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--donation bonus (day #13, post 5/5)--
‘I’ve spent a fair amount of time researching the growth process,’ said Garovel. ‘The study of “emergence,” they call it. There was a time when the prevailing theory was that emergence could be achieved via a strong enough outpouring of emotion, but that’s only part of it. The real key stems from a sense of need--a powerful rejection of the immediate circumstances, as well as a strong desire to change them. The confusion about it being completely dependent on emotion comes from how the initial manifestation of the ability can be hastened by a sudden outburst, but that doesn’t extend to the growth cycle. Which, of course, caused all sorts of essential problems with experimentation, delaying our understanding of emergence for quite--’

‘You’ve lost me, Garovel...’

‘Oh. Ah. Sorry. But it is pretty fascinating, y’know.’

‘Yeah, okay, uh... what can I actually do about it, though? Is there anything?’

‘Well, in theory, the trick is to find a way to manage your expectations so that emergence can occur when you need it to. Ideally, you would have no expectations at all, but that’s easier said than done. Merely acknowledging the possibility of emergence will create some degree of expectation, even if it’s very small. Which might make you think that me even bringing this up in the first place is a bad idea, but on the other hand, NOT acknowledging emergence will definitely build up a subconscious expectation naturally, which is far more--’

‘You’re losing me again...’

The reaper sighed. ‘Well. Okay. In simplest terms, you just can’t rely on your ability to suddenly grow more powerful and save you all the time, because the minute you start relying on it is the minute it stops working.’

‘Yeah, I understood that part. I wanna know how I can manage my expectations or whatever.’

‘Fuck, I don’t know! It’s a subtle art of individual psychology! You have to figure it out for yourself!’