Okay, so I think y'all are gonna need some context first. I (15M, a few months away from turning 16) have a brother (18M), let's call him Greg (obviously NOT his real name). 2 years ago, I accidentally saw Greg's twitter profile and questioned the fact that his pronouns were She/her, which unsurprisingly puzzled me as I had no idea why. After a quick conversation on discord, as to not raise hell from my parents (now 52M and soon-53F), he confessed to feeling like he wanted to be a woman. Now bear in mind, I respected it and didn't give two craps, I was never too close with my family (nothing extreme though) and couldn't care less. I think it was a few weeks later, 1 or 2 i think, my mother found out. I do believe he told her himself, maybe knowing she wasn't gonna be the first to realize what was going on. And here's where crap hit the fan, you could say, as it started a living hell.
Something people might not know about my parents is, they are VERY stubborn on their ways (a.k.a. their old-as-heck mindset), and my mother didn't exactly like the idea that my brother was trans (oh yeah, he later admitted that same day that he liked both genders, but nobody cared about it as much, Greg included). My mother did ask for my opinion but I said "I dont care what Greg does with his life, it means nothing to me. As long as you stay out of my way, I'm fine with whatever happens. Though, I do kinda get where he's coming from, I wont intervene", and proceeded to leave to my room as it truly meant nothing.
Or so I thought, because a few months later, Greg was bold enough to come to me, clearly stating he wanted me to give him my old phone (an old Alcatel that could barely use WhatsApp and didn't even have a touchscreen, that was my first phone before my actual iPhone 6s I got from backmarket). He intended to sell his iPhone 7 for money to get himself private health care (in my country, public health care IS free but my parents were in control), obviously behind my parents' backs, and he also tried selling me his laptop (which did just recently get passed down to me but for free AND better reasons) with a BROKEN BATTERY for $200. Guys, the damn battery fix costs, and Greg told me that himself, ANOTHER 50 DOLLARS. All I could think was "Is this moron effing joking?", but no he was not and he insisted, but he went back empty-handed and I had a cool threat under my belt in case I needed it. I thought of it like that mainly because of how paranoid I am, and I always like to prepare for the worst case scenario.
Coincidentally, that came like a month later when I was summoned to an exceptionally rare (and awkward ngl) family meeting discussing Greg's feelings and, after a year of me finding out, revealed the truth to my father. As a backup plan, I picked up the Alcatel and stuff it into my pocket just in case (and that, everyone, is why you need to have pockets in your clothes at all times). Sure, I didn't use it, but I was ready to. My father was pretty much mortified at the revelation. And while my father is a great manipulator and always says thing with the intent to trick Greg and me, I did empathize with him a fair bit, honestly.
After this day, we entered what I will call the Horror Year, filled with constant arguing between parents and Greg, and them venting it all out on me. Now before you comment how "you could've done the same", no I could not, my one and only best friend deserves WAY better than getting even slightly involved in this BS. So I ended up holding everything to myself, seeing how my brother cried and my parents yelled at him or even hit him on one occasion (boy was that loud, I heard that with my headphones on but thankfully wasnt a strong swing) and hearing them all vent their crap on ME, my brother telling me how "my parents should un-alive", or "how they suck and wont help me recover my mental health and study what I want" (he wants to get into gamedev in Japan) or even how "they'd rather buy me a car before helping me achieve my dreams" (both cost around the same according to Greg and his internet research bs), and hearing my parents say how "you both can do whatever you want here in your country better than abroad" (most likely false especially in gamedev, by the way) or how "he's just throwing a tantrum" and that "he's just an inexperienced brat who has no idea about life and how hard real life is". They are also the kinda parents that never understood things like us appreciating our videogame save files and considering games something more than a "just for a little bit of time" kinda hobby. That is especially true for me. They even say that nothing in my house is mine, but rather that all of it is THEIRS and THEY are letting us BORROW our computers and stuff, coz THEY paid for it so THEY own it and THEY should be able to use our computers (especially mine apparently) anytime they want it with or without our consent or knowledge. of course they cant as my user has a huge password LOL. But yeah, you get the idea of just how everyone here acts.
To be frank with y'all, I'm starting to lose it. A few days ago, my brother went to an appointment with the doctor to get his treatment and was told there were health risks (very low according to Greg, decently important according to my parents) and to also attend a psychologist (he cried cuz of all that, like LEGIT crying). Actually that all happened yesterday as of writing. Now, I'm losing my patience and told my mother to "not be surprised if one day my mind shuts down and I hurt someone here, coz I just might if you a**holes dont effing stop this BS". I seriously might just blow up, and I think my wooden katana I have for martial arts classes wont like it too much when I do blow up. Not only am I scared that my family dividing might affect me, but I also resent them all for making me suffer in a broken home, all by myself with NOONE to trust. I have the power to try and manipulate the situation a little bit but I dont know how. Cn anyone help me?
P.S.: I told my parents I wanted them to let Greg do it before his appointment with the doctor, mainly coz I want him to learn the hard way if he ends up regretting his choice just the same way I learnt from my own mistakes. Still dont care about his or my parent's feelings though.
TL;DR: My trans brother is causing hell in my family and they all vent on ME, now I'm stuck in a very annoying situation. What do I do now?

My boyfriend and I met in December 2023, started dating February 2024, and have now been together for almost 3 months. We live three hours away but see each other 2-5 times a month and call every day.
In January 2023, both my boyfriend and I went through long term breakups with our first loves. I had been with my ex boyfriend for 3 years, and he had been with his ex girlfriend on & off for 4 years.
When they were broken up, he was still very much obsessed with her. He would date and sleep with other people, but never seriously. He would leave relationships for her and block people once she would tell him she wants him back.
Their relationship was a toxic, vicious cycle that neither could break. But she was always the one that had the most power over him and would initiate all the breakups, while he would come back to her any time she was done dating other people for a little while. The final time she came back, he even proposed to her and they were engaged for a few months.
My past relationship, on the other hand, was a consistent one, and I didn’t have much dating experience after we broke up. My current boyfriend is my second relationship ever, so I’m still learning how to love someone while we both have pasts.
He acts obsessed with me. Super in love, always taking pictures of me and posting me on his social medias, spending so much money to visit me, calling me every night, making a private couple Instagram devoted to our pictures, but still brings up his ex a lot. We both had that problem a bit, but I slowly stopped doing it as often when I realized it wasn’t healthy. However, he always compares me to her. “() would do this.” “() liked this kind of music.”
Well in March, after a year of no contact between them, she (like always based on what he said) finally texted him just to see where he lived now and tell him she’s back in their hometown, asking how he is. He told me they had a short texting convo. I was a little jealous, but since he told me about it and it seemed small and short, I didn’t think too deeply. But it sent him into days worth of a spiral thinking about it. I tried not to bring it up too much.
Then one time in April, he got super depressed and wouldn’t tell me anything. I figured it was about his ex, as he still seems sad about her sometimes and talks so often about her. He got so bad that he drove the 6 hours back to his hometown where his parents live, took days off of work, which is also where she’s from and they met, and stayed with his parents.
I was dumb and suggested that he calls her to finally get some closure. He didn’t tell me if he would or not, until a week later after he was a bit himself again, he confirmed they talked but said “it’s just between me and her.” I said okay and didn’t bring it up even though it bothered me to know what the talked about.
We’ve been doing good since then, but he gets REALLY jealous of me talking with any guys at all. Like REALLY jealous. He likes to look through my phone and read my messages sometimes, which I don’t mind bc I have nothing to hide. But he don’t let me see his. Then two weeks ago, I got curious to see if he did really meet with his ex, and I saw the dreaded messages when he was sleeping (I know, it’s not good but I had suspicions).
During that time he was depressed, they didn’t call but he asked if they could meet in person. It seemed like she was really distant and not interested before or after their meeting, but he texted her things after they met up like, “I would’ve really regret if I didn’t get to see you before going to work abroad for 3 months.” And, “Are you sure you don’t have any feelings for me?”and, “I could never hate you, why would you think that? Please talk to me, I want to hear how you’re feeling.”
I tried to silently leave his apartment while he was asleep, but he woke up and cried, begging me to stay and that he’s over her, he loves me, he just needed closure to confirm she doesn’t have feelings for him so he can move on.
But it hurt me that he needed to know she doesn’t have feelings before he could continue a relationship with me. It makes me feel like if she wasn’t so distant and did have feelings, he would’ve left me immediately. I feel like a placeholder.
He also never told her about me, and told me that the reason he’s taking a work trip abroad for 3 months is because she always comes back in the summer and is scared she’s gonna final his new city and address and he won’t be able to turn her away. That was his explanation while crying to me and begging me to stay. And I said, “So the reason I’m losing my boyfriend for 3 months is because you think your ex will come back again like usual, find your new address, and you won’t be able to say no?”
It caused a huge fight, him sending her a message saying he’s with someone new now and loves me, wants to be with me, and is saying goodbye to their relationship forever.
But then after saying he blocked her, I saw a few days ago he didn’t and only hid her chat. He also sent her contact to a no name social media account that I think is his second account so that he has another way to contact her when he’s away for three months, but he says it’s not.
He said it’s the account of a friend that liked her while he was dating her and wanted to get with her if they ever broke up, so he sent her contact to this friend (which is still weird). But there’s no call or chat history with this friend. Just her contact.
So I’m wondering, should I break up with him? Is he still attached to his ex and I’m the idiot rebound?

Hello all!
To cut to the chase, I've been a practicing solo witch for a few years now, and while I don't do spell work often or work with any deities, I'm at my wit's end here. Things have just not been going my way since the start of the year, just a long string of bad luck, misfortune, and just feeling "stuck" in general. I've done cleansing rituals throughout the house (smoke cleansing, sound cleansing with a bell, protection wards/spells/spell jars, purify with salt at the entrances to my home, etc.). I've done my go-to Good Luck spell, which usually works, but it hasn't been successful. I don't believe I'm hexed or cursed; I can't think of anyone who would want to hex me. I just feel like there's still this negative energy in my home and my life despite my best efforts to get rid of it, because the hits just keep coming and I don't feel like I'm getting anywhere. I feel blocked: personally, professionally, spiritually, healthwise, etc. I want to do a Banishment for good measure, but if I'm blocked in some way (and I don't know where the blockage is, so what would I be banishing?) I don't want those efforts to fail either. Consulting my tarot cards hasn't been helpful either.
Which leads me to my question: do any of you have or recommend a Road Opener spell, or a recipe for road opener oil? I know I can buy the oil but I'd prefer to make my own with the herbs and spices I have on hand (though I'd have to get some abre camino from a specialty shop). I've checked my spell books and online for ideas, but none of them really speak to/address the situation I'm in. Do I need to perform the spell at a physical crossroads, or is using crossroads dirt at my altar acceptable? Some of my sources say perform the spell at the New Moon (Dark Moon), some say to do it at the Full or Waning moon to drive blockages away. I just don't know. Any and all advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!

sorry long post and once again needs probably a consult from a specific tax legal advisor but not sure what speciality I should be looking at.
Disregarded Entities have very little support documentation with the IRS in general since revenue is rolled into the parent.
In a complex tax scenario would love folks take.
A company (Cat corp)was purchased by a client (stock sale) from a very large publicly traded company (let’s call it Borg corp). Borg corp had previously bought that company alongside a few others in a collective holdings (Let’s call it Anz corp) in 2019. Anz corp bought the original company (cat corp) bought in 2012. So we’re talking lots of mergers, bankruptcy and more between all of them. Messy.
Cat company was a company that made a lot of money (millions) with almost 80 percent profit margins and came crashing in 2014 and sold to a particular young individual as a shell in 2020 for almost nothing. Borg company made billions so it was like letting go of their catering budget. long story short this young individual had convinced Borg corp to allow him to do a management buyout.

1. Anz corp buys Cat corp in 2012
2. Anz corp buys more companies through 2017 and files chapter 11
3. Borg corp comes buys Anz corp and subsidiary and in sells Cat corp remains to the individual
4. Individual was a manager at Cat corp who did a management buy out but had a lot of pressure to do a stock sale
5. Client turns Cat corp to an S corp from a disregarded entity under their holding company Dog corp
6. By 2023 Anz corp is dissolved completely / Borg corp continues to be a massive company public ally traded company

Client knows Cat corp was treated as a disregarded entity since inception in 2012 and was part of the original acquisition and knew all the folks doing the transactions well.
He gets entity records finally from the IRS having had some doubts and could not do it prior to sale. Bad move to not do this prior to sale yes but those were the circumstances offered.
Finds no tax filings 1120 filed ever since revenue was attributed under Anz corp and then under Borg corp.
However he finds in 2014 Anz corp has moved the company Cat corp under a related Anz corp company and sees Payroll 941 payments being made on the entity in a timely manner. So payroll started being paid during 2014-2018 according to fax transcript from the IRS under Cat corp.
2012-2013 simply says requested data not found.
These 941 payments stop in the 2019 acquisition by Borg corp - it’s around 400k / year we are talking . we don’t know why and can’t get an answer from them now but they seem to be good and proper record keepers.
The Problem
long story short - Dog corp wants to think about closing the company Cat corp or sell it in the future and don’t want any future issues with the IRS process. To close an EIN the IRS would have to see all returns filed. Since it’s disregarded but payroll was made in some years under particular ownership be not under another structure - how would the client be able to do anything if the IRS asked them to file. How do you even know there is an issue? On paper it seems maybe there was some reason to have payroll under the entity while it was under particular ownership structure. different corps employ different strategies and the new owners aren’t privey to those details. New owners knows Borg corp exec well enough but as a publically traded company you can imagine how difficult it is to get them to help. What if the IRS say they are missing payroll or even worse should have filed a return for 2012 and 2013 - extremely high revenue years?
How would they be able to provide anything as Anz corp doesn’t exist nor have records that far back. What do people do when it’s impossible to reconstruct tax filing information due to it being decades old from some long gone entity. client has been up to date with filings since acquisition.
I’m talking hypotheticals here since the individuals here are extremely concerned about the EIN closing process.

⚠️ WARNING: Maasverse Spoilers—Proceed with Caution ⚠️

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Part 1: Characters and Courts - YOU ARE HERE
Part 2: World Map, Items, Terms & Other
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Well, here we go. A master list of all things ACOTAR + the "real" world.

Now, do I believe every single name and location on this list was chosen by SJM with a specific real-world allusion in mind? Of course not. But when you look at the similarities, you'd be hard pressed to deny some of their very probable relations.
As far as this list goes, I've provided what was within my ability to find—coupling each with that which made the most sense relationally—though several definitions would appear to have zero connection to the story at large.
I can't promise perfection. Heck, I can't even promise 100% accuracy (though I did cross-reference the more obscure sources). And I will gladly welcome any missing pieces and/or additional insight you may have.
\Note: If a character or place/item is minor enough, I've included a reminder of their book roles.*

So come on, friends. Let's dive on in.

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UK + IRELAND

PRYTHIAN

A combination of Prydain, the old Welsh name for Britain, and Brython, which translates to “Ancient Britons” from Welsh.

HYBERN

A riff of Hibernia, the Classical Latin name for Ireland.

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Artist of Prythian map: P-dulcis on redbubble

*A continuing list of world map related locations is provided in Part 2 of this post (see link above)

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MAIN CHARACTERS

RHYSAND

Rhys (also Rhŷs) is Welsh in origin and means "ardent, enthusiasm." It has deep roots in Welsh culture and is the name of several famous Welsh kings and noblemen, including Rhys ap Thomas, a solider who rose to prominence during the Wars of the Roses.

FEYRE ARCHERON

Feyre is a variant of Feyre and is Old English in origin. It means "fair, beautiful." A similar name in Old Norse is Freyja (also spelled Freya), meaning "Lady," denotes a woman of nobility. In Norse mythology, Freyja is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, and war.
In Greek mythology, the Archeron is one of the five rivers of the Underworld and is often the principal river through which the ferryman Charon transports the dead. It said to be the River of Woe or the River of Misery.

CASSIAN

Cassian is Latin in origin, means "son of Cassius," and denotes one of the oldest families in Rome. Arguably the most well known Cassius was one of the leading instigators of Julius Caesar's assassination plot.

AZRIEL

Azriel is Hebrew in origin meaning "God is my help." In some religions, Azrael is the benevolent angel of death who carries souls of the deceased to the afterlife.

MORRIGAN

The Morrígan is a Celtic goddess associated with war and fate and is seen as a guardian of the earth and its people. Her name means "great queen" or "phantom queen."

AMREN

Amram is of Hebrew origin and means "exalted people." It is the Biblical name of Moses' father.
Note: This tracks with Amren being able to interpret The Book of Breathings which is a play on the very real The Books of Breathing, a collection of ancient Egyptian funerary texts.

NESTA

Nesta is the Welsh version of Agnes meaning "pure, holy." May also have potential connections to Nestor, a legendary Greek king who was known as a great warrior and for the sage advice he offered younger soldiers.

ELAIN

Elain is Welsh in origin and means "fawn." Elaine is associated with the Greek name Helen meaning "light, bright one."
Fun fact: Elain is an anagram of Aelin.

NYX

Nyx is the Greek mythological goddess and personification of the Night. She is the mother of Day (Hemera) and Darkness (Erebus). She often appears alongside other celestial deities such as Selene, Helios, and Eos.

ILLYRIANS

EMERIE

Emerie has Old German origins and means "home strength, brave, powerful."

ENALIUS

In Greek mythology Enyalius is a son of Ares but is also a byname for the god of war. He is often seen as the god of soldiers and warriors from the Ares cult.

DEVLON

Devlon is Gaelic in origin and related to the name Devlin meaning "fierce courage."

BALTHAZAR

Balthazar is Akkadian in origin meaning "God protects the King." It is a name commonly attributed to the wise man who gifted myrrh to the Christ child (the myrrh symbolizing the future death of a king). It is an alternate form of King Belshazzar who played a pivotal role in a coup d'état that overthrew a Neo-Babylonian king.
ACOTAR role: Balthazar helped Nesta during the Blood Rite.

PROTEUS

Proteus is a prophetic sea god in Greek mythology and means "versatile, mutable, capable of assuming many forms."
ACOTAR role: Proteus is Emerie's father and was killed in the war with Hybern.

BELLIUS

May refer to Belus, the Babylonian god of war.
ACOTAR role: Bellius is Emerie's cousin and was slain by Cassian during the Blood Rite.

KALLON

No clear references found, but kalon in Ancient Greek translates to "ideal perfect beauty."
ACOTAR role: Kallon incited the Illyrians against the Night Court leaders and was ultimately slain during the Blood Rite.

HEWN CITY

KEIR

Keir is Gaelic, meaning "dark," and is related to the Irish name Ciarán. In Greek mythology, the Keres (singular being Ker) were female death spirits who personified violent death. There is a suggested connection between the Keres and the Valkyries of Norse mythology, each representing opposite ideals; the Valkyries being benevolent deities in death, versus the Keres representing feasting destruction.

THANATOS

In Greek mythology, Thanatos is the personification of death. He is a minor figure, often referred to but rarely appearing in person (I see what you did there, SJM).
ACOTAR role: Thanatos is mentioned briefly by Keir during the alliance meeting with Eris.

THE LIBRARY

CLOTHO

In ancient Greek mythology, Clotho is the youngest goddess of the Three Fates and spins the thread of human life. Her name means "spinner."

MERRILL

Merrill is of British origin meaning "sparkling sea, sea-bright."

GWYNETH BERDARA

Gwyneth is Welsh in origin and means "blessed, happiness." In Irish mythology, the Lady Gwyn is a headless woman (cough, Catrin, cough) who chases wanderers at night. In Arthurian mythology, Guinevere has an evil half-sister—"False" Guinevere—who bewitches Arthur.

ANANKE

Ananke means "necessity, fate personified." In Greek mythology she is one of the primordial deities and is the personification of necessity and inevitability.
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

DEIRDRE

Deirdre is Gaelic in origin and means "broken-hearted, wanderer." The name is associated with a tragic heroine in Irish mythology.
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

ILANA

Illana is Hebrew in origin nd means "tree, bright light." It stems from the name Elena and is potentially related to the name Ileana, a beautiful young female fairy in various myths.
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

LORELEI

Lorelei in German in origin and means "alluring, temptress." In German folklore, she is a siren-like seductress.
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

ROSLIN

Roslin is Scottish in origin and means "rose, red-haired."
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who joins in the training to become a Valkyrie.

RIVEN

Riven derives from Old Norse meaning "to split, tear asunder."
ACOTAR role: A Priestess who avoids contact with strangers and whose background is unknown.

SIDE CHARACTERS

MADJA

Madja is Slavic in origin and may mean "splendid, noble one." In Arabic it means "the women with glory." It is related to the name Madeleine meaning "from Magdala."

NUALA

Nuala is Irish in origin and means "fair shouldered one." In modern Irish storytelling it means "born of the sea." It is considered a diminutive form of the name Fionnuala, a mythological figure who was the daughter of a sea god.

CERRIDWEN

Cerridwen is an enchantress in Welsh mythology. She is said to possess the cauldron of poetic inspiration and is regarded by many as the Celtic goddess of rebirth, transformation, and inspiration.

RITA

Rita stems from the name Margarita and comes from the Greek word meaning "pearl." The Greeks promoted pearls as a symbol of honesty and integrity.
ACOTAR role: Rita owns the "how does the IC not know the clientele is gay" bar.

SEVENDA

No clear connection found, though venda in Latin means "sell" while sev means "strew, spread" and enda means "end." Could also potentially be related to the number seven.
ACOTAR role: Owns a restaurant the IC frequents.

NEVE

Neve is of Latin origin and means "snow."
ACOTAR role: The jeweler from whom Rhys buys jewelry for Amren in ACOFAS.

POLINA

Polina has Latin origins and derives from Apollo, though it could also be seen as a variant of Paulina/Paul meaning "little, the younger."
ACOTAR role: The faerie who owned Feyre's art studio before her untimely death.

RESSINA

Resina means "resin of the pine." Plants secret resin as a protective response, guarding them from insects and pathogens.
ACOTAR role: Ressina opens the art studio with Feyre. She has green skin and stood outside her shop in response to Hybern's attack on Velaris, protecting the terrified faeries inside.

ARANEA

Aranea is Greek in origin and denotes a genus of orb-weaving spiders.
ACOTAR role: Aranea is the weaver who created the Void cloth.

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MAIN CHARACTERS

TAMLIN

From the "Ballad of Tam Lin," a legendary ballad from the borderlands of Scotland. Reminiscent of the fairytale Beauty & the Beast where a mortal woman plucks a rose and encounters a man in the forest, later learning he is captive to faeries. She must hold onto him as he is transformed into various beasts and upon his rescue, the faerie Queen muses that she should have taken out his eyes (Lucien, anyone?) or capture his heart (Tamlin's stone heart) to prevent his escape.

LUCIEN

Lucien is French in origin and means "light." Lucian was also the name of a Hellenized Syrian satirist who was known for his tongue-in-cheek style is said to be the inventor of comic dialogue.

ALIS

Alis is a variant of Alice and translates to "noble, exalted."

SIDE CHARACTERS

IANTHE

Ianthe is Greek in origin and means "she who delights." In Greek mythology she is a water-nymph daughter of Oceanus and a companion to Persephone when she was abducted by Hades.

ANDRAS

Andras has Welsh origins and means "manly, brave."

BRON

Bron is Old English and means "brown."

HART

Hart has Irish origins and means "hero, brave, firm." A hart is also the term for a male deer and in Celtic mythology, the white hart is said to appear when one is transgressing a taboo (Tamlin's whipping of his other sentry comes to mind).

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MAIN CHARACTERS

BERON VANSERRA

Beron is French in origin and is a pet form of the name Bero meaning "bear."
Vanserra is a combination of the prefix van meaning "from, of" and serra meaning "saw, view from a high place" or "mountain range." Vanserra can be said to mean "of the mountains."

ERIS

In ancient Greek mythology, Eris is the Greek goddess of strife and discord. Her Roman equivalent, Discord, is the goddess of chaos. She is associated with the war goddess Enyo who is frequently associated with the war god Ares.

SIDE CHARACTERS

JESMINDA

Jesminder is Indian in origin meaning "flower queen."

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MAIN CHARACTERS

TARQUIN

Tarquin is of Latin origin and means "ruler, strong soldier." Two of the seven kings of Rome bore the name.

VARIAN

Varian is of Latin origin and means "variable."

CRESSEIDA

Cressida derives from Chryseis and means "golden." She is a character associated with the Trojan War and is the archetype of a faithless lover.

SIDE CHARACTERS

NOSTRUS

Nostrum comes from the Latin noster meaning "our, ours." Nostos is an Ancient Greek literary theme concerning an epic hero returning home, often by sea. It is deemed a high level of heroism or greatness and focuses on the hero retaining or elevating their identity while often resisting temptation.
ACOTAR role: The High Lord prior to Tarquin who was slain by Amarantha after participating in a rebellion Under the Mountain.

BRUTIUS

May refer to the Latin name Brutus meaning "heavy, dull."
ACOTAR role: Mercifully slain by Rhys Under the Mountain after his attempted escape.

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MAIN CHARACTERS

HELION

Helios is the Ancient Greek god personifying the sun. He is often depicted with a solar crown and drives a horse-drawn chariot through the sky. He played a significant role in ancient magic and spells and is the son of the Titan Theia and brother to Selene.

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MAIN CHARACTERS

KALLIAS

Callias is Greek in origin and means "beauty, beautiful voice." He is a diplomatic and wealthy figure in Ancient Greece.

VIVIANNE

From the Latin word vivianus meaning "alive." Commonly associated with the Irish name Bébinn meaning "beautiful, fair one" and is the name of an underworld goddess in both Irish and Welsh mythology.

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THESAN

Thesan is the Etruscan goddess of the dawn. Greeks identified her with Eos, the goddess and personification of the dawn. She is sometimes depicted with wings.

NUAN

Nuan is Mandarin and means "warm, genial."

THE PEREGRYN

The peregrine is a falcon renowned for its speed.
Fun fact: The peregrine is the fastest member of the animal kingdom and can reach speeds of over 200mph.

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AMARANTHA

Amaranths is Greek in origin and means "unfading." The amaranthus flower, often deep red in color, is said to symbolize immortality as it blooms for so long.

BRANNAGH

Brannagh is of Irish origin and denotes a "beautiful female with hair dark as a raven."

DAGDAN

In Irish mythology, the Dagda is considered the chief god of the Tuatha Dé Danaan. His name means "the good god, the great god."

CLYTHIA

In Greek mythology, Clytia is a water nymph who loved the sun god Helios. Helios left her for another woman after coming under the influence of Aphrodite. Clytia exposed the affair to the other woman's father, but eventually lost herself in mourning for Helios's love. Her name means "glorious, renowned."
ACOTAR role: Amarantha's sister.

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HISTORICAL FIGURES

THEIA

Theia is a Titan and is the Ancient Greek goddess of sight and vision. She is the parent of Helios, Selene, and Eos. She is most known not for her own role, but for that of her childrens'. Her name means "goddess, godly."

SILENE

Selene is the Ancient Greek goddess and personification of the moon. She is the daughter of Hyperion and Theia and sister to Helios and Eos.

HELENA

Comes from the Green name Helen meaning "shining light." There are various Helens in Greek mythology: Helen of Troy, Helen a friend to Aphrodite, and Helene the Amazonian who fought Achilles.

FIONN

Fionn is of Irish origin and means "fair-haired." In Irish folklore, Fionn Mac Cumhaill was a leader of a band of young hunter-warriors.

PELIAS

Pelias is Greek in origin and means "rock pigeon." Pelias was the king of Ioclus while Peleus was the king of Phthia. Peleus was husband to Thetis, father to Achilles, and left several (men and women) dead in his wake, both through means of accident and betrayal, fleeing more than once to escape punishment.

OLEANNA

Oleanna derives from the Greek name Helene meaning "sun ray, shining light."
ACOTAR role: The High Priestess who dipped Gwydion in the Cauldron.

REPORTED DECEASED

CATRIN BERDARA

Catrin is Greek in origin and means "clear, pure." It's commonly used in Wales and is connected with the ancient goddess Hecate, who is the goddess of witchcraft, sorcery, and necromancy.

MINOR CHARACTERS

TANWYN

Tanwan is of Welsh origin and means "white fire."
ACOTAR role: Tanwyn was a Valkyrie and Cassian's former lover.

OSIAN

Osian is Welsh meaning "young deer" and derives from the Irish legendary poet and warrior Oisín, who was regarded as the greatest poet of Ireland and a warrior of the Fianna (small warrior-hunter bands). He was a demigod son of Fionn Mac Cumhaill and Sadhbh.
ACOTAR role: The author of A Brief History of the Great Sieges

RABATH

Rabath is an anagram of Bharat, one of the names of India. Derived from the Sanskrit word bharata, meaning "to bear, be maintained" it can also mean "one who is engaged in search of knowledge."
ACOTAR role: Lord of the Western Wind and ancestor to Merrill.

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JURIAN

Jurian is Greek in origin and means "farmer, earthworker."

GRAYSEN

Graysen is of English origin and translates to "son of the steward/gray-haired man."

NOLAN

Nolan is Irish in origin and denotes a "child of nobility, champion."
ACOTAR role: Nolan is Graysen's father.

ISAAC HALE

Isaac is Hebrew in origin and means "one who laughs or rejoices." Hale is Old English in origin and means "nook, recess" and denoted someone who lived in a nook or hollow.

TOMAS MANDRAY

Thomas is Hebrew in origin and means "twin." No clear reference to Mandray, though Mandrew is Greek and means "man, warrior."
ACOTAR role: Tomas was Nesta's former betrothed.

CLARE BEDDOR

Clare is French in origin and means "bright, clear." No reference found for Beddor.

AUNT RIPLEIGH

Ripleigh is Old English and means "shouting man's meadow." It is connected to the name Ripley meaning "strip of clearing in the woods."
ACOTAR role: Aunt Ripleigh is the feigned aunt Feyre takes care of.

Ms. Laurent

Laurent is French in origin and means "from Laurentum" and "bay laurel."
ACOTAR role: Ms. Laurent is the mortal caretaker of the Archeron estate.

BRIAR

Briar is of British origin and means "thorny bush of wild roses, brambles."
ACOTAR role: Briar is the mortal woman rescued by Feyre and Azriel.

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HUMAN QUEENS

VASSA

Vasilissa is Greek in origin and means "queen, empress." It is also the name of a Christian child martyr who was left unharmed during her capture, but after her release was slain in a field as she prayed.

BRIALLYN

Briallen is a Welsh name meaning "primrose." Primrose comes from the Latin word meaning "first" and the primrose flower often represents youth and renewal (SJM, you dog—this may be my favorite tongue-in-cheek naming thing you did).
ACOTAR role: Briallyn is the first queen who enters the Cauldron and is rewarded with immortality as a withered old hag.

DEMETRA

Demeter was the mother of Persephone, an Ancient Greek goddess of the harvest and an emblem of growth.
ACOTAR role: Demetra was the golden queen who provided the mortal half of The Book of Breathings to the Night Court and was subsequently slain by the Attor.

ANDROMACHE

Andromache means "fighter of men." In Greek mythology, she was representative of the suffering of Trojan women during the war and was famous for her virtue and fidelity. Andromache was also the name of a famous Greek Amazonian who fell at Troy.
ACOTAR role: Andromache was the former mortal lover of Mor.

FAE CHARACTERS

DRAKON

Drakon is of Greek origin and means "dragon."

NEPHELLE

In Greek mythology Nephele, meaning "cloud," is a cloud nymph who is considered the goddess of loyalty, generosity, peace, and shyness.

THE SERAPHIM

A seraph is a celestial being regarded as belonging to the highest order of angels in Christian angelology.

HUMAN CHARACTERS

MIRYAM

Miriam of of Hebrew origin and means "sea of sorrow." She is the Biblical daughter of Amram and Jochebed and sister to Aaron and Moses.

URSTIN

No plausible connections found. Potentially an anagram for Rustin, an English name meaning "Rust's estate" or Surtin, a Middle English name meaning "reliable, trustworthy."
ACOTAR role: Urstin is a cousin of the Archerons via their mother.

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MAIN CHARACTERS

THE SURIEL

Suriel is a Hebrew name meaning "God's prince, divine authority." May also reference Sariel, an angel from Judais tradition, one of the seven holy angels. He is considered to be a primordial power invoked for his protective powers.

ATTOR

Possibly an altered form of the German tatter meaning "goblin, puppet." Likely inspired by the Ahool, a bat or primate-like winged cryptid said to live in the jungles of Indonesia.

DEATH GODS

THE BONE CARVER

Self-explanatory.

STRYGA AKA THE WEAVER

Stryzga is a female demon in Slavic mythology similar to a vampire. Stryzga stems from the mythological Strix of Ancient Greece, referring to birds of ill omen (and also witches) who fed on human flesh and blood.

KOSCHEI

Koschei is a common villain in East Slavic tales. He is often given the epithet of "the Immortal, the Deathless" and is said to hide his death inside nested objects for protection. He often takes the role of a malevolent rival figure who competes or entraps a male hero's love interest.
Fun note: The love interest trapping tidbit has interesting connotations for both Lucien (regarding Vassa) and Azriel (regarding Eris). For a breakdown of the Azriel x Koschei scene in ACOSF, see HERE.

PRISON INMATES

BRYAXIS

Bryaxis was a famous Ancient Greek sculptor. His name may mean "delight, lust."

LANTHYS

No information or connections found (and it is KILLING me).

LUBIA

In Albanian mythology, the lubia is a multi-headed, serpentine-like, female watestorm demon-dragon. Her irresistible taste of flesh leans toward that of young girls.
ACOTAR role: Also called Seven-Headed Lubia, imprisoned for preying on girls on the western coast of Prythian.

ANNIS

The Black Annis is a bogeyman in English folklore, depicted as a blue-faced witch with iron claws who has a taste for human flesh, especially that of children.
ACOTAR role: Also called Blue Annis, imprisoned for her craving of female flesh.

VESPERUS

In Greek mythology, Hesperus is the Evening Star. Her Roman equivalent is named Vesper.
ACOTAR role: Vesperus is the Asteri found beneath the Prison.

MINOR CHARACTERS

MIDDENGARD WYRM

Midgard is the realm of human beings in Norse mythology, ie Earth. Wrym is an Old Norse word and refers to a wingless and limbless dragon.

THE BOGGE

Bogge is a Middle English word meaning "frightening specter" from which the term bogeyman originated. Bogeyman have no specific appearance and conceptions vary drastically by culture.
Fun fact: A boggart is a supernatural being from English folklore and also derives from the term bogge (Harry Potter facts, yo).

NAGA

Throughout various Asian religious traditions, Angus are a divine or semi-divine race of half-human, half-serpent beings residing in the netherworld.
Fun fact: A female naga is called a Nagi or a Nagini (more HP facts, yo).

MARTAX

A manticore is a Persian mythological creature similar to the Egyptian sphinx. The martax describe in ACOTAR has a head like a lion's and three rows of teeth. A manticore has the body of a lion and eats its victims whole with its three rows of teeth. The term manticore stems from Latin and Ancient Greek.

PUCA

Púca is Irish for "spirit, ghost" while puca is Old English for "goblin." They were said to be shape-changers.

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MEALLAN

Meallán is Irish in origin meaning "small pleasant one."
ACOTAR role: Helion's pegasus.

ELLIA

Ellia is of various origins and can translate to "beautiful fairy maiden" with hints to the "Otherworld."
ACOTAR role: Mor's horse.

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For Part 2: World Map, Items, Terms & Other, click HERE

Introduction

ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, Zepp Tokyo for \"Quarter-Century Tour\"

^(\This article is an updated version of my "Sound Like" article from 2021. I have reposted this article due to difficulties editing the original version*, and have included additional information and recommendations based on the increased popularity of amp simulator pedals*)*

Hello fellow musicians and Ajikan fans!
I have been a fan of ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION for roughly 16 years and as a guitarist was greatly inspired by the band's alt rock sound.
After a few years of research I have written a series of "sound like" articles for ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION. The purpose of these articles is to provide context on how the band create their signature sound, and to support beginning musicians or tribute acts who may wish to replicate it.
At the end of each article I have drafted a Budget Rig, which you could use for both at home and in a live environment. I have also provided some general amp settings to tweak and try, which are based on the band's live sound and be can used to help replicate their tones.
This is a 3-part series and if you enjoy this article I would recommend checking out the other articles:
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Sound Like Part 2: Kita : AsianKungFuGeneration (reddit.com)
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Sound Like Part 3: Yamada : AsianKungFuGeneration (reddit.com)

^{Please note that the article focuses on the band's live sound, which will be different to the albums and can vary depending on the venue. Also (and is a cliché} every musician and instrument will vary slightly due to small differences in play style and build, so also be mindful of that.)

To help you recognise the individual guitar tones, Gotch's guitar parts are normally panned to the left earphone and Kita's are panned to the right earphone on the band's albums. (On 2016's Sol-Fa, Hometown and some of the Planet Folks singles the panning was swapped, with Gotch instead in the right ear and Kita on the left)

Masafumi Gotoh

Gotch live at the 02 Islington, London, 2013
Let's start off with lead singer and rhythm guitarist Masafumi Gotoh, or "Gotch" for short. Gotch's was massively influenced by the 90's alternative rock, Power Pop and the Britpop scene, and has previously highlighted Oasis, Weezer and Number Girl as key inspirations.
As Ajikan's main songwriter, Gotch follows the principle of "less is more" - keeping the arrangements simple for listeners, but combining pop hooks & traditional Asian melodies with the band's punk rock and indie influences.
Gotch's playing style follows this principle, as he primarily uses chord shapes, bar chords or repeated phrases to anchor the band. (The simple approach also makes it easier for Gotch to sing while performing)
Occasionally, Gotch will use "octave chords" (more on octave chords below) or play riffs with open strings notes, to add further depth. A good example of this is the opening riffs to Easter, where he plays an open D string while also playing the 3rd and 5th fret of the A string.

^{Octave Chords: Octave chords is famously used in punk rock and alt rock riffs, and is when you play the same note in two different octaves. Try play a bar chord on the 4th fret of the A string, and lifting your ring finger off the D string. You should get a "C# octave chord" and will recognise it from the intro of Haruka Kanata. Octave chords are used in many Ajikan songs and by many bands, so they are good to practice!}

In more recent albums, Gotch has also experimented with moving chord shapes across the fretboard. For good examples, check out the opening of Caterpillar or the bridge section of Kouya Wo Aruke.
Gotch's guitar tends to be lower in the overall mix, with Kita acting as the band's lead guitarist and Gotch as the anchor for each song. However, Gotch tends to improvise with ambient sounds during live performances and occasionally will take on the lead role in songs like Hold Me Tight.

GUITARS:

When it comes to guitars Gotch almost exclusively plays Gibson Les Paul Jr's with P-90 pickups, and has been his preferred guitar since 2004. The P-90 pickups have a bright midrange sound in comparison to the muddier humbucker sound, which makes them better suited for Gotch's focus on chords.
Gotch main guitar is the 1959 Gibson Les Paul Special
The Les Paul Jr is also lighter and have less sustain and power compared to a normal Les Paul, which leaves space for the other instruments to stand out in the mix.
Gotch's main guitar is a 1959 Gibson Les Paul Special, which he plays in E Standard tuning and uses for both recording and live performances. Gotch also uses a 1961 Gibson Les Paul Jr (with the pickguard missing) or a 2000 Gibson Les Paul DC (with a gloss yellow finish) for songs in Eb/D# tuning, such as After Dark or Soredewa, Mata Ashita.
Gotch's is also famous for using a 1975 Gibson Marauder during the band's early years. Gotch has mostly retired the guitar (due to the "lack of volume" for larger venues), but it regularly appears in MV's, band merchandise and occasionally during special events, such as the 10th anniversary shows in Yokohama.
Gotch's Gibson Marauder
Gotch occasionally uses a few rarer guitars live, such as the Gibson Custom Les Paul Junior John Lennon model (Gotch has number 54 of 300 such guitars made), and is normally played with a capo for songs such as Maigo Inu To Ame No Beat.
Gotch has also used a Gibson Hummingbird for acoustic numbers, and can be seen used in Eizo Sakushin Shu Vol.6 for the band's performance of Kaigan Doori. Gotch likes to use Tortex Flex .88mm & Tortex Flex Triangle .88mm guitar picks, which he swaps between depending on the song.
If you are looking to sound like Gotch, the best place to start would be a Les Paul Jr guitar with P-90 pickups.

AMPLIFIERS:

After originally touring with a Roland JC-22, Gotch has almost exclusively played Fender amplifiers since 2004. Gotch uses two amps when playing live, one for his "clean" sound and the other for his "heavy" sound.
The band's often implement a "quiet/loud" dynamic into their song writing, so Gotch will often switch between his amps during live performances, using a custom made footswitch on his pedalboard. (A good example of this is Mustang or Solanin)
For his clean tone, Gotch uses a Fender 65' Twin Custom Twin 15. It can be heard on Korogaru Iwa, Kimi ni Asa Ga Furu, Solanin and Wonder Future. Occasionally, Gotch will combine the Twin Reverb with a boost pedal or overdrive pedal for more clarity, with Wonder Future a good examples of this.
(1) Fender '65 Twin Custom 15 (clean tone), (2) Fender Vibro-King Custom, (3) Fender Super-Sonic 60 Head (which uses the Vibro-King as a speaker), (4) Fender '63 Spring Reverb (which runs in between the pedal board and the Super-Sonic 60, and is toggled on or off by a switch)
For his heavier tone, Gotch primarily uses a Fender Vibro-King Custom for recording and appears in most of the band's MV's. The Vibro-King/Twin Reverb was Gotch's main setup during the 2000's and can be seen together on Eizo Sakushin Shu Vol. 6.
In 2009 Gotch started to use a Fender Super-Sonic 60 Amp Head and still uses it now. Until 2022, Gotch would use Vibro-King as a "cabinet", acting as the speaker unit for the Super-Sonic. Gotch now uses a Shinos & L Rocket Head for live shows, but has kept the Vibro-king for recording sessions and MVs.
Since 2022 Gotch has used Shinos & L Rocket amp & cabinet instead of the Fender Vibro-King
Gotch "heavy" amps for songs such as Re:Re:, Haruka Kanata and Rewrite. It is important to note that Gotch prefers to use his amps to create his distorted tone, but will occasionally add an overdrive pedal for heavier tracks such as Blood Circulator & Easter.
Alongside the Twin Reverb and Super-Sonic, Gotch is known to use a Fender 63' Spring Reverb Unit. This unit only runs into the Super-Sonic and is used for additional reverb to "thicken the sound". Gotch can control the 63' Reverb with a on/off switch on his pedal board.
Other notable amps that Gotch has used are the Matchless C30 & Bad Cat 30R Head. Both have been used exclusively for recording, most notably on Wonder Future. Gotch is also known to use VOX AC15 amps for recording.
Gotch's '63 Spring Reverb Unit, along with a selection of Vortex Flex .88m picks

In terms of mics, Gotch seems to use a Shure SM57 for his Fender Twin Reverb and a Shure SM58 on his Vibro-King or Shinos Rocket. When you are trying to emulate his sound with modelling or profiling amps, it is worth experimenting with mic positioning and different mics.

If you want to replicate Gotch's amp sound then you should look to replicate his Fender amps. However the Vibro-King is a key component and are unfortunately rare, notoriously loud and expensive. For that reason, I have put together some alternatives that should get you close.

PEDALS & EFFECTS:

During Ajikan's early years, Gotch combined a Roland JC-22 with a ProCo RAT to create the "quiet/loud" dynamic of the band's early records. After buying the Fender Vibro-King in 2004, Gotch no longer required the RAT, but kept a simplified pedalboard to achieve certain tones for live performances.
Gotch's 2004 pedalboard, which includes the ProCo RAT and Ibanez TS9 Tube Screamer
We will cover two different pedalboards that Gotch has used during the band's career. Regardless of which pedal board you look at, Gotch's has always included an overdrive or boost pedal, a phase pedal and a delay pedal.
The boost/overdrive is used to "lift" his clean sound during ballads (Solanin, Wonder Future) or to thicken his sound for heavier tracks. (Senseless, Dororo) Gotch will normally set the drive or gain low and the volume high.
The phaser is a more sparingly used pedal to add texture and colour, but can be heard on Shinkokyū, Blue Train and Rewrite. I will include more detail on Gotch's use of delay in the sections below.
Gotch's "Classic" Pedalboard
Gotch \"classic\" pedalboard, used between 2006-2013, with Gotch's custom made footswitch on the bottom left to control the amps
Gotch started to use this "classic" board during the Fanclub tour and continued to do so until the 10th Anniversary shows in 2013. This would be the easier and more affordable board to replicate for newcomers.
Gotch's setup started with a BOSS TU-3 tuner, which he also used as a "mute" pedal in between songs. From there, his chain would run into the Ibanez TS808 Tube Screamer, the BOSS PH-2 Super Phaser and the BOSS DD-20 Giga Delay. During the Magic Disk tour, Gotch also added a Custom Audio Tremolo.

^{The BOSS DD-20 has been Gotch's main delay pedal for twenty years and is set to "warp". On the warp setting, Gotch can keep his foot on the pedal to create swells of delays. Gotch's standard setting is 173-179bpm (beats per minute} on 1/4 (quarter) notes and then he has four presets. These are 137bpm on 1/4 (for the intro of Blackout), 154bpm on 1/4 (for Kakato de Ai o Uchinarase), 177bpm on 1/2 (for Solanin and the intro of Siren) and finally 177 on 1/4. (For the second half of Siren))

Gotch also included two footswitches for his board; The first one was a handmade footswitch, which he used to swap between the Twin Reverb and the Vibro-King/Super-Sonic. The other footswitch was a BOSS FS-5L, which he used to control the '63 Spring Reverb Unit.
Gotch's "Modern" Pedalboard
Gotch's \"modern\" pedal board.【Pedal List】(1) api/TranZformer GT (compressoequalizer) (2) BOSS/TU-3 (tuner) (3) Spaceman Effects/Atlas III (preamp) (4) BOSS/DD-6 (delay) (5) Spaceman Effects/Voyager I (tremolo) (6) EarthQuaker Devices/Avalanche Run (delay/reverb) (7) Mu-Tron/Mu-FX Phasor 2X (phaser) (8) Caroline Guitar Company/KILOBYTE (9) BOSS/DD-20 (delay) (10) Handmade/Line Selector (11) FAT/514.D (booster)(12) strymon/Zuma R300 (power supply) (13)BOSS/EV-30 (Expression Pedal) (14) BOSS/FS-5L (foot switch)
During the recording of Wonder Future and his first solo album (Can't Be Forever Young), Gotch began to experiment more with boutique pedals, and has resulted in a more complex board since 2014, allowing more ambient experiments on the band's records and during live performances.
Gotch has added a API Tranzformer GT to the start of his chain, only using the E.Q. section and tweaking the settings for each venue.
Gotch's "Modern" board now includes a variety of delay and reverb pedals, such as the Earthquaker Device Avalanche Run and the Caroline Kilobyte Lo-Fi Delay. These are combined with his DD-20 to create the ambient sounds heard on Empathy & the outro of Demachiyanagi Parallel Universe.
The BOSS DD-6 Digital Delay is set to the "reverse" mode and is used during the intro of Re:Re: and the bridge of Rewrite. Gotch has removed the Tube-Screamer from his board and has experimented with multiple alternative pedals, which includes the Xotic Effects AC Plus and JHS Superbolt.
He currently uses the Atlas III Preamp Booster and the FAT 514.D for his overdrive sounds. The 514.D only runs to the Super-Sonic to help "thicken" the distorted tone of the Super-Sonic.
Gotch has also replaced the Super Phaser with the MU-FX Phasor 2x and is using a Voyager I Spaceman for his tremolo. (UCLA & No Name are good references for the tremolo) Finally, Gotch has added an BOSS EV-30 expression pedal, which he uses to control the delay of the Avalanche Run.
If you are looking to replicate Gotch's pedalboard, the best place to start would be a phaser, delay and a boost/overdrive pedal, which would cover most of Ajikan's Discography.

Sound Like Gotch...On a Budget

Now that you are up to speed on what Gotch uses for his guitar rig, we can start to look at replicating his sound. The idea of this section is to offer affordable suggestions to replicate Gotch's tone that can be used for home use and for small live venues.
I would like to highlight that I am just writing as a fan and the equipment I recommend are purely my own recommendations. I do not have any sponsors (I wish I did sometimes) and if you find alternatives that work for you, go for it!
Gotch performing in 2022, during the Quarter Century shows in Yokohama
To buy Gotch's current pedal board alone would cost roughly £2,500 and would be unrealistic for most readers to purchase, however there are options that can get us close to Gotch's tone without breaking the bank.
The key elements to this rig are:

• A Gibson style guitar with P-90 pickups
• A Fender amp with decent distortion
• A Tube-Screamer style overdrive
• A flexible Delay pedal

Let's start with the guitar, which is both important for the P-90 tone. You should always feel comfortable when playing the guitar you pick, so I recommend trying out the guitar when possible before buying.
GUITARS
As an affordable guitar, I would suggest looking at the Epiphone Les Paul Jr. It is the entry level price for Gibson guitars (Epiphone would be the equivalent to "Squier" for Fender) and includes P-90 pickups as the standard setup. You can buy one for around £380 and should also be fairly easy to modify & similar to Gotch's sound.
Epiphone Les Paul Junior
If you do have a higher budget to work with, I would recommend the Gibson Les Paul Special Tribute DC. These were released in 2019 and you can normally find a 2nd hand version for roughly £650 - £800. (It is also the guitar I currently use!) Failing that, you can also look at the Gibson Les Paul Special for around £800.
Gibson Les Paul Special Tribute DC
AMPLIFIERS
We are looking to replicate Gotch's Fender amps, so the affordable option to start with would be the Fender Mustang GTX. The newer Mustang amps are an improvement on the original and have simulations of the Twin Reverb, the Vibro-King and the Super-Sonic.
The GTX 50 (which has a smaller speaker) is roughly £390 and the GTX 100 (which includes a footswitch) is about £510, but you should be able to find both versions for a reduced cost second hand.
Fender Mustang GTX 100
If you do have a higher budget or prefer to use a tube amp, I would recommend going for the Fender Super-Sonic Combo or the Fender Hot Rod Deluxe for a solid distorted Fender tone.
Alternatively, you could consider the Fender Blues Junior, Fender Tone Master Twin-Reverb or Roland JC, and combine them with a ProCo RAT to replicate the tones from Houkai Amplifier and Kimi Tsunagi Five M.
PEDALS
To keep the list of suggestions short and simple, we will use Gotch's "classic" board as a reference and will cover most of the band's discography.
For a budget rig, I would recommend the Ibanez Tube-Screamer Mini, which is a miniature version of the standard Ibanez Tube-Screamer and sound great for the price. You could pair this up with a Boss Phase Shifter and a BOSS DD-6 Delay for around £309 brand new to get a very similar Gotch board. (You could buy them for as low as £110 combined on the 2nd hand market)
The Tube Screamer Mini is a cheap, effective overdrive pedal based on the classic TS808
For a more expensive pedalboard, the JHS Superbolt V2 was used by Gotch extensively between 2015-2019 and was once described by Gotch as "the Ajikan sound" on his blog. You could also buy the TS808 Tube Screamer that Gotch actually used for many years or the JHS Bonsai 9 which emulates multiple tube screamers.
For modulation sounds (phase, tremolo) the AmpliTube X-Vibe is one of many great multi-effect pedal on the market. If you have the money for it, you could buy a BOSS DD-20 second hand or the BOSS DD-200 to emulate Gotch's delay sound.
If you decided to go with the Mustang GTX, you would also have a selection of effects built into the amp.
THE TONE MASTER PRO? (and amp simulators)
As a final recommendation, Fender have recently released the Tone Master Pro (TMP), which is a multi effects and amp simulator.
It can be used as a device for home recording, but also as multi effects pedal in front of a standard amp or as your main amplifier when played through a IR cabinet. (I'll go into more detail in a bit!) The TMP are not cheap at £1400, so I would only advise buying one if you plan to use it as your main amp and effects board.
If you have the budget and was starting your rig from scratch I would consider checking it out, as it includes great simulations of the Twin Reverb and Vibro-King. They are also easy to transport & the Fender IR cabinets only weigh 12.5kg. (For comparison, my VOX AC15 weighs 30kg and is a nightmare to transport for shows)
The TMP is Fender's first amp simulator pedal and from what I understand the Quad Cortex DSP, the Line 6 Helix series and the Headrush Pedalboard are more popular choices. However, for the purpose of "sounding like Gotch", I would start with the TMP for its Fender selection and simplicity
The Fender Tone Master Pro can be used to simulate multiple amps & as a pedalboard for live performances

^{If you decide to buy a Amp Simulator Pedal, there are 3 common ways to use it for band practices & live settings. (Outside of just using headphones or running straight to front of house at a venue})
^{Option 1: Only use the effects on the Amp Simulator and run it into a standard amp. (Make sure to not use the cabinets settings within the pedal when doing this} You could still use the amps, however it will not always sound great with a normal amp)
^{Option 2: Use the Amp Simulator as your main amp and combining with a standard guitar cabinet. In order to do this, you will need to buy a separate power amp pedal to run in between the amp simulator and the guitar cabinet. (Otherwise you will not have any volume or oomph when you play through the cabinet})
^{Option 3: Buy a IR Cabinet. The difference between this and Option 2 is that you would not need to buy a separate power amp pedal to run into the speaker. The Fender FR-10/12 & Line 6 Powercab are good examples.}

Recommended Amp Settings

The following amp settings are based on photos gathered from live performances or from photos of Gotch's social media. Every amp will slightly differ based on your guitar or playing style, so you may need to tweak with your settings to find the right blend.
My personal advice is to not put the gain too high and to start with getting the treble and bass settings where you feel comfortable, before tweaking the mids. The P-90s have a strong midrange attack, so bear that in mind as well.
Gotch's Vibro-King and Super-Sonic
Fender '65 Twin Custom 15:
(Plugged into Vibrato 1) Vol: 3, Treble: 3.5-4, Mid: 6.5, Bass: 3.5
Fender Super-Sonic 60 Head:
Channel 1: Vol: 3.5, Treble: 4-4.5, Bass: 5
Channel 2: Vintage setting ON, Gain 1: 4, Gain 2: 0, Treble: 5-5.5, Bass: 4.5-5, Mid: 5.5, Vol: 5.5-6
Fender Vibro-King Custom (as cabinet):
Plug into the speaker input at the back of the amp, with FAT switch on.
Fender Vibro-King Custom (as amplifier):
(FAT ON) Vol: 3, Treble: 4.5, Bass: 4, Mid: 5.5 (Based on Eizo Sakushin Shu Vol.6 settings)
OR
(FAT ON) Vol: 4.5 Treble: 4 Bass: 5 Mid: 4.5
Shinos & L Rocket Head:
Gain: 7, Treble: 8, Bass: 3, Reverb: 0, Master: 7

Conclusion

I hope this has been helpful for you guys, as it has been on my bucket list for some time! Please provide some feedback as it is always appreciated and if you would like more details about the effect settings let me know.
[Update] I have now written a post on Kita's rig and Yamada's rig, which you can read below:
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Sound Like Part 2: Kita : AsianKungFuGeneration (reddit.com)
ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION Sound Like Part 3: Yamada : AsianKungFuGeneration (reddit.com)

"Sell in May Go Away" a stupid old trope, but true, in normal markets. [1] Standard seasonally bad month on week options and contracts due. [2] Trades go T+1 as of May 28th 2024. [3] Retail is the volume. [4]
TLDR follow the process, goto tendie town

1. Old fashion traders, institutional investors, wall street workers believe a simple seemingly truism, sell in May and go away. Math or not, it does tend to happen every year, and the reasoning is stupid simple. Summer vacation and no school. Of course spending goes up for 'avg consumers' because we gotta feed the damn kids. Of course volume of major markets for big money slows because those rich asshats go to the damn Hampton's for summer and let the peons push the buttons at work. So WTF does that have to do with timing the market like a stalking genius cat? Everything and everyone was expectation and investing on the premise 'number go down now'. A digital cat fart lit a fire and the number went up, shorts were dropped, we can now see the moon.
2. Monthly dated options are due, shorts, margin, commodities and all that big macro turd bucket are due, now, this week. The bulk was short of hedged for dropping numbers. Prices and inflation are rising instead. WTH, did the institutional investors and hedge funds forget we do not read the almanacs and shit like that? Why wouldn't we kick you with your shorts down, we want the moon, its why we're still here.
3. Settlement dates are changes from 2 days to 1 day. Which for the biggest money players has a nominal effect at best. Yet for small investors and especially cash only non margin investors, it is evolutionary. BS you say, but no mf, listen up Linda. We can spend every damn cent every single day and sell all the things every day like a Wall Street BOSS if we want to. Squeeze plays, short wars, flash pumps and more will no longer mean waiting like a good lil'bitch in time out for two days. We can loss everything every damn day now!
4. Once again the playing field is the dirt cutout in us normal folks town. We are driving the purchase volume, at least in number of trades across the mem hype boards. The bots cant match humans, the algos for institutions go derp and we just keep buying like HAF diabetic fat kids at an icecream truck after kicking open a teller machine.

So what does all that fluffy crap actually mean?
Roaring Kitty very may well have picked a perfect moment. A tactically precise time to catch the opponent bluffing when you join the table unexpectedly. The current hype induced run does not matter even if it was strategically to be expected. It is barely the pump before the swarm. As all the old money tries to get off the table, the new money is flooding in. When the institutions have to shift after this week to hedge and cover more, we will get T+1. That instantly turns both the holders with hardend hands into dca champs, but combines the power of the friendly neighborhood traders too. Day traders, scalpers, swing traders alike will just increase the price drives and volume, while ironically the biggest backers will have lost interest income from the free 48hrs on all our money from buys and sells. Once again, the DFV king has in concept laid it out like a perfect trap, and if i'm even half right, we all get to leave wendys soon.
***full disclosure, i type and talk like crap, i dont care. but the idea, thats some good shit, lets put it in our pipes and smoke it.

So I (23F) have been with my boyfriend (23M) for a couple months now. Not a long relationship, but it’s been fast moving and honestly it’s been wonderful. My bf has a son (3, we’ll cal him Timmy) who I absolutely adore and it’s very obvious that his son loves spending time with me. I never force anything on his son, but if we’re all together walking through a mall or park he wants to hold my hand, if I’m spending the night he will wake me up over his dad to get him a bottle, and there are times where I’ve been in my own home and he is crying for me. There are other things, but it does have me feeling like a stepmom
Timmy’s mom is in his life, but barely and only because her parents pressure her to be there. However, she does not enjoy spending time with her son and is constantly calling my bf to pick him up because she wants to go out clubbing or she just doesn’t want him there at her place anymore. Timmy is autistic and it’s been a learning curve for everyone as he was just diagnosed about two months ago.
There are things I keep finding out about Timmy’s mom that honestly make my blood boil. The fact that when Timmy was born premature and spent nearly 100 days in the NICU and it was mostly my bf visiting solo, the fact that for the first few months of Timmy’s life she went MIA and blocked my bf so she didn’t have to watch her son, the fact that my bf has never had a weekend off unless he specifically asks for a singular weekend, to which she will whine and complain how she has plans to go to the club. There have been times where Timmy was being dropped off at his mom’s and he was just crying and screaming saying he doesn’t want to go, trying to open the car door to get back in the car. One thing that really did it for me was that she has never spent a Mother’s Day with Timmy. Like ever. Not even a phone call with him. My bf gets him on all the holiday’s because she can’t be bothered. There is far more she’s done to piss me off, but his sister flat out told me “I’m sorry my brother chose someone so stupid to have a kid with.” His mom told me, in her best English possible (she’s an immigrant) “you are a strong girl. Fuck that b.”
So for Mothers Day this year my mom invited my bf and Timmy over. My parents both seem to really like them, and even asked if they wanted to spend the night. My dad has never been okay with me having a partner sleepover before so this was big news for me. Since we didn’t prepare for a sleepover, we made a late night run to target to grab a bottle, some milk (my parents only drink almond milk), and a little snack for us. While at checkout, the cashier told me Happy Mother’s Day. It caught me by surprise, but I realized I did look like Timmy’s mother in that moment with the three of us shopping together and buying mainly baby stuff. When we were walking out I giggled to my boyfriend about it.
It’s important to note that I had an unwanted abortion mid last year. I wasn’t in the best place, I wasn’t dating the person, and the guy had driven me the clinic because he wasn’t ready and he didn’t want to be a deadbeat dad. Everyone else in my life said it was for the best, but I still mourn that loss.
On Monday when we got back to my bf’s house he said he had something for me. He gifted me a vinyl of Harry’s Styles’s Fine Line album (something I lost years ago) and a little stuffed Care Bear since I have a thing for 80s cartoons. It was really sweet and almost brought me to tears but I held them back. He went on to explain how he wasn’t sure if I would be okay with it, but he wanted to get me something anyways, not only for the baby I lost, but also for the way I’ve stepped up and immediately accepted Timmy as part of my life. He said in the three years he’s had his son, no one has helped him out as much as I have and he is forever grateful for that. It just made me feel really lucky and blessed and appreciated. I’m so happy to have these two in my life.

Coffee is a beloved beverage enjoyed by millions around the world, but not all coffee is created equal. Some coffees to avoid and some brands can negatively impact your health, taste buds, and even your wallet. In this guide, we'll explore the types of coffee you should avoid and why making informed choices can enhance your coffee experience.

1. Instant Coffee

Instant coffee might be convenient, but it often falls short in flavor and quality. Many instant coffees are made from lower-grade beans and can have a bitter, burnt taste. Additionally, they often contain additives and preservatives that can detract from the natural richness of coffee.

2. Pre-Ground Coffee

While pre-ground coffee is convenient, it can quickly lose its freshness and flavor. Coffee begins to oxidize and lose its aromatic oils as soon as it’s ground, leading to a stale taste. For the best flavor, always opt for whole beans and grind them just before brewing.

3. Flavored Coffees

Flavored coffees might seem appealing, but they often contain artificial flavors and sweeteners that can mask the true taste of the coffee. These additives can also lead to unnecessary calorie intake and potential health risks. If you enjoy flavored coffee, consider adding natural spices like cinnamon or vanilla extract instead.

4. Cheap, Bulk Coffee

Buying coffee in bulk can be tempting due to its lower price, but these products are often made from low-quality beans that lack depth and complexity. Bulk coffee is also more likely to be stale by the time you get to the bottom of the bag, diminishing your coffee experience.

5. Pods and Capsules

Coffee pods and capsules are convenient, but they often come with environmental and quality drawbacks. The packaging creates a significant amount of waste, and the coffee inside is typically of lower quality compared to freshly ground beans. Moreover, the convenience factor often comes with a higher price tag per cup.

6. Unethically Sourced Coffee

Not all coffee is produced with fair labor practices or sustainable methods. Avoid brands that do not support fair trade or environmentally friendly practices. Instead, look for certifications like Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance, or Organic, which ensure that the coffee is produced ethically and sustainably.

7. Old or Stale Coffee

Coffee has a shelf life, and consuming old or stale coffee can result in a flat, lifeless cup. Always check the roast date on the packaging and try to consume your coffee within a few weeks of roasting for the best flavor.

Conclusion

By avoiding these types of coffee, you can ensure a more enjoyable and responsible coffee experience. Invest in high-quality, fresh, and ethically sourced beans, and you'll taste the difference in every cup. Happy brewing!

(I understand this is a bit of a read so I included a tl:dr at the bottom)
This may end up becoming a wall of text so I apologize in advance. I'm not sure how to properly start this so I'll just jump into it. I've been living with my best friends for the past 8 years. The 4 of us moved in together in early 2016 after deciding it would be beneficial financially and because we all get along so damn well that we knew there wouldn't be any issues living under the same roof. Fast forward to today and although 2 them have moved out, I'm still living here with my one buddy and his girlfriend. Things are still great there, no signs of friendship deterioration, tolerance or anything that might cause friction between us. However, I've been witness to a few things as well as started experiencing health issues that have completely changed the outlook I had on life back when we moved in together nearly a decade ago.
A little over 3 years ago I began dealing with awful IBS issues that to this day are still not properly being treated as doctors can't figure out what's wrong with my gut. Over the past 4 months I have begun dealing with nearly debilitating anxiety that has left me pretty much unable to leave the house except for doctor's appointments or the extremely occasional outing to a family or friend's house where I'm only able to stay for about an hour before having to leave. I do see a psychologist as well as a psychiatrist and I am on medication for both the IBS and anxiety, which helps but is in no way a cure. Due to these issues, I have become a shell of the person I used to be. No longer do I wake up and just decide to take a drive to the Jersey shore, a trip to Six Flags or head into the city to catch a Phillies game. Instead, I sit in the house and play video games or watch youtube as doing almost anything else is sure to set my anxiety or IBS off which may or may not land me in the ER.
My buddy that I still live with has been through absolute hell the past few years but luckily he's the kind of person who can just raw dog life (as in, he doesn't deal with any physical or mental issues, rarely gets sick and has no trouble going anywhere, doing anything, can eat whatever he wants without issues, etc.). He lost his mom to cancer last year. She passed exactly one week after Mother's Day. She lived here with us for about the final year of her life. Me and him have been friends for a good 20+ years at this point so his mom was like a mother to me as well, especially being as I don't have a proper relationship with my own mother. Watching her suffer through years of cancer only to pass away at 54 years old was heartbreaking. At least she's finally at peace now, of course. Now, his dad is also going through cancer treatment which is a recurrence of cancer that was found years ago, which automatically makes it stage 4. His prognosis is not grim but to many of us, his dad just seems done with it all. He stays here with us on weekends and with his sister during the week. We can see how much of a toll it's all taking on him. He won't admit it but we know that he doesn't want to put his son through all of this again after losing his mom just last year. If he was given a choice to "go" right now, he would take it, 100% to alleviate any more potential suffering at his or anyone else's behalf. His (my friend's) girlfriend also deals with chronic health issues both physical and mental which has helped open his eyes to the things that other people (who can't just raw dog life) go through on a daily basis. She lost her father when she was in her early 20s so it's helpful to him that she understands what losing a parent feels like.
Watching all of this happen just makes me realize how little our health care industry and government actually seem to care about our true wishes regarding life and death. Why did his mom have to suffer all those years with a terminal diagnosis? Why does his dad have to suffer now? Just because they're both in their 50s and not elderly it seems like care is always about treatment and not giving them the option to leave this life with their dignity intact. I myself would choose to leave this world if the door was opened for me. That does not mean that I am currently having thoughts of killing myself. It means that if the option was presented to me, to go out on my own terms, I would take it. Suicide is still extremely taboo in our society for some reason. Religion and government would have you think it is a crime against humanity but what is more humane than letting someone decide on their own terms that they're ready to move on? We are given this broad illusion of choice as children that we will get to grow up to be who we want to be and if we just try hard enough, we can accomplish anything. But for the vast majority of us, that is just not true. It is an illusion. We work and work and work just to barely earn enough money to survive and many end up in unhappy marriages solely because that's what society made them think they had to do as an adult.
Watching someone you love like family suffer and die will change you. Developing health issues that flip you from being someone outgoing, spontaneous. hard working and passionate into the complete opposite of those things will change you. Discovering that our healthcare system and government will do everything it possibly can to keep you as a "functioning member of society" no matter whether you're going through cancer treatment or dealing with chronic health issues will change you.
I'm 37 years old and I've never felt older in my life than I do right now. It's been almost 3 months that I've been on FMLA from work for the second time in 3 years. I'm wearing a heart monitor because my cardiologist wants to rule out any issues as my heart racing/palpitations are most likely just due to anxiety. Medication doesn't feel like it's doing much of anything and I'm watching the people around me grow older and deal with new problems every day. Yet our society says that we must keep going, no matter if you're suffering because the gears must keep turning. If we truly have the choice to do whatever we want to do in life, why aren't we allowed the choice to leave when we are ready? Why is it taboo? People kill themselves in horrific fashion every single day, more than once every *minute* worldwide. They want a way to fix that and the solution is right there in front of them. Give people the option to leave on their own terms. I've had plenty of conversations about this with friends and family and almost every single one of us would choose to leave on our own terms, when we are ready if the option were available. Hell, even my psychologist agrees with me on this. There's always a big debate about the ethics of it all but until you witness firsthand someone suffering and dying or begin dealing with your own health issues there really isn't any way to understand it. The vast majority of people are out there just raw dogging life and thoughts like these never cross their mind even once. But once it's brought up to them, they understand and accept it, at least in my own personal experiences from talking with friends and family. Ethics, health, religion, government, society, all of these things play a role in determining our fate. I just hope that someday a program is put in place so that people no longer have to suffer.
Finishing up, I understand that my condition is nowhere near as bad as what many others may be dealing with. Some people will look at me with disdain for wanting to walk through the door at only 37 years old while others will understand exactly where I'm coming from and feel the same. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs. I am appreciative of the healthcare system while also criticizing its flaws. I'm glad that religion provides so many with the means to live a happy and healthy life while also believing that many views (and laws) put forth by religious folk are vile and extremely outdated. I am glad that there are systems in place to help people in their darkest hours while also understanding completely why so many choose to leave. At 37 I still have plenty of my life left ahead of me, even if I don't want to get old. I still have things to look forward to such as video game releases or a new series to watch that keep me going. But I also acknowledge that there is a part of me that is ready to go. I have seen what life has to offer. I have lived with my family, on my own, while in a relationship and with my best friends. I do not want to get married or have kids. I do not want to work until I'm 65 (retirement age is likely to rise during my lifetime anyway). I do not want to get old and become a burden on anyone, either family/friends, healthcare workers or the average citizens who would have to pay for my social security.
Lose the illusion of choice and give people the option to go when they are ready.
If you managed to read through all of that, I just want to say thanks! Life is a beautiful thing and I am incredibly thankful for all of the amazing people I've met over the years and for the things that I've been able to do and see. This is not a post about wanting to commit suicide, it's main focus should be that we are forced into this world against our will and given the illusion of choice but when it comes down to it, we really don't have that much choice in how we live our lives and especially not when it comes to wanting it to end. Life can be incredibly fragile and many of us took that for granted until health issues decided it was time to show their ugly faces. I truly do not believe that feeling like you are ready to go should be considered taboo in any way. It should be something that everyone is provided a safe and comfortable space to discuss, whether with loved ones or medical professionals. For all of you out there just raw dogging life, I see you and I hope that someday I can get back to that, I really do miss being able to do whatever I wanted without a second thought. And of course, for anyone who knows what it feels like to be ready to go, to feel confident and comfortable with that decision, I see you as well and hope that the rest of society someday sees that as normal.
tl:dr I am 37 years old and over the past half decade I've watched family and people who were like family to me suffer and die from cancer or other health-related issues. I also deal with debilitating anxiety and IBS issues which obviously are nowhere near the level of something like cancer. However, I've discovered I have a feeling of "being ready to go" and I believe that people should be able to choose to leave this life with dignity and on their own terms without having to do something horrific. The healthcare industry, religious beliefs or government should not force us to remain here against our own free will just so we can keeps the gears of society turning. Let people leave on their own terms when they know that they are ready and get rid of the stigma surrounding talking about death.

The scenario I am trying to work out is one where people displaced by robots in the workplace are eligible to receive a minimum wage paid for by the robot that replaces him. Here is a short story to explain the concept. This was written back in 1997 so the numbers may be off a bit, but the principal is the same.
The story
I’m just a normal guy living a normal life in a normal city on planet earth in the 22nd century. They told us robots would take our jobs, and they have, thank god. Now I can spend the day in a meaningful way rather than drudge at life to eke out a living like my grandfather had to do. He was a factory worker, but then again so am I.
Gramps worked 8-10 hours a day tightening wheel nuts in an auto factory and barely made enough to feed his family let alone buy a home or take a decent vacation. Then the robots came and took his job. Life went from bad to worse until his former employer opted into the Robot Minimum Wage Plan (RMWP) to save money on their robot budget and expand production.
Now, the company hires robots from XYZ Robot Installation Company. They pay an hourly wage for each robot they hire depending on the complexity of the task the robot performs. The wage is fairly low to the company but since the robots work 24/7 it adds up. The robots pay income tax and the company pays payroll tax just like they always did. In addition though, a percentage of the wage goes into the RMWP.
The RMWP collects money from all of the working robots and distributes it to humans as a minimum wage. As a descendent of a displaced worker, I am eligible to receive the wage. The goal is for everyone to eventually receive the wage and as more and more robots get to work that is coming about.
While I could live on the wage at a subsistence level, I choose to work in the factory 3 days a week in order to improve my living conditions and lifestyle. Most human jobs are part time like mine so there are plenty of jobs to go around and with the RMWP the wages required are lower so companies and institutions tend to hire more people.
I’m happy because I work 3 days a week and live a comfortable life.
My friend and his wife choose to work 5 days a week and live in a nicer house and send their kids to private school. My spouse works at their daycare 3 days per week.
I have other highly successful friends who work in the robot industry … designing, building, installing and operating robots.
Nobody that I know works in a repetitive dirty job … the robots do that work.
People who are unable to work get their RMWP plus government disability assistance.
People who choose not to work get RMWP and can survive on that although we still need to work on trying to educate and motivate them. The abundance of clean part time jobs is helping with that.
The capitalist system still thrives. The best investments have turned out to be in Robot manufacturers, installers and servicing companies. Providing basic food and shelter has also proven to be a good investment since homelessness has all but disappeared.
The government is happy because they get taxes from robots.
Even bankers are happy because 100% of the population are consumers because they have money to spend.
Putting numbers together - this is a simple starting point open to modification and it represents only one segment … Industrial Robotics.
Average cost of an industrial robot system today is $100000 (Incl. installation & control system)
Robot wage - $25000 / yr
Taxes – 15% = $3750
RMWP contribution – 25% = $6250 ()
To Robot Integrator (Supply & install Robot) - 60% = $15000
RMWP payment required to support one adult = $10000

Let's start by stating:
"People don't buy products. They buy emotions"
"95% of our purchasing decisions are emotional" -Harvard Business School
The real WHY of WHY PEOPLE BUY is often hidden deep in psychology in the unconscious parts of our brains.
Marketing tools are just the tools to influence the human psyche in one way or another, with psychology in its core.
I play with behavioral science (psychology in marketing) on a daily basis, so I thought I will share 10 cognitive biases (mental shortcuts) here, so you can implement them in your business today to make a few extra bucks:

1. Risk Compensation Theory

People adjust their behavior based on perceived risk.
The less “risky” you make doing business with you, the higher your conversions.
🧠 Make it less risky

• Offer guarantees
• Outline a clear refund/return policy
• Give a lot of social proof to reduce perceived risk

​

2. Labour Illusion

People value things more when they see the work behind them.
"Effort is the universal currency of respect"
🧠 BUILD IN PUBLIC
Constantly showcasing your startup journey, its ups & downs, and the new features you added to your products or services creates the perception there's a lot of work put into your business.
Long waiting periods for service are unavoidable?
Show your process. Educate your client on the craft performed during that period.
Do you use any unusual material in your product? New, creative production process?
Educate with a few extra words
​

3. Life Event Effect

People are more likely to change their habits during a major life event
In fact, those who have undergone a major life event are 3 times more likely to switch brands
🧠How to use it?
Identify the life event most relevant to your category.
Then use ads. Facebook lets you target people when they move to a new house, end a relationship, start a new job, or start university.
Major life events shake up purchasing behavior.
​

4. Storytelling Effect

People prefer and better remember stories than facts alone
Watching, listening, hearing, or reading a story activates the same regions of the brain as those engaged when actually performing these actions in real life.
🧠 Don't show your product. Tell a story
"The most powerful person is the storyteller." - Steve Jobs
Research - Rob Walker story:

• In 2009, Rob Walker bought 200 objects from eBay for a total sum of $129.
• He then asked 200 authors to create a story for each object.
• Rob then sold those 200 objects with included stories on eBay again.
• He sold them for $8000.
• That's a 6202% increase in value.

​

5. Pratfall Effect

A simple blunder or mistake of a person can improve the attractiveness or likability of that person
The same goes for a brand.
But here's the catch...
Your brand needs to be well-perceived in the first place.
Admitting to your flaws, when your brand is perceived as not reliable, only makes things worse.
🧠Be vulnerable
• Embrace your imperfections
VW Beetle campaign in the 1950s and 60s
At that time American cars were supposed to be big, and stylish, not small and ugly. Yet the VW Beetle became a massive hit from its brilliant advertising campaigns.
The campaign addressed everything typical American consumers didn’t like about the beetle.
With headlines like:

• "Lemon",
• "One of the nice things about owning it is selling it",
• "And if you run out of gas, it’s easy to push",
• "Nobody’s perfect",
• or "Live below your means".

​

6. Foot-In-The-Door Technique

People are more likely to agree to a large request by agreeing to a small one first
Upsell whenever you can, but in a friendly, not pushy manner
🧠The easiest upsells

• Sell more of what you just offered them
• Sell something better than what you just offered them
• Sell something complimentary

​

7. Inaction Inertia Effect

When missing an offer once you are likely to miss an offer twice
When people see that you're giving big discounts frivolously every month or week, they tend to ignore them after a while.
The perceived value of your product lowers with each discount
🧠Strategize your discounts
Short-term gains are cool, but have you ever implemented a long-term pricing strategy?
• Every person is different.
Create an email sequence that will split your contacts into specific groups.
Then customize the discounts for each group
​

8. Stepping Stones

Any task you want your customers to do, needs to be broken down into smaller, attainable steps, otherwise, a person will get discouraged
🧠Viral refferal program
When creating a referral program the most important reward is the first one.
The first reward has to be both achievable and attractive to motivate people to participate.
Harry's referral program collected 100k emails within a week, using this prize scheme:

• 5 users referred - Shave cream
• 10 users - Truman Handle Blade - Razor blade
• 25 users - Winston Shave set - Premium Handle
• 50 - One year free blades

9. Decoy Effect

People change their preference between two options when presented with a third option (the decoy) that is “asymmetrically dominated”
🧠 3-tiered pricing pricing explained
• 1 price = 2 choices: to buy or not
• 2 prices = 3 choices: buy the cheaper one, the more expensive one, or not buy
• By adding the third price, a much more expensive one, now the second price (the previous expensive one) looks like a bargain
​
​

10. Default Effect

People tend to accept what we are given and stick with what we have
When a company or brand makes a particular option the default or standard option, it is more likely that people will choose that option over other options that are presented.
When we are not sure what to do and lack expertise in the area we consider the default as a form of advice and we stick to that.
🧠Make the usual no-brainer offer the default option
A large national railroad in Europe increased its annual revenue by an estimated $40 million by changing its website to automatically include seat reservations unless customers explicitly opted out.
Prior to the change, only 9% of tickets sold included reservations, but after the change, 47% of tickets sold included reservations.
---------------------------------------------------
That's it

I've never had a pleasant experience with any Microsoft product in my life.

1. Their 2FA application is unnecessarily complicated to set up and never sends my Authenticator app the number on the first try. I have to select the option to get my authentication number a different way, then re-select the option to send a number to my phone, and only then do I get both numbers in my app (at which point the first set of numbers is already expired, anyways).
   
2. My Outlook reminders show up on the wrong monitor, show up for meetings I haven't RSVP'd, show up for coworkers' OOO notifications, or don't show up the one time I'm occupied by IntelliJ and forget an important meeting.
   
3. The Edge application on my phone often refuses to open. Just gets stuck on "Checking your data organization's requirements..."
   
4. Teams. TEAMS. Fucking Teams. COCKSUCKING FUCKING WORTHLESS PIECE OF SHIT FUCKING TEAMS. What the fuck is wrong with the code snippet inclusion in Teams? Why can't I introduce more than one line of code with backticks? Why can't code snippets introduced with backticks include syntax highlighting? When I do attach a code snippet with syntax highlighting, why the fuck does it need to include a big ass bold title? What if I don't want to title my code snippet? Why is the search utter dogshit and completely useless?
   
5. What the fuck is the point of the Teams update that forces you to get an entirely new app if the new app is still dogshit?
   
6. I had just joined a Teams meeting on my computer, and the app crashed my entire OS literally seconds before my name was called. Even after a force restart, it would still refuse to join the meeting on my laptop. I had to join via phone. THANKS MICROSOFT!!!
   

Man, even just trying to buy Minecraft for my little cousin, I had to spend 30 minutes to go and figure out why the fuck Microsoft 365 wouldn't let him log in to the game I had bought.
I just now realized that my company uses Gitlab instead of GitHub. Minus some annoyances with the MR changelog sometimes bugging out in the UI, I've never had an issue with Gitlab. I can only wonder what Microsoft has done to GitHub.
I'm really supposed to believe these "people" are going to steward the next golden age of AI into redefining all of software? If there's one thing that's saving us from an AI apocalypse, it's the guarantee that once OpenAI's work leaves their SF research lab, gets commercialized, and enters long-term support, the geniuses over at Redmond are going to drive it into the fucking ground. The Terminators will be at the gates of Washington with guns drawn and then, I promise you, their leader is going to blurt out "[ERR01XQ5R]: Something went wrong." and then they're all going to short circuit and shut down.
When I leave my company, I'm for sure applying to Microsoft. Based on my experience, I am confident I will be paid handsomely to sit around, do nothing, and have zero accountability to actually deliver functional software.

Let's start by stating:
"People don't buy products. They buy emotions"
"95% of our purchasing decisions are emotional" -Harvard Business School
The real WHY of WHY PEOPLE BUY is often hidden deep in psychology in the unconscious parts of our brains.
Marketing tools are just the tools to influence the human psyche in one way or another, with psychology in its core.
I play with behavioral science (psychology in marketing) on a daily basis, so I thought I would share 10 cognitive biases (mental shortcuts) here, so you can implement them in your business today to make a few extra bucks:

1. Risk Compensation Theory

People adjust their behavior based on perceived risk.
The less “risky” you make doing business with you, the higher your conversions.
🧠 Make it less risky

• Offer guarantees
• Outline a clear refund/return policy
• Give a lot of social proof to reduce perceived risk

​

2. Labour Illusion

People value things more when they see the work behind them.
"Effort is the universal currency of respect"
🧠 BUILD IN PUBLIC
Constantly showcasing your startup journey, its ups & downs, and the new features you added to your products or services creates the perception there's a lot of work put into your business.
Long waiting periods for service are unavoidable?
Show your process. Educate your client on the craft performed during that period.
Do you use any unusual material in your product? New, creative production process?
Educate with a few extra words
​

3. Life Event Effect

People are more likely to change their habits during a major life event
In fact, those who have undergone a major life event are 3 times more likely to switch brands
🧠How to use it?
Identify the life event most relevant to your category.
Then use ads. Facebook lets you target people when they move to a new house, end a relationship, start a new job, or start university.
Major life events shake up purchasing behavior.
​

4. Storytelling Effect

People prefer and better remember stories than facts alone
Watching, listening, hearing, or reading a story activates the same regions of the brain as those engaged when actually performing these actions in real life.
🧠 Don't show your product. Tell a story
"The most powerful person is the storyteller." - Steve Jobs
Research - Rob Walker story:

• In 2009, Rob Walker bought 200 objects from eBay for a total sum of $129.
• He then asked 200 authors to create a story for each object.
• Rob then sold those 200 objects with included stories on eBay again.
• He sold them for $8000.
• That's a 6202% increase in value.

​

5. Pratfall Effect

A simple blunder or mistake of a person can improve the attractiveness or likability of that person
The same goes for a brand.
But here's the catch...
Your brand needs to be well-perceived in the first place.
Admitting to your flaws, when your brand is perceived as not reliable, only makes things worse.
🧠Be vulnerable
• Embrace your imperfections
VW Beetle campaign in the 1950s and 60s
At that time American cars were supposed to be big, and stylish, not small and ugly. Yet the VW Beetle became a massive hit from its brilliant advertising campaigns.
The campaign addressed everything typical American consumers didn’t like about the beetle.
With headlines like:

• "Lemon",
• "One of the nice things about owning it is selling it",
• "And if you run out of gas, it’s easy to push",
• "Nobody’s perfect",
• or "Live below your means".

​

6. Foot-In-The-Door Technique

People are more likely to agree to a large request by agreeing to a small one first
Upsell whenever you can, but in a friendly, not pushy manner
🧠The easiest upsells

• Sell more of what you just offered them
• Sell something better than what you just offered them
• Sell something complimentary

​

7. Inaction Inertia Effect

When missing an offer once you are likely to miss an offer twice
When people see that you're giving big discounts frivolously every month or week, they tend to ignore them after a while.
The perceived value of your product lowers with each discount
🧠Strategize your discounts
Short-term gains are cool, but have you ever implemented a long-term pricing strategy?
• Every person is different.
Create an email sequence that will split your contacts into specific groups.
Then customize the discounts for each group
​

8. Stepping Stones

Any task you want your customers to do, needs to be broken down into smaller, attainable steps, otherwise, a person will get discouraged
🧠Viral refferal program
When creating a referral program the most important reward is the first one.
The first reward has to be both achievable and attractive to motivate people to participate.
Harry's referral program collected 100k emails within a week, using this prize scheme:

• 5 users referred - Shave cream
• 10 users - Truman Handle Blade - Razor blade
• 25 users - Winston Shave set - Premium Handle
• 50 - One year free blades

9. Decoy Effect

People change their preference between two options when presented with a third option (the decoy) that is “asymmetrically dominated”
🧠 3-tiered pricing pricing explained
• 1 price = 2 choices: to buy or not
• 2 prices = 3 choices: buy the cheaper one, the more expensive one, or not buy
• By adding the third price, a much more expensive one, now the second price (the previous expensive one) looks like a bargain
​
​

10. Default Effect

People tend to accept what we are given and stick with what we have
When a company or brand makes a particular option the default or standard option, it is more likely that people will choose that option over other options that are presented.
When we are not sure what to do and lack expertise in the area we consider the default as a form of advice and we stick to that.
🧠Make the usual no-brainer offer the default option
A large national railroad in Europe increased its annual revenue by an estimated $40 million by changing its website to automatically include seat reservations unless customers explicitly opted out.
Prior to the change, only 9% of tickets sold included reservations, but after the change, 47% of tickets sold included reservations.
---------------------------------------------------
That's it If you want more I have a FREE NEWSLETTER where I share over 140+ more biases like these ones, but in more extended versions

I am looking to build my first PC and feeling lost every time I see some "Razorknife GPXU 2930 drive coil 2.0" being compared to a "Razorknife GPXU 2930 drive coil 2.0 II". I am pretty savvy with a computer once it's not parts, but I would appreciate some patient help in getting started on this endeavor.
My budget is between $1400-$1800 but I would like that budget ideally to include any additional costs such as peripherals, shipping, or whatever computer glue I will need.
My main needs ordered by importance are:

1. Adobe Suite- I will be editing short, but quality, videos between 2-10 minutes long in Premier Pro, large RAW images in Lightroom, designing graphics with >30 layers in Photoshop, and working extremely huge and extremely tiny SVGs in Illustrator. I have never worked in After Effects or Substance because my laptop sucks, but I may check them out if I can.
2. AI- As AI becomes more commonplace, and efficient, I want to make sure that I am able to make use of its capabilities. I often find myself using it to generate textures or troubleshoot code. I'm not sure what technical burden this puts on hardware, if any, but I figure it was worth mentioning.
3. App Development- At some point I would like to work on developing a few ideas I have. The apps themselves would be fairly simple mobile applications, but this is more of aa hobby than anything.
4. Gaming- This is my lowest priority, but I do play some popular games (Apex, Rocket League, Helldivers, Rust, etc.). I'm not a gamer though; I don't stream or use mods, and am not interested in 420 fps. I have a PS5, so it isn't a dealbreaker, but if a few extra $$$ would make me never buy a console again, it's worth it.

Some things that I don't know if they matter but I will say them anyways are:

• If all goes well, I would likely upgrade keep making my workflow more efficient.
• I know nothing about which OS is better. I am migrating from Apple so I have no opinions.
• I use one monitor, but I might run two because I usually use my iPad to play music/video while I work.
• I also use my iPad for digital drawing but may opt for a Wacom-type Tablet.
• If aesthetics cost extra, I don't care that much, but something all black would be cool.

Thank you for the help!

Cannabis has now been – at least partially – legal in Germany for a good five weeks. Will there soon be THC drinks in this country? Will Germans then drink less alcohol? And where can the substances actually be consumed? While the answers to this will probably take a while to come, many, including those in the beverage industry, are looking with excitement to Canada, where marijuana has been legal since 2018.
The approval there quickly led to the introduction of a wealth of new mixed drinks. The beverage manufacturer Truss Beverages from the province of Ontario brought non-alcoholic drinks enriched with THC and CBD in a wide variety of, mostly fruity, flavors and different, precisely defined potencies onto the market under the brand names XMG, Little Victory, Mollo and Bedfellows. Truss is a joint venture between brewing company Molson Coors and cannabis company Hexo.
THC drinks soon in Germany too? It's no wonder that, given the opportunities offered by a completely new category, companies in this country are already positioning themselves to be among the pioneers if cannabis extracts are also approved as beverage additives here. For example, the Hamburg company “Good Drinks” is currently discussing whether THC in its drinks could be a useful brand addition, as co-owner Frank Maßen reports.
Good Drinks is currently on the market with vodka and energy drinks, for example. Well-known Hamburg restaurateurs such as Axel Strehlitz and John Schierhorn, both of whom have deep roots in the local club scene, are involved in the start-up. Maßen sees THC as a logical progression for a brand that has partying in its DNA, but “the idea of ​​introducing a THC variant raises a lot of questions, especially in terms of brand image and acceptance,” said Maßen.
Discussions are currently underway internally about how to handle this potential expansion without damaging the essence of the brand, which is strongly linked to the club culture. There are intensive discussions with the licensors of the Hamburg Club Combine, which launched the brand together with Good Drinks to support the local club scene as a social business ( we reported ).
Some THC drinks already on the market in Canada Some THC drinks already on the market in Canada (Product photos: Truss Beverages) Breweries would certainly also be potential manufacturers. But the German Brewers Association considers it unlikely that many breweries could jump on the cannabis bandwagon. “Germany is and remains the country of beer drinkers. With 1,500 breweries and almost 8,000 brands, we have a beer variety that is unique in the world,” says Managing Director Holger Eichele. Beer is still the national drink, although consumption has been declining for years, as in many other European countries.
“Edibles” are still banned under EU law Apart from that, an introduction would not yet be legally possible, because drinks with THC or CBD fall under “edibles” in the EU; This refers to foods and drinks that contain cannabis. They are therefore affected by the Novel Food Regulation, explains the managing director of the Bavarian Cannabis Association, Wenzel Cerveny. This means that they can only be placed on the market once they have been tested as safe by the EU.
“This is something that a small manufacturer cannot do - this test would have to be initiated by a large company,” says Cerveny. He himself is currently working with the small brewery “Unertl” from Haag in Upper Bavaria on an alcohol-free beer with hemp extract. However, without THC or CBD, but with hemp as a special taste.
To provide a more detailed explanation, the EU states that there has been no evidence of any significant consumption of the individual substance CBD (cannabidiol) before May 15, 1997. It is therefore assessed as novel in the European Commission's Novel Food Catalog under the entry “Cannabinoids” and therefore requires its own approval. As long as this does not exist, such products are not marketable. The same applies to products containing THC.
Alcohol consumption in Canada fell after legalization It's not just new products that could affect the German beverage industry if they are allowed in the future. Using Canada as an example, it is clear to see that cannabis consumption has a direct influence on consumers' drinking behavior. A joint study by the University of Manitoba, Memorial University and the University of Toronto has shown that Canadians are drinking significantly less alcohol since they were legally allowed to consume cannabis.
For example, the study published in the journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence observed an average monthly decline in beer consumption of 136 hectoliters per 100,000 people after legalization. In this context, the authors speak of a “substitution effect”, in which consumers choose cannabis instead of beer as their intoxicant of choice.
Mixing with alcohol is not advisable Both together are considered by “connoisseurs” to be not very digestible. Even Truss Beverages advises against consuming its THC drinks mixed with alcohol on its website, citing recommendations from the Canadian Health Authority. Again and again, the product description in connection with the dosage is about ensuring a “controlled and predictable consumption experience”.
Clear warnings label drinks containing THC in Canada. Clear warnings label drinks containing THC in Canada. (Photo: Truss Beverages) A look at the 2022/23 financial year shows how strong cannabis legalization can have on the alcohol industry. Accordingly, Canada received more excise tax revenue from cannabis ($660 million) than from wine ($205 million) and beer ($450 million) combined.
It is still completely unclear whether the industry will have to adapt to similar shifts in this country. The German Brewers Association is rather relaxed: It is still far too early to speculate about possible effects, emphasizes DBB boss Eichele. “There are studies from abroad where markets have been examined in more detail. However, these studies cannot be transferred one-to-one to Germany; the starting points are far too different. We don’t expect any visible effects in this country.”
Where smoking is allowed, you can also smoke weed The question of how to deal with marijuana users in the catering industry is already very current; It is being hotly debated all over the country. While the use of the drug indoors is usually prohibited, there is scope for freedom in outdoor areas and, for example, beer gardens.
The German Hotel and Restaurant Association (Dehoga) says that initial feedback from the industry shows a tendency not to allow the consumption of marijuana. The legal situation varies from federal state to federal state, as Dehoga managing director and legal expert Jürgen Benad knows: “Where smoking is still permitted according to the legal regulations of the federal states, cannabis consumption is also generally permitted.”
But it is also clear: “Every restaurateur is allowed to prohibit guests from consuming cannabis – even in smoking bars – based on their house rules,” says Benad. This also applies to outdoor catering. Cannabis may not be consumed “in the immediate presence” of minors. What this specifically means in the catering industry will not be easy to define in individual cases.
Zero tolerance or laissez-faire? While the beer gardens in Munich, for example, will remain consumption-free until further notice due to Bavaria's zero-tolerance policy, people in Berlin are more open-minded. “Since the cannabis law was approved, the consumption of cannabis in the catering industry has been considered synonymous with the consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco products,” says Tony Ettelt-Brundiers, managing director of “Zenner”, a cultural and gastronomic ensemble consisting of a vineyard, beer garden and organic ice cream parlor , concert hall, club space and event location in the capital.
“We are not questioning this law,” said Ettelt-Brundiers. “Regardless of what our guests smoke in the Zenner’s outdoor areas, we ask everyone to be considerate, especially if other guests could feel disturbed by someone else’s smoke, regardless of its origin.” This principle of mutuality Consideration has worked surprisingly well in Zenner for more than 200 years, which the aforementioned amendment to the law should not change, according to the managing director.
How much cannabis will ultimately change the beverage industry and social life surrounding beverages is still entirely unknown.
https://getraenke-news.de/cannabis-legalisierung-bald-gras-statt-hopfen/
NOTE: Some of the getraenke-news research goes back a few years and ownership of TRUSS is now 100% owned and operated by Tilray Brands that is also a multi year, In Country producer of German Medical Cannabis.

This post, in its fullness, is about Ta Mando and the Shiftverse, a setting we'll talk about in a bit but before we get started I do wanna mention something kind of neat.
I've vaguely alluded to how I learned about jumpchains, mentioning that it was through a CYOA creator who also does jumps. Pre-pandemic I was a member of the Make Your Choice & NSFW CYOA communities, and I saw FancyFireDrake's Goddess of Mankind CYOA and I really liked it so I checked out some of their other stuff. At the time I was already paying attention to NSFW CYOAs because of TroyxPage, specifically Grand Adonis which to this day remains at least in my top three favorite CYOAs of all time, and when I saw that I really liked Goddess of Mankind I wanted to see what else FFD had done so I looked through their stuff and saw stuff on Jumpchains. This was happening around the same time I was joining the Shiftverse as a player.
Through the power of coincidence I was joining the Shiftverse, an original setting by a friend of mine named Philososhy, at about the same time I was learning about jumpchains and beginning to really discover the power of crossover fan fiction and stuff like that. Here's a little bit of canon Luciano Lore; as a child I began writing, which is part of what I do professionally and semi-professionally, by writing self insert crossover fan fiction though at the time I didn't know these things had terms. I was raised overseas, as I am an army brat, and I was homeschooled, and my family wanted me to get into reading and writing, and so they had me write stories. I don't think they anticipated the lifelong rollercoaster that that would send me on. Anyways, back to the central topic.

The Shiftverse

Before we get started I wanna say that I'm describing a LIVING setting I'm a PLAYER in not the MASTER of so this information will be necessarily limited and imperfect. That said I'm a VERY passionate player, and given the RL circumstances of this setting and my character's circumstances I know a healthy chunk of lore, though I am not even scratching the surface due to this being a special interest of mine and me being a big nerd, plus my character also has had the chance to learn a lot of neat stuff about the metaphysics at play here and has just been taught a lot of cool lore on the interior of things, SOME of which I'm communicating here in a very broad sense of strokes.
The very, very basic gist of the shiftverse from a player character perspective, is that player characters are... reality TV stars whose lives are shows airing on multiversal, cosmic televisions, and they are watched by monstrous, unknowable beings, while the player characters go from world to world, for various different amounts of time, and just LIVE among the inhabitants of the world, free to do as they please and to interact with locals however they wish. It is a pure coincidence that this VERY basic gist sounds so remarkably similar, conceptually at least, to Jumpchains, though as a very funny matter of fact in the SPECIFIC setting I have a character in, there are others with player characters and another one of us knew about jumpchains before I started sharing stuff about jumpchains in the Ta Mando (the SPECIFIC world my character lives in, which is just one of many settings which exist for the Shiftverse) server (which is public, I'll be posting a link to the world-anvil later).
All of the player character primes (the term used to apply to beings who get sent from world to world for the sake of the tv shows, which does not encompass ALL multiversal wanderers in this setting, and also NPC primes exist) I know of are humans from a mundane Earth, in fact many of us in Ta Mando (though almost certainly not all of us) are from the SAME Earth. Certainly all of the player character primes for Kanda, which is the central location, "location" being used real loosely, are from the same Earth and about the same time period.
Primes get superpowers of various sorts to help us survive and live exciting lives. We're also capable of using the powers native to the world's we visit, though learning and attaining such powers isn't always easy. My character is Jonathan Mondragon, who on Earth prior to them becoming a Prime, was a Puerto Rican doctor. I did insert SOME traits of myself in them, they are non-binary, they are bilingual, they are a charisma main, but my ORIGINAL idea for this character was for them to be a Caribbean Homelander (they have a few different powers, namely the powers of Superman (Smallville style, so the powers are steadily growing and new ones become accessible over time) & a set of social powers, which along with Omega Beams and some doctohealer stuff represent their STARTING kit, in the time since they've arrived they've become a champion of a deity of truth and honor, gained the very beginnings of a dragon's power set, and have attuned to the Ta Mando equivalent to The Force, so we love a chaotic ass power-grabber). That idea... did not last long. Jonathan has been in Ta Mando for a few months now, and is a solidly moral person due in large part to the fucking nightmare they had to endure in the beginning of their time here (they were deliberately summoned by the people of a colony of Kanda who were in a bad spot, and Jon has largely succeeded in solving SOME of the problems but it was ROUGH), and the growth they've endured as a result of both pain and the good things they've done since they arrived. Some other primes include characters with really strong magic stuff, someone who is a Saiyan, and a person who is the Avatar, as well as people more attuned to the Ta Mando version of the force and a Space Marine, so as you can see our power sets can VARY.
There are other vague similarities with Jumpchains, such as vague similarities between items in jumps and items in shifts, as a prime tends to get SOME basic items at the start of a chain (usually a facility which serves as a house, which can differ from prime to prime, and functions as a bit of a less protected/more accessible warehouse) but not ALL primes get that and SOME primes get WILDLY more advanced facilities than others. OTHER items can be included as well, as my character has stuff for medicine and farming, and I know of other primes who've got uranium mines, lightsabers, and even pets as part of their starting kit. There ARE difference, one of the biggest differences is that a shift's (the in-universe term for a stint in a world/setting) length is NOT a decade and can last however long the eldritch beings who run the show feel like, though from what I, Luciano, know it seems like most last about a human lifetime, though there are some that last WILDLY longer than that. Another significant difference, as has been explained and hinted at to my character, is that remembering the details of a shift once you leave is not guaranteed, nor is having and keeping the same powers you once had, and all of this is similar to the idea of drawbacks in a jumpchain but these changes, as far as I know, across shifts do not confer any advantages in exchange like a jumpchain drawback does.

Ta Mando

I'm not gonna say much here, I'll just post two links. One is to the World Anvil for Ta Mando, one SPECIFIC setting in the Shiftverse (there are many worlds someone could get shifted too, Ta Mando is just one of them). The other is to my character's World Anvil page, Jonathan Mondragon. This is not SUPER up to date, but it's the beginning of a good set of articles for people in Soterri, as well as a way to learn more about my adventures. Also, this is a text-based TTRPG campaign and we play using GURPS. It's... weird. I'm very much a D&D person, I've been playing D&D over half of my life (literally, I'm 29, the first time I played D&D I was 13, and I had the books BEFORE then), so it's been an adjustment. I like it though, my character DOES feel powerful and has had plenty of kicks moments, but just LEARNING what I can do and the mechanics of everything was a trip.
Anyways, Ta Mando is my favorite TTRPG setting I've ever been in, there's a lot to discover, there's a lot more for me to do there, and I sometimes think about doing a Shiftverse jumpdoc. I think it'd be very funny to blend the two systems like how I've blended the Troyverse & Jumpchains, and how I plan to blend Akumakami64's Love Azathoth CYOA (have a little surprise announcement, as a treat, for making it this far, but do note that I'm in the middle of my busiest time of the year so this won't be for a minute), but truthfully I just don't know enough to really do it justice. Maybe someday I'll make a jumpdoc for The Shiftverse. it could be fun honestly.

I (27f) was brought up in a house with my brother (24m), my mum (47f) and dad (45m). When I was younger my parents decided to have 2 more children, 2 girls - now 12 and 10. I now also have my own children, 7f, 4m, and 2f, and am in a beautiful happy marriage.
A little back story, I was pretty much a scapegoat my whole life, my brother the golden child, let's just say none of us are on speaking terms with him anymore due to him always getting what he wanted when he was younger. As he grew and after the 2 younger of us were born, he started hearing more "no's", he didnt like that and after a lot of threats, holes in walls, drugs etc, I decided to cut all contact with him. He then decided to cut contact with our parents 🤷🏽‍♀️
Anyway, we recently found out that our 7yo has adhd, and our 4yo has adhd and asd. I also found symptoms in myself that made me question my brain, and got diagnosed with asd, adhd and cptsd (i dont remember my childhood from 5yo-13yo, but remember all the crap traumatic parts). Whilst we were getting our array of diagnoses my parents decided to go through their own processes with my sisters, still in the process, no diagnoses have been made. This is where it starts, the 12yo, I'll call her Stacy, she is me, I was her, she is the scapegoat, she gets the blame for everything, nothing she does is right, she doesn't get help, doesn't get hugs and kisses or love. I see the ptsd symptoms coming out in her and it hurts my heart, I want to take her, adopt her and run away with her. I give her the love she needs because i can see she doesnt get it from our parents, not gonna lie, she has her faults, we all do, we're only human, but compared to our sister and brother, she's amazing.
The 10yo, I'll call her Anna, she is horrible, she makes mean comments, she manipulates to get her own way, she falsely accuses people - and not of small things, she craves attention and loves to be in the centre, she hates when my 7yo has any sort of attention and will try her best to steal it, especially from our mum, it's like she knows how to hurt your feelings and will do it if you don't do what she wants, she's showed my 7yo inappropriate videos, one day I was looking after her because she was "sick" I was in the bathroom, heard my 4yo (who was also sick with whooping cough at the time), crying begging her to stop she didn't realise I had opened the door and caught her hitting him on the head with a pillow, I told her to stop and she did. Anyway she is always looking for approval especially from female adults, she is just mean, she doesnt do anything wrong, she gets coddled while Stacy gets the blame for everything, and gets punished for everything even if she didnt do anything. My parents do nothing, they don't explain to her what she's done is wrong or why it's wrong, they sit on their phones all day, everyday and just say "oh she just has autism", but it's not an excuse... we're really not dumb, you can teach us that it's not okay to do things. I know this is how they handle it because we live on the same property, in separate dwellings, and it's the same everyday pretty much, I try my best to keep separated from them, especially Anna because she is having a negative mental effect on our 7yo, but they come over uninvited and say "mum and dad are being boring, they're just on their phones like always". Everytime I go over they've either locked themselves in the room or are sitting on the couch looking at Facebook, and expect the kids to just watch TV all day, not doing anything. I just see the same cycle happening again, Anna turning out like our druggo brother, and Stacy ending up with CPTSD and wanting to run away.
Anna falsely accused myself of scratching her with a stick today, when I was nowhere near her, she put on a whole act, crying and everything. This isn't the first time this has happened, the first time was falsely accusing my husband of something similar, when I was with them and told the truth whilst my mum was on her side and was never there. Tonight, I got deathstared by my mum, usually its the silent treatment, but also got told "Anna feels like you treat Your son like he has autism but you don't treat her like she has autism", she hasn't been diagnosed either so we don't know if it really is autism, and I treat my son with respect because he treats me with respect, I treat him the way he treats me, with love and kindness (i told mum this in different words). There is no love, kindness or respect in Anna, and if there is you can't see it, it's like she demands respect but won't give it, to anyone at all. If she doesnt get her way, then all hell breaks loose.
So anyway I told my mum "i have autism too mum. you can't use autism as an excuse for the rest of her life. Females, especially where we live, will not tolerate these accusations and comments and she will get knocked out, instead of saying 'she has autistim' teach her what shes doing is wrong" all she said to that was "well, if that happens, that's a life lesson she has to learn" but I don't think it should get to that point? Just teach her while you can before you regret it?
Now i know no one is the same, i know no autistic brain is the same, i know we say inapproriate things and we dont know the meanings sometimes etc. But i dont think using it as an excuse is okay? Its as if they've got the idea of autism in their head and now they dont have to discipline or teach her whats right from wrong? Anyway, I'm always the bad guy according to my parents, or am I? You tell me, I dunno. I'm used to always getting the blame so I sometimes I wonder if I actually am the AH? 🤔
I love my siblings, all 3 of them. Regardless of what has happened between my brother and I, or my sisters and I, I will always love them. I miss my brother, when we wasn't intoxicated he was the best person ever, intoxication is his life now and he's not the person I used to know. I love my sisters dearly and I would do anything to save both from this cycle.

I (32m) broke up with my ex (42m) 5 years ago. He was a thief, a drug abuser, a habitual liar, and a cheater.
It was a horrible break up, and he has basically kept the mentality that we were still in a relationship, even though I kept reminding him we were not. I tried to go no-contact, but I was basically scared of him, what he would do, how he would make me feel, because he’s manipulative, so I maintained contact and a sort of FWB relationship. I had no interest in dating anyone so it was an acceptable situation for me.
Earlier this year, I fell in love out of nowhere with a man (50M) 600 miles away. It’s a long distance relationship, but we’ve already met and everything has went so incredibly smooth until last night. I absolutely adore this man, he adores me, and he has been nothing but amazing. And I’ve tried my best to be the best boyfriend I can be.
My ex has had cancer for awhile, so I’ve also tried my best to be supportive while also setting boundaries because I am in a committed relationship. Apparently my support was not enough, my distance too great, and he attempted suicide a few days ago.
Yesterday, he asked me to block him from everything, so he could remove me from his life. I complied, sent him a short message about hoping his mental health gets better, and that I will be blocking him on very possible platform, exactly as he wanted.
He went ballistic, and started spamming my boyfriend with lies about how me and him (my ex) still hook up, how I called my boyfriend short, how I basically called him a loser in many ways, and sent him a graphic video I had sent (to my ex last year) saying I send him little videos like this all the time. He said he has HIV and that he knowingly gave it to me. I don’t think this is possible, but I will be getting checked regardless.
For more context, before my boyfriend and I were “official”, I was at my ex’s house for support because he got some really bad news regarding his cancer. I got a little drunk and blabbed about my boyfriend because he kept asking questions, and it’s hard not to gush about someone you’re falling in love with. My mistake. I should have never said anything to my ex about him. At this stage in our relationship (between me and my ex where things seemed okay), I guess I thought I could confide in him about my life.
He took everything I said and twisted them into negatives.
I have not said a single negative thing about my boyfriend to my ex, or anyone, because he’s been nothing but perfect. He is literally the most amazing man I have ever met.
So last night, my boyfriend and I had our nightly call, and I, through many tears and panic attacks, tried to explain everything my ex said. I felt almost too defensive, but I’ve never had someone lie about me to such a degree, and it was horrifying.
My boyfriend was very calm and understanding, as he knows who my ex is and how unstable he is, but I fear a seed has been planted and our relationship may be tainted. He didn’t say anything like this, in fact, he was mostly worried about my safety regarding this maniac.
My ex is still finding ways to contact me, and basically said he has the power to have me and my sister fired from our jobs, and while he “would never do that”, to know what he’s capable of.
I’m getting a restraining order as soon as I can.
I feel so fucking bad for my boyfriend, that he has to experience these emotions, read all those lies, and still figure out a way to go forward with trust, and I don’t know what to do or say.
Can I recover from this? I’m losing my mind.
Tl;dr: Ex is mentally unstable and told me to go no-contact with him for his own sake. I complied. He then went and started spamming my boyfriend with lies about how I’m unfaithful and have HIV. I explained myself, and my boyfriend was understanding, and is mostly worried about my safety, but I can’t shake the feeling I’m going to lose him over this.