letting clearer heads and more careful hands tend to the woman. He just watched. He'd been waiting all morning for M'shara after he'd returned and been told she'd gone out to help someone. Now, he was getting a bad feeling from this new arrival...

Altani shook her head after a few moments, listening to reason for once she tried to simply breath, but as Aislinn spoke to her she gave a light shrug "I-Im fine...j-just-" She coughed again her throat was probably akin to a desert at the moment, but at a glance she seemed to be fine more or less, her boots were caked in mud and her clothes were drenched as she reached up pulling her goggles down around her neck, a clear ring of dust and grime surrounding her eyes "N-Not good news ive got..."

"Aye... Such seems to be the only thing that comes through these doors these days. Here, can you stand?" Haila offered a hand to the woman, then nodded towards the library." I think everyone present needs to hear what you've been through." she added, still looking intently at the Viera.

Rising Lotus inched in a bit closer to hear the woman speak, keeping enough distance where she wouldn't be in the way. She had only spoke with Haila breifly about the whole big thing they were dealing with early in the week, so she was curious what the latest was.

Aislinn's lips twitch downward at that. The only sign of any sort of expression at all. Haila was right, and though Aislinn had no idea what news Altani brought she could only wonder how many hits Heartwood would be required to take. Awkwardly, she pulled herself back to her feet, trying to be mindful of her injuries that were still on the mend. "Aye. She's right." Looking over her shoulder, she saw that Mivo'to had reappeared and made way for him.

Mivo'to reemerged after sometime, a swooshing wooden tankard clasped tightly between his palms. "Apologies, apologies, nary a clean mug in this-" He rambled, taking a plunging step forth to present the tankard of water before the Viera. "Easy does it, my Lady, easy does..."

Altani glanced away from the gaze but she took the hand shakily standing slowly pushing most of her weight onto Halia slowly wandering wherever Haila took her, but at the sight of the tankard she didnt wait a moment before grabbing it from Mivo'to chugging it down in seconds not even thinking as she dropped it the the floor "O-M-My bad..."

The uncanny speed at which the tankard had been down at least brought Haila a brief smirk. Altani didn't seem injured, that was enough for her. "Don't worry about it. Come along.." she said, leading the Viera back into the library area for her to take a seat.

Aislinn trailed after them and returned to her seat, watching Altani with a note of trepidation. She knew she had best steel herself for whatever was coming next. Mivo'to positioned themself far from the scene, arms folding upon his chest as an askewed gaze met the two Viera.

Alexi was the last to follow, taking his previous spot against the door frame. His tail tip still flicked harshly back and forth, telling of his anxiousness.

Altani let out a quiet sigh, knowing everyone's eyes were on her as she leaned back, she new it was pointless to beat around the bust so she simply let it out "...Vanriri, M-M'shara a-and...G'lewra were all...taken by the u-uh..the spider shites....allagan things...a-ate em or something...?" She didnt really know how it worked or what the hells she'd seen "T-Think they arent dead though like...ate em weirdly...pulled em into its guts with lie...m-metal tendrils or something..."

Haila nodded slowly as Altani spoke, even opting to cross her arms as she leaned absentmindedly against the couch, piecing together Altani's tale in her mind. "It took them then." she merely commented, waiting for the rest to process what had been just said before sharing what she knew.

Mivo'to lifted a brow, lips parting as an ever concerned breath passed between his fangs. 'Ate', was it? He had little knowledge on their machinations, but such a description can hardly mean anything pleasent. "Miss Haila? Any trace of what she may be describing?" He questioned, turning to their resident expert.

Aislinn tensed as she stared at Altani. So that's where G'lewra had gone. Rushing headlong after Vanriri. She shot a glance to Haila, recalling the dissection they had previously performed. "Wonder if that's what the thing's blasted cavity is for. Hauling people."

"I wouldn't put it past it's design. Who knows, maybe one of Dellont's projects for the future was to design a creature that could carry the injured back into safety like that.." Haila then shook her head some, clearly the woman had disdain for all these machinations. "How twisted can something get from it's original intention? But then again, it wouldn't have any Allagan in it if didn't do that..."

N'yami's tail tip flicked and her eyes narrowed into slits, the corner of her mouth twitched as if wanting to curl into a snarl but she controlled herself. She wasn't mad at the Viera but mad that the allagan bastards had taken those precious to her.

"They're eatin' folks now? Wern't they jus'..." Rising Lotus twirled her hand around as she tried to remember "Drainin' em before?" she shifted a bit at the thought of being eaten by one of those things, shuddering a bit.

"They were probably secured after being stunned." Haila explained as she heard her name being called, then glanced over to Altani. "Did they all fall in combat? Or was something shot akin to a lightning shard that made them fall and unable to move? Or did you see anything like I described?"

"Mayhaps it is a method of entrapment, Lady Lotus. A means to save them for a later date?" Mivo'to offered.

"I 'spose they are spiders...sorta...an' real ones do that too, web 'em up an' all." Rising Lotus replied.

"I can only fathom why - Least they are in need of a sudden surge of aether." Mivo'to paused, a chill creeping upon his neck as a shudder passed over his shoulders, head shaking to and fro as he turned centerward. "I would rather not ponder the possibilities of such a cause..."

Alexi tensed as soon as he heard M'shara's name. His lips peeled back slightly and every exhale of breath carried the low rumble of a growl. His gaze flicked between Altani and Haila. "Took them? Took them where?"

Altani nodded softly at Halia "They seemed to be uh...sleepin I guess, was to busy running and all to look...but uh...they were headed for Coerthas...n-now that im im thinkin about it..." She shook her head for a moment "W-well...honestly think its was a trap...soon as we found Vanriri they were on us..." She cursed herself, in hindsight it seemed so obvious to her that it was some sort of trap she'd done similar in the past now she was falling for the same trick.

Haila nodded once more, then looked down at the ground for a few moments. Where to even start? First, she looked up at Alexi, the one who probably needed the most answers now. "So the team that G'lewra assembled a bit recklessly didn't go too well... As far as we know, those creatures prey on any that have a gift for magic. So no doubt they had a field day.." she told him before looking back over to the group. "I won't bash G'lewra for going off like this, she must have had a plan to be tracked---at least... But are we all in agreement that no groups will be formed to go after them unless we have a clear countermeasure to their stun shots and the hordes in which they come?"

Mivo'to pursed a bottom lip, fangs pressing softly into its purplish flesh. It was clear the Miqo'te was in thought, off-colored eyes raging with one another as Haila's words echoed upon his pointed ears. Sit back? How could they? Every hour, every minute might very well stand as the last, a fate let pass. "I doubt we can sit idly by. I have no intention of rushing headlong, but surely there are measures that can be taken now - Learn our enemy's weakness, locate where our friends are kept."

"It does seem out of character for her, to be so reckless." Aislinn allowed. She didn't really need time to consider Haila's words, to her mind it was just logical. She nodded in agreement with the Viera. "I think that only makes sense." she turned her attention to Mivo'to. "Most of us recall rushing headlong into a fight not too long ago with no idea what we were dealing with. We'll work fast, but we need a plan." she told him.

Rising Lotus nodded, as much as she was generally all for jumping head first into danger, a whole swarm of was a bit out of her comfort zone, and Haila knew what she was talking afterall. "Before they only went after folks that used uh, healin' magic right? Or mostly seemed, so does that mean they've gotten a bigger...appetite?

Alexi calmed somewhat as Haila gave him her brief explanation, his fangs retracted though that growl in his tone of voice persisted. He gave a slight nod to Haila. "Agreed. We wouldn't want to walk into another trap..." he said, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Though I WILL be assisting in the rescue effort. And anything else I can do to help prepare, I will."

N'yami kept her mouth shut as she listened but not only was her mother taken but so were her friends, her tail flicked behind her as plans started form in her head and what she could possibly do to save those that were taken. She would need to go track down her husband after this.

"We won't stand idly no, but at least it would be better to have countermeasures. At least a suit that is impervious to their stuns or a disruptor of the signal they all exchange." Haila commented, looking over to the Miqo'te. "If no one was drained of their aether there and then like the bodies reported around Coerthas, we can assume everyone that was taken is needed alive at the very least."

Altani stayed silent for a few moments as she recalled what all had happened, she then recalled something G'lewra had said "They did somethin odd, they just ignored me, as if I was a rock in the middle of a river they just went around me, even if I was fightin think its the only reason im here right now...but Lewra said it was my lack of mis-er Aether...?" She didn't seem so sure of herself as she finished speaking "Maybe...could send some of us...non spell casters lovers in to scout around...?"

Mivo'to offered a silent glance upon the room, an idle hand draping free of his chest, and upon his hilt, squeezing upon its worn, sturdy pommel. "Would it be unfounded to say your previous specimen has provided all it may, Lady Haila? Such a scouting party could also look to procuring another - Preferably intact."

"If that's the case, that they just flat out ignore those with lower registers of aether, then that might be best." Aislinn sighed. "As it is, I only have one aether dampener prototype ready to go."

"It's...given me quite a lot of data yes. We currently have three in our posession, two that I've almost finished fixing, and one intact. But they're all rather small." Haila informed them. At Aislinn's new information though, she glanced between her and Mivo'to. "While I would be opposed to you trying to find one by yourself given that you can be a target for them as well Mivo.. If you had a way of cloaking some of your aether, that would change things. A medium sized one would come in handy right now. Even if to establish a stronger connection to their base."

"How do you capture such things, aside from jus' smashin' 'em. Is there some way to jus' turn them off?" Rising Lotus asked.

Mivo'to trailed his gaze between the studious Haila and Aislinn, a faint hum occupying his throat. One, two, three blinks before he parted his lips, a rush of air passing between them. "Have you any means of baiting such contraptions out?" He questioned, furthering a nod to Rising's own inquiry.

N'yami raised her hand. "Can use me as bait." She said speaking up for the first time since the meeting started. "I have a lot of aether but it's not exactly aether they'd want to get their hands on."

Aislinn considered that a moment. "I would think a large discharge of aether in the area of Coerthas we know them to be should do it." she mused. "If the party is made up of those of a less magical bent, crystals might work." she stopped and looked over at N'yami. "Ahh...even better."

"As far as I'm concerned... Only aether draws them out, and they seem to be expanding territory too. Unles..." Haila trailed off, ears perking at a reckless idea that didn't seem too bad anymore. "Unless you use the smallest spider in our posession to send a signal to bring in a bigger one. You'd need to be aware of where their territory ends, but it could work. As for disabling them, while I don't have full access to this scientist's signals, the core is allagan, faking a signal from their original creators could work."

Haila glanced over to the volunteer for baiting. Her gaze softened a bit with a glint of worry. "You must be G'lewra's daughter right?... If only our reasons to meet were brighter than this..."

"An' if that don't work at least we could jus' break it's legs off, probably not too much important in those right?" Rising Lotus nodded confidently at her idea, cocking her head a bit as she thought it through a bit more. "..Though they could probably still call for it's friends if the main part is still squirmin'. Only if the first part don't work then."

Altani got a rather dumb idea but she spoke up anyway "Could get a uh, cage split it in half stick on of you in one side and the spider thing in then other? Dunno how strong the cage would have to be though." Alt shrugged lightly glancing around the room "Dunno about the things calling for its friends though...suppose just have to be faster then them? Or could bring a carriage?"

Alexi was doing his best to follow along, just listening to what the others were proposing. "Hm... if you already have specimins, broken or not, why do you need another? How will it get us into their lair to free the others?"

"'Twoud be a swift operation, nary a Ilm for failure. It would serve well if both our 'bait' and our poacher be familiar with Coerthea's terran - Or, at the very least, capable of quickly traversing the snow." Mivo'to openly pondered, flickering his attention to Altani. "Aye, holding a party in reserve would be in good order - Provide a swift getaway, and ensure the path is clear." The Keeper agreed.

"Probably wonderin' how in the hells someone so gentle and well spoken ended up with me as a kid." N'yami sighed softly to more or less collect her thoughts. "But yea, I'm her daughter, but from what you and the Old man has said these things detect aether and they go for ones with large amounts of it. If I can get a decent sized one to come after me I should be able to lock it down."

Haila nodded towards N'yami, "Aye, that would be of great help." she said to her before turning over to Alexi. "Because I need a bigger one to test their abilities... And because I may be able to snatch more data from their creator from here already." she explained, clearly reluctant as she stepped forward and opened up her strange tome as she set it down in the middle of the room. Holograms and formulas coming to life as very blurry images started to project among a constant flickering. The images in question being brief sights of doors and tubes, yet their contents were too blurred to see, one would say it wasn't even enough to call it proof of their friend's whereabouts. "I managed to get this from the smaller ones, but I can't clear the images or any recordings yet... There's also unfinished words encrypted, but I need more data to decipher them."

Alexi stepped closer as the display lit up, resting his hands on the back of the sofa and leaning forward to try and see better. He breathed a sigh as it all seemed to sink in. "Apologies, this is all quite new to me... So, we don't even know where they've been taken, other than somewhere in Coerthus?"

As Aislinn watched the flickering images a furrow formed between her brows. She couldn't be sure of what it was she was looking at. "Are these...visual recordings from the bioweapons? ...spiders. Old footage of their return point?"

Rising Lotus watched all the information float around, eyes darting around from image to image but not really understanding much of it.

"I'd say recordings, or images exchanged with the other ones. But we might be able to see where they go if we snatch a more intact and bigger one. Their signal reaches so far that even from here I can catch small bits of it. But yes, all we know so far is that it's somewhere in Coerthas, and a tad deep into that land at that." Haila said.

Alexi takes another deep breath and lets it out slowly to try and calm himself. As much as he wished it wasn't so, this plan was their only chance. "Sorry to interupt. My worry seems to be getting the better of me. Please, continue."

Altani squinted at the floating images, not really being able to make much sense of any of it she simply listened along whatever it was from the sounds of it it was promising, trying to not let herself fall asleep as her exhaustion caught up with her

Mivo'to trailed his eyes through the rough visuals, lips parting in a silent murmur, seemingly in a deep reflection with himself as he made note of what he may - Which, admittedly, was hardly much.

Aislinn nodded. "Alright, so if I'm understanding this, we need another one of those bioweap...spiders in order to collect more data and pinpoint where our members were taken. Then, the plan is to send in a team made up of non-spell casters on a rescue mission?" she asked for clarification. Just to be sure she was following all of this. Admittedly, she hadn't been her best lately.

"You've all the right to feel like that. I just wish I had more answers for now. But the images I got are very little right now." Haila said, nodding once as she waved her hand at the images, some of the clearer ones coming into view. There was a clear vision of a snake in one, and another one showed wings, and then a random scalekin that you could find anywhere in the land. "Tis the plan I can offer, at least for now. Lest I choose a more reckless option."

Aislinn made a low, uneasy noise in the back of her throat. "Well, let's try not so reckless first."

"I doubt we are short of volunteers for our first undertaking...Tis only a matter of who we choose to send." Mivo'to said.

Rising Lotus looked to Aisllinn "An' like you said, we only got one uh...anti...magic...thing, that we can use. Shouldn't be too hard to choose the non-magic folks, it's jus' that one we need to be considerin' a bit more."

"It wouldn't hurt to have a backup group watching over those that go and try to bait too..." Haila added

"Of course, I volunteer. Aside from ammunition imbuement, I've little in the way of aetheric skills or magick." Alexi spoke up.

Aislinn looked over at Rising. "Aye. Just the one. And like anything having to do with aether, it comes with a price. Can't get something for nothing. In this case, it'll dampen a person's signature but in return casting anything is that much harder. Like wearing weights." she paused. "But if it's needed, we have it."

"So you or N'yami could do it then..." Haila said, trailing off.

"Makes sense...Jus' like usin' armor I guess." Rising turned her attention back to Haila. "I can help out too, I'm used to travelin' over there, an' I ain't ever really done much magic ever."

Mivo'to curled his digits across the hilt of his blade, a rhythmic 'slip' sounding as he idly removed and insert the blade from its sheath. "Should you be in need of a soul to physically render the target null, I would like to volunteer. Familiar enough with those snow-touched wastes to make a swift departure."

Haila glanced between the two new volunteers. "That would be good then.. I'll have a device ready to try and disable the spider, at least on a small scale. I doubt it is possible to down the whole horde unless it's a direct command from their creator." she sighed. "I wished I could be of help there, but all I can do is give the tools. Lest we give that mad man more reasons to toy with Heartwood." "Probably goes without sayin, but well I can help, figure I can just scout around or whatever's needed, done a few jobs in the area so I’m a little familiar." Altani said.

"You also were the last person that saw how far they've reached into the Shroud if I'm not wrong. Drawing a small map of the route G'lewra's group did could help, as well as noting down where any report of dead bodies has taken place." Haila noted as she nodded once more. "I won't accompany you, so I believe you all who wish to go should decide on the roles each one will play. All that I ask is that no one is reckless and to withdraw immediately if more than one spider shows up."

"We've a plan, and we have our players." Mivo'to said, a previously lost spark returning to their tone as they lifted their arms, a closed fist punching into an open palm. "Let's get our girls."

Haila couldn't help but smirk a bit. "Aye, time to get everyone back safe and sound."

Alexi grunted and gave a nod to Mivo'to, then looked around to the others. "Agreed. Our friends must come home."

Rising Lotus grinned at Mivo's enthusiasm. "Aye, we'll get them back in no time, an' squash any of them things that stand in our way!"

"But I do get the ok if a large group of those spider things come that I get to at least blow up a few, yea? Don't worry I'll make sure the large one stays safe." N'yami asked.

"As long as you don't let them overwhelm you. Or get anywhere close enough to shoot a stun bullet at you, I won't complain. A whole horde coming at you isn't pretty, and I wouldn't doubt that the man behind this would still go for someone with aether related to one of his captives."

"Might be smart to have someone high up watching over everything, so if a horde of em shows we know before theyre all over us." Altani said.

Aislinn gave a single nod of her head. She turned to pass N'yami a look over her shoulder. "Before you go, the prototype is on your mother's desk." her gaze faltered a moment. "Just... cuff it to your wrist. The stone will take care of the rest."

N'yami offered a small nod. "I'll be sure to grab it, if any of ya need me I'll be in my shop off in the Goblet."

"When do we leave? Tonight? First thing come morning?" Alexi asked, eager to get moving.

"I'd say first thing in the morning. Give Altani some time to rest at least." Haila said, nodding towards the half dozing Viera. "The quicker the better, but as always, don't rush in, that goes for everyone involved."

"Agreed." Aislinn added firmly.

"Plenty an hour for rest - With such an undertaking, I would do well we all approach as alert as we may be. Our present optimism can turn head in a mere moment." Mivo'to nodded.

Alexi gave a nod and a grunt. "Then I'll be staying here to be as prepared as I can be for the morning."

Haila nodded "There's a few guestrooms open, and more than enough supplies to stock up on before leaving."

"If no one has much to share, I'd say we're set for now. I may need to find an extra hand on Allagan work though if anyone has any good contacts to put to use..."

"I can take ya to the Old Man one of these suns, he's been workin' on one of those spiders as well and he's been researchin' allagan for gods knows how long." N'yami offered.

Haila Wetyios blinked in surprise. "Please do... Two or three heads are better than one, especially when this is getting more and more personal with each loss."

If Altani had much to say she wasnt going to be saying much as she slumped over on the couch a low snore could be heard as she dozed off.

"Pray, if I may trouble you for your notes later this evening, Lady Haila. I would much prefer to know the workings of a contraption I will be so 'intimately' close to." Mivo'to asked.

Haila nodded, "I'll be sure to pass them onto you as soon as I can."

Alexi huffed out a breath. "If that's it then, I'm going to retire for the evening. I'll be in one of the guest rooms if anyone wants to go over strategy."

Mivo'to nodded, adjusting his coat. "May Twelve grant you their blessing - Heavens know we will be needing it."

N'yami pushed herself off the wall and gave a small stretch. "I'm gonna head back to the Goblet, if any of ya need weapons to pierce through the metal those things are made of give me a call and I'll work on somethin' for ya."

Rising Lotus looked to be mulling something over during the tail end of their meeting, but seemed to shake off whatever she was thinking of. "Tomorrow then, spider catchin'. Spose I ought to make suer everything is in workin' order."

Alexi quirked a brow at N'yami. "Are their hides any tougher than Garlean steel? Because I have no problem with that."

N'yami grinned. "In my shop there is, ya wanna come to the shop? I got extra beds so ya can crash there if ya like and we can work on somethin' for ya."

As the others worked out the details of their plan of attack, Aislinn rose from her seat. They appeared to have it from here and she still wasn't 100%. She needed to find some rest. "Just...try to all come back in one piece. Aside from the obvious reasons, of not wanting to lose another person, the clinic is short-staffed." she said as she made her way out. "Be safe."

Mivo'to lifted the Panda of his shoulder by its scruff, setting it beside his boots. "Pray, should any update arise, reach for my shell - I shant be but a hour's travel away." He spoke, drifting from the study.

N'yami offered a small wave. "Take care and get some rest."

Alexi nodded to N'yami, the first hint of a smile cracking the corners of his mouth. "Sounds like a much better option. Lead the way."

Rising Lotus started her way off. "See ya'll tomorrow then, I'll should be up in time otherwise jus' come get me."

[braindamageforbeginners]

Cycle 5, Day 1

A friend recently asked me why I wasn’t writing a novel based on my experiences, and I could only say I didn’t really know how it would end. She pointed out that I was a reasonably imaginative person; but the reason why I’m writing this is because so much of what happens is beyond comprehension, let alone imagination, that just trying to imagine it would be disingenuous and/or a disservice to anyone else trying to figure out how to do it (in this case, it’s a couple of comments that I never would have expected myself to make; albeit in a “Good God, I never realized I was that witty” way). We’ll get there shortly. AUTHOR’S NOTE: I am presenting this particular reminiscence in the logical order, not the actual temporal order in which they occurred, because the way it actually happened is almost too chaotic for me to keep track of, let alone make fun (basically, I spent a lot of the day retracing steps because there was a hold-up getting lab results, and the chemo nurses and pharmacy don’t do anything without those labs).

The first day of every cycle is, scheduling and logistics-wise, a bit difficult (I’m refraining from using a certain synonym for “disaster” that involves four-letter words out of respect for some of my religious friends who may be reading), since everyone wants a piece of you, almost literally. I get blood-draws, a consult with one of the Warlocks (or their legal representative, as it were), and an infusion (which takes two hours in and of itself). Today was made a little harder because Senior Warlock is usually the one who oversees me, but he was out for the day, and he is old-school in a lot of ways (there was a line in the immortal neurosurgery memoir, “When the Air Hits Your Brain” that “the most incompetent bedside disaster [on behalf of a physician] is better-received than the most expert-managed care by phone”); definitely in that he wants to lay hands on me directly before clearing me for another round of chemo. Although I’d say that Junior Warlock is probably equal in terms of competence, he actually tends to read what various nurses, tests, PAS, etc. tell him before actually coming in the room. Which means there’s a lot of people who I see before Junior Warlock is ever on-scene, and there’s not a whole lot left for him to do/test by the time he arrives (unless something’s wrong), apart from a quick once-over. Don’t get me wrong, if there’s a problem or question or complaint, he’ll move on it, but if I’m just showing up to get medical clearance and everything’s going well, I only see him for ten minutes. Which is fine, but it’s kind of a let-down after 40-some minutes of assorted technical staff and assistants filter through to get a quick once-over for medical clearance.

At the joint blood-draw/IV installation, the nurse found my radial vein (that’s twice in a six-month period; that’s pretty good) on the first try. Which is great news for me; the farther from my shoulder and neck they go, the better time I seem to have the next day, side-effects-wise. I guess there’s a reason nurses don’t go for it more often, though: NURSE: I think I can get that vein, but are you sure? We’re going to rip out a lot of [arm] hair when we take the tape off, SELF (unexpected line #1): Given what I’m paying for this, I’d say that you guys can throw in a free Brazilian wax. I realize that cancer wards aren’t exactly comedy clubs, but I almost feel bad for making that poor woman laugh that much over a vaguely-dirty joke. Come on, cancer patients, I can not be the only one in there trying to use humor as a defense/coping mechanism. Then I got handed off to another nurse: OTHER NURSE: Is there anything I can get you? SELF: I always ask you guys for a steak and a carton of cigarettes, I’m already paying the price for that lifestyle, I might as well enjoy it. OTHER NURSE: I think we have juice and some crackers around here. I suppose that’s sort of like steak. SELF (unexpected line #2): Yeah, if you have never seen or heard of steak. Apart from that, the perfusion was unremarkable.

What is worth note is that, due to an odd schedule glitch, I didn’t have to be in the hospital until 12 pm, which enabled me to get a good nights’ sleep. Or it would’ve, if not for the nasty tendency of the sun in SoCal to come up at 4 am and start burning a hole through my eye sockets. I’m exaggerating that, but it’s kind of what it feels like, especially since I have have a weird, glitchy diurnal pattern thanks to the chemo. Also, getting injection that late means I might sleep through the worstest/weirdest side-effects, although I’ll be waking up tomorrow with Temodar in my veins (for those of you wondering, standard chemo for brain cancer comes in massive horse pills that you choke down ten minutes before bed, so you wake up all lemony-fresh and not severely-possibly-fatally hungover at all)(this effect gets worse as the week wears on, because you take Temodar for the first five nights of each treatment cycle).

Anyway, since I’m staying up a few extra hours tonight, let’s celebrate my almost-functioning brain by doing some math. Depending on whose data you use, brain tumors/cancer have an occurrence rate of 1-5 per one hundred thousand patients. We’ll use the upper-end of that (which, I think, is the CDC’s 2014 data), which, as a decimal, is 0.00005. Now, in the last few weeks, I’ve been contacted by a few folks with parents getting brain tumors/cancer (they weren’t always specific), and I know of at least another friend with a brain cancer-plagued mother. Including me, that’s four people I know of or have heard of. with brain cancer. I realize we’re jumping way over Dunbar’s number (the hypothetical upper limit of “maintainable relationships” - or, in practice, “people you know”), but rounding my social media friends up to 500 (the folks in question contacted me that way, but I have personally met all of them, so I figure the math might sort of even out) and assuming everyone has two parents gives me a rate of 4/1500, or, a brain cancer rate of 0.00267 in my immediate sphere of influence (I like to call it the Splash Zone, but that’s just me). That’s over 50 times the upper CDC estimates. Admittedly, this is all self-selecting, and I’m a statistical outlier already, but it does make me suspect that we’ve either been dramatically low-balling prior estimates of brain cancer, or there’s something new in the water (lead, if you live in Michigan). Or, as I suggested, the Baby Boomers are just getting into their carcinogenic prime; but it does offer a glimmer of hope (in a weird, almost-parasitic way, I’ll admit) that there’s going to be a massive influx of GBM patients. Which is good for current brain cancer patients (sort of), because it might mean more political and economic incentive to do something about this accursed disease. Certainly there’ll be enough patients to provide better statistical data than we’re seeing. Of course, that could just be the experimental chemo finally catching up to me.

[blackpjensen]

Top Technology Trends

Blueprints, mechanical time clocks, two-way radios and messy stacks of paper reports — these are just some of the exhibits one may find in the Green Industry History Museum if we constructed one. While it’s fun to reflect in jest, the technological landscape has changed rapidly over the past couple decades, and the alarming rate of technologies being swapped for newer counterparts seems to increase as time presses on. To run a successful company in the lawn and landscape industry requires being able to change over and over again. Legislation, technological advances, consumer behaviors and culture itself are shifting, progressing and refining every day. We must not only be OK with change, we must be excited about it. Our businesses depend on it. These shifts and developments are often met with new technological solutions to meet the demands. What worked just a year or two ago may be becoming obsolete, and it’s important to keep tabs on what leaders in our industry are finding to be the top technology trends to follow.

New trends

While individual technological advances may lead to an exhaustive list, industry experts and savvy company owners are seeing these main trends being adopted and used widely.

1. Virtual and interactive landscape design software.

The majority of landscape companies utilize some sort of drafting program to create scale landscape plans via a computer. While the blueprints of just 10 to 15 years ago have been traded in for newer technology producing full-color renderings and 3-D sketches, that common method is now becoming a passing trend.

Noah Nehlich, founder of Structure Studios, a professional pool and landscape design software solution, is excited about not what just the past two years have brought to the design world, he’s also enthusiastically embracing the very near future. His clients are not only using 3-D video for presentations, they’re moving to virtual reality (VR).

“Not only can the designer sell more with VR, customers are demanding it.” With VR sets becoming mainstream for recreational purposes, pioneers in the landscape industry are getting their prospects to strap on a headset and take a peek at their new outdoor space.

But Nehlich says an even more exciting future is not as far away as we may think. Virtual reality has led to rapid development to augmented reality (AR). “In the next 9-12 months, expect to see AR.” Using augmented reality takes elements from the real world and puts them directly into a phone or tablet. Looking through a device, a prospect will be able to turn and move about outdoors, virtually seeing a design in their own space as it existed in real life. “Today they are just novelty items, but by end of next year (2018) they will be incredibly useful.”

2. Automated marketing and sales software.

“I feel that we are ahead of our time compared to most of our competitors,” states Claude Kershner IV, president of Reef Tropical Pool & Landscape in Key Largo, Florida. The company offers not only a cutting-edge portfolio of high-end design projects but uses the latest technology to automate much of their sales and marketing processes.

“Customers want information now. They don’t want to wait or meet, they want descriptions, pictures, graphics, and have user-friendly proposals to sign and send back.” The increasing speed of buyer behaviors has led Reef Tropical to utilize an inbound marketing approach that uses their website to deliver a robust array of useful content to prospects and integrates with their CRM to continue to nurture lukewarm leads into closed deals. Kershner says that it allows his sales team to “step back and have opportunities to come to when the prospect is ready.”

Smart marketing and sales automation tools such as these help green industry companies prioritize their efforts and close a greater percentage of jobs.

3. Interconnected landscape business software.

Green industry companies who remain competitive in their markets, maximize the most profit, and minimize the most internal headaches are relying on software to help them run the many processes of their business from sales to operations to billing to financial reporting.

Crew leaders and technicians who use devices to video call their teams and access vital information in their companies’ databases are the present reality. They’re part of the present reality. Buddy DeLong, vice president of Bluegrass Landscaping & Maintenance in Bridgeton, Missouri, is continually finding new ways for technology to improve his business.

From mobile technology that instantly imports data into a united landscape business software program, DeLong keeps tabs on what is valuable to his business. “At the end of the year, you’re able to see how many hours were spent on each job, which ones weren’t estimated high enough, and which ones made us money.”

“We used to never know how much we used in materials and now finally we have exact figures on how much we used. Thanks to technology we saved a ton of money because we audit estimates and red flag certain quantity issues. Those kinds of errors mean a lot of time and money. The bigger you get, the more things you need to keep track of this stuff. Everyone sees the data coming out off the software.”

Using technology such as an integrated business software solution allows company owners like DeLong to make educated decisions versus relying on gut instincts.

Researching and adopting new technology

In the admirable pursuit of improving your company, it’s important not to hang your profit-generating hats on any one piece of technology. “We find people are buying software in hopes it will solve their process problems. It won’t fix it, they need to fix their processes first,” warns Ken Thomas from Envisor Consulting. Over the past 30 years in the green industry, Thomas has helped grow successful landscaping companies.

Thomas always puts process improvement before technology adoption, but he suggests green industry companies need to keep advancing. “In 10 years, we are going to be in a different world. Our industry needs to evolve because it will limit the size of their business if they don’t adopt technology.”

Our industry as a whole is categorized by outsiders as late adopters to many technological trends. However, times are changing. Nanette Seven, vice president of Include Software, which offers a landscape business software solution, is hopeful because of what she’s seen in the past couple years.

“With the millennials entering the workforce, the next generation is very open to new technology,” she says, adding that technology is even being easily adopted by Spanish-speaking H-2B workers in the industry at a surprising rate.

With so many new technological options, it’s important to research solutions extensively as you incorporate tools into your improved processes. “Do your homework and research” Seven adds. “Go online and research software and other technology.

Talk to industry peers, people you respect. Ask them what challenges they faced, and what has worked for them.”

When it comes to moving your company onward and upward, facing forward to the future is the key. Use your past experiences, but utilize new technology to move you past the age of blueprints and two-way radios. It takes some guts, but with the right resources, you can make more money, provide better services and stand out among your competitors. As Seven says, “You have some risk involved in adding technology to your company, but you have to be a forward thinker and take a chance to propel your business.”

The post Top Technology Trends appeared first on Turf.

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[amazingviralinfo]

Ashu Garg Crunch Network Contributor

Ashu Garg is a general partner at Foundation Capital.

How to join the network

This has been my Summer of Video several months when it became clear to me that weve reached an inflection point in the transition from linear TV to online video.

It started at the beginning of the season with the release ofThe Revolution Will Not Be Televised,which discussed the shift and how its transforming media and marketing. From studying these trends for the past five years, I understood intellectually that the video revolution was imminent. What I hadnt anticipated is that real-world events this summer would make a born-again believer out of me.

A few weeks later, I went to my first VidCon, the annual convention devoted to all things video. Of the 25,000 attendees, the majority were teenaged (and tweenaged) girls. They were there to see their favorite YouTubers video megastars like Nigahiga, Jenna Marbles, PewDiePie and countless other, um, names(?) that made me feel irreparably out of touch with pop culture.

There were panels by creators on VR storytelling, shooting drone footage and running a gaming channel. On the industry floor, large brands like Nestl and eBay gave presentations on how they were doing video marketing for todays consumers. It was an amazing experience like seeing the IRL instantiation of our whitepaper.

Then, for the rest of the summer, it seemed as though every time news broke, there was a video aspect to the story. A military coup in Turkey was thwarted in part because its president was able to rally his supporters via video sent from his iPhones native FaceTime app. Shootings and arrests were captured and shared instantly by private citizens on Facebook Live and Periscope. We witnessed the first widespread use case of AR, as millions of people around the world shambled along streets playing Pokmon Go.

On the business side, legacy media invested as never before in creating digital video and in video streaming. CNN launched CNN Air, its drone-video-newsgathering operation. Twitter made eyebrow-raising forays into live programming, inking deals with Bloomberg, Major League Baseballand the National Hockey League.

Meanwhile, Instagram decided that rather than beat Snapchat at video, it might as well join them. Netflix released its first piece of original VR content. Finally, as a too-perfect coda to this video summer, the last-known manufacturer of VCRs just ceasedproduction.

If youre an entrepreneur, you should be excited that the online video landscape is inchoate.

There have been a few moments in my life when it felt like the world was in the middle of installing an update; this is one of them.

Not to get too carried away, let me temper my enthusiasm by saying that the future hasnt arrived whole and in its shiny entirety. The innovations are out there in the real world, but these are still Wild West days for the new era of video, and realizing the transition wont be without its difficulties. But I believe if youre an entrepreneur, you should be excited that the online video landscape is inchoate, because that means there are enormous rewards awaiting anyone who can solve the challenges. Ill elaborate on a couple of areas of great opportunity

Content creation

One thing I took away from VidCon is that human needs and motivations are consistent across time the adolescent attendees werent so different from my peers when I was a youth. But the expression of those desires takes different forms in different generations. New media platforms are pervasive among the millennial generation and Gen Z. In her keynote presentation at the convention, Susan Wojcicki, YouTubes CEO, reported that more millennials watch YouTube during prime time than network broadcast TV. For Gen Zers who are growing up with Snapchat, Vine and Pokmon Go Im not sure it makes sense to say that traditional TV is dying, because I doubt its ever been a meaningful part of their lived experience.

Therefore, to start with, there are countless direct-to-consumer opportunities to innovate with content creation tools for these new media. Consider that only just this year have we seen (maybe) breakout tools for live streaming, in the form of Facebook Live and Snapchat Stories. Some early successes, like Vine, appear to be flailing.

Creators and audiences remain agnostic as to platform and application. They simply want frictionless means to create and view which is why YouTube rolled out new features in its app to make it effortless to go live. In other words, I dont think any tool has an insurmountable lead yet. And thats just live streaming a form of video that has analogs in old-school TV. When we turn to more novel forms of video content, like VR and AR, there are no household names in apps, even in the homes of Silicon Valley.

One marketer colleague thinks theres a need for a content production hub, one that allows people to make video and distribute it simultaneously across the various channels. Personally, Im skeptical. Past indicators are that no one-tool-fits-all model will do. You cant take video made for Snapchat and simply dub it for Periscope. Consumers demand authenticity, and that now means being true to the platform.

The most potent content is the kind that says something compelling and is a psychic echo of who its audience is or wants to be.

Even legacy media is abandoning its afterthought approach of either lazily dumping leftover TV scraps into digital, or halfheartedly cranking out B-side video. ABC, for example, recentlyannouncedit is producing dozens of digital shows that are viewable only via mobile or TV apps. Audiences wont sit for second-class content. They want video for Snapchat Stories, or Facebook Live, or VR that was specifically made, and appropriately well-made, for each particular platform.

Speaking of makers, video creators at least the more serious ones are a market waiting to be served. At VidCon we met many who made their living producing videos for YouTube and other platforms, and what they wanted was a) easy ways to create and share, b) to be paid for their work and c) to be treated like professionals with real jobs. Amazon.com is trying to address the monetization and professionalization issues with recently launched Amazon Direct. But theres little other innovation in the payment platform and creator services ecosystem.

Personalization and distribution

We wrote in The Revolution Will Not Be Televised that when CMOs achieve video nirvana, scalable personalized content will be ever present. Well, easier said than done. But within each piece of that prediction is a promising marketing tech opportunity.

Scalable. A particular challenge that marketers face is simply how to produce compelling video, and enough of it. Agencies are prohibitively expensive for most businesses, and too slow to respond to the social web. Native advertising looks far less promising than a few years ago, as its become clear that even the biggest players in the space, BuzzFeed and Vice being prime examples, are running into trouble trying to scale and Facebook continues to eat their lunch as content distributors. Taking it all in-house might be an option for the largest brands. But for SMBs, what are reasonable ways to staff up in order to be able to create myriad kinds of video for myriad platforms?

Personalized. Figuring out what kind of video content individual consumers should be served and when/where they should see the content is another opening for startups. Data has transformed the rest of modern marketing, and it will do so with video marketing. By collecting and analyzing data from mobile, payment systems, wearables and the Internet of Things, marketers will be able to build a 360-degree profile of particular consumers in order to educate their content and micro-target potential customers. Individuals will only see videos that are of interest to them, in the channels most appropriate for them. It shouldnt surprise anyone that the industry thats taken a lead on mining data to deliver (intimately) personalized video content is the online pornography business.

Contemporary audiences wont be dictated to by faceless institutions anymore.

Ever present. The new mechanisms for distributing video are also still being worked out. Ive already mentioned the scaling issues with media outlets. Blogs continue to have currency, but are not nearly as influential as a decade ago. So-called influencers have grown in importance as channels for content distribution but does a viable business model exist for harnessing the power of these disparate individuals who hold sway over millions of loyal followers? Perhaps its still the medium itself with a twist thats the message: Pokmon Go, case in point, recently launched in Japan with its first major sponsor, McDonalds. Or maybe theres a way to work with creator communities to make, test and distribute content via their channels. Theres a danger, however, that a brand working with a creator will erode the trust that their fans place in them, which brings me to my final observation.

A concluding word about authenticity

If I were to boil down to one key point all the developments Ive witnessed in video over the last few months, it would be that the power has shifted to consumers. Gone are the days when three TV networks dictated what everyone watched; when news anchors were the trusted authorities on whats happening in the public affairs; when slickly produced commercials were all you needed to sell your wares.

TV viewership is in steady and irreversible decline. The police-shooting videos were captured by ordinary citizens. The celebrity YouTubers who fans were screaming for at VidCon werent like the big record label-manufactured boy bands of the recent past. Susan Wojcicki shared a remarkable survey finding that 60 percent of teenagers say YouTube stars understand them better than their friends.

Contemporary audiences wont be dictated to by faceless institutions anymore. They only trust real people, and they insist that their content be authentic. Or at least that the content and its creator do a credible job of passing for real. Even global celebrities like Taylor Swift have had to manufacture verisimilitude, despite maybe being, in actuality, cold-blooded pop stars.

Nor are the most engaged consumers satisfied with passive entertainment. Amusement will always be welcome, but todays audiences also value media that allow them to connect and to have a say be that through chance meetings with other Pokmon catchers, finding a nurturing YouTube subculture of ones own or tweeting in solidarity with digitally enabled social justice movements. The most potent content is the kind that says something compelling and is a psychic echo of who its audience is or wants to be.

The people rule. The populi demands that the vox be theirs. And what that voice is calling for on many different levels, from viewing habits to voting preferences, from consumer behavior to civil disobedience is revolution. Entrepreneurs and marketers would do well to listen as well as watch.

[ralphmorgan-blog1]

30 Reasons To Leave Your Hometown Before You Turn 25

Hamza

Moving away from home in my early 20s has helped me become stronger, more aware, and most of all, more thankful. This article is intended to help illustrate how and why I think its a good idea to leave your hometown at a young age.

Ive made some pretty good decisions in my life. I can confidently admit that. Ive done a lot of things in my life that Im happy about. There are a lot of times I can reflect back on and genuinely be glad that I made a certain decision and it led me to where I am now.

For example, Im genuinely glad that I worked hard in school and that I was receptive to my parents when they were telling me education was important. Even though I didnt make straight As and often got into arguments with my parents about my grades (I thought a B was good enough), my good GPA allowed me to get into a good college and actually made me one of the first in my family to graduate with a four-year degree.

Along with that, Im happy about the college I chose and made the friends that I did. I dont know where I would be without a lot of the people in my life, and I owe a lot of that to my 4 years spent at Duquesne University.

However, up to this point, there is nothing I can be more thankful for than the fact that I moved 1,100 miles away right after college. This arguably has taught me more about life, myself, and others than anything else ever has. I wanted to share some of the things Ive learned along the way, which again is the intention of this article.

I am writing this with two people in mind.

Person 1

The person who is currently living in their hometown without a real reason to stay there. Maybe you have considered moving away from home before, but something keeps holding you back. Youre not sure what it is. Maybe its the fear of the unknown, maybe you dont want to be lonely, maybe youre trying to be smart with money (I get it), or maybe its just the simple fact that you like where you are and dont want to leave.

Person 2

The person who actually has moved from home, has had a great experience, and can relate to some of the incredible things that happen as a result of trying something new.

So, coming from somebody who was once Person 1 and now happily can consider himself in the Person 2 category, Ive come up with 30 reasons to illustrate why moving away from home was the best decision of my life to date.

(Disclaimer: Before 25 years old was not meant to be exact. This list is true for many other ages. The main overarching point is that moving somewhere new at a relatively young age is really helpful starting out.)

Here is the list, based on my personal experiences…

1. You will learn what it means to be truly independent.

You will learn what it takes to not rely on others for assistance with every little thing. Youll figure out what to do if your tire pops, when your air conditioner breaks, when you dont know what to cook for yourself without immediately relying on family and people you know. It feels good to figure things out on your own.

2. Conversations are easy and interesting.

People in your new city will find you interesting and ask about where youre from. Youll do the same for them and it will be fun to talk about similarities, differences, and past experiences.

3. You arent tied down with commitments.

If youre going to uproot your life and do something entirely different or risky, you might as well do it before having kids, a family, and multiple established reasons to stick around. When else will you get to do it?

4. You can start completely fresh.

If youre unhappy with your life at home, need a change, or made some mistakes, it can be hard to move forward. If you want to re-brand or re-invent yourself, moving away allows you to start over with a clean slate.

5. Drake was wrong new friends.

There is no such thing as not making new friends. Well there is, but its boring. There are plenty of ways to make new friends in a new city. After moving to Florida and seeing others do the same, I reflect back on how everybodys group of friends is now completely different from what it once was. And nobody has lost their original friends just gained new, great ones. Its always fun when your hometown friends come together with your new friends too, so it helps you look forward to those kinds of meetings as well. On top of that, I met a great girl who I likely wouldnt have met had I not come to Florida.

6. Networking opportunities effortlessly happen.

You will meet people that will change your life from a professional or personal standpoint. Ive met so many people in Florida that have helped me move up professionally as well as helped me develop spiritually. This will effortlessly happen when you move.

7. New skills that wouldnt happen otherwise.

Youll learn new skills by moving away from home. I got golf lessons in Florida, which is something I likely never would have done in my hometown. Also, I now know a ton about data analytics and all sorts of paid media, which may not have happened had I not made the leap.

8. You hear different perspectives.

Gaining new perspectives is a huge part of moving away from home. At home, you only know the perspective of people who had a very similar experience to yours. You all went to the same high school, knew the same people, went to the same places, and had the same favorite teams. You will meet people whose mindsets and backgrounds will inspire you and maybe even teach you something about yourself that you never unlocked before.

9. Different weather.

Moving from Pittsburgh to Tampa was shocking because I had never gotten so much Vitamin D in my life. Whether its moving from cloudy to sunny, rainy to dry, sunny to cold, you will find new weather which will lead to new things to do, and possibly even an appreciation for what you had experienced before.

10. Different things to do.

I used to always hang out with my same couple of friends, go to the same couple of bars, hang out at the same houses afterward, on the same days of the week, at the same times. And its always the same people at those bars, every time. I do such a variety of things now and its so much more interesting. Moving away from home may freak you out because your mind is trained that there are only a limited number of things to do. But when you leave, you realize that it is all dependent on your location, your friends, the weather, your job, and many other factors that will likely give you so many more options.

11. Your parents already did their part.

Not to be overly harsh, but if youre still living at your actual house, realize that your parents already did their job in raising you, and that you need to not only give yourself some freedom, but give them some as well. I understand easing into real life, but still living at home long after college is pretty drastic, even if it allows you to stack up money. Moving away from home will be good for you and your parents.

12. Learning to survive with insecurities.

There are times youll feel insecure. Walking into a social situation alone. Walking into a new job. Presenting at a business meeting to people older than you. Barely affording rent. Seeing people in better shape than you. But the beauty of it is that you learn to handle this and use it as motivation to get better. If you never experience being insecure and getting through it, youll have a harder time handling situations later in life.

13. Greater confidence.

From learning to deal with insecurities, you gain confidence. You start to realize after a while that youll get in a groove, start learning more, things will start clicking, and youll get better at things. You will have way more confidence knowing you made it there yourself. One day youll look around and realize wow, I have a nice place, a car I paid for by myself, and a whole group of friends in a new state. Its amazing to look back and realize how much youve grown.

14. You discover new interests.

You dont know what you dont know. Moving to a new place might introduce you to something you didnt know existed. I know people who have experienced moving away from home to different states and ended up going down paths they originally hadnt planned because they found something they were passionate about. Some are pursuing their dream jobs now. What is more fun than that?

15. You learn to trust yourself.

When youre in a new place, you often have no one else to rely on except yourself. Yes, there are people you can ask at work, you can phone a friend or family member at home, but sometimes you have to make big decisions on your own. One thing Ive learned is that I trust myself and my gut decisions more. That gut feeling is something I have a lot more faith in now and I usually know that the decision Im making will make sense.

16. Growing closer to your family.

I appreciate my family so much more when I look at my situation now and realize that I wouldnt have gotten here without them. They instilled me with a mindset that made me confident enough to move 1,100 miles away at age 22. They provided me with enough support to get me started. They helped get me through college. When you realize these things, and you dont see them as often, you make it a point to call them, see them, and get closer to them. It just happens.

17. Youll view your hometown more positively.

Sometimes I go over a year without going back home. But when I do go back home, I really appreciate the little things I thought were awful and boring before. For example, Florida (although beautiful) is very flat, and there are just palm trees and similar views everywhere. Now I go home and I really appreciate the basic things like the hills and different views I dont get here. My girlfriend, who grew up in Florida, has encouraged me to appreciate landscapes and views other than palm trees. When she came back to Pennsylvania with me for the first time, I was shocked as to why she thought it was all so beautiful, but now I understand. Its also nice to keep close with hometown friends and of course, family.

18. More career opportunities.

There are only so many jobs within reasonable traveling distance from you. Lets say you have a marketing degree and you live in a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. There may be 300 jobs available, with 45 of them being in your experience range, with the maximum salary being $45K for the ones you qualify for. You could move to a different city and there could be 800 jobs available, with 160 of them in your experience range, with the maximum pay being $70K for one you could actually get. You could just be missing out on potentially great career opportunities and more money just because of your location and unwillingness to leave.

19. You reflect more.

Moving away from home teaches you to reflect and be alone with your thoughts, in a positive way. When youre in your hometown and youre constantly surrounded by people you grew up with and family members, you may not get a lot of time alone. Especially at home when your parents are asking you questions left and right. When you move away, you can get a one bedroom place and literally be alone for an entire day if you choose to be. With distractions being everywhere these days, it can be comforting and helpful to just get away and reflect.

20. You learn to manage money.

You have to. Ive lived in one bedroom apartments most of my time in Tampa and believe me it gets expensive. New situations means more things you want to do/try, which means more spending. Not to mention Im a caffeine freak (but trying to get better) so I spend at least $3 per day. Anyway, you learn to manage your money. You even learn how to get in a little bit of debt then get out of it which is always fun.

21. You experience the feeling of accomplishment.

This is similar to number 13 (gaining confidence), but with a heavy focus on reflection. It is so nice to look back on your situation, where you came from, and realize how far youve gotten. After 4 years I finally feel established in a new city/state and it is an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment and thankfulness. You will also get new jobs, reach new milestones, and achieve different things.

22. Phones exist.

You can easily call people, see what people are up to on social media, and text. Snapchat is basically real-time. You literally can be 1,100 miles away and know exactly what happened all weekend in your hometown. More often than not, your weekend ends up being more interesting.

23. Traveling exists.

When you move, if you really miss home that bad, or youre just going through a time where you are extra lonely for whatever reason, you can travel. Its never impossible to see people after moving away from home. Depending on where you move to, long weekends can even make sense. Its important to make the most of a long weekend every once in a while. I know people in Florida who travel home for almost every long weekend when theres a holiday on a Monday or Friday.

24. Holidays become more exciting.

Naturally, as you get older, holidays just arent the same as they were when you were younger. However, when you move away to a different city or state, they do get a lot more exciting when you finally get the chance to come home. Holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter become times you look forward to more than ever before. They become reunions. They become so much more special because you havent seen people in so long. Similar to number 2 above, you have so much more to talk abut when you do go home.

25. You will inspire others.

One thing Ive found to be rewarding is that other people get inspired by your own experiences. Ive had friends move to Florida because of a visit with me. My brother saw me succeeding by moving away from home and ended up doing the same. I talk to people at home who say theyd love to try something new. Its good to set an example and inspire others.

26. You have the ultimate freedom.

I dont want to get this one confused with having personal independence. What I mean here is that you can make literally whatever decision you want. You can buy a car. You can get a dog. You can pursue a different field of work. You can make huge life decisions without dealing with the pressure of people around you. While typing this, I realized that a dog and a car were my two biggest purchases to date and Ive told my parents after the fact in both cases.

27. You can make huge mistakes.

Along with number 26, you can make massive mistakes and mess up your life temporarily. You can handle getting fired from a job, you can ruin a friendship, you can make a mistake in a social situation, or you can wreck your car. Making huge mistakes is fine because they will always work out and youll come out stronger on the other side. Moving away from home and having the ultimate freedom allows you to make bigger mistakes that allow you to learn bigger and more important lessons.

28. Feel comfortable making drastic changes.

You can shave your head. You can grow a long beard. You can start dressing a little differently. You can paint stripes on your car, or buy a car in a bright flashy color. You can start rooting for Florida State football (youre welcome Kelly). The point is moving from home allows you to feel comfortable reinventing yourself and just trying things out for fun. You may not even do anything drastic, but there is something cool about knowing you can, and you can feel comfortable. When less people know you, this is easier to do without feeling too weird.

29. Your comfort zone will limit you.

Comfort zones are nice to an extent, but they are restricting. If you train yourself to be too comfortable in your 20s, you may try to be too comfortable in your 30s. You might always lean towards whats easier for your entire life. The same way you make coffee or go for a run to set the tone early in the morning, set the tone early in your life by trying something new when youre young and hungry. That pattern just might follow you for your whole life.

30. Your faith will grow.

Ive naturally had faith in higher powers just from being raised in the church and reading the Bible. However, until you actually experience it in a real life way, you have no idea how much your faith can grow. After moving away, I had to figure a lot of things out, and HAD to have faith. Faith grows when you go through difficult experiences that challenge you. All in all, I would consider myself a work in progress from a spiritual standpoint, but after moving away I am exponentially more aware and more appreciative of Gods workings in my life.

30 things? Thats it?

I could keep going Im sure, but Im sure a small percentage of you even made it this far down the page. If you have, and youre somebody who is debating moving away from home for the first time, I hope this has helped you understand from an insider perspective that there are some great things in store for you if you take the leap.

For people who have already made a move, I hope you were able to relate to some of these points and I hope your experience has been as rewarding as mine. Feel free to comment with which ones in my list of 30 resonate the most with you, or if you have any others you would add about moving away from home.

If you dont fit into either one of these categories, maybe you know somebody who is struggling with the idea of moving away from home, or somebody who has done it recently and is having issues. Feel free to share this with them too!

More From this publisher : HERE

=> *********************************************** See Full Article Here: 30 Reasons To Leave Your Hometown Before You Turn 25 ************************************ =>

30 Reasons To Leave Your Hometown Before You Turn 25 was originally posted by A 18 MOA Top News from around

[symbianosgames]

The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.

Over the course of my senior year in college, I've been hard at work on a visual novel dubbed Streams of Nurture. As both a passion project and academic piece, Streams of Nurture represents an interesting case study for transforming one of my most ancient interests, food production, into an interactive affair that combines the dramatic qualities of an entertainment title with a real-world topic characteristic of serious games. In other words, I wanted to leverage the concept of "learning through play" to create a game that felt both purposeful and engrossing.

With my project officially submitted to the Worcester Polytechnic Institute database, I can now share with you the report detailing the development cycle for the visual novel. Throughout the coming weeks, I shall be publishing a subsection of the paper penned for Streams of Nurture. Each part will focus on a particular design and production aspect of the game, from the way the storytelling was conceived to the iterative art process that governed the title's presentation.

This week's post in a series of design articles explains the general production cycle of Streams of Nurture. If you're interested in reading about the pre-production, narrative and audiovisual phases for my visual novel, feel free to peruse the first, second and third articles I published on my title’s development process.

NOTE: I didn't single-handedly develop the game. Although I handled the narrative design, coding and writing for Streams of Nurture, my partners Liam Miller and Dave Allen were wholly responsible for the art and audio respectively. As such, the pronoun "we" will be used to acknowledge their invaluable contribution to this project.

Project schedule

In terms of scheduling, Streams of Nurture shares some similarities with other projects conducted within and beyond WPI’s game design major, while still embodying its fair share of quirks. On one hand, most of the visual novel’s major development milestones were set and achieved throughout three academic quarters. However, the individual parts that constitute it (story, art, sound, and playtesting) were not built concurrently. Instead, each of us worked full-time on the project without taking any classes across two different academic quarters to plug in the major pieces, with the first half of the spring semester being dedicated to the polish pass.

For the narrative, Michel spent the entirety of Fall 2016 organizing the documentation created for the game’s story and subsequently writing the basic dialog that expounded details about the aquacultural process. The lines Michel penned also contained figments of his personality in the characters that he would further flesh out in future quarters since he wished to get the practical details in first before finding ways to trim it and make the writing tighter and more coherent. In short, he adopted an iterative approach to storytelling so that the revisions to the dialog would not affect the overall structure and pacing of the narrative he wished to impart.

As for the art, the process of designing, developing and polishing was roughly planned to fit within each quarter the team was working on the project. Fall 2016 was when ideas were being formed and set in stone for the following semester to collect photographs, produce drawings, complete the style transfer processes per each image and drawing, then finally polish what was needed. Liam was not officially registered for the project until the end of 2016, but given the project being dependent on just two people (at the time), he felt the earlier the team began work, the better. The busiest quarters were those consisting of developing and implementing the art (late Fall 2016 and early Spring 2017), given the abundant number of scenes and characters. The workload proved more intensive than anticipated, and lasted well into Spring 2017.

Source control and backups

To ensure that the work updated properly across different devices and would not get lost to hard crashes and corrupt drives, the team made use of a cloud-based BitBucket repository, using SourceTree as a Windows client (see Figure 40).

Figure 40. SourceTree, the Windows client used to manage source control.

Original image by Michel Sabbagh

These tools allowed us to upload (“push”) and download (“pull”) changes to the visual novel’s script and assets, based on files stored in a BitBucket folder maintained on our PCs. As an additional precaution, the team and advisors regularly backed up the project folder on several flash drives kept in different locations to minimize the possibility of having our progress vaporized by a mangled repository.

Thankfully, the data for Streams of Nurture worked seamlessly with BitBucket and SourceTree, and we never encountered any issues that stalled development of our project.

Communication

Along with updating changes to the game’s script and audiovisual assets, the team also met at least twice a week throughout the 2016-17 academic year to report any progress with the art, writing and other design elements. Such meetings occurred between the students and advisors in the game design suite in Salisbury Labs on weekdays and solely among the developers at the Gordon Library on weekends.

During those gatherings, we brainstormed potential ideas for our game that could be incorporated further down the line, such as additional visual flourishes and subplots that would flesh out the characters even more (e.g. flashback sequences hinting at the protagonist’s hazy relationship with their dad). The team also relayed concerns about hitting particular milestones within the academic year, such as getting rid of all the placeholder art and polishing all of the character lines to make them sound more natural and dramatic.

Figure 41. Slack, the project management service used for team communications.

Original image by Michel Sabbagh

Outside of the aforementioned meetings, the team also made use of the chat service Slack (see Figure 41) to share updates and comments that would affect the final version of the game, such as last-minute changes to the art and additional information on the salmon industry. The channel we created for our purposes (VN_MQP) included several sub-sections: design, general, look-and-feel, meetings, random and audio. This allowed us to keep the chat box clean and relevant, which led to faster responses to questions about Streams of Nurture’s condition.

Skeleton

During the fall semester, the entire team focused on building the visual novel from the ground-up using the research and references we documented to get a solid sense of how the game would look, sound, and feel as the player progresses through it.

Given the sheer size and scope of the project, we knew that we had to undertake an iterative approach to the development of our title. This meant that we first had to create rough versions of the art and script before we could polish everything so that they matched the vision we laid out from the beginning.

So before we got started churning out the audiovisuals and written content for the title, Professors Moriarty and Sutter sat down with us to discuss the step-by-step process we would go through in terms of creating the basic structure and design for Streams of Nurture. This skeletal framework (see Figure 42), which served as the substrate upon which we would plug in more polished versions of the artworks and dialog, was comprised of placeholder assets and scripted scenes that made the visual novel entirely playable from start to finish.

Figure 42. The game’s skeletal framework, before and after polish.

Original photos by Michel Sabbagh

For the art, we made use of Photoshop to generate grayboxes that had the names of the asset and their (sub)directories explicitly baked onto them. These files would allow us to substitute finalized artworks for the blank images that initially corresponded to the background scenes in Streams of Nurture. This approach also applied to the characters themselves, who were depicted as front-/left-/right-facing black silhouettes standing in their respective onscreen positions.

Narrative-wise, the key was to incorporate as much relevant information about the different farming methods and techniques the player would be exploring (see Figure 43), as well as the various personalities inhabiting the game world. Macro and micro details about the aquacultural appliances such as the real-life Thermolicer and words denoting the kinds of emotions characters would feel rather than outright utter in the final game were par for the course in terms of producing functional dialog that advanced the plot, but had yet to possess more characteristic essence.

Having a skeleton from the outset proved most beneficial for future iterations of the game, as the team was able to make quick and effective modifications to the code without harming the visual novel’s overall story structure and artistic integrity.

  Figure 43. Expository scene explaining the use of fish feed pellets.

Original image by Liam Miller.

Polishing

During the holiday break, the team decided to proceed to the next stage in the development process: the polish pass. With the placeholders having served their purpose of getting the title to work from a technical perspective, the time came for us to bring the narrative and artistic components of Streams of Nurture up to a level that would make it attractive to the average player all across the board.

Figure 44. Daphne’s character in the game’s near-final iteration.

Original images by Liam Miller

In terms of dialog, the primary goal was to trim down any unnecessary lines and scenes that bogged down the pacing of the game and made the title feel bloated in parts. Not only that, but the team also wanted to alter the dialect for each of the characters so that they sounded more unique and convincing. Originally, their vernacular was too uniform and sophisticated for them to feel believable, instead sounding pretentious and unnatural. With the help of the character profiles, though, Michel was able to distinguish each individual from one another through their speech patterns and general demeanors (see Figure 44). The process of doing so took a little over two months to accomplish, and the result was a considerably leaner and meaner narrative that communicated information more concisely and, in some ways, wittily.

With the art, polishing backgrounds and characters came down to adjusting minor yet vital details about the subject matter of the scene, tending more specifically to what was being portrayed through the dialog, and of course cleaning up any abnormalities in the illustrations for the sake of achieving a more professional look. To elaborate upon this, any feature in the backgrounds that either did or did not belong in the scene was either added or removed. One mentionable polishing factor that came into play twice while working on the art were the tweaks and changes that Alter was making, which would often change their resolution output or manipulate their algorithms to fine-tune how style was transferred. These changes produced noticeable differences in stylized backgrounds before Alter updates and changes, making it mandatory to redo each of the images we had already finished. Other than that, cleaning a few drawings of character borders was one small yet vital part of the polishing process to produce the most appealing visual novel we could.

For sound and playtesting, Spring 2017 was when both components were being extensively worked on after several months of delay. Like the narrative and art, audio benefited from the same iterative process that defined much of the title’s development cycle. By adding and fine-tuning musical layers for the game’s main theme and sourcing references for the sound effects, Dave was able to put together a compact but potent soundscape that provided the right amount of atmosphere complementing the town of Duntale and its surroundings.

[embedded content]

And that's all she wrote (for Part IV, at least)! As I mentioned before, more parts will be posted on a weekly basis.

Let me know what you think of my article in the comments section, and feel free to ask me questions! I’ll do my best to get back to you as promptly as possible.

Personal blog: http://ift.tt/2jHSIDs

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Watfen64

LinkedIn: http://ift.tt/2iKYMac

Facebook: http://ift.tt/2jI2y8n

Email: michelsabbagh2003@msn.com

[tannertravelslife]

5 Things I love about Seoul

Im sitting here in the coffee shop letting my phone and computer charge surrounded by some sort of meerkat looking animal and I figured I would do a lazy checklist of the things Ive found to love about South Korea.

1. How safe I am

Before my trip there had been a lot of things in the news about the terrors of North Korea. I had people question why I would go to South Korea, and I even had someone tell me I should cancel my trip. Its fascinating how much western media influences peoples opinions about a place. I don't think I have ever felt more safe than I have felt here in South Korea. The police don't even carry guns for pete sake. I tried to find some data on how many violent crimes have been committed in Seoul in the past year, but all I could find was one that happened in Gangnam about 6 months ago. When I ask the Koreans I have met if they are scared of North Korea, they tell me that there is nothing to worry about. The boarder of north and south Korea is called the DMZ and it is a tourist attraction, just like some of the palaces and everything else in Seoul.

2. The nightlife

Korean bars don't really close, drinks are cheap, and you don't tip. This combination of things makes for a fun night. Hungrypartier.com, a website literally about a guy who travels the world partying (what a job) says “Seriously guys, I’ve partied in over 70 countries and 150 cities, and nothing comes even close to the insanity levels of Seoul.  I’ve been to almost every club in Las Vegas, and the insane clubs of Barcelona, Stockholm, Berlin, and Bangkok. They have nothing compared to Seoul.  You must come here to experience it for yourself.” I haven't partied as much as this guy, but I can agree that it is an insane experience. Start at the park in Hongdae with a bottle of Soju ( weak flavored vodka that costs 1.50 USD a bottle) and see where the night takes you.

3. JJimjilbangs

The Jimmjilbang or Korean bath house is in a close relationship with the night life. These palaces are open 24 hours a day and are like huge spas. You pay an entrance fee of around 10-12 U.S dollars and this allows you access to multiple floors of different amenities. When you check in, they give you a set of pajamas that you can wear around everywhere besides the baths ( which are separated by gender) When heading to the baths, you strip down to your birthday suit. Its basically like a giant boys locker room with different hot tubs.  Some of my favorite baths were the Mud bath and the Jade bath. Also in the basement are some unique saunas, such as the salt sauna. For about 15 USD you can receive  a Korean skin scrub in which a worker will attack you with sandpaper for about 30 minutes and get all of the dead skin off of every inch of your body. I have never felt so clean in my life after receiving one of these skin scrubs. Once finished in the baths, you can throw on your pajamas and head upstairs to many different relaxing saunas, a restaurant, lounging area, and sleeping area. It doesn't cost anymore to spend the night at the Jimmjilbang, so perfect end to a long night out.

4. Animal Cafes 

Probably one of the stranger but equally great things about Seoul is their love of combining coffee shops with interesting animals. During my time here I went to a cat cafe, a raccoon cafe, and meerkat cafe. You pay an entrance fee into the cafe which includes a free drink of your choice, once in it is just like a normal coffee shop, but with furry little creatures running around! What could be more relaxing than this meerkat that’s sitting on my lap while I type ? 

5. Family style eating

In Korea, its uncommon for people to eat alone. Most restaraunts meals come in platters that can be shared between 2-4 people. Its also very common to cook your own food here. Once you are seated, your server will turn on whatever style of grill you are using that is located in the middle of the table, after ordering they will bring out numerous side dishes and whatever choice of fish, meat, or vegetables you have ordered. Kimchi is always present on the table. This allows the meal to go at its own pace, and it makes a lot more sense. 

Thats all I’ve got, headed to Malaysia tomorrow !