Conceptually Hitchcockian film in that the spectator knows more details of the characters on stage.
Dark comedy that plays a lot on dialogues creating black humor situations.
The couple Cristina and Jesus begin the film while they argue over the purchase of a coffee table which will be key to the turning point of the film, here the different characters of the couple are outlined with a fun dynamic.
The death of his son, which Jesus will then have to hide from his wife, creating black comedy situations with references, teasing about the broken table and the subsequent arrival of the relatives.
The scene of the son's death is well handled, it is out of shot, there is slow camera movement and you can hear the crash of the table.
Casas' direction often opts for the destabilizing hand-held camera and often tries to frame Jesus' reactions, his turning pale in the face of his speeches, his wife's jokes and therefore his internal confusion.
At times it may perhaps be a little too verbose but it is a black comedy that knows how to do its thing by playing with Hitchcockian suspense.

I am an HSP and my sister is not. I think I might be autistic as well, my sister is not. She has a really shitty job where she's posing as a teacher, but she's actually just a bouncer expected to keep 30 middle schoolers from killing each other for 7 hours a day 5 days a week. I'm fully aware that her life sucks right now and that she's hella depressed and she's not having a good time. That's not new. What is new is the boyfriend that she's had for a few months now. I'll call him L. I didn't love L at first, I just thought he was kind of a bad influence, but in the time they've dated, L has had a couple of serious freakouts. When they were freshly seeing each other and not even exclusive, he got really mad at my sister for still having tinder on her phone. I don't believe anything she says to me anymore, so she could have been using it for nefarious purposes, but I don't think she was considering she's so far up his ass she can see out of his mouth. I really didn't trust him after that, but I hung out with him to humor my sister, since she literally would not hang out with me unless she could have him there. It was fine until a few weeks ago, when my sister walked into she and L's house in a crop top and he instantly started griping about it, to which I said "so everyone at the beach should be arrested then, yeah" and gave him a funny look, and he went fucking ballistic. Ended up kicking me out of his house without letting me say anything to defend myself or apologize, and then he hurled insults at me until I was out the door. She moves in, I'm banned from her house, and I'm concerned what that means for my sister and I's relationship, but my sister actually got mad at me for being concerned because "it didn't have anything to do with me". Fast forward to Mother's day and yesterday: she invites him to family dinner without telling me, whatever, I don't care. But she asks during dinner if she can have a copy of my parents camping schedule to know when they're gone, and I started panicking because I was like "she's going to bring him here to live it up in my space because they're not going to be here to say no" because she does not show up for me if she can't involve him. She hasn't done it in months. So I said "please don't bring him here to corner me while I'm here by myself over the summer. You don't live here anymore so please be mindful of those who still do" and somehow she took it as me saying she was a bitch for bringing him on mother's day. Instead of talking to me about all of this herself, she fucking gave L my number so he could spam text me hate messages until I blocked him. I'm just left here wondering what the hell I did and why she's acting like this. She's lying to me, all last week she said she would be home Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, then Friday I didn't even get a text saying she wouldn't be there, I was just left waiting for her to show up until fucking 8pm. Then she decided that I'm the despicable one who has been hurting her all this time. I don't even know what I'm looking for, I think I'm just at a loss and want to get this off my chest. Literally all I've ever asked for is some adult fucking communication. Letting me know you're not going to be here before our plans are literally fucking over. Telling me when you're bringing your boyfriend over to my space. ACTUALLY TALKING TO ME WHEN YOU HAVE AN ISSUE INSTEAD OF GETTING SOMEONE ELSE TO FUCKING DO IT. I don't know. I know she's being a coward and a child. I just want it to stop.

Hey I just had to get wheeled out of my high school earlier today from how bad my cramps were. I had such bad cramps that I was sweating and turning white, my teeth were chattering and I couldn’t take it anymore so I raised my hand and blurted if anyone had any Advil I needed it right now because I was in so much pain I couldn’t see and was about to pass out. My teacher calmly called the nurse and no one had any Advil, so I called my mom in a panic because she needed to come pick me up right away, I was in so much pain at this point that I couldn’t feel my arms and legs and it was hard to talk, like physically I was slurring my speech. My friend had to help me drink water because my hands started locking from pain, I started to not be able to feel them like pins and needles and then they curled into a claw form and locked, couldn’t feel or move them. I couldn’t move my hands or use them and I couldn’t feel my legs and I COULDNT FUCKING TALK. So they took me out in a wheelchair to the nurse to wait for my mom and they were so rude at the nurses office btw, and then I got wheeled out and sent home. We almost had to go to the hospital bc we thought I was having a weird seizure or something bc I still couldn’t move my hands or wrists and I was slurring my speech. But i have had this happen before without the hands and speech issues? The pain was blinding but that’s the “normal” part, zofran helped the nausea too, but Jesus Christ this scared the shit outta me. I want to know if you guys have similar experiences. Thanks

My adhd 10 year-old is being bullied at school, how do I help him to stand up for himself? School work is good, he's on track but he struggles with memory, processing speed and his speech can be a little slow (I think his brain has so much going on, but it doesn't come out at rhe same speed). His teacher has helped him get through the latest round and addressed it with the kid in class (awesome teacher). But how do I help him to learn how to stand up for himself? He's very emotional and easily the smallest kid in class. How do I help him to learn some resilience and survive these school years?

Hello everyone. I hope it is alright that I post here as a parent. I often read and lurk here in an effort to try and learn more about my daughter and how she may be feeling, however I try not to post or comment to respect your space.
My daughter (6) is level 3. She is minimally verbal (kind of like the level of a young toddler, though making great progress every day), uses an AAC (mostly for requests), not potty trained at the moment. She’s a big sensory seeker (proprioceptive and vestibular), and can have some pretty explosive meltdowns when she’s not well regulated and/or upset and frustrated. She’s very silly and active and smart, loves to be outside and play with us and her grandparents and her dog and family friends. She’s the sweetest kid ever.
About 3-4 weeks ago, she refused a new diaper after being changed. This happens sometimes when she’s agitated so we didn’t force the issue and said no worries, just let us know when you’re ready. She continued to refuse her diaper for the remainder of the day, and has not worn once since. Problem being—she was/is not potty trained or really developmentally ready for it (I think her interception is not quite ready).
We offered her undies, have been having her sit on the potty a ton (which she has grown comfortable with since we bought her a special seat and let her watch the iPad while she’s on it). I also put some of her favorite sensory items in the bathroom too. She will go sometimes, but only pee and only like once a day.
Anyway—since that day, she refused diapers or underwear, any and all clothing (normally we don’t make her wear clothes at home, only outside of the house), or to even leave the house in the car. So we we’ve pretty much all been trapped inside, and unable to go anywhere, since she’s fully naked and mostly peeing/pooping around the house while we clean up after her and try to encourage her to use the potty as much as she reasonably can without making her anxious.
So she’s missed like 3 weeks of kindergarten (which she always seemed to love and enjoy and was doing really well), and speech therapy (which she also loved because they had a big play gym). Luckily her OT already came to the house so she still comes to play.
We’ve been working nonstop to try and make sure her sensory needs are being met. We made sure she wasn’t sick and didn’t have an infection. We tried other fits and brands of diapers, undies with her favorite colors and characters and different fabrics, and every form of bribery on the planet. She loves milkshakes, cake pops, the beach, target, visiting her grandparents, the trampoline park, aquarium, zoo, etc. And despite offering all of these things if she will leave the house in clothes, she will not budge.
The only thing that has helped so far is that I bought zip up dresses that are normally swim covers, and she is okay wearing those to play in the yard or go on walks (but still no diaper or undies). I think the clothes over her head and ankles were agitating her. I bought like 8 of these covers and keep one in the car, on hooks by the doors, etc so we are ready whenever she wants to go out.
We started seeing a pediatric psychiatrist on (he sees us on zoom since we can’t leave the house) who has been really helpful. I told him this seems like anxiety and autistic burnout (idk if that’s the right term?), and he agreed. We had been talking about medication anyway for aggression (she’s hurt me pretty bad a few times on accident when angry). He prescribed something to help with anxiety and meltdowns, and it seems to be helping. It’s only been a week, but she’s sleeping better at night and happy during the day. No meltdowns or tantrums, and doesn’t appear to have any bad side effects. But she still won’t get dressed to go in the car anywhere.
I feel so bad because she can’t explain why and despite trying every way I can think of, I can’t figure out what it is. We are trying to keep demands low at home and not force her. Everyone, including teachers and therapists, have all been really supportive and agree nobody should force her, and they all FaceTime her during the week to say hi and tell her they miss her.
Has anyone here experienced this? Or can you offer insight? I really want to help her. And I know it’s not about us (the parents), but I’m just so exhausted and stressed out and sad.

Welcome to this fantastical magical world, home of the "Kin". This world is home to the physical strong stone-kin and their deep mine homes, the dexterous wood-kin with their aptitude for nature magic, the sea-kin living deep in the oceans, the soul-kin in their floating cities of magic wonder and gemstone, and many more. While the kin live in their cities protected by magic and bastions, the wilds are home to the "monstrosities", strong beasts with magic resistance and thick hides.
Many legends and stories are told about the kin and their exploits but none more so than the story of the soul-kin hero soul bound to a being called sun god kuh. So gather round and listen up as I tell you the truth of this mythical warrior and his humbling beginnings...
The Hero's Journey by Grand Historian Nalomel Amazonik 122 a.C.
"Congratulations! Dear students, as headmaster of the Amethyst Academy of Magics, I applaud you for passing the theoretical entry exam. Now a life of growth and mastery is lying before you, but now as tradition demands the word is given to the top scorer of the exam. Student Mor Agaton please join me on the stage!"
As the headmaster in his splendid robes of purple takes a step aside he is joined by an uncomfortable-looking scrawny boy. Mor is trying to take deep slow breaths to not faint or worse puke with all the attention of the new students, teachers, and the headmaster resting on him.
As Mor nervously stutters at the beginning of his speech, he instantly flinches in surprise as subtle magic circles amplify his voice.
"T...t..tt... thanks... h..headmaster" Trying to get rid of his stutter Mor takes a deep breath "I´mreallygratefullforthisopportunityandhopeallstudentswillenjoytheirtime"
A cough from the grandmaster luckily brings the wordflood to a hold and an encouraging nod lets Mor compose himself and start over.
"To all students, I´m honored to stay on this stage as your representative. My dream always was to join this academy like my parents did before me and while this is a place of learning and growth I hope to find comrades and friends within all of you. Because my status as the son of an officer is below many of you who are nobles I wanted to refuse this honor, but the headmaster insisted on this tradition and the following aptitude test. So while I wanted to give the honor of first student to someone of a more prestigious family, it was denied."
At this point, the headmaster takes a step forward and takes over the speech
"As this has gone on long enough, I will now test all your aptitudes starting with Mr. Agaton here."
And while this statement resulted in a lot of exciting murmuring someone with keen hearing might have heard a few dissident voices in the crowd.
"Mr. Agaton please place your hands on this cristal ball and let your magic flow" The headmaster produced a crystal sphere about 30 cm in diameter and held it out for Mor, who slowly put his hands on it and while taking deep breaths concentrated on making his innate magic flow. The crystal sphere slowly gains a subtle purple-blue hue and lazy energy impulses flow within. This lets the headmaster frown and look with a bit of pity on Mor. Finally, he clears his throat and speaks, as Mor opens his eyes in expectation. In a voice devoid of reproach or approval he simply states.
"Mr. Agaton your aptitude for specialised magic is none, you have no affinity other than basic magic energy. But don´t let this discourage you, you can still become a great wizard."
The second sentence was nothing more than a platitude. It is common knowledge, that without specialized affinity the magic of the higher circles is outside of reach and while everyone else was taking the aptitude test, Mor silently walked back off the stage, to the end of the gathered students lamenting his lot all the way. Finally, as all tests were concluded, he was the only one without any specialized affinity and now his first place on the theoretical tests, his low status, and his weak magic instantly made him an outcast among his peers.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
This just bounced around in my head for a long time, hope someone might like it. ^^

(I am writing "Nigeria", but Trey and Matt will change that to a fictional country name like Scameria)
Opening: The South Park kids are in school. Their teacher announces that in conjunction with this week's lesson focus on Nigeria, they will watch live footage of a royal tour taking place there. A huge TV is wheeled into the classroom and switched on. Closeup of Meghan grinning like mad as she swans into the Nigerian school in her backless flesh-colored dress and huge African necklace.
Kyle screams, "Noooooo! Not the dumb prince and his stupid wife AGAIN!"
Stan gasps, "Hey Kyle, is she naked??!"
Meghan gives a speech to the Nigerian children in their classroom. It is one long festival of word salad and concludes, "So, in closing, let me just say that I see myself in all of you. If you are authentic and organic, you can grow up to be just like me."
One Nigerian girl whispers to another, "Does she mean we won't be wearing clothes?"
Meghan leaves the school, and walks down the path in front shaking hands with the female staff, all of whom are wearing modest dress, head wraps, and disapproving expressions. She encounters a little girl in a white dress carrying an armful of red roses, who is being shoved toward her by a staff member. Meghan drops to her knees and bear-hugs the little girl while grinning over her shoulder toward TV cameras. When she stands up, the squashed red roses have left perfect round nipple-like stains on her flesh-colored bodice.
Three teenage male students in the background smirk appreciatively. Meghan, unaware of the stains, bats her eyes at them.
Back at South Park, the teacher jumps in front of the TV. "We'll take a break now!"
At lunch, the kids discuss the royal visit. Kyle says, "Why is she even there? She's not the princess of anything anymore. She says she's 42.35637 percent Nigerian, but she doesn't look anything like those people. And why is she hardly wearing any clothes?" Stan rolls his eyes and says, "Stop whining, Kyle. Just be happy they're not living across the street from you anymore."
The kids are back in the classroom watching more footage of the visit. Meghan is wearing a long yellow gown with a big sash across it that says "BUY ARO JAM". Three kings in Nigerian tribal dress come in, kneel in front of her, and present her with a large nude gold statue of Harry holding a purse, a smoking incense burner, and a box marked "MYRRH".
"Why are you here?" asks Meghan.
"We have seen your star in the East," replies one. The camera pans to the sky, where a large golden dollar sign is shining radiantly like the sun.
Another king unrolls a scroll and reads from it. "We hereby proclaim you Princess Ahmamazing Emu of Gonnachokeyou!"
The third king whips out a laptop and hands it to Meghan. "Here, this is for you to write your emails about unfreezing your bank accounts. Remember, we get a 20% cut of the profits."
Come on, Trey and Matt! I know you'll have us in stitches again!

The chapter starts with Todo and Yuji jumping Sukuna. They both land a couple of black flashes. Garuda is revealed to act as Todo's lost arm underneath the bandages, allowing him to use Boogie Woogie fully.
This goes on for a bit until Sukuna is once again pushed into a corner, however, this is when he uses RCT to heal his CT burnout, however, he uses Megumi to take the bulk of the damage taken by this procedure. Sukuna then uses a surprise attack to kill Todo.
This leads to Yuji's final awakening. Gojo, Nanami, Nobara, Junpei, Higuruma, Choso, and now Todo, they are all dead. Yuji, no longer having anybody (alive) whom he cares about, finally breaks, he has failed to protect his friends, his mentor, and his teacher, breaks. However, he doesn't give up like Megumi. No longer having any attachment to the world. Itadori Yuji finally embraces the emotion that embodies Jujutsu, selfishness. Yuji no longer cares about righteousness, ending evil, or saving the world. He is focused on one thing, killing Sukuna. To him, Sukuna is the same as Mahito, and he recalls his "I'm you" speech. He finally accepts and acts on what he said to Mahito back in Shibuya.
Having finally awakened 100% of his innate potential, Itadori Yuji finally awakens. The chapter ends as Yuji and Sukuna square up and get ready to fight, and for the first time since the Heian Era, Ryomen Sukuna has finally been eclipsed as the pinnacle of Jujutsu.

Synopsis:
Carlos was an ordinary software engineer on Earth, up until he died and found himself in a fantasy world of dungeons, magic, and adventure. This new world offers many fascinating possibilities, but it's unfortunate that the skills he spent much of his life developing will be useless because they don't have computers.
Wait, why does this spell incantation read like a computer program's source code? Magic is programming?
___
Here we go with book 2!
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Carlos lounged comfortably on one of the mayor's fancy sofas. At 23 years old with a healthy body he really didn't need cushioned upholstery, but he liked how it felt. Honestly, he was probably more comfortable with high quality furniture than someone of his relatively low-income background should be in this world. Spoiled by the mass production factories of modern Earth, I suppose. All of this stuff here is probably handmade. Er, make that definitely handmade. Unless they have magic factories I haven't heard about, or something. He mentally shrugged. There was no point trying to change his attitudes toward furniture now. While this world might have higher prices for a lot of things than he was used to, he was also a lot richer than he was used to thanks to having become a noble lord. People would expect him to treat fine furniture as cheap because of his station.
I might have the physical habits of a couch potato, but at least I don't look like one. Too skinny. Not as skinny as Amber, though. He smiled as he watched the young woman next to him on the sofa continue animatedly expounding on their recent adventures together. She was lanky, with few curves to speak of and spindly limbs, far from any conventional picture of feminine beauty. Her hair, a slightly lighter shade of brown than his own, was cropped short. He thought she was 18 or 19 years old, but wasn't sure. Have I really never asked her age before? ... Would that be a rude question here? Regardless of her age, she had grown her confidence a lot since their first meeting a few weeks ago. She'd found her footing in a new life that she'd seized with utter determination, and he saw no sign of the shyness that she'd first greeted him with. The way her potential was finally blooming was beautiful to watch.
Carlos turned his gaze to the sofa across from them and carefully held back from laughing at the expressions Trinlen was making as Amber wrapped up explaining the events and developments they'd gone through since their introduction to him at the Royal Mage Academy. Carlos had contributed a fair amount to the explanation at first, but Amber had taken to it with enthusiasm when she arrived, and he could tell she was enjoying it. The young man in front of them, newly graduated from said academy, was on the edge of his seat and leaning forward, hanging attentively on every word. His casual attire, plain and made of cheap materials, looked thoroughly out of place on the finely embroidered velvet of the sofa, but he'd shown no sign of even noticing the finery around him. Excitement warred for control of his face with surprise, disbelief, envy, and dismay.
Amber finished her impromptu monologue, and Trinlen slowly schooled his face into a neutral expression. His voice was tense and tightly controlled. "So... In short, you're telling me that in the mere two weeks since you met me, you discovered a mana-poaching conspiracy of nobles, were abducted right under the noses of two royal guards without them even noticing, absorbed mana so fast that you gained 6 levels in a day and a half - so unfair, by the way - somehow learned an obscure portal spell from just its name and description, found evidence of a conspiracy against the Crown, and personally met a princess." He paused, then threw his hands up as he wailed in frustration and disappointment. "And I missed it!?"
Carlos threw back his head and burst out laughing. He couldn't help it. Trinlen just sounded so much like a little kid who'd barely missed out on a candy store giving away its entire stock for free. It was such an incredible light-hearted contrast with how everyone else viewed these same events that the sheer ridiculousness of it was overwhelming. Amber joined the laughter a moment later, shaking her head in amused disbelief, and after a few more seconds Trinlen started chuckling too.
Carlos's laughter eventually trailed off, and he took a deep breath to settle down. "Thanks, Trinlen. It's been a very stressful two weeks, and laughing like that helped release a lot of it. Feels good. Anyway, what have you been up to? I thought you would take a whole month to graduate?"
"Technically I only said 'next month', not that it would be at the same point in the month. But yes, this is earlier than I expected. The normal graduation ceremony is still a week and a half away." Trinlen shrugged. "They didn't explain the reasons, but after what you said I'm guessing your meeting with the princess prompted her to do something. The vice headmaster called me to his office yesterday morning, a few teachers grilled me on my classwork, and they declared I'd passed my exams. Then they told me to pack because I'd be teleported to my new employers the next day, and here I am." He sighed. "Hmph. Now I won't get to humiliate Norla in front of the whole academy when she gives her speech." Then he perked up and grinned widely. "But it sounds like you two are going to be so much fun that I'll get over it in no time!"
"I'm not sure if I agree with your idea of fun, Trinlen, but if it motivates you to help us more then that's good enough for me." Carlos chuckled again. "Anyway, do you need some time to get settled in? You might need to think about lesson plans for us too. We don't need just catalogues of incantations to learn anymore, at least not for simple ones, but I believe you learned other things in the academy too. You mentioned creating your own spells, as I recall."
Trinlen nodded. "I did mention that, yes. I'm guessing your lack of need for a catalogue is because of your newfound ability to somehow pull entire incantations from thin air? You'll have to at least tell me about the limitations of that so I'll know what I still need to teach you, but yeah, there are other things. For one thing, there's your sloppy terminology! Why does no one outside of the academy care about properly distinguishing between the states of mana? Is it really that hard to understand that calling aether, mana, and essence all by the same term obscures your meaning and often causes confusion? Or are people so stupid that they can't even understand the difference?"
Carlos blinked and exchanged a look with Amber. His comprehension aid informed him about the distinction the instant Trinlen spoke the terms. That would have been nice to know earlier. The comprehension aid is a house secret, so we should let him explain. "At least for us, it's just ignorance. I don't think I've even heard the other two terms you mentioned, and certainly no one ever explained them. So, what is the difference?"
Trinlen paused, cocked his head for a moment, and slowly deflated after his impassioned rant. "Yeah, okay, that's fair. I don't think I ever heard about it before going to the academy either." He sat up straight. "Aether is what you've been calling ambient mana. It's thin like air, and it's everywhere. Its only use is converting it to mana or essence. Mana, using the term with proper precision, is thicker but still fluid like water. It exists primarily in people or creatures and is used as fuel to supply power for spells and magical effects. Essence is hard and solid. It is the material that soul structures are made of, as well as the forms of active spells and enchantments. Am I clear so far?"
Amber answered first. "Yes, I'm familiar with each of the forms you described. I have questions about more details - so many questions - but you should get properly settled in, and maybe eat lunch, before we really get down to it. Have you spoken with Mayor Stelras yet? Do you have lodging sorted out?"
"I went by his office first. He's having someone take my luggage to an inn. The Adventurer's Haven, I think? He said something about a 'low-value target' and having an empty suite already booked." Trinlen's eyes widened. "Waaait a minute. Is he putting me in the room you two were abducted from?"
Carlos shrugged. "Sounds like it."
"Nice! Think there'll be any evidence left of how it was done?"
"Haha! Probably not by this point, but you're welcome to look. Now go get unpacked, eat a meal, and start planning your lessons for us. I'm glad you're here, but we have some other things to do too."
Trinlen nodded and stood up. "Sure. I'll be back before you miss me."
Carlos waved as Trinlen sauntered out the door. He and Amber sat in companionable silence for a while as he felt the mana - or essence? - of Trinlen's soul moving off into the distance. "Well. That was interesting. It's good to have him, but I was expecting a bit more time to think and plan before he'd get here."
"Yeah." Amber stretched and then leaned back into the sofa's cushions, luxuriating in their soft firmness. "So, how much are we going to tell him? How useful will his knowledge even be for us, now that we have, what did you call it, the reference documentation? That bit about the states of mana is good to know, but is it really relevant and important, and how much more can there be that's not in the documentation?"
"Be careful talking about that out loud, remember?" Carlos relaxed and draped his arms across the sofa's back as he focused his mind on their mental bond through Purple, their friendly dungeon core. [On Earth, we made many languages similar to the language of incantations, and we had the reference documentation for all of them. We even published that documentation free for everyone to have. Teachers for those languages were still useful, and even critically important for many people. Having access to knowledge doesn't mean you automatically understand how to properly apply it. There may be related knowledge we have no idea even exists. There could be techniques and patterns for how to use the language that are simply outside the scope of the documentation. Perhaps most importantly, a teacher can use their experience to notice a student's mistakes and correct them before they become problems.]
[Hmm.] Amber bit her lip, thinking. [Like how I knew about making soul structures and synergies between them, but had no idea about the importance of being able to examine and fix them, I suppose.]
Carlos nodded. [Yeah. And that's a really simple example. I know some that are a lot more complex, though I'm not sure how many of them are even applicable for incantations. Inversion of control, dependency injection, factory patterns...] He shook his head. [Just the context knowledge needed to be able to fully understand those could take days or weeks to teach well enough for you to use them. I could maybe explain the basic ideas faster with some simplified analogies, but that would lose so many details that I doubt it would still be useful.]
Amber paused. [... Even my comprehension aid is baffled by the terms you just said. It translated the individual words that you said, but all I got for the phrases is a confusing jumble.] She chuckled. [Anyway, I concede the point. Trinlen will still be able to teach us important and useful things. We still need to decide what secrets to share with him.]
[A lot depends on how good he is at keeping secrets. We don't actually know him all that well yet. He's certainly fun, and he seems clever, but for assessing his integrity we're leaning pretty hard on just a janitor vouching for him.] Carlos frowned in thought. [In order for him to do his job, he needs to know that we can only "pull an entire incantation from thin air" if it's a simple one. He does not need to know the full details of help, however, and most certainly does not need to learn to use it himself. That secret is a very sensitive one, where even just letting too much knowledge of it spread would lose us a major advantage.]
[Definitely. No casting help where he can hear it, and don't say anything about it that's not directly relevant for his teaching, either. Not until he's earned our full trust.] Amber lapsed into silent consideration. [We should introduce him to Purple. We'll kind of have to at some point anyway, and the really valuable thing there is Purple himself, not just the knowledge of his existence.]
Carlos nodded. [True. I think that probably is the least sensitive of our house secrets, and being able to call him through a bond with Purple would be useful.] He chuckled. [And maybe his cleverness will end up producing some good ideas for Purple to use. See if he can find a more productive outlet than pranks for his creativity. And then... If he keeps that secret well enough for long enough, we can consider trusting him with more secrets.]
Amber sent back wordless agreement.
Carlos started sitting up, lifting himself out of the comfortable cushions. "Well, we should get some food ourselves, too. And maybe introduce Trinlen to everyone else along with Purple." He stood up and spotted a letter he'd set aside when Trinlen arrived. "Oh yeah, and what do you think we should do about Kindar?"
"Wait, what's this about Kindar?"
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Disclaimer:
This post has heavy spoilers to the story of the version 2.2 and maybe to something else. Good luck to read all of this. I yap for Ena and maybe repeat myself little too much. Mentioned characters:
Sunday
Robin
Aventurine
Dreammaster
Bronya
Seele
Cocolia
Mentioned Aeons:
Ena
Xipe
Hooh
Long
Oroboros
Qlipoth
Mentioned organisations:
Beyond the Sky Choir
Astral Express
Family
In loving memory: Ena the Order “The one who transcends the many”
In loving memory of Tazzyrronth the Propagation “The Sand king”
In loving memory of the Great Tatalov “The Garbage King”
So, the original intent behind this post was to create a lot of puns about Order and Sunday (for example something like Golden Order Radagon Sunday, “I will have order” with Sunday and a falling train instead, Sunday working in a delivery and saying that someone’s order was cancelled).
But then I started remembering all parts of Penacony storyline that have fascinated me. And one particular part master stroked me. When Sunday used his “tell the truth or die in 24 hours voice magic” he used not the power of Order, but Harmony – the Path he supposedly deliberately left behind and betrayed.
How can I be so sure, that he didn’t use the power of Order, making it look like the power of Harmony? Well, nor Dr. Ratio, nor Aventurine, nor Welt, nor (most importantly) Robin didn’t notice any sign that the Order was used and that the power on display did in fact belong to Harmony. And mind you, all of them are quite clever, experienced and hard to deceive. And in Aventurine’s conversation with Acheron in the Horizon of existence, Acheron (who as Self-Annihilator isn’t affected by the illusions of Order and can see through them) referred to the brand, used on Aventurine as the “brand of Harmony”. And the last proof is that when Sunday uses this power, he makes a call (or if you are a pun enjoyer like me, “an order”) to Xipe, referring to THEM as “Triple-faced soul”.
So, this was a really long and a roundabout way to prove that even with his supposed devotion to Order, Sunday still remains the Pathstrider of Harmony (and the laws of the HSR universe dictate, that you become a Pathstrider by following a philosophy of a particular Path). While being a Pathstrider of two Paths is not called impossible in the game, and Harmony and Order mostly overlap, there are some key differences between them. It means, that Sunday to some extant still believes in a philosophy of Harmony and is not a complete devotee of Order, how some people could have believed.
So, the goal of this post is to delve on the philosophy of Ena and Harmony through Sunday’s story, words, thoughts and actions. And to make some obnoxious theories, but that’s later.
So, let’s begin!
Ⅰ
In his childhood, Sunday alongside Robin, was called by the Dreammaster “two best interpreters of the Great One”. That means, that as a child, Sunday was extremely close to the philosophy of Harmony.
Let’s remember what Harmony embodies as a philosophy:
“Then, they say, O you who have reached the end, enter into the paradise that envelops all! Join this great choir and feast, listen to the beating of billions upon billions of hearts, holding you in THEIR embrace...”
“To battle the brutality of the laws of the universe, intelligent lifeforms must discard their cowardly selfishness and the differences between individuals, fusing into one singular melody — to have the strong help the weak, and to protect life with death.”
That is what Harmony preaches and Sunday was a follower of this ideology. Harmony preaches selfless people not only helping and uplifting each other to build “the paradise” (a prominent theme in Sunday’s thoughts) bit also welcoming every other willing person. Harmony philosophy is about acceptance, forgiveness, cooperation, that no person is beyond redemption, that in every person has inside of them the force that genuinely cares for others and strives for good. Harmony preaches something like this: “Because if it is possible for every person to become a member of Family’s shared paradise, then we should at lest try to welcome them in it.” That’s why Harmonic Strings (Emanators of Xipe) are not people and are actually manifestations materialized as the responses to the Hive Mind’s demands. It is a seemingly naïve and romantic ideal for the sometimes and indifferent brutal universe of HSR that requires great kindness, compassion, understanding, belief in other people, ability to see the better in other people and uplift them. And Sunday-follower of Order reflects on that:
"When I appeared as a child, my speech, mindset, and soul reflected immaturity and innocence."
"As I grew into adulthood, I left behind my childlike side."
Sunday (as shown in the quest) was a person of great understanding, compassion, and love for other living beings, full of desire to protect them (bird, Robin, other people). He was able to embrace even the worst people if they would show even the slightest glimpse of desire to redeem themselves and change for the better, like people who allegedly sold their own children. It is notable that he both acts as a follower of Harmony and an enforcer of Order conspiracy because of these very character traits. The motivation is the same, just the choice how to act based on this motivation is different between him and Robin because of different experiences.
As the ardent believer of Harmony, the seed of doubt in his mind was planted ironically by the very followers of the Harmony -the Family. And the disillusionment about Harmony also began, when his belief in other people was tested. When asking Xipe to clear his doubts, Sunday asks three questions:
“Who can judge the strong when their power hides their crimes?”
“Who can vouch for the weak when they will pay any price to survive?”
“If "the strong defending the weak" is truly the foundation of paradise, then who is responsible for the suffering and anguish in this wretched world?”
The questions display that the preached Harmony doesn’t work as intended. The extremely hard ideal to follow was exactly too demanding for numerous people who couldn’t stand up to the responsibility that came with upholding it. Also, as displayed both in the main quest of Penacony and in numerous events and side quests, flaws and imperfections of Family(note: of the Family on Penacony) are numerous. We have an entire “Ode to Fool” in the Grand Theatre about internal bloodthirsty war between the Family, where two of the seven families of Penacony ceased to exist. When even Family: those who preach the Odes of Harmony don’t act as they preach, are not harmonious, don’t show compassion and forgiveness, it is extremely hard to still believe in its teachings. And from that, the belief in people starts to slowly crumble as the very belief in a possibility of a paradise preached by the Xipe, is tested.
That is what turns him to Order. The feeling that while the paradise of Harmony is theoretically possible, how much suffering must people experience before it actually arrives. And when will it arrive? And IF it will arrive? These doubts in human inherent desire to change for the better leads to the idea: “And what if they don’t change? Then why take the risks? Why not to create something that guarantees their safety, happiness and protection?” His desire for Order is still born from his love for humanity.
Ⅱ
And while the shift in beliefs did in fact happen, it wasn’t completed and some beliefs in Harmony remain, alongside doubts about the philosophy of Order.
To prove that, let’s remember the Grand Theatre part of the quest (“Everything that Rises Must Converge”).
Before that Dreammaster has a particularly interesting conversation with Sunday. Sunday not only changes their plan, taking Robin’s place in the plan and then he asks Dreammaster why Penacony was the chosen planet to bring “paradise” of the Order. If he was completely convinced, why would he pose these questions?
Sunday several times brings the part of 107,336 souls of the Oak Family in his monologues. Why? Because he uses them to give self-validation to his beliefs. It comes not only from his desire to grant “paradise” to everyone (and this guys as stated dreamed about the paradise of Order), but also from his self-perceived responsibility as the Head of the Oak Family to stand up to wishes and desires of his subordinates, to protect them, and as the man with greatest position among them, to fulfil the hardest task. Because if people he is in charge of follow and support his views, not only it gives him more belief in his set of beliefs(ha), but also gives him even greater responsibility to prove that their faith in him, in Order is not misplaced.
In first two acts he displays before us shortcomings of the Harmony, trying to display himself as the ardent believer of the Order:
In the first act “Ode to Prisoner” he says that the freedom was not really achieved in Penacony’s great Independence War, posing a doubt that the ideal of Harmony even existed in Penacony since the very beginning.
In the second act “Ode to Fool” the theme of not so harmonic Harmony remains. Sunday talks about internal civil war between the Family, that eradicated two of the seven families on Penacony. How “harmonic” it is!
But in the last and most important act “Ode to Order” has a surprisingly different theme, hidden in it.
It is supposedly talking about the future of Penacony, but there is something more if you listen to its content once again:
General: “Without a ruler who would protect the weak and fight back against the tyrants?”
Chansellor: “We must assist each other in protecting the weak, just as we must assist each other in opposing the tyrannical.”
This dialogue argues that the very measures Sunday preaches, are not required for the coexistence and unification are also an option. Case of how differently Order and Harmony solve one problem.
Jester: “Without a ruler, who will make the stars follow their paths, the tides rise and fall, and allow life to grow?”
C: “These things did as they will long before the ruler appeared, just as they will continue to do with rulers gone.”
Where the Order requires an all-mighty divine king, controlling the world (like God-Emperor of Mankind from Warhammer), Harmony simply says that actually such beings are not needed.
Minister: “However, now that we have bid farewell to our ruler. Who shall take their place?”
C: “We no longer require a ruler, for we were originally all rulers who stand above all things.”
Once again, order preaches about the ruler on the top of everything, the one who has all of the rights and makes all of decisions. But harmony doesn’t work that way. Harmony preaches that if every person has equal rights to enter its paradise, then they are essentially equal. Where Order differentiates people and treats them differently according to THEIR criteria, harmony does not as THEY are all-embracing.
The choice of the position of Chansellor as the one giving answers is deliberate. It is another innuendo on differences between Harmony and Order. In Order king takes the power and pushes everyone under his control. Chancellor, as the representation of Harmony in this argument, is a position not a person. He is subject to change, unlike king. Unlike king, Chancellor is chosen among the people, by the people. He serves as one man being the voice of many people, for they have chosen him as a Chancellor because their ideals are the same and thus, they have entrusted him to fulfil their ideals in reality in their stead.
Some people were not satisfied that the arguments were not posed against Sunday by the Astral Express. Well, this entire act serves as a counter to his arguments, showing the point of view of Harmony arguing against the necessity of ideals of Order. Most importantly, they don’t disprove hid arguments completely, but rather pose a possible alternative take on things.
The Clockwork doesn’t work on puppets because they are “satisfied”. But what gives satisfaction: Order or Harmony? In my opinion, Harmony. Remember: in THEIR paradise there is “peace bestowed, sorrows and strife released.”
The “king” in the text obviously refers to Ena the Order, and the last talk from the “Future” in the act is about “final rites” to the king, that there is no need to seek THEIR existence, nor remember THEM. It illustrates the final confusion of Sunday: if Ena didn’t fight back while being consumed, if the philosophy of Harmony prevailed in the confrontation among the Paths, why try to restore the Order?
And after that particular act he chose to reveal to us the finale of Ena’s story. That THEY were banished to oblivion by the united will of the people who defied Order. And THEIR death was praised alongside praises for the appearance of Harmony – the ideal that prevailed on Penacony in the end.
And that is what actually 3 is actually about. Puppets(Members of the Beyond the Sky Choir) ask what they and everyone else should do after the “king(Ena)” disappeared.
They feel no safety and out of their comfort zone when the one that controlled everything about their lives suddenly disappeared. And Chancellor’s answers are the representation of the ideology of Harmony, that you don’t need to be controlled to strive in life, for that there is more to universe and that the “king” is not actually required for betterment of society, that society can harmonize and evolve on their own, that the unity of people can replace the “king”. Ironically, “the Ode to Order” doesn’t glorify Order but rather disproves it from being the one and only universal truth.
In this act Sunday actually reveals, intended or not, that he doesn’t disprove Harmony’s ideal, that he subconsciously feels that it can stand on par with the ideal of Order.
Then, Sunday poses between us three questions, each one has different answers depending on your set of believes: order or Harmony. Notice, that Sunday doesn’t give his own answers to the questions.
“Is darkness equal to daylight?”
This question is very metaphorical. Radiance and light, eradicating darkness and giving protection to those under the light are a repeated theme in the ideology of the Order (“I shall ascend to the heavens, becoming the scorching sun. Bathed in my light, my people shall flourish, while all evil shall be eradicated” / “Those who live in the shadows do not bear the right to tread the illuminated stage.” / “I now permit you to gaze into the sun [hardest line in the game btw]”) But radiance is also a term sometimes used to describe Xipe. The greatest difference lies in the fact that what Order will not tolerate (“darkness”), harmony will be able to co-exist with and eventually embrace. So for Order they are different, but for Harmony not at all.
“Are sinners equal to the righteous?”
Order punishes the unjust and uplifts the righteous. For it, they are not equal. But for Harmony they are, mostly because before Xipe the very concept of sinners doesn’t exist. Harmony is all-embracing, for everyone can change for the better and be redeemed.
It is a discourse in philosophy: first question was about whether are you able to tolerate something that goes against you. While Harmony can, Order cannot (Sunday can as literally shown in the quest so he leans more to Harmony in that part). Second question was about whether people can change for the better and be redeemed. Order doesn’t believe in it, Harmony does.
“If you are born weak, which god should you turn for solace?”
It is another question to choose between philosophies because Sunday struggles to choose himself. If you are weak and you bow before someone(“king”) for the protection then this is a choice befitting Order, but if you choose to cooperate with others, uplift one another and “listen beating of billions of hearts holding you on their embrace” then this is the choice of Harmony.
Notice, that Sunday doesn’t consider us as enemies at all. As he says: “I genuinely wish to avoid a violent clash with my esteemed guests from afar.” When Astral Express team asks Sunday why did he invite us to the duel, he responds: “Because our shared goals give equal weight to the beliefs we strive for.” He regards everything happening more like a debate of two equally valid philosophies. Even in the fight with him (second one) he still invites us to join his chorus of Order. And he says “our final talk is concluded” only when he turns into his Embryo of Philosophy form, when literally everyone who could has risen against him. And then he reveals his true emotions:
“If your ‘paradise’ can save more people, sever my path with your hands”
He knows he is not infallible, that his plan can be wrong, that there is a possibility of making better choices, better decisions. And he asks us to prove, that Harmony after all is a stronger concept then that of Order. And his quote before that really makes everything extremely ironic:
“If we had never experienced solitude, how could we embark on different paths?”
Once again, this solitude refers to the times when he still completely followed Harmony. Yet he was the only person on the entire Penacony because of his great compassion, who actually followed what Xipe preached. Yet, in this he was alone. How can you be in Harmony with anyone, if you are alone. The irony is in the fact, that if Robin didn’t leave Penacony, of if he met another genuine believer, he wouldn’t have turn to Order and he would remain under Xipe. With many similarities of Order and Harmony: the epitome of Order is loneliness, being a sole ruler of everything, the epitome of Harmony is a unity of numerous people.
“And thus, my talk about Sunday has concluded. Next part is about Ena.”
Ⅲ
While his monologue about history of Ena can also be interpreted as parts above, it is much more interesting to discuss it when talking about Ena THEMSELVES.
“Let us commence with the dawning of the world… After the Dusk Wars, darkness veiled the sky, and chaos consumed the earth. Ena the Order emerged, destined to restore all existence. That marked the first day.”
The Dusk Wars are one of the most ancient (if not the most) periods of history we know about. Ena emerging at that time, makes THEM one of the oldest Aeons alongside Long, Hooh, Qlipoth and Oroboros.
” THEY gathered nebulae and forged them into picks, thus creating a grand lyre with black and white keys. Strike the white keys, and the sun rose. Strike the black keys moon and the rose. And so the cycle of day and night arose. That marked the second day. “
“THEY transmuted streams of stars into inked nibs, creating symbols to be pronounced and counted. THEY molded stardust into flowing rivers, assigning the righteous upstream and the unjust downstream. Thus, all things were marked and the world learned to discern between good and evil. That marked the third and fourth days. “
“THEY used the planetary rings to establish the law, forging a code of conduct among the masses. A grand lyre with black and white symbols of articulation and numerical notation took the form of musical notes. The downward-flowing river became a melody, and the cannon of law dictated the form. Thus, all mortals found their unique place within this symphony. That marked the fifth and sixth days. “
Ena, as we know was a control freak, at much bigger scale and extent, then Sunday could have ever hoped to become. We know that «Ena's harmonic songs seems to align within a three-dimensional framework, akin to an emperor maintaining hierarchical order among all creatures» Not only people, but the movement of celestial bodies were under THEIR control. THEY wanted to and almost controlled everything in the known cosmos. So, THEY were the only person responsible for everything. And when THEY were consumed, the manager of everything disappeared and the scales of order and discord lost their balance. That is why Hooh intervened and took THEIR responsibilities.
“THEY imbued world with meaning, perfecting all things in the heavens and earth. Then, THEY rested from the labors of creation. Yet, all beings cried to Ena – ‘Under the banner of the Order, you have defined all things in the Cosmos… but this made us realize that we are but puppets in your hands!’ – Thus, on that day, all beings united and cast the Aeon into the abyss of oblivion. That marked the seventh day. “
And this is the most interesting part. We know that Ena was consumed by Xipe, so why does Sunday refer to THEIR death as an action, made by humans?
As we know, Xipe “hails from multiple harmonious celestial words”, “a plural Aeon” and “THEY are the amalgamation of thousands of entities”. Thus, I pose that Xipe ascension was not a process of accension of a one person who somehow become an Aeon, but rather that several beings in a moment of unity (of “harmony”) were ascending as one. Next bit is purely theoretical:
But who could provide such unity before the existence of Harmony? Only the Beyond the Sky Choir – followers of Ena could understand the true extent of Ena’s control over everything and unify to create a change. Thus, mortals ascended into Aeon, befitting their shared beliefs, and from the Beyond the Sky Choir, Xipe arose with a new symphony of Harmony.
ⅠⅤ
Also, some other interesting bits from 2.2. storyline:
The most overlooked part of 2.2 quest for me is that part before boss battle when Sunday says that he doesn’t intend to either resurrect Ena or become a new Aeon of Order. While the actual possibility of such actions remains “enigmatic, we can now speculate that it could be possible to take control of a masterless Path or revive its master. I speculate that when we finally reach strongest Emanators level of poweallies/etc. the enemies we will be facing before actual Aeons will be unique beings like that: fallen Aeons in the process of resurrection or people in the process of becoming a new Aeon of a Path without one.
Another interesting bit of lore about Ena is that while she was “consumed” by Xipe, her Path still lingers in the cosmos masterless. While it was known about Paths of other fallen Aeons it is interesting that even assimilation by a broader concept Aeon isn’t enough to completely eradicate the Path from the face of the cosmos.
Some other connections that I noticed about Sunday while rewatching 2.2 quest were surprising even for me. Name a planet where the ruler intentionally left their subordinates in ignorance about the truth about the events for the sole reason of protecting them? It’s Belobog with Bronya and Seele (I could talk about similarities and differences of Bronya and Sunday but that would make already long post even longer). And this is why Ena was able to persuade Qlipoth. Because Qlipoth shares with THEM that general theme of protection. Because their Paths partly overlap. Because Preservation is about keeping everything dangerous behind the walls (in this case dangerous information about Cocolia), and everything inside the walls is safe, protected, or you could say “in Order”.
Ⅴ
P.S. I feel like in this quest there is still so much more to discuss(and I could write EVEN MORE), but this long wall of text is already too out of character from me as a humble follower of Enigmata.

original setting by Michael McNeill
Myrla sat at one of the tables in the food court area of Nantrella Station. The Greylin’s crew had discovered several ships docked with family members on board and this had led to a rather impressively large impromptu family reunion with several dozen kwonese spacers gathered up in one space.
She was sitting slouched over the table, the only human in a sea of furry ratfolk, nursing her drink. It was a chocaf that one of the family from another ship had spiked with something s/he said was an intoxicant that she would enjoy. Myrla wasn’t sure if it was intoxicating, but it did add a pleasant richness to the drink and it warmed her in a way chocaf didn’t normally do.
She was reaching the end of her drink and was starting to wonder if she should try to find the kwonese who had spiked her drink to ask for a second round when she realized some of her crewmates nearby were talking about her. She hadn’t been listening, really, her mind just floating along in the comfortable feel of the “group-snuggle” as they called it, so she wasn’t sure what was going on.
After a few seconds of focusing on the conversation, she realized they were bragging about her. That was when one of them turned to her, dragging her into the conversation.
“Yah, see! This Myrla, she top stevedore, better than ya porter drone!” Nellin, one of the crew-family she had little interaction with other than when it was time to hustle cargo, had grabbed her by the sleeve and was tugging her into a small cluster of kwonese sitting around one of the tables. She only recognized one other face as being part of the Greylin crew. Nellin served as the ship’s load-master and chief stevedore, so she assumed the others in the group likely held similar positions on their own ships.
Myrla hoisted her cup in greeting, a lopsided smile on her face. Then she realized she did know another of the faces in the group – the cousin who had spiked her chocaf. Grinning, she pulled her arm free of Nellin’s grip and pointed to him then to her almost empty cup. “I’m going to need some more of that, cousin.”
This set off titters of laughter around the crew as the kwonese in question hauled out a silver flask from his vest pocket. “Powerful stuff, yah!” He made smacking sounds as he fixed her another chocaf from the table’s dispenser. “Makin’ it on the Yeongja, we do. Best you find.”
She drained her first cup and picked up the second. If it was an intoxicant, it was either incredibly weak or it was so smooth that it would hit her like a sledgehammer later. Either way, it was a delightful pairing with the bitterness of the chocaf. She took a sip of the fresh drink, smiling as the warmth seeped into her. The group shuffled around to make a spot for her to sit.
One of the others, a grizzled older kwonese, looked at her one eyebrow raised. “Nellin say you top stevedore. Say you outwork drone. Been load-master on Yeongja ten year and four more now on /San Matteo/. Not seeing that happen yet.”
She looked over Nellin and raised her cup in his direction. “[Samchun ]()[[MM1]](#_msocom_1) has never voiced displeasure with my work. If he wishes to say I work harder than a cargo drone, that is his choice.”
Her comment brought hoots of laughter from around the table. Out-bragging in a family was something of a sport with the kwonese and diplomatically saying they were boasting without calling them a liar was an integral part of the game, even better if you were doing so in support of them.
“Well-saying, [olinee]()[[MM2]](#_msocom_2) .” The grizzled cargo-chief crinkled his snout and raised his glass at her. “But now chincheog making me curious. Never seeing such a thing not being the same as impossible thing.” He paused to scratch his whiskers. “Not working much with your kind, true, so never seeing how much you can do.” Several of the group lightly slapped the tabletop and looked in her direction.
She glanced down at Nellin, seeing his whiskers twitching. His body language was just like it would be if they were playing cards and he were holding a winning hand, waiting on the pool to grow. Long seconds passed before the one she’d mentally dubbed “Mister Flask” leaned in.
“Let’s make it interesting.”
And there it was. Cred-chips started hitting the table and in moments, crew from all the ships were aware of the betting taking place. She sat, sipping her doctored chocaf, as the kwonese around her seemed to turn into a boiling pool of sleek fur and whiskers. Across the table, “Mister Flask” raised his cup to her … and winked.
She grinned back at him, returning the gesture. Now what was that all about?
One of the twins – probably Mikkeulon, from the scent – saw the exchange and leaned close to her. “Oh-ho! You catching Peulla’s eye, then! Good choice, but he wild.”
Myrla sputtered into her cup, but before she could say anything, the twin was gone. Then Nellin leaned in close. “You got this, girlee. Seen you move more easy. Just be going slow and easy and Greylin family got drinks for all station-time, ya.”
Myrla smiled to herself, shaking her head. The cargo-master may have said the Greylin’s crew would have all their drinks covered during their port-time, but given the kwonese need for these family get-togethers, “hajog-poog” they called them, every kwonese on the station would be regular visitors to the Greylin. The betting was just the method they used to pick which ship the party was held on.

It wasn’t long before the entire party had relocated to the docks where San Matteo was set to disgorge its cargo. The grizzled cargo-master, who Myrla now knew to be named Tostiklin, had one of the enormous cargo bays set up for the impromptu competition. She’d sent Orak off to the /Greylin/ to retrieve her backpack, leading to a humorous scene as the young kwonese came running into the docking area dragging the pack that was easily as large as he was. She stripped away the actual pack and her possessions that it held, leaving just the pack-frame. She tasked Orak with perching on the pack itself, to make sure it didn’t get lost in the excitement.
She walked over to the small cluster of cargo-masters and hefted her packframe. “I assume I’m allowed to use a cargo rack, since the drone has one?” She watched as several of them suppressed snickers and Tostiklin wrinkled his snout in amusement.
He waved absently. “Yahyey, of course! Wanting a fair run, we.” He motioned the cargo drone over, which stood almost twice as tall as its crewmates. The crowd settled down to a low murmur as the cargo master addressed the two. “This being the rules. Moving cargo for one minute, as much as you can, ya. No helping from others. No interfering with other stevedore. Move you stack from where it is to indicated position.” He pointed to a pair of chalked squares some thirty feet away from the initial stacks. “Is good?”
The drone’s head rotated from the kwonese to Myrla to the two stacks of cargo containers and back. “I to compete against this gentlebeing? Moving cargo like normal work?”
“Yes, Ledo.”
The drone dipped its head. “Understood but I do not understand why.”
Myrla leaned close to the drone. “They gambling on us. Who can shift more.”
The drone tipped its expressionless face first to one side then to the other while looking at her, a low whir of servos barely audible. Then it looked toward the group of kwonese for a moment. “Oh. Oh. Then … perhaps I should apologize now?”
Myrla grinned. “Apologize for what?”
“I am made to shift significant amounts of cargo. You do not appear to be. I shall apologize now for embarrassing you in front of your shipmates.”
Myrla laughed and patted the drone on its arm. “It’s all in fun, Ledo. I won’t be embarrassed.”
She could detect a faint note of smugness in the mechanical’s speech. “Very well. Then let us proceed.”
“Geebees, are clear on rules?” Myrla and Ledo both indicated their assent. “Then please stand by cargo.”
When they had taken their places, Tostiklin pulled a whistle from his pocket and blew on it. Myrla and Ledo began quickly assembling their loads. Remembering Nellin’s admonition, she carefully restricted her load, adding two containers more to hers than the drone loaded onto itself. It was enough weight to slow her down considerably, but she could still keep up with Ledo without straining.
Together, they dropped their cargo loads inside their assigned squares and Myrla fought the urge to race ahead of the drone, keeping pace with it instead. Twice more the cycle repeated itself, with Myrla carrying just enough extra to stay ahead in the count.
When the whistle blew a second time, the gathered cargo-masters counted the crates in each stack. Tostiklin’s face was a study in surprise as he counted Myrla’s stack again.
He looked at Nellin. “Your stevedore has clearly won. By a mere six crates, but she has won.” The kwonese erupted into cheers and groans, depending on the amount of credits they had won or lost. Tostiklin held up a hand and the crowd quieted down. “But you say she outwork drone. Win by six is much as keep up with drone.”
The crowd inhaled as a whole. /San Matteo/’s cargo chief was treading the fine line of being rude, almost accusing Nellin of lying. The older kwonese narrowed his eyes, looking for at Nellin, then Myrla, then at the crowd. “I like very much to be seeing her truly outwork drone. What is prize money?” One of the younger cargo-masters gave him the figure. “I say offering own creds to match that, double or nothing.”
The crowd went wild, the line of propriety saved. Myrla doubted Nellin had that sort of funds available, based on his change in body language. From behind her, she heard a female kwonese start chanting, “Match! Match!” She and Nellin turned to look, seeing Captain Wanniv shaking her fist in the air. In seconds, all the /Greylin/’s crew was chanting with her.
“Match! Match! Match!”
Nellin looked at her, his nervousness evident, even though things were going exactly like he’d told her they would. She winked at him and gave him a quick nod.
His bearing changed imperceptibly as he turned back to Tostiklin. “Yahyey, chincheog. You be seeing truth.”
Ban Baekui had sidled up beside her, patting her arm. “Time be taking off the governor, ya.”
She nodded absently, her gaze wandering around the room, watching as dozens of groupings indicated the level of betting taking place. “Got your bets made, chief?”
“Already making creds plenty. This to be sheer kwaja!”
She looked down at him, grinning. “The captain plays cards with Nellin, doesn’t she?”
Ban gave her a curious tilt of his head. “Frequently. Why you ask?”
Myrla nodded to herself, looking around again. “She backed him up at the perfect time. This gonna bring some notoriety to the Greylin. And that converts to …” She looked back at the ship’s lead mechanic, grinning broadly.
“Jobs. Bigger and better.” Ban nodded, grinning back. “Not playing cards with you, girlee. Best getting ready, then.”
Ban faded back into the crowd, leaving her with Nellin. “You good with this? Tossi want longer timeframe for this.”
Myrla dropped to one knee, making it so she had to look up slightly at the cargo master. “I need some advice, chief.” Nellin blinked in surprise at the abrupt change in the situation. When he signaled his assent, she continued. “There’s more going on than what I’m seeing. You just used a blood-kin name for him. The captain backed you up publicly under his challenge, so she’s now tied the two of you together, your win is now her win, and your loss her loss. Tostiklin almost called you a liar in front of everyone, but pulled it out by upping the bet.” She scanned the crowd, seeing several non-kwonese beginning to intermingle. “And that is interesting. More geebees are joining the party. And those aren’t spacers.” Her eyes narrowed. “Those are brokers – I recognize two of them.”
Nellin wrung his hands, a faint tang of nervousness coloring his odor. “Is … is complicated.”
“Not from my end, chief. Tostiklin wants to see how hard I can work, because he wants to learn more about my people and is willing to pay for the privilege. And he wants to see me lose to gloat…” She looked at Nellin as he started squirming again. “He doesn’t want me to lose.” She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Who is he related to by blood on the Greylin?”
“He brother to captain’s father…” Myrla’s eyes lit up in sudden understanding. “…and is brother to my mother’s mother.”
Myrla’s jaw dropped slightly as several puzzle pieces clicked into place. “He … he doesn’t want us to fail at all. He’s loaning the captain operating money as well as boosting the ship’s reputation.”
Nellin put his hands out to shush her. “Not be saying this!”
The good side of her mouth pulled up in a smile. “Don’t worry, not a word. Plus, by challenging you like this, you gain even more credibility with the family after I smoke that presumptuous cargo drone at his own game. You gain a reputation for understating how good something is.”
“See … is complicated.”
“Chief, go make your personal bets. This run is about to get interesting.”
The next ten minutes was a flurry of action as bets were made and new spectators arrived from stationside. At one point, Peulla drifted by, pressing another cup of that deliciously spiked chocaf into her hand with a wink. Soon, the cargo masters were huddled up again.
Tostiklin had found a voice amplifier somewhere, letting his voice be heard over the noises of the much-larger crowd. “We be setting round two. Nellin, loadmaster of the Greylin Bostlin, say he crewmate outwork cargo drone. We see earlier this geebee do that.” He indicated Myrla and she waved at the crowd, to delighted cheers from more than just her shipmates. “I say she barely beat cargo drone and I ask for a rematch. I offer double to see she truly outwork drone!” The crowd roared excitedly. “I ask to see geebee outwork drone and just minutes not enough. I ask for one whole hour!”
The crowd erupted into a frenzy and Myrla blinked in confusion. Nobody mentioned hauling cargo for an hour, she thought.
Captain Wanniv had slipped up beside her. “Just another day on the docks, ya?”
Turning to the captain with a smile, she said, “Using my own words against me as inspiration? I’m … well, I don’t guess I’m shocked. And yes, I’m good for it.”
“Is good. All this good.”
Myrla gave the captain a wink. “I love how they brought in some of the local cargo brokers and the Dockworker’s Guild to watch. San Matteo is a respected crew. To see them give the Greylin respect will carry weight later.”
The captain’s eyes crinkled. “I have no idea what you mean.”
Finally, the crowd calmed down again. Siezing the moment, Myrla stepped forward to address the Matteo’s cargo-master. “Samchun, it seems to me that all of our competition is being done handling cargo from the San Matteo. If we are unloading cargo, then am I working for you? And, if I am working, then as a member of the Stevedore and Dockworker’s Guild, I have to be paid or I lose my license. And I cannot bet on myself.”
The crowd fell to a dead silence as Tostiklin’s eyebrows rose slowly, first one then the other.
“FAIR!” Someone in the crowd shouted.
Tostiklin glanced in the direction of the speaker and turned back to Myrla, nodding slowly. “Wisdom speaks.” A grin slowly spread across his face. “I will pay you one hour with a bonus in proportional to how well you outwork the drone.”
Myrla nodded. “I accept these terms and your grace in offering them.” This brought a round of applause from the crowd.
“Again! This being the rules! Moving cargo for one hour, as much as you can, ya. No helping from others. No interfering with other stevedore. Move you stack from where it is to indicated platform.” He pointed to a pair of conveyor platforms some thirty feet away from the initial stacks. “Is good?”
Both workers gave their assent.
“Geebees, to your starting places!” Again, a blast from the whistle signaled the start of the competition. Both fell to their task and worked steadily, but Myrla thought it looked as though the drone knew it had already been beaten. For every stack of crates it moved, she moved twice as many. When it tried to match her volume, its speed dropped off significantly to the sound of overloaded drive motors.
They were well and thoroughly inside the cargo bay of the /San Matteo/ and the crowd was only able to keep up by watching on a series of holoscreens that had been set up for the purpose. True to Bae’s request, she “pulled the governors off,” falling into her work-trance, letting the crates guide her flow. The conveyor platforms advanced with them, never more than thirty feet away, making the job a bit less arduous. The cargo-master group was inside with them, as well, and Myrla shut them out by treating them like she did any other client who hung out to watch her work.
She was so deep into her work that the whistle caught her by surprise and Nellin had to physically intervene to get her attention.
“Is good, girlee. We done it. YOU done it.”
Myrla walked out of the cargo hold, blinking and shaking her head, trying to get refocused on where she was. Then she realized the entire hajog was chanting her name. Bae and Wanniv were waiting on her at the bay-door. Bae handed her a bottle of water and Wanniv grabbed Myrla’s free hand in both of hers. “You best lucky charm!” As the crowd caught sight of her, the chant broke into a wordless cheer that threatened to overwhelm her.
Finally, the cargo-masters made their counts and conferred together with a lot of nodding and one shaking their head incredulously. Tostiklin motioned her and the cargo drone forward to join them.
“Thinking it clear who wins.” He broke off with a grin as the crowd erupted into cheers again. He tried to continue twice before the cheering died down enough to let him be heard. “Seeing you never slowed down, girlee. Thinking maybe you having another gear or two.”
Smiling, Myrla shrugged as the crowd went wild again.
“And!” He held up a pouch for everyone to see. “And, here is your payment. One hour’s wage for a class five stevedore. And since you performed double what the drone performed, your wages are doubled.”
Again, the crowd roared and she fought to keep the surprise off her face. She was a class one stevedore and class five rates were significantly higher than she was used to getting. As she accepted the pouch from him, she leaned in to be heard above the crowd. “You are a wise and honorable gentlebeing, Samchun. May your words echo among many gajog.”
That got her an extra cheer from the cargo-chiefs and a pat on the cheek from a grinning Tostiklin. “You taking good-good care of the Greylin crew, then. So, let’s be drinking to this!”

I am on my x-th rewatch of Psych now that it is available on Netflix and I am loving almost every second of it. almost.
When watching shows like this everything has to be taken with a giant ladle of salt. Given the absurdity of the show, it is perfectly reasonable to believe that Gus is a walking encyclopedia. It is completely fine, that a nanny-agency can install cameras in peoples homes with flawless 1000x magnification that record people pin combinations from accross the street. And it is absolutely normal that they would unearth T-Rex fosils while solving two crimes.
All of these things are part of a whimsical make believe reality, designed for us viewers to turn our brains of and have a good time.
However I do believe that there are implicit rules for these shows, which govern when reason can be thrown out the window and when normal real life standards should be applied.
Unreasonable shenanigans and absurd circumstances are meant to be applied for the setup of a story or as a humorous interjection, but never as a conclusion.
Juliet's "harrassment" allegation is clearly the latter. The thought, that someone may get into genuine trouble, after a single instance of aproaching another person in an awkward (slightly inappropriate) manner, without being asked for context, is quite absurd.
If this situation had been used as a setup for a larger story, I could forgive the lazy writing, but this is meant to be a learning moment for Juliet. We are meant to accept that her behaviour was bad enough to possibly derail her whole career and that she was lucky to get away with a stern talking to.
And it wasn't even necessary to raise the stakes so high. The officer could have just gone to HR, which could have prompted a meeting with O'Hara, in which someone gives her the whole 'appropriate workplace behaviour' speech. This would have had the same effect on her, without having the same weight for the viewers.
Many shows have these moments, in which they create astronomical stakes for assinine reasons. But the conclusion is never "oh how stupid was this whole situation", instead it is always "whew, we just barely got out of this in one piece", when it should have never come to that situation in the first place.
Anyway. Rant over.

Hey teachers, hope you’re hanging on through the last couple weeks of the year. I’m an elementary school speech therapist and I joined this school mid year, had a bit of a chaotic start but smoothed it out and built a good relationship with many of the teachers. I want to get each of them a small EOY gift to say thanks for their cooperation in a hectic year. I’m talking 15 or so teachers, I want to spend no more than a few bucks on each. So what’s a nice gift from a fellow “teacher” that is small but shows appreciation? I’m thinking a nice handwritten note with a piece of candy but would love to hear more creative/interesting ideas.

Hey everyone, I’m looking for advice on what I can do to help my daughter. Just for reference we live in Missouri and she is currently in 3rd grade. Long story short she has always been different from my older kids and more challenging. We’ve been involved with first steps for speech/OT, she “failed” her kindergarten assessment, and she was selectively mute for all of kindergarten/early assessments. Covid started during her kindergarten year so they dropped the ball on what should have been her first IEP evaluation. She has been evaluated three times and denied an IEP three times since we finally were able to get an assessment in first grade. After our first iep assessment (first grade) was a huge fail we had a private evaluation at UMSL (second grade) and were able to get an ADHD diagnosis finally. They also re-tested her IQ and it came back at 79. The school district has tested her IQ twice and it’s also come back around 80. I have been told repeatedly she cannot have a learning disability because her IQ is low and she does not qualify for an iep because there isn’t a discrepancy with her academic scores. She is in a math “tutoring” program and a social/play therapy program the school has but that’s all they have for her. The reading program has been put off on the teachers due to “lack of resources”. Her teacher does what she can and my daughter is making improvements but it’s just not enough. She is still about a grade level behind and gets C/D grades. Her processing speed is so low and I just want her to have access to more help. We have an advocate that we are working with now but I just feel like there is more I could be doing instead of waiting.
We have tried tutoring multiple times and she refuses to participate in it. She’s been medicated for about a year now and has been retested since starting her medication. I’m just tired of the school telling me nothing is wrong and she’s going to be a low achieving student.
I do suspect she is possibly autistic, however, UMSL refused to fully evaluate her for ASD because unmedicated ADHD can present as autism when it isn’t. UMSL has since lost their funding to evaluate kids from our area. Additionally, my daughter does not fully participate in assessments, she won’t talk or engage beyond what is minimally required. She hates school and says she doesn’t want to work harder (outside of school hours) than she already is. I would love to send her to a private school for kids with difficulties like her but the one school we have that is close is 30 minutes away and her dad disagrees with sending her there.

UP is my dream school, but it's not like I've been manifesting to be an Iska since I was little. It was more like I was longing for it because I've already made up my mind that I'm not excellent enough to qualify to such a prestigious university. So, since then, I've kinda let it go but still longed for it. That's why I still took UPCAT even I already knew I would fail. As a consistent top student, I mustered up the courage to go through with it even with the knowledge na madaming mag eexpect na makakapasa ako. Bc UP is my dream school & I know I would regret it more to not try than try and fail.
Weirdly, I passed the UPCAT2024 even if I felt that the odds were against me hahahaha. So there. I was happy etcetera etcetera. But then, grabe ang feedback ng mga teachers at kakilala ko about up. My teacher who was from UP (but transfered halfway bc sguro nahirapan sya), said na ayaw nya akong mag UP ako ksi baka ma late dw ako ng graduate baka umabot ng six years kasi she has never met "kuno" na BA Lit na naka graduate on time. I know she's exaggerating but it doesnt mean that I dont feel discouraged.
Kaluluwa daw kapalit dun. Mas mahirap mag graduate sa UP kesa sa UPCAT. Di ko dw kaya mag adapt dun ksi zero ang interpersonal skills ko (which is true naman haha). Mahihiirapan daw akong mag adjust ksi I'll be on my own. Boring daw ang Miag-ao (idk why pero base sa nababasa ko, parang hindi naman). Sabi din nung isa na may kilala siya na graduate ng UP and nag masters sa UP pero wala paring trabaho. Etcetcetc. I've heard soooo many discouragements that makes me wanna back out even though I've already accepted the offer. It makes me look down on myself dahil BA Lit lang napasa ko. Parang ganun. Like mostly na kilala ko, parang dinadown nila ang UP just to make themselves feel better. It always starts with UP nga pero... And their faces everytime na sasabihin ko na sa UP ako mag aaral, parang nag ffrown sila or makikita mo ang disagreement sa face nila.
I know dapat di ako magpaapekto. Maybe it's just bc they feel insecure about themselves na sa local univs sila nag graduate? But why would they advice that to me as if parang end of the world na pag mag UP ako? HAHAHA Alam ko x10 na mahirap sa UP. Them saying bout UP's difficulty is ok, but what hurts is that parang mas ineemphasize nila na di ko kaya, na di sya worth it ipursue.
I want to pursue UP bc I want to serve my country. I want to be the one of the firsts na mag uphold ng truth and justice. Though superficial siya, I just feel that way. I want to practice the freedom of thought and speech, things I didnt have during my JHS and SHS years dahil Catholic school.
...or are they simply right that I dont belong? huhuu idk what to think anymore tbh. I'm afraid na maybe I've been holding on for superficial reasons...

After my teacher, who is a psichology graduate, observed me, she commented that I fit into the ASD. Here is my story:
I've been feeling disconnected from others for some time now. I've visited a few professionals, but I've noticed that they seem more interested in making a profit than in conducting a thorough and humanized analysis. None of them provided me with guidance or even a diagnosis; to them, everything seems to be generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
I've realized that I'm not 'normal' or typical: since childhood, my focus was on dinosaurs, dedicating a large part of my free time to studying them and absorbing all kinds of information on the subject. However, currently, my focus is limited to the study of history and languages derived from Latin, as a way to delve into specific subjects that pique my interest.
Additionally, I have an extreme sensitivity to noise and exposure to light, especially to electronic device lights and sunlight, such as computer screens and smartphones, which cause me discomfort and irritation.
Sometimes, my speech seems monotonous or too fast, but I hardly notice it. Moreover, I unconsciously use 'sophisticated' vocabulary in informal contexts.
I've also noticed difficulties with my motor coordination, such as handling a knife and fork simultaneously. And the crux of the matter: I interpret almost everything literally and have great difficulty understanding certain social cues. This often results in an inability to expand my circle of friends or engage in passionate relationships.
After all that I sought out a psychiatrist, who mentioned that I meet almost all the criteria according to DSM-5. However, he said that two morre sessions are needed for a conclusive diagnosis.

Sofor some background info i, from the start of school after COVID had a trio group in which me, bestfriend 1, which I will call M and bestfriend 2, who will be J , grew super close due to having same intrests like kpop and stuff like that, our sense of humour was also very similar so we became really close friends, from classes 8 to 9 almost everyone knew we were inseparable including the teachers and our principals, we would always sit next to eachother a d for any group activities would be together, now as much as I was close with both M and J I was more attached to M from the start, we had the same bias in some k-pop groups and had almost the same opinions on everything, though J was similar it just didn't click that well with her but I didn't want to make her feel leftout so I tried my best to act normal with her. So me and M had moments in our friendship where we knew J was lying about some things very blatantly but we kept playing along to make her feel good. There were all sorts of things she would lie about, for eg- there was one time where she said she got hurt and a guy who looked just like Niki from enhypen picked her up bought her and bandage and banana milk, me and M knew so well that was a lie but we kept playing along for some reason.me and J would get into small arguments alot due to me not agreeing to something that J says and then J would start crying and playing the victim which pisses me the fuck off but after like a few hours she would come back to me and be like "it was a joke", or "I'm on my period so I was just angry" like that was some acceptable reason. So when things really got worse were in class 10 where another friend was added into the friend group who we'll call N now me and N knew eachother before J knew her so I recognised her when she was introduced to me, we all knew N before class 10 but we only started becoming friends in class 10 (might be confusing but bear with me). Now I tried to talk to N a little more than with M and J as N was a little more introverted and I wanted to make her feel welcomed, so apparently J assumed that I'm only hanging out with M and J for "my entertainment" and that I will leave then when I find someone better which is not at all the case, on top of that, in class 10 J just changed personality so much, she would always be rude and day that she doesn't even care about us to my and M's face and would always say she has other friends and doesn't need us. This was probably because she was jealous that I'm including N into the group too and she wanted all my attention to herself, in my opinion looking back at things she is the biggest attention seeker I know, so after our finals in March and after our farewell we made a group chat with me, M,J,N, and some other friends. In this J mentioned something about giving some amazing research to some university professor for his book on dna. so in the group chat I asked about the book and for some reason she went off about how I ignored them (M,J) for N and how I was selfish and pathetic, so I knew she was lying about the book too so I asked her for proffs about the research she gave, I kid you not she didn't know the name of the professor who she gave her research too, so I asked for the name of the book, she didn't know, how convenient right? Then she said that it was a private material of some university so I asked about the university, here the fun part she changed the name of the university 3 TIMES?! On top of that she was calling me names so I was basically fuming and told her that she was lying and that we know she's lying, that was probably the last straw cause after that she left the group and I blocked her in everything, J is still texting M and M told me that J suddenly missed our trip and wants to be friends again like bitch hell nah! And M is also sending me pictures we took on trips we three went together idk why but soo...am I the asshole for pushing her away after all this toxicity? Let me know if anyone wants I have full screenshots of the argument so I can totally send them

My 5 year old daughter will be in kindergarten. She is autistic, which for her manifests as a little bit of speech development issues (she talks A LOT but is working with an SLP to help her use all those words for more effective communication), and some rigidity/frustration tolerance issues that results in occasional emotional regulation issues (and, sometimes, a meltdown or two). But she's improved a lot in communication and emotional regulation (before it gets to the meltdown level) in the last 1.5 years she's been going to her current preschool, which makes me so happy for her. I know she LOVES other kids and always is trying to make new friends, and whatever support I can offer her to achieve those goals I'll do.
Now, for kindergarten next year I have the choice of either sending her to my local public school (a good one, I hear) or keeping her at her current school for one more year since they do have a kindergarten class in addition to their preschool classes. I did choose to stay where we are, because where on one hand the public school would have more extension and formalized supports for her neurodivergence, the current school has a WAY smaller kid to adult ration (22-1 at the public school, 6-1 at most at the current school). Plus the current school is our little community that we already know and love. Plus, I feel like the current school handles interpersonal issues (like bullying) way more effective because there's simply more adults around to help put a lid on those things, whereas I know public school teachers are just juggling so much more on their plate that maybe they have to triage social issues on severity. And I mean, with my daughter being ND (smart and very social, but might come off a bit odd to kids her age as she gets older) I do have a real fear of possible bullying.
But my problem is this: staying at the current school sometimes feels like the complete no brainer, but I wonder if I'm denying my child the chance to learn and grow in a bigger, more complex environment. Maybe she would actually do really well? Maybe being around a bigger, less-insular group of kids would ultimately be a positive?
I don't know, there's also an issue that her current school involves a pretty significant volunteer obligation, which I find exhausting to balance on top of the fact that I do still work my day job (which is very understanding that I need to sometimes flex my schedule to volunteer at the school, but waking up before dawn to start working because my kids school is only 4 hours a day, rather than the public school's 6 hours). I don't want to feel like I'm putting my daughter in a less supportive environment if all I have to do is push through the exhaustion I deal with for JUST ONE MORE YEAR.
Plus there's the fear that I'll lose our social circle if we leave the current school.
Gah that's a lot to put out there. It kept me up with my anxiety last night. I don't know if I'm making the right decision.

Last weekend my wife and I had a discussion regarding our son, "L" and whether or not he should be held back a year before starting kindergarten. For context, L is turning 4 on June 7th. He currently spends 3 days a week at a daycare facility and 2 days with an in-home babysitter. We are looking into enrolling him into a montessori school in the fall. My wife is a teacher and will be home with him and his older brother for the summer.
L was slow to start talking, and our babysitter (who has a background in early childhood speech therapy) discussed the possibility that he had apraxia. Our firstborn was talking at an early age, so we felt kind of lost at where L was supposed to be at in terms of speech development and thought processing. After meeting with a couple specialists, we started working with a professional speech pathologist over the last year. She was not traditional in the sense that she wanted to diagnose L's condition outright however she pointed to indicators of neurodivergence and apraxia that she observed with him. Over the last 6-8 months, L's speech and pattern development has made significant progress, with many milestones being met. His pathologist has pointed all of this out, and noted that he is "nearing or at" developmental benchmarks of other kids his age.
A couple months ago we took a tour of the montessori school my wife wanted to transition L into this coming fall. Afterwards she explained that she had envisioned sending L there part time again, and then going full time the following year, holding him back from kindergarten until he was 6. I wasn't opposed to the idea, but thought it was a little early to decide that yet. Recently, the subject was brought up again and we seem to not be on the same page. My wife has pretty much made up her mind that this is the course of action she wants to pursue. I on the other hand would prefer to send L to montessori full time next year, and make a decision towards the end of the school year about whether or not he's ready for kindergarten.
Does anyone have some insight on this? I've read several articles about holding kids back, but they all seem to focus on the late-summer birthdays, where they're right on the cusp of the age cut-off. I've also read about a study that seemed to show that any advantage to holding them back a year was all but negated by the end of 1st grade.
Just to be clear, I'm not interested in any opinions about which one of us is "right." I just want to know if anyone has gone through a similar experience, how it went, and what you may have done differently. TIA

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porch, port, portion, portrait, portray, pose, position, positive, possess, possession, possibility, possible, possibly, post, pot, potato, potential, potentially, pound, pour, poverty, powder, power, powerful, practical, practice, prayer, preach, precisely, predict, prediction, prefer, preference, pregnancy, pregnant, preparation, prepare, prescription, presence, present, presentation, preserve, president, presidential, press, pressure, pretend, pretty, prevent, previous, previously, price, pride, priest, primarily, primary, prime, principal, principle, print, prior, priority, prison, prisoner, privacy, private, probably, problem, procedure, proceed, process, processing, processor, proclaim, produce, producer, product, production, profession, professional, professor, profile, profit, program, progress, progressive, project, prominent, promise, promote, prompt, proof, proper, properly, property, proportion, proposal, propose, prosecutor, prospect, protect, protection, protein, protest, proud, prove, provide, provider, province, provision, psychological, psychology, public, publication, publicity, publish, publisher, pull, punishment, purchase, pure, purpose, pursue, push, put, qualify, quality, quarter, quarterback, quarterly, queen, quest, question, quick, quickly, quiet, quietly, quit, quite, quote, race, racial, radiation, radical, radio, rail, rain, raise, range, rank, rapid, rapidly, rare, rarely, rate, rather, rating, ratio, raw, reach, react, reaction, reader, reading, ready, real, reality, realize, really, reason, reasonable, recall, receive, recent, recently, reception, recipe, recipient, recognition, recognize, recommend, recommendation, record, recording, recover, recovery, recruit, red, reduce, reduction, refer, reference, reflect, reflection, reform, refugee, refuse, regard, regarding, regardless, regime, region, regional, register, regular, regularly, regulate, regulation, regulator, reinforce, reject, relate, relation, relationship, relative, relatively, relax, release, relevant, relief, religion, religious, rely, remain, remaining, remarkable, remember, remind, remote, remove, repeat, repeatedly, replace, replacement, reply, report, reporter, represent, representation, representative, Republican, reputation, request, require, requirement, research, researcher, resemble, reservation, resident, residential, resign, resist, resistance, resolution, resolve, resort, resource, respect, respond, response, responsibility, responsible, rest, restaurant, restore, restriction, result, retain, retire, retirement, return, reveal, revenue, review, revolution, rhythm, rice, rich, rid, ride, rifle, right, ring, rise, risk, river, road, rock, role, roll, romantic, roof, room, root, rope, rose, rough, roughly, round, route, routine, row, rub, rubber, rude, ruin, rule, run, running, rural, rush, Russian, sacred, sad, safe, safety, sake, salad, salary, sale, sales, salt, same, sample, sanction, sand, satellite, satisfaction, satisfied, satisfy, sauce, save, saving, say, scale, scandal, scare, scatter, scenario, scene, schedule, scheme, scholar, scholarship, school, science, scientific, scientist, scope, score, scream, screen, script, sea, search, season, seat, second, secondary, secret, secretary, section, sector, secure, security, see, seed, seek, seem, segment, seize, select, selection, self, sell, Senate, senator, send, senior, sense, sensitive, sentence, separate, sequence, series, serious, seriously, servant, serve, service, session, set, setting, settle, settlement, seven, several, severe, sex, sexual, shade, shadow, shake, shall, shallow, shape, share, sharp, she, sheet, shelf, shell, shelter, shift, shine, ship, shirt, shock, shoe, shoot, shooting, shop, shopping, short, shortly, shot, should, shoulder, shout, show, shower, shrug, shut, shy, sibling, sick, side, sigh, sight, sign, signal, significant, significantly, silence, silent, silver, similar, similarly, simple, simply, sin, since, sing, singer, single, sink, sir, sister, sit, site, situation, six, size, ski, skill, skin, skirt, sky, slave, sleep, slice, slide, slight, slightly, slip, slow, slowly, small, smart, smell, smile, smoke, smooth, snap, snow, so, so-called, soccer, social, society, soft, software, soil, solar, soldier, sole, solid, solution, solve, some, somebody, somehow, someone, something, sometimes, somewhat, somewhere, son, song, soon, sophisticated, sorry, sort, soul, sound, soup, source, south, southern, Soviet, space, Spanish, speak, speaker, special, specialist, species, specific, specifically, specify, speech, speed, spend, spending, spin, spirit, spiritual, split, spoil, sponsor, sport, spot, spray, spread, spring, square, squeeze, stability, stable, staff, stage, stain, stair, stake, stand, standard, standing, star, stare, start, state, statement, station, statistical, status, stay, steady, steal, steel, steep, stem, step, stick, still, stimulate, stimulus, stir, stock, stomach, stone, stop, storage, store, storm, story, straight, strange, stranger, strategic, strategy, stream, street, strength, strengthen, stress, stretch, strike, string, strip, stroke, strong, strongly, structural, structure, struggle, student, studio, study, stuff, stupid, style, subject, submit, subsequent, substance, substantial, substitute, succeed, success, successful, successfully, such, sudden, suddenly, sue, suffer, sufficient, sugar, suggest, suggestion, suicide, suit, summer, summit, sun, super, supply, support, supporter, suppose, supposed, Supreme, sure, surely, surface, surgery, surprise, surprised, surprising, surprisingly, surround, survey, survival, survive, survivor, suspect, sustain, swear, sweep, sweet, swim, swing, switch, symbol, symptom, system, table, tactic, tail, take, tale, talent, talk, tall, tank, tap, tape, target, task, taste, tax, taxi, tea, teach, teacher, teaching, team, tear, technical, technique, technology, teen, teenager, telephone, telescope, television, tell, temperature, temporary, ten, tend, tendency, tennis, tension, tent, term, terms, terrible, territory, terror, terrorist, test, testimony, testing, text, than, thank, thanks, that, the, theater, their, them, theme, themselves, then, theory, therapy, there, therefore, these, they, thick, thin, thing, think, thinking, third, thirty, this, those, though, thought, thousand, threat, threaten, three, throat, through, throughout, throw, thus, ticket, tie, tight, time, tiny, tip, tire, tissue, title, to, tobacco, today, toe, together, toilet, token, tolerate, tomato, tomorrow, tone, tongue, tonight, too, tool, tooth, top, topic, toss, total, totally, touch, tough, tour, tourist, tournament, toward, towards, tower, town, toy, trace, track, trade, tradition, traditional, traffic, tragedy, trail, train, training, transfer, transform, transformation, transition, translate, translation, transmission, transmit, transport, transportation, travel, treat, treatment, treaty, tree, tremendous, trend, trial, tribe, trick, trip, troop, trouble, truck, true, truly, trust, truth, try, tube, tunnel, turn, TV, twelve, twenty, twice, twin, two, type, typical, typically, ugly, ultimate, ultimately, unable, uncle, undergo, understand, understanding, unfortunately, uniform, union, unique, unit, United, universal, universe, university, unknown, unless, unlike, until, unusual, up, upon, upper, urban, urge, us, use, used, useful, user, usual, usually, utility, utilize, vacation, valley, valuable, value, variable, variation, variety, various, vary, vast, vegetable, vehicle, venture, version, versus, very, vessel, veteran, via, victim, victory, video, view, viewer, village, violate, violation, violence, violent, virtually, virtue, virus, visibility, visible, vision, visit, visitor, visual, vital, voice, volume, voluntary, volunteer, vote, voter, voting, wage, wait, wake, walk, wall, wander, want, war, warm, warn, warning, wash, waste, watch, water, wave, way, we, weak, weakness, wealth, wealthy, weapon, wear, weather, web, website, wedding, week, weekend, weekly, weigh, weight, welcome, welfare, well, west, western, wet, what, whatever, wheel, when, whenever, where, whereas, whether, which, while, whisper, white, who, whole, whom, whose, why, wide, widely, widespread, wife, wild, wildlife, will, willing, win, wind, window, wine, wing, winner, winter, wipe, wire, wisdom, wise, wish, with, withdraw, within, without, witness, woman, wonder, wonderful, wood, wooden, word, work, worker, working, workout, workplace, works, workshop, world, worried, worry, worth, would, wound, wrap, write, writer, writing, wrong, yard, yeah, year, yell, yellow, yes, yesterday, yet, yield, you, young, your, yours, yourself, youth, zone.

As I'm writing a speech about the negative aspects from TV firefighter shows I want to ask the professionals.

1. What is one thing that the shows do badly and what could they do to fix it?
2. In your opinion, do the TV shows have a change on the recruiting of new firefighters? Is there more or less people that want to become firefighters because of shows such as Chicago Fire, 9-1-1 etc?

I'll make sure you properly quote you in the speech. Thank you all in advance. 😊
EDIT: I thank you all for all these answers but my speech topic didn't get approved as my teacher deemed the topic as "not a real problem". 😞

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