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[ display all entries (50) ]
Spiny Alien Treat |
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The Valley of Repose is blanketed with a layer of snow. Despite this, here and there plants are sprouting out of the snow. I don't know how much longer the snow will last... It seems like it's getting warmer each day. I wish our frosty financial predicament would warm up a bit.
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Despite extreme sub-zero temperatures, plants happened to find their way through maturity. This is pure symbolisation of hope. Despite the tribulations of life, and through the worst of cases and darkest of forecasts, is that one shimmer of hope that never dies. Even through the harshest of trials (the snow), against all odds will something positive arise (the plants). The fact that this so-called "Alien Treat" grew through the snow is a spitting image of hope.
Hope can be a remedy, a tool to keep us all sane through life's ridiculously tough times. Just the thought that things will get better is enough to allow us to relax.
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Delicious fried or baked, this is an invitation for your taste buds to the world of natural delights!
...As superior as I am, I must leave recipe recommendations to others. Machines are bad liars.
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"Machines are bad liars..." Truer words were never spoken. Machines can't think on their own. As complex and advanced as articial intelligence can get, a machine will only ever know what a human tells it to know. If a machine makes a mistake, it's the human's fault, whether it be the programmer or the person controlling the machine.
Next time a friend throws the video game controller in rage at the mistake the game obviously made, politely smirk and remind them of who exactly was in control when Mario fell down the endless pit!
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Utter Scrap |
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Throw this flimsy piece of scrap metal out! ...Or can garbage this banal become a work of art?
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This is a testament to the saying "one man's garbage is another man's treasure." Without a doubt, we've all run into a situation in which someone close to us was to throw something out, only to be stopped in the nick of time. Surely, everyone needs to understand that everyone has a different point-of-view that needs to be respected.
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Crystallized Telepathy |
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I speculate that this crystal is in fact highly intelligent. It must possess telepathic powers. When I peer into it, the reflection of my face is bright red. It must be sensing my stress! Tomorrow, I think I'll sleep through the whole day.
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Sometimes we try and find something that's easily exploitable, such as Olimar's case of looking at a red marble and seeing a red reflection, clearly an utterly inexplicable phenomenon, and make an excuse out of it as a cover for something that we think we are motivated to do, but really aren't. In this case Olimar is being lazy by not wanting to do any work, and so uses his scientific explanation for this red marble of a discovery as the excuse for his need to slack off.
Next time you find yourself using an excuse to hold off on doing something, stop and ask yourself whether you really want to do it in the first place. If you don't, and don't realize it early enough, you'll keep holding it off until eventually you just forget about it, thinking it "wasn't worth the effort anyway."
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This thought crystal checks your stress levels with its telepathic powers! It is currently all red! RED! RED! RED! The world is filled with stress, and this is the color that represents our society!
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It's amazing how much stress is present in our world today. Considering the speed at which society moves, it's no surprise that stress is found in abundance in many areas of the world. Some people are so focused on getting things done for their job and education that they forget to take a pit stop every now and then, just to relax and enjoy. By the time they realize how important relaxing can be, it could be too late, as an anxiety attack could be a serious issue.
For all you extra-ambitious and -hard workers, don't forget to take a breather every now and then... Just pause and do what you love to do (other than working). With less stress, perhaps the world could be a more mellow place to live in.
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Comedy Bomb |
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This fiendish component was used by the titan dweevil! Although it was once a primitive chemical weapon, it is now a weapon of mass hilarity!
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Every human group has a bully. You have bullies at school, at work, and in everyday life. There's always at least one bully in everyone's life. However, while that bully could represent the bane of one's enjoyment at a point in time, the situation always matures up to the point where the bully starts to mean nothing to the people around him. People stop taking them seriously, and their actions will no longer matter.
Sometimes, under such pressure, the bully will even change his or her ways, much like the deadly bomb in Pikmin 2 turning into nothing but a harmless toy.
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Decorative Goo |
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With the assistance of the blue Pikmin, we found a canister of paint today. I used it to give the ship a fresh coat of paint! But did it thank me? Noooo. As a space pilot, I've always treated my ship like a trusted companion (even if it is a smart aleck). Yet, that snobbish ship has the gall to complain about the color! There's no pleasing it! Forget this...I'm going to bed.
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So many people try and pinpoint the negative aspect of everything that it almost makes it seem as if it's human nature to do so. Rather than focusing on the positive side of things, people tend to focus on what's bad about everything rather than what's good. It's a pessimistic way of thinking, and it can be found in abundance all over this planet. Nothing is perfect, and for even the most perfect thing exists a little something negative for these people to exploit...and exploit it they will.
If someone does something for you that isn't perfect, be thankful anyway and remember that this person didn't have to do what they did...they chose to do it out of kindness.
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Everyone enjoys decorating in favorite hues, but it's vital to utilize new colors now and then. This tube of goo will surely help you discover a new you!
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While doing things that we like can barely ever faulter, sometimes we need to try things that are new to us. Breaking out of the norm could help you find a new passion, a new love.
An obvious example that us gamers would understand is the cel-shading of the Zelda series in The Wind Waker. While it would have been great having The Wind Waker look the way we had expected it to, using a new style allowed us to play through a fresh experience that we barely ever get to witness, as most developers are not willing to take the risk that Nintendo took with such a huge franchise. Today, The Wind Waker is truly a piece of art, at least in terms of visuals.
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Conifer Spire |
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Life is full...but short! Is this one of those short-lived life-forms that changes shape as it ages? Even though it is dried out, it has not lost its unique charm.
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Aging shouldn't be perceived with such negativity as it does today. While physical limitations start to get the best of an aging person past their prime, they'll still be who they've always been. Every person is unique and important to this world, and aging doesn't make them any less so. It is merely another beautiful part of life.
Ladies, let those laugh lines develop. Forget using dermatologist-recommended products to have yourself pretend you look younger than you actually are... "because you're worth it."
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Lustrous Element |
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This rare, alien metal doesn't exist on Hocotate. When I gaze at it, I'm gripped with an overpowering sense of greed. On Hocotate, there is a valuable metal with a stunning sheen that has a similar effect. Perhaps this alluring metal is responsible for many of this planet's woes.
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Money is indeed a source of a lot of our world's problems. In this day and age, everyone needs money. When we get some, we get greedy and begin to want more and more. We pretend that it's a source of happiness when in reality it is nothing but a substitute to real happiness.
Behind all the materialistic happiness that money brings is a world that is being destroyed by money itself. When people get greedy enough to want more money, they begin to do anything to get their hands on it. People lie, argue, fight, steal and betray others over it. Some of the more extreme cases have murder involved. So much evil is brought to this world because of money that it's hard to say such a thing brings happiness. Perhaps the worst news is that it's now unavoidable.
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Mirrored Element |
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Talking to the boss makes me crave the power to order people around. He just sits on his haunch all day, barking out wildly irrational requests. Arrgg... When will it be my turn to be the boss?
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We can all complain about someone's superior privileges and authority, like Olimar's problem with his boss shouting orders... But if ever we get the chance to have such privileges, such authority, would we end up doing the same? Would we be hypocrites and start doing what we loathed when we didn't have such power?
Power's a dangerous thing. It could make us do things of which we wouldn't have approved when we didn't have it. It could make us arrogant, lazy, and even hated. Only people with the purest of hearts could overcome the negative desire that power brings, and make use of it to better the world.
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Sunseed Berry |
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I found this fascinating fruit while out exploring today. The skies cleared up, and I felt peaceful watching the pink flower petals flutter in the wind. During this perilous expedition, it seems strange to have such softhearted, romantic thoughts. If I told my wife about this, I'm sure I'd get laughed at...again.
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Life in today's world is quick. We want everything to be faster. We want to get to places faster, we want food to be made faster... In essense, we want to do everything faster, and technology helps us do that. However, in this perilous expedition of a life, it's important to just sit down and take it slow once in a while. Leave your watch at home, forget about time and take a walk in the park, watch the summer sunset, smell the blooming spring flowers, or play with the fresh winter snow. Slow down and enjoy the things that are taken for granted every day.
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This fruit is born of bright sunlight and cheerful warmth. Come, all you gloomy naysayers! One bite and even sad sacks will become foolhardy optimists. Eat one today and change your life!
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Life got you down? It happens to all of us. But even when everything seems to not be going our way, there's always that one thing that brings our spirits back up. Even the most depressed of people can go back to that one thing and feel that much better. What's your thing? Music? Art? Gaming? Your pet iguana? Maybe that little gift you received from a special someone?
Finding that one thing is the hard part, and it can change from time to time. But be it general or something amazingly specific, that certain happiness is always there in some shape or form.
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Sud Generator |
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I found a weird item today. Wetting the surface produces an endless froth of bubbles. It's amusing, but it will take further investigation to determine its practical use. It may take a young and playful mind to unlock its secrets. When I return home, I think I'll show it to my kids.
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Maturing isn't always for the best. We get more intelligent as we grow older, absorbing more and more information as our minds develop and allow for more storage and understanding of such information. But where we gain more information, we lose a certain state of mind... one which works in ever so simple and innocent ways.
As teenagers and adults, our thinking is more complex and thus our answers to everything have more thought put into them... so much so that sometimes we tend to overthink situations and end up not understanding their true intentions. We try and dig deep into something and try to understand its meaning even though there just isn't one. Children see and understand their surroundings differently, and at times their way of thinking makes the most sense.
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Manual Honer |
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The size of this construction rig is astonishing! It could build an entire house in minutes! The strangest part is that I don't see any electrical plug on it anywhere... Surely, you don't have to power it manually!?
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Heaven forbid having to manually do something! As technology advances, humans become less and less involved. We keep inventing machinery that makes things easier on us, that does our jobs without flaw. It may seem like a good, convenient solution to our work, yet in reality all it's really doing is making us lazy and unchallenged.
It's alright to do something manually from time to time. It is tempting to use a machine to make things go quicker and easier, but not everything should have to be made that way. When eventually technology is so advanced that machines will be able to do everything we need, what will we be up to? Twiddling our thumbs while everything gets done in the background?
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This is no lazy machine that runs out of power. This point-honing marvel works anywhere, anytime! The manual operation may tire you out, but the exercise will do you good.
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Further adding to the above comments, the ship agrees and adds another point. When we get lazy, we tend to stop exercising as much, if at all, and thus our health begins to crumble. Do things yourself instead of using an easy, technology-driven solution, and your mindset will more than likely help you be more physically active in life. Exercise is an important part of living.
Next time you have a choice in going to an upper floor using either an escalator or traditional, static stairs...give your legs something to do. It'll do you some good.
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Love Sphere |
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One of the wisest beings in the universe, this entity also boasts a galactic-sized helping of love.
...However, due to its shyness, it will never speak of that love.
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There is an incredibly large number of people who are too shy to reveal their love for someone. For example, when in high school a shy person has a thing for another, that love will never come to fruition unless they come out and say it. Not doing anything about it will not yield any results. The person in love could believe as far as he wants that fate will bring them together, but it very often does not.
So many opportunities for true love to bloom are lost due to the lack of courage in some people. It's understandable that it's incredibly hard for someone who is shy by nature to do that, but if that courage isn't eventually worked up, an important opportunity will be missed and regretfulness will be bound in the future.
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Mirrored Stage |
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Every day, it's nothing but work, work, work. Sometimes I need to just get it off my mind. So, I set this thing up as a stage and taught the Pikmin a song-and-dance routine. Red, purple, white, yellow, and blue Pikmin danced in perfect unison and sang their little hearts out. When I return home, I should take up a career as a dance instructor.
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It's very important in life to do what you like and want to do. Don't start a career in something that you don't particularly enjoy, even if it rakes in more money than your other choices. Money won't mean anything when you're unhappy every day at work. Make sure to start a career in what you love to do, no matter the yearly income. In the long-run, you'll be a lot more happy than you would have been had you chosen something that you aren't exactly passionate about.
Here we see Olimar having second thoughts about his job, and about starting another career in its stead. A dance instructor certainly doesn't have a more exciting and high-income job than a space captain, but if it's what Olimar prefers to do, it's a good idea to switch over anyway.
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Come rain, wind, or typhoon, this stage will always support the hidden singer deep in your soul. It is a lovely instant dance stage. How about taking one on tour with you, star of rock?
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Another reason for you to try new things is that it's possible to discover a hidden talent deep within. Perhaps you can sing and never thought to really give it a shot, disallowing the talent to be discovered. Or maybe you have a good sense of taste and discover that you can cook really well. Not only could discovering these talents help you find a new hobby or skill, but it could potentially start a new passion, or a new career in something that you never thought you would be interested in.
For those who don't yet know what career to start off, be open and maybe it'll be possible to dig deep enough and unearth these hidden talents.
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Master's Instrument |
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No artistic inclinations? No color sense? No worries! This no-hassle art implement was found on a primitive planet. From this day forward, you can be an artist of the ages!
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Artistic sense is not something that everyone has. While objects such as this "Master's Instrument," or as I will use as an example, the ever-popular Photoshop software, can make it easier for everyone to draw. But while anyone can draw a scene, not all of the results will actually have a good sense of artistry. Only true artists will ever have such inclination, no matter how easy and accessible drawing becomes.
In an unrelated note, the label of the Master's Instrument says that the colour is "Peach Pink," which is of course in reference to Princess Peach from the Super Mario Bros. series.
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Disguised Delicacy |
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Fruits cannot be judged by their outer coverings, no matter how hairy. This one is quite yummy. It is times like these that make me wish I were equipped with advanced taste capabilities.
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Fruits cannot be judged by their outer coverings. Books cannot be judged by their covers. Movies cannot be judged by their corresponding 30-second commercials. Human beings cannot be judged by their physical appearances. This rule can be applied to absoultely everything that isn't one-dimensional. Judging something or someone by their outer appearance can lead to misleading conclusions, and can have you miss out on some of the best things and people in the world. Anything that looks rugged on the outside can possibly be extraordinarily loveable on the inside.
We've all heard it before, and as cheesy as it may sound, for humans, it is indeed "the inside that counts." A good personality lasts longer than mere good looks.
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Insect Condo |
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This sumptuous nugget may look delicious, but internal scans indicate a parasitic infestation! The ship can't stand to even look at these pests, let alone store them. But I had to put my foot down on this one.
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On the other hand, in opposition to the previous entry, anything that looks really good on the outside can always be very defying. Sometimes an object or an animal looks safe to touch but is actually rather dangerous, and, most commonly, some things or living beings can look great but are rather disappointing on the inside (a rotten personality to go with great physical appearance, as an obvious example). The term "it looks like a flower but it stings like a bee" instantly springs to mind.
As a side note, the reason Olimar's ship dislikes insects is simply because it's a machine. The ship fears insects in the same way a machine would fear bugs... 'Bugs' being the technical term that refers to glitches in electronics.
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Memorial Shell |
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I've observed several species of shell-dwelling creatures inhabiting the Perplexing Pool. One of these feisty beasts forms a spherical gem within the meaty depths of its shell. In a way, this gem could be considered this creature's lifework. I consider my children my life's work.
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What's the meaning of life for you? Is there something specific that you want to accomplish before it's all over? What is it that you really want to do in life, and what do you want to leave as your legacy? Is it your parental ways, or perhaps the work you do, the creations to make?
No matter how significant your life is to the world, you'll be remembered for something. Make sure that something is what you want it to be.
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All that remains of a monster shellfish is a sparkle, the sole proof of its existence. Does this not make you want to treasure it?
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Further adding to the legacy aspect of life is this entry by the ship. When someone dies, it is important for them to be remembered. In a way, those who die live on in our memories...the sole proof of their existence. Death isn't truly realized until the people in question are forgotten by every single soul on this planet.
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Scrumptious Shell |
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This flavorful item's texture is most agreeable to any life-form... Or so my data suggests. Do statements like these, from a machine without taste buds, strike you as odd?
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When artificial intelligence gets to the point where it is advanced enough for machines to answer all of our questions...will you trust it? Can machines, who have merely been programmed what to know by a human just like you, subjectively answer a question like a human would?
The same can be applied to ignorance in humans. Would you trust an ignorant person to answer a question of yours? If someone tells you that a certain video game system "sucks," even though they've never actually played it, will you let their ignorant opinion affect yours?
Some people allow themselves to be influenced by such ignorance...don't be one of them. Develop your own opinions only after you fully experience the product in question, and only ask the opinion of people who have as well.
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Joy Receptacle |
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Today, we ventured across the plains to reach a cold cavern I'd been meaning to spelunk. The Pikmin have had a hard time coping with the bitter cold, but they were real troopers. Somehow, the summoned the strength to carry this box, so I hope it's full of treasure.
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The feeling of completion is usually a lot more rewarding than any physical reward you may receive at the end of a journey. Many a time a reward doesn't seem like it lives up to the time and effort spent on getting to it, but it is never really the point of a journey. What's important is the experience, and the feeling of knowing that you've gone through it.
An excellent example of this would be the completion of a video game. Did you collect everything there was to collect in Super Mario Sunshine? And what's that, all you got was a lousy new picture? Well, what's important is that you feel proud to have gotten through such a challenge, and whether you had fun doing all of it. The fun you got out of it is all the reward you need... after all, that's what games are all about.
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Be satisfied with the decorative outer shell of this rectangle! It is more endearing since you can't see what's inside. Not being able to open it makes it all the more special.
...In reality, it is empty!
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Mystery can be a good thing. It provokes thought, and lets your imagination run wild. The problem is that when a mystery is solved, the result is usually disappointing when compared to what your imagination had come up with. The feeling is always good when you receive a gift, secretly wrapped in order to avoid revealing anything about what's inside... but what's inside doesn't always match the feeling you get when it is still wrapped.
Disappointment is one of the worst emotions out there. Nothing good can come out of it, except the fact that after it happens often enough, you may lower your expectations and become more realistic in order to avoid disappointment in the future.
Hope for the best and expect the worst...only then will disappointment cease to haunt you.
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Essential Furnishing |
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This object sparkles beautifully. It's enormous, but I think it would make a great party decoration. That reminds me of the last time my family threw a party. I was busy at work, and I couldn't make it, so my wife and kids enjoyed the party without me. Hrmmm... My family grows further and further each day...
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Don't let relationships slip away. It may be easy to forge new friendships, but these can slip away just as easily, if not quicker. Your older relationships are the ones most valuable to you, as time allows for much greater development of fondness and trust.
Keep your friends close and your better half and family even closer, especially if you're a parent in the family. It is up to you to keep your family together.
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Chance Totem |
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When I gaze at this stone, I can feel my fate being forecasted. It must know what's going to happen to me! I'm sure it sees that I'll be hailed as a brilliant visionary and brave explorer when I return to Hocotate.
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Do you believe in fate? Can you control exactly where you go in life, or are they merely dreams that sometimes come to fruition thanks to a series of events, unfortunate or not?
Either way, one thing's for sure: you must believe in what you'd like to be in the future. Be confident and rally the right amount of motivation to do something about it. Don't rely on fate, because even fate can't help you out if you don't work at what you want to be. Earn your future, don't take shortcuts.
Olimar wants to be hailed as a brilliant visionary and brave explorer...but it isn't going to happen if he sits around, waiting for fate to drive him to that goal.
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More powerful than effort, more relentless than talent, LUCK is the true ruler of life. This mystical stone tests the path of luck. So, are you the true master of your life?
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So many variables exist in this world that it really is impossible to have full control of your life. Luck is a dominant force in everyone's life. Perhaps you had a bad teacher in high school that couldn't help you with anything, which affected your grades. You were powerless, you couldn't do anything about having that teacher. Luck intervened with your plans and made it worse for you. For that one class, luck was not on your side...but that doesn't mean luck will not help you out in everythinge else.
While luck may be a big thing in life, it cannot completely interfere with your plans. All it can do is make things easier, or harder, on you. Your path is always open, and it's always there for you to travel on. Luck merely paves a flat road or adds a few speedbumps along the way, depending on whether or not it's on your side.
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Endless Repository |
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Everyone makes mistakes. Sometimes desire overpowers reason. At least, that's what I told myself when I sampled this salty snack.
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Desire can be a devastating thing sometimes. However, nobody's perfect. People learn from these mistakes, which actually makes them not such a bad thing in life. Mistakes can't define a person, they can only shape them.
Next time someone you know makes a mistake that was hurtful to you, know that that person has likely learned from it. Respond to that by consideringg forgiveness. Forgiving them will bring you closer together, and helps them be that much of a better person overall.
On the other hand, if the person doesn't learn from the hurtful experience, you can tell that the mistake has actually shaped them into something which you don't want to be part of.
Either way, give people a chance and see whether or not they've learned before deciding on anything that you might regret later.
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Love Nugget |
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This tasty red snack isn't quite a fruit, but doesn't seem like a vegetable either. I've analyzed it extensively, and it appears to be releasing stimulating pheromones. Maybe I should feed it to my wife...
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Hmm...
For those who don't know, pheromones are a chemical that influences the behavior or development of others of the same species, often functioning as an attractant of the opposite sex.
It looks like Olimar is thinking of spicing up his marriage! Naughty Nintendo...
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One bite and your heart will be filled with a burning fever. Is the feeling love...or hallucination?
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So you think you're in love...
Is it actually love? In your younger years, you don't yet know the feeling of true love. But what does love actually feel like? How do you know when you're in love? If it's your first time, do you know that it's the actual, definite feeling, or is it a mere infatuation?
The truth is, nobody can tell you how love feels. It's a feeling that's inexplicable...one that can only be felt by the individual that it touches. Infatuations are there to make you believe that you're in love, and it tends to work, but true love is unmistakable.
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Pink Menace |
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This gem holds the shape of the universal symbol of love, yet its cut and light-refracting abilities make it a menacing super-weapon in disguise! It could be used to create a horrifying, doomsday death ray...or something even worse. We peaceful machines live in eternal fear of the ability of living beings to turn anything into a weapon.
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Machines will never turn against us unless they are told to...but humans have all their individual power to turn against anyone at any point in time. Not only can people turn any physical object into a weapon against humanity, but feelings, deeds and thoughts can be turned so just as much.
Frank meets a new friend, Richard, or Dick for short, and does something really nice for him. Dick realizes that Frank is a nice guy and decides to hang out with him some more. Some time passes, and Frank discovers through unconventional ways that the only reason Dick is his friend is because he's been using him, exploiting his generosity, and taking advantage of it. Frank was nice to Dick and all Dick could do is use him by pretending to be his friend.
Don't be a Dick.
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Impenetrable Cookie |
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As I grow older, I've observed that I'm becoming crankier. Today, I flew off the handle over a trifling matter. I feel like such a fool.... I must learn to control my cantankerous temper! I can't allow my bad attitude to erode teamwork on this vital mission.
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It's understandable to be stressed out and in turn develop a shorter temper, but it isn't when you take it out on people who had nothing to do with the situation which made you explode in the first place. Not only is it unfair to those people around you, you simply get a reputation that's almost irresversable unless a miracle happens to erase people's memories of you.
On the other hand, it isn't a good idea to keep any stress locked up inside. Venting is extremely important. Leaving any stress or anger bottled up inside can be very dangerous, as one day someone will heavily shake the bottle only to have the contents rush out in brute force. When all of that stress comes out at once, you're likely to lose control and do something very regretful.
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It is hard. Really hard. Too hard. So hard that you're not sure you can eat it, even though you must. This hard snack is infused with the essence of stubbornness, and you are powerless to resist it.
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A lot of arguments are pointless when both parties aren't open enough to acknowledge and accept a difference in opinion. When both sides act like such brick walls, the argument will either go in circles, or simply never end.
Are you arguing with a person that just seems to be a brick wall? A brick wall is hard. Really hard. Too hard. So hard that you're not sure you can break it, even though you must. And so you keep arguing...you shall never surrender! But you must realize that if you do continue arguing, you're no better than your rival brick wall.
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Succulent Mattress |
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A while back, I didn't sleep for days. My stomach was roiling and my head was cloudy. I couldn't rally any motivation! The only thing I could muster is a sigh. Then I found this mattress! When I reclined on it, I fell asleep immediately and had the sweetest dreams.
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We all have those days. The days when we don't feel like doing anything at all. We don't answer the phone because we don't feel like talking to anybody. We don't get out of the house, or even the bedroom, because there's absolutely no point in doing so. We barely even feel like moving due to an utter lack of any sort of motivation. Everyone has those days.
While sleep is the common and seemless solution, there exist other ways to get your spirits back up where they belong, if you don't feel sleepy. Music can be a serious remedy to your day of blues...or perhaps writing in your journal, drawing in your sketchbook, cooking that favourite dish of yours.
What's your remedy?
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Meat Satchel |
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This wand of meat makes me inexplicably hungry. The parts used to produce it seem to be of ambiguous origin and questionable quality.
Yet...it calls to me...
Maybe I'll have just one bite...
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Temptation is strong... It can make us do something that we know to be wrong. Yet even though that truth is known, we carry on and do it anyway, merely to satisfy a temporary greed. We feel bad about it afterwards, and we start to wonder why we ever did such a thing in the first place...
...yet we'd do it once more would the opportunity ever again arise.
Will we ever develop the will to overpower temptation? Being temptation's biggest enemy, willpower takes a lot of work and a strong mind to forge. Are you up to it? Will you take control over your temptation?
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Unknown Merit |
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Decades of toil with nose to the grindstone. Insulting orders swallowed without a hiccup. Such is the life of a salaried man. His name will not be remembered. His family will not understand. But if the results bear out his efforts, that is enough. Now, nose to the grindstone, drone!
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Some jobs can be cruel. Your boss can be the ultimate bane of your enjoyment. As a parent, your family won't necessarily understand why you were late for a certain special occasion, even though you had no choice but to be, considering that on short notice, your boss needed something submitted by a certain time. You may not be remembered as the greatest employee that the company's ever seen, even though you may just be that.
In the end, despite all of this, your work is important to everyone. Your boss needs you. Your family needs your dedication to support them, in this case, financially. The company you work for needs your good work to keep business up and running smoothly. You're just as important as anyone else on the corporate ladder, and while it may feel like you're nothing but a drone in a routine-filled life, know that your work is silently appreciated.
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Gemstar Wife |
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These parts join together to form an elegant treasure. Naturally, seeing the two separated makes me sad. I suppose what really makes me sad is the fact that I'm separated from my family.
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Long-term solitude is depressing. Life is all about communication and love, and being alone all the time disallows both of these to flourish.
Developing friendships and love is something unique and important, and as shy or as reserved a person you may be, mentally fight your way through to get to know people, if you have to. Once a bond is made between you and a person or a group of people, don't let yourself be separated from them, as a relationship can fade away like a block of ice outside a freezer.
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It looks like a common gem, but it is actually a female specimen of a gemstone life-form. Collect a male and a female and they will sparkle in the darkness, longing for one another.
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In this world so dark and dreary, love acts as the light at the end of the tunnel, the light you so desperately need on a dark and stormy night. A person isn't complete without a partner to share a life with, and together they will do their part in helping make this world become a better place. They will sparkle in the darkness, longing for one another.
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Gemstar Husband |
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A captain views his ship as a brother and a partner, someone he can trust with his life. It's crucial for them to develop an unquestionable, unfaltering trust. But I refuse to believe that this simple trinket is some kind of living gem. That's insane!
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Trust is crucial for any sort of relationship to work. Without a mutual trust, a relationship is nothing bu superficial. With it, you've got the true foundation of a friendship, or perhaps something deeper. When you question somebody's credibility, that's when you know the friendship isn't real... but that doesn't mean that trust cannot be developed in time. Trust is earned through the numerous words and actions of the partner in question.
Friends are those who cover your back when you're in need. If you can't rely on someone like that, and vice versa, then the true backbone of the relationship just isn't there.
Without trust, there is no love.
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Innocence Lost |
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This stirring object reminds me of a dream I once had. When I was a child, the twinkling stars held so much promise and mystery.
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They held so much promise and mystery...but they don't anymore? This exemplifies a mental transformation that every human being goes through as they mature. As children, we were ignorant, as far as factual information is concerned. We looked at the stars and imagined how magical they were... all the mystery that was behind them...
Yet as we grew older and information started trickling in thanks to an education, our perception changed. We now look up at the stars and think nothing but how they are merely massive gaseous bodies that generate nuclear fusion in order to emit light.
Where's the magic, the mystery, the adventure in that?
As children, we were pure dreamers. As maturity kicked in, it transformed us more into realists, and we stopped seeing things the way we used to.
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Think back and remember the starry skies of your youth...
Innocence... Every being once possessed it, but lost it over time. This star is the shape of that previous memory. All major credit cards accepted.
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Further adding to the concept of dreamers turning into realists, the ship adds a curious touch to its sales pitch with its hypocritical mention of the credit card. Not only does becoming more of realists affect our way of thinking about the supernatural, magical aspects of life, it affects our way of thinking about everything that's down-to-earth as well.
As children, we didn't care about money. We didn't care about politics. The world was a playground, and rarely did we see any hint of negativity...at least not when compared to the amount of things we now see as adults. We didn't need to worry about the superficial things in life. Things like money were never an issue, and thus a certain greed for it didn't exist.
In that regard, our innocence was further taken away from us as we matured.
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Temporal Mechanism |
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Believe! Believe in the future, in dreams, in unknown wonders, like this broken time machine part. This does not work, so there is no way to confirm its abilities, but surely your heart believes.
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This entry is directly related to the previous one. It is merely yet another example of dreamers versus realists. What's different about this one is that it shows that it still is possible to be a dreamer, even as adults. Although we become a lot more realistic than we were as children, it's still very possible to ponder the unknown.
Pikmin 2's characters and treasures as a whole, in fact, is based on that one concept. Olimar is a dreamer. What we see as simple, everyday objects are seen by Olimar as things that are complex and out-of-this-world. In contrast, the ship pretends to be a dreamer, but it is a machine that has but one mission when it comes to treasure: to sell. It will stop at nothing to sell an item, even if it has to lie about it. It's greedy, and even though words of wisdom come out of it every so often, its main purpose never changes. It has no innocence and never had the opportunity to become a dreamer like we humans did.
So what are you? Are you a dreamer? Do you believe that the broken time machine part still has the ability to do something useful? Or are you a realist and see it as nothing but a dead, useless piece of metal, because after all, that's what it is, as far as facts are concerned?
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Enamel Buster |
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Behold, a magical candy to make the children of Hocotate weep with uncontrollable cravings. Pure, undeniable sweetness: unavoidable tooth decay. Who cares? Enjoy the here and now!
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It's alright to enjoy the here and now, but it would be wise to look to the future as well. Everything you do has a consequence, whether it be positive or negative. Something as simple as drinking water in a glass adds to the work that needs to be done while washing dishes, which in turn could add stress to whoever is washing them, which could then lead to their being in a bad mood, which could finally backfire on you. Granted, that's a very schizophrenic example that you needn't worry about, unless you're one to be paranoidal. The ridiculous (but possible) example was used merely to illustrate the effect of chain reaction.
Action, reaction. Do you worry about your future, thinking before acting? Or do you simply act and leave the future in fate's hands, only dealing with the future when it becomes the present?
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Spouse Alert |
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Put this on your spouse and you will always know if he or she is approaching. How convenient! A must-have item for couples who like to hide things.
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A couple who hides things from each other can hardly be called a couple...or at least not an effective one. Not including surprise gifts that are eventually going to be unveiled, you shouldn't hide things from your loved one. You expect them to tell you the truth, and they expect the same out of you. Hiding things from your significant other is just another, more subtle form of unfaithfulness.
Share everything with your better half for the most optimum results in a relationship.
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Sulking Antenna |
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Amid the noise of the world, this healing antenna will produce a quiet evening just for you. Exciting radio programs? Fun TV shows? They're all shut out because this antenna does not receive any type of electro-magnetic wave. Its sullen behavior is for your own good!
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It's amazing how big a part of life is played by electronics. It doesn't normally come to mind because we use them so much...it has become a given to do so. But what if, all of the sudden, there was a temporary city-wide blackout? What in the world would we do? Would we turn to our celular phones to chat it up with our buddies? Wait, that's an electronic device. How about a handheld gaming system, or a CD/MP3 player? Hmm, more electronics.
In truth, a temporary blackout can do us good. Although you'll undoubtly hear about people looting in the city, you'll hear more about people having fun and getting closer to those around them, helping others running some errands, or just plain sitting outside in the night, watching the stars in the clear, dark sky. There are no electronic devices in the city, such as streethlights, to wash out the natural light that is emitted by the stars and the moon...which in itself is a metaphorical message about how electronics take away from the simple pleasures and the relaxed times in life.
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Taste Sensation |
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In this modern world of artificial foods, all things taste the same, despite your dear tongue buds. If that describes you, then this is for you. Its flavour is the balm to heal your wounded soul!
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The modern world is filled with unhealthy, generic food. With a fast food restaurant found on every block in the city, there's no doubt that a lot of people rely on them in their everyday lives. It's fast, it's cheap, and it fills them up. In a busy day of a busy life, that's the best deal they can get. However, eventually the taste of the food from all these fast food restaurants will get old and stale. Artifical food doesn't stand a chance when facing real ingredients.
It's important to feed yourself better food. Try new restaurants if you have to, and make sure they're not of the "fast" variety. Surely you can spare a dozen minutes more in order to eat better? Your taste buds will be content and your health will thank you.
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Omniscient Sphere |
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This creature holds the greatest concentration of knowledge in all of the known universe. However, due to its reclusive personality, it pretends to be a mere pebble.
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Not everyone in the world is outgoing. A shy person who may look to be uneducated could be one of the best scholars of the country. Some people only like to open up to their closest of friends, and as such, to everyone else, pretend to be less than what they actually are.
It's impossible to tell how anyone really is, unless they're of the most extremely outgoing people. You can't judge anyone by how they act in public. If you want to truly know how a person is, befriend them and maybe then they'll be inclined to be all that they can be.
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Drought Ender |
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As Louie's superior, it's my responsibility to teach him wilderness survival skills. Walking around as much as we do generates an intense thirst, so water becomes very important. I told Louie that we have to ration out water carefully. That's what I was thinking until I found this. I was so parched that...I couldn't help myself. I drank all the water in the canteen. It tasted soooo good. But when I turned around, Louie gave me a cold stare...
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When you give out advice, be sure to be prepared to also take it for your own. When it comes to your own advice, be a role model, and not a hypocrite. If you don't practice what you preach, people will cease to think of you as a credible source of any sort of advice.
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Rubber Ugly |
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The first time I laid my eyes on this hideous treasure, I thought it was a giant aquatic monster! It took me several terror-filled seconds to realize that it's just an ugly statue. What a relief... I was ready to run all the way back to Hocotate!
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Ugliness that can destroy all beauty drives deep despair into the heart of the beholder. This hideous item is a must-have for connoisseurs of all things wretched and repellant.
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Look at that horrendous thing! A rubber ducky!
These two entries use a sort of dramatic irony as a device to further continue the theme of "one man's garbage is another man's treasure," a theme that's found in abundance in Olimar's logbook. We, the audience, find rubber duckies quite cute. On the other hand, Olimar and his ship see it as a hideous monster of an object. As far as this game is concerned, this is the best showcase of this one theme, as it uses the audience as part of the example.
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Paradoxical Enigma |
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I'm not just an intergalactic space captain... I'm also an artist. I see the inner beauty in everything. Some things other people call ugly and boring, I find intellectually stimulating and aesthetically pleasing. It's true... I'm sophisticated like that.
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What's funny about this entry is directly related to the previous one made by Olimar. It's ironic that he calls himself an artist who sees the inner beauty in things, yet doesn't notice how he found the rubber ducky to be ugly when most people think the opposite. Furthermore, this object is merely the head of the rubber duck, yet it apparently isn't as ugly as it is with a body. Sometimes irony and hypocrisy drive deep within Olimar, as they do in us humans as well.
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Merciless Extractor |
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When I look at the president, I can't see myself climbing the corporate ladder. To be a manager, you've got to be an inhuman, heartless villain. This trait allows them to flog their dedicated workers without mercy and still sleep at night. I feel that same merciless cruelty radiating from this metallic altar. I wonder if it was once used for dark, unspeakable ceremonies. Or perhaps it was once the desk of a corporate boss. We'll never know...
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Although it may be hard to believe, your boss at work isn't an evil being summoned from the depths oh hell! Truly! He or she may fire a couple of employees here and there, boss people around and demand utterly difficult tasks for them to do, but they are merely doing their job. Their job is to manage the company and/or branch from a business point of view, and not a personal one.
If ever you get the boot, know that it was in company's best interests, and not your boss's. The boss is merely the messenger of the company's business practices, whether or not you agree with them.
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Time Capsule |
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This must be some kind of a memorial capsule left by a lost civilization. It has left behind some image data, but I can't make any sense of it. I'm going to have to do some additional analysis. I'll document any exciting new developments in my log, along with pages and pages of meaningless doodles.
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Photos of objects and beings alike can help your memory with a definite image of how they look, as far as physical traits are concerned. Photos are an excellent complement to memory, which is where the more important aspects of objects and living beings such as personality, feeling, and other such aspects, reside.
Take photos of the people, objects and scenery around you, if only for the distant future. One day the things of which you take a picture may cease to exist, and a photographic memory can be a precious element.
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Proton AA |
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This object resembles the first treasure I found on this planet, so it holds a certain sentimental value to me. However, I've just noticed that the size is slightly different. Sometime, I should take the time to read my previous treasure logbook. It's good to reflect on the past sometimes...
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It's fine to constantly think about the future, but the past is just as equally important. While it is different as far as it not being alterable, the past is what has shaped the present. It is what has defined you at the time being, and is something you can learn from. Do you like what you've done in the past? If not, will you change it for the future? Or will you not, only to look back and feel regretful once again?
The past teaches us, the present is the realization of these teachings, and the future is formed by our will to do something with these newfound lessons...
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Courage Reactor |
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Physical energy is not the only kind! The energy dearest to us is that made by love and courage.
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Without the energy of love, the world wouldn't be where it is today. We could have all the physical energy in the universe and be able to forge a new life, but it would not at all be of the same kind... And while the world today may seem like it's deprived of any love, in reality, we see it every day. The negative aspects of life are what stand out, what with the news stations reporting mostly the bad, but there is much love that is overlooked.
Physical energy without a cause, without love and courage, is nothing to us. It is both love and courage that stand as the backbone of everything that we achieve physically.
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Fuel Reservoir |
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The ship has a lot of self-importance for a machine. Apparently, machines can exhibit human characteristics after all. Perhaps they even have a soul? If this is true, then maybe you can work them into the ground until their spirit is broken and they stop giving you lip... Oh no... I'm turning into the president!
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We as humans are so desperate to find sources of energy that when we do, we are inclined to suck out any of it until it is empty. The same can be said about us humans, however. We are used every day. Whether it be through our jobs or through social circumstances, our energy is being used towards something. Some people have no choice but to be worked into the ground until their spirit is broken and they stop giving their boss any lip.
Even though it can't happen, if ever we discover that robots have a soul and start to complain about the work that they are forced to do, would we work them down into the ground until their soul is broken just as well? Would we suck the life out of every single thing in our path?
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Justice Alloy |
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You cannot see it and you cannot touch it, but it is definitely here and there. What, you ask? Whatever this suit is fortified by, that is what. I cannot believe there is a better material than what I am constructed of...
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Arrogance is pointless. No matter how good you are at anything, somewhere in the world is somebody who's better at it than you are. However, since there's no way of proving that, considering the size of the world and the number of people in it, being arrogant doesn't seem to have a consequence. Some people like to see arrogance in others, and some don't. While there is no right and wrong when it comes to this subject, it's a fact that there's no point in thinking you're the best...because you will never know that with certainty.
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Happiness Emblem |
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When you grow up and get a job, your time doesn't belong to you anymore. To make up for that, you have to learn to appreciate the simple pleasures in life. Looking at this pattern we found today makes me feel a little less miserable. This is today's simple pleasure.
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Though it may seem, for an adult with a full-time job, that there isn't time for anything that could make them happy, there actually always has been. One would merely need to look in unexpected places to find things that makes them happy...an otherwise overlooked simple pleasure that has been there every day.
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Choose your own happiness. Find the good things in each day. Maintain a positive attitude and good things will come your way. That is what one feels when viewing this cheerful emblem.
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In order to be happy, don't focus on the negative things in life. Everyone around you may, and they may try and drag you down with their thoughts of misery, but maintaining a hold on the positive side of things can help you get through that. In addition, people might take a special liking to you, whether it be to use you as a source of happiness and positivity, or to create a relationship in positive symphony.
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Adamantine Girdle |
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None want to believe it: a world so brutal as to require a steel torso guard for self-defense. It is certainly unattractive, but which do you value more: fashion, or personal safety?
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Life's not a fashion show. Never sacrifice safety or effeciency in favour of an augmented physical appearance. Sure those prescription glasses make you look nerdy, that helmet makes you look geeky, and that heavy winterwear isn't stylish... what's more important is that you don't get hurt.
We're protected against nature, but will there ever be a day where wearing protective gear such as a bullet-proof vest be necessary? Can a world so brutal and dark really be our future?
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Talisman of Life |
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Explorers strive, but fate decides. You can prepare and practice for an expedition, but there's only so much a person can do... Sometimes you have to put your life in fate's hands. I've come to understand this intergalactic truth while I've traveled to the farthest reaches of the universe. Fate and I are pretty close.
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What is fate? Is it the result of billions of events and consequential variables that eventually come back to relate and affect each and every one of us? Or is there actually some book of fate with written events that define the future? These two are, respectively, thoughts of a realist and a dreamer. Even so, what's true about both, is that we need to do our part for the future before letting fate take care of things.
There's only so much a person can do. We can't change fate's variables to our own liking, but we do have a certain threshold of control over each of our lives, and controlling it is a necessity.
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At the end of a long life, some beings wish to leave the world and stroll in a field of flowers. Does this desire ever come to fruition? I do not know...but this beautiful deck of luck wafers makes me wonder. Even we machines ponder the great power-down at the end of the trail.
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What happens when we die? That is yet another dreamer vs. realist wonder. Does the soul leave the body to heaven, to a better place...or is it merely an event in which our organs stop functioning and thus our body dies; nothing more, nothing less? It isn't possible to fathom the events which happen in the aftermath of a dead being.
On a separate note, the Talisman of Life is actually a pack of Hanafuda cards, which is what spawned Nintendo and its success as a company. These cards were the start of Nintendo's life [ click here to learn more about Hanafuda cards ]
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Fleeting Art Form |
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Some works of fine art are timeless, while others are fleeting. Once lit, this sculpted pillar of wax will burn with glory for a short time before flaming out. The purpose of this piece of art is to help us all envision our final moment of flaming glory.
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The things you do in your life are timeless. They shape history itself. But what are these things? Do you do everything you want to do in life before it's over? It will be over one day... The burning flame of glory that is your life will eventually be extinguished. Will you have done everything you wanted to do in life? Will you have left your mark in history, will you have accomplished your goals?
Life is short. For some, it's shorter than others. The number of years in a life is unpredictable, for there are many variables that can affect it. Though however big or small the number, one thing remains a fact: life is a fleeting art form.
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Back to Main Feature Page
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// A mysterious character within the Banjo-Kazooie series was meant to star in his own N64 spin-off...
Click for more . . .
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// Delve into the philosophical world of gaming in this Pikmin 2 special, Buried Treasures
Check it out . . .
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