Winter 2025

The new Demon Slayer movie has been released and is attracting a lot of attention from fans around the world. The movie continues the story of Tanjiro Kamado and his friends as they fight dangerous demons and face new challenges.

The movie was made by "Ufotable Studios" which is known for its detailed animation and fight scenes. Fans have noticed that the visuals are very clear, and the expressions show off the character emotions well. 

The movie also includes important parts of the story that connect to the next season of the anime. Many fans are going to theaters to watch the movie, and some are sharing their reactions online. People are excited to see the story continue and to learn what happens next for Tanjiro

and the other characters.

The movie shows why Demon Slayer has become so popular worldwide. What makes Demon Slayer especially popular is that it goes beyond fighting. The story focuses on meaningful themes like family bonds, perseverance, and sacrifice. Tanjiro’s determination to protect his sister Nezuko and help others inspires many fans. These heartfelt themes connect with audiences of all ages, making the series more than just an action anime.

The new movie not only advances the storyline but also strengthens the emotional connection fans have with the characters. As the franchise continues to grow, it proves why Demon Slayer has become a global phenomenon combining breathtaking animation with a story full of heart.

The holidays are a magical time, especially the winter holidays. Though many don’t treat it as such.  Some just sleep the break away while others grind away on games, whether it be mobile or PC or any type of gaming station. Some are perfectly fine staying inside with a marathon, a cozy blanket, hot tea, cocoa, or even coffee, which depends on preferences. Some spend time with family or friends. People may go outside, which sometimes entails shopping, walks to the park, quick trips to the store, or just taking their pet on walks.  Others may be doing some last minute shopping, gift-wrapping, or neither because they wait until after break. Those who leave their house may go on vacation out of state or country if they really want to relax.

Others go out of state or country as mentioned before to explore other activities unavailable in California or in the states. Like conventions, fairs, and items unavailable because they’re only produced in certain countries or are certain crafts not really seen or taught in the Americas. This includes going to Japan for the many events they have for one of their most popular products, Pokemon. 

The Pokemon anime started in the late nineties and is still ongoing. However our original and beloved extroverted protagonist, Ash, who went on a long journey to become a Pokemon master ended his time in the anime a few years ago. He seemingly never aged, being ten for about 25 years. The anime kept coming out with more continuations of Ash’s journey, ending his journey with the series "To Be A Pokemon Master".

We now have a new protagonist, Liko, an introverted seemingly average girl, who finds herself being chased by an organization who wants her pendant. A pendant her grandmother gave her. Her pendant was actually an ancient pokemon Terapagos, which lied dormant in the pendant and seems to be the only one left of its kind. Terapagos wants to go to Laqua, a place only heard of in story books. Liko plans to help it’s dream come true by going on a journey with new friends, and a found family (despite both of her parents being alive and present in her life).

Sport burnouts are a state of emotional, physical and mental exhaustion. Many athletes with so much potential have quit because of sport burnouts. Sports are meant to do many things such as teamwork, give someone a passion, and even for personal growth. But for many athletes the pressure to constantly perform can lead to sports burnout. While burnouts is the state where emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion comes from. It is caused by stress and overtraining. The dedication in sports is very important but when it's too much it can destroy a players motivation and love in the sport they play. 

One of the main causes of sport burnouts is overtraining and the lack of recovery. Many athletes overwork themselves and train for hours without leaving time to rest. It may lead to injuries and a decrease in your performance. Many people have a misunderstanding when it comes to overtraining and dedication and that is a big part of why they get sport burnots. They mistake overtraining and dedication because they think training hard everyday shows your dedication. But yes it may help you become better but without rest all that hard work goes to waste. Having a good rest is just as necessary as practicing because resting allows your body to reset, strengthen muscle and replenish energy stores.

The effects that it can have is serious because sometimes it is long lasting. It affects many athletes' mental health and puts them to a state where they never want to play again. I've seen many young athletes go through this because they want to show their dedication and hard work for their sport but it has only led to sport burnouts. It can lead to depression, low self esteem and even a not knowing their worth and their own identity. Especially for ones who have built their lives around their sport and have dedicated everything to their sport. It's almost like walking away from something they had once loved just like that.

The lack of mental health is another big thing in sport burnouts. Many athletes are taught to go ahead and just push through whatever they are going through instead of talking about it and acknowledging the fact that they are literally losing themself and how they are feeling for a sport. The mindset of just pushing through it can make them feel alone when they are struggling to even keep playing or having no one they can talk to. With that feeling of not having someone to go and support them many start to feel disconnected from their team and from their sport. Many sport programs mainly focus on physical performance and ignore the mental side that athletes go through. But with the right emotional support I feel it can help prevent sport burnouts and create a happier, safer environment for sports. Athletics wouldn't feel the way they do over a sport and stuff they cannot control.

To some extent, sport burnouts can do so much to a player to the point where they stop playing and lose their passion and something that was once a part of their everyday life. Sport burnouts have so many negative effects and things that can change an athlete's life forever. To help prevent that athletes need to prioritize rest, mental health and their mindset. It goes both ways of one sport not prioritizing mental health and the player who might not understand the meaning of dedication.

I H*CKING HATE Kimberly "Kim" K. Schaefer >:(

Part 1, just introduce what MagiQuest is, as well as the creative kingdoms and the Great Wolf Lodge (come back to it later)

If you grew up in the late 90s and lived on the East Coast of the US (or in Tokyo, Japan), which I have my suspicions that you didn’t, you would have likely heard of an adventure known as MagiQuest. MagiQuest is a real-life adventure game where you would physically travel among different worlds and perform different quests, such as looting chests, collecting important items, solving various kinds of puzzles, and battling different dragons and bosses to become a Master Magi. The adventures you and I never played in our lives were designed, mapped, crafted, and polished with love by Creative Kingdoms — the company that lost it all. 

Part 2: discuss what legacy was, how creative kingdoms grew, and the eventual buyout

MagiQuest came in three flavors: Legacy, Chronicles (which is referred to as 2.0), and Evergreen. The most beloved of the three is Legacy, with great reason for its endearment. To simplify it best, the last three Firefox logo alterations. Legacy was full of life; it had the meat to its bones. Legacy is the reason why a bowl of chicken soup cooked by your parents on a sick day tastes so much better than a precooked bowl bought from a grocery store. As for the other variations of MagiQuest… we’ll get to that later. 

Creative Kingdoms was founded in 1999, and just six years later, their first location opened up: MagiQuest, located at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. June 15, 2005, is the day MagiQuest was born. While the location's gross income is not publicly known, it managed to grow very popular in a very short period of time. So quick, that just a year later, in 2006, Great Wolf Lodge partnered with Creative Kingdoms and soon enough, Pocono Mountains, Pennsylvania had a new MagiQuest location, inside the lodge itself. Its popularity grew large over the course of five years; a total of six new MagiQuests were added to their own respective lodges. You'd assume this popularity would bring in a huge revenue, right? Unfortunately, Creative Kingdoms bit off way more than they can chew

Part 3, the legal corner GWL force CK into, and MagiQuest chronicles + evergreen

Great Wolf Lodge poured 3.2 million dollars into this project, and Creative Kingdoms came back with a debt of 8.7 million dollars. Too much was spent per location, and the popularity simply didn't account for the economic side of magic. Because of this left fielded failure, Great Wolf kinda just cashed out and got an equity of 62.4% of Creative Kingdoms. It was at this time that the partnership slowly grew into an ownership. And the former design heads were phased out into a more corporate environment.  And on June 5, 2014, the tower began to collapse. MagiQuest gained its legacy name, and a new contender stepped onto the podium; MagiQuest chronicles. Chronicles was a new and “improved” edition to the franchise, and offered better graphics, more enhanced props and machinery, in exchange for the gameplay, and the game's warm feeling was altered, and refined to be more corporate. But somehow, Chronicles wasnt the end of the downfall, but only a beginning, a few years later, MagiQuest would once again get another makeover – and somehow, it’d lose even more of the little spark it once held.

Part 4: Compare chronicles, evergreen, and legacy

The year is 2021, and Evergreen emerges from the war clouds. And just like the Firefoxx logo, it just gets worse each time. MagiQuest, being a Quest-based game, would of course need its quests for the fun of the game; each quest would be in the form of collecting a rune. 

Legacy had a total of twenty-two unique quests, the most popular of which were the wolf rune, the music rune, and the portal rune. Chronicles had a lesser sixteen runes, its most popular being the avalanche rune, the Stone rune, and the Agon rune. What did Evergreen have? One single quest, named Evergreen, if I could express disappointment through font, I would. But hey, it's not all bad. MagiQuest's legacy has both live-action video and large dragon animatronics, all just as immersive as the last. Except for Chronicles dropping all live action elements for animated video, but at least we still have our dragons… in Chronicles, because Evergreen scrapped them too. But maybe, just maybe, the gameplay is still pretty fun… right? Imagine Myst, that classic point-and-click puzzle game that really got your gears turning. That’s Legacy — immersive, challenging, and warm. Then came Chronicles: Myst with the hints turned on. Still fun, but noticeably easier. And finally, Evergreen — Myst after every tough puzzle was deleted. What’s left is a glorified scavenger hunt.

There was almost nowhere people could go, to experience that nostalgia they once held so close to them, except for just a few single places

Part 5, talk about Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. 

Pigeon Forge, Tennessee: home of the last standalone magiQuest

Part 6, sum it up, and dedicate at least one sentence to how much you HATE Kimberly Schaefer

Goober alert ⚠️🥞⚠️

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental disorder currently affecting around 0.29% of people worldwide. Schizophrenia's most prevalent symptom is abnormal communication and thinking, however individuals often experience a wide variety of other symptoms that impair their ability to properly function.

Schizophrenia can present itself relatively different throughout those it affects. However, there are many key symptoms that characterize it. According to the DSM-5, in order to be diagnosed with schizophrenia an individual must present two or more of the following symptoms: delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, grossly disorganized behavior, catatonic behavior, diminished emotion expression, or avolition. However, in cases where the individual's delusions are bizarre, hallucinations consist of a voice keeping a running commentary or the individual's behavior or thoughts, or there are two or more voices conversing with each other, only one of these symptoms need to be present in order to be diagnosed with schizophrenia. These symptoms must cause some sort of significant impairment in the individual's level of functioning. Impairment may exist in areas such as work, education, interpersonal relationships, or self-care. In comparison, this impairment must be below the individual's usual functioning level prior to onset.

Another characteristic of schizophrenia is the duration of which its symptoms exist. According to the DSM-5, in order to qualify for a schizophrenia diagnosis one must have this disturbance for at least 6 months, and at least 1 month if treatment is provided. If symptoms are present for less than 6 months, the individual will no longer qualify for a schizophrenia diagnosis. However, they can qualify for brief psychotic disorder if symptoms are present for 1 month, and schizophreniform disorder if symptoms are present for more than 1 month, but less than 6. The psychotic symptoms of these disorders remain relatively the same, and only differ in the duration of symptoms.

Medications and therapy can be used to help manage schizophrenia, though it can not be cured. Antipsychotics are the most common drugs prescribed to individuals struggling with schizophrenia. Those with schizophrenia often have excessive amounts of the neurotransmitter dopamine in certain parts of their brain, and low amounts in others.  Antipsychotics are thought to help manage symptoms mainly by inhibiting dopamine, as well as affecting other neurotransmitters depending on the type of antipsychotic. This inhibition of dopamine often can get rid of things such as delusions and hallucinations. Schizophrenia can also be managed with therapies such as talk therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and much more. In some cases, adults with schizophrenia who don't respond to drug therapy may withgo electroconvulsive therapy. This procedure involves the individual being put under general anesthesia, and having small electric currents passed through the brain, causing a therapeutic seizure. This seizure lasts 1 to 2 minutes, and appears to change brain chemistry and improve symptoms.

Schizophrenia is an incredibly complicated illness and not entirely understood. With the severity and variety of symptoms, schizophrenia can be a very debilitating illness if left untreated. However, with the progressive research on the disorder, over time there are more and more ways to help those diagnosed with schizophrenia manage their disorder.

Sources: 

World Health Organization. (2025, October 6). Schizophrenia. World Health Organization. Schizophrenia

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2024, October 16). Schizophrenia. Mayo Clinic. Schizophrenia - Diagnosis and treatment - Mayo Clinic

Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2024, May 30). Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Mayo Clinic. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) - Mayo Clinic

Chokhawala, K. (2023, February 26). Antipsychotic medications. National Library of Medicine. Antipsychotic Medications - StatPearls - NCBI Bookshelf

Impact of the DSM-IV to DSM-5 Changes on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.  National Library of Medicine. (2016, June).  Table 3.22, DSM-IV to DSM-5 Schizophrenia Comparison - Impact of the DSM-IV to DSM-5 Changes on the National Survey on Drug Use and Health