September 10th, 2026 As I wrote concerning my arrival on PixieSet and Kofi, one thing I mentioned was the use of ChatGPT for assistance. This article is solely to explain my position on the use of Artificial Intelligence as a creative. I absolutely DON'T condone the use of AI for GENERATIVE purposes, and I believe things should be created with human intuition and labor. After all, what is the purpose of being an artist if a computer is doing all of the work? "But what about digital artists who draw using a tablet or computer"? That is also making art, as they still need to draw using a pen, learn the tools of a program, and so on. To condense all of that into "oh I just wrote a prompt, and it created art for me" is absolutely a waste and a lazy method and mindset. "But ableism..." Ok? And I am autistic; I still learned how to shoot photography and sketch. If Mozart can still be creative while deaf and become a legacy, and a colorblind or limbless artist can make masterpieces, you can refrain from using generative AI; you are more capable than you give yourself and others credit for. And what about tools like lens blur and removing people from a picture? To that degree, I understand to be lenient. Lens blur is a tool in Lightroom that simulates depth of field, something that I'll admit is hard to master. That said, I believe photographers should master how to properly use their camera's f/stops, but I can understand if you are off a little bit and would like to use it as post production fixes. When it comes to removing people, it depends. If it is a small fix, such as the person is in the distance and doesn't encapsulate a good portion of the composition, it's alright, considering using another tool to remove them or clone another area is practically impossible. The thing I'd avoid is ADDING NEW MATERIAL into the composition, such as using generative AI to extend an arm or add an insert funny object here to hide a detail or negative space. What about the trends of a person in different styles or locations or times? This is a little targeted towards people I know (not in a mean way, just teasing a bit here). I absolutely despise it, and I lose a little respect when they do those types of trends because there are literal artists and photographers that can get the same, if not better, results than the trends + the patience to get that image or drawing is so much more rewarding when worked for. What about researching and writing with AI? AI can be used as a research tool in my eyes. Having tried it myself, I think it is valid to use it if you have NO IDEA where to start a search or do not know what the right questions to ask. Of course, I would prefer someone to first Google a question and get an idea by properly researching multiple sources the classic way, but if a person needs a boost or hint on how to ask those questions, ChatGPT can be used to see a starting point but not as a final result for how a question should be answered. Sources from ChatGPT should be double-checked and investigated before taking it as face value. The same goes for describing a question to form a more suitable and understandable question. When it comes to writing, I believe a person should write their material first and use things such as ChatGPT or Grammarly to correct spelling or sentence structure after human observation. Proofreading should normally be done by another person first, and using ChatGPT on a SPECIFIC area of the paper, and not as a whole, should be used sparingly and honestly confessed if questioned. Interestingly, when I originally released this statement, I had a friend call me and tell me his thoughts on the paper, even pointing out some areas I should rewrite and clarify. (Thank you, Matheus!) I'll admit, I am not a great writer nor know the best way to ask a question about something I want to work on. But despite that, I believe everyone (me included) should take their shot at writing something organically and reserve using AI as a last resort or, again, sparingly. I understand that the future will develop new tools and material to use that will simplify things for many purposes, but certain human inventions that require creation and expression are to be in the hands of the people rather than machines. Yes, machines are an excellent tool that, if used properly, can bring success to great things. But as said before, leave creativity to the people. "Humans are the reflection of Christ, the ultimate creative; why use a computer to do something He has done naturally through us?"

September 10th, 2026 Continuing my journey as a photographer is starting to show its merits! I had a great opportunity to learn from many teachers how to bring my skills into a commercial space. Below are a few paragraphs of what business/commercial related topics I have worked on this past month: PixieSet - The Business side of Dezaos Creatives While still learning PixieSet's site building, I must admit: I am using a template and mixing it with my own material. Most of everything is slowly being replaced with my own content and formatting, but template elements are still there as temp blocking for when relating material is ready. I'd like to believe that I am around 75ish% done with the visual look of the site. The site is online for now, asking for feedback on what I can change. Scheduling and booking is something I am curious about learning, as without a premium plan, I can only book one type of session. That said, the booking on the site is there, but as an experiment for other types of booking to be incorporated once a premium plan is in place. I am also working on how to properly make contracts based on specific services. If anyone would like to test run a service, by all means, let me know! The Costs of Operations - The financial remainders, refreshers, and renewals One of the things I looked into was how much things were going to cost. After a few hours one day where I was stuck at home due to a festival blocking my street, I took a look at what programs I was spending on. I then looked at what equipment I had and wanted to incorporate, studio locations, services I wanted to use for automation, financial tools, business set-up requirements, and eventually made a table based on that information. Funny enough, I learned a little more on how to use *ChatGPT properly as a tool rather than downright denying it. With the results and double checking everything's sources, I have an idea on how much this operation would cost me annually. I also am learning how to save up for things I am wanting by adding more into savings and... *My stance on the use of ChatGPT I signed up for a Ko-fi account - a telling sign of a creative As I look into other creatives and their methods of maintaining their social pages and endeavors, I noticed a lot of them had patron accounts and Ko-fi accounts. Thinking about the semi-rare occurrence of someone's title being taken as usernames or accounts on insert site or gaming tagging here, I already decided to claim Dezaos Creatives on Ko-fi. I don't expect many donations at the beginning, but it still a nice little area to have once I am a little bit more known and exposed. So what's left? Not much really, just a few more months. Below is an "off the top of my head" list: Massachusetts requirements Physical Materials gathered Studio rental DAS/NAS storage Camera lens and better body More advertising of business side Refresh and tweaks on portfolio God willing, things will be turning, and operations can start soon. This is a new chapter I am eager to get into!

Preset: This paper serves as a final for my Film Criticism class I took in 2023. We were to choose a movie and create a final essay that consists of a Narrative Analysis, Scene Analysis, and a Contextual Analysis. I chose to write about Ratatouille and it's ties to Immigration. This paper was written with the guidance and support of Professor Stephen Charbonneau. Remy: The Rat, The Cook, The Immigrant Ratatouille, created by Brad Bird and produced by Pixar studio, tells a story about a rat and his passion for cooking as he becomes a renowned chef in France. Through simple eyes, this film is seen as a children’s film with unrealistic values and “just a fun time for kids.” After a deeper investigation of its story and character, Ratatouille reveals a story of immigration and success. Ratatouille symbolizes Remy as an illegal immigrant journeying through the eight stages of immigration. It communicates his frustrations with identity in his speech “Why do I need to pretend,” which is positively received by immigrants as it highlights the struggle of finding and establishing identities. Remy can be compared to an illegal immigrant as he experiences the eight stages of immigration. The first four stages consist of a desire for change, the preparation to migrate, the departure to the new country, and the transit to the new country. Remy starts off as a rat living on the outskirts of what could be a nation outside of France, dreading the lifestyle his father Django establishes for the rat clan: Stealing food away from the kitchen to feed the brood. He reasons that the kitchen is dangerous to hunt from as it risks the discovery of the clan. Remy is charged with the job of Poison Checker thanks to his gifted smell but is unsatisfied with the job. He disagrees with his father’s technique to feed the clan and compares being a rat to being a thief who steals “let’s face it, garbage.” He suggests to his father that they could steal from the kitchen as it provides better quality food. Django refuses this, creating Remy’s desire to live differently from the pack. He begins to venture into the kitchen and realizes he loves cooking. He becomes infatuated with the French cook, Auguste Gusteau. He invites his brother Emilie to experience this with him and learns about Gusteau’s death on a Special airing on the TV. As the special ends, the once-sleeping elderly lady in the house wakes up and sees Remy and Emile. Interestingly, the lady could symbolize an ICE agent finding an illegal alien. The film supports this by showing Remy occupying the attic with the brood. Now strapped with a loaded shotgun, the lady begins to shoot towards the brothers. Emile accidentally leads her to shoot at a hanging lamp the colony lived over, and an attic full of rats falls to the first floor. Django evacuates the clan, directing them to boats made for this type of situation in preparation to migrate somewhere safe. Remy fights the stream of rats leaving to get to the cookbook and barely catches up with the clan. As Remy floats on the cookbook, the elderly lady shoots at the family, separating them in the sewers, and the departure continues. This division of families alludes to many accounts of immigrants escaping dictatorships such as North Korea or Nazi Germany during WWII. The transit to an undisclosed location is rough on Remy as he hurtles a waterfall at the end of the sewage pipe, repeatedly submerging in deep waters. He finds the cookbook in the distance and swims to it as the water resides. Remy arrives starving and lost in a random location in the sewage system. He waits for a while and mourns the loss of his family. His subconscious takes the form of Gusteu and advises him to “go up and look around.” From this point, it introduces the second half of the eight stages: the arrival to the new land, the accumulation of a new location, the immigrant’s reception to the new area, and finally, their establishment of a new identity. Remy hears a party upstairs and finds a table with bread, tempted to steal a crumb. Gusteau reprimands him, reminding him that he is stealing like a rat. He leaves Remy and tells him, “Good things come to those who love to cook.” Remy puts down the crumb and continues to climb up the building until he finds Gusteau’s restaurant. As he rises to the rooftops, he reveals they have been under Paris, France, the whole time. After panicking about a botched soup being made, he falls into the restaurant and gets caught as he tries to escape, having fixed the soup ruined by Alfredo Linguini. This sets forth Remy’s involvement in the kitchen. Secretly spared and partnered with Linguini, he accumulates their relationship by teaching Linguini how to cook by controlling his actions with hair stands. Remy’s reception is undermined as food critic LeClaire credits Linguini as the cook for her soup and sees Linguini as a promising revival for Gusteau’s. Remy parallels racial instances where credit is exploited to hide a product's true history. Aunt Jemima, now renamed The Pearling Company, faced backlash in the states and demanded change for “racial equity” as the black woman on the cover originated from a racist background. Many protested as this erasure of Aunt Jemima’s past showed the company’s removal of Black history for the sake of politically correcting the brand. Linguine is challenged to create a new dish with co-cook Colette Tatou, deviating from a disastrous dish made by Gusteau. Despite opposition from Colette’s desire to make the dish as worded, the night becomes a success, and Linguini is credited with a particular order on the menu. Linguini is instructed to clean the kitchen the whole night, and Remy reunites with his thought-to-be-dead family. The final stage challenges Remy with his relationship with Linguini, the rat clan, himself, and Anton Ego. After talking to his father about human behavior after seeing a store displaying many hanged rats, he returns to a sleeping Linguini in the kitchen, expressing Remy and Linguini as the first of many to change humans' relationship with rats. Colette comes soon after, and Remy controls Linguini, who is half asleep. She confesses her love, and Linguini snores; she slaps him, offended, and the two talk outside. Linguini almost reveals Remy as Remy trips Linguini to kiss Colett, and the two begin their romantic relationship. Linguini deviates from Remy and, in turn, gives Emile time to ask Remy for food. Remy finds Linguini is Gustou’s son in papers withheld by Head Chief Skinner while finding a key to the food storage. The public learns about Linguini’s identity and reasons it as Linguini's culinary skills. Anton Ego arrives and challenges Linguini to prepare a dish for him to be criticized for a later night. Remy and Linguini become cross with each other, and Remy reveals the kitchen to his clan. During a heist to steal from the restaurant, Linguini humbles himself to Remy, not knowing of Dijango’s presence. Linguini discovers the family and feels betrayed. Now refusing Remy’s assistance, Linguine kicks Remy and the clan out of the restaurant. Skinner catches Remy and gives him time to think about the meaning of his identity as a rat and cook. Coming to terms with the fact that he is both a rat and a gifted cook, he escapes from Skinner’s prison and returns to the kitchen with the help of the rat clan to amaze Anton Ego with a version of Ratatouille that hits close to home for the critic. After the health inspector walked into operations in the kitchen that night, the restaurant discontinued for good. The health inspector resembles law enforcement as if the comparison to Remy is to be one of an illegal immigrant, which could signify the accurate closings of restaurants that hire illegal immigrants to work in them. In 2023, a new immigrant law was passed in Florida that searched for illegal immigrants throughout the state. As reported by FOX 35, Mexican Market and San Miguel Mexican Grill closed down, with Jose Sivira explaining why. “The problem is the customers," Sivira said. "The customers are Mexican people from Guatemala, Venezuela, Columbia, and El Salvador. All of those countries they try to move to other states. So, the businesses are closing." Remy, Colette, and Linguine open a restaurant; the film ends with Remy being realized as an actual chef and the rat clan with their own space in the same restaurant living off Remy’s blessings. Ratatouille takes length to fully flesh out how Remy started as a mere rat living in an attic and became one of the most renowned chefs in France through his alliance with Linguine. In 2020, Benjamin Jones states, “In both these cases, says Jones, “the rate of founding businesses is 80 percent higher among the non-U.S.-born than among the U.S.-born.” Immigrants come to new countries to find better opportunities like Remy's. Moreover, his involvement in the new land positively changed everyone he met. It creates a better life for Linguini and Colette, humbles Anton Ego, gives Ego critical influence to change his mentality of food criticism, and improves the lives of the rat clan. Complimentary, Ratatouille also touches on the mentality many immigrants face once in a new country: Imposter syndrome. Remy’s self-motivative dialogue, “Why do I need to pretend,” addresses an immigrant’s struggle to analyze their identity in a different country. Throughout the film, Remy makes a balance of choices that lean towards his being a rat and his cooking. Remy’s prospects came from rat behaviors such as scouring down cracks and navigating difficult areas such as the kitchen. His talents enhanced his opportunities to do better in these locations as well. Towards the film's climax, he is captured by Skinner before making up with Linguini. Now, in a cage, Remy thinks about his life. Gusteau asks Remy if they have given up and settled to “await a future in frozen food products.” Annoyed, Remy reminds Gusteau that he is free. Gusteau clarifies to Remy that he is free because he is the figment of his imagination. Remy vents to his subconscious that he is “sick of pretending.” He vents about needing to present as a rat to please his father, as a human cook through linguine, and even that Gusteau is not dead, giving himself advice he already knows. “I know who I am! Why do I need you to tell me? Why do I need to pretend?” Gusteau puts his hand on Remy to comfort him, “But you don’t, Remy. You never did.” He disappears soon after as Remy’s family comes to save him. This self-talk by Remy alludes to an immigrant’s motivation for success. While being the son of a Brasilian family, I have understood that my success is thanks to the suffering and trials faced by my family, which brought opportunities I may not Have had if not for them, influencing where opportunities have presented themselves. The same could be said for Remy; had he not acted like a rat in the kitchen, he wouldn’t have partnered with Linguini, creating his journey as a cook. Observing outside the film, perspectives from interviewed immigrants revealed positive reactions as the movie touched on immigrants' struggles when establishing their identities. Priscila Anderson, a Brazilian immigrant working as a guidance counselor in Massachusetts, analyzes Remy's speech in a form created for the paper. “Remy was at a low point in his life where he felt that all of his hard work at becoming a chef, assimilating with the life of humans, taking risks, and hustling had failed him. He was living the immigrant dream of making life better for himself than that of his parents and grandparents. After his monologue, he realizes nothing stops him from continuing his dream of being a Chef. What was cool is that the people he wanted to disassociate from were the ones who came through for him and rescued him from his lowest point. They had a part in him believing in himself once again.” Anderson notes that, like an immigrant, Remy has been dished out with many trials throughout his journey. He gets to live out his desire to be a cook but at a price that was warned about by his family. In turn, his family gave way for Remy to confirm his identity as a rat and a cook as they came to rescue him. Another response from the form, made by Chandrika K, spoke more about accumulating in a new country. “As an immigrant, I feel that once you reach the new country, you start building a new identity acceptable to people around you. In becoming a new person, it’s easy to overlook what you want and feel. Remy is talking about that struggle in this scene. However, his inner voice tells him he already knows what he is and should stick to it. While it’s understandable that we need to adapt to a new country and culture, it’s also important to not forget your roots. As a person of color, this need to mingle with the local culture is intense because we are sometimes seen as token immigrants. We have to match with the token identities. For example, Indians and Chinese are doctors and tech professionals. Children of immigrants also need to figure out their identity. Would it be easier if society accepts us to have identities that we want instead of what society expects?” In response, ratatouille does its job of deviating Remy from what society expects from a rat. At the film's beginning, he walks on two paws instead of all fours. When asked, he says it is for sanitary reasons when he cooks. During his conversation with his father, he addresses that “change is nature” when he rebels against his father’s ideals of what it is to be a rat. He changes drastically from the film's beginning to live out his life in Gustou’s and is humbled throughout the journey as his character is fitted and refined. In conclusion, Ratatouille reveals a deeper, more complex look into immigrants' struggles and hardships. By symbolizing Remy as an illegal immigrant journeying through the eight stages of immigration, it highlights his significance through the different situations and people he impacts throughout the film. It communicates his frustrations with identity in his speech “Why do I need to pretend,” which is positively received by immigrants as it highlights the struggle of finding and establishing identities. His being at the point of his final capture stops him and makes him reflect on what has happened so far and forces him to understand and come to terms with who he is as a rat and what his ability to cook does for him. Looking away from the film, immigrants shared positive reactions to the movie as it communicated the struggles immigrants face when their circumstances reflect their character. The only thing left now is to cook, live, and learn. Post Script This postscript is to communicate how writing this essay has been. Now finished on December 9th, I have found this paper to be an interesting challenge on how to write about a film you have seen many times before. I found myself understanding more with every rewatch, every note, and feed back I have gotten about the topics I have written here. I enjoyed this paper and find myself interested in writing more about different topics in media and might continue to do so. Addressing the topics, I have found it appropriate as it has led to more talks between my family about what it means to be an immigrant and how blessed we have been to live in the States, where opportunities have shown themselves despite the loud minority expressing against them. A personal thank you to Professor Stephen Charbonneau for having everlasting patience with my bumbling in class as we talked more about how to look at a film and the connections they have to the real world. The class participation was a highlight as I felt more connected to others who shared the same interests as films and discussions did not dilute the passion. Thank you, from all my heart. Works Cited: Hansen, Connor. “Businesses to Close on Thursday in Response to Florida Immigration Law.” FOX 35 Orlando, 1 June 2023, “Ratatouille Immigrant.” Google, docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeabvXNE_PCPXjLfchbrjtNFn5ZTkP-1SzKC5CEAp0ce6E6dg/viewform. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023. “Ratatouille - Why Do I Need to Pretend? -Pretend to Be a Rat -Pretend to Be a Human -I Know Who I Am.” YouTube, 8 Feb. 2021, www.youtube.com/watch?v=gs309_aoNcI&list=LL&index=19. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023. Benjamin F. JonesGordon and Llura Gund Family Professor of Entrepreneurship; Professor of Strategy. “Immigrants to the U.S. Create More Jobs than They Take.” Kellogg Insight, 5 Oct. 2020, insight.kellogg.northwestern.edu/article/immigrants-to-the-u-s-create-more-jobs-than-they-take. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023. “Aunt Jemima.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Nov. 2023, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aunt_Jemima#Rebranding_of_2020%E2%80%932021. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023. Shannon Schumacher, Liz Hamel. “Understanding the U.S. Immigrant Experience: The 2023 KFF/LA Times Survey of Immigrants - Findings - 10217.” KFF, 18 Sept. 2023, www.kff.org/report-section/understanding-the-u-s-immigrant-experience-the-2023-kff-la-times-survey-of-immigrants-findings/. Accessed 09 Dec. 2023. Bird, Brad, and Jan Pinkava. Ratatouille. Buena Vista Pictures, 2007.

July 8th, 2026 Hello and welcome back to another entry on The New Routine, this time a couple of months later. There were a lot of "changes" per se, some good and some bad. Let's already start the review. No longer a chocolatier, but remains a student Ok, so long story short, I'm not working as a chocolate maker anymore. I was let go as the company was facing financial struggles, and I understand that a deal with a supermarket didn't go the way the chocolate company wanted. This, in turn, translated into lower sales, and well, you can already predict the rest. I was let go on positive terms + was given a whole case of chocolate that lasted two weeks. From here, I focused on working with Boston and Maine's social media, where I am getting weekly pay to run and produce content. This is where I turned into a student. The more I was working on the social media page, the better I understood analytics, automation, physical promotion, and a ton of other things relating to marketing. In turn, despite not working a traditional job, I am still able to stay afloat for the time being. A little later, I was introduced to the service Pixieset, where I learned how to create an online store and booking area for my services in photography. Eventually, I want to offer services consisting of graphics and video production. But all good things take time. What prevents, or rather, became an obstacle, is the paperwork of having Dezaos Creatives as a service/store. For it to be legit, I need a Business Certificate and figure out if I want to make it an LLC or a sole proprietorship, and a bunch of other things I still don't understand. Again, it will take time, but it will come to be... eventually. Besides, the site is still in the works; this portfolio needs to be tweaked a little more, and so on and so forth. Texas, Farming, and Blood Works Around May, my family invited me to visit Texas with them. It was me, my brother, and my parents, as we roamed a few areas of Texas, taking in sights and eating brisket to the bucket. I had the chance to go into the Johnson Space Center and learn a little about NASA and space travel, attend a rodeo where I was able to practice my video production skills, and, of course, try Buc-ee's (I went into the store but couldn't eat because I was sick D: ). Before going to Texas, I went to the doctor to do some blood work, as it was a concern I wanted to check up on before leaving. Originally, I was supposed to leave at the end of May, but the dreaded phone call came in two days before my original date to come back. Turns out, I was prediabetic and needed much-needed intervention. I stayed for another three weeks, did treatments, and hung with family in the meantime. I spent my days working on my health, learning Baltario as a hobby, and visiting the ever-improving family farm. Some days I would help bring things from the farm to sell at church; other times I would go for a few hours to shoot some photos of the cows and birds there, and the weeks went on. I managed to lose 15 pounds while away, and returned near the end of June before my birthday. My birthday, and cycle to lock in Returning to Massachusetts, I worked a little more on Dezaos Creative's store and booking, did more research on how to launch it (as nothing is public for the moment), and continued on. My birthday came and went; I was gifted cash and a few other knick-knacks, including a LEGO FIFA statue. And now today, my parents returned to Florida, and I returned to where I was a few months ago: "Unemployed", with a desire to lock in and get things running again. And now you know where I've been. Negatively, I could say that I am not making any progress, but I disagree with that. As I mentioned in another entry, I want to learn not to vent frustrations but to learn from them as much as possible. After a discussion with my parents on what I could do, I now have a plan to get back on track! I know I have cycles of employment, health, and working on passionate things. I believe things are a little different now. Conclusion I looked at some of the entries I've made here with promises to things that, of course, were different than what I anticipated, and that's ok. But you know what? What's an omelette but six cracked eggs (ideas that either succeeded or failed), seasoning (tidbits of knowledge learned about the process), and heat (willpower)? You get an omelette that either tastes amazing and is repeated over and over, or a bad-tasting omelette that gets worked on until you get it right.

February 13th, 2026 Today is once again payday after a long and grueling process of leaving the unemployment phase I was in. I am thankful to say that I have: No Debt, everything paid and accounted for A plan for the future (financially) Goals to reach I expect some more progress for Dezaos to start appearing soon as I now have the means to fund ideas I want to make reality, and I think The New Routine is helping a lot with keeping things in well, routine! I know I broke a day or two of writing, but regardless, I am finding myself able to write something small everyday now. Even when I have a block. With that, I now just need to focus on Adulting.

February 10th, 2026 Ya'll, I had four ideas I wanted to express, but couldn't make them sound right. Consider this as the entry for the day. Ideas I tried but failed, no, better to admit that I got stuck writing: The quiet hours and how being "lonely" can make the brain weirder than it is A story about an english accented mouse in a scarf and greek fisherman's hat A story about a frozen pond, old relics from humans, bears, mice, foxes, and a mystery Another vent... I am trying to improve by not doing that Ya'll, I promise I'll come up with something tomorrow!

Statement Of the Problem This paper conducts a study on the competitive nature of individuals who label themselves as gamers. In participating in this study, it was questioned on the effects competitive gaming has on those who play in a club rather than online with random people. This study is important to show the sociology of gamers and how they interact with each other in their activities of gaming. In consideration, Clubs are regulated by an admin and are considered to be a structured space for gamers to play together in person. Online gaming connects these gamers to random people, total randomization, not face to face. Purpose Of the Study The purpose of this study was to collect data from gamers on their takes on competition in both club settings and online settings. In the study, one session of participated observation in the group S.A.G.E was acquired. Two interviews, one with an NSU student, CC, and another with an online presence, XYZ, were held. Finally, a public survey, “The competitive edge of gaming” was distributed to others via text, advertisement, and in person requests. For the purpose of the study, the following question were asked: What are the differences in competition in NSU gamers that are together in a club compared to those online? In studying, it was hypothesized that: Gamers in a club are more inclined to competition compared to those online on the factors of club gamers holding personal relationships to others in the club and being in the same domain to each other compared to those online. Definitions Of Terms 1. Competitive gaming: Competitive games are those in which players play against one another and where one player winning means another player loses. (Changing Minds) 2. Multiplayer: Denoting or relating to a video game designed for or involving several players. (Oxford Languages) 3. Fps: A First Person Shooter, genre of action video games that is played from the perspective of the character. Maps out the gamers movement through view of an actual person would see and do in the game. Usually played with guns as main weapons. (Techopedia) 4. S.A.G.E: Held Friday nights, This Nova Southeastern University club is run by student who shares common interests in Anime, Gaming, and Entertainment. (Statement from Society of Anime, Gaming, and Entertainment) 5. Discord: American based Instant Messaging and digital distribution platform designed for creating communities. Users communicate through servers, communities creating spaces. Servers are collections of persistent chat room and voice chats channels. (Discord Inc. 2020) Literature Review In an article about esports gaming, a form of competative play, it was noted that there are issues that arose from competative play. Frontiers writes in their paper, “Physiological and Congnitive Functions Folling a Discrete Session of Competative Esports Gaming” that players tend to play for hours on end without physical breaks. The article continues to suggest that competative gaming produces a similar type of stress that physical sports produce. Although not physical, competative gaming produces psychological states of stress. They look at another study that listed common problems such as joint pain, headaches, vision and sleep issues (Bemchebra et al., 2019). After conduction their own study on the matter, they studied a demographic of 17 individuals. They’re studies had “Findings suggests the esports activities can increase sympathetic nervous system activation (Frontiers 2020). This further led for me to believe that club gamers would have more of a response of playing together rather than those online. Methodology To study this endeavor, I participated in an observation of the group S.A.G.E at my campus. S.A.G.E met on January 14th and continued every Friday. I attended this meeting as the event on that night was a competitive game of the Nintendo’s fighting game, Super Smash Ultimate. The night was observed on how the club gamers played and interacted with each other. The next step of this observation was done online with two games: CSGO (Counter Strike: Global Offensive), a team based FPS, and Among Us, a mafia “who murdered who” game. The next instrument used were interviews. The first interview being with a student from NSU that was not affiliated with S.A.G.E. The next with a student in S.A.G.E. This was conducted both via in person interviews and Discord calls. The last instrument used was a public survey that received 11 responses. The survey listed questions that asked it’s takers on their alignments with gaming and questioned their alignments with morals in competitive gaming. Research Design Sampling The population selected for these observation were Nova Southeastern Students and individuals who are present via an online space. The population grew with the access to Discord as servers in Discord are public spaces where anyone can join. I chose this population as it was appropriate for the public to be involved with the random online gamers and NSU students for being co-related to the club gamers as S.A.G.E is in association with NSU’s club selection. Much of this population were young adults and students who were already studying under the field they wanted to go in, for most, the field being one that was science based. Instruments and Data Collection Analysis Procedure On January 14th I attended a competition of the game Super Smash Brothers Ultimate as a player within this club. I partook in this activity for a round to experience the same experience as of those in the meeting. After the round had finish, I observed for some time out of the playing fields and observed the club gamers’ behavior during this meet. Afterwards I would go online and position myself in a few games with online players. Open mic was implemented to communicate with these players. The next thing done was to interview my first person, Chancey Cherry. After an extended period, a survey was created on responders alignments with gaming and their takes on competitive gaming. Finally, another interview with Athena Pares took place and all data was collected for the paper. Instrument 1: Observation – S.A.G.E Meeting For this observation, attending the meeting was crucial to see the activities and behaviors that club gamers have during competitive play. There was no extreme strategies being implements, no arguments based off the matches, just people having fun. As it turned out, their activities were seen as just having fun and not competitive. The club gamers showed the opposite of what my hypothesis was suggesting. On the other hand, it turned out that the ones who were in the position I suggested were the online gamers. During the CSGO games, conversation was at a minimum while the team went off their own ways. After a while, I was promptly banned. This showed that the toxicity of competitive play were more online than in person. That said, my hypothesis was disproven and adjusted the thoughts of competitive play. The trends showed that club gamers were more inclined to have fun during the games rather than those online. It was reliable to see this first hand as there are many who think otherwise. Instrument 2: Interviews – Chancey Cherry and Athena Pares In the Interviews, the observations made between the NSU students who were associate with club gaming and online play showed. In person with Cherry, he provided the thoughts as representation of online gamers. He expressed that he grew up playing video games and spoke of playing both online and with friends. He considered healthy gamers to be those who had good sportsmanship and attitudes. The Discord chat with Athena also showed this to an extent as she described her introduction to gaming was by her father. She also told me how she had competitive play online. She shared the same thoughts that Cherry had, adding that at the end of the day, it is to play for fun. This being said, my hypothesis continued to be proven flawed. One primary factor that was observed from both of these instruments that was overlooked was the aspect that gaming could be done just for fun. Instrument 3: Survey – The Competitive Edge of gaming (11 Responses) For this last instrument, a google form was created to gather different perspective on competitive gaming. Appropriately, it was named The Edge of competitive gaming and was distributed through the means of Discord servers, social media such as Instagram and Snapchat, and finally instant messaging. The survey questioned its takers on their alignment in gaming, do they consider themselves as gamers? It also questioned their position between club gaming with the association of S.A.G.E or randomly online. 11 responses were recorded with a majority of takers being NSU students. In confirmation, the survey continued to show my hypothesis was flawed. It was important for this survey to be conducted in a manner that gave takers a limited answering system to understand the “morals” that came with competitive gaming. Both sides of the coin agreed on a majority of topics such as doing the right thing during a competitive match and with others, be it in a club or online. Protection Of Human Rights Strong transparency was communicated between subjects and interviewees. Permissions were asked and secured prior to interviews, gameplay, and interaction with the paper. The participation for this paper was voluntary with no tracing back to any individual involved with this paper except those mentioned. This study will be sent to all possible emails collected for this paper and will not be published anywhere without the administration of NSU or professors involved in this paper. Conclusion Closing, the discussion of the sociology during competitive gaming session must be further researched. Many who are in this community deal with narratives that prove to be false. Many think gaming as a toxic hobby and community. In reality, this is far from the truth. Although my hypothesis was proven false, it showed the facts: Club gamers and online gamers are not as different as it would be seen. Toxicity in clubs are indeed an issue that should be further research, but this study showed that not all clubs are toxic communities when it comes to terms of competitive gaming. Appendix Interview 1: Chancey Cherry Andre: So this is Interview number one for the competitive gaming interview. Right now what we’re doing is that we’re going to be interviewing you on how, how you’re like, what’s your thoughts on Co-op er competitive gaming. So could you state your name and your student, like your student status of NSU? Chancey Cherry: My name is Chancey Cherry, I’m currently 19, and I’m a freshman at Nova Southeastern University. Andre: What field are you studying? Chancey Cherry: I am majoring in neuroscience. Andre: OK. So let’s begin with these questions. Thank you so much for your time and patience. So our first question here is do you consider yourself a gamer? Chancey Cherry: I do. Andre: OK, so you do, how have you been introduced to gaming? Chancey Cherry: I was just introduced to gaming like when I was very very little my mom had got me a VTech and basically, all started from there. It was a VTech leapster. Then after that holds onto like DSI like like the regular Nintendo DS and Wii and then we then moved on to like you know- playing on PC, then playing with PlayStation, that makes sense of Xbox. Andre: Very interesting, very interesting, so you mentioned the Xbox. On what platform are you playing more frequently? Chancey Cherry: Nowadays I’m playing more of a PlayStation more frequently; however, I have like a friend or know someone who uses the Xbox I don’t really mind, you know, using that system. Andre: very interesting, what experiences of competition have you had with people either online or in meetings? Chancey Cherry: With the experience of competition mainly had with people, like you know playing online matches against people, and like games, like online, like on my laptop or like on PlayStation. Or like, playing like against friends. Andre: Very interesting, very interesting, our next question here is what characteristics do you find a healthy in competitive gaming? Chancey Cherry: You know healthy gaming is like, you know being positive like you know having a good attitude, and having good sportsmanship. Like you know like, if you happen to lose don’t let it really won’t really get you down and everything. Like you know just basically being, like you know, a good sportsmanship. Like a good person. Andre: OK, so for our last question, just so I can let you continue with your work. Can someone be a good gamer without communicating with others? Chancey Cherry: I feel like I want to be a good gamer you would have to go in and communicate with others because you know; like, let’s say you’re playing like a team type game; for example, you’re gonna need how to communicate with other people. It’s like, you know this thing here, like do that thing here, like- yeah, I do believe that communication is very good and plays a good part. Andre: Thank you so much for your time. Just one bonus question, are you a member of the community S.A.G.E, at school here, at Nova? Chancey Cherry: No I am not. Andre: You’re not? OK, thank you so much for your time. Interview 2: Athena Pares Andre: In this interview, I want to ask about your alignment in gaming. This serves as a study to see the thoughts on competitiveness gaming. Athena Pares: Alright. Andre: Our first question being this: State your name and student status at NSU. Athena Pares: Athena, Sophomore student.. Andre: What field are you studying in? I also ask if you consider yourself as a gamer. Athena Pares: I am studying psychology and ABA. I don’t consider myself like an “extreme” or competitive gamer, but I do consider myself as one Andre: Thank you for your response. The next question being this: What introduced you into gaming? Athena Pares: First it was my father who played a lot of Godfather games, I happened to pick that up from him. I also have lots of guy friends and they always talk about games, so I went further into them and now I enjoy playing. Andre: That’s amazing. The next two questions are this: What platforms do you play on and what competitive experiences had you have with others, wether it be in meetings or online? Athena Pares: Definitely a few Xbox since I grew up with that and the Nintendo Switch. I’ve had a few competitive experiences back in high school as they were challenges by even the teachers. As of today, I get challenged online in certain battle or strategy-types. Andre: Thank you for your responses so far. The last question is this: What makes a good gamer, be it in relations with other people? Athena Pares: As long as you are respectful in the end and you don’t take it out of proportion, I believe that’s makes a person a great gamer. Sure you might be better at some games than others, but in the end- it’s just a game you are playing with others Andre: Thank you for responses. I hope you have a good morning. This is only recorded for my Comp final paper and will not be distributed further, I forgot to ask, what is your last name? Athena Pares: Pares, and no problem. Andre: Thank you! Athena Pares: No problem, hope you do well! Andre: Alright now, have a good one. Literature Review Cited Society of Anime, Gaming, and Entertainment Discord Inc. (2020). Discord. Retrieved from https://discord.com Techopedia. “What Is First Person Shooter (Fps)? - Definition from Techopedia.” Techopedia.com, Techopedia, 4 Oct. 2011, Oxford Languages Competitive Games, Benchebra, L., Alexandre, J. M., Dubernet, J., Fatséas, M., and Auriacombe, M. (2019). Gambling and gaming disorders and physical health of players: a critical review of the literature. Presse Med. 48, 1551–1568. doi: 10.1016/j.lpm.2019.10.014 Sousa, Amber, et al. “Physiological and Cognitive Functions Following a Discrete Session of Competitive Esports Gaming.” Frontiers, Frontiers, 1 Jan. 1AD

February 9th, 2025 Welcome to the weirdest weekend I've had in a while: from machines breaking, irritating kids, and an evacuated home. Let's begin with Friday Afternoon: I was at work when the inconveniences began to emerge. The wrapping machine decided to challenge us as it wasn't cutting the finished products. Everything came unified rather than individual packages. We struggled to figure out which piece was loose and what it was connected to, functionality wise. Finally resolved, we returned to de-moulding more chocolate bars for packaging on another day, storing them safely in their usual place, and cleaning the place before our hard out at 6 pm. Safe to say, everything got resolved by the end of the night, and the crew sighed in relief as the weekend crept in. "Today was difficult, but at least the weekend is going to be great. Right, guys?" I was dead wrong. Thinking back, how could I have predicted it? I couldn't. A smaller snowstorm visited on Saturday, leaving me stuck at home. The whole building became colder than the Arctic, or Florida, should I say. I had planned the day to make content at home with a friend of mine, promptly cancelled as the material was not ready to be recorded. In layman's terms, I now had an unscheduled Saturday stuck at home in my hands. Of course, it wasn't all bad, as I was given ample time to learn about Pixieset. It still looks like a foreign language in my eyes, but one I will try hard to understand. After a while, I hopped on Discord and ended up staying up late on Saturday as I spoke with my group of photographers about my experience learning about the program, neglecting the time as I multitasked playing Minecraft in the background. After a while of talking, it was 1 am on Sunday, and I had to serve around 6 am. I'll be frank, I ended up sleeping ultimately around 3 am. I had put an alarm for 5:30 am to get to church to assemble all the camera gear, but somehow overslept the alarm and woke up around 7:30 am. Thankfully, I made it in time for the service. But irritation came through the form of constant teasing from some volunteers. Yes, I can be a little temperamental, and yes, my Portuguese is not the best. But isn't it a kick in the pants when the joke comes from something you were trying to say? I was trying to say that an issue was ridiculous, but the translation didn't work, and I had to hear a phrase every 5-7 minutes. Then the jokes on my appearance started as I couldn't take a shower as the water was not on in my unit. Little did I know this would foreshadow something. The joke was as stale as old bread; nonetheless, the younger ones repeated it on and on. I ended up leaving irritated, but brushed it aside, understanding they were immature and didn't know better... and that I could go home to finally rest. I ate and headed home. I tried relaxing a little by playing some video games, as the tiredness was not there at the moment; you know, when you're so tired you stop being tired? Anyways, it got worse. I received a text from the unit below me and was asked to help as her unit's ceiling was leaking from the sprinklers and a light fixture. I grabbed pots, pans, and towels as I helped manage the damage. Something to know is that I live at the very top of my building. Our roof sometimes piles on fallen snow, and due to my grandparents being of old age, the snow can become a hassle to deal with. A concern was that the snow can melt and lead to it being seeped into the building one way or another. Funny enough, that's why my room was constructed. As a solution for another bigger area where the snow could do that. Normally, my grandfather would handle shoveling the bigger balconies that he could get into, but the area where it was most concerned was blocked by our kitchen and inaccessible. It would have to take a smaller and lighter person to get there. Thankfully, the unit owner from below helped us get the snow out. We also called a plumber and were informed that a pipe from our unit was loose due to the cold temperature. We got it fixed as we were trying to figure out where the leak was coming from. It was either the snow melt or the plumbing. Mind you, a good portion of this was done in a mix of English and Portuguese. I became the translator for everyone for a couple of hours and did the best I could. That was all resolved... kinda. You see, two hours later, I'm back on Minecraft when I hear a loud drop from the floor below us. I gather some crocks and head downstairs to check on the unit owner. That's when I saw it. A huge gap in the side of the wall with water bursting out rapidly. It flooded the floor and began cascading down the stairs of the common area. I knocked on doors and helped evacuate everyone. I also turned off the whole building's water supply, remembering the words of the plumber who was there earlier. I was beyond tired, but sprang to help in any way I could. The people who took it the hardest were the first and third units. Walls were stained, and the carpet floors became soaked. I helped Unit A move their things, cracked a lot of jokes as I cheered them up, and it was already around midnight when I ended up at a nearby hotel. Updates came and went through the night from the HOA and Fire Department. What was understood that happened was that there was a burst pipe, and one of the pipes had a puncture from a nail installed when the decks were being renovated. The decks have not been worked on for a while, and cold air entered through them. It was reported that there was little to no insulation in the area as well. This led to pipes freezing and so on. We were told that we could head back in a few days, and the units most affected were going to be dismantled and reassembled. It was around 1 am and I dropped into the fresh hotel bed. Becoming a hibernating bear, I slept till 11 am on Monday after informing my boss of what happened. Monday arrived. I headed to the store in person to organize some more matters I had taken advantage of completing. Thankfully, my bosses were amazing and understood where I was mentally. One of them told me, "This is a job, that is your living situation, and you are helping your elders. Take the time you need. Work will be here." I reassured that I'd be back tomorrow, cracked some more jokes, and got updated on some news here and there. After fixing all of that, I returned to the hotel still pretty beat. For the rest of the time, I doomscrolled, ate, and eventually recalled my computer still in the car. I almost lost my keycard, but was given a new one for free. And now I'm here writing this free write for The New Routine. The bad weekend seeped into Monday, but I don't want that to stop the rest of the week from getting better. I'm stuck at the hotel for a couple of days, but still, nothing changes. I'll still go to work, return to the hotel, write my entries, edit what I need to edit, and hopefully start to make more sense of the adapted routine. I know I will be back home eventually, but now I understand why I need to start saving. Expenses are getting high, God forbid something happens to the building, but I believe this could be a call for me to begin thinking of the future and going somewhere else. So, by all means. The routine has been helping me stay consistent in posting something. I am learning more ways to make bank with my skills, and I got an idea on how to grow. Ok, now break and onto Tuesday!

February 7th, 2026 I have been recommended to move my business endeavors using Pixieset. That said, I still want to have this site present solely as my portfolio as well as the home to any blogging I do in the future.

February 6th, 2026 Did those essays I had to write for school help me in any way? I believe they did. Something I noticed is that when I am required to write for specific reasons, I tend to write in an essay format. For example, say you give me an essay for a PSAT write or an essay for a film class, I could do most of what is required of me. I do the research, work in reverse (write my points that would answer the prompt), and finally prepare a thesis. But now, having graduated and in need to do creative projects thought by myself, why do I struggle? Of course, I am not a sitting duck. I get ideas, and I would love express them. Really, I think the thing I struggle with the most right now is execution. I can start something, but might give up or get stuck in the middle of the- Ok, maybe not in the middle of the idea, but I believe self sabotage or something else stops me from meeting everyone else at the end of the project. And just who is everyone else? I... not sure actually. Am I meeting a Better Me? Am I meeting connections to new friends who admire my work? Am I meeting the reader? I know I am making these things for myself, but as human as can be, I would love to show my little trinkets and doodads to others. I like seeing people happy with my work, and trust me, I like being happy when I look at my work... sometimes. I don't know, I truely don't know.

February 5th, 2026 Would eating a shapeshifter be considered cannibalism? Yes, and No. So there I was at work minding my own business. I was seated down, placing chocolate moulds into racks for them to later visit the chiller when I thought about something close to a shower thought: You know those scenes in movies where the main protagonist's significant other dies or sacrifices themselves for the protagonist to survive? Super sad, I know. During these scenes, some stories show that the character has a piece of that character's icon or an item that reminds them. Are you following me? I hope so. Hold on to that. Shapeshifters, right? There can be many ways to introduce them. 1. A human with the abilities to transform or mimic the appearance and behaviors of other living or non living things. 2. A other worldly being that can transform into anything. Anything. So, holding these two thoughts together, I think you can see a little on what I'm about to ask. There are really gruesome stories out there such as The Walking Dead, The Boys, Berserk, and many other rated R medias. Some of the gore and graphicness can be necessary for a story, other times it is generally agreed to be unnecessary. What communicates a storyline where a character must eat something that can change form? I actually searched this up and I'm not shocked I'm not the only person who has thought of this. Searching around, I am kinda surprised at how apparent this question is though. Rather than find anger, I found a lot of "think about it." I actually ran into a bigger rabbit hole than I realized. So... the answer from what I can tell is Yes and No. Yes, the shifter is another human and should be respected with human rules and expectations/morals. No, it is not human and can be considered an animal such as a Chicken or Cow. Here is what I would think in relation to the first trope: If there is a human character who is dying because of the plot and offers to sacrifice their bodies (via transforming into a bigger animal) for the survival of the starving group, while I can understand the honor they might be intending, I would unfortunately have to side that it would be considered cannibalism. If were to be a animalistic character like an animal companion... maybe not? If it can transform but can't speak, would that still imply anything? This also questions a lot more if it is uncertain if the animalistic shifter is only animalistic based off how long they've been shifting for (if they are under a modification that removed their humanity). A character that challenges this would be FooFighter in Jojo Pt.6. For those who don't follow Jojo, this is going to sound WACK... but you are reading this write so... Anyways, The plankton that make her up have a stand, aka, an extension of a fighting spirit based on soul of it's user. But the colony of plankton that builds FooFighter isn't human, but it can speak and hold thought. But why was it showing her going to heaven with the golden wind? Does that confirm she is considered human? I don't know what to think of this weird and abstract troupe in media. What do you think? I took a shower before writing this thing... I think I need another one.

February 4th, 2026 Has this happened to you? You get a paycheck of, let's say, $1000. You start by paying your tithes and offerings. Then rent, then subscriptions, then some IOUs you'd like to honor. Pride fills you that you are debt-free. So why do I only have $80 for the next two months? This is based on a true story that happened not long ago, last week. Nonetheless, it's moments like these where dreams of my creative work being the work that pays for an honest living fill me with hope. Granted that I have a stable job this season I am grateful for, I trust that I will make it work for me to pursue Creatives full-time sooner or later! But again, with enough time, patience, and practice, I know I'll make it well. Something I am always hearing and acting on: "Preparation and Prayer goes hand in hand."