The latest version of Toyota Tacoma is a completely redesigned one. Its quirky and brawny aura is retained only that its dimensions are expanded to accommodate bigger loading capacity. At first glance, it can be ascertained that the Tacoma these days are bigger and also said to be better than its predecessors.
Toyota Tacoma come in two choices - the 2WD and 4WD. The two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive models are available in all body styles. Both are sophisticated and powerful. However, between the two, Tacoma's 4x4 is getting more sales than the former. Toyota revealed that 40 percent of Tahoma's sold are 4x4 trucks. The latter feature a two-speed transfer case, optional locking rear differential and a heavy duty chassis. Toyota Tacoma is said to challenge the trucks made by GM, Ford and DCX.
Toyota Tacoma is ruggedly designed to give comfort and remarkable performance while conquering the road. Its double-wishbone type suspension and air shocks provide a smooth ride like that of passenger cars.
On the road, Tahoma can deliver a first rate all-round drive ability. It is also manufactured with powerful Toyota Tacoma performance parts to complement its sturdy built. The rear step bumper, front tow hook, and its 6-foot cargo bed are also made lighter. They are made from durable composite materials to support its purpose and goal as a real truck. V6 Tacoma can tow up to 5,000 pounds. Alternatively, its four-cylinder models can tow up to 3,500 pounds.
Tacoma has 2 standard airbags, ABS and brake assist and anchor points for child restraint seats. The four-cylinder Tacoma engine produces 164 horsepower and features 16 valves, DOHC, and variable valve timing with intelligence.
In essence,2024 tacoma accounts for nearly 10 percent of US Toyota sales. Moreover, the driving factor of Tacoma is the celebrated Toyota build quality and reliability. History reiterates that with Toyota you will lose a lot less bucks

Feel free to discuss anything regarding the event in this post. This includes the story, artwork, gacha pulls, and more.

Event Details

• Attribute: Cool
• Event Type: Medley Live
• Boosted Members: Kokoro, Kaoru, Hagumi, Kanon, Misaki
• Boosted Parameter: Performance

Added Song

• Afterglow – 「abnormalize」 (Difficulty: 8 / 14 / 21 / 26)
• Afterglow – 「Dokusô-Shûsa」 (Difficulty: 8 / 14 / 23 / 27)
• Hello, Happy World! – 「Uchapa! de Pappikapo~n!」 (Difficulty: 10 / 15 / 20 / 26)

Duration

• Start: June 3, 2023 – 1:00 (UTC) (Time Zone Converter)
• End: June 10, 2023 – 6:59 (UTC) (Time Zone Converter)

Event Rewards

• 3★ Pure: Misaki – Life Recovery: Life restored by 450 points and score increased by 20% for 8 seconds.

Gacha: Gather Around♪ Merry, Merry Animal Park Gacha (Permanent)

• 4★ Cool: Hagumi – Conditional Scorer: Score increased by 95% (lowered to 80% after GREAT or lower) for 7 seconds. If the Band is all Cool types, score increased by 115% instead.
• 4★ Cool: Kokoro – Perfect Lock: GOOD and higher becomes PERFECT and Score increased by 60% for 7.5 seconds.

Gacha: 14M DL Celebration Dream Festival Gacha (LIMITED)

• 4★ Cool: Rinko – Perfect Scorer: Score of PERFECT notes increased by 110% for 7 seconds. If the band is all Roselia members, PERFECT note score increased by 125% instead.
• 4★ Pure: Rui – Perfect Scorer: Score of PERFECT notes increased by 110% for 7 seconds. If the band is all Morfonica members, PERFECT note score increased by 125% instead.

Note: Skill values are listed at Skill Level 5.

DreamFes Information

• Start: June 3, 2023 – 1:00 (UTC) (Time Zone Converter)
• End: June 8, 2023 – 12:59 (UTC) (Time Zone Converter)

Notes:

• 4★ cards will have double the pull rate, from 3% to 6%.
• The rate-up for the DreamFes banner will be applied to four 4★ cards: Hagumi, Kokoro, Rinko, and Rui, as well as 3★ Misaki.
• Previously released DreamFes limited cards will also make a reappearance in this DreamFes banner without the rate-up, so here's your chance to get any cards you might've missed previously.
• After the conclusion of the DreamFes banner on September 16, the DreamFes cards will no longer be available, and the Limited Event Banner will commence, with rate-ups being applied to Hagumi and Kokoro.
• During this period, only pulls with five 4★ cards and above will be allowed in their own threads, due to the increase in reroll accounts and to reduce the influx of gacha threads. All other pulls should be shared here instead. We seek your understanding on this.

Card images and event details can be found here.
Past EN Event Megathreads

Hi,
We're visiting for 13 nights in Sep, flying out of ICN on 2.10. I'm not sure which itinerary would be better:
2,3,3,5 nights in Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Seoul
2,2,4,5 nights in Seoul, Busan, Jeju, Seoul
4,4,5 nights in Busan, Jeju, Seoul
Our considerations are as follows:

1. We'd like to spend the last 5 nights in Seoul so that we don't travel during the Cenuok holiday. On the other hand, this probably means we don't really have full 5 days of enjoying Seoul, because some things will be closed.
   
2. Perhaps flying directly from ICN to Busan will save us some time? E.g. if I modify the flight with Korea Air to transit in ICN and connect to a flight to Busan. How much time is reasonable for transit at ICN? I'm guessing switching to the domestic airport will take some time? Perhaps taking the train to Busan would be better than both? I'm somewhat worried we would be too jetlagged and confused at this point for finding the correct train etc.
   
3. We don't like to switch hotels a lot, and I suspect that 4 nights is better than 3 for Jeju.
   

My main unknowns are the amount of hassle involved in going from ICN to Busan directly (yet jetlagged) vs going to Seoul at the expense of extra 2 nights.
Thanks!

First off, we’ve been together for four years so our relationship technically constitutes as gr00ming. However, we’ve had a very strong relationship and I’ve always seen him as being extremely respectful. A few months ago I got into an amazing university out of state and he told me he would not move out of state and that I should attend an in-state university.
After a lot of consideration I chose my education and accepted the out of state school. Yesterday I sent him a long break up text stating that I have to go and that I can’t pass a once in a lifetime opportunity. He shockingly said that he’d be willing to move with me.
I’m happy but I was also kind of excited to be single? I’ve never felt independence. I’ve been dating someone since 14. I hang out with him all of the time - I don’t really have hobbies because all of my time is spent with him. That’s not really his fault and could most likely change if I spoke with him about it.
I just feel slightly restricted I suppose. I don’t have parents so I feel like he took on that role. If I go out at night I have to ask him. He basically always says yes but it comes with the list of how to be safe each time. I lovee going to late night cafes with my friends and he hates it. He says it’s dangerous but i’m typically with around 5 girls when i’m there so to me it’s fine. He often asks for me to be home by 10.
Once I went to a cafe with my friends and after we walked around - it was busy and not dangerous. He watched me on life 360 and saw that and commented on how it’s unsafe. I went to watch the sunset with friends on the beach and it was unsafe to him. He told me to leave.
I know he’s caring for my well-being but at the same time I can care for myself? I’m not an idiot. I bring pepper spray and i’m always with a big group. I’ve never been to a real party, and in college I wanted to at least go to one. I feel like he won’t even let me. I feel like he won’t let me do anything if the sun is SLIGHTLY down.
My university recommends for freshman to not bring a car. I said I probably won’t. He said if I don’t bring my car then I can’t do anything after 6pm????? Maybe that comment is what sent me into this spiral. My university has excellent transportation that specifically caters to the students and provides safety precautions for those traveling late at night. Again, i’d have friends with me and i’d have pepper spray.
He has so many great qualities but I can’t help but feel restricted. I’m not doing crazy things. All i’m trying to do is walk around downtown at night or watch a sunset and I look down and see a bunch of unsafe unsafe unsafe come home texts. Men HAVE harassed me many times and i’ve been put in a lot of scary situations so I don’t fully blame him, I just wish he’d be a little less strict. I also kind of needed a parent. He basically saved my life because I was a poor no parent kid with no prospects and he helped me become a high achieving student that got a full ride to a great university.
ALSO, if he moves then we’re basically married. Cant really break up with someone if they move across the country and leave everything behind to be with you. Am I ready for that commitment? I don’t know! I don’t really know myself! Maybe I want to be single and I want to try new things but it feels like i’m already married with kids or something. I’m likely being dramatic. I know I have something great but wouldn’t it be nice to explore while I still can.
TL;DR: My boyfriend worries about me so much to the point where it’s making me second guess

Okay, this is a throw away and all the names are changed because too many people use reddit lol
So, I'm getting married next year. My man and I have divided out families into two groups. The Capital C Christians(C3's) and everyone else. We're both from fairly conservative families that live really close, so we see uncles, aunts, cousins, etc on the reg and anytime there's a squabble in the family is blows up to stupid proportions. My man actually works for one of those uncles.
When we were first planning we were trying to come up with fun ideas. My Man of Honor works on a dude ranch and they have this really awesome outdoor space that they do weddings at, and there's three local food trucks that do amazing catering jobs. I don't really like traditional white wedding dresses, so we were looking at more colorful ones for me and suits for him. Really just having fun with our friends and family you know?
Then we realized that the C3's in our families would flip out about it not being godly enough or whatever. No white dresses, no churches, no priests telling me to obey my husband, have a Man of Honor instead of a Maid, etc.
We felt out some of those relatives too, to see if they'd be more open minded? Nope, at least four people went on tirades about not getting married in churches. We can't exactly exclude all of them or the drama would get us our own NBC show.
So we got the idea that we would have a second wedding. A stiff, traditional wedding at the church with just our family around us, and then a second wedding (more like a hyped up reception at this point, but we both think of it as our Real Wedding) at the ranch with all of our friends and the family members that we actually get along with.
My sister, one of the C3's, found out about it on accident from our brother and is furious with me. She thinks we're being horrible for excluding half our families from our real wedding and is threatening to tell everyone about it. She told me that my wedding is for our families to be bound, not for me to throw a party. She had her wedding in the same church last month and it was nice enough, I'm not trying to be special or detract from her wedding.
I'd rather just have a courthouse wedding if that's what it comes down to, but my sister was so hurt and it's becoming such an awful thing that I'm starting wonder if she's right and we should have just gone along with tradition in the first place.

I'm just a layman, but I just posted in this thread: https://www.reddit.com/DataHoardecomments/13z3mqu/what_brand_model_size_and_how_many_disks_should_i/ to correct/clarify what the poster above me said: The largest size drives will be SMR. and that brought to mind another thread that I thought I posted on and rereading it, there's a lot of incorrect info, suppositions and critically no one seems to have brought up the the SMR drives used at Dropbox are HM-SMR, not consumer DM-SMR*, and I'd like to open a discussion about the differences between Enterprise HM-SMR, HA-SMR and consumer DM-SMR. https://www.reddit.com/DataHoardecomments/13kqy64/dropbox_after_four_years_of_smr_storage_heres/
*HM-(Hardware Managed)SMR and HA(Hardware-Aware)-SMR require specialized hardware and software and are not compatible with typical consumer hardware and software and it not available to home consumers. DM(Drive Managed)-SMR is what all consumer SMR drives are and appear to our hardware and software the same as CMPMR drives.
This is a ultra-critical point that I don't believe anyone in the thread above pointed out. My BOLD:

5. Deeper collaboration

Dropbox has one of the largest host-managed SMR fleet in the industry, and the close relationships we have with our HDD partners have been key to our continued success. The biggest improvement to our evaluation process since deploying our first SMR drives has been to more deeply integrate our partners into our large scale testing phase. During this phase, our vendors now run a mix of vendor and Dropbox workloads at scale with our exact storage hardware at their site. In addition we have developed an in-house simulator of Magic Pocket, which allows our hardware engineering team to gain even more fidelity signal earlier in our hardware evaluation.
As I stated, I'm just a layman, but believe this subject should be discussed at length as SMR, in whatever from is very likely here to stay. And of course I'm open to corrections, additions and clarification of anything I post! FLAMESUIT ON!
The following is a lot of quoted text, but critical to our discussion and understanding about the differences between HM-SMR, HA-DMR and DM-SMR and why saying "(DM-)SMR is always bad!" isn't true as IMHO, it has its place as archival or non-speed/mission critical home use.*\*
**A while back, I posted that for me, write speed for my backups isn't critical for me. Some pointed out that it can be important because the longer it takes, the more likelihood that my primary source could fail during the process. I see the point, but want to clarify that 99% of my hoard backup is from torrents, so I count my active torrent drives as a live, checksummed primary source, from which I create sneakernet to my primary, backup 1 and backup 2 drives.

Making Host Managed SMR Work for You – Dropbox’s Successful Journey

Three Flavors of SMR

Essentially, SMR comes in three flavors. It is important to understand their differences as the host software requirements and drive performance characteristics differ.

Drive-Managed SMR

Drive-managed SMR, where the drive manages all write commands from the host, allows a plug-and-play implementation, compatible with any hardware and software. However, the background ‘housekeeping’ tasks that the drive must perform result in highly unpredictable performance, unfit for enterprise workloads.

Host-Managed SMR

In contrast to drive-managed SMR, host-managed SMR is an implementation where the host is responsible for everything ranging from managing data streams, to read/write operations and zone management. Host-managed SMR requires host-software modification so that the host system has knowledge of the underlying media and can micro control all elements by employing a new set of commands.
Depending on the system architecture, implementing these modifications may seem like an onerous task, yet once developers gain SMR familiarity and optimize their applications for sequential writing, they can take advantage of unsurpassed levels of reliability and quality. With the ability to deliver predictable, consistent performance comparable to what users expect from traditional PMR drives, host-managed SMR is emerging as the preferred option for implementing shingled magnetic recording.

Host-Aware SMR

Host-aware SMR is like a superset of the aforementioned options. On the surface this may seem like the best of both worlds. However, if predictability and reliability are what you are after, you cannot take any shortcuts in modifying your stack as you would for host-managed SMR. As such, host-managed SMR allows for a smooth, staged transition to Host-aware SMR in a future timeframe.
Source: June 12, 2018 https://blog.westerndigital.com/host-managed-smr-dropbox/

So I'm going to try to keep this kind of short but my husband has been with me for 16 years when we met we were love at first sight type deal we've been through a lot together and we were very very close and he was my best friend and everything was okay because we were together through all of it but recently for the past 5 years actually he's developed some very serious mental problems sometimes and like delusions auditory hallucinations extreme lethargy just a lot of weird stuff that didn't really ever quite make sense and he's never really gotten a complete diagnosis on it. So the thing is he was 33 when he started having these symptoms and before that he had really bad insomnia symptoms he's had really bad digestive problems like gallbladder problems and very bad Harper and then won't go away no matter what at times it flares up and goes away it's weird but his auditory hallucinations are constant and persistent from the day that he started having them I didn't believe him at first about that but over time I've come to believe him I mean I've seen him at his worst of times he will talk to coffee pots and stuff like that and things that they're people communicating with him his head and it's terrible so of course you naturally you know we thought he had schizophrenia. But the thing is none of the schizophrenia medicine has helped him at all the only thing it does is put him to sleep but he either can't sleep and like when I say he can't sleep I mean he will not be able to sleep even if he takes a ridiculous amount of sedatives and then there's also the times where he can't not sleep and he will literally be in bed for days and days and days and days and days and just and I mean just not wanting to get out and I can't do anything he started abusing amphetamines to I guess to to stop being this tired all the time but the thing is they don't make a schizophrenia any worse or better it's weird like you would think they would make it worse but actually I've noticed that smoking though even just cigarettes makes it a lot worse a lot worse like and also like I've noticed that if I started suspecting his teeth as a part of the problem when I saw his teeth I never really look in his mouth and the thing is though his mouth looks like somebody just melted a bunch of black gray crap in there like he has 11 among them feelings and they're all at least 20 years old and they were put in his mouth and he was eight and I mean they're horrible looking they they just they're just terrible looking and I don't know to get them removed is so expensive I called and was going to try to help him get him removed but they're so expensive and I don't know like we just recently got insurance but I started suspecting your mercury poisoning after that and the other thing is myself so before my husband got sick we used to be very sexually active together and I started having problems like I've had really bad. You know ever since the past 10 years maybe like really they're not progressively worse the point where they're like so bad that their debilitating me bad I also have lethargy you know and stuff like that like randomly kind of just coming out of nowhere we both often times just get like we can't get things done sometimes between the two of us because we just can't quite pull it together you know like we just never can pull stuff together like we just I don't know we're not 30 days and like you know we stop having sex since you know he's been so sick and it's been hard to have a connection together because of that but the thing is since we stop having sex I've sort of feeling a little bit better if not tremendously better but but better notably better and I don't know it's just it's just I really believe that this is what's wrong with him and I think it's getting worse and I think it's getting so bad he's way over 200 lb and now he weighs like less than me probably I mean he probably weighs like a hundred and forty pounds 150 lb and he's 6 ft tall and I just I went to the hospital with him one night when he was having a really bad particularly about time you just have a really bad kidney pain and you know and they they refuse to do a Mercury test for me they laughed at me when I told him I thought that it was those fillings in his mouth and then they just sent us home after they couldn't find anything else wrong I decided to try him speak with a dentist and see if maybe I should take him to the dentist so I look for one that did the safe removal thing because I thought maybe they might believe me I didn't want to get him laughed at again and then mail I didn't want someone who didn't know what they were doing messing with his teeth either because you know I don't want them riding in another and giving him fucking a cute mercury poisoning and kill him anyway so then I called them the closest one with over an hour away from me almost 2 hours away from me and they said that it was going to be like a ridiculous amount of money to and they're talking about 10,000 or more because he hasn't been all four quadrants and the teeth are ground down so bad that most of them are going to need crowns I don't know if implants will be cheaper but I imagine not and I feel like he's running out of time I've got him taking some things that I hope will help him to be able to get through this but shit but I don't know how much longer you can last like this and I'm scared so can somebody please help me I just don't know what to do I'm really broke right now I don't have a lot of money right now and and I don't know what to do

Why is this Precious stone Aide?

One of our perusers was working with us as of late and has gotten some information about this precious stone from Dream Diamond. Presently her most memorable response was that the jewel was shocking. however, at that point, she asked what setting it will go in. At the point when the peruser answered with this setting, we understood that purchasing this jewel would have been a horrible error.
This article is for anyone hoping to purchase big engagement rings (either without anyone else or with a wedding band as a "form your own" set) online at one of the numerous internet-based precious stone sellers.
At times I fail to remember exactly the way that troublesome it is for a buyer to shuffle all the data while sorting out whether or not something is a decent cost. My group and I have such a lot of involvement in choosing jewels (every one of us chooses hundreds consistently), exploring the minefield turns out to be natural as far as we're concerned.
For instance, if you somehow managed to ask me for a 1-carat round splendid slice jewel to place in a radiance wedding band, it would take me around 15 seconds to track down this lovely precious stone on Dream Diamond for you. An additional 20 seconds, and I'd include this extraordinary elective diamond. Yet, looking all alone can be horrendous and loaded up with uncertainty. On the off chance that you need a little genuine serenity, go ahead and get in touch with us for some private guidance.
Assuming you've been around our site previously, you'll see that we by and large suggest purchasing from Dream Diamond. For clarification of why that is, you can peruse our singular site audits for Dream Diamond.

The most effective method to Purchase Jewels

Picking a lovely jewel includes reducing your shape and choosing excellent choices for the 4Cs — without overpaying. We'll go into the four Cs in more detail beneath, yet until further notice, they are:

• Cut quality – According to the GIA, “Cut is perhaps the most crucial of the 4Cs.”
• Color
• Clarity
• Carat weight

You'll then contrast individual precious stones to see which one offers you the most brightness and fire. Follow our bit-by-bit guide underneath to track down a dazzling precious stone while remaining affordable enough for you. Financial plans can change a ton starting with one individual and then onto the next, so make sure you're OK with the cash you need to spend (for instance, in the event that your financial plan is around 4k, jump in our $4000 jewel wedding band article after you read this 9 stage manual for get motivated).
We suggest trustworthy internet-based precious stone diamond setters. In view of our long stretches of involvement, Dream Diamond have demonstrated to offer the best determination at the best costs (see the full rundown of Best Web-based Adornments Retailers here).
Since their above costs are low and they don't keep a stock in-house, you'll track down the best arrangement with these two retailers. Dream diamonds give HD and 360° symbolism so you can analyze precious stones very close before buying.
With this vital data far removed and the Christmas season upon us, we should begin with the main strides during the time spent purchasing a jewel.

1. Pick Your Jewel Shape

The state of your jewel is the starting place of your ring's plan. No shape is better compared to the next — it ultimately depends on your own inclination (or your accomplice's). Round Brilliants are the most famous jewel shape for wedding bands and emit the most splendor.
Others lean toward a more novel shape like a Pad Cut or an Oval. Assuming that you're uncertain what your accomplice likes, you can ask her loved ones.
It's critical to pick your ideal shape first since this will decide the objective boundaries for cut quality, variety, and clearness. Select a shape to limit your hunt and look at jewels.
📷

2. Select Your Carat Weight

Is your life partner to-be anticipating a 1 or 2-carat precious stone? Might it be said that you are searching for a stone that is observable yet not over the top? There's no "great" carat weight for a precious stone, meaning this piece of the interaction is totally down to your own inclinations.
Pick the carat weight territory you're available to consider, for example, a 0.95 to a 1.08ct precious stone. As carat weight increments, so does the cost.
Carat weight influences how huge a jewel will show up (as does its shape and cut quality). You can learn more commonplace carat loads and jewel measuring in our manual for normal precious stone sizes to assist you with settling on an educated purchasing choice.

3. Thin Down on Precious stone Cut Quality

The viewpoint that most significantly influences a jewel's marvel is its cut quality. Cut grades aren't normalized across all retailers, however, as a general rule, we suggest just Great (in the event that a precious stone accompanies a GIA declaration) and Optimal cut (whenever evaluated by the AGS) jewels.
You can restrict your quest for these cut-quality grades utilizing the devices given by our confided-in web-based jewel sellers.
For instance, on Dream Diamond's site for round jewels, you ought to restrict your choice to Ideal and Astor Ideal precious stones. On Dream Diamond, pick Ideal and Genuine Hearts cut.
Our Recommendation
Our guidance for cut grade is this: On the off chance that you are searching for a round splendid precious stone, just quest for "Ideal/Incredible" grade jewels. On the off chance that you are looking for an extravagant shape, notwithstanding, it could pay to either incorporate "Premium" or to dismiss the cut grade by and large.
It is not necessarily the case that cut grade isn't significant - going against the norm, it's of the most extreme significance. It's essentially saying that numerous gem dealers don't accurately report extravagant shape-cut grades, so why to channel out many outcomes from your inquiry which may be extraordinary decisions?

4. Determine the Right Precious stone Variety Grade Reach

The objective with a jewel tone is to pick a precious stone that seems white. In any case, in spite of prevalent thinking, you don't have to pay for a D or E jewel to get a boring stone. As a general rule, precious stones in the G to I variety range seem dismal to the unaided eye, yet all at once cost undeniably less.
It is vital to recollect that various shapes reflect a variety at various qualities, so your decision of ideal tone, offsetting the jewel's appearance with the precious stone's cost, will rely enormously upon what jewel shape you've picked.

1. Select Lucidity Grade

For Lucidity, you ought to search for a jewel that is eye-perfect, meaning you can't see any flaws or considerations with the unaided eye. Contingent upon the shape, you can for the most part find an eye-clean jewel in the VS1-VS2 territory. There's a compelling reason to need to pay for an FL/On the off chance that jewel when you can get a lower-reviewed precious stone for considerably less.
With most gem dealers, you can see the jewel up near survey its lucidity. For instance, with Dream Diamond's "Virtual Loupe," you can assess a free jewel before you get it. It has likewise started to offer top-notch photography. Take a gander at the jewel near and check whether you notice any imperfections.
For a useful outline of the different clearness grades, investigate this jewel lucidity diagram.
Eye-Neatness is Vital
As we would see it, a buyer's objective ought to be to view as the least expensive (concerning lucidity; different variables matter too) "eye-clean" jewel you can find. We use "eye-clean" to portray precious stones that might have considerations assuming you take a gander at them with an amplifying glass (or magnifying lens or loupe), yet the run-of-the-mill individual can't see the incorporation with their unaided eye.
We have as of late evolved Ringo, a licensed man-made consciousness model, that can look at recordings of precious stones and decide whether they are eye-clean. Ringo will likewise channel for different boundaries like ensuring the jewel is very much cut, doesn't have fluorescence issues, and will match the style setting you pick.

6. Analyze Comparative Jewels

Whenever you've reduced your favored specs for a jewel, contrast comparable stones with figure out which one to purchase. You'll need to consider angles like how splendid the precious stone is, assuming it's eye-clean, and what the cost is in contrast with comparable jewels.
Different qualities like fluorescence, cleanness, and balance influence a precious stone's worth and appearance somewhat, albeit significantly less than the 4 C's. For an inside and out conversation of these three variables, look at these singular articles: Fluorescence, Clean, and Balance.

7. Check the Endorsement

Jewels are assessed and evaluated by proficient labs, alluded to as reviewing substances. These are the associations that give every jewel its particular cut quality, lucidity, and variety grades (as well as numerous others).
Some precious stone reviewing labs are incredibly severe and steady, while others have sketchy principles and are significantly less solid. You ought to consider just GIA Guaranteed Jewels and AGS Confirmed Precious stones as you continued looking for a free jewel.
Avoid IGI, EGL, and HRD reviewing reports since we've found we would say that their outcomes are not dependable because of their conflicting precious stone evaluation. Likewise, don't mistake GIA reports for an examination by a GIA gemologist. Those are not exactly the same thing.
Fortunately, Dream Diamond makes it simple to restrict your hunt to GIA or AGS-guaranteed jewels.
On Dream Diamond, click the "high-level choices" button under the other jewel boundaries, then select the "GIA" and "AGS" checkboxes:
With us, all free precious stones are confirmed by the GIA, significance there's a compelling reason need to sift through jewels with lower-quality endorsements from your inquiry.

8. Pick a Wedding band Setting

Wedding band settings range from rich and straightforward, similar to the solitaire setting, to luxurious and eye-getting, similar to the radiance set. Each setting offers its own remarkable personality, as well as particular benefits and inconveniences.
For instance, basic settings, for example, a solitaire ring are entirely reasonable and extraordinary for making a visual spotlight on the middle precious stone itself, while settings that contain radiance jewels can deliver the presence of a bigger precious stone.
There's no "best" wedding band setting, nor are there any "four Cs" for settings — all things considered, this piece of the interaction is absolutely emotional. Pick a setting that matches your preferences, inclinations, and spending plan and supplements the precious stone you've chosen.
Follow our insider tips for how to decide the sort of setting she'll adore.
Our full rundown of ring settings and styles covers all of the most widely recognized wedding band settings, as well as their significant upsides and downsides.

9. Make the Buy

At last, when you feel positive about your jewel, get it online alongside a wedding band setting of your decision.
Most web-based goldsmiths offer issue-free returns in 30 days or less. On the off chance that you or your accomplice aren't 100 percent happy with the ring, you can get your cashback. Pretty much every peruser that goes through our interaction for picking a precious stone is very happy with their buy.

Top vs. bottom does not normally draw a crowd. However, with Collingwood playing their current brand of footy, Optus Stadium attracted more than what some may have anticipated. Anticipations of a blowout started well when the margin tipped over 40 points in the second but this was reigned in as a competitive Eagles outfit piled on a few goals to draw it to within 14 points. However, Collingwood stormed home to win by 63 points.
Jordan De Goey has provided media outlets with the next four days' worth of content and debate. His hit early in the first quarter that saw Hewett exit . Per David Zita, the bump is likely to be assessed as careless conduct, severe impact and high contact. The likely sanction is 3+ matches with a referral to the tribunal.
The media and Facebook can criticise Nick Daicos all they like, but three goals and thirty disposals is freakishly good for a second year player who is still younger than most of the men
With injuries to Will Hoskin-Elliott, Beau McCreery and Ash Johnson, spaces in the team may open for players to emerge but debutant Harvey Harrison reminded fans of what is lying in our VFL team. Harrison is the only debutant this season; of the players on the list, only six are ublooded.
Overall, the win was solid and, in order to play finals, only two more games need to be won. 11-1 marks our best start to a year since 2011. Here's hoping we go one better in 2023.
​

1. What are your thoughts on Harvey Harrison?
2. The bump. Discuss. Alternatively, skip this question as by Wednesday, we'll be sick of discussing it.
3. Should De Goey be suspended, who steps up?
4. Jack Ginnivan did not have a good game today. How can he begin to re-find his 2022 form that saw him come second in the goal kicking tally?
5. Changes for the Queen's King's Birthday?

In my work as a hypnotherapist most of my clients are mature adults experiencing issues rooted in anger, anxiety, depression - or a mixture of these. Often, they are wondering if their present issues are linked to their childhood experiences. More often than not, the answer is yes.
Research carried out since the end of the last century has led to a greater understanding of how adverse childhood experiences impact on long term wellbeing – both physical and psychological. The key findings are:
• Childhood trauma is very common: even in so-called well-to-do areas.
• There is a direct link between childhood trauma and chronic disease in adulthood.
• The more types of trauma a child experiences, the greater the risk of them of experiencing social and emotional problems as adults.
• Those who experience childhood trauma often experience more than one type of trauma.
You can calculate your own ACEs score by responding to the following questions. Give yourself 1 point for each question where you experienced that category of trauma before your eighteenth birthday.

1. Emotional abuse: Did a parent or other adult often or very often insult, demean, belittle, humiliate, verbally assault, or threaten to physically assault You?
   
2. Physical abuse: Did a parent or other adult often or very often grab, slap, push, or hit You?
   
3. Sexual abuse: Did a parent, adult, or someone at least five years older than you ever touch your body in a sexual way or attempt or have oral, anal, or vaginal intercourse with You?
   
4. Emotional neglect: Did You often or very often feel that no one in your family loved you or thought you were important; or your family did not look out for each other, feel close to each other, and support each other?
   
5. Physical neglect: Did You often not have enough to eat, had to wear dirty clothes, had no one to attend to your medical and dental needs, or had no one to protect you?
   
6. Loss of parent: Were your parents separated or divorced, or did you lose a parent for any reason?
   
7. Domestic violence: Did You often or very often witness or hear violence between your parents or other adults where someone was being grabbed, shoved, slapped, hit, kicked, had something thrown a them, sexually attacked, or threatened with a weapon?
   
8. Family member with addiction: Did You live with anyone who was a problem drinker or alcoholic, who used illicit drugs, or who was addicted to any other substances?
   
9. Family member with depression/mental illness: Did you live with anyone who was depressed or mentally ill, attempted or committed self-harm and/or suicide, or hospitalized for mental illness?
   
10. Family member incarcerated: Did you live with anyone who went to prison?
    

ACES Score (0-10) =
As ACE scores increase, so does the risk of disease, social and emotional problems. With an ACE score of four or more, things start getting serious. While studies in different locations return slightly different results, the figures suggest around 11% of the population have experienced four or more adverse childhood experiences.
Fortunately, brains and lives are somewhat plastic. Resilience research shows that the appropriate integration of resilience factors — such as asking for help, developing trusting relationships, forming a positive attitude, listening to feelings — can help people improve their lives. Research in to post traumatic growth has identified five broad areas of growth:
• greater appreciation of life,
• closer relationships with others,
• increased personal strength,
• new possibilities in life, and
• spiritual “development
Which correlate very closely with the dimensions of wellbeing psychology:
• Positive emotions
• Positive engagement
• Positive relationships
• Positive meaning
• Positive accomplishments
• Positive health

Just need to vent. I get up at 4am to go to work, got home last night and around 8pm after watering the lawn, doing laundry, feeding the kids, taking the 2 year old outside for an hour to play, I am exhausted and trying to get the 4 year old into bed. My MIL comes in just as I am trying to get her changed for bed and shoved a facetime into her face saying it’s her aunt from boston and to say hi and “count to ten” and sing songs. She sees that my four year old has no undies on yet and looks at me , throws me a pair of her shorts on the ground and says put this on “no no no this is no good” . I go to help the four year old get changed then notice there is a rash and try to ask my four year old some questions while getting some cream and my MIL proceeds to go “nooo just put the cream! then she thrusts the phone at her face again and says “sing ABC”. At this point I am livid so I go to block my hand over her phone and say “that’s enough”. My MIL is clearly embarrassed and goes away. Five minutes later she starts shouting from the bottom of the stairs “GO TO SLEEP IMMEDIATELY! your mother says “ and mocks me. I am done.

So I've been going out of my way to micromanage my accolade successors, as I've noticed an unfortunate trend of knights jumping into the succession who are already quite old, so they end up dying before they can get any noticeable glory. I therefore have been trying to set the succession toward younger knights, even if they might not be the top of the list, prowess-wise.
However, it seems that every time my old Acclaimed Knight dies, the game just ignores my chosen succession and puts some elderly dude in the role anyway so that he can die in four months without doing anything useful. Is this a bug? If not, what is the point of letting me choose a successor if the game is going to ignore my choice anyway?

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Thanks to "Sithking Zero" on the NoP Discord for editing help.
Memory transcription subject: Tellek , Farmer
Date [standardized human time]: January 19th, 2137
Has it really come to this, am I really this desperate?
I was, for all intents and purposes, broke. The last harvest had been terrible, in addition to the one before that, which was practically a deathblow for my new farmstead. The debts and missed payments had started to pile up, and I was one more bad harvest away from going completely bankrupt.
Like so many farmers before me, I was becoming another victim of the 5 harvest curse.
I told you that starting a new farm was a bad idea.
What was I supposed to do, brain, keep working in the office until I died?
I sat on my chair, surrounded by other farmers who were presumably in similar states of desperation, the room we were in akin to the schoolrooms I had been in as a pup; a desk and whiteboard up front sitting in front of the rows of chairs. Most of the twenty or so figures around me were fellow Venlil, except for a handful of Gojid and even a single Yotul who was sitting in the back, all of us awaiting the start of the ‘lesson’.
They claimed they had a solution to our problem, that they knew how to increase our yields. How could a predator know how to fix our farming issues?.
Human. Human Human Human Human. Not a predator.
Yes yes I know, I’m trying to be better about that.
I stopped my train of thought and corrected myself. Ever since the revelations about many of our allies being former predators, I had been making an effort to stop thinking of the world in terms of predator and prey. It was difficult at times, but given that I was working against a lifetimes worth of lies, I thought I was making good progress..
But even if “Predator” wasn’t the curse it used to be, how could a human claim to know how to fix our farming issues? Even if we ignored the differences between our diets, for all their advantages, humans were still far below our technological advancements.
Almost on cue, the door to the room opened up, and the figure of the human who had invited us here entered with an enthusiastic bounce, caring two large cases covered with black cloth
Unlike most, this human was unmasked, its piercing eyes and beaming teeth filled smile visible for all to see. I could feel the room start to fill with panic. Sure, logically I knew I was probably safe, but seeing the unmasked features of an apex predator caused fear to grip the edge of my heart.
I could proudly say I can walk past and interact with masked humans without wanting to flee anymore, but seeing those forward-facing eyes boring a hole into my soul was another task altogether.
Come on, you should be better than this.
I’m trying, ok!
"Hello everyone. My name is Joseph. I'm an ecology student, and I'm here to provide a solution to your farming yields." The human spoke with an unbridled joy, seeming to wait a moment while our translators attempted to explain what Ecology was, stopping half way through and seemingly giving up.
“You might be wondering why I’m unmasked, well we’re going to be covering a lot of ‘predatory’ concepts today, so if you can’t handle this? We’re gonna have bigger problems.” Joseph took a moment to broadly gesture to himself, leaving a feeling of dread to start in the pit of my stomach.
If this was just the start, what exactly was going to happen here?
Silence! Wait and see, knowing humans it’s probably interesting at the very least.
“I’ve finally been given authorization to start a trial of this program. Both the UN and Venlil governments are very interested in increasing food supply for both our people. As you might know we’re kinda at war, and logistics wins wars.”
The human paused for a moment, a shiver running around most of the room as he gave a large beaming smile.
“So to start: paws, claws, or tails up if you know about the ‘5 harvest curse.’”
The room immediately was filled with Federation species all raising their prospective limbs in affirmation. Of course we all knew what it was, that was why most of us were here.
How would the human know about that?
Basic research, simple reading, asking literally any farmer?
“Fantastic! I’m still going to explain it so we’re all on the same page. The ‘5 harvest curse’ is a phenomenon where new farms on Venlil prime often fail within the first five harvests. On a side note, the coincidental fact that five has a religious contention in Venlil culture is neat.”
I could feel an annoyance start to course through me, that the affliction currently driving me to destitution was being described as ‘neat’ by the callous predator. I mean human.
Stupid human.
Joseph either didn’t pick up or ignored my annoyance as he pressed a button, a graph appearing on the whiteboard showing expected yields over time, continuing on in his seemingly endless enthusiasm.
“So in general the five harvest curse follows a standard pattern of yields, with the first two harvests being up to 52% larger than even more established farms, plummeting after that until the business is non-viable and collapses. Officially the reason for this is unknown, with some vague religious stupidity about new farms being too far away from the center of the habitable strip.”
This was nothing new to me, I remembered feeling the joy of the sheer output from my first harvest, of wondering if I could finally make something of myself, a joy that had been whittled down as my last two harvests had been pitiful.
“However there’s an interesting thing, if you also plot the number of predator sightings during this time against the yields, you can see a direct correlation between number of predators and the success of each harvest.”
Wait, what? Is this human trying to say that predators… increase harvest? That can’t be right, that can’t be right at all. That would be insanity.
The data is literally there in front of you.
Yet it was there on the screen, a second graph had appeared on the whiteboard, tracking predator sightings over time in each of the farms afflicted by the curse.
“This tracks with most farms' general lifecycle. You buy a plot of untamed land on the edge of the habitable zone but you don’t have enough money to go full anti-predator. As the harvests come in you end up spending more and inadvertently messing it up.”
This caused a small amount of murmuring and energetic rejection by myself and the other members of the room, wiping away the previous undercurrent of fear. It was insanity, it went against everything I had ever known or been taught about farming and how the world worked. How could a predator of all things be beneficial?
Didn’t the introduction of humans also go against everything I had ever known or been taught about?
“If this effect is so obvious, how has nobody found this before?”
The sound of a Venlil challenging Joseph was greeted by murmurs of agreement from the group, causing the human to give a different kind of smile. Not a smile of joy or excitement as had been seen before, but the smile of someone who had something for this.
“Because you have. 150 years ago, a Venlil named Slavek wrote a paper regarding this. 119 years ago, Vicktal did the same. As well as Traval, Stralan, and Vilkin in between then and now. Those are just the ones I’ve found. Who can guess what happened to them?”
There was a pause, before the uplift in the back spoke up for the first time, a surety in the Yotul’s voice.
“They were diagnosed with predator disease.”
Joseph pointed at the Yotul in the back with both hands, the joy radiating from him.
“Based Space Kangaroo gets 10 points for being correct! Yep the federation has been actively suppressing anything that suggests that predators are more than some kind of eldritch evil, that and your surprising lack of hydroponics causes most planets to be dependent on the core worlds for food imports. Probably by design for control.”
Wait… that’s a good point, why aren’t we using hydroponics?
The human took a moment to switch to the next slide, showing a simple three part cycle.
“Most healthy ecological systems are made up of three parts: Plants, which are eaten by herbivores, which are in turn eaten by carnivores. In reality actual systems are far more complex than these, but as a basic understanding this will suffice. These three parts keep each other in check, each part dependent on the other, which-”
“Are you trying to say that predator attacks are a good thing? Are you suffering from predator disease?! ”
The Venlil interrupted once again to more murmured agreement, causing Joseph to give a sigh of clear annoyance in response. I wished the Venlil would shut up and just let the human talk.
“No, I’m not suggesting we airdrop a bunch of Nissa into the Capital, I'm explaining how natural systems work. Sapience obviously breaks this cycle, which if you deviate too far, you end up with something called trophic cascade."
The human seemed to wait a moment for the translator to once again fail to explain the meaning of the phrase.
I wonder how many basic concepts the federation lacks words for…
"Rather simply, the removal of one of these pieces has wider effects, reducing biodiversity and in many cases causing a complete ecological collapse. An example of this is the dust bowl effect, something the federation is well acquainted with."
There was a moment before the whiteboard changed before showing pictures of desolate barren worlds. Without any explanation I knew exactly what I was looking at. It was one of the… lesser talked about aspects of the federation.
"The Skivit grand herd are a species who go from planet to planet stripping ecosystems bare, devouring everything down to the smallest sapling. This removes important root systems that act as drainage, causing flooding and deserts to form as new plantlife lacks the structure to grow. In many cases these ecosystems are permanently destroyed, turning once lush planets into lifeless husks”.
I couldn’t help but feel sorrow for those planets. It was well known the impact the Skivit had on planets, once thriving planets of beauty. Although if I was following this human’s logic correctly did that mean…
“Now I’m not suggesting that the Skivit need a predator, that would be immoral.” Joseph cut off the thought I was about to have, seemingly understanding the logical thought many of us had picked up on. “But instead this is a real life example of damage an unchecked herbivore can have on ecosystems. If the Skivit didn’t have FTL travel they would have long ago driven themselves to starvation under their current society. It’s also not the only form of this trophic cascade.”
“Surely this doesn’t just apply to prey? Or are you saying prey are somehow inferior?”
The sound of the Gojid cutting in was filled with an unspoken challenge against the idea, inciting general sounds of agreement from those around him. Surprisingly however, Joseph seemed to respond positively.
“That is entirely correct, an overabundance of carnivorous species can also cause their own issues. Keep in mind what I’m describing here is an extremely simplified version, just the addition or removal of a single species can cause untold damage and harm to the diversity of ecological systems as the impacts are felt in the most seemingly unlikely cases.”
With that the human reached under the desk, taking one of the two covered containers he had brought with him and placing it into view.
“In Venlil Prime’s case, while the impact of Federation thinking has been reduced due to the day and night sides being mostly untouched, you still have the problem of overpopulation of certain species, and a lack of reasonable fear response from certain prey species. This has accumulated into the problem you all face.”
With that he removed the cover, causing a surge of fear to ripple through the participants around me until we all calmed down at what was underneath: A small cage, containing a single red bird busily eating seeds.
All farmer’s arch nemesis.
“This is a Flowerbird, a seed eating avian often coming in solid red, blue, or green. They are adorable, dumb as a sack of bricks and food motivated to a fault. They are also one of the biggest causes of farm yield destruction, with these birds alone being responsible for around about 41% of all losses. If we include Voidpins and other similar wildlife, farms can have up to 94% of their yield destroyed before they even get to harvest.”
Everyone in this room was familiar with the cursed avians. While your average city dweller would enjoy the sight of a flock of Flowerbirds, the farming community knew of them as a blight that devastated crops.
Joseph took a moment to open the cage, reaching inside and grabbing the bird. A small part of me wondered if he was about to devour it in front of us, before I tamped down on such an illogical idea. Of course the humans wouldn’t, we knew they didn’t do that. The Flowerbird also seemed completely unfazed about being in the meaty grasp of a predator, simply continuing to eat.
“Even worse, these things have basically zero fear response to noises and large beasts, probably due to all major predators having been removed. As you can see this specimen doesn’t mind a ‘scary predator’ grabbing it. As long as it has food, it couldn’t care less. This makes pest control tricky, as scaring them away is no longer an option. Poisons would be used in such a case, but they can have wider ranging effects, and poisoning prey is considered ‘Predatory’, not that many of you haven’t tried ‘accidentally’ leaving potential pesticides out.”
This caused a sway of discomfort to sweep through the room, tails switching in guilty movements as everyone tried to hide the truth of this human’s words. I knew I personally had considered such actions in desperation.
I mean, would ‘accidently’ leaving out a known poisonous chemical really be a sign of predator disease?
“Ha! I know enough tail language to know I’m right, that’s guilt isn’t it? I’ve read your internet, I know your discussions on loopholes about what is and isn’t predatory!” Joseph cried out in triumph as many of the Venlil of the room reached out to grab their traitorous appendages. “Now normally I would just tell people to stop being idiots, but in this case we can’t do that. Ironically because predators are actually dangerous. Because of your slaughter the only species left are ones aggressive and smart enough to survive. Shadestalkers are legitimately dangerous and can’t be left to interact with the farming community because people will die.”
The words from Joseph all sounded so… reasonable at this point. However, I, along with the rest of the room, were all desperately waiting for the other paw to drop. Because there would be, humans always had something they were about to do.
Almost in response to our thoughts the human placed the second container on the desk, covering up the first in response.
“Humans have dealt with this problem in a simple way, a way that our Yotul friend over there will know of. I need all of you to please remain calm and orderly, and to remember that you’re perfectly safe and there’s no need to overreact or panic. Humans dealt with this pest problem, through the use of safe predators.”
Before anyone could properly react to those words, the cover of the second container was removed, showing… a predator. An actual one, not a human but an actual real threat. Small piercing front facing yellow eyes attached to a brown feline form, sulking from the cage it was being held in.
Speh speh speh speh that’s a PREDATOR, A FERAL PREDATOR
If it was a danger the human wouldn't have-
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO DO NOT LIKE NO NO NO NO NO NO NO.
The panic in the room was immediate. Sapient human predators we had gotten used to, but none sapient ones were another deal entirely. Chaos started to spread as the 7 in the front row got up, pushing themselves up against the back wall as everyone else in the room did the same. Three Venlil made the choice to bolt out of the room, rushing past the human and his tiny devourer, while another clean fainted, hitting the floor with a thud. One even decided to take things further, jumping out of the singular window attached to the far wall in a frantic motion.
I could feel fear overwhelm me, desperately staring at the feline and waiting for it to make its move. What was the human thinking, it was going to attack at any moment, it was going to-
“STOP, Stop this stupidity. Right. NOW!”
The stern commanding voice of Joseph caused everyone in the room to freeze. The calm enthusiastic demeanor of the predator was gone, replaced with an emotion I’d never actually seen a human show before: anger.
“It has been six months! Do you really still believe that the UN or the Venlil government would put you in actual danger? You’re still thinking based on your stupid fascist Federation propaganda. Thinking that tells you that the Yotul are primitive, or the Venlil are weak. Propaganda that says genetically modifying people against their will is morally OK”
I knew that humans normally bared their teeth in joy, as a sign of happiness and friendship. This wasn’t the case right now, as everything in Joseph’s body language screamed of rage, of pain, of words spoken through gritted teeth. Nobody in the room was focused on the predator in the cage at this point, instead all eyes staring at the human. Suddenly the feline mattered a lot less than the anger of the human.
“That sort of thinking leads to the belief that killing over a billion innocent people is somehow the right thing to do. You are all presumably intelligent sapient adults able to think things through logically. Could you all please act that way?”
I could see the swishes of shame from the other Venlil’s tails, everyone in the room avoiding eye contact guiltily. Well, apart from the Yotul, who had remained seated and calm this entire time, staring almost joyfully at the feline predator. The human, of course, was completely right. Taking a moment to force myself to think, the predator was safely behind metal bars and was making no move to attack, seemingly content to stare lazily at us.
You finished overreacting?
Shut up, brain.
“Also, at the risk of ruining the angry vibe I’m giving off, is the guy who jumped out the window OK? Jesus Christ, we are two stories up, do we have to call someone or….”
Joseph had relaxed a little in response to the group calming down, allowing the normal empathetic nature of humans to come through once more. Slowly I made my way to the window, looking down to see a singular Venlil running off into the distance.
“I-I think he’s fine.” I responded, causing the human to give a sigh of relief in response.
“Good. Note to self, do this in a room without windows next time… or maybe just the ground floor. So, to continue where I left off, humans have used tame predators as a natural non-invasive form of pest control since we started farming. This is a cat, completely harmless unless you’re a small rodent or bird. They also have this effect.”
With a flourish Joseph removed the covering for the cage containing the Flowerbird once more, the red little avian had been busily eating during the entire presentation so far. However upon spotting the Feline predator did something none of us had ever seen before.
It stopped eating. Wait, the human managed to get a Flowerbird to stop eating! I didn’t even know that was possible…
Giving repeated alarmed chirps it moved as far away as it could from the predator, still trapped inside the small cage, a frantic fear obvious on the poor little thing. Joseph let this go on for a few moments more, before dropping the cover back on and silencing the Flowerbird once more.
Everyone in the room was shocked. You could literally scream and shout all you wanted at the dumb little birds and they would ignore you and continue to devour crops. The fact that the feral predator had managed to stop the bird from doing that simply with its presence… was huge. Was more than huge.
“As you can see, the instincts of the ‘prey’ animal still remain. Presumably, whatever predator used to hunt these Flowerbirds has a resemblance to our cats. Normally it would be sacrilege to suggest introducing cats to an ecosystem, but in this case your ecosystems are so messed up that’s exactly what we want to do: Provide any farmer who wants one with a kitten, in order to quickly reduce yield lost to pests.”
I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t interested. On the one hand having a vicious predator in my house, where my pups would visit seemed like something a predator diseased individual would only consider. On the other hand, nothing else I had ever tried had even come close to the simple effectiveness shown here.
Would I be this desperate and in debt if I had one of these “cats” already?
“So I can see you’re all still a little worried, so we’re going to have a little discussion, for which I need a volunteer-'' The Yotul in the back practically fell over with excitement, with his arm raised immediately as he interrupted, causing Joseph to give a small smile. “One who isn’t a Yotul. I know your history with similar pets, and we are totally going to hook you up with a cat, but for this I could do with a Venlil please.”
The Yotul sat back down, a look of disappointment plastered over his face as the rest of the room shifted uncomfortably. Nobody wanted to be the person to step up and presumably get closer to the predator. Until I found myself raising my hand.
Brain, what the hell are you doing?
You said you wanted to be better, and we’re desperate.
NOT LIKE THIS BRAIN!
In a blur I found myself being introduced to the room and being told to sit at a chair next to the desk in front of the rest of the members here. Then, to my horror, Joseph opened the cage and took the feline predator out of its holding cell. The human took a few moments to fuss over the beast before turning to the rest of us.
“So now that we have our volunteer, let's logically look at our ‘dangerous predator’. The first thing to notice is simply the size. Regardless of anything else, size matters, size matters a lot. It’s hard to feel threatened by something that you can literally throw across the room.”
Joseph took a moment to hold the small creature next to me for context, highlighting just how small the predator actually was: barely the size of a Skivit, like a furry little pup. Logically if it wasn't for the forward facing eyes, I might consider it… cute?
“But what about its teeth and claws? It’s a predator that will tear people apart!”
The voice of the Gojid sounded out, a shrill fearful voice filled with barely contained panic and fear, the source of the sound looking ready to flee even though they weren’t the one sitting next to the predator
“Let's compare these. Tellek can you please extend your paws and show your claws to the group.”
I did as asked, my four black claws visible for all to see as Joseph moved the predator close. He stretched out one of its paws and pressed on a knuckle, a singular sharp claw protruding as he did so, causing a fresh burst of fear to erupt in my heart from being so close to such a thing.
Although if I was to be fully honest, if I was comparing the two, the predator’s claw were…
“As you can see, the cat’s claw, while sharper, is far smaller and more brittle. A Venlil can do some serious damage with their claws, while the worst this cat’s claw could do is break the skin. The teeth are similar, if you could show the group your pearly whites please.”
I again did as asked, feeling embarrassed and weird just having my mouth wide open in front of everyone. I hoped that there was nothing stuck in my teeth. While I did Joseph manhandled the cat again, taking a moment to move the lips and display the sharp needle point teeth, doing so for a moment before the small predator gave a small lazy growl of annoyance, clearly reaching the end of its acceptability.
“Once again we have similar results: Notice the small size of the cat's teeth compared with the Venlil’s. These would pierce skin, the Venlil’s would pulverize bone. Gojid aren’t much better with your literal claws and a back full of knives. Ironically enough the two ‘predators’ in the room are probably the least physically imposing.”
There was a moment as the room seemed to ponder this statement, allowing Joseph enough time to place the cat on the desk next to me, the predator promptly giving a stretch then curling up into a ball. The human was right, even humans themselves were physically… underwhelming, apart from their endurance. No claws, small teeth, no defensive armor or spines.
It’s kinda sad to think the only reason we’re all so scared of humans is their eye placement.
“Now the UN and Venlil government are looking for people to use cats as pest control to increase farming yield, with an initial trial size of about 100 participants. We’re offering a stipend for food, instructional care of your kitten, and as much support as needed. There are risks, for instance you’re going to need warning signs near your property and a containment system, as cats are actually dangerous to the Dossur.”
I could hardly hear Joseph speak, my entire concentration focused on the predator right next to me. I knew logically that the human wouldn’t do something to bring me to harm, but it was difficult to think that with a potentially feral predator right next to me. I saw its eyes fixate onto mine and I quickly looked away.
Maybe if I don’t look at it, it won’t take it as a challenge.
However much to both mine and the rest of the room's shock, slowly and carefully the cat stood up, stretched once before walking purposefully towards me, the room erupting into cries of worry as it leapt off the desk and onto my lap, curling into a ball with me trapped underneath.
“H-h-help…. Help…..!”
The human turned to look at me, breaking into a smile seemingly at my misfortune and giving a small chuckle.
“Awwww, she likes you. As you all can see cats share a lot of characteristics with ‘prey’. They will often seek companionship from others, and have a lot of prey characteristics, being at times skittish due to having many natural predators.”
That was good and all, but didn’t stop me from being trapped under the beast.
I don’t want to think about what could cause a predator to become prey.
“W-What d-do I do?”
Joseph gave a small shrug in response, clearly amused by my reaction.
“You could try petting her. Her name is Sprinkles and I can confirm she likes pets.”
You see brain, this is what happens when I let you do things! Now I'm trapped by a predator and I'm gonna die!
Stop being such a pup, the thing is tiny. Besides, don't humans claim petting stuff is nice?
Slowly I reached out a paw, gingerly approaching the predator, those yellow slitted eyes regarding my exposed arm as I gently placed it on the "cat", running my paw across its back.
I felt my held breath release as the predator did nothing, some of the tension of the room releasing in the instant.
"So interesting thing about cats: they 'chose' to be domesticated."
Joseph had gone back to talking, seemingly happy that I wasn't about to be torn apart. I had stopped listening, entirely focused on keeping the predator satisfied by running my paws across its fur.
Isn't this nice? I gotta admit I understand why humans like doing this.
Fine. I'll admit that this isn't unpleasant, the cat is rather soft.
"When humans originally started farming, that also attracted pests. Cats just turned up, following their food source. They stuck around because humans would feed them and provide companionship."
I was entirely focused on the cat at this point, running my claws through the fur, feeling the predator press itself against my paw, seeming to be enjoying itself. Gently I moved my claw to the back of one of its tiny little ears, scratching behind it like you might do to comfort a young pup. It started to emanate a low vibrating noise in response, causing another wave of tension to emit from the rest of the room.
For some reason, even though this feral predator was sitting on my lap, the sound seemed to vibrate through my heart in a calming motion.
Maybe this is some kind of predatory hypnosis?
Really? Just shush and enjoy this. Being scared of everything all the time is so tiring.
"Nobody needs to worry. That is just the sound a happy cat makes, it's called purring. Although I do need to take Sprinkles back now."
Joseph motioned towards the cat on my lap, a motion I decided to ignore, enjoying petting the purring cat for a few moments more. Eventually the human reached down and removed Sprinkles from my grasp as I momentarily resisted before letting the feline go.
See, that wasn't so bad.
Brain, I will admit- reluctantly- that I would have preferred to keep doing that.
With a small amount of resentment I watched as Joseph placed the cat back inside the cage, before turning back to the rest of the room.
"So anyone who is interested, stick around and we can get the paperwork completed."
—-------------
In the end eight of us remained, 5 Venlil, 2 Gojid, and obviously the Yotul. We had spent the last half a claw having instructions and paper work thrust upon us. Many of the group had immediately left, with others dropping out as various facts of cat ownership became apparent.
Still, those of us who were left behind were now heading to our respective farms, each with a single carry case. Mine was currently containing a gray and black “kitten,” which had been “meowing” loudly during the entire journey.
I looked simply at the little bundle of fur and eyes that peered out from inside the cage I had been given. Part of my mind still screamed danger, but it was a part that was getting quieter and quieter as I continued to look at what was a small fragile bundle of fur that I was now ultimately in charge of.
How could you look at something that’s hardly bigger than your paw, and think it’s a danger?
As I reached my farm, I finally opened up the container and pulled out the tiny predator. My tiny predator. There would be work to do, fences to erect and warning signs to place, but for now I just held the tiny thing in my paws, supporting it in the way I’d been told to. I now knew why humans spent all their time trying to pet things: with the troubles on the farm I hadn’t felt this calm in several cycles.
He was more energetic then Sprinkles had been, but in a way the more skittish nature pulled at my heartstrings, as if it was a small innocent Venlil pup. I sat there stroking it, realizing I still needed to give him a name. He was fluffy, Tiny, innocent, fragile. Yet with an underlying spice as it continued to meow loudly as I held in my paws
“I will call you Fireberry. My little predator.”

Skinwalkers in Rural Michigan
I recently purchased a 10,000 lumen flashlight to illuminate the surrounding woods as I walk my dog in the evenings. I have been hearing some strange noises at night, and I figured it would be nice to see everything that boxes me in as I walk Max, my dog. But boy was I wrong. I should have been afraid of what can't be seen outside the veils of my iphone flashlight. What was to be exhumed by my flashlight terrified me to my core. This happened a week or so ago, November, 2nd 2022, Harrison Michigan. The evenings were approaching abruptly now. It was only 8:30pm when I decided to take my golden retriever on one last shit walk before I got settled in for the night. At this time, in rural Michigan at least, it’s pitch black. I cursed underneath my breath as I opened the door and peered out. Fuck, chilly and dark. God, why haven’t I moved south yet? Max was timid this evening, which was so really unlike him. Very strange. The darkness emanating from outside my house poured in like a disease. It was void of any color. Upset about not replacing my porch light, I pulled out my new amazon special, this week it was a 10,000 lumen flashlight. Feeling its expensive metallic body in my hands felt exonerating, and the excitement to use it overthrew any bad vibes Max was giving. He whimpered as soon as the door opened, he then put his tail between his legs and shivered. I scoffed at his weak tendencies here, this was so unlike him. I turned this ungodly bright flashlight on and showed it forward. “For fuck sake look Max, nothing to be afraid of y-” I was cut off. My mouth gaped at what was in front of me. Shown in the powerful beam of the flashlight was a contorted lanky humanoid figure. It slumped down from a standing position and got on all fours like a person miming a frog. Then it jerked its head up and sniffed the air. Animistically. It turned its head and bored its stare right into my eyes. Then it darted into a bush on the edge of the woods. The edge of the woods that surround my entire house. I heard leaves crackle and watched the skin colored creature dissipate into them. I focused the beam of my light directly onto that bush. It was incredibly bright and the bush appeared like high definition from the immense light, especially in contrast to the oily blackness that surrounded me. The bush shaked ominously, like a predator was inside, shifting around. A familiar feminine voice came from that bush. “Please help me… oh god please help… help… help mee…” And the leaves rustled again. Max whimpered in terror and got between my legs. I grabbed the baseball bat that I kept beside the front door for just such occasions and held it beside my head in a “ready to whoop” gesture, the other hand on my flashlight. I shakily started towards the bush from my door. Max bolted inside, leaving me completely alone. “Helllppppp meee” the voice cooed. The soft feminine coo of the voice crackled a little this time. Yeah, almost as if something was masquerading as a female, and luring me in. I was about 6 feet away by now, I could feel the blood pulsating in my temples. Goosh flesh ran down my body. “Helllpp,” deeper voice “Meeee!” An elongated ashy white arm flung towards me at ankle height. I instinctively stomped down on it. I heard cracking and sloshing from underneath my shoe. I stepped directly onto its wrist. I heard a shriek from inside the depths of that bush and the hand sprung up like a trap being set off. The strength possessed by this creature was unreal, it slung me to the ground and began to reel me into its bush where it resided. I screamed, smacked the arm with the bat as hard as I could and then lost control of the bat. It fell next to me as I was dragged closer to the bush, now my feet were inside the leafy abyss. The voice turned into my mothers voice. The clawed hands grasp on me tightened with tremendous strength and the nails dug into my skin through my pants. “Help me Nathaniel. Your mother needs help. I can't walk.” Yeah alright. I shined my light into the bush. What I saw still makes me tremble. It was my dead mothers face there alright, but atop an ashy white skinned humanoid skeleton with backward joints. The arms bent unnaturally opposite of how they should, the legs were bent like a frogs ready to pounce. The eyes were milky white, but were extremely intelligent and they gazed into my consciousness. With all of my force, I horse kicked my deceased mothers face and heard a massive crunch as my heel connected with her masqueraded nose. A profane yelp of pain blasted into the darkness of this B.F.E. where I lived. The grip on my leg loosened just enough from the blow for me to break free. I shot upright and turned to the door. I dropped my flashlight in this madness and couldn’t give a shit less. It could keep it for all I fucking cared. I bolted towards the door, and as I reached the halfway point I was Illuminated by a blinding bright light from behind. Almost like a spotlight beamed right onto me. My. Fucking. God. That thing had my flashlight and was pointing it directly at me. “Helpp… Nathaniel. Help me son.” The light started to bob up and down. Whatever was holding it was lurking closer and closer to me, and was gaining on me much faster than I was to the door. So much for not being able to walk. I ended up winning the foot race miraculously. I jumped inside my door and slammed it behind me. I heard a loud thump into the door immediately following its closure. My mothers late voice came again, beckoning me. “Son. You know your mother has taught you better than this. Let me in. Please, my son.” The light shone through the window at me, blinding me. Seeing spots and now disoriented, I fumbled myself up and managed to lock the door. Max was at the furthest point possible from the door, glaring at the door trembling in fear. Three solid knocks from the top of the door frame. Then the light was gone and I heard a metallic clunk, the thing must have dropped the flashlight on its retreat. The light now was gleaming off a huge tree. I watched a tall skinny humanoid creature with long contorted ligaments jerkily run towards that tree. His legs bent opposite of how our legs do, and same with the arms. Then it bent down in the same erratic way that it moved, and got onto all fours as it approached the tree. It paused a second and peered up the trunk. His head swiftly snapped to my face. Its now black and sunken eyes stared into my soul. I froze in terror as it climbed that trunk, with its face directly bored into me mind you, like squirrel. Scurrying right up it, never leaving contact with my eyes. The light undoubtedly should be blinding his vision, but the sense of intelligence of it knowing my existence was uncanny. Light didnt hurt it. As it ascended it smiled at me, a predatory grin. It disappeared into a purple dot that was still in my vision from when I was blinded by the flashlight. As I moved my head to try to see the creature, I watched tree leaves russell and saw no more of it. Yet. I locked the doors that night and cleaned up Max’s accidents from not going out. At night as I was asleep, I was awoken by my mothers soft voice from right outside the bedroom window. “Let me in Nathaniel..” Then directly following this motherly imitation came a 10,000 lumen flashlight beamed into my face. I heard the window slowly open, but I was blinded by the light.

Skinwalkers in Rural Michigan
I recently purchased a 10,000 lumen flashlight to illuminate the surrounding woods as I walk my dog in the evenings. I have been hearing some strange noises at night, and I figured it would be nice to see everything that boxes me in as I walk Max, my dog. But boy was I wrong. I should have been afraid of what can't be seen outside the veils of my iphone flashlight. What was to be exhumed by my flashlight terrified me to my core. This happened a week or so ago, November, 2nd 2022, Harrison Michigan. The evenings were approaching abruptly now. It was only 8:30pm when I decided to take my golden retriever on one last shit walk before I got settled in for the night. At this time, in rural Michigan at least, it’s pitch black. I cursed underneath my breath as I opened the door and peered out. Fuck, chilly and dark. God, why haven’t I moved south yet? Max was timid this evening, which was so really unlike him. Very strange. The darkness emanating from outside my house poured in like a disease. It was void of any color. Upset about not replacing my porch light, I pulled out my new amazon special, this week it was a 10,000 lumen flashlight. Feeling its expensive metallic body in my hands felt exonerating, and the excitement to use it overthrew any bad vibes Max was giving. He whimpered as soon as the door opened, he then put his tail between his legs and shivered. I scoffed at his weak tendencies here, this was so unlike him. I turned this ungodly bright flashlight on and showed it forward. “For fuck sake look Max, nothing to be afraid of y-” I was cut off. My mouth gaped at what was in front of me. Shown in the powerful beam of the flashlight was a contorted lanky humanoid figure. It slumped down from a standing position and got on all fours like a person miming a frog. Then it jerked its head up and sniffed the air. Animistically. It turned its head and bored its stare right into my eyes. Then it darted into a bush on the edge of the woods. The edge of the woods that surround my entire house. I heard leaves crackle and watched the skin colored creature dissipate into them. I focused the beam of my light directly onto that bush. It was incredibly bright and the bush appeared like high definition from the immense light, especially in contrast to the oily blackness that surrounded me. The bush shaked ominously, like a predator was inside, shifting around. A familiar feminine voice came from that bush. “Please help me… oh god please help… help… help mee…” And the leaves rustled again. Max whimpered in terror and got between my legs. I grabbed the baseball bat that I kept beside the front door for just such occasions and held it beside my head in a “ready to whoop” gesture, the other hand on my flashlight. I shakily started towards the bush from my door. Max bolted inside, leaving me completely alone. “Helllppppp meee” the voice cooed. The soft feminine coo of the voice crackled a little this time. Yeah, almost as if something was masquerading as a female, and luring me in. I was about 6 feet away by now, I could feel the blood pulsating in my temples. Goosh flesh ran down my body. “Helllpp,” deeper voice “Meeee!” An elongated ashy white arm flung towards me at ankle height. I instinctively stomped down on it. I heard cracking and sloshing from underneath my shoe. I stepped directly onto its wrist. I heard a shriek from inside the depths of that bush and the hand sprung up like a trap being set off. The strength possessed by this creature was unreal, it slung me to the ground and began to reel me into its bush where it resided. I screamed, smacked the arm with the bat as hard as I could and then lost control of the bat. It fell next to me as I was dragged closer to the bush, now my feet were inside the leafy abyss. The voice turned into my mothers voice. The clawed hands grasp on me tightened with tremendous strength and the nails dug into my skin through my pants. “Help me Nathaniel. Your mother needs help. I can't walk.” Yeah alright. I shined my light into the bush. What I saw still makes me tremble. It was my dead mothers face there alright, but atop an ashy white skinned humanoid skeleton with backward joints. The arms bent unnaturally opposite of how they should, the legs were bent like a frogs ready to pounce. The eyes were milky white, but were extremely intelligent and they gazed into my consciousness. With all of my force, I horse kicked my deceased mothers face and heard a massive crunch as my heel connected with her masqueraded nose. A profane yelp of pain blasted into the darkness of this B.F.E. where I lived. The grip on my leg loosened just enough from the blow for me to break free. I shot upright and turned to the door. I dropped my flashlight in this madness and couldn’t give a shit less. It could keep it for all I fucking cared. I bolted towards the door, and as I reached the halfway point I was Illuminated by a blinding bright light from behind. Almost like a spotlight beamed right onto me. My. Fucking. God. That thing had my flashlight and was pointing it directly at me. “Helpp… Nathaniel. Help me son.” The light started to bob up and down. Whatever was holding it was lurking closer and closer to me, and was gaining on me much faster than I was to the door. So much for not being able to walk. I ended up winning the foot race miraculously. I jumped inside my door and slammed it behind me. I heard a loud thump into the door immediately following its closure. My mothers late voice came again, beckoning me. “Son. You know your mother has taught you better than this. Let me in. Please, my son.” The light shone through the window at me, blinding me. Seeing spots and now disoriented, I fumbled myself up and managed to lock the door. Max was at the furthest point possible from the door, glaring at the door trembling in fear. Three solid knocks from the top of the door frame. Then the light was gone and I heard a metallic clunk, the thing must have dropped the flashlight on its retreat. The light now was gleaming off a huge tree. I watched a tall skinny humanoid creature with long contorted ligaments jerkily run towards that tree. His legs bent opposite of how our legs do, and same with the arms. Then it bent down in the same erratic way that it moved, and got onto all fours as it approached the tree. It paused a second and peered up the trunk. His head swiftly snapped to my face. Its now black and sunken eyes stared into my soul. I froze in terror as it climbed that trunk, with its face directly bored into me mind you, like squirrel. Scurrying right up it, never leaving contact with my eyes. The light undoubtedly should be blinding his vision, but the sense of intelligence of it knowing my existence was uncanny. Light didnt hurt it. As it ascended it smiled at me, a predatory grin. It disappeared into a purple dot that was still in my vision from when I was blinded by the flashlight. As I moved my head to try to see the creature, I watched tree leaves russell and saw no more of it. Yet. I locked the doors that night and cleaned up Max’s accidents from not going out. At night as I was asleep, I was awoken by my mothers soft voice from right outside the bedroom window. “Let me in Nathaniel..” Then directly following this motherly imitation came a 10,000 lumen flashlight beamed into my face. I heard the window slowly open, but I was blinded by the light.

Cover Art <<Previous Start Next >>
Mordecai’s question caused Kazue to think for a little bit about how things might have been. She’d never managed to get close enough to a guy to really consider her options. All things considered, from an Azeria point of view one of the strangest things about her marriage was that she’d gone into it a virgin. For group marriages, the usual minimum was that every woman had slept with the man enough times to be sure about how they felt about everything. ‘Maiden’ was only a position title, it didn’t mean quite the same thing to them as it did to others.
It wasn’t the same for other Kitsune clans, other than the usage of ‘maiden’. Despite the potential benefits of a longer life, the downsides were enough that no clan had tried to perform the same ritual that had changed the Azeria clan. Of course, there was the occasional immigrant kitsune, but most of those were guys who were as interested in the potential of a ‘harem’ as they were in the potential for a longer life. Those who didn’t understand the power dynamics were never allowed to join the clan.
Azeria had already been a Matriarchal clan, as were most Kitsune clans, but the gender imbalance combined with the fertility issues had caused a shift in relationship structures that pushed the power more towards the women. Oh, men still had some advantages from being rarer, Takehiko only got away with having so many flings because of it, and had been clear enough about not being interested in being tied down that no group of women had tried to form around him so he avoided the stigma of being ‘picky’ as well. But that was exactly why women had the greater power when it came to deciding a long-term arrangement. They had fewer options to find a perfect partner.
What would have happened if she had not had her accident? How long would it have taken for her to be able to not get flustered to the point of fleeing? Would she have become part of a group, or found an outsider like her mother had?
These thoughts and her memories flowed through her core as well as her avatar, and a different sort of pattern analysis came from her core, the results of which left Kazue shocked and a touch flushed in the cheeks. Her friends Gako and Tia, along with a couple of others who weren’t visiting the dungeon, had been forming a group that included her and had been ‘interviewing’ a select few men. Those three men were the ones they’d talked to her about the most, and she could see now the pattern that was them pushing her towards sharing a private evening with each of them.
Kazue knew herself well enough now that a bit of reflection told her that she’d have been able to enjoy a fully shared marriage with them, though she was less certain about which guy she’d have liked enough. And it caused her to briefly consider the scenario of drawing those four friends into this marriage. Oh, the bond couldn’t be expanded to them, at least not until they’d grown enough to re-learn it and handle the energies involved, but the marriage itself could. In that scenario, she wouldn’t mind sharing a bedroom with them, and she didn’t feel jealous about the idea of Mordecai and Moriko being with the other girls either. Well, beyond the reduced ‘attention’ from them at least.
She was certain that Mordecai could be convinced to try if she asked. He wouldn’t be bothered by the idea and would want to make her happy. Moriko would be the harder one to convince. It might seem ironic given her past behavior, but now that the woman had decided to dedicate herself to Mordecai and Kazue, she wasn’t likely to be very open to changing the setup. Following the path of passion might cause some people to explore every new passion, but it could also cause someone to become very focused on a singular passion as well.
As for herself, well, Kazue was certain she could convince her friends, and she was equally certain she’d enjoy the results, but in the end, she didn’t really want to. She would probably find a happy life down that path, but it wasn’t this happy life, and she felt that she preferred this one.
That resolution felt satisfying to both her mind and her emotions, so she set the matter aside for now, though it did mean she needed to have a conversation with at least Gako and Tia. Hmm. She did want to do one thing though and briefly checked in with her spouses to explain the situation and her request, which they both OKed.
Well, nothing to do about it but wait now, and watching her friends make their way through the library was still entertaining. The six women were not rushing, they were taking their time to explore and at least flip through some books with a bit of spot reading. A lot of the books were from the clan anyway, so there were relatively few new ones for them anyway. But they had found most of the clues so far, so it shouldn’t be long before they found her.
.
The fight with Biblios went much as Mordecai had expected. The group had moved with care through the maze, conserving their stamina and magic as much as possible, so they had more to expend upon the boss. While he hadn’t double-teamed them by throwing Horace in too, he had used the room variant with the elevated branches and foliage growing between the bookshelves, giving Biblios cover when he needed it. The party had ranged people, but no natural fliers, and only the huntress was capable of readily jumping between the levels, which had little point as her strong point was ranged attacks anyway.
The mage had prepared herself well however, with a mix of fire spells and ones to give temporary flying, enabling the warriors to try and close with the dragon. This only worked so well for them as the group also had to contend with the spawning Bookwyrms and Biting Words constructs. The former were technically more dangerous, but the latter were hard to tell apart from the books that fell off the shelves anyway when disturbed by the fighting, so time had to be taken to deal with them.
It took them about twice as long as the group led by Kazue’s mother to bring Biblios down to the point where Mordecai despawned his boss and acknowledged their victory, but they did get there and did a lot less damage in the process, giving them a chance to collect some scrolls and books as part of their victory.
They were well ahead of the shrine maidens at this point, and Kazue was going to want to hang out with her friends for longer even after they had won their challenge, so Mordecai greeted them alone and gave them a chance to clean up before enjoying a small feast.
At the end of it, he dropped a question that mostly provoked the responses he was expecting. “I expect you are all a bit tired, so I will let you retire to your rooms now if you like, and I’ve arranged for some stamina recovery potions after your tiring day. But, exactly how many rooms will you be needing, and for whom?” The priest was the most confused, and the huntress and the mage were the least confused and had in fact already staked out seats on either side of him. They exchanged glances and a smile, and the mage inclined her head slightly to let the huntress take the lead.
The huntress turned to the other women who had started to figure out what was going on. “So, are you three in for a bit of exploration?” Now the priest caught what was going on, and looked a bit bemused. The conversation that followed was even more straightforward than Mordecai was expecting despite Kazue’s answer earlier. The two front-line warriors were in, though uncertain about how serious they were for something long-term, and the spearwoman was interested but explicitly only for this night. Fun was one thing, but for the long term, she wanted to be in a couple. She just didn’t feel like being left alone for the night if everyone else was having fun.
When they had all declared their interest they then turned to the priest, who raised his hand in a ‘wait’ gesture as he thought. After a few moments, he lowered his hand with a smile. “I have to admit, I wasn’t expecting anything so, well, sudden. I was expecting a conversation with at least the two of you after we got back home. But alright, I’m good with everyone’s conditions, but that also sets the priority for my energy and attention.”
Mordecai shook his head with a chuckle. “I have to admit, even with what Kazue told me, I wasn’t expecting there to be only one room. Even with your clan’s circumstances, things are very different than what I am used to.”
The mage leaned forward with a smirk. “All of us have met him before, but only gotten to know him so well. The trip here and the experiences in the dungeon have helped cement my impressions at least, and your offer made an excellent chance to get things moving since we have this workaholic isolated from the temple for a while.”
Understanding suddenly lit in the priest’s eyes. “Wait. The two of you specifically requested me for this, didn’t you? The matriarch was in on your plans from the beginning!” While this was clearly news to the other three women, the expressions on the duo’s faces were very self-satisfied. Mordecai made a mental note to increase the potency and number of available potions for the priest, he suspected the man was not going to get much sleep tonight.
“Well, we had to get you out of the temple somehow. You should have had a group years ago, but you work too much and aren’t the sort to get involved with the ones you are teaching.” The huntress smirked. “And my choice of shirts when coming to see you for something has not been an accident. You have good self-control, but not that good, so I knew you liked women.”
“Alright everyone,” Mordecai interjected, “I think I am very much not needed for the rest of this conversation. I’ll make sure refreshments are available here and in your room, which any of the laganthros can show you the way to. Also, in case anyone decides they need someplace else to sleep later, there will also be some small rooms across the way for your use.” And with that, he bid them all a good night and left them alone.
“Kazue? I think you undersold me on just how open your clan is.”
He could practically hear the blush in her response. “Err, I was never very good at handling those topics before I met you and Moriko, so I may have missed out on some conversations. I just realized a little while ago that some of my friends had been planning to help me become part of their forming group.”
“Speaking of, how is everything going? It looks like they found you.”
“Hehe, yes! It’s been fun.” While their cores continued to chat, Mordecai took advantage of the time to let his avatar meditate until the shrine maidens made it down.
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Embarking on a spiritual journey can be a transformative and enlightening experience. One such destination that holds immense spiritual significance is Yamunotri Dham and its surrounding areas. Nestled in the breathtaking Garhwal Himalayas in Uttarakhand, India, Yamunotri Dham is considered one of the holiest sites for devout Hindus. This comprehensive guide will take you through the essential aspects of planning your spiritual journey to Yamunotri Dham, including the best time to visit, transportation options, accommodations, and the must-visit attractions in the surrounding areas.

The Importance of Yamunotri Dham

Before delving into the details of planning your journey, let’s understand the significance of Yamunotri Dham. It is believed to be the source of the sacred Yamuna River, which holds great religious importance in Hindu mythology. According to legend, Yamuna is the sister of Yama, the god of death. Taking a dip in the holy waters of Yamunotri is said to cleanse one’s sins and provide spiritual liberation.

Best Time to Visit Yamunotri Dham

Choosing the right time to visit Yamunotri Dham is crucial to make the most of your spiritual journey. The temple and surrounding areas remain open to devotees from May to November, with the peak season being from May to June and September to November. The weather during these months is pleasant, with temperatures ranging from 10 to 20 degrees Celsius.
During the winter months, Yamunotri Dham is covered in a blanket of snow, making it inaccessible for most travelers. It is advisable to avoid the monsoon season, as heavy rainfall can lead to landslides and road blockages, making the journey challenging and unsafe.

How to Reach Yamunotri Dham

Planning your travel logistics is essential for a hassle-free journey. Here are the transportation options to consider when heading to Yamunotri Dham:

1. By Air: The nearest airport to Yamunotri Dham is Jolly Grant Airport in Dehradun, approximately 210 kilometers away. From the airport, you can hire a taxi or take a shared cab to reach the town of Hanuman Chatti, the base for the trek to Yamunotri.
2. By Train: The closest railway station to Yamunotri Dham is Rishikesh Railway Station, which is well-connected to major cities in India. From Rishikesh, you can hire a taxi or take a bus to Hanuman Chatti.
3. By Road: If you prefer to travel by road, you can drive or take a bus from major cities like Delhi or Dehradun to Hanuman Chatti. Regular bus services operate from these cities to Hanuman Chatti, making it a convenient option for many travelers.

Accommodations in Yamunotri Dham

Finding suitable accommodations during your spiritual journey is essential for a comfortable stay. Here are some options to consider in and around Yamunotri Dham:

1. Hotels and Guesthouses: There are several budget and mid-range hotels and guesthouses available in the town of Hanuman Chatti and nearby areas. These accommodations offer basic amenities and are ideal for those seeking a comfortable yet affordable stay.
2. Yatri Niwas: The Yamunotri Temple Committee operates Yatri Niwas, which provides simple and clean rooms for pilgrims. It is advisable to make prior bookings, especially during the peak season.
3. Camps and Tents: For an adventurous experience, you can opt for camping or staying in tents near Yamunotri Dham. There are camping facilities available in locations like Janki Chatti and Hanuman Chatti. These camps offer a unique opportunity to immerse yourself in nature and enjoy the serene surroundings.
4. Dharamshalas: There are also Dharamshala (pilgrim rest houses) available in Yamunotri Dham, providing basic accommodations at affordable rates. These are maintained by local authorities and are a popular choice for pilgrims seeking a spiritual and budget-friendly stay.

Now that we have covered the essentials, let’s dive into a comprehensive guide to planning your spiritual journey to Yamunotri Dham. This section will provide you with a step-by-step approach to ensure a fulfilling and memorable experience.

Step 1: Research and Prepare

Before embarking on your spiritual journey, it is important to conduct thorough research and gather all the necessary information. This includes understanding the religious significance of Yamunotri Dham, learning about the local customs and traditions, and familiarizing yourself with the dos and don’ts of the pilgrimage.

Step 2: Plan Your Itinerary

Once you have gathered the necessary information, it’s time to plan your itinerary. Consider the duration of your trip, the time required for the trek, and the places you want to explore in the surrounding areas. It is recommended to allocate at least 2–3 days for your visit to Yamunotri Dham to fully absorb the spiritual atmosphere.

Step 3: Pack Essentials

Make a checklist of essential items to pack for your journey. This includes appropriate clothing for the weather conditions, comfortable walking shoes, personal hygiene products, medications, and any religious items or offerings you may want to carry for your visit to the temple.

Step 4: Stay Hydrated and Nourished

During the trek to Yamunotri Dham, it is essential to stay hydrated and nourished. Carry an adequate supply of water, energy bars, and snacks to keep your energy levels up throughout the journey. It is also advisable to carry a reusable water bottle and refill it at designated points to minimize plastic waste.

Step 5: Trekking Tips and Safety Measures

Trekking to Yamunotri Dham requires physical endurance and stamina. Here are some important tips to keep in mind:

• Start your trek early in the morning to avoid the heat and crowds.
• Pace yourself and take regular breaks to rest and acclimatize to the altitude.
• Follow the designated trekking path and avoid taking shortcuts.
• Carry a first aid kit and basic medication for emergencies.
• Respect the environment and do not litter. Dispose of waste responsibly.

Step 6: Immerse Yourself in Spirituality

Once you reach Yamunotri Dham, take the time to immerse yourself in the spiritual atmosphere. Participate in religious rituals, offer prayers at the temple, and take a dip in the holy waters of the Yamuna River. Engage in self-reflection and meditation to connect with your inner self and experience the serenity of your surroundings.

Step 7: Explore the Surrounding Areas

Yamunotri Dham is not just about the temple; it offers stunning natural beauty and picturesque landscapes. Take the opportunity to explore the nearby attractions, such as Surya Kund, Divya Shila, and the scenic trek to Saptrishi Kund. These places offer breathtaking views and are perfect for nature lovers and photography enthusiasts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Here are some frequently asked questions about planning a spiritual journey to Yamunotri Dham and their answers:
Q1: Can I visit Yamunotri Dham with my family?
Absolutely! Yamunotri Dham is a family-friendly destination and welcomes visitors of all ages. It is a great opportunity to embark on a spiritual journey with your loved ones and create lasting memories together.
Q2: Are there any medical facilities available in Yamunotri Dham?
While Yamunotri Dham is a remote location, there are basic medical facilities available in nearby towns like Hanuman Chatti and Janki Chatti. It is advisable to carry any necessary medications with you and consult a healthcare professional before your trip.
Q3: Is photography allowed in Yamunotri Dham?
Yes, photography is allowed in Yamunotri Dham. However, it is important to respect the religious sanctity of the place and be mindful of others’ privacy. Avoid using flash photography inside the temple and follow any guidelines provided by the temple authorities.
Q4: Can I visit Yamunotri Dham during the monsoon season?
It is not recommended to visit Yamunotri Dham during the monsoon season (July to August) due to heavy rainfall and the increased risk of landslides. The terrain becomes challenging and unsafe, making it difficult to undertake the trek. It is best to plan your visit during the peak season from May to June or September to November.
Q5: Are there any restrictions or dress codes for visiting the temple?
Yes, there are certain dress codes and restrictions to be followed when visiting the temple. Both men and women are required to dress modestly, covering their shoulders and legs. It is advisable to carry a shawl or scarf to cover your head as a sign of respect. Footwear should be removed before entering the temple premises.
Q6: Can I hire a guide for the trek to Yamunotri Dham?
Yes, if you prefer assistance and guidance during the trek, you can hire a local guide. They can provide valuable information about the route, share interesting facts about the place, and ensure your safety throughout the journey. Hiring a guide can enhance your overall experience and make the trek more enjoyable.

Conclusion

Embarking on a spiritual journey to Yamunotri Dham and its surrounding areas is a truly enriching experience. From the religious significance of the place to the breathtaking natural beauty, every aspect of this destination is bound to leave a lasting impression on your mind and soul. By following this comprehensive guide and planning your trip effectively, you can ensure a smooth and fulfilling pilgrimage to Yamunotri Dham, connecting with the divine and finding inner peace amidst the Himalayan serenity.
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