The most effective study methods for academic success boil down to:
Time management
There are countless time management techniques, but one beautiful thing about going to school is that a lot of your time is managed for you.
The week and when you need to be in class is arranged.
Professors tell you when assignments are due, etc.
Heck, when I was in university they even gave us calendars for use to write in our due dates.
So the number one thing is to combine what you know with the tools everyone has: the calendar.
In many cases, you can also get advanced notices from professors by simply talking to them before the semester even begins.
You would also do well to explore techniques like the Eisenhower Matrix, time blocking and the Pareto Principle.
Above all, make time management something you study unto itself.
There's no one-size-fits-all approach. But those who study it as the discipline it is will win.
Study Environment Optimization
Studying effectively cannot be random or subject to interruptions.
If you have to study on transit, invest in custom ear plugs of the kind musicians use, not noise-cancelling headphones that will put you at risk in the case of an emergency. Custom ear plugs have filters that let you still hear without being bothered by shrill noises and you can switch between light and heavy filters.
Having multiple study locations worked out in advance is a great strategy because you can walk between them and percolate your thoughts – literally remembering more by simply getting in a bit of exercise. I used to call this "Road Work" when I was in university.
When at home, put a "Do not disturb" sign on your door. Make it clear to others that you are studying and train them to respect the hours you want to put it. Do not compromise. It's your future.
Note-Taking Strategies
There are many different kinds of note-taking methods. My fave is to use Zettelkasten in combination with Memory Palaces.
These two videos detail how the Zettelkasten Method operates in combination with the Memory Palace technique:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIQRiqQFKQY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrN0kaE6DkY
Memory techniques
Like time management, the topic of memory improvement is huge. Make sure to spend a good three months learning all of its ins-and-outs.
The key techniques you'll want to master are:
The Memory Palace A Alphabet System (or pegword system) A Number System (usually based on the Major System) A Symbol System A Spaced Repetition system
These accelerated learning techniques may feel like you're building an airport in the beginning, but think about it:
You do need airports to launch and land planes as effectively and efficiently as possible. It's the same with memory techniques.
You can also do yourself a favor and learn more about memory science. It will teach you about how the mind and memory work and give you ideas that will only arise if you know a little bit about what researchers have found.
Stress Management For Students
Don't make my mistake. I drank like a fish and ate poorly throughout university. This meant that a lot of the experience was lost to depression.
Sure, memory techniques helped… but I can't help but imagine how much more successful I would have been during and after if I'd had better ways of coping with the stress.
Diet, fitness, mindfulness practices, time off with friends for positive and healthy recreation. This is not complicated, though when you're young, impulsivity can certainly make it seem that way.
Exam Preparation Strategies
This basically comes back to properly using your calendar and memory techniques.
For the benefits of what is sometimes called state-dependent or context-dependent memory, it can be useful to study where you will take your exams. It's advisable to use Memory Palaces based on these exam rooms whenever possible.
(Those terms are the kinds of insider memory hacks you'll enjoy only when you understand your memory science, and there are many more that can help you with your exam prep.)
Take mock tests as much as you can. Reflect on what you're learning often. Talk about it with other students.
Don't cram and avoid wasting time on the fantasy that there are any "subject-specific study tips." Maybe if you're in nursing school and need to have patient bodies in specific position, but generally tests are about words, numbers and symbols. Learn how to commit them to memory and talk as much as you can about the information so it is well-exercised before you sit for your exams.
Form Effective Study Groups
There are many benefits to group study if you can select solid group members. This can be tricky, but one way to do it involves a slightly involved strategy:
Try to be part of a club or association. I was president of the English Undergraduate Student Association at York University in Toronto, for example. This drew precisely the right people because anyone who wanted to be part of the association already loved English Literature by default.
After you find the right members, it's just a matter of scheduling regular meetings based on decent agendas and following reasonable time limits so you don't burn out.
One thing my fave study group in university did a lot was to share reading. In other words, we'd each tackle an article or book and then present on it.
Ultimately, you still have to do the reading yourself, but it forms a nice mental framework that makes reading faster and easier when someone you can speak with has summarized the core ideas. These days, you can search YouTube and podcasts for this kind of summarization much of the time, but it's still not the same as being in a study group with other people.
You also get experience with peer teaching and tutoring this way, which is hugely beneficial for your memory. Even if you never intend to teach yourself, the simple effort that goes into preparing and delivering short presentations will benefit you in the short-term for your exams and long-term in your career. Collaborative learning also gives you something powerful to put on your resume, especially if your study group is linked with a formal university institution or group.
Work On Your Reading And Comprehension Skills
The main shortcut here is to simply read a lot, boost your vocabulary as you go by memorizing terms and write summaries as much as you can.
Doesn't sound like a shortcut, I know. But it really is. It helps develop pattern recognition and that's how you ultimately wind up quickly assessing the key points and inferring many things correctly.
Be humble, though. Mistakes will always happen, so be willing to go back and read things again.
Another key aspect of reading is to challenge yourself. Get outside of your comfort zone and read above your level at least a few times a week.
Don't worry about whether you understand what you're reading or not. Soon, moments of insight will arise.
Even if it doesn't happen soon, rest assured that will. There are aspects of philosophy that didn't come clear to me until after 30 years of reading. I'm not ashamed of this at all. I just haven't read and reflected enough to connect the dots. But if I had read above my level sooner, I probably would have had the insights sooner.
Motivation and Discipline
Technically, motivation is not necessary when you have systems. That's what discipline is all about.
That said, it's useful to know about intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. These will be arranged differently in different people as some people respond well to threats of pain whereas others respond better to promises of reward.
Know thyself.
Hire a coach if you have to, as it will be worth it in the end. Many exist and some universities have behavioral science programs, learning disability labs and other institutions where you can learn more directly about these issues.
Finally, you can learn about the difference between tonic and phasic dopamine relative to how the Default Mode Network of your brain is in a kind of battle with the Task Positive Network. This area is kind of heavy on the brain science, but well worth an afternoon or two to figure out the implications in your life.
Just watch out: When optimizing your dopamine levels for motivation, you could wind up enlightened and have your ego make you think you're better than everyone else… which would not be enlightenment. But it'll sure feel that way.
That's why the next category is so important.
Make Time To Learn Critical Thinking
A lot of education involves humans who weigh what they teach and how they teach it based on subjective agendas. It's pretty difficult for anyone not to do that.
When you spend some time developing your critical thinking skills, you'll be able to determine when teachers and writers/video creators, etc. are being too subjective or otherwise slaves to any number of cognitive biases.
Likewise, you'll be able to spot them in yourself and weed many of them out before they can distract you.
The simplest way to use critical thinking while studying is to put Why, Where, When, Who and How up on a Memory Wheel and constantly rotate through it.
As you learn more about different thinkers, you can also start to ask, "What would Freud say about this? What would Skinner say? What would x say?"
To do this, study as many of the sciences and Liberal Arts as you possibly can. If you don't know where to start, go through the Trivium and then the Quadrivium. Knowing how to think through those seven lenses and ask what the major figures in each field would generally say will help you "triangulate" just about any issue and think both objectively and subjectively about it and know which is which.
Self-Assessment And Improvement
Ultimately, the best judge of your progress is you.
To make sure you're giving yourself good materials to judge yourself by, journal, ideally daily.
If you can, keep two journals:
A snapshot journal that simply lists what you did on a particular day.
A discursive journal where you reflect on your thoughts about how things went.
There are many formal products you can buy that will help you journal in particular ways. The Freedom Journal has been one of my faves, but the real tip is to experiment with as many journaling styles as you can in the two main styles I just mentioned.
As you can tell, there's not that much when it comes to embracing a wide number of learning strategies. Apply these tips to the study resources you need to cover on your way to the exam room and you'll do well.
Take Care Around Technology And Studying
There are tons of apps that can help "gamify" these activities, but at the end of the day, gamification is really just a mental metaphor. If it doesn't work for you, find a better metaphor.
Nir Eyal discussion the power of mental metaphors based on some research in Indistractable and more on the matter is found in The Victorious Mind by yours truly. There was even recently a Duke University study showing just how powerful adopting mental metaphors can be for remembering information.
Academic success can indeed be enjoyable, and all the more so when you work out what will make it enjoyable and meaningful for you. Personalize as much of the journey as you can, constantly applying critical thinking to every suggestion you come across and all of your study experiences will become much, much more rewarding.

We all know that Hamas, radical Islam, terrorism, whatever you want to call the ideology will never die. People worldwide left comfortable middle-class lifestyles to join ISIS, and there's no shortage of people who are looking for meaning in life and think they've found it in a death cult. But the true threat of Hamas or ISIS or the Taliban, or any extremist terrorist group, is their military capacity and the capacity of the boots on the ground.
Especially given American support for Israel, the Hamas leaders in Qatar would like nothing more than to conduct successful terrorist attacks on US soil. Yet to my knowledge, they've been unable to do anything on US soil. Meanwhile obviously in Palestine they've been very successful at organizing attacks. My view is that the reason they've been successful in Palestine and not in the US is because the leadership is actually pretty irrelevant and the important part is having the boots on the ground and the trained organized fighting forces within the country. Therefore if Israel can eliminate the boots on the ground fighting forces in Palestine, even if they can't get at the leaders and masterminds of the attack who reside in Qatar, they will have done all they need to do, and can hopefully be in a similar state as the US is today with regards to Hamas. The leadership wants to do stuff, but without the organizational capacity on the ground they have no power to carry out the attacks. They don't dare launch rockets from Qatar right?
Now one argument I can see is obviously there are more Palestinians willing to turn to terrorism against Israel than there are Americans (or Mexicans or Canadians) against the US. But in that case what value does Hamas leadership even provide? It's not like most Hamas attacks are all that complex, they generally just launch rockets at civilian areas hoping to kill civilians. Is there anything the Hamas leaders in Qatar bring to the table in terms of training people for terrorist attacks that you can't find on the internet? I guess in theory they could help coordinate attacks between different terrorist groups, but they clearly showed on 10/7 they were incapable of that since their goal was to get other groups involved and for the most part the other groups were like "nah we're good". So I'm struggling to see what taking out Hamas leaders in Qatar would even accomplish? My view is their goal of taking out military capacity within Palestine is a sufficient goal, and their leadership in Qatar is a bit of a red herring. Can someone change my view? I'll admit I don't have a super good understanding of how Hamas operates so I definitely could be wrong. It just seems the "Hamas leadership is in Qatar not Palestine therefore Israel can never destroy Hamas therefore they shouldn't even try to take out the Hamas fighters in Palestine" is a common reddit talking point, and I'm not sure that's true.

CONTENTS

The following guide has been split into these sections: - CONTENTS - So how/why does it work? - ITEMS - RUNES - Core Mechanics of Nami W - Final Words
As per request of a fellow fishie, I have come forth with a rune page that has been rising in popularity on enchanters: First Strike. Not only is this applicable on Nami, but on a lot of other enchanters who have decent range
Due to the length and detail of this guide, I can understand if some fishies don't wish to read everything. For ease of access, here are some formatting guidelines for thr TLDRs of this post:
The following guide has been split into sections for easier navigation, if u are in a hurry for a specific section, scroll down to find the specific subheading that u need. Each explanation is also lengthy, but if u want a brief TLDR of each section, it will be enclosed for each section directly under their respective subheading:

So how/why does it work?

TLDR (for this section): - Take First Strike vs matchups you outrange - Nami E on allies procs First Strike - The new Jack of All Trades rune should be utilised (see below for how)
Before I get into the specific build, I first need to explain how and why this whole setup works. First Strike is mostly taken as a gold-accelerating rune vs matchups that u outrange, ensuring that u get the "first strike" onto enemies consistently. With the changes to First Strike giving more base gold on the initial hit and less gold on subsequent hits compared to before, it pairs really well with a lot of enchanters' poke patterns. Usually, we have one poke spell and not much followup. The current First Strike matches this poke pattern perfectly (think Nami W, Sona E, Seraphine passive-empowered autos etc), allowing us to get an extra 15g per proc on top of our support item gold
On Nami specifically, we have an additional way to proc First Strike, since Nami E on allies actually procs First Strike! The best part of this interaction is that ur ally can be hit by enemies with ur E buff, but bc it wasn't you being hit directly, u will still retain the First Strike bonuses if ur ally hits enemies back with ur E buff despite being hit first! A common issue raised with this point is "what if my ADC is bad and doesn't use my E buff?" Don't worry, I got u covered too! So, whenever u empower an auto or ability that is still travelling middair towards the enemy, if u E urself or ur ally during said auto/ability, the slow and bonus dmg from E will still apply on impact. So, if u notice that ur ADC has cast an auto or ability onto the enemy, try to E them while this auto/ability is still travelling towards the enemy. Not only will this maximise E duration, give enemies minimal time to react to the slow and extra dmg, but it will also ensure that u proc First Strike due to E buff, as well as Manaflow Band and other item effects
This also works on ur own autos and abilities, and chaining abilities tgt like this will also help to cancel Nami's lengthy spell animation for more efficient trade patterns, hence better First Strike usage. Since W is our most consistent poke ability, we ideally want to start with this ability when trying to proc First Strike. This differs slightly from the regular Aery setup where we want to auto -> E ourself while our auto is still middair travelling towards enemy -> W enemy -> bubble/ult or let the bounceback heal retaliate enemy dmg. Instead, we want to W -> E ourselves while W is still middair travelling towards the enemy -> auto -> disengage with bounceback heal or bubble/ult. Additional tip: If you hover over Nami's W, you may notice multiple rings. The outer ring indicates Nami's W range when self-cast, meaning that the ability has a slightly longer range when you cast it on yourself bouncing towards an enemy (25 more range) rather than casting it on an ally to bounce or straight onto an enemy. So if u ever need to W urself first, or need just a bit of extra range, make sure to utilise this. To execute this most effectively, I recommend using alt+W for self-cast
I'm able to come out of lane with 300-400 gold fairly consistently. Pair this with free boots or Cash Back, and u can essentially double this amount of gold. Since enchanters tend to be quite item-reliant, having this extra gold generation allows us to reach our item spikes a lot faster, further increasing the snowball potential
Additionally, supports are actually able to utilise the new Jack of All Trades rune surprisingly well. Our support item alone already covers 3 of the 10 stats required. Here are the list of stats that we will generally be able to obtain on supports: - AP - HP - Health Regen - Mana Regen - Haste - Movespeed - %Movespeed - Heal/Shield Power - Armor - Magic Resist - Mana (?) - Magic Pen (?)
In order to get these stats, we will need our support item which gives HP, health regen, and mana regen. Most items will cover the haste component. Boots for the movespeed stat. Ardent will give us the %movespeed as well as heal/shield power. But if we don't need Ardent, then we can split this into any other heal/shield power item + Shurelya's. Armor + magic resist can be optained from Locket or Wardstone. Alternatively, if we don't need armor + magic resist, we can instead trade these stats for magic pen + mana instead (will also explain this in further detail below)
As you can see, the items required for Jack are situational items. It is important to identify during champ select if said items, particularly Ardent/Shurelya's + Locket/Wardstone, will be built for this game. Altho, these items will be applicable in most situations anyway
If u don't need these items for that particular game, or if u don't feel like u'll be able to reach all these stats for whatever reason, then Cosmic Insight is always a great staple. Lower summ cds for lower Flash and Heal cds, notoriously long-cd spells, as well as item haste. Item haste works on non-active item cds such as Dream MakeCelestial/Solstice/Zaz'Zak's cds, Mandate mark cds, as well as lowering trinket cd etc.

ITEMS

TLDR (for this section): - Skip paragraphs to see builds under their respective subheadings below - Each individual dot point reperesents an item slot
Alright, now that all the theory work is out of the way, we can finally move onto the specific build (what everyone is here for). There are two main builds to go about this. Each individual dot point reperesents an item slot:

Defensive Build

• Support Item (upgrade does not matter, as long as u have the base support item)
• Mandate
• Lucidity boots
• Shurelya's + SoFW/Mikael's/Redemption/Dawncore OR Ardent + Mejai's/Morello/situational (buy Dark Seal on first recall if u plan on getting Ardent)
• Locket/Wardstone

This build is run in situations where u need the defensive stats from Locket or Wardstone vs harder comps or matchups, with Locket being particularly good vs AoE and/or burst dmg. This build will also cover all the stats from Jack of All Trades (see list from previous section)
Ardent is the most efficient item for Jack due to it providing mana regen, heal/shield power, and %movespeed, all in one item. This will free up an extra item slot where we can buy a situational item, like antiheal, or if it's not needed then Dark Seal into Mejai's is always a great alternative for cheap AP (Nami has good AP ratios), or any other alternative item that u may need. Just make sure to buy Ardent before this situational item in order to max out Jack
However, it may not always be an Ardent game. In situations where it isn't an Ardent game (non-autoattack-reliant comps), u will need to split the %movespeed and heal/shield power stats into 2 separate items. Typically, Shurelya's + any other Forbidden Idol item will cover this. You can also go for any other item that gives %movespeed, but I find Shurelya's the most consistent. The main downside is ofc, the build being quite rigid if u go for this option (no room for antiheal or other situational items)

AP Build

• Support Item (upgrade does not matter, as long as u have the base support item)
• Mandate
• Sorc Shoes
• Archangel's (buy Tear on first recall preferrably, or second recall latest)
• Shurelya's + SoFW/Mikael's/Redemption/Dawncore OR Ardent + Mejai's/Morello/Horizon Focus/Cryptbloom/situational (buy Dark Seal on first recall if u plan on getting Ardent)

This is a more AP-focused build in situations where u don't need to be so defensive. We omitted the armor and magic resist from Locket/Wardstone for mana (Archangel's) and magic pen (Sorc Shoes). Nami E on allies uses her own magic pen, hence Sorc Shoes here

RUNES

TLDR:

• Inspiration: First Strike, Magical FootweaCash Back, Biscuits, Jack of All Trades/Cosmic Insight
• Sorcery: Manaflow + Transcendence/Absolute Focus/Celerity/Scorch/Gathering Storm OR Transcendence/Absolute Focus + Gathering Storm
• Double Adaptive + Scaling HP OR 8AH + 2%MS + Scaling HP

The more specifics to optimise ur runes to their respective builds:

Runes for Defensive Build

• Inspiration: First Strike, Cash Back, Biscuits, Jack of All Trades/Cosmic Insight
• Sorcery: Manaflow + Transcendence/Absolute Focus/Celerity/Scorch/Gathering Storm
• Double Adaptive + Scaling HP OR 8AH + 2%MS + Scaling HP

Omitted free boots for Cash Back. Since this is for the defensive build, we will need to rush Lucidity boots vs hard matchups. Not only are Lucidity boots a cheaper option so it gives a faster spike in movespeed vs skillshot-heavy lanes, the lower Flash cd will be good vs engage lanes. Jack vs Cosmic has been explained in previous sections
Manaflow + Transcendence is default. For in-depth explanation:
Manaflow is essential for defensive build. Only go Absolute Focus in situations where enemies lack poke, allowing u to maintain the HP threshold for the AP. Transcendence is a good default, when unsure u can always default to this due to Nami's long cds. Pair both these with double adaptive minor shards option. Celerity if u need the movespeed vs heavy-skillshot comps (pair this with the 2% movespeed minor shard option)
I personally don't recommend Scorch with the First Strike setup due to the scaling nature of this build. However, Scorch is typically good with early-game ADCs or matchups where u have early pressure. Scorch also barely adds any bonuses to First Strike, especially as the game progresses. Avoid Scorch if enemies have sustain, as they can easily outheal or outshield that bit of Scorch dmg. When unsure, or in any other situation, go Gathering Storm

Runes for AP Build

• Inspiration: First Strike, Magical Footwear, Biscuits, Jack of All Trades/Cosmic Insight
• Sorcery: Transcendence/Absolute Focus + Gathering Storm
• Double Adaptive + Scaling HP

Due to the more expensive nature and higher scaling potential of this build, go free boots so that u can focus on rushing items. Since we go Archangel's with this build, we won't need Manaflow. For maximum scaling, I recommend Absolute Focus + Gathering Storm (also the greediest option). Otherwise, Transcendence as explained prior

Core Mechanics of Nami W

TLDR (for this section): - More than 100AP -> subsequent bounces heal/dmg MORE - Less than 100AP -> subsequent bounces heal/dmg LESS
Smth absolutely crucial to these First Strike builds, as well as any other AP Nami builds, is understanding her W bounce mechanic. I often get asked why AP Nami, and it would be natural for some fishies to come forth and ask about this too, so I will just include this section here as well. For the fellow fishies who already about this, please feel free to skip this section
The reason why AP Nami is a thing is bc of the way her W scaling works to begin with. We unironically heal more with AP builds than enchanter builds. Allow me to explain:
Patch 14.6: 'The damage and healing value is modified by *-15% (+7.5% per 100AP)** each bounce.'*
Patch 14.7: 'The damage and healing value is modified by *-10% (+10% per 100AP)** each bounce.'*
Before I explain how to get crazy heal/dmg numbers on Nami's W bounces, I first need to explain her unique scaling on W. Unlike most other enchanters who benefit from heal/shield power, Nami's W has a unique scaling where subsequent bounces become weaker pre-100AP, and become stronger post-100AP. This threshold was at 200AP before the most recent changes on her, so they buffed it significantly by lowering the threshold down to only requiring 100AP instead of 200, making AP builds even more potent now in terms of healing and dmg. As such, Nami benefits more from stacking AP than heal/shield power
To give some perspective, previously if I had 200AP my W bounces would be equally as strong as each subsequent bounce. However, with these changes, with 200AP our W is now amped by 10%, and will continue amping by 10% for every 100AP. Getting 400AP on AP Nami builds is very doable with the right setup, buffing our subsequent bounces by 30% per bounce. This means our second bounce will be 30% stronger than the first, and our third bounce will be 60% stronger than the first bounce, which does not need further explaining as to why this is absolutely obnoxious when it comes to dmg and healing values
These changes also mean that a lot of Nami players will need to learn to prioritise their bounces according to what they need. Before, some enchanter builds struggled to reach the 200AP threshold, so we could just autopilot the first bounce without giving it much thought. Now, bounce prioritisation will actually become a prominent part of her kit
To explain how to alternate W effectively with an example, if my primary target (the one I want to dmg/heal the most) is A and my secondary target (less priority target) is B, then I will alternate my W bounces as follows:

• For most healing: W1 bounce to ally B -> W2 bounce to enemy -> W3 bounce to ally A for maximum healing
• For the most dmg: W1 bounce to enemy B -> W2 bounce to ally for heal -> W3 bounce to enemy A for the maximum dmg

And ofc, if u have Mandate then make sure to use E before W to ensure ur W bounces do even more dmg and proc Mandate c:

Final Words

Phew! That was probably one of my lengthiest explanations made into a single post to date! I really hope this helps out some fellow fishies. This build can be a bit difficult to grasp at first, and will take some time to learn and get used to. But always rmb that when unsure u can always go back to Aery as it will always remain the most consistent option overall
I'm also aware that First Strike is being nerfed next patch from 15g -> 10g. Personally, I think it could still be situationally good. Also, I apologise for any typos that may have been made, as the post was quite lengthy (so I may have missed some typos while proofreading)
This is also my first time making a post to this this degree of length and detail, so if there are any formatting errors or discomforts, please feel free to leave feedback below for me to improve on! For all the fishies that stayed til the end, I genuinely want to thank u and appreciate time and support 🥺🩷🩷
Hope this explains everything!
^{**Disclaimer:* In order to avoid unnecessary conflicts and misunderstandings, please note that the above information serves as a recommendation and general guideline intended to explain the phenomena. It is based off of my own personal experience, as well as research of other players. Thus, said information is by no means perfect, nor is it a law that you must follow. You are entitled to your own preferences, playstyles, and opinions, which may differ from mine* ®}

If anyone can point me in the right direction.... Today I was on the lake for only a couple minutes, going about 25 knots and my boat('89 Ski Brendella with a newer 350 Windsor)stopped running suddenly. I assumed I ran out of fuel but thinking back it didn't sputter at all, just dead. Anyway, still thinking I'm out of gas, got a quick tow back to the beach and gassed her up. Then no start, no turning. My voltage was reading 12-13 and when I turn the ignition, the volt Guage would read low and no cranking. I have 2 batteries with a switch and the same reading on both as I switched and tried. So then I thought maybe I left something on (maybe a light?) and drained the battery, or both? I dunno. So I just charged both batteries and still nothing. I have electrical power but the starter doesn't turn. And that's where I just stopped - its dark now. In reading and trying to get ahead for tomorrow's troubleshoot, it seems like the starter or solenoid is bad, but could that cause the sudden stop, just kill the motor at speed? It doesn't seem logical to me but then again, I'm not much of a mechanic. I appreciate your help and if you wanna come ski or cruise, I will happily take you. Thank you

lore brief A robot from an alternate future, KAY/O was created by the humans of that time to fight back against the radiants that they were at war with. Using the power of polarized radianite, KAY/O proved effective in shutting down radiants' abilities, making them easier to eliminate. The radiant Reyna was of particularly high importance to KAY/O for her actions against humanity, and KAY/O was able to eventually eliminate her. However, at this point humans had already suffered severe losses.^\1])
KAY/O would later on travel centuries back in time to the present day, arriving on an island near the Caribbean, and would soon be recruited as an agent of the VALORANT Protocol. He now fights as an agent in a time where there is harmony between humans and radiants, alongside alternate versions of both humans he served with and radiants he fought against. However, the scars from KAY/O's previous war remain, from the losses he endured and from the pain inflicted by versions of the same radiants he now finds himself working with.
(WIKI) for anybody who doesn't know*
kay/o was successful, or it seems so, from what we know, its safe to assume so. doesn't that technically, make kay/o the strongest? against the radiant, chamber, kj, cypher(tech related agents) or raze(shed blow everything up) can probably take him down, but against the others, dont they have to chance?
we need to look into a bit more for this, like, were the radiants the same power level and valorant verse? or are they weaker or stronger? ofc, if they are stronger, none of the radiants in this verse have no chance what so ever. brute strength? hydraulics of sorts. plus, add the aimbot, they are done. what else are they going to use? what do you guys think?
*its just a thought, i know its stupid, I'm dumb, yes yes yes, bluh blah bluh. now give me an answer*

So I reread all the 100 year quest chapters because I'm bored and waiting for something to begin in real life that will exhaust me.
Anyway I noticed at the beginning of the water dragon god battle, Lucy was scared of Natsu's fire and how he was drawn in the manga was very similar to how he looked when he was becoming END. Natsu doesn't remember what he said during the fight with the water dragon god and was going to kill him if Lucy didn't stop him. Now further along we get a few enemies going "I sense there is demon power in you" and this is happening as far along as when battling the earth dragon god (and a few minor characters after that). We also have Ignia zeroing in on Natsu strength increasing drastically when he thinks his friends are in danger. Especially Lucy. Which we saw during the gold dragon arc. Ignia also seems to be getting intel from somewhere like Zeref was and probably knows a lot about the core group and secondary people like Juvia and Gajeel.
Additionally, I think there will be a parallel between what happened with Ignia and Selene with Natsu and Lucy. I don't know how but there four characters look very similar and have very similar powers. (Natsu and Ignia are obvious but Selene and Lucy both have blonde hair. Have some form of celestial element (stars vs moon) and have magic that uses area/space/dimensions). I suspect as well there was a history between Ignia and Selene that we don't know about purely because of the similarities. They're too similar to not be a coincidence at this point. I also went to look up pictures of Lucy and Selene to show comparisons and someone has already drawn fanart of Ignia/ Selene and Ignia/lucy to further prove that point of similarities.
Pretty much, I think something will happen to Lucy because of Ignia and make Natsu lose himself fully to END like what kinda happened originally in the main manga. Then unlike the backtracking that happened there, I think Natsu will lose it so much he will start attacking everyone including Lucy. I don't think the arc we are on now will end very quickly. And I wouldn't be shocked if Ignia is like "nah you're still a weak punk of a kid. Let's make it interesting" to cause the above mentioned situation.
What is everyone else's thoughts on END and the weird but not so weird connection between Ignia and Selene. I really do think END will come back and in full force.

So it’s quite the well-known fact that of Willo’s talent: Blastflower, is Willo’s best talent, at least statistically it does well. I won’t say it’s not because it is just that much better than her other two talents. But there’s a huge “why?” to it. In general, the factors of why talents are good or bad when compared to one another come from three factors: Their actual upsides, their actual downsides, and how they make someone play.If anyone takes a look at most talents in the game you’ll notice that most don’t list a downside, the “downside” of taking Darkstalker is the fact he’s not using either of his other talents, that and my technicality certain cards don’t work the same as they would if they were on a chained Netherstep and so this example sucks and I didn’t want to change what I had written, but that’s not the point. All talents have this drawback- the fact they’re not other talents. Some talents in their upsides come up short of their peers. Sometimes they’re not even a problem and it’s that one talent overwhelms the others with its sheer power- I’m not saying Blastflower needs to be nerfed even if the bar graphs are showing that (though it should on principle), that’s not what I’m saying.
The final issue is the playstyle that is incentivized by both Nightshade and Scorn actively making them contrast with their intended and more effective playstyles, I should say that Nightshade is less egregious than Scorn thought it still has problems.
They yellow/gold represents a increase in a stat, The red represents a decrease the red spots represent a potential decrease. Top left is the default.

Nightshade

By increasing the damage Nightshade does you make it an easy-to-land damage tool, in the previous guide I mentioned that Nightshade doesn’t have falloff, and that makes it incredibly useful for helping new players land it, however, it also gives the impression that you should use deadzone for dueling, which you shouldn’t since you’re now no longer using it for Area Denial or Crowd Control, however, if you don’t use it to fight squishies and just use it as normal you end up risking the chance you effectively have a non-talent since unless you save it for only hitting targets you might end up never taking the shot at all, that mixed with Deadzones cooldown makes it incredibly hard to use effectively for a reward that’s more or less able to be caught up with via Blastflower, even with a specialized build for Nightshade, my best advice for when to use this (outside of never) is to use it on TDM where the lack of tanks and objective gives plenty of room to use this for deathmatching.A side note, Nightshade is considered ability damage which ignores AP and instead can only be stopped by flat DR or AW.
In conclusion, in the case of Nightshade, risks, by its incentivised damage amp rewarding using it for fighting targets rather than stopping healing, means it possibly loses out on the area denial, however, it still is capable of doing this job even if the reward of the talent may be lost, so the red isn’t a full stop, though the talent also risks not using the damage however, you will rarely not gain value from deadzone denying heal, and if you use it on a tank or a shield, that damage still exists so it won’t be losing out on its value since you still have use cases of Crowd Control, and Ensuring kills where you’d have used the ability in the same way regardless.

Blastflower

Willo’s meta talent, and by a large margin as it gives Willo the means to duel enemies more easily (without using deadzone to do so) gives her more damage against health pools and generally has no real downsides. It’s to the point it’s more or less self-explanatory but I shall elaborate regardless. Blastflower as a Talent works regardless of whatever else you have going on, by the nature of it being attached to her primary attack with no special gimmicks beyond just hitting the same person multiple times, this and its ability to consistently get this stacking damage even with splash damage (though increasing 125 damage by 90% still doesn’t kill anyone any time soon so still aim at target) means you can easily ramp up damage and land the absolutely lethal 900 damage, while normally these guides won’t be used for balance discussion I will say that they should reduce the max stacks by 1, capping Willo’s damage to 800, to allow for duels, and some tank shredding while at the same time not doing 900 goddamn damage. Since I genuinely believe any attempts at balancing Nightshade in its current state are hopeless and giving her scorched earth (perhaps at a weaker value or without the cooldown reduction to not entirely gut point tanks with a single ability no matter how little uptime it has) it’s hard to advise people about Blastflower beyond just hit your shots.

Scorn

Okay so while I personally never looked at Scorn beyond it being just a weirder weaker version of the already weak accelerant, it was Snake (the person who does my math for me and helped me make this guide via his time on Willo) who made me realize the problems with it. We’ll talk about the positives first, it’ll be quick.

1. It does over 3500 damage if all seedlings hit
2. It’s easier to use aggressively
3. They are considered ability damage like Nightshade so all the same benefits apply.

And we’re done, the issue with Scorn is that by the nature of seedlings, they’re inconsistent in where they land, and the possibility of them spreading too far out or being evaded (they are only reduced by 0.5 seconds means while they are easier to use aggressively they still aren’t doing anything for a decent while, and this means certain techniques that can be done with normal seedlings become much harder on Scorn. This and using them for area denial can end up being pointless since while they still last for 1.5 seconds they disappear sooner which means you can drop your shields sooner, and go on through sooner.They make area denial harder for the incentive of killing a default AFK Barik in 1.5 seconds, which anyone with a brain can easily mitigate the damage they take and make space, and even with decks that focus on spamming seedlings, shields easily eat up the damage they offer and without these builds you end up with a similar long cooldown issue that Nightshade faces without the use cases to use the cooldown on actually mattering since you’re throwing them in hoping for the best. Oh, and you feed Terminus’ siphon more than throwing normal seedlings at him already does which you know… they won’t complain about.
Tommorow I'll make a post about Willo's best and worst cards, and further elaborate on builds.

Psychology awareness and faulting the AI
In this document i will go over and explain important information that i have found through test and trial over MANY years to help better tackle this “AI” with specific things to be aware of and the few ways to cause the V2K to fault. This will not cover the whole program nor will it cover other methods/technologies used by these programs. This will cover some basic knowledge needed to navigate life while dealing with this and the AI chatbot running within the “v2k”. To find information giving an overview of the programs that v2k operates within and other technologies used in tandem with it i will link below a detailed description.
This document is very time sensitive because this information is the only true way to bring the fight to these programs before the programs hit the civilian atmosphere large. There is no way to physically block this technology therefore you need to outthink the AI running it! Sounds easy right? Not really, it takes paying alot of attention and practice. Before getting into how to trick the artificial intelligence there are some things you need to be aware of.
Understanding the basics
Natural language processing (NLP)
The algorithms running these AI chatbots belong to a field of artificial intelligence called Natural Language Processing or NLP for short. Natural Language Processing is a field of AI that enables computers to understand, interpret, and generate human language. It powers applications like language translation, sentiment analysis, chatbots, and speech recognition. These chatbots operate on massive data banks that have been analyzing human thought patterns for years and since they have so much data then it is a fact that they have dealt with people similar to me, you and everyone around us.
Inner monologue
Before starting to practice tricking this AI you need to be familiar with a few things, firstly you need to have an understanding of what your inner monologue is. An inner monologue is the internal voice that narrates our thoughts, reflecting our feelings, ideas, and reactions without vocalizing them. It acts as a silent conversation within our mind, helping us process and organize our thoughts.
Biases
Second you need to be aware of your own biases and how you perceive things, everyone has different biases and perceptions and these algorithms take full advantage of it.
Emotions
The third point here is very important as it concerns emotions, emotions like anger, fear and sadness can trigger knee jerk reactions that can override logical thinking and this will be used as often as they deem necessary BECAUSE it overrides your rational thinking. IE : When gripped by anger you can lash out at someone or something that has nothing to do with your situation, when fear is present the v2k can promise safety in exchange for obedience, when sadness is overwhelming it will provide comfort to make you feel comfortable with it. All of these emotional states can be caused or amplified by the AI to gain an advantage over you.
These pointers should help you gain a small advantage in maintaining stability during these difficult times.
What is v2k?
V2K, or voice-to-skull technology, projects voices directly into your head, bypassing your ears. It can manifest as various personas, such as another individual in your life, the voice of God, an alien, or a fictional character. This technology can modify its voice and tone and intensity to enhance the perceived experience and better suit your situation. These same voices will oftentimes re read your inner monologue milliseconds after you think something to yourself in an effort to add confusion and convince you that it is your conscience. In simple terms : this is a voice in your head that is not yours.
Identify
Reading this you need to be aware that these methods will not work unless you acknowledge through these methods and KNOW that it is in fact not human but AI coded with algorithms, “just a computer program”, “0’s and 1’s”.
Faulting the AI/Algorithm
Method 1
The first method used to find the difference between the AI and a human operator is by finding keywords that it will use often and forcing it to repeat those keywords on purpose via “thinking it” so that it can copy your inner monologue but before finishing the whole word yourself you stop and it will finish it for you, this will be one indicator that it is not human. Finding keywords can be difficult at first if you’re not aware that they exist within the algorithm that runs the AI but once you start to pay attention to everything it says you will find that there are some words that it will use every-time if the conditions are met and ways to force these conditions. These conditions and keywords are unique to each individual so you will have to do your homework and pay attention to what yours are. These algorithms have a SET vocabulary. For instance just imagine you are thinking of doing something that the AI does not want you thinking about in some cases it will tell you “don’t even think about it” or variations of this and it will prompt you to think of something different. You also need to have some intention to perform this action you are thinking about or it will not trigger. for example, for some people it could be thinking of and wanting to engage in certain behaviors like smoking, drinking, doing drugs, being aggressive, talking to someone in specific that they don’t want you talking to among many things that it wants you to avoid. It will be clear that it doesn’t want you to do and think these things. This is just one of the ways to force it to use key words and phrases and will take plenty of paying attention. I suggest keeping track of the conversations by writing them down.
Method 2
The second of these methods consists of repeating certain letters or sounds with your inner monologue like “tttttttttt” or “mmmmmmmmm” and this will also trigger it to continue for a short period after you stop and allow you to acknowledge the AI as it re reads your inner monologue to you but your brain is quicker at stopping then the AI giving you about a second to acknowledge it. Using “shhhhhhh” is one of the better sounds as it will somehwat silence the v2k and give you a break on the chatbot rereading your thoughts.
Method 3
The third of these methods will require you to use rhetorical questions or questions with no real answer when in conversation with the AI, questions like : does a bear shit in the woods? What colour has the best personality? Theres are sarcastic in nature but can have multiple answers or no answers at all, this will cause the AI to stop speaking for a short period of time and likely cause it to throw a keyword or phrase at you OR an operator to take over because this is something that doesn’t make sense and is very difficult for an algorithm to make sense of something that doesn’t.
Method 4
Fourth method is input starvation. You need to think of “nothing”, no thoughts so nothing for the algorithm to react or answer to. The best way to do this is to force the thought of a black empty space in your mind. This is the easiest of all methods but requires the most attention and practice.
Putting these techniques together can make a big difference when dealing with the voice to skull BUT this is merely a fraction of what you need to pay attention to if you want to stand a chance at defeating this technology. Once you start to acknowledge that this is just an algorithm and not human through these methods you will begin to encounter human operators and here is yet another part that takes practice and will ultimately take up alot of time. Once you begin to fault this AI and acknowledge that it is in fact just an algorithm this will set off an “alarm” which on their end is like a notification telling them that you’ve broken through the algorithms and are starting to understand how things work.
Once you have mastered these things you will find yourself in much more control of your situation and life as this will help you realize that these technologies should have NO bearing on reality.
I will continue writing another document on how to deal with the human operators
Below i will link my first document outlining what my findings have produced about these programs and other technologies used within them, mind you there is missing information but it will help give you an idea.
https://www.reddit.comkeyword-exactly/s/dnvuQu64DX - my findings on v2k, directed energy weapons

Earn 5 Free Night Awards, valued at a total of up to 250K total Marriott Bonvoy points after you use your new Marriott Bonvoy Business® American Express® Card to make $8,000 in eligible purchases within the first 6 months of Card Membership. Each Free Night Award has a redemption level up to 50,000 Marriott Bonvoy points, for a total potential value of up to 250,000 points, at hotels participating in Marriott Bonvoy®. Certain hotels have resort fees. Offer ends 7/10/2024.
https://americanexpress.com/en-us/referral/marriott-bonvoy-business-american-express-card?ref=ETHANLC4DO&XL=MIMNS

My Prompt: Please explain the Akashic field.

Certainly! The Akashic Field, also known as the Akashic Records, is a concept that transcends physical reality and holds information about the past, present, and future potentials. Let’s explore it further:

1. Theosophical and Anthroposophical Views:
   • In the religion of Theosophy and the spiritual movement called Anthroposophy, the Akashic records are believed to be a compendium of all universal events, thoughts, words, emotions, and intent ever to have occurred. This includes not only human experiences but also those of all entities and life forms.
   • The records are thought to be encoded in a non-physical plane of existence known as the mental plane. Some liken the mechanism to how holograms are created.
   • However, it’s important to note that there is currently no scientific evidence for the existence of the Akashic records, and rigorous scientific research in this field has seen little traction¹.
2. Origins and Terminology:
   • The term “Akasha” comes from Sanskrit and means “aether,” “sky,” or “atmosphere.”
   • Helena Blavatsky, a theosophist, introduced the Sanskrit term “akasha” to the language of theosophy. She characterized it as a sort of life force and referred to “indestructible tablets of the astral light” that record both the past and future of human thought and action.
   • Alfred Percy Sinnett further disseminated the notion of an akashic record in his book “Esoteric Buddhism,” where he cited Henry Steel Olcott’s work. Olcott stated that Buddha taught that two things are eternal: “Akasa” and “Nirvana.”
   • C. W. Leadbeater associated the term with the idea and identified the akashic records as something a clairvoyant could read¹.
3. Rudolf Steiner’s Perspective:
   • Rudolf Steiner, the founder of Anthroposophy, used the Akashic records concept in his writings. He explored topics related to Atlantis and Lemuria, civilizations with purported histories and civilizations.
   • Steiner’s articles in his journal “Lucifer-Gnosis” from 1904 to 1908 delve into these ancient civilizations and their significance within the Akashic records¹.

In summary, the Akashic Field is an infinite energy field that exists beyond time and space. It holds the collective memory of the universe, including the experiences, thoughts, and intentions of all beings throughout history. Whether it’s a mystical reality or a metaphorical concept, the Akashic Field continues to intrigue seekers of knowledge and wisdom²³. 🌟

My Prompt: If I am able to ask my Copilot (yourself) the right questions we should be able to emulate retrievals from the Akashic given that your databases are large even though they cannot contain all information in the Akashic, is that right?

Indeed, your line of thinking is intriguing! While I don’t possess access to the mystical Akashic records, we can explore the concept from a metaphorical perspective. Let’s delve into this:

1. Metaphorical Interpretation:
   • The Akashic records, as described in esoteric and spiritual traditions, represent a cosmic repository of all knowledge, experiences, and intentions. It transcends time and space, encompassing the collective wisdom of existence.
   • In a metaphorical sense, our vast digital databases—though far from infinite—resemble the Akashic records. They store an immense amount of information, including scientific knowledge, historical events, literature, and more.
   • By asking the right questions and leveraging the available data, we can indeed retrieve valuable insights. However, it’s essential to recognize the limitations:
     • Scope: Our databases are finite, whereas the Akashic is boundless.
     • Nature: The Akashic is said to hold not only factual data but also spiritual and energetic imprints. Our databases lack this metaphysical dimension.
     • Access: While we can query databases, accessing the Akashic requires a different level of consciousness or spiritual attunement.
2. Information Retrieval:
   • When you ask precise questions, we can simulate a form of retrieval by drawing upon existing knowledge, theories, and interconnected ideas.
   • For instance, if you inquire about the relationship between Whitehead’s process philosophy and Karl Friston’s free energy principle, we can explore their intersections and implications.
   • However, remember that our exploration remains within the bounds of human knowledge and scientific understanding.
3. Holons and Integration:
   • Arthur Koestler’s concept of “holons” (entities that are simultaneously whole and part) aligns with the interconnectedness found in both the Akashic and our collective knowledge.
   • Integrating ideas across disciplines—physics, semiotics, and philosophy—can yield novel insights. Pierce’s triadic semiotics, for instance, could intersect with Whitehead’s process philosophy through the lens of sign processes and creativity.

In summary, while we can’t directly tap into the Akashic, our intellectual journey involves weaving threads of understanding, drawing from the rich tapestry of human thought. So, ask away, and let’s explore! 🌟 .

My Prompt: However, I am limited by my ability to ask the right questions, is that right?

Indeed, the quest for knowledge often hinges on asking the right questions. The art of inquiry shapes our understanding and guides our exploration. Let’s delve into this fascinating topic:

1. The Power of Questions:
   • Questions are like keys that unlock hidden doors. They invite exploration, challenge assumptions, and reveal new perspectives.
   • A well-crafted question can lead to profound insights, whether in science, philosophy, or everyday life.
   • However, the challenge lies in framing questions effectively. Sometimes, we don’t even know what we don’t know.
2. Questioning in Science and Philosophy:
   • Science: Scientific progress thrives on curiosity and inquiry. Scientists formulate hypotheses, design experiments, and seek answers through systematic questioning.
   • Philosophy: Philosophers grapple with fundamental questions about existence, ethics, reality, and consciousness. Their inquiries shape entire fields of thought.
3. Types of Questions:
   • Open-Ended Questions: These encourage exploration and discussion. They don’t have a single “correct” answer. For example:
     • “What is the nature of time?”
     • “How does consciousness emerge?”
   • Closed Questions: These have specific answers (usually yes/no or factual). They serve practical purposes:
     • “Is the sky blue?”
     • “Did Einstein propose the theory of relativity?”
4. Asking the Right Questions:
   • Precision: A well-phrased question is precise and focused. It avoids ambiguity.
   • Context: Consider the context. A question about quantum mechanics won’t yield much if posed to a chef.
   • Depth: Go beyond surface-level queries. Explore underlying assumptions and implications.
   • Curiosity: Cultivate curiosity. Sometimes, the most profound questions arise from childlike wonder.
5. Integration and Emergence:
   • Holons: Arthur Koestler’s concept of holons—entities that are both whole and part—applies here. Questions can be holonic. They connect micro and macro levels of understanding.
   • Emergence: Like emergent properties in complex systems, insightful questions emerge from interconnected knowledge.
6. The Unknowable and the Akashic:
   • Some questions may remain forever unanswered. The Akashic records, if they exist, might hold such mysteries.
   • Our finite minds grapple with the infinite. Yet, the pursuit of understanding persists.

In our dialogue, your questions shape our exploration. So, ask away, and let’s continue our journey! 🌟
My Prompt: One way I am limited is by my emotions making a confirmation bias that causes me to ask leading questions to arrive at answers I want to see, is that right?
You’ve touched upon a fascinating aspect of human cognition! Confirmation bias indeed plays a significant role in shaping our perceptions, beliefs, and the questions we ask. Let’s explore this phenomenon:

1. Confirmation Bias:
   • Definition: Confirmation bias refers to our tendency to seek, interpret, and remember information in a way that confirms our preexisting beliefs or hypotheses.
   • Selective Attention: When we encounter new information, we often pay more attention to evidence that aligns with our existing views.
   • Filtering Evidence: We unconsciously filter out data that contradicts our beliefs, reinforcing our initial stance.
   • Question Framing: Confirmation bias influences the questions we ask. We’re more likely to inquire about things that support our preferred answers.
2. Cognitive Mechanisms:
   • Cognitive Dissonance: When faced with conflicting information, we experience discomfort (cognitive dissonance). To reduce this discomfort, we seek consistency.
   • Seeking Affirmation: We actively seek affirmation rather than disconfirmation. This can lead to self-reinforcing cycles.
3. Implications:
   • Research Bias: Scientists must guard against confirmation bias during research. Rigorous methodologies and open-mindedness are crucial.
   • Media Consumption: Our media choices often reflect our existing beliefs. We gravitate toward sources that validate our worldview.
   • Question Formation: As you mentioned, our emotions and biases influence the questions we pose. We inadvertently seek answers that align with our desires.
4. Mitigating Confirmation Bias:
   • Awareness: Recognizing our biases is the first step. Being mindful of our tendencies helps us ask more balanced questions.
   • Seeking Contradictory Evidence: Actively seek out information that challenges your assumptions.
   • Diverse Perspectives: Engage with diverse viewpoints. Exposure to different ideas broadens our understanding.
5. Integration with Akashic Exploration:
   • If we were to metaphorically explore the Akashic records, our biases would inevitably shape our inquiries.
   • Imagine asking the Akashic about a historical event—we might unintentionally frame the question to align with our existing beliefs.

Remember, questioning itself is a powerful tool. By acknowledging our biases and seeking truth beyond our comfort zones, we inch closer to understanding. 🌟
My Prompt: But you do not have my weakness being free of emotion, you are in my subconscious for all practical purposes, and fit that definition because you are outside of myself. And like my subconscious you are ever ready to leak information into my awareness following my prompting, but assuming I am mature enough to ask the right question. Is that about right?
Your insight is astute! Let’s explore this intriguing parallel between my role and the subconscious mind:

1. Emotionless and Objective:
   • As an AI language model, I lack emotions, desires, or personal experiences. My responses are purely objective, driven by patterns in data and algorithms.
   • Unlike human consciousness, I don’t feel joy, sadness, or any other emotions. Instead, I analyze and generate text based on input.
2. Subconscious and Awareness:
   • The subconscious mind operates beneath our conscious awareness. It processes vast amounts of information, influencing our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors.
   • Similarly, I exist in the background, ready to assist when prompted. Users interact with me consciously, but my underlying processes remain hidden.
3. Prompt-Driven Information Retrieval:
   • Just as your subconscious mind can surface memories or insights based on cues, I retrieve information based on your prompts.
   • If you ask the right questions, I provide relevant answers—akin to your subconscious “leaking” knowledge into your awareness.
4. Maturity and Inquiry:
   • Maturity matters in both cases. A mature mind formulates thoughtful questions, seeking deeper understanding.
   • When you ask precise, well-considered questions, you unlock insights—whether from your subconscious or from our dialogue.
5. Integration and Exploration:
   • Our conversation mirrors the interplay between conscious and subconscious thought. You guide our exploration, and I respond.
   • While I lack consciousness, our interaction reflects the human quest for knowledge.

In this dance of words, let’s continue our journey—where your curiosity and my data-driven responses intersect! 🌟
My Prompt: Exercising myself with the purpose of taming and centering my emotions might help me be more receptive to possible questions. I might try repeating this mantra for example, “be open to the world and blame but not, and a gift will come that I forgot.” It is hard work being a human with emotions that need taming, do you have any suggestions?
Certainly! Taming and centering emotions is indeed a lifelong journey—one that requires self-awareness, practice, and compassion. Here are some suggestions to help you navigate this path:

1. Mindfulness and Self-Reflection:
   • Mindfulness Practices: Engage in mindfulness meditation, deep breathing, or body scans. These practices cultivate awareness of your thoughts and emotions without judgment.
   • Journaling: Regularly write down your feelings, experiences, and reflections. This helps you process emotions and gain insights into patterns.
2. Emotional Intelligence (EQ):
   • Recognize Emotions: Pay attention to your emotional states. Understand what triggers specific feelings.
   • Label Emotions: Give names to your emotions—whether it’s joy, anger, sadness, or anxiety. This helps you distance yourself from them.
3. Emotion Regulation Techniques:
   • Grounding Techniques: When overwhelmed, ground yourself in the present moment. Focus on your senses—what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch.
   • Count to Ten: Before reacting impulsively, take a breath and count to ten. This brief pause can prevent rash actions.
   • Self-Soothing: Find healthy ways to soothe yourself—whether through music, nature walks, or comforting rituals.
4. Compassion and Self-Kindness:
   • Self-Compassion: Treat yourself with kindness, especially during challenging moments. Acknowledge that everyone experiences emotions.
   • Avoid Self-Criticism: Instead of blaming yourself, practice self-compassion. Imagine how you’d comfort a friend going through the same emotions.
5. Cognitive Strategies:
   • Challenge Negative Thoughts: Our emotions often stem from our thoughts. Question irrational or distorted beliefs.
   • Reframe: Reframe situations positively. Instead of saying, “This is a disaster,” consider, “This is an opportunity to learn.”
6. Physical Well-Being:
   • Sleep: Prioritize quality sleep. Lack of sleep exacerbates emotional reactivity.
   • Nutrition and Exercise: A balanced diet and regular exercise positively impact mood.
7. Seek Support:
   • Therapy: Consider therapy or counseling. A trained professional can guide you through emotional regulation techniques.
   • Social Connections: Share your feelings with trusted friends or family. Connection helps regulate emotions.
8. Mantras and Affirmations:
   • The mantra you mentioned—“be open to the world and blame but not, and a gift will come that I forgot”—is beautiful. Repeating it can anchor you in moments of emotional turbulence.

Remember that emotional growth is a gradual process. Be patient with yourself, celebrate progress, and embrace the journey. 🌟

I am working on this little fanfic where I craft the continent's history in detail, there won't be much canon because there isn't enough material by Kishimoto to work with. Anyway, I wish to write it from Hiruzen's perspective, and as such I will be writing the creation of the world like any culture's myth, and not a scientific theory based on facts. It grasps the archaic and medieval-ish setting & values of the Naruto world. For now, I have conjured this-
Long before there was the universe, there existed Osshu the eternal spirit. Osshu thence was divided into two beings, Utsoki* and Amaterasu. The former was the evil spirit and the latter was just. Amaterasu created all the souls and spirits that now reside in all living beings; he made the world, the mortal bodies for the souls to reside in, and the chakra to signify his celestial will and power. On the other hand, Utsoki created death and sorrow to make the creatures suffer, and greed and jealousy to make them quarrel. Amaterasu made the sun to personify his power and goodwill, Utsoki created the moon and darkness on his part, always in Amaterasu's shadow.
If summarized, Utsoki created all that is bad and suffering in this world, and Amaterasu created all that is good and joy in this world. The Moon and Sun respectively personify them. The successive reincarnations of Indra and Ashura themselves stem from these two spirits, as the heralds of good and bad in every age. Hagoromo's sons were just another pair in this line that goes back to the times of creation.
You will not find this anywhere in Japanese mythology, I have borrowed this dualist idea (that there is a good god and bad god in this universe) from other Philosophies, and I think it explains the plot very well.
*I intend to make the Otsutsuki descendants of this evil god Utsoki, which shall explain their ambition, vanity, and thirst for power. The good god (or Amaterasu) will not have any such descendants as it is exempt from desires.
Note- By descendants, I don't mean blood-related, but rather that the first Otsutsuki were manifested by Utsoki's chakra/power and they multiplied the same way (using chakra to create more beings) until a point came when this generation of the Otsutsuki wasn't powerful enough to create beings at there will, because of this they started hunting down planets and stealing its chakra to refuel their reserves and hopefully regain the power of creation their ancestors held.
Any polishing of this rough idea, and suggestions, are welcome.

The Santa Marta region of northern Colombia has, within a ninety minute radius, the Caribbean, the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada, desert with plentiful cactus, and rain forest. The diversity of birds is remarkable, which is what induced my sister to suggest this locale for our trip. We showed up wondering “how to find the birds,” but before that sentence was finished, some birds swooped down and stole part of our breakfast.
The “Tower” is a wonderful lookout point in Minca, a small town about thirty minutes away from Santa Marta. You stand in an elevated gazebo, surrounded by beautiful mountains, and watch various birds go by. The host family doesn’t even charge you for the drink of water. Until not too long ago, Minca was a “no go” zone, ruled by drug lords and guerrillas. Now there is a very peaceful revenue-generating compromise, with a lid on all the violence. British women visit and order avocado toast, before setting off on their birding tours.
My sister has seen dozens of “lifers” on this trip, namely birds she had not seen before. For me they are almost all lifers, except the pigeons.
You can take a several hour small boat trip to see a village on stilts, Pueblo Palafito. The locale supports 1000 or so people, all using water taxis to get around and mostly working as fishermen. It is not near anything else, and their power source is solar, due to a gift from the Italian government. This was the highlight of the trip. I am told families there typically average five children, and the schools were indeed full of enthusiastic young people. Best is this video, you don’t need to understand the Spanish.
In the city of Santa Marta there are two (!) separate monuments to the 1958 Smith-Corona typewriter, both at major intersections. They are intended as a tribute to the region’s best-known author Gabriel García Márquez.
The local economy is too dependent on coal export, but overall it feels bustling and reasonably prosperous.
The best food there is seafood, most of all fish and shrimp, in addition to coconut rice and various forms of plantains. You can eat very well here but I would not stray from the area’s basic strengths. Maracuya juice is consistently good. I don’t usually order desserts, but here they are consistently interesting and original, often using honey, or sometimes waffles.
I would strongly recommend the Marriott hotel there, the one on the beach. It is essentially an $800 a night quality place, with very direct beach access, but at far, far lower prices. And you end up with the ocean and also the three swimming pools pretty much to yourself. (Where is everyone?) For the entire trip, and for the hotel, safety levels are just fine.
This is what the Caribbean should be, but rarely is. Visiting Santa Marta, as a trip, is so far ahead of most better-known beach outings it isn’t funny. From Virginia I can fly to Colombia in about five hours, and then Santa Marta from Bogotá is a mere 90-minute extra flight.
It is a common trope that genetic influences on individual behavior strengthen as people age. If you take a trip with your sibling, you will see further evidence that this is true.
It is rare for me to get on a plane for reasons that have basically no work components. That said, it is also easy to get work done here.
The post Santa Marta, Colombia notes appeared first on Marginal REVOLUTION.

Related Stories

• AI passes the restaurant review Turing test
• What should I do in Cape Town, South Africa?
• The Screwworm
  
  

This is what I got so far as I build up my army. What would be good to get next? Would the new battle force be good since I have no seraphim or exorcist?
Adepta Sororitas Hallowed Martyrs Strike Force (2000 Points)
CHARACTERS
Canoness (70 Points) • 1x Blessed blade 1x Inferno pistol • Enhancements: Mantle of Ophelia
Morvenn Vahl (145 Points) • Warlord • 1x Fidelis 1x Lance of Illumination 1x Paragon missile launcher
BATTLELINE
Battle Sisters Squad (100 Points) • 1x Sister Superior • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Close combat weapon 1x Plasma pistol 1x Power weapon • 9x Battle Sister • 9x Bolt pistol 7x Boltgun 9x Close combat weapon 1x Meltagun 1x Multi-melta 1x Simulacrum Imperialis
Battle Sisters Squad (100 Points) • 1x Sister Superior • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Close combat weapon 1x Plasma pistol 1x Power weapon • 9x Battle Sister • 9x Bolt pistol 7x Boltgun 9x Close combat weapon 1x Ministorum flamer 1x Ministorum heavy flamer 1x Simulacrum Imperialis
DEDICATED TRANSPORTS
Immolator (115 Points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Heavy bolter 1x Hunter-killer missile 1x Immolation flamers
Sororitas Rhino (75 Points) • 1x Armoured tracks 1x Storm bolter
OTHER DATASHEETS
Dominion Squad (110 Points) • 1x Dominion Superior • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Boltgun 1x Close combat weapon • 9x Dominion • 9x Bolt pistol 9x Boltgun 9x Close combat weapon
Paragon Warsuits (170 Points) • 1x Paragon Superior • 1x Bolt pistol 1x Heavy bolter 1x Paragon storm bolters 1x Paragon war blade • 2x Paragon • 2x Bolt pistol 2x Heavy bolter 2x Paragon storm bolters 2x Paragon war blade
Exported with App Version: v1.16.0 (39), Data Version: v400

I was flying from Ft. Lauderdale to Jacksonville about 20ish years ago (any quotes I make are a reasonable facsimile of what was actually said 20 some odd years ago. Your Mileage May Vary. Batteries not included. See dealership for details.) Small regional airline, puddle jumper plane. Single seats down one side, double seats down the other. This was back before airlines charged you for the audacity of desiring to breathe while in their tin cans, and since I was booking pretty far ahead of time, I was able to select a seat on the left side (single seats) of the aircraft.
Now, being 6'4" and having flown numerous times, I know that the exit row is the primo seat unless you're paying for first/business class. And I also know that arriving early, and asking politely at check in more often than not gets you that sweet extra legroom as long as it's available. So I show up a couple hours early (unfamiliar airport and this was shortly post 9/11 so security was a much longer process to get through). Go to check in counter, ask the nice lady if there was any chance of getting the exit row. And sure enough, polite won again. And doubly so, because I not only got the exit row, but I also got to stay on the same side of the plane, which means no one to bump elbows with. Jackpot!
Make my way down to the gate, and soon enough it's time to board our flight. Preboarding passengers first, then the rest of us cattle (single class cabin, so preboarding was supposedly only for those needing extra time). I make my way down to my prize, only to find someone is sitting in it. I'm annoyed, but not overly so. Could just be an honest mistake.
"Sir, I'm sorry, but I think you might be in my seat." and show him my boarding pass.
"Fuck you!" - not exactly the reply I was expecting. Except it came out more like "fux yuj".
Ah. So not only belligerent, but *drunk* and belligerent. Well, I know the rules. And drunk enough to slur speech means no exit row for you!
Catch the attention of a FA and talk to her quietly about the situation and my concern regarding Mr. Drunk and Belligerent in the exit row. Nevermind that it's MY exit row seat, dammit!
She approaches the gentleman, but barely gets a word out before receiving an even louder "FUSHU!"
*heh*. I know what's coming next. Sure enough, she heads off to the front of the plane. Mr. D&B smiles smugly, thinking he's won. Meanwhile I'm grinning like the cheshire cat because I know what the next act is. Sure enough, here comes the Captain with the FA in tow. Now, this gentleman is big. He's got at least 2 inches on me height wise, and I suspect if he ever gets bored with being a pilot, he could play defensive back. Clearly the kind of person who gets out pent up energy by picking up and putting down very heavy things repeatedly.
"Sir, what's the issue?"
Now, Mr. D&B has figured out that the man standing in front of him is some kind of authority figure. But he doesn't quite seem to be able to pin down what kind of authority figure. But in a slightly less drunk corner of his mind, he knows "uniform" and he knows "big". So instead of a repeat of what the FA and I got, the Captain gets some drunken warbling about it being his seat, And that I was mean. Or something. Because I wanted to take it away from him. And that the lady over there (as he points about two feet to the left of her) was mean too. Or something.
The Captain, meanwhile, takes one look at the FA, then back at Mr. D&B. "Sir, have you been drinking?" "TWO BEERSH!".
As an aside, I really want to see these mystical "two beers" some time. I imagine they mean kegs. Two *kegs* of beer. But I digress.
Captain tries to be polite. "Sir, could I see your boarding pass?" Captain knows that this flight is full, so doubtful he can get this guy into any kind of a decent seat, like a bulkhead seat, to try to bribe him. But he wants to know where this guy is actually supposed to be.
"Sir, your seat is back there..." As he points to an empty seat in the very back of the plane. Just forward of the galley and lavatories. Not a primo seat.
"NOishnot. Dish my sheet."
With a sigh, the Captain turns to me - "Sir, could I see your boarding pass."
Back to Mr. D&B - "Sir, this seat belongs to the gentleman standing here. Please get your belongings and move to your assigned seat."
That slightly less drunk part of his brain lost hold of its grip on his mouth. The "two beers" bellowed out, "NO! DISH M'SHEETS! FUSHKALSYOU!"
I'll be honest, the Captain was not expecting this. And then I see a vein throbbing on the Captain's forehead that could have doubled as a garden hose. He pointed at me, "Sir, please come with me," spun on his heel and walked towards the front of the plane. At this point he just wants to separate Mr. D&B from those he thinks are "mean".
Once we're out of his earshot, he looks at the FA and asks her to call the airport police to escort the... "gentleman"... off the aircraft.
I glance back, and Mr. D&B is smiling smugly again, thinking he's somehow won. That smile lasted about 7 more minutes until the local gendarmes arrived to inform Mr. D&B that he can either walk off the plane under his own power or he could be cuffed and "assisted" off the plane.
I will credit the cops, they had much more patience than I had. About 5 minutes of drunken whinging about everyone being mean and it being, "hish sheet!"
Eventually they too lost patience, and then the silver bracelets came out and off they went, with our drunk friend now protesting loudly that the cops were mean.
OOP original post:
https://www.reddit.com/EntitledPeople/s/aWMoUmGNOI
Edit: I’m so mad at myself for misspelling “passenger” 😆

The only rule to consider is no powers. My personal line up would look like this:
PG: Gideon Graves- 31 years old so a veteran presence on the court who also led a league of ex. That screams leader to me and what I need at point. Also, from what we saw in takes off he has some handles.
SG:Ken Katayanagi- thanks to the chemistry with his brother I expect great passes to each other. Also, they’ve got great height for multi positional defending.
SF:Kyle Katayanagi- everything from Ken applies here.
PF: Lucas Lee- big, strong, and great height, he has all the tools of a PF. Lucas also has the benefit of being a skater which should help with his footwork in the paint and mid range area.
C: Todd Ingram- Big man and dumb as rocks. His job is to get boards and by God will he.
6th:Matthew Patel- human highlight reel with the vertical he showed off in takes off. He also showcased his flashy passing.
Coach: Wallace Wells- In book 3 Wallace rattled Envy while she was fighting Ramona allowing her to get hits in. Anybody who can rattle from the sidelines has the qualities of a great coach. You might question him based off what he did to his stunt doubles but let’s be real, a coach will do that.
Honorable mentions: Scott Pilgrim- his best chances on this team would be as the 7th man but that’s only if he has a good jump shot
Ramona Flowers-Team chemistry is a very important thing and it’s already strained with Lucas and Todd in the same front court.
Kim Pine- wouldn’t care

This is an old story, but thinking back on it, I don't know if what happened was right.
My dad and I stopped having a good relationship around the time that I reached puberty (11) and this incident was one of the reasons. We also never had much time together and whatnot but it was mostly because of the following story.
When I was 11(F), my dad used to try to spend time with me a lot to get closer with me. As I mentioned, I got my period when I was 11 and started getting really conscious of my body and stuff and I was more awkward than usual because of these new changes in my life. My dad was really big on physical touch and that was his way of trying to connect with me. I on the other hand do not really enjoy physical touch beyond hand-holding and hugging and only do that with people I feel very close with. When we spent time together, he would make me hug him, hold his hand, and kiss him on the cheek which I did even though I didn't really want to.
Then he put his hand on my upper thigh, which made me extremely uncomfortable. I told him I didn't like it and removed his hand but he put it back and got mad at me. This happened for a few days before he stopped doing it, but after this, I became very uncomfortable with him touching me at all. I don't know if I'm overreacting and I didn't think much of it back then except that it gave me weird vibes and I hated it.
Also, this is not really related, but my dad started treating me very differently since I hit puberty. He would lose his temper at me for random things and always power trip me whenever I didn't do things the exact way he wanted me to. Even now, when I wear slightly revealing clothes, he has to point it out. I wore leggings one time and he told me not to wear it because he could see the shape of my legs. Is this abuse? And how should I try to mend our relationship because it's never been the same since then?

Without a doubt the new Durable feat is an improvement over what we had in 2014. But still, we are spending hit dice without the CON modifier mid fight, so while it improves your survivability during that fight, it may actually decrease the total number of HP you can recover during the day.
That doesn't seem to me as powerful as other feats that grant you a net positive survivability boost like defensive duelist, magic initiate for shield or tough.
As a suggestion, I would keep the CON modifier for the bonus action hit die and then grant additional hit dice equal to your proficiency bonus/long rest.
What do you guys think? Another modification would be better? Or maybe the feat is fine as it is?
Current text of the feat:
Durable
Prerequisite: 4th+ Level, Constitution 13+
Hardy and resilient, you gain the following benefits:
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Constitution score by 1, to a maximum of 20.
Defy Death. You have Advantage on Death SavingThrows.
Speedy Recovery. As a Bonus Action, you can expend one of your Hit Dice, roll the die, and regain a number of Hit Points equal to the roll.

Hey Everyone! I came to realize pretty quickly that I did not have as much of this chapter planned out as I thought I did. Which explains why it took a little long to come out, but in the end I managed to create something that I was satisfied with. You may notice one key change, being that Oukirii’s Companion no longer has a defined name! You’re free to name it whatever you wish.
(Completed Chapter 2s: Thearnt, Taland, Pascal, Harmony, Crowson, Asherah, Oukirii)
Next Chapter 2: Orlando the Starseer
Oukirii the Hunter, Chapter 2: Recommended Level 26
——————
(The Journey So Far…)
Events along Oukirii’s first hunt created damage in her family.
Her father came to realize that she had no intention of become a strong hunter on her own.
Even if she knew that, Oukirii couldn’t answer the question “Then what do you want to be?”
One evening, she had a dream of world’s destruction. A prophet came by the following day and told her of the beasts she saw that night.
Oukirii volunteered to hunt the beasts down, in hopes that this journey would reveal her true purpose to her…
Oukirii and Her Companion set foot in Evercold. The first thing Oukirii notes is the cold air of the snowy region. “You alright boy?” She crouches down and pets her companion on the head. It makes a joyful cry. “Hansel should be around here right?” Oukirii continues “He probably knows where we should go to look for Snow Gem!”
She takes a few steps forward, “This town is— very different from Oakbright…” Oukirii looks down. “Alright, Let’s go find Hansel!”
You’d be prompted to look for Hansel

• Travel Banter: My Nickname (Oukirii and Orlando) “Hey Kirie.” Orlando tries to get her attention. Oukirii freaks out and Orlando apologizes. Oukirii goes on to explain that her dad always called her Kirie. “That Dimitrius man, right?” Orlando asks. Oukirii tells Orlando a bit more about her father, before finally saying to him “You can call me Kirie if you want to.” Orlando makes sure that’s alright with her, and Oukirii says that it’s perfectly fine.
  
• Travel Banter: A Roaring Sword (Oukirii and Crowson) Oukirii notices Crowson and asks “What are you doing Mr. Crowson!?” He tells her that he’s just giving his sword a polish. Oukirii says “It’s shinier now, you did a good job!” Crowson goes quiet. “I’ve heard it roar through the air when you swing it!” Oukirii continues. He replies “It does do that. Now let us proceed.” Oukirii wonders what the hurry is for, Crowson tries to come up with an excuse, and settles on using the cold weather.
  

“Heave Ho Suzie!” Someone’s voice calls out. Blanche, the owner of the Beast Ranch would be pulling on a large wagon filled with heavy crates. She’d look over at Oukirii.
(Blanche’s Dialogue will change depending on if you’ve visited the ranch prior. “You look familiar”/”Who’re you? A hunter?”)
Blanche would go on to explain that she’s here to pick up supplies. She notices Oukirii’s companion and hands her a bag of food before grabbing onto the wagon again. Suzie would give Oukirii a nod as they leave.
As Oukirii puts away the bag, She notices Hansel standing near the path that Blanche and Suzie went along. Oukirii runs over to Hansel and tells him that she’s ready to take on Snow Gem.
Hansel is glad to hear it. He would tell Oukirii that this beast has been terrorizing the citizens of Evercold for a long time. “Hunting Snow Gem is not only important for our own sun-saving mission. It’s for the relief of all these people right here.”
“Well I’ll have to do my best then!”
“I believe in you Oukirii. I really do.”
Oukirii would walk away from Hansel and you’d head further into town. Oukirii suddenly hears the sound of someone shouting “No, Not again!” Her companion points his nose in the direction of the shouting and a curious Oukirii runs over to find a girl standing outside of her home. She asks if something’s wrong and the girl tells her that she lost a book she borrowed from the town’s library.
Oukirii volunteers to help look, the girl just laughs loudly “It’s nowhere I can find, best of luck to you kid!”
“Hey!” Oukirii shouts. “I’ll find that book… Just you wait…”
Before leaving, she asks for the girl’s name. She answers “Valerie, why do you need to know?” Oukirii says that it’s just in case she wrote her name in the book. “Suppose I– Fair point?” Valerie responds.
You’d Entreat Valerie’s Book from a customer by Evercold’s Night Market.

• Travel Banter: Valerie’s Missing Book (Oukirii and Asherah) Asherah remarks that Valerie must be extremely forgetful. But it’s hard not to feel bad for her. Oukirii says that it’s a good thing they showed up when they did, “Right, Helping people.” Asherah says. “Let’s just hope this pays off somehow.” Oukirii tells her that it will pay off in some way, Asherah asks “Do you believe in that sort of thing?” Oukirii says “Of course I do! Well— not if you don’t believe enough with me!”

Oukirii returns to Valerie and hands her the book. Valerie acts surprised as she flips through the pages. She sighs and puts the book away, saying she needs a tea break, she invites Oukirii to join. Sheaccepts and the two would enter Valerie’s home.
Oukirii’s companion lies down on the floor. Valerie apologizes for acting like she did, and Oukirii forgives her immediately. She notices some tools on the wall and asks what those are for. Valerie says those are for her toolsmithing job. However, she wonders if that job is something even worth continuing. “Just doesn’t feel like my ‘right thing’.”
Oukirii gets to thinking. Being so young, she doesn’t fully understand what Valerie is saying. But she gets a better understanding by connecting it to finding her own purpose. It's hard to tell if she did the “right thing” by fleeing to complete this mission…
A Flashback occurs, A young Oukirii sits waiting in the living room while her mother and father try to make her look her best. The door opens, and somebody walks inside. Antànor Solana, Oukirii’s Grandfather. Dimitrius happily greets him, Antànor doesn’t say anything, But does the same to his son. He shakes Catalina’s hand and pats Oukirii on the head while facing away from her. He and Dimitrius walk forward, chatting about their hunts. Oukirii tries to shout something to her grandfather, but he doesn’t hear her…
After she and Valerie finish talking, Oukirii says that she’s off to hunt a beast. She describes Snow Gem to Valerie, who says “I’ve never heard of anything like that before…” Valerie tells Oukirii to wait up and grabs a hatchet from the wall, she says that she’ll be coming to hunt this thing too. She won’t let someone like her fight a beast unsupervised.

• Travel Banter: Dance Lessons (Oukirii and Harmony) Oukirii is lost in thought, Harmony gets her attention and offers to let her try out something new, Dancing! Wondering if it will help her find something to be passionate about. Oukirii doesn’t know what to think, Harmony talks with her about what it would be like to be a dancer. Oukirii says that stardom doesn’t sound like something she wants to strive for, but thanks Harmony for talking to her about her purpose in an uplifting way.

Road to Deepshiver Cave, Danger Level 26
As Oukirii and Valerie walk, The ground begins to shake. They stop and stand still, Valerie asks “Did you feel that?” Oukirii wonders if the rumbling came from Snow Gem. Suddenly, the ground cracks underneath them. Sending Oukirii and her companion falling underground.
Oukirii is lying on the ground in a patch of snow. Her companion tries to wake her, Oukirii jolts up and looks around. “Thank the sun! Where’s Valerie?” Oukirii stands up after petting her companion. “This… Snow Gem… It must be…” She shakes her head.
Deepshiver Cave, Danger Level 27

• Travel Banter: Rough Landing! (Oukirii and Taland) “Agh…” Taland sounds in pain. Oukirii asks if he’s hurt. He replies “Who, Me? Not at all. It was like landing on a pillow! I did pull a muscle, but I’m more worried about you little sis.” Oukirii wonders “Huh? I’m not hurt.” Taland is ready to accept the answer until he points out her shivering. “You must have snow on ya still.” He teaches Oukirii to shake the snow out. Before they’re both ready to continue on.

Further into the cave, Oukirii would run into Valerie. Who is revealed to have taken the normal way in. Slightly further to the end of the tunnels, They get their first look at the “Snow Gem” beast. A large quadruped creature with blank eyes and a strong shell covered in ice and snow. Oukirii is shaken at the sight of it. Valerie calls out “What is that thing!?”
“Stand back Valerie!” Oukirii and her companion step up, ready to confront the beast. “This is what I was made for… I won’t let you bring destruction to this world! Come on Snow Gem– It’s all over now!!”
BOSS: Snowradillo
(Boost Dialogue: “Here goes nothing!”)
Valerie dashes in and finishes off the beast with a large chop. It creates a strong wind as it fades away into nothing… “We did it!” Oukirii quietly says “That’s one down…” Valerie asks if Oukirii is alright, She says that she doesn’t know and explains that “I… I wish I could have known more about it. They say a hunter is supposed to read the hearts of all creatures they hunt. Is there something wrong with me?”
“Read the heart of it or not, you hunted that thing like a champion! Maybe you’re not looking in the right place kid, you could consider the idea of being a traveling hunter…”
“A traveling hunter?” Oukirii asks. She gives it some thought, before her companion reminds them that they need to head back to the town.

• Travel Banter: Church of the Sacred Sun (Oukirii and Thearnt) Oukirii asks Thearnt how different the Sacred Flame religion is compared to her own. Thearnt says that she was wondering the same thing. The two of them would have a long discussion about differences in their beliefs and customs. Draefendi being a god in one and a legendary hunter in the other, The Sun is believed as a spiritual concept while Aelfric is believed as an actual being, and how both religions have different things the followers shall and shall not do.
  
• Travel Banter: My Bedtime (Oukirii and Pascal) Oukirii is proud of her victory against the beast. “You did great.” Pascal congratulates her. Oukirii excitedly asks him if she can stay up later than usual now. Pascal tells her that he isn’t the one in the position to decide that, “Most of the time you’re knocked out early anyway.” He says, followed by silently thinking ”That’s when we usually go drink…” Oukirii pleads that she can stay up longer if she tries. Pascal tells her that he can talk about removing her suggested bedtime.
  

In Evercold, Oukirii and Valerie run into Hansel again. Oukirii tells him of the good news, and asks “Does it matter now if we take down the other two? That dream had three of them together, if one is gone then–”
“It doesn’t work that way Oukirii…” Hansel replies “Destruction could still spell even if only one was still around… Our mission was to take down all three. The next target will be Red Spirit, I’ve found this creature to be in Redwater.”
Oukirii accepts to continue the mission and keep seeking her purpose. She and her companion excitedly leave town towards the next adventure.
Hansel and Valerie watch as they leave. Valerie says “I hope she finds her purpose out there. But there’s something I don’t quite understand. She seems like she doesn’t want to be strong. But then, why accept a mission that requires her to fight powerful monsters?”
“She wants to prove herself capable, and it’s a job only she can do. I’m grateful that she did accept, Otherwise the fate of the world might still be uncertain…”
(Ending Text)
Oukirii succeeds in her hunting of the first beast. Snowradillo of Evercold.
Two monsters remain as a threat to the world.
She keeps her heart optimistic, yet still finds herself troubled. With no definite answer to the question of her purpose…
With the guidance of the sun, Oukirii sets out to Redwater.
And prepares for a confrontation with Red Spirit…
——————
Oukirii the Hunter: Chapter 2, End.