Kita looks in her hand, holding a basket with a few veg and eggs. A little confused, she reaches for her head and feels a hair band wrapped around it as her hair drapes freely over her shoulders.
What was I doin'-
“Here you go, Kita”.
She spins in a panic, raising her hands to guard.
“Oh”, she responds as her eyes come upon the vast plantations and animal kraals, tightly surrounded by a luscious forest.
“You’re too young to be going crazy, my sweet,” says an old lady as she puts a few slices of ham into the basket. “A’jem offered a generous cow recently, so there is a little extra for everybody today”.
Kita Smiles, “Thanks, Ami. Did you do something with your hair? It's pretty,”
“Thank you, my sweet”, Ami giggles as she pushes her grey hair behind her ear.
“Today is the recurrence of me and A’jem. When the dots of Yeo appear in the night sky, we are reminded of our bond.”
“Yeo?” asks Kita.
“I won’t be able to give you the full story today, my sweet- But according to the scripts, Yeo is the spirit of provision, and due to our bond matching on this day- we are tasked with the provision of the crops,"
“I didn’t know the spirits provided our tasks?”
Ami makes her way to the nearby pile of greens that have been plucked.
“They once did… Today, they seem to be dealing with other matters,”
“What matters?”
Ami chuckles, Carefully rooting some of the nearby crops and placing them into a basket beside her.
“I’m sure your Mother would like those recipes to make breakfast, Kita. We can explore your curiosity at another time”.
“Oh... Of course. Thanks for the extra slices, Ami.” She says, turning to make her way back up the hill.
“M’pai Yeo Ket’p prauvhishk,” Ami calls out to Kita.
May Yeo continue to provide.
On her way up the hill, she can see above all the trees surrounding the farm, with the sol casting a warm, orange light against the pinnacle of the whisping greenery. The village resides atop a flat hill, making the walk up quite steep and more suited for the youth of the village. At the peak of the trail, you can see the entire surrounding area with the green extending far beyond what she initially thought. She walks this path every day. Why does it seem so unfamiliar now?
The town reaches from the North, round to the East and South. To the west is a stretch of mountains leading straight up north. Apparently, the sea resides to the South, but it can’t be seen from here.
Ta’ah and I should try finding it sometime.
She arrives on the Eastern side of the village and walks up to two large, interconnected tipis. She steps through the entrance draped with beads that clatter like a soft rain as she steps through them. Her heartbeat rises as she steps through this uncannily familiar place.
She knows she lives here, why does it feel like she hasn't been here in a while?
There's wooden art on every countertop and suspended from the ceiling of every room. Some are much bigger than others, occupying a space on the floor but standing as tall as the shelves and cupboards. In the centre of the ceiling is a chandelier, with dozens of fireflies circling around its nest in the centre.
As Kita steps into the hall of the connected tipis, she can see a lady seated in the other room, before a small fire in the middle. Kita can only see the back of her head, and hear the sound of chopping emanating from the lady's lap… she's preparing a meal.
Is she?-
Kita's eyes widen in shock as she recognizes the back of her lady’s head. Sitting in the chair she always sits in when she chops vegetables for breakfast or dinner. Kita stumbles backwards, and the basket of meats and vegetables slips out of her hand, crashing to the floor as a plethora of coin spills out.
Surprised by the coin in her basket, she looks back up to see if the lady noticed, but is met with the face of a man, looking at her with concern as he mouths some words she can't make out.
What is this?
She realizes something is off. She's not really here… is she? The fabrics of the tipi around her slowly dissipate to reveal the bodies of shoppers and residents all around her. She tries to glance past the man's head, at her lady still sitting in the chair- But all these tables and people start to get in the way.
"Mom?" Kita asks, catching the ladies' attention before she disappears.
"Perfect timing, Ki," Her soft, loving voice responds as she slowly turns her head. Kita's heart races, as the lady slowly turns around to see her- But before Kita gets the chance, she is back in the cave.
Everything comes back to her like a vortex as she hears the man's panicked voice.
"Miss, are you okay?"
What just happened? Kita tries to recall why the shopkeeper is so concerned but only remembers a moment of blackness. Noticing that her hand is trembling uncontrollably- She quickly puts her hand behind her back, hoping the man didn't notice.
Faint images dissipate in her mind as the feeling of an unfamiliar memory fades away.
She’s tired.
That's all.
"I'm fine," Kita steps away from him. Tilting her head to see past him, only to see shoppers and passers-by. She feels disappointed, as if something is incomplete. But what? What did she see? The experience slips away from her like a forgettable name, leaving her with questions and vague ideas.
She crouches down to pick up all the coin she'd dropped, then stands back up with her arm outstretched. Hoping the man just takes the coin and goes on with his day without trying to get all religious about what just happened.
He squints in confusion. Taken aback by her strange behaviour. Then he looks down at her hand, back up at her, and reaches his hand out.
"Thank you for your business, Miss,"
Kita nods her head, without saying a word. Anything she'd try to say would slur out of her mouth and make things more awkward. Now pacing away from the man's stall with haste, she massages her temple; it strains under the weight of her worrying and thinking.
Something just happened. For a brief moment, she wasn't here. Where was she?
Why can't I remember?
She doesn't want to lose it.
She sits on the floor, amongst the busy shoppers. Takes a deep breath before closing her eyes, and concentrates on the brief period of darkness. Thinking of the most immediate difference between that world and her own.
The greenery.
Air that was so… different. Every breath felt rich with substance.
"A farm?" Kita inquires, vaguely envisioning an unfamiliar old lady who accompanied it.
She tries to recall further. Who is the lady?
It is lost to her… But, a word comes to mind.
"Yeo," she says to herself. The meaning doesn't accompany the sound as it rolls from her lips.
And after that…
A numbness trickles in her stomach- Giving her the urge to throw up in discomfort. There’s something inside of her that she desperately needs to eject.
"Mother?" She whispers to herself. Her eyes whip open when she recalls what came next, and the numbness grows- a good and bad sign.
I saw my Mother.
What did she look like? She cannot place a face or even a hair colour on it. She is certain she saw her, but she also knows she didn't. This may all be fabricated.
A daydream.
This hollow feeling is irrational. Why does she miss someone she can't remember? She knows nothing about her Mother, yet the thought of whoever that might be makes Kita feel… Sad?
Is this sadness?
The distance between herself and her emotions is larger than she was aware of. She should know what sadness feels like- She should know why she’s sad… Right?
Kita stands to her feet, all the more confused by the details she barely recalls. It's unnecessarily frustrating. She'd rather go about her day than continue straining her mind over nonsense. All these thoughts of family life, religion and her past are a part of her mind she can’t deal with all at once.
It’s overwhelming.
She’s not built for that life anyway. Someone who has no grasp of their own emotions or sense of self isn’t fit for a 'regular' life. No, most people in this world haven’t had theirs taken from them. They haven’t had their entire sense of being wiped clean, as if it’s a dirty rag. Nobody could truly understand what she’s going through. Nor would they understand what she will have to do to get it all back.
She’s a monster.
A killer.
It’s the only way for her to get her soul back...
She must get it back.
^{AUTHOR'S NOTES
Read ahead on RoyalRoad [https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/68702/soul-stealer-anti-hero-reincarnation-fantasy](https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/68702/soul-stealer-anti-hero-reincarnation-fantasy})
^{Kita's thoughts - Post Chapter 15
"Mom?"}

Ever since the 5e influx, a lot of conversations have been…frustrating me, to put it lightly. There’s a feeling that while people are willing to engage with the game and generally like a lot of the concepts, there are people who get frustrated with Paizo's overarching design decisions to the point they demand change or call certain core philosophies objectively bad design.
As someone who very much likes most of the game's core philosophies, it's taken me a while to wrap my head around it, but I feel there was a crystallizing moment for me the other day when there was a thread discussing balance vs fun. Essentially, it purported that balance often came at the expense of fun, and that a lot of games end up becoming homogenized or having the soul sucked out of them for the sake of making every option viable.
Now of course, this is a false dichotomy. You can still have a game that is balanced between options that is also fun. A lot of imbalanced games are also not fun as well, even for the people they’re imbalanced in favor of. But it seems to be a major perception that when you play a game, you’re either here for a fun time or you’re here to play for keep and there’s no middle ground.
2e is no different. A lot of people treat the game's design as if it is trying to ruin their fun for the same if balance. Phrases like 'I know the game is balanced, it's just not fun' or 'they've overcorrected because they're too scared of breaking the game' get thrown around a lot.
Now I've seen this a lot over all of 2e's lifespan, but something became apparent as I was reading the thread; something that I’d sort of always realized, but for some reason I can’t figure out, it finally clicked to me how deep and intrinsic it is to the core discussions surrounding 2e.
The simple fact is: there are a lot of people who don’t seem to accept or even realise that PF2e is designed primarily as a strategy game before anything else.
(Just for reference, I made a Twitter thread about this, so I'm going to copy a lot of almost verbatim, but past that I’m going to elaborate in much more detail on thoughts and specific examples of what I’m talking about)
One of the big disconnects for me when I started playing DnD back in 3.5 (and eventually moved to PF1e) is that when I found out it was grid-based strategy, I was super excited. I loved games like FFT and Advance Wars back in the day, and had only just started playing FE:A, so I was down to clown.
The problem I eventually realized was the game isn't actually built for nuanced tactical play, despite being turn-based and having a grid and rules for interacting with it. It rewards expedient powergamed options and eclipses any concept of power cap.
5e was very similar. I went in seeing it was toned down and expected it to appeal more to that more nuanced gameplay. It certainly held the aesthetic of it, with mechanics like concentration to stop rampant buff stacking and streamline spellcasting, and to its credit it's skill floor was much more stable, making it easier to get on the ground floor with a playable character without needing an obtuse level of upfront system mastery.
But in the long term, I found it was just as bad an offender as 3.5/1e, between more extremely powerful expedient options, poorly tuned inter-class balance, monsters being quickly outscaled by player stats, and advantage being a very swingy buff state.
(sadly I missed 4e, which in hindsight I think would have absolutely been my bag)
So when 2e came out, I was cautious. I had been burnt before, and I was skeptical Paizo could actually stand on their own with a truly unique system apropos of DnD’s existing influence. But when I started my initial foray into the system, gingerly running small one shots and module length adventures with my players, I began to realize…this is it. This is the tactical d20 game I've been waiting over seven years for. Classes are much better balanced, the encounter building rules actually work, and my players are engaging in nuanced tactics beyond just trying to go for the biggest hits every turn. This is great!
I was super excited to have 2e finally meet that goal for being a d20 system that placed tactics at the heart of the gameplay.
...only to find people were bouncing off it while espousing the game's focus on strategy and the balance that came with it too stifling.
I've seen phrases akin to, ‘I get AOEs are effective, but I don't care if they're mathematically balanced compared to single target actions. I want the fantasy of blowing up all the enemies in the room with my fireball, not chipping them down half of their health and letting the martials mop up.’ Literally just the other day, I saw someone complain that they liked save or suck spells and that they were upset 2e did away with it. 'What if I WANT to turn the lich to stone with one spell and win the fight before it even starts?'
Obviously spellcasters are a low-hanging fruit that have been discussed ad-infinitum, but I see the same thing with martials more often than most people would realize. You have comments complaining that the base hit rates being closer to 50% than 70-80% is objectively bad design. People don’t want to engage in buff-based gameplay or teamwork that improves the odds in their favor; they want to have that high base chance as a standard and go to town with minimal windup or strategic investment.
Even from a mechanical standpoint, there's a common disdain towards a lot of the system's more nuanced mechanics that people feel are done more out of anti-fun pedantry than to create meaningful choices. I've seen people go on tirades about hand economy and how they hate needing to weigh up what you're holding at any given moment, all the way up to level 20 with no way around it. Plenty of people hate the shield mechanics for being finicky and seemingly existing for their own sake, while I love them because I get to see exactly when raising it stops my shield ally champion from getting hit and how much damage I chunk off when I block.
A lot of people talk about disconnect of expectations with the designers, but I'm starting to believe the source of this disconnect is rarely what they actually think it is, which is that strategy focus. 2e’s foundation is very clearly focused on trying to create strategy and meaningful gameplay loops via balance and tactical decision making, rather than the intense power curves of previous systems. So why are people engaging in a game like that when they want more freeform expression or have the fantasy be a pure power fantasy?
Well, the answer is, because they never wanted to engage in strategy in the first place, at least as far as the design tenets and expected player input of the strategy genre goes. They're coming in with a different expectation of what genre they want these games to be. I may come into it expecting XCOM and FFT, or even more tactics-focused board games (I mean in the end, what is an RPG with minis but a board game with more steps?). People like me want their character fantasies in a nuanced environment where I still get to have that feeling of being fantastical, but have to play smart to win. I don't have any expedient I-win buttons, and the victory is earnt, not given.
But others may come in expecting Diablo or Dynasty Warriors, where the power fantasy of being a one-man army is the appeal. They want to mow effortlessly through hordes of monsters and soldiers to feel unstoppable, where every attack is merely a scratch. Even bosses are just bigger roadblocks in the way to glory - they may stand a chance at putting you down, but ultimately you're a powerhouse. You're destined for greatness by virtue of the game glorifying you at every turn, narratively and mechanically.
Others still want that epic set piece experience - your Soulsborne/DMC/MGR style boss rushes, or Monster Hunter-esque scenarios against huge monsters, where smaller, less important adversaries are but window dressing to the main event. The game is more or less balanced around your capacity to stand toe to toe with Goliath beasts and master warriors. There is challenge and strategy, but it is focused around this particular format, where the game is about that pinpoint adrenaline, almost reaction-based combat against single major foes. This makes wide swathes of the available options and design decisions in a game like 2e redundant because everything gets consolidated into that focus on boss battles.
(I will say, there are elements of both the above that can exist in 2e, and with enough kerjiggering you can probably create an experience much closer to them than the intended game. But as far as official design goes, they are not the sole focus nor what the game is clearly designed around. There is a holistic experience at play here that incorporates a wider variety of combat scenarios)
And then there are the people who come in with…almost no gaming litmus to compare it to whatsoever. Combat in TTRPGs is the only true experience they've ever had of it being encapsulated in a mechanical experience. They may see it as a draw card. They may see it as an opportunity to just roleplay. Others still may see it as an impediment to their fun.
Obviously no one system is ever going to appeal to everyone, but I feel like a lot of people are coming into 2e either not understanding the fact the game is designed around this heavily tactical experience, or understanding it but not liking this and wanting it to shift design focus.
To be fair, this could be a good wake-up call for the rest of the community. One of the sentiments that often gets touted a lot is that people feel they’ve been misled by the advertising of 2e as a system; particularly coming from 5e, a lot of people feel a lot of the discussion has been about 2e ‘fixing’ its problems, creating a better holistic experience of the same game.
I’m beginning to believe the issue in hindsight is that the people saying that - myself included - have been coming at this from the assumption that the players who are complaining about 5e are doing so from the angle of a strategy game, when in fact, they haven’t.
But in our defense, I can absolutely see why we would have thought that. A lot of complaints relate to topics such as class imbalance, build disparity, poor encounter tuning, lack of coherent rules for character abilities, etc. Essentially, all stuff that reads ‘we care a lot about the mechanics of this game. We want it to be fairer and have more robust systems, more options in combat, etc.’
Essentially, stuff that is inherently linked to this strategy focus.
Clearly this hasn't been the case though, for whatever reason. Maybe it's about time that the people who like PF2e and are trying to sell it to others, and when discussing topics in places like this subreddit, acknowledge that 2e isn't actually an unmitigated power fantasy d20 system, but a version that is aimed at that sort of strategy aficionado who want a game that's about tactical engagement and builds mattering for the sake of how they engage with those strategy elements, rather than just being an expression of how they will inevitably win and treating the mechanics that keep those design goals in check as pedantic and anti-fun.
This will make PF2e a much less universally appealing switch. It might even lose players who'd otherwise not try it. But it's more honest and will probably do more good for bringing and guiding new players without breeding long-term resentment and feeling misled. At the very least, it will frame expectations better.
At the same time, I think a lot more people need to in turn understand that the people like me who really like this game do so specifically because of its focus on the strategy elements; that we understand things like the tight balance and nuanced mechanics are in place to enable that. I feel too much of the conversation can devolve into accusing these design decisions of being anti-fun, almost malicious, and that people who prefer it are being overly pedantic, often to the point of paranoia about imbalances.
Obviously there needs to be nuance. Some people do legitimately want that mechanical element but just disagree with certain points on the way Paizo does it. If people feel certain fiddly elements can be removed or underpowered mechanics can be buffed without breaking the balance or adding even more strategy, then sure, that's great. Let's have those discussions. But once there's a sort of 'I don't care about balance I care about fun' sentiment being thrown around, I feel that's when discussion begins to break down because it's fundamentally asking Paizo to change the direction of their design; one that a lot of people have come to this game specifically for, and pay the designers to make for our tastes.
As I said, no one game is going to make everyone happy, but some games are more focused on what they're aiming for than others. 2e is one of those games. I think the core conflict at the heart of 2e's direction is not that it's designed around a strategy focus, nor that others don't always like that. It's that there's a core assumption everyone playing d20 games is doing so because strategy is the main investment.
There's probably meaningful discussion to be had as to whether there is virtue in this as a core focus. Maybe people like myself are in fact just stickler pedants who are too focused on things being fair and balanced for our own good. Maybe no-one else cares about that nuanced strategy focus and it's too niche a market to bother with past indulging people like me through single player experiences. But either way, understanding that focus and where the differences of want from that will help discussion more than anything else

I can’t have sex with my boyfriend anymore.
Hello all I’m 23(f) been in a relationship 5 years with my 24m boyfriend.
We have a very healthy loving relationship and we are on track for a long happy life together. From what I know everything is perfect in our relationship except 1 thing. We stopped having sex about 2 years ago. And it’s my fault.
For some reason over the past two years I have completely lost my sex drive and I don’t know why. Before that my boyfriend and I had a very healthy sex life. He is great in bed, and when I say great I mean not once have I not finished before him. He always insisted on making sure I finish first, if not multiple times before he got anything. He always was very consensual and respectful, very romantic, and open to any kinks or no matter how weird. He was a virgin before I met him and we both have no idea how he is so good at it but have summed it up to being a natural😂 but this man is like a porn star in bed.
Unfortunately I was having issues with my birth control at the time so I switched to the copper iud, and ever since then we haven’t had sex. We have tried twice and it is just painful. My sex drive has completely fallen off the face of the earth and it’s starting to take a role on our relationship.
We live together now and have for the past year and have had zero sex. He has offered many times but I always reject. And he is always understanding. He never fusses or complains about it either, consent is one thing he never backs away from.
But since January it’s starting to become a real problem. He has asked me multiple times what’s going on and is starting to think I’m cheating or don’t find him attractive anymore. He still doesn’t ask for sex but if he did I would have to say no. It’s gotten to the point where I don’t think I CAN have sex. Or engage in any sexual activity. I haven’t given him any action of any sort except hugs and kisses. He is a very patient man but I worry he might leave me because of this. I know he still gets horny around me but I don’t know what to do about it.
I can tell he is sexually frustrated but he never expresses it. We had a long serious talk about it the other day and he said he will wait for me to get better but it’s very hard for him. He was almost in tears during this convo and he never cries.
I’m not going off birth control and I’m going to stay with the iud. I hate condoms and the shot ruined my hormones.
Im against him watching any porn because I still feel like that’s cheating but im ok with him masturbaiting even though I don’t think he does.
What do I do and how do I keep him from leaving me. He is moving to Ohio for the summer for work and I’m afraid he will cheat on me while he’s there. How can I get my sex drive back?

Hi everyone! I have an almost 4 month old who is not looking at us when we talk to her. It’s a bit strange because if she’s laying down on the bed and I talk to her she’ll at least focus on my face and smile but if she’s on the bouncer or someone’s holding her upright position and we talk to her she won’t turn to look at us unless her eyes catch us. Another thing that is concerning is she sometimes avoids eye contact mainly if we’re too close to her but it seems ok from further away. Has anyone gone thru something similar?

Hey all. So I haven’t played my backwards compatible ps3 in a while. Decided to boot it up, charged some controllers and was ready to play. Noticed when I unplug the controllers they immediately die and won’t turn on. If they stay plugged in I can play, which is great at least. Now, when I tried putting in Xenosaga to play (ps2 game) it boots up the game no problem. But won’t recognize the controller at all. It just says controller is charging. Can’t bypass it. My friend came over w his controller that we verified is working 100% properly and it does the exact same stuff when I try to use it on my system. Anyone encounter this or have any tips on how to fix? Someone mentioned to me that I could try getting a ps2 controller and an adapter for ps2 to usb and see if I can play the older games that way? I’ve also tried a properly working ps4 controller plugged in and same thing, ps2 game won’t recognize it even when it’s plugged in directly.

I’m no-contact with most of my family due to unchecked mental illness and abuse. My twin cousins (25 f) were some of the last family I still keep up with. However, it was often one sided- me calling, flying them out, checking in. Every time they visit there was some “disappointment” / argument.
They don’t communicate and grew up very sheltered leading them to have literally no friends save one- which one twin has cut communication with completely now. They also grew up with a very loud/angry communication style household. So… I’ve tried to be patient with them. I also understand that because they didn’t get out much, so when they come to see me they see it as a vacation instead of seeing it as quality time with me. It’s often “I miss California” not I miss you which doesn’t feel great.. but I try and get it.
Regardless, they came and stayed with me for two weeks some months ago. I planned dinners , excursions, and tried to make the most of it- even flying one of them who is unemployed out. She needed a break from home as she struggled with finishing college after two breaks and her relationship. I’ll note- Throughout their stay one of them, that deals with a lot of unchecked mental illness, would get quiet and zone out which is totally fine.
At the end of the trip they ended up changing their flight without telling me, texting me about it at work which made me feel like shit and abandoned in a way as they had clearly talked it over the day before when we were on an excursion in San Diego. I ended up driving them at 5am the next day before work but it was not a pleasant experience. When they left they assured me everything was good and they loved me etc. that any feelings of unease or anger were squashed and forgiven since I asked why they decided to leave so suddenly.
Several month later: the moody twin sent me several (I’m talking 9 long pages) of text on how I treated her so badly, put her down, make her feel stupid in front of a friend of mine because I asked about her plans to finish college,. it was all minor things she listed imo which if she had called it out in the moment could have been squashed but she held on to it for months and blew up out of nowhere. Her twin, called me after and berated me for an hour listing all the ways I was “mean” to her sister asking that I don’t interrupt which let to me being attacked for a full hour until I couldn’t take it anymore instead of a two way convo.
I told them if I offer advice it should be taken at face value, that any suggestions of finishing college or w/e is just because I want to give them guidance I felt I didn’t have at their age. Their mother didn’t go to college in this country and doesn’t understand the system and the job market here. I’m worried as one twin is in massive debt using her cc for everything even letting her bf use it as well. That being said her life is her own and she can make her own moves which I communicated.
I tried to repair the relationship but the twin that was upset won’t take calls and has cut me off. She sent the 9 pages of text, I sent back a voice memo after she wouldn’t take my calls and had her sister hash it out with me instead. I gave her my point of view, apologized that she felt that way with me, and told her I loved her but sadly she’s out and she did the same to an uncle without explanation. These two girls have no close friends at this point in their lives, zero, and I’m sure struggle to understand that I was also going through a hard time. I tried to relay that me also being quiet at times or getting frustrated ( mind you NEVER raising my voice or being disrespectful) at times is human. Two weeks with two girls who want to be on the move at all times is exhausting for someone working full time. I gavethem my bed while they stayed so I was on an air mattress for two week which obviously didn’t help.
Essentially, I’m at a point where I don’t want a relationship anymore that’s one sided but I’m not sure how to “move on” when I feel like I didn’t say my peace.

June 2019 bought a front loader washer and dryer. Been pretty good no real complaints. 6 months ago started getting louder on spin. Sometimes I noticed it “walked” a little across the floor. I checked for balance but it was level and not overloaded. In March the door just cracked at the hinge and fell off. They came out and repaired the door. I ran a cycle and it sounded like it was going to take flight. After numerous (4-5) frustrating visits they’re still throwing parts at it and it’s not fixed and I won’t get an answer from anyone. No response. 10 weeks with no washer. $500 at the laundromat and speed queen nor my local appliance dealer give one little f. Not one. Absolute zero effs. The only F that’s given is my ranking of their product and warranty.

Today I was driving, and a man got out of his car and yelled at me. This has made me extremely distraught and extremely insecure about my driving abilities.
To give context, I would say I’m a fairly new driver. I got my license almost a year ago and drove on and off since that time, but only to distances ~10 minutes away. I’ve only started driving seriously a month ago. I’m not at a 100% confidence level yet for driving because I’m still in the beginning stages.
I like to drive extremely cautiously and anytime I have to go somewhere new, and I look at the map a billion times because I want to be prepared for new roads. I haven’t made any major road mistakes yet, but since I am new, I don’t doubt the fact that I could’ve made a major road mistake.
When I was driving, I don’t recall doing anything wrong from my perspective, but, of course, I very well could have made a mistake. I was going to a new place this time, and I was at a road with a blinking red light, and cars intersecting from the left. I came to a stop, and proceeded straight when I believed it was clear. I heard someone beeping, but was unsure where it was coming from. I assumed that it may have been a car coming from the left, and I may have misjudged the situation when I went straight, but I’m still unsure.
When I continued straight, a guy turned onto my lane in front of me, waving his hand out. When there was a red light, he got out of his car and started yelling at me. I couldn’t make out what he was saying, all I know was that called me a b**ch. At that moment, all I could do was freeze. I didn’t know what to say or do. I just felt shaken, and I (guiltily admit) started to get teary-eyed.
Driving was and is one of my biggest fears. When I first started started to learn, I was really bad, and I’ve come a long way since then. I understand that it is a fear that I need to overcome since driving is a life skill. The fact that I can’t even exactly pinpoint what I did wrong makes me feel stupid and so horrible. Everyone around me has been driving the moment they were able to, and I feel stupid that I still have a fear when I shouldn’t. It’s embarrassing for me to admit this even happened when I doubt others around me have experienced it. I fear that I will never become a skilled enough driver where people won’t beep at me or yell at me.
Can anyone please give me any advice or tips on how to become more confident and get over the fear of driving when stuff like this happens? Anything would be greatly appreciated.
TL;DR: Someone got our of their car and yelled at me, for a reason I’m unsure of. This has made me even more fearful of driving.

I’m on the fence about this assignment. I’m a peds nurse, and summer is the hardest time to find a job. I applied to about 20 other positions before this, so I’m worried I won’t get another if I turn it down.
It’s in Selma, Alabama at Vaughan Regional Medical Center. Pay is just under $2k gross a week. Through AMN- I was trying to switch to another agency but Aya seems to have more people applying to every job so more competitive.

Another month down, another set of Best Of Awards to announce as we close out May!
Snagging the honors of the Users' Choice Award was Antiquarianism and their answer to "Marcus Aurelius' writings implied the possibility that gods might be unjust or non-existent. Did this cause much controversy in Roman society? How did Roman religious authorities respond to his writings?".
This month's 'Flairs' Choice' Award in turn went to evil_deed_blues and their insight about "What was the quality of life in Nigeria in the 1970s?".
Taking the Dark Horse Award for the month, which goes to the top non-flair by combined voting, was MMSTINGRAY and their answer for "I once heard a Jewish Studies professor say the Nazis won the narrative about the Holocaust and how we talk about Jewish people. Was he right?".
Finally, for this month's 'Greatest Question', voted on by the mods, "According to the Google Ngram Viewer, the Bermuda Triangle myth blows up in the 1970s and has been popular ever since. What happened in the 1970s to make it so popular?", asked by videopro10, not only caught the fancy of the mods, but also caught a great answer from mikedash .
As always, congrats to our very worthy winners, and thank you to everyone else who has contributed here, whether with thought-provoking questions or fascinating answers. And if this month you want to flag some stand-out posts that you read here for potential nomination, don't forget to post them in our Sunday Digest! For a list of past winners, check them out here!

I won’t provide all the details because it’s stupid, I don’t want them to find this, and that’s not the point. Point is, we fought over something so small and it turned into a heated argument that was completely unnecessary.
I know that may seem extreme to a lot of people, but all I can say is that this has been a long time coming. This is not the first argument we have had, nor was it the most volatile. It has only showed me that if we can become so heated about something so small, it’s time to end the relationship. We’ve hurt each other in so many ways, I have them and they have me. I’m hoping this is the correct decision moving forwards, to keep any more pain from both of us.
As of right now and the time that has passed, I think it has been. They branched out so much in the past year and they have a great support system, so I know they won’t be alone. And I have found some people who I relate to much more than we have in a long time.
It just sounds so stupid, we fell out over a fridge. All you can do is laugh I guess.

Anyone else wish that Koraidon and Miraidon had somewhat better lore? Because I found it weird how there was only two of each duo in their respective times.
If so, what would you have it be?
My idea is that when the first expedition vanished, two of their Cyclizars were sent into a parallel world linked to the main one through Area Zero, one sent to the ancient past of that world, the other the distant future.
Eventually exposure from the rift’s energy that sent them to those times altered them thus becoming we what know them to be.
Not only have they become more powerful, but have gained the ability to travel between their respective Times and the main worlds.
And because time itself is essentially all three periods (Past, Present and Future) they essentially time travel to any point in time, Koraidon going forwards and back from the past, Miraidon backwards and forwards from the future.
The two return to Area Zero and manage to safe two explorers of the newer team, give them a lift out of the crater and back to the kingdom… just in time for it for the Quartet of Ruin to begin their destruction.
The two are vital in sealing away the Treasures of Ruin, the people worship and marvel at them, and they in turn decide to watch over them, roaming the lands, coming and going between time.
The professors theorised the origins of the both time lizards, linking them to present day Cyclizars, and thus wish to recreate it (part of testing for their Time Machine)
They capture the original two with a special Poke Ball that doesn’t limit the Pokémon’s innate ability, a side effect however is that the capture become hostile, this would lead to the fatal incident
Before it happens through, they recreate the event on two modern day Cyclizars, at an accelerated rate, transforming the two into the main world’s version of the Legendary duo.

Coffee with Captain from dGenNetwork Twitter Spaces today featured Doodles CEO Julian Holguin
If anyone wants to listen back: https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1DXxyveZOwbKM
I've shared some of the Doodles related Q&A below:
Can you tell us a little bit about this Camp experience for those who missed the announcement?
Julian: So Camp and Doodles has been underway for a while. It's definitely been a concept that we've been kicking around since I started at the company and the whole idea was that if you can create an immersive retail experience that brings people into your world and kind of draft off of the success that Doodles had at SXSW and make it more permanent, you can really reach people in a meaningful way. It's why people go to Disneyland, Universal Studios etc. It's a big endeavor to launch a theme park. There are massive businesses that are built around actually standing up these theme parks but there's kind of a hole in the market for every weekend, almost everyday activities you can do with a family or with friends that bring consumers and fans and collectors closer to your experience in a way that's truly experiential. So Camp is a business that has been able to stand up a really incredible solution for that.
I actually discovered it with my family while I was living in Los Angeles. I brought my son to their Nike kids camp and I was blown away. You walk in, it's a specialty toy store, it's got all the viral kids toys and it's kind of like a modern day FAO Schwarz, it's really cool. Then they have this ticketed experience where you buy tickets to whatever the branded theme is, that time in L.A, it was Nike. You take the family through this magic door at the back of the store and it opens up into this 6000 square foot, crazy guided immersive experience where there's actors, they call them counselors that take you through this whole experience that's guided for your family and your kids and they're immersed in the world. It's play, it's fun and then at the end of it is this really cool gift shop experience where people can get a chance to take home the stuff that they just interacted with and some of the energy that they were just able to put into play.
Camp has a network of these stores across the country. They also have one in Atlanta, which just debuted with The Little Mermaid, they have one in New York, which debuted with Disney Encanto, they've done Paw Patrol, they have Mickey and Friends live in Dallas, so they have this whole network. We're opening a new store with them this summer that's Doodles. So we're going to be side by side with some of the best and most beloved IP in the world and bringing what so many people love about Doodles to life permanently. The idea is that we're going to be a specific location for around 3 to 6 months potentially a little bit longer and then that show is actually built to pack up and go on the road. So we'll move to a different one of their locations.
We're making a bunch of new products, our first actual kids merchandise. It's going to be integrated into the experience. The experience that you're going to see is brand new, completely built from the ground up. Anybody that's been to our live events know that we know how to do this and we really do know how to bring people into our world and this is another opportunity for us to also age down and reach a new demographic with kids, parents and kind of everybody in between so it's a really exciting time for us. We believe immersive retail is going to be a massive thing in the future. If yesterday's Apple event actually punctuated anything, it's this concept of mixed reality that is going to be prevalent in our life and the whole idea of immersive retail is to continually use digital product, live experiences to bring people closer to stories, to bring people closer to characters, to bring people actually into the universe that we're ultimately creating and we all know being in Web3 how that is core to the ethos, that's why all of us signed up. We want to feel like we're part of this, so we're really excited. Can't wait for everybody to see more.
Why is Camp the ideal partner versus doing this yourselves?
Julian: I think we do IRL as good as anybody in the world, not just anybody in Web3. I think the elevation that Doodles brought to the space when it comes to IRL after SXSW was a call to action to everybody in the space to kind of level up and you've seen a lot of people, based on what we did start to invest more in these live experiences and try and bring people closer to the actual IP. I think we've been leaders in that regard and we have no doubt that we would have been able to build a really special live experience if we had just done it from the ground up but it made a lot more sense knowing that this is not our core competency to actually partner with somebody to help operate a fully baked retail location. As much as camp is a business that we're completely leaning into, it's also a test for product market fit, one thing that they have is email subscriber lists, customers, real fans of their brand that seek out these kinds of experiences in the cities that they're in so there's already built in marketing value that we have by partnering with Camp, the infrastructure, they know how to operate a store from day to day.
They know the right amount of inventory to order, they know the right way to actually have these experiences flow when it comes to a three hour guided experience and they know how to get the most value for their customers and ultimately out of their customers. So it was a really good idea for us to actually partner with somebody before going all in and investing 100% of our own money into an experience like this and we truly think partnership is the way to learn as much as you possibly can and it's also not that different from the way that massive IP shows up at theme parks and such, there are theme park operators like Merlin Entertainment and what they do is license IP and then ultimately build theme parks around them. So there are very few people that actually stand up their own theme park businesses and actually bring their own live experiences to market. I do think it's something that we could probably own one day but the best idea short term was to do it with somebody that's a true expert in it and kind of shares a similar ethos that we do.
How do you plan to drive people to the Doodles experience vs something like Mickey that's also in Camp stores?
That's exactly why it made so much sense to actually partner with Camp because they have a built in audience and customer base. Right off the bat we're going to have thousands of people that are going to become aware of Doodles instantly just because we're partnering with Camp and going to have a location activated in a particular city. So that's number one. Number two is that that's not going to be enough, we want to try and actually integrate within that city and and the surrounding markets. So what we're going to be doing is a full fledged marketing campaign. We're going to be sponsoring local events, we're going to be working with local influencers, people that have kids, people that don't, we're going to be doing outdoor, we're going to be doing radio, we're going to be getting the message out there about Doodles, but not just about Doodles. The fact that there is this new incredible experience that's coming to market. New York, LA, Miami, Austin, Columbus, Ohio, a lot of these places have a lot of major entertainment things that come by but there's very few things that fill this gap. You can go to Six Flags, Disneyland, you can go to a tour that's coming through town like I take my kid to the Jurassic World tour and it's really cool but there's not many things that are IP driven that you can go to any weekend.
You can knock out three hours with your family, there's just a really big hole in that market in almost every single city. The fact the experience is going to be coming to the city that we're going to is a marketing opportunity within itself. So Doodles is going to draft off of that solution that this experience is actually providing to the market and I think everybody knows this that's been to our events, once you're in, once you experience it, you have a really big opportunity with a brand like Doodles to keep people interested in your ecosystem, to keep people interested in what you're doing. The other thing you kind of mentioned about our events where you see strollers and families around during the day and then at night it's a Diplo concert, we're going to be doing a similar kind of thing with daypart programing where there's going to be basically daytime programing for kids and families and then at night, not every single night but at night there's going to be more adult focused programing where the setting and the scene is a lot more for people that are over 21 and not really in that family kind of setting. So it's going to be pretty cool to see our ability to actually target multiple demographics and try and be a multi-generational brand.
You have mentioned that Doodles is like the Amex black card of the collection. How does that work related to the Doodles Camp experience?
Julian: We've been maintaining this. So essentially the Doodles OG collection, obviously there's provenance associated with it, it's the art that started it all, it's one of 10,000 Burnt Toast but it also comes with this contract that's going to give you the ultimate access in the entire ecosystem. Sometimes access means you're going to get entered for a raffle to be one of the only 300 people that get the Pharrell pack for free. Sometimes it's going to be access to a major live event that we're propping up at a big cultural moment and sometimes it's going to be something like Camp where you are going to get free entry, you are going to get merchandise credits, you are going to get concierge services, meaning when you show up, it's not going to be like somebody walking off the street, the store is going to be waiting for you, you're going to be treated like a true VIP because that's what people that hold the original collection are and we think that's a pretty special thing. We think people strive for that. We think people want to feel special, especially when they're investing money in collectibles and the things that we offer in our ecosystem so if you're traveling to come to this specific location, we want that experience to feel very special to you.
We don't want you to feel like just any normal consumer off the street. You're part of the Doodles universe, the same way that the characters that are being displayed in that experience are. So it's really special to us and really important to us that we live up to that in that our community. The people that are truly in the community every single day, engaging, building. There's a fictional universe of characters and then there's the real world lifestyle of Doodles, the real world lifestyle of Doodles we want to be as known and as much of a part of our story as the actual fictional universe and that's what we're trying to perpetuate with this idea of like white glove concierge service. I always think of it like concierge key with American Airlines or the Black Card with American Express or Club 33 with Disney, it doesn't mean every single thing that we do is going to be free but it means there's going to be a very, very special experience for OGs at every step of the way and this is just another iteration of that.
When you gave the presentation at NFTNYC about a year ago, you talked about immersive experiences, culture, music, is there anything that has changed or pivoted in strategy since that presentation?
Julian: I think a business like us you need to give yourselves agency to pivot as things unfold and as technology develops and I'd say that our vision has not changed at all but the way we get there maybe there are a couple changes but they wouldn't be noticeable to somebody looking from the outside in. I think the way that we think about on-chain loyalty, rewards and engagement and a hub like the stoodio being connected to every single consumer touchpoint, we've always had a vision for that because there's countless examples of major IP in the world that has fans and really loyal supporters that go out and see them at the movies, theme parks, buy merch, play games and the IP actually has no way of tracking all of that behavior. They have no idea who these people are, much less how to reward them for their support and for their loyalty. If you build from the ground up with that mindset, you're going to be able to create a much deeper relationship between you and your most loyal supporters, which is kind of what Web3 is about. So how do we create a brand that can do what any of these major IP operators do with an audience of millions, but we're doing it with thousands and then you build that traditional business model on top of it to create something truly exponential.
That is the vision, that's the game. I think the thing that most people don't understand is that brands today, it's not like you can just go build one tentpole and build a global IP off of that. If you're Disney you can, you can release Encanto, be working on it for five years and have all the distribution to make that a hit but it doesn't work that way for most people trying to build an IP. Most brands need to be present every day where consumers spend their time on social media, in live events, through merchandise, people spend their time in very fragmented ways these days, and attention is very difficult to maintain. So this whole concept of transmedia storytelling is really important and if you think about what GoldenWolf is, they're an animation and creative studio that specializes in advertising content, on digital content, on social content. So knowing that we are going to be a transmedia storytelling brand, meaning we're going to be present in many different areas and we're going to be creating content around all of the things that we do, whether it be Camp, brand partnerships that we have coming up, Doodles Records, anything with the product and the stoodio, new NFT collections etc. What could be a better asset internally than an Emmy nominated advertising and animation studio? We're going to be able to put high quality content out in a way that other people truly just can't keep up with.
I don't mean content for the sake of content. I truly mean high quality content. So GoldenWolf being in the mix is huge for us. Ingi is an incredible thought leader, always thinking about new ways to push technology forward. For us blockchain is obviously what made Doodles what it is and it's obviously what is most interesting to us and how digital ownership brings people closer to an IP but how can you use some other emerging technologies to actually create quicker time to market for animation so you can create more animations? How do you use it to create more immersive environments? Really thinking about new ways to push the envelope and at the end of the day, people connect with stories, people connect with characters, people love joyful entertainment and if we can make those people feel like they're part of our universe the same way that our main characters are, that's when you get something that I don't think truly exists in the world today and it's something we're really excited about so I'd say not a ton has changed, how we get there and the mechanism in which we deliver these incredible stories and bring people closer will always change. That's just kind of the nature of being in the world that we're in but I'd say we have as much or more conviction than when I started.
Did Apple's Vision Pro announcement yesterday strengthen your belief in the future of experiential and immersive experiences
Julian: Yeah. Everybody knows Burnt Toast for creating the characters but he's actually a really incredible product and thought leader in how to leverage technology to create more content. He's been beating this drum for a long time. Mixed reality. He really loves augmented reality specifically and I think what you saw last night was a major step in how this is ultimately going to evolve. That headset is going to get smaller and smaller. The computing power is going to get stronger and stronger. The price is going to get cheaper and cheaper. The technology is going to get more intuitive and anybody that's not thinking about that future is definitely going to get left behind. How long it takes to get to a point where that use case is truly at scale? Who knows? I think it happens faster these days than it ever has before. I think it's actually a really exciting time if you're a creator, especially if you're a creator in a world where you're trying to connect physical and digital. We couldn't be more bullish and we couldn't be more excited for the kind of things that we're actually going to be able to make with a truly great platform like that.
I think the metaverse is a term, it's not what's actually being created. It's thrown around so much and people talk about the metaverse like it's someplace we're going and not someplace that we kind of live in today. Everybody very carefully curates what they put on social media, younger generations care so much about the digital assets that they can acquire like Roblox and Fortnite, people care about what their Zoom looks like, everybody on this Twitter space has very carefully curated what their PFP looks like and what their Twitter feed looks like. We are very much living in a world that has bridges from digital and IRL and what the announcement was yesterday and what Disney is doing is just talking about a much more intuitive and deeper way to make that a reality and to create better experiences. If you looked at the visuals, imagine throwing on a headset and being able to watch a Disney movie like that or to watch a game on ESPN. I don't even think people can really feel the impact of how that's going to be. It's going to be incredible. It's going to be an entertainment experience that just does not exist today and until people can actually feel it, I think there's going to be a lot of speculation, but that showed a lot of promise, we were all pretty blown away watching that presentation.
I love that you've mentioned a couple times the prioritization of content and good content, is Doodles active on platforms outside of twitter or is that coming?
Julian: It's coming up. We are mostly active on Instagram and Twitter. We needed to actually get the GoldenWolf acquisition through and then ultimately integrate the company and the business into Doodles so that naturally just takes some time and what we didn't want to do was just rush to get content out there because it's something that you feel like you have to do. Quality takes time. A brand that's going to live forever and and be timeless takes time. It's not like technology where if you're first and you're quick, you get a leg up. People are always starving for new IP. People are always looking for new stories. People are always looking for new ways to actually connect and feel joy and escape and what we can't do is rush to put something out that doesn't truly mirror or represent the Doodles brand and the bar for quality that we have. Obviously we're going to have a TikTok channel, we're going to have more YouTube content. It's just taking a little bit of time as these things should. I don't want to give you like an exact date of when that stuff is going to happen, but it's all being developed as we speak in addition to the long form, whether that be television or film and then what are the characters names? What are the stories? What adventures do they go on? What is the universe like? You're going to start to see tidbits of that throughout the summer and into the end of the year.
I wasn't even thinking long form. Is that alpha?
Julian: You've definitely heard that before. Of course if your any major IP, you want to figure out a way to exploit that IP in new ways and film, television, longer form takes a longer time and it's something that we don't really feel the need to rush into because it's not like we have everything riding on Doodles being like a smash TV show or a major hit movie at the box office. If you think about the way brands operate today, evergreen social content, narrative storytelling, different kinds of physical and digital experiences, merchandise, true connection to your audience and your community every single day. That's what Doodles is really going to prioritize and in parallel to that, yes, how do we actually get like a bigger tentpole to market?
I think you were hinting to building out the lore of the collection, are there plans to roll out content around exactly what it is to be a holder of these collections?
Julian: That's a great question. I'd say that first and foremost, all the fictional universe and lore for what Doodles is building is going to emanate from our collections. So the characters are going to emanate from the original collection. Some of the fashion inspiration in our universe is going to emanate from Doodles2, it's going to be very clear to anybody that's been around for a while or anybody that knows Doodles that the world that's being built is being built around the NFT's and the community is going to have several ways to take part in that and then as far as actually marketing what it means to be an OG holder, there's going to be a ton of content. There already has been a lot of content if you look our marketing pages and some of the tweet threads, some of the animations that we've made to kind of take people through whatever experience we're promoting at the time but when it does come to the actual membership itself, that's something that we're going to continue to prioritize. There's going to be a lot of content made around that and it's something that we talk about internally every day.
If you look at another collection, DeGods. They seem to really be leaning into these seasons. What I mean by that is the content they create, they sort of build up to the utility for months
Julian: That's not entirely our strategy to speculate on what utility may or may not be, I would just say that what we found works for us is kind of just showing people, iterating and testing and we think that's a really good long term strategy for us, especially because we're in a position where we're able to do a lot right now because of the capital that we raised last year. I think the utility is going to get very clear and the ecosystem is going to become very clear soon. I think people are already starting to feel it with the launch of the stoodio, the Pharrell Pack, Pharrell himself becoming a Doodle in our universe, Camp and some of the other partnerships that we're getting ready to announce that are going to happen this summer and into the end of the year so I'd say that we want people to feel like more is coming, but we also don't want to over promise and have people have outsized expectations because I think a lot of projects fall victim to that.
We're also fans of what a lot of other people are doing and we study what other people are doing to try and take bits of that and see how they could fit our business. I think the thing that's really exciting about Web3 right now is that not everyone is doing things the same way. Specifically in the PFP collections, everybody is kind of establishing their own lane and doing really incredible work across the space and I'd say that should be an exciting thing because what works for one project won't necessarily work for the next. It's pretty cool that we're all collections, we're all NFT's, we're all Web3 but at the end of the day, the track that we're taking and the businesses that we're creating are actually really different. So I'd say that we look at these things, it's just figuring out when and why to implement them or activate them but I think mainly what you're saying is, how can you make sure that the utility isn't really going under the radar and it's something that we're championing as much as the big brand moments and that's something that is 100% a priority for us and making sure that the community feels and understands what it means to be a holder.
I love that these projects are taking different paths and while I think others will follow, I do think it's going to take a big brand like Doodles kind of chart that blueprint in a sense.
Julian: Yeah and others others have followed. When Jordan, Evan and Scott started the company, they were very clear that this was an IP that they were going to develop over time and making sure that the community was part of that IP. SXSW was kind of a statement that Doodles made. NFTNYC was a statement that Doodles made and you've seen a lot of projects actually try and do what we are doing. Everybody knows Doodles may not have been the best at talking about what we're doing but at the end of the day, I think no one's going to be able to deny that there's a really thriving ecosystem, company and community being built around this IP come the next few months when all that's about to release is going to release. It's a very exciting time to be a Doodle holder. I feel like Doodle holders are going to be very proud to represent the brand and be ambassadors for the brand and I think we're really proud that the community that has stuck around and truly engaged with us this entire way is going to feel very good about where we're going. It's an exciting time for Web3. I think you're going to see a lot of really interesting work. I've always said that last year was kind of the year of shipping promises and this year going into next year is really going to be the year that you actually start seeing all of us ship product and you're starting to see some really incredible work unfold and we're just happy that we still have a chance to do that.
Can we expect any other in real life activations whether it be Art Basel or otherwise this year or is it all focus on Camp?
Julian: Camp is going to be the main focus from an investment perspective, meaning most of what we have for live is going towards Camp and building that out as a true business, with that being said we love popping up at other IRL moments because it's a way to onboard new people into our ecosystem and also reward key community members. What we did at Something In The Water was we basically set up this 30 by 30 space. We called it Doodle Beach. There was a merch shop that promoted our collaboration with BBC Ice Cream and then there was another space where you could actually test out the Doodles2 product experience on screen and go into the stoodio, mess around a little bit, learn more about Doodles and what it is. We were able to onboard a lot of festival goers that really didn't know anything about the brand beforehand but we were able to break off 50 super VIP tickets with incredible access to the stage and raffle those off for Doodles community members. We're going to be doing that again at other moments this year. Exactly which ones, we're not prepared to say yet but that will always be a focus for us. What we wanted to do was create an activation that could be easily packed up and travel so we could take a similar thing from event to event versus trying to go completely all in on a SXSW or Art Basel, not to say that's not going to be something we do in the future, we're just trying to scale our live event footprint and our activity a little bit more.
Was there ever a discussion about creating permanent Doodle-branded locations, inspired by the success of Doodleputt, such as Doodles laser tag or Doodles go kart racing?
Julian: I think the thing that we wanted to kind of steer clear of is having any association for Doodles that was not specifically about Doodles, the characters and the stories. If the first time people are experiencing Doodles is through golf or laser tag or bowling you kind of run the risk of people thinking that's what it is. If you think about Mario, the characters, the stories, people were very familiar with what those were before Mario Kart or Mario Golf or Mario Tennis ever came out, I do think there's an opportunity for that in the future. I think people loved Doodleputt, but I think the strategy there was really more about how do you create something splashy and noteworthy at Art Basel that people were truly going to care about doing that was very social but we believe that Camp and the experience that we're creating there is a much better format for where we're going but the idea of Doodles popping up with other sorts of immersive experiences is definitely interesting and something we are actively working on what it looks like to bring other experiences to different markets around the world and it's going to continue to be a core strategy of ours. We're going to learn a lot with with what we do at Camp and we're going to use that data to continue to build out the ecosystem.
Have you considered creating a weekly series on platforms like YouTube, where kids can tune in to watch and engage with the brand on a regular basis, even though you mentioned that you're not pursuing a Doodles movie or animation?
Julian: To clarify, a movie, doodles animation, that's actually something we're actively working on. It's just there's no rush to get that out there. When it comes to YouTube, I'm a parent that utilized Cocomelon and Paw Patrol and all these different things on YouTube. So I totally get it. I think there is going to be YouTube content very soon, but there's also going to be TikTok and more Instagram content and there's just going to be a stronger throughline for what we're creating and why, you're going to start to see the story and some of the characters unfold. Not all at once. I'd say that the minute to two minute long videos is something that translates more of like a webcomic, animated series, physical book or social content? All of these things are are being developed right now. So I'd say what you're hoping for is exactly the work that GoldenWolf is doing. Whatever format it comes in I'm not going to guarantee on the spaces today but you can just rest assured knowing that this is 100% top of mind and as big of a priority as anything in the company, probably the biggest priority in the company.
You were referencing OG holders, are these benefits for those that held for a while or just a Doodle holder in general?
Julian: We do believe that if you own an original Doodle, you're entitled to the kind of the standard benefits that we're building around membership in owning that Doodle but we also are working through ways to make sure people that have stuck around and engaged are rewarded. If you look at the Pharrell pack, the criteria to actually enter the raffle, you had to have had an OG Doodle, you had to have dooplicated a Doodle, opened a Genesis Box and you had to have signed up for an account with the stoodio. If you did not have an OG Doodle, you were not eligible for that raffle but if you didn't do all the other things that kind of engaged members of the community do, you also couldn't be part of that raffle. So I think you're going to start to see things where all Doodles holders get an opportunity for something. Only Doodles holders that have taken certain actions are going to get an opportunity for something and kind of everything in between.
How do you plan to onboard individuals from the immersive camp experience into the Web3 space?
Julian: I'd say that's exactly what we're building and our vision. How do you build a on-chain collectible ecosystem that connects to every single consumer touchpoint? We kind of look at Doodles as a funnel where most people are going to come into contact with us through engaging with content on social media, showing up at experiences like Camp, seeing Adidas or Pharrell post about Doodles etc All of a sudden those people are aware of Doodles and we have an NFT product in the stoodio that feels a lot more like skinning a character in Fortnite or buying something in Roblox where you're basically outfitting your avatar in whatever activation you saw. So like Adidas, Pharrell, you can now buy the stuff that they were representing, build your doodle in that likeness. There's no friction to get in, signing up for a wallet and getting into the stoodio is as easy as setting up an Instagram or Spotify account. It's not even just about it being easy, it's familiar. Getting a metamask, holding a seed phrase, buying crypto, that stuff is not familiar and it scares most people.
We know the technology is ultimately going to get better but in the meantime we want a meaningful way to actually onboard people into this hub that we've built in the stoodio. So if you can create media, experiences, attention you can actually bring them in to your hub, to your collectible ecosystem through a really easy to use product. A product they care about that helps them represent themselves, they get to be a Doodle the same way that our main characters are going to get to be a Doodle. Now they're in, they're going to learn more about blockchain, they're going to learn more about Web3 but they were able to get out of their own way because the technology was invisible. They weren't scared of NFT's and crypto the first time they integrated with Doodles because they had no idea that's what it was. That's a really interesting opportunity because right now for a lot of people it's kind of the boogeyman and if you can help people understand it isn't about the headlines that you read, it's about a better technology stack to create a more meaningful relationship between supporters, collectors, community and the IP itself.
None of the rest is going to matter to those people. Our goal is ultimately to have the entire collectible ecosystem connect to everywhere that people are experiencing the brand. You're going to see that with Camp. You've seen that at all of our live events, if you were a Doodle holder at Art Basel, at Doodleputt, you were able to flash your badge at different activation pillars and it would make a noise and you would get access to different shots, a door would open up and you could actually hit it through the secret passageway and give you an edge over somebody that didn't have a Doodle, you were able to display your Doodle in certain areas in the actual experience itself. So we kind of look at it like it's in real life, it's digital, everything's connected. That is what we're building right now and we really want to make sure that you're giving people as little friction as possible that don't know much about us or the space as a whole.
Beyond GoldenWolf is Doodles looking at other acquisitions in the space?
Julian: We're always looking at acquisitions. There's always an opportunity to bring companies in that are either struggling or thriving but by bringing them together, you create an exponential effect. Any time we look at an acquisition, it's always how can we create one plus one equals three.. GoldenWolf is not just about ingesting a really great creative team. It's how can we reinvent their company to create a much better version of GoldenWolf while at the same time creating a new world for the development of Doodles IP. So I'd say that to the extent that any Web3 IP, any underlying infrastructure is interesting, we're definitely all in on on those ideas. We brought in all the engineering and product resources from a from another Web3 company that was struggling earlier this year. It wasn't publicized or anything but it's always something that we're vetting and looking at. I'd also say joint ventures and partnerships, we want to be vertically integrated and own the relationship with our community as much as we possibly can but that's not to say that we're going to be experts in every single area we want to operate in so partnership and joint ventures and trying to scale businesses together is always something that's top of mind for us so yes, absolutely. We're always looking at that.
What does Doodles look like in two years?
Julian: I think in the context of Doodles. Doodles is a lifestyle brand that people engage with and are a part of every day. People use it as their PFP, people buy the merch, they communicate with each other, you actually build more content off of the IP, people are starting businesses based off of the IP. Doodles is very real and present in our everyday life and the idea that there are community members where as the brand scales, those people, their interests in the company or the brand scale as well. You're running that parallel to a fictional universe of characters, who is our Buzz Lightyear? Who is our Woody? The fact that there are community members that will be known in the community and the story of those community members just as much as who our main characters are I think is really special because then you could take a fictional universe and a lifestyle brand and have them crash into each other at times.
If you look at the end card for the last trailer we did promoting the Pharrell Pack and Stoodio, it was really cool to see because you saw Pharrell as a Doodle. He's a real person in the real world, but he is now a character in the Doodles universe the same way Lady Gaga and The Weeknd have done things like that with The Simpsons. They're real people but they're in this fictional universe. You saw our main character, the mascot and you also saw a bunch of characters that you might not know, it could be someone from North Dakota or Hong Kong or Tokyo or Miami and the whole point is that they're living in this same universe together. When I think about IP developed from the ground up in Web3, especially when it comes to what Doodles is doing, that concept of digital identity delivered through a brand and the community being as much a part of our universe as the fictional characters that are ultimately going to scale to millions. That is what I think is really interesting about what we're building here and that's why I think the the notion of building a business with your core people is so special and something that doesn't really exist in in the world of IP today.
Can crossovers between real-life and digital formats create a compelling and unique experience?
Julian: If you think about your relationship with Mickey Mouse, you watch the shows, maybe you go to the movies. I don't think he's really at the box office anymore but you buy the t-shirt, maybe there's some games, you go to Disneyland. It's really great but there are going to be people in our community that are like Mickey Mouse, right? Like people.
Look at Doodlien, the holographic alien. He minted it. He's turned down massive offers. He is one of the biggest champions of the brand and if you're in Doodles, you know who Doodlien is. That's all part of the of the story of Doodles. People aren't just falling in love with the characters and the stories. They're also falling in love with the process and how it all came together because they feel truly invested in it. That's really special and and I think that's going to be the thing that really, really separates Web3 from a lot of the other IP out there.
I think the main thing I'll sign off with is, Doodles is doing exactly what we said we would be doing at NFTNYC last year. It takes a while to build businesses that truly matter and to build brands and characters and stories that truly matter and then to bring a community closer to that entire experience. I think people are going to be really proud to see what's coming next but very excited to see all the positive reaction and engagement we've had on the timeline recently so appreciate the time today, guys, and we'll talk again soon.

So my husband and I are Greeks and we live in an English speaking country. Im currently pregnant and just stress pretty much about anything now and these days what im thinking is this; How will my baby learn both languages? I mean we definitely speak Greek wit my husband so the baby is going to listen to greek a lot. But if we are going to stay here for long the baby will have to learn English from early age as well. That is only logical since we live in and English speaking country. I thought that I could at first read books in english, as we won’t have Greek material here as well, and try in general to mix English and Greek while spending time with the baby. I just don’t know how to search for this online for tips or idk. So I thought of posting here in case someone has been there and done that. I don’t know what could be a good way for me to teach my kid both languages as it will also benefit them in the future. We are planning on me being a stay at home mom and we haven’t decided yet about sending the kid to childcare since I’ll be taking care of it at home for the first years. It’s also really expensive here and in general it’s not smth that in Greece you would do until the kid turns 3yo minimum.

Hey Mamas I’m going to try to keep this short, but I feel the details are kind of important and if anybody can give any form of advice, I would really appreciate it. I have a child who is turning six years old this summer. Due to extreme anxiety he did not have a successful Preschool experience last year which was two days a week three hours each day so very minimal schooling . Due to his issues with anxiety and transitioning to preschool we consulted not only the pediatrician but the Director of the school and decided that it would benefit him to have another year of Preschool before sending him to kindergarten. I did the same thing with my middle child who is also a July baby and got no push back from the school. In April I registered my child for kindergarten and the first week of May I took him for his assessment. June 1 I receive an abrupt phone call from the secretary, letting me know that the principal is placing my child in first grade due solely to his birthday. I told her that I am completely against this. I do not want it and I would prefer he go to kindergarten, but she told me the only person who could help me is the superintendent. I got in touch with the superintendent who could not only not state the policy on entering kindergarten, but also told me that yes and no, she can help me with this but needed to get back to me. In the meantime, I reached out to the school committee who sent me a copy of that kindergarten policy and it states that at five years old a child is eligible for kindergarten, and at six years old a child is eligible for first grade. It does not say that a child must attend first grade if they are six. Again, I’ve already done this with another child and had no issues and that was only in 2018. I have gotten letters of support from my Pediatrician as well as the Director of the Preschool My son currently attends stating how detrimental this is. The superintendent refused to meet with me and told me there’s nothing she can do until I mentioned the word lawyer. Now we have a meeting Monday morning. But I was totally bluffing…I called around and the fees for a lawyer just aren’t going to work for us right now. We simply don’t have the extra money. I also reached out to ask the kids in the major city near my home that offer free help and they don’t have anybody available for the next 12 to 18 months so that won’t help either. I am sick to my stomach over this as school has been very difficult for my child, and I feel that pushing him ahead into first grade based solely on his age is just about the worst thing they can do, and could create a domino effect of negative experiences while he struggles to catch up. Want to know the irony of the entire situation?! if he fails first grade, they will hold him back to repeat it, and he will be in the the same class I am trying to get him in for this year! Like what the actual fuck?!?! I am an early childhood educator, and I have had the opportunity to work at multiple schools and I have never seen this before. I am just so sick over this and when I try to talk about it, I can’t even form a sentence because I am so angry. Honestly at this point I wish I could just take them outside and fight…. Sorry this is wicked Long 🤦‍♀️

Epilogue

A brief, beautiful series of vignettes. We close the loop on some emotional beats, as well as receive promises/foreshadowings of further adventures.

Epigraph

The opening verses of Rumor Born, and possibly my favorite piece of poetry in the whole novel. It took me until this epigraph to realize that the title itself is referring to the city of Darujhistan and it's history. That said, given the fact that the work describes the events of the novel itself, and is written by the same guy who wrote Anomandris, then either Fisher was a Seer of incredible power or else has an immensely long lifespan. Possibly both, although the fact that Fisher's birth date is unknown implies the latter. Even at the end, answers only invite further questions.
The only other point of note is the reference to the "Gates of Nowhere" but I'm unsure what that might mean. The SCDAT?

The Epilogue Itself

The remaining Bridgeburners land back where they'd initially launched from at the beginning of Book 3, preparing to await their Moranth escort. Quick Ben and Whiskeyjack watch Moon's Spawn drift south, possibly to find another contest, this time against the Pannion Seer. Whiskeyjack's headaches have been lessening, possibly in response to his loosening heart, less guarded than the one he bore into Darujhistan. His cool reference to the loss of three members not being "that bad, considering" and Mallet's pained response shows the change has yet to take in full, but the Seargent has begun a slow road back to humanity. We leave the Bridgeburners with an ominous note, that Quick Ben has hatched another scheme, a big feint, one which might run over poorly with Whiskeyjack.
Captain Paran watches his men below on the beach, contemplating everything it cost him to get here. His... unique nature has granted new senses, and a growing awareness of Silverfox. Whether or not the romance between Paran and Tattersail was Oppon compelled or not, the two resolve to reunite in time. Mysteriously, they communicate over vast distances, although it seems to be an unreliable process. He has buried Lorn, now finally a soldier, holding in the position once held by the very man who warned him against this path, walking a path of ruin himself. Ganoes Paran, the gods have noticed you, and their gaze is unlikely to fall from someone who survived their use — what will you make of yourself?
Kalam, Fiddler, Apsalar, and Crokus sail west for Dhavran. The former claw is amused by the two youths and their naive innocence. Crokus asks after Unta, and they speak of leaving others behind, and moving forward. Kalam holds nothing against Apsalar, she's just a girl, after all. Crokus objects to this and discards the Coin, no longer in need of luck. Circle Breaker, even here barely noticed, decides to inform the Eel one last time that the Coin Berrer has freed himself, then looks forward, anticipating a new life. Also, the monkey's a demon, which probably means something that it decided to stick around.
And so, with beautiful prose and bittersweet optimism, so ends the first tale of the Malazan Book of the Fallen.

Gardens of the Moon

An excellent start all around! We've yet to see how fitting it may be for the rest of the series, but for now, I'm hooked! So much of this rode on Erikson's ability to pull off this massively ambitious departure from the commonplace, and he managed to pull it off far better than could be expected. While I recognize his inspirations in histories and anthropology, being able to port one form of literature to another, not only across genres but the fiction/non-fiction divide, is seriously impressive. While doing so without sacrificing much of the strengths of either format; even leveraging them to complement one another, is a staggering feat. I'll be breaking things down, although these categories are listed in no particular order, into Plot, Characters, Setting, Cosmology (encompassing the more fantastical elements from magic to races), and Prose/Format.

Plot

Favorite plots include the whole Jaghut Tyrant arc (for obvious reasons), Paran's Excellent adventure, and the whole Coll/Lady Simttal arc.
The deep lore cuts of all the Jaghut and T'lan Imass storylines are incredible, worldbuilding on a scope that allows for geological/evolutionary implications. The powers at play boggle the imagination and feel realized despite their incomprehensibility. Not necessarily "cosmic horror" although that plays a part, but a cosmic spectacle nonetheless. Ending, of course, with an apocalyptic battle feeling like the climax of a series of epics we barely get to glimpse. Looking forward to seeing so much more of this side of the Malazverse. I will say, the T'lan Imass gathering never really occurred, but I expect that's still coming.
Paran's whole plotline, beginning with quickly snuffed youthful aspirations, to political maneuverings, to being a pawn in the interplay between many gods and ascendants, to shaking free of the powers chaining him, if not necessarily free of what has happened to him, was great to watch unfold. It was the most straightforward "quest fantasy" of the book, touching on many cool places and meeting a wide variety of characters. Paran's brute "I'm already dead anyway so I may as well attack things head on" strategy was refreshing to watch, his relationships to Topper, Tattersail, and Toc were all great and helped to show his evolving character. Connecting with the Bridgeburners and helping them sort everything going on out was cathartic. And of course, the elephant in the room, the Dragnripur episode was fascinating and haunting and I need more.
Then there was the whole Oppon-infused plan regarding Lady Simtal and particularly its climax, was fantastic. I'm a sucker for plotlines that were technically successful yet have the characters involved come away regretting it happening in the first place. The solidarity between the Phoenix Inn regulars was great, as well as untangling their connections to one another. No there's no objective reason this one stood above the other Darujhistan plotlines, but I jive with it.
Other plots, such as all the Tiste Andii background intrigue, Crokus's whole ordeal, as well as Tattersail's plotline are great as well.
Most of the Tiste Andii stuff needs to be unpacked more fully down the road, as is we have only a brief glimpse into this massive, alien world on Moon's Spawn. Caladan Brood, Kallor, the unseen Prince K'azz, and Crone all seem to have their own intrigue going on, keeping someone reigned in. As for that someone, Anomander Rake's whole deal is a whole deal, I'm enthralled to see more of this obsolete great desperately try to get his people to care about anything again. The dragons are all tangled in this as well. Yea, I did just spend a lot of words just implying things without divulging much of what it meant, but so did Erikson and I'm hooked.
So Oppon's big plan seems to just keep nudging this one unwitting kid around via hormones and coincidence to drag the genuinely important players around. This is fascinating because it seems all Oppon wanted to do was mess with the Empire. For reasons that aren't quite clear yet, the gods seem terrified of this growing coalition of power on the part of the mortals and are doing what they can to slow this down. Even more interesting, they'd likely be able to curb-stomp the mortals pretty easily if they all weren't in their own cold war with one another. Oppon did seem to be multitasking a bit with messing with Shadow, but I'm less certain why they'd have beef outside of each operating in the "screw with stuff we shouldn't" domain.
Tattersall's (or now Silverfox's) arc is of course left wide open by the end of this, but is great. The Deck of Dragons is a fantastic narrative device, as we get assurance of the god's machinations in the background without having to pull the curtain back all the way. Also, one of the lingering questions I have is who the Ascendant that messed with the reading she did with Tayscheren was. I guess Shadowthrone? The whole soul-shifting arc and rebirth sequence are haunting and more than a but disturbing, but that speaks to the alternatives she could have undergone from her stunt in body-hopping. Her relationship with romance was a bit, odd, but there's a non-trivial element of divine meddling so it's cool ig.
The plotting is currently the strongest element of M:BotF thus far. That we had like 14 different plot threads splitting off and overlapping and drawing together over the course of the narrative is insane. That many of these plot threads managed to enliven and enlighten one another, narratively, thematically, and lore-wise, only makes the whole multiplicatively stronger than the sum of its parts. Everything felt pretty natural, with the threads that did overlap often doing so secondarily, as natural consequences rather than merging together into one mega-climax. I mean, we did get one mega-climax-sequence, but that was far more due to their proximity rather than each even being doomed to become defined by one another. Events that started separately for separate reasons stayed separate, but the shared pool of locations and characters helped to cause each of these to be deeply interconnected in the lives of those characters. Speaking of which...

Characters

My relationship with the characters of this novel is a bit interesting. They serve their plots wonderfully, and nearly every one of them has several standout moments in both word and deed. Yet, on the whole, they're, fine. I guess they're... exactly the sum of their parts? Don't get me wrong, these are extremely good parts they're made of. New character archetypes, old ones played extremely well, old ones given genuinely inventive twists. These are very good characters, but possibly the weakest pillar of the novel. The dialogue is weighty and meaningful, betraying a depth to the world and the people in it. Actions are (usually) thought out, exceptions to this rule are all true to a character or under extenuating circumstances. I want to see more of all of them. It's just, there isn't much of that "x factor" a lot of great character writers bring out.
I've already praised Paran, his attitude, and his motives. He's way over his head at the best of times and just has to bluff and namedrop long enough to survive to a point where he can effect genuine change. That effort changes him pretty drastically, and while he is somewhat better off for it, it is a sad thing to see the naive kid in him die off so soon.
Tattersail is interesting to me, I like her, but as a character she's on the weaker end of the cast. We do see her strong emotions and compassion explored a bit, but she takes a pretty hard left turn plot wise before that goes much of anywhere. We'll have to wait and see how Silverfox pans out.
Whiskeyjack fascinates me, we don't get too much of who he is, just all that's left of him of being ground into the dust. I can't wait to see Whiskeyjack the Old Guard thaw off more, as well as Whiskeyjack the man.
Quick Ben and Kalam probably stand as my current favorite Bridgeburners, their bromance being a highlight of the novel all while standing as fascinating characters on their own. Quick Ben has, all kinds of backstory running around, as well as secrets on top of that, but what we know of him so far is great. Kalam's just world-weary, yet he can't help but keep moving forward until he can bow out legitimately. The two of them are so much fun on top of being fascinating.
Dujek and Tayscheren, while not super present in the novel, are pretty great characters in their own right. Dujek, last of the Old Guard with any real power, just trying to do what he can for his men. And Tayscheren, not necessarily evil, but just a guy swallowed up in his own job.
Hairlock, while not making too much of a splash in the grand scheme of things, was an incredibly fun inclusion and a great initial antagonist. Just a power-mad goofy little guy who doubles as our first major look into this world's magic and cosmology.
Adjunct Lorn was one of the standout characters of the novel, a woman enslaved to her own self-justification. Torn between the scared girl trapped in the mines and the unfeeling super claw, unable to reconcile the two before the end. Her constant contradictions and tensions within her character were fascinating to watch.
And Toc, poor Toc man. A great guy who I'd loved to have seen more of, just being such an interesting character on top of being fun. I feel he's introduced some interesting concepts, from the "inner sight" superstition of Seven Cities to whomever his dad is, but the credits have rolled and my guy is still down for the count, so I'll be interested to see how these elements are brought back.
Crokus Younghand stands out in this novel as the one, lone dumbass. Stop being literally me Crokus, you're embarrassing us. His interactions with everyone are great, quickly vacillating between idealism and stubbornness, romanticism and a parody grimdark woe-is-me view of reality. Every interaction he has with a woman is golden, but not particularly a glowing performance on his end.
Magnanimous Kruppe the First is the indesputable highpoint of this esteemed tale, and I will not hear otherwise. He is of course, bestowed of many virtues, chief among so his delight in the many pleasures of this world, second among so his capacity to indulge in any virtue or pleasure at will. Cleverest of anyone we see here, able to run conversations by himself with faux humility (for what does Kruppe have a need to be humble about?) and keep the magnificent city of Darujhistan in his pocket. There is a power vacuum of sorts our dear Eel needs to fulfill, and there is plenty of the rotund mage to explore each new crevice.
Rallick Nom and Murillio are great as well, in many ways they act as foils of one another. Rallick does what he does because he sees this as his only path through life, holding onto the concept of his actions benefiting others to preserve his mortality. Murillio, on the other hand, has a moral code of sorts but will transgress it if he feels there is a way to benefit a friend sufficiently. In the end, they both wind up morally bankrupt.
Lady Simtal and Turban Orr were fun villains. Not particularly unique but pulled off extremely well.
High Alchemist Baruk seems to have a whole bunch of layers to him. We keep getting allusions to a whole bunch of relevant stories with this man, such as his ascendancy or close friendship to Rallick Nom, but we don't get to see much of it, which I feel is a shame.
Raest is an awsome force of nature villain, believably evil for the sake of it. Namely, his evil is specific which is what makes for great villains of this sort. Raest wanted control over the longterm development of his world, to fundamentally remake things after his own nature.
Anomander freaking Rake. Nuf said.

Setting

While this is our first real look into Wu(?) as a whole, I'll mostly focus on modern-day Genebakis.
A great setting, with a bit of ecological and cultural diversity, although mostly hyperfocused on the city of Darujhistan. Perhaps a bit more could have been done in the set-dressing department. Genebaris received no real description, despite apparently existing in a different biome than the more southern cities. Similarly, he evidently passes through a forest, but of what kind? Touches like these could help further drive in the scope of the narrative physically in a similar manner to the temporal scope. It also is a bit disappointing because when Erikson did go the extra mile to do so, such as Kruppe's dreams or the like, two up-close descriptions of Darujhistan (besides just being big, blue, and copper from far off) were great. Actually, the lack of Darujhistan descriptions was possibly the biggest missed opportunity.
But what we do get in the City of Blue Fire is great and evocative. From the infrastructure to the politics to the culture and religion, it all stands out even among other great fantasy cities.
The Rhivi, Moranth, and Bhargast can all stand to be expanded on, but I get the sense that they'll be more than able to provide on that front once it becomes time. I'm curious to see how southern Genebakis contrasts to the northern reaches, but we'll get to that when we get to that.
Erikson's experience as an anthropologist really shines through, with the breadth, depth, and specificity of the world-building and cultures. I anticipate this element of the BotF rising to the top for me personally once we have more time to watch it unfold.

Cosmology and Magic

So my takes on these have been... rather well received, it seems. I love what tiny bit of the magic and cosmos of the world I've seen so far and look forward to understanding more!
In a lot of ways, it seems magic in this world is itself undergoing an evolutionary process, with all the Elder Warrens to Warrens ascendants and gods, and mortals evidently now being potent enough to overpower the gods themselves. If we expand on this analogy, then a lot of the confusion might be due to poor terminology. E.g. define a fish. Now define a Warren. There seem to be multiple related things all lumped under the same blanket term, despite their functional difference. The magic super highways and demi-planes and isolated pockets within objects (Dragnupir and the Finnest) are all roughly related (fish) while being intrinsically different and likely further classifiable as such (trout, squid, and sharks if you will).
But aside from that residual speculation and just generally saying its cool, I don't got much to say here.

Prose and Format

The prose of GotM was pretty good! Not the best, but serviceable, engaging, and evocative with a handful of really standout passages. I cannot wait to see this take a ten-year leap in Deadhouse Gates!
The formating was interesting. Many chapters were wonderfully interwoven PoV's all complimenting each other. Some could have conceivably been split into multiple quite comfortably, other blended. Makes me wonder why Erikson collected things as he did. Chapter 9 was basically 4 self-contained sequences each a chapter long, lol. ... It's because the Odessy has 24 chapters, isn't it? The book breakdown was terrifically effective, while Books 4, 5, and 6 largely blended together PoV-wise, they each still had their specific goals and arcs.
I'm a major fan of Epigraphs, and these were all great! (Despite my constant timeline and poetry scruples) A lot of my more out-there theorizing tended to be a bit more playful with the epigraphs than I think Erikson ever got, but that's more my own biases talking. I will say, if I ever get around to writing anything, I'd love to go ham on epigraph shenanigans.
All in all, this profoundly unique PoV structure (not so much unique in form as in just how broad and ambitious it is) works to elevate the whole experience. That Erikson so radically adheres to 3rd limited can get somewhat constraining at times, especially when we're not privy to info our PoV has, but overall, it works.

Final Thoughts

So, with all my nit-picking, critiques, and half-praise, did I even like this novel? No, I LOVE it. It is in many ways as advertised, a messy first step into a unique and wildly ambitious new direction, and I'm wholly invested in watching the rest of this unfold!
And now for one last pass through the ancillary goodies:
Dramatis Personae
Is actually quite funny in retrospect. But first:
Sorry is mentioned as a killer in the guise of a young girl. Obvious when you're in the know but it doesn't give the answer right away.
Dancer is mentioned as the advisor (right-hand, if you will) right out of the gate, D'oh.
Toc the Elder disappeared during Laseen's purges, interesting.
Kruppe: a man of false modesty, TRUE
Coll being merely listed as a drunk, technically true.
Chert: "an unlucky bully" lol
Mammot is listed as a High Preist of D'riss, D'oh.
The Eel is listed independently of Kruppe, good cover.
K'Rul is listed as the Maker of Paths, D'oh.
And that's more or less it. (I mean, I only skimmed it before, so its not like a missed anything)

Glossary

Not too much to say here, but a few notes:
Poliel, Missteres of Pestilence, and Soliel, Missteres of Healing have rather similar names, which is interesting.
The Warrens here are all listed as what their actual domains are, which is a nice aid. There don't seem to be any more than the ones named somewhere within the text, which is fine, but a couple odd notes:
Meanas is listed as the Path of Shadow and Illusion, Tattersail mentioned the two domains are connected, whereas Quick Ben (once a High Preist of Shadow) had seemed to regard the two as separate. There's a story there.
Also, Thyr, Tattersaill's Warren, is the Warren of Light, given the apparently... interesting relationship between Light and Dark, particularly Lights evident "corruption" I'd love to see the implications of all this.
The K'chain Che'maille's Elder Warren is not listed, either because it doesn't exist (once again proving them the worst Elder Race, nerds got soloed by some snow, lol) or it was simply never mentioned. Given we have seen at least one magic relic from them, likely the latter.
Also, the Azath is nowhere mentioned, which is interesting in itself.
Well, that's that! See y'all in a week or so, once I've gotten a test out of the way, with the beginning of Deadhouse Gates!

my sister and i got approved for an apt that’s much closer to my job and much more space than my current apt and i won’t be living alone any more. my new job pays more and i have an assistant manager title which is good for me. and for the first time in forever i have plans all weekend.i’m going out with my best friend on friday i haven’t seen her in months, my mom is turning 40 so we’re going to party and go to the club lol and i’m going to pride on saturday. i thought i was sad about not living my life but now i’m getting the chance to do so but i still feel sadder than ever. i feel so sad and empty. every night i drive home from work i burst into tears for no reason. like i’ll be singing along to a song feeling good and then just start crying out of no where and idek why. life is hard. i’m not happy and idk why.

Is it a turn off if a bottom doesn’t douche before a session? For those who are clean and still won’t have accidents.

So this is the second time I’ve gone through this absolutely horrible time. First I got it on my legs from the Florida sun all day with 0 sunscreen, it was a living hell as I was fairly young and didn’t know what to do. I sat there writhing in pain for the first day and a half. Finally I asked my father what to do and he said try the peppermint oil in the bathroom. My lord did it work, it’s was instant relief and for me it lasted till it was over. That was a many years ago Now I’m sitting here on my couch after getting burnt on Sunday, again with zero sunscreen. I thought this would be another walk in the park, maybe some itching but I had forgotten. Ohhhh how blissfully unaware I was. At work today it was bearable, I could keep my mind off of the itching. But as soon is I walked through the front door it was like a switch flipped in my back. I immediately took my shirt off and started flailing around the house. I went for the ibuprofen, then aloe( I know I know not good) then itching spray. After the itching spray i tried playing vr to keep my mind off of it. I couldn’t even get the headset on before I started flopping on the ground. Finally I hopped in the shower turned it ice cold to numb it which worked but it started coming through so I turned it hot and my lord did that make it 10x worse for me. So I sat in the shower with it so cold that everything went numb, I went till I started shivering. I had my sister get me ibuprofen and Benadryl while in there and now I’m sitting on the couch with my back pressed against it and a beer in my hand. I don’t know what’s helping but it seems to have disappeared and I’m confused but so so happy, just hoping it doesn’t come back. It is still coming in little fire pricks but not nearly what it was. I don’t know what just happened to my back but my body just went through every emotion. Brings back memories

I want to give an important PSA because I recently discovered that I fucked up and made my life 1000x worse than it needed to be.
TW: ED, food, disability guilt
Context:
I became severely disabled from POTS right out of college. I had to graduate early because if I kept my schedule I would not graduate at all due to my health.
In college, I got used to eating one or two very cheap meals per day, and when I got sick it dropped to one to zero meals per day.
Being kind to myself, part of this was unavoidable because my stomach issues were so severe eating was extremely difficult. Early on in my disability journey my husband and I were constantly in survival mode and couldn’t cope with anything.
I also suffered from massive guilt. My husband and I married really young, and during the really bad times (6mo so sick I couldn’t lift my head from my pillow unassisted even to drink water) I both was physically unable to feed myself, purposely starved and didn’t drink while hubby was at work so I didn’t wet the bed, and on top of all that I purposely ate as little as possible to be less of a burden both in terms of time and money. Not surprisingly this developed an eating disorder which I’m still recovering from.
Looking back, I can see several factors that drove me to this point. I’d been trying antidepressants for years to treat lifelong depression, and finally found one that worked but made me incapable of eating. I was going to go off it, but turns out the half dose didn’t bother my stomach as much. I thought that amount of discomfort was fine and didn’t realize how bad it was because a full dose was much, much worse and I was on it long enough I forgot what my old stomach felt like.
I’m also autistic and most of my life have not really felt hunger in a normal way. Basically I wouldn’t feel it at all and have to gauge when to eat based on other factors.
At the end of last year I went off my antidepressant and switched to a new one because my stomach got so bad I couldn’t cope anymore. My stomach isn’t perfect but it is leagues better than it was. I also started taking regular weed gummies for sleep and appetite— eating while high was a game changer for me, and as long as I take them regularly I actually feel hungry like most people do even if not high.
For the first time in almost a decade, I’m eating regular meals. The enormous difference in energy is shocking. I had to come face to face with the fact that I had basically just been starving myself sicker and sicker for 8 years instead of nurturing my health.
My teeth are permanently damaged and I have to brush after every meal or else risk losing them completely. Years and years of awful mental health and worse physical health.
I’m still very sick but the difference is light and day. I just wanted to share this in case it helps anyone going through what I have, so you can stop it now instead of after another 8 years.
Wishing you all the best!

So I’m like very low plat in support + tank, and I was playing comp death match for comp points. Turns out that game mode is the worst ever and I suck at it. Went like 4-10. Since ranks are made up, will those loses pull my real roles down too? Or are the mmr separate/ one losing streak won’t do anything?