Ironbound

π/10 *Stares*

After a particular point, age is material as a mental figure, and not so much as a physical one. As such, my message is addressed to those of our friends who are as yet not biologically at their prime: Coffee is the only way. You shall be thankful of it, though your young frames may not yet be up to the task of handling that divine gift, blessing of the Goddess Caffeina, that river of molten darkness, that kiss of pure cosmic energy! Welcome to the Dark Side. We have Coffee.

Your thread suffers from a serious flaw. It assumes that all persons have equal vote, save staff who somehow carry double vote. But you fail to recognise that coffee is the nectar of the gods, and thus I who have been blessed by the taste of that divine ambrosia, am empowered by a force beyond your mortal comprehension, and am therefore far more powerful than what you can imagine. +∞ I declare by divine right that there is no contest. Coffee is, and shall always be, the only way of life, and all ye mortal wranglers are free to bicker amongst yourselves about your petty earthly concerns. But for those of us, who know of the Way, and who are my brothers and sisters in coffee sacrosanct... You know where to find me. Ascend with me.

As Hugh said, technology pushes us forward even if we wished to go back. Life is by definition an adaptation to constant change. We cannot regress, unless the change itself loops back to what it once was. The internet is here to stay, and we must use it to further our own progress, or else lag behind. Of course, on an individual level, anything is possible, and if I wanted to renounce the world and become a mendicant living in a secluded hermitage, with no material possessions beyond the essentials of basic sustenance and hygiene, I always can, and internet be damned. But as a society, we can't, and shouldn't, try to reverse a progression in normal circumstances, unless it's something which is in the nature of a counterintuitive tradition which has attained the time to go (like blood sacrifices or something), and the internet is hardly such a universal evil. In fact, all things considered, it's a great force for unity and good, almost a natural force like fire; it has its uses for both good and evil, but there we enter the realm of semantics and moral sentiments, and we can't blame the existence of fire for the burning of Rome, or wish to go back to being apes with sticks because of what evil fire can do. I must say that I'm glad this place is seeing some activity again. The fact that it exists and is able to hold its own in as volatile a place as TJ is heartening. My thanks to all of our participants. And now, to being up something else, here is a statement that Gautama the Buddha had said as part of his philosophy: "Desire is the root of all sorrow. Where there is no desire, there shall be no suffering." And yet, is not man motivated by desire? Please, let me know your interpretations and thoughts about this.

Happy birthday, my friend. Have a great year ahead.

Lairon

You begin to grasp at truth, young plebeian. Perhaps you're not entirely hopeless of enlightenment after all. PRAISE MAGNEZONE

My death. Or some other topic of conversation, which this thread exhibits a profound lack of. PRAISE MAGNEZONE

Coffee Where do your allegiances lie?

Oh that. I figured that's too obvious to bother mentioning. Spine?

A Naïve or Hasty nature with Earth Power, Rock Slide, Acrobatics and U-turn offers excellent coverage and utility, and allows you to bail out to avoid the crippling effect t of Defeatist as well. Excellent team support. EPower can be gotten via Corsola. Head Smash can as well, but it's usually not worth it because it hastens Defeatist. You can also breed with drapion or Farfetch'd or Crawdaunt for Knock Off over Earth Power, in which case a Jolly Nature is preferred. In either case, maximize your speed and attack, and out the residual EVs in SpAtk or in Spdef as the case may be.

And this is a good time to elaborate on coffee. Coffee is not merely a beverage, it's an art, a culture, a way of life. There is a huge difference between the perversity of chocolate coffee, milkiccino or whatever other monstrosity the inhuman conglomerate can think of, and between true coffee, pure, strong, undiluted and unsullied by foreign substances like sugar or cream or chocolate. What do you say to fine filtered coffee, roast and ground, the best 'Indica' from Nilgiri? Or for those who prefer it, unfiltered Turkish, or roast Arabica, concentrated and black. There's even Elephant coffee, denser and yet with a distinct, mild nuttiness, for those who are of daring and adventurous spirit! And before anyone says anything, if you haven't used a moka don't know a thing about the true heaven of coffee!

It's me. Nothing much has happened. E16 is still being beta tested, sun and moon are about the worst things to happen to competitive, there's just the usual bickering and moaning and loafing around, and everything is better with coffee. There's some buzz about the possibility of a debate subforum, but I think it remote. Our little threads can keep running, though. Accurate enough a summary, Micky? Or got anything to add?

No. But I have met a person named Charles Bassignton-Bassignton. What do you consider to be the most annoying behavioural tic that really ticks you off?

4/10 too large and fairly uncreative except for the now-outdated nations Sig.

No, you're an Aggron. Micky

When I see people support coffee

I can do no more for you, except to hope that you've acknowledged and thought about what else I've said besides murder being unthinkable.

Nobody has the right to commit murder. That includes murder of the self. Realise that it is emphatically not an option. It's not because of what an individual may feel. It's about what's illegal and unthinkable. You will not contemplate murder. You will not justify the most ultimate of wrongs with ease of action. That said, I understand your concern, and I do not play down the suffering you have experienced, be it at others' hands or your own. Political fluctuations are not the end of the world, and will not result in the persecution of third gendered persons. For whatever it's worth, you reside in the one country which professes the code of freedom and equality more loudly than any other. The vote to elect Trump may not be palatable, but you are not to take it as the manifestation of an entire society's hatred against you; such an assumption is implausible. I do not say that there is not the fair share of psychos, deviants or xenophobes who exist in your country and who have doubtless played a part in the election, but there is an overwhelmingly large number of sane and respectful people as well. Even among the many who voted trump. The main reasons for most of them supporting trump is hardly likely to be because they want third gendered people to be persecuted. Analyses of their motivations are available everywhere, even here in Reborn. I will also remind you that any personal attribute is only as relevant as you make it out to be. It is not for you to decide what other people will view you, and such matters are immaterial in any case. But it is for you to decide how you conduct yourself. I doubt very much that Caitlyn Jenner would identify herself based solely on her gender, and not of herself and her achievements as a whole. I doubt very much if Arunima Sinha thought of herself as an cripple, a rape victim and a destitute, and not as the pioneer amputee who scaled mount Everest despite all odds. Recognise yourself, yes, do not delude yourself or ignore anything about you, but remember that no person is defined by a single attribute. Do not grant your insecurities more importance than they deserve. Make your personality dependent on who you are, not what you are. And you have the whole of life ahead of you to decide upon what kind of achievements you wish to accomplish. I do not pity you, pity is something to be reserved only for things that cannot control their own fate, like animals or the unfortunate who have lost their minds. Neither am I unkind. I am, however, stating a fact: Life is meant to be lived, and murder is not an option. Get that out of your head.

#wynaut

My dear plebs, it's a matter of statistics! In a 1v1, none of these things can take down Dialga! 252+ SpA Choice Specs Hydreigon Draco Meteor vs. 244 HP / 252+ SpD Dialga: 246-289 (61.1 - 71.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO 252+ Atk Choice Band Hydreigon Earthquake vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Dialga: 264-312 (65.6 - 77.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (and defensive Dialga often has shuca berry to boot) 252+ SpA Choice Specs Palkia Aura Sphere/Earth Power vs. 244 HP / 252+ SpD Dialga: 230-272 (57.2 - 67.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO 252+ SpA Choice Specs Palkia Draco Meteor vs. 244 HP / 252+ SpD Dialga: 280-330 (69.6 - 82%) -- guaranteed 2HKO Etc etc. Giratina is actually weaker still. Even Garchomp needs to be Life Orbed or Choice Banded in order to OHKO Dialga with Earthquake, and that's if we're ignoring the fact that general support Dialga usually carries shuca berry and is usually Spdef invested. KH?