Walk in the Sand with Ebenguard

The element associated with Ebenguard is tides. Picture yourself walking along a shoreline, maybe it’s a hot day and you’re walking through wet sand to cool off, maybe it’s a little chillier and you’re just out for a stroll, no matter.

While walking you cross paths with others, some new friends, some old.
Do you introduce yourself since you’re new? Do you muse about the mundane? About magiq? Do you just catch up on your day? Do you talk about our guild and it’s affinities?
Whatever inspires you to discuss, this is the place to do so!

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My name is Ginger, and I’m one of the guild leaders alongside @Ashburn.

In the mundane world I’m studying English literature, and working at a private group home for seniors with various mental and physical disabilities.
I do way too many things because I’m insane? I run the improv club on campus, I run a dance club that teaches all sorts of styles to all levels (and then spend waaaayyy too much time in the studio at the gym) and dance in a crew outside that, I’m sometimes staff sometimes just super volunteer at my local campus and community radio station, I’m dance director for the Musical Theatre Society here, I’m on the Board of Directors for our student publication, and am constantly sleep deprived and screaming internally?

Thankfully, summer is a nice break from most of that and gives me time to do things for fun like reading, or actually being active on the forums, or being outside ever.

I do lots of things because I enjoy taking advantage of opportunities that are presented to me, so that’s lead to quite the list of random seeming life experiences. For instance I spent most of my weekends and summers in high school working on getting my pilots license? Or I used to compete in biathlon and now officiate instead? Yeah. Random. :sweat_smile:

I’m a really good jack of all trades, I think.

It may seem intimidating or interesting but honestly I’m just an awkward ball of empathy who enjoys friendshipping and has a knack for scheduling.

I love the Mountaineers, and I love my guild and have lots of feelings about it. I’m always down to talk about anything, because people are super interesting and I love hearing their life stories.

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@Ginger I didn’t know that you also studied English Literature! It is an underrated major, according to my point of view, but like how I choose a class in an MMORPG, I tend to pick the least “popular” class among the players to play with. Anyways, thank you for giving us such a thoughtful prompt to discuss! I rarely take a stroll on the beach, but when I do, I would want to completely be submersed in my own thoughts and daydreams. I am a daydreamer, so I tend to transform the real world into a fantasy land of my own, where myths and magiq exist. As you mentioned that Ebenguard is associated with tides, I would also imagine Ebenguardians to be emotional and creative individuals, and it would be much easier for me to approach these people in case if I happen to meet my fellow Ebenguardians while walking on the wet sand! I might seem a little distant when I meet new people, but when you get to know me, I am very very talkative. Also, magiq is not fun if we do not include astrological stuff, and I am really into horoscope. My sign is Aries, and I would love to hear from everyone about your horoscope sign!

@Ginger You also mentioned that you run an improv club on campus, and oh what a coincidence! I am also a part of an improv club in my university too. It really helped me build my communication and interaction skill on the spot! Now that I am out of school, I just need to search for a job that deals more with my major while making good money to support my family (fingers crossed).

P.S. I JUST need to finish reading “The Monarch Papers” before I can get to do some engaging activities on here. That’s it for me right now. I hope my fellow Ebenguardians have a “magiqal” day!

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Ebenguardians are like every dating game show ever, we’ll never turn down a stroll along the beach.

It’s so cool that everyone on the server is so creative. Improv groups always sounded so fun, and I never got the opportunity, at least not yet. Good on both of you for jumping at the chance. I do perform in my own ways though, I’m the saxophonist for my cover band Rough Company, which should be having a convert sometime soon (I’ll post videos when it happens).

My dayjob keeps me going as a graphic designer for a sign company. Not every job is the most fun thing in the world, most customers wants something simple, like “Put my logo on this sign” or “I want this text in white lettering on a red background”, but then I get the odd job that makes it so much fun. Recently I had a customer come in wanting me to design a custom wrapping paper for his dog’s birthday party. Yeah that’s right pet owners, step up your game.:joy:

A little tidbit for @Song_Cye that’s so exciting to hear your about to head out on your career path! As a word from someone who’s found a job within his major, be very careful about who you work for. I’m currently in a job where I would love what I do and my manager is sucking out every single joy from the process. Especially in the creative field, it’s way too easy to jump at the first job because it might be a while before you get a chance at another, but red flags are still red flags.

I am a scorpio, and in a lot of ways I act like it too, except without as much secrecy. I’m a very open person and have little to hide, so feel free to ask me anything.

It’s good to hear about how everyone in Ebenguard is making waves in their communities. :wink:

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Thank you, @metatomato for sharing a little more about you! The more people share something about themselves on here, the more I get to see some “similarities” with my own life. @metatomato My boyfriend is also a graphic designer (and he is a workaholic Capricorn). He also let me see his projects, and I find logo designing to be very fascinating, especially when you can put a little of your own creativity into it. He forced me into giving strong critiques about his works and any other art-related things, so now I am kind of judgmental when it comes to art :joy:.

Thank you for your tips on picking a first job after graduating. I have always had the feeling that my first job would not be permanent because, like you mentioned, the manager or whoever runs the company makes it hell for everyone. I used to be a Vietnamese translator for an Allstate agency. Even though I did not like interacting with the customers, I had a fun time working with my co-workers. One of them turned out to be a Scorpio, and I find Scorpio people very “savagely” humorous :sweat_smile:. Right now I am just doing freelancing and gaining experience.

P.S. We are getting the hang of this. Let’s see what everyone has in store for us!

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I’m Ashburn, been around since the third assessment in TMP (tail end of Cosmos for those catching up with the books). Other Mounties started calling me Ash and it didn’t bother me as much as I thought it might, so it’s kind of stuck.

In the mundane I was once a theater major in college (not for acting, always have to add that since it’s the first thing people think). Now I do several kinds of backstage work and occasionally cover the front desk for a set of venues on a different college’s campus.

I am very much a Ravenclaw, so was surprised when the Guide didn’t say Thornmouth. I retook it several times since and every. single. time. it said Ebenguard. (Until last week, when I got :flinterforge:, then :ebenguard: again, then :thornmouth:, so I’m basically the whole east side of the chronocompass :deirdrexd:)

As far as astrology, I’m a Leo (with the moon in Cancer, so definitely not a stereotypical one), and a Wood Dragon.

I like crafts and puzzles, and participate (a little less frequently of late) in a couple of virtual fandom running clubs. The HP-related one is just finishing our annual group Quidditch race in about 45 minutes. The Quidditch-ness of the race itself is most dubious this year since it was also kind of themed on the TriWizard tournament? Anyway, four teams per house this year, plus three dementor teams. My team was racing against one of the Hufflepuff teams (though to be honest it felt more like we were racing a couple of teams from other houses more than them since that particular team just got to the finish line last night and my team did about a week ago).

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I love hearing all about your lives :cjheart:

To answer your question @Song_Cye my astrological sign is Pisces!

Yes I do improv and I’m in love!
So it was actually the first club I joined in the first week of university because a friend who also attended that university who was a year ahead told me this was THE club to join.
At first I was terrified of it, I was super anxious and doubtful of myself and my place in any sort of theatre, but it didn’t take long for me to realize I had been doing improv in different capacities already and that I maybe wasn’t the worst at it. Then it also turned out that the club became a family of sorts for me as well with so many interesting and supportive people that I’m still glad to call friends. That’s when I started to notice that improv was so incredibly useful in other areas of my life.
So I performed as much as I could, took any workshops I could, went to as many festivals as they’d allow me to where I discovered our university was actually really good at improv. There was a turning point maybe half way through my second year in a workshop, where I discovered natural and grounded improv and I fell so much deeper in love. I learned that improv could be its own form of serious theatre and could do a whole lot more than just make the audience laugh.
Now that I’ve become an Exec I’ve turned to instructing and coaching and I never knew I would enjoy it perhaps more than doing improv myself.

Oh look now I’ve rambled on, whoops :sweat_smile:
I can talk about lots of things that interest me forever and ever!

@Ashburn no! You’re ours! We like you, we’ve claimed you. No takesies backsies.

In all seriousness I’m amazed at your dedication to running, and just how much distance you can. It’s been a few years since I did any sort of cross country, and I miss it but also don’t? I doubt I could run a 5k anymore without totally killing myself. So kudos to you!

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Oh, the vast majority is walking. And with final numbers in, I apparently contributed almost 93 miles since the start of the race (two weeks ago).

And I definitely wasn’t planning on jumping the Ebbie ship :itsukitongue:, it’s just nice(?) to know the Guide is realizing those traits are as strong as they are.

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@Ashburn It’s great to see a Ravenclaw! (Finally!). I thought of myself being a Gryffindor since it is associated with the Fire element and Aries is a Fire sign, but after taking the assessment on the Harry Potter web page, I turned out to be a Ravenclaw. Well, Ravenclaw is known for their wit and intelligence (kinda like the magician type), which perfectly fits with the Ebenguard theme!

@Ginger Pisces people are super chill. I’ve known many Pisces people and never seen any of them being super mad about something. Improv did change my life for the better. Now I can be expressive in front of others without worrying about them thinking I am freaky and odd :raised_hands:

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@Ashburn that’s still super impressive!

@Song_cye if I’ve learned anything from improv it’s to embrace your weirdness

Oooo Hogwarts House? I’m Gryffindor, but Hufflepuff is a close second

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Hogwarts houses! I used to be a Ravenclaw, but I think when my Myers Briggs started shifting from an INTP to an INFP I got bumped over to Hufflepuff. Straddle that “Thinking vs. Feeling” line.

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Fair

I’m also an INFP last I checked

There’s actually some older threads for both Hogwarts Houses and Myers-Briggs types if anyone wants to share in those for fun

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Hello!

I’m a new Ebenguardian here. Devoured TMP 1 in a day and super excited to get to know this community!
I felt really pulled in this guild when I read the part about :

But you’ve also wondered what to do with that sense of what is true and right in a world of gray that separates who you are from what you do. The truth is you may be a civic-minded advocate, gathering people to a noble cause.

I’ve been advocating for a while in the student and women’s movements and now life’s led me to be in charge of a non-profit, basically a food bank 2.0 . It’s made me wonder how many of us Ebenguardians here work in non-profit or are in advocacy groups? I’d love for us to chat together about our experiences walking that fine line between helping people our best while also dealing with bureaucracy. Please reach out to me if you want to chat about it!

Also, I’m all about Tides and walks on the beach so yeah! Although it would probably be more of a solitary experience to me and I would necessarily talk to people I would see. I’m an introvert (also a Gemini) and would probably just enjoy the scenery and reflect.

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Ooohh I didn’t even think about bringing that up but yes! I started raising money through Extra Life Charity two years ago with my fraternity brothers in which we raise money for our local hospital’s pre-natal unit by livestreaming video games for 24 hours and accepting donations. It’s been an extremely rewarding experience, and now that I’m graduated I’m probably going to continue participating with other friends around the area.

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I work and volunteer for a campus and community radio station which operates as a non-profit, and that has us working with lots of the other non-profits in our community to be able to partner on events and help give the community programming it wants and needs

Omg! My friends and I do Extra Life every year as well!

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Hey!
Reading everything that you have done is super interesting and it’s really inspirational how much work you’re doing for different movements! I am trying to get involved with more as I have always had the urge to help people but have never known where to start really.
I have just finished up volunteering for a mental health charity (I’m moving back home after uni) and I’m looking at volunteering for a charity for sex offenders. I am also doing my best to help raise awareness for LGBTQIA rights and trying to donate a bit and share resources with my friends about the current laws on abortion in Northern Ireland. I have barely done anything on these really but I’m really hoping to do more. Do you have any suggestions or tips on how to get more involved?

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I just realised I could post in here so I thought I’d tell you a bit about myself! My name is Beth and I am a Hufflepuff through and through! I love cats and have a rescue cat called Bobby who I absolutely adore.

In my spare time I play D&D and listen to a lot of True Crime podcasts. I also really love drag and I love watching RuPaul’s drag race. I’m really interested in the art form outside drag race also and it is something I love reading about! I am constantly daydreaming all the time and tbh I don’t do many interesting things but I do ramble on a lot! I would really love to make some new friends here as I am quite anxious and I think this will be a nice community to go to when I need some space from everyday life! Reading about you all has been so lovely and I can’t wait to get to know you all!

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@Emerald_daydreamxo Thank you for sharing, Beth (If you don’t mind me calling by your real name on here instead of nickname)! My boyfriend is also a HUGE fan of Rupaul’s Drag Race. He often pressures me to watch it, but there are just so many seasons to catch up, and I have other things to do :joy:. Whenever he watches the show on his phone, I can only hear the contestants arguing with each other, but that’s pretty much it!

I also see that you want to help raise awareness for LGBT+ rights, so perhaps you can reach out to the LGBT+ Resource Center (which I think EVERY university should have) and talk to someone there about getting involved in the public services. Your university, in general, is a great place to start with since it is more convenient for you to travel around and spend time there. Once you acquire more information about other organizations that do charity or volunteer works, you can seek out to them too. Hope this helps! :laurensmile:

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I don’t mind at all don’t worry I usually just use the nickname as a tag name because I think it’s cute! Yes I love it your boyfriend has good taste! I just recently got my boyfriend into it and he loves it he’s even been dabbling doing some drag himself! I would say season 5 is the best season to watch that’s all you need! :joy:
I’m about to finish Uni but thank you so much I will definitely look into it! There’s a few organisations near me I think that even if I can’t volunteer I’d still like to support! At the moment I’m just trying to educate myself to the best of my ability and try and help educate other people on the matter. Especially issues that trans and non binary individuals face every day! I will deffo take your advice though and look into it more! I feel as if I should be doing more to support the community as people part of it helped me when I was discovering my sexuality. Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to me!

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