Prompt: Beatrice accomplishes at least two prompts, the “Tell me a story” by having story connections with Swan and Quinn with exclusive in-game interactions with them and the “Written by a different style” by having a passive ultimate. I think she also accomplishes the “Contrasting parts” by being a Marksman Catcher (Role that currently only Jhin have)
Region: Noxus
Class: Marksman, Catcher
Role: Bot
Resource: Mana
Range: Ranged
Damage type: Attack damage
Physical appearance:
Beatrice is a woman who wears a full armor with a striking dark red coloration, her helmet completely covers her face and is shaped like the head of a raven but without visible eyes, the helmet is open on the back side, revealing long dark-green hair, she wears a cape made of black feathers and wields a bow made of the same dark red metal as the armor.
Base statistics:
Health: 592 +98 (= 2.258) Health regen: 3,65 +0,55 (= 13) Mana: 325 +50 (= 1.175) Mana regen: 8,5 +0,75 (= 21,25) Armor: 26 +4,7 (= 105,9) Magic resist: 30 +1,3 (= 52,1) Attack damage: 55 +5 (= 140) Attack range: 600 Movement speed: 330 Base AS: 0,625 Bonus AS: +5%
Ratings:
Damage: High
Toughness: Low
Control: Medium
Mobility: Medium
Utility: Low
Abilities
Passive: Eyes of the mureder
After damaging an enemy champion with an ability, they are revealed for 6 seconds.
Q: Raven shoot
Beatrice shoots a cluster of darkness in the shape of a raven in a straight line, dealing 60/90/120/150/180 (+60/70/80/90/100% AD) attack damage and slowing all affected enemies by 30% for 3 seconds.
Cost: 60/70/80/90/100 Cooldown: 12/10,5/9/7,5/6 Range: Line of 800
W: Carrion frenzy
Beatrice jumps toward the chosen direction and increases her attack speed by 40/55/70/85/100% for 4 seconds. If Beatrice scores a takedown while this effect is still active, the attack speed increase duration is refreshed. The initial jump can not go through walls.
Cost: 100 Cooldown: 20/19/18/17/16 Range: Line of 400
E: Dark plummet
Beatrice fires a shadow clump in the form of a raven skyward that after 2 seconds, it strikes the chosen destination, dealing 90/130/170/210/250 (+80% AD) attack damage and stunning the damaged enemies for 2 seconds.
Cost: 80/85/90/95/100 Cooldown: 12/11/10/9/8 Range: Circle of 1000 (Target range) Circle of 200 (Raven's plummet)
R: Demonic awakening
After this ability is learned, Beatrice will periodically be engulfed by demonic energy, making red light and sparks come out of her body, when this happens, her next ability will be powered up:
R+Q: Raven shoot
Now, after the ability reaches the target location or its maximum range, a non-intractable Raven will stay in that zone for 3 seconds, channeling a beam against the closest enemy champion, rooting and slowing it by 30/45/60%.
(If there is an ally Swain in this game, if the Raven have channeled at least 1 enemy champion, it leaves a Soul fragment when it disappears)
Range: Circle of 400.
R+W: Carrion frenzy
Now, the distance traveled by the initial jump is increased, can jump through walls and her attack range is increased by 100/150/200 as long as the attack speed increase effect is active.
Range: Line of 600/700/800.
R+E: Dark plummet
Now, when the Raven strikes the floor, it releases a wave that deals the same damage and slows all affected enemies by 30% for 3 seconds.
(If there is an ally Swain in this game, every enemy champion damaged by this ability leaves a Soul fragment)
Range: Circle of 400/500/600.
After damaging an enemy champion with an ability, reduce by 1 the cooldown of this ability.
(If there is an ally Swain in this game, when he gains a Soul fragment near Beatrice, also reduce 1 second the cooldown of this ability)
Cooldown: 30/25/20 Range: Circle of 1200 (Ally Swain Soul fragment gain)
Special event: In-game mission:
If Beatrice and Quinn are in the same match but on opposite teams, when they both reach level 11 and are both alive the Battle of the elite avians begins.
If Beatrice scores a takedown on Quinn while she is paired up with Valor or within 5 seconds they break apart with Behind enemy lines, the cooldown of Demonic awakening is permanently reduced by 5 seconds.
If Quinn scores a takedown on Beatrice while she has Demonic awakening ready or within 5 seconds she uses a powered up ability, the channel to pair up with Valor with Behind enemy lines is permanently reduced by 1,5 seconds.
Lore:
The armies of Noxus have small elite groups among them that serves exclusively a specific high-ranking persons, one of them, at the orders of the grand general, Swain himself, was known as “the black capes”, composed by five members, one of them was Beatrice, known in all the empire for having the sharpest aim in the empire as a whole.
One day, the black capes were sended on a mission to solve a problem some foot soldiers were having in the Western border, some Demacian rangers were infiltrating Noxian territory and systematically taking out their patrols in crucial spots. furthermore, two Ranger-knights were part of this group, one of them being their chieftain, eliminating them would erase the danger the Demacian rangers represented for quite some time, and so, the black capes were mobilized to assassinate them, after all, Demacian rangers are not only formidable foes by themselves, but they also count with the help of their animal companions, making them even tougher opponents to deal with.
After analyzing the places where the Demacian rangers have striked, the Noxian soldiers were able to triangulate their position, a small forest in the middle of nowhere, the Demacian rangers were trying to have the highest advantage they could by fighting in terrain they had mastered, despite this, the Noxian soldiers went after them anyways, in less than half a day, all the available Noxian soldiers got the forest surrounded and the black capes went inside it.
While the black capes were exploring the forest, suddenly, something caught the attention of Beatrice's eye; a big, blue eagle, sitting on a branch. Beatrice could feel something was wrong with that bird, it was looking right at them, it was no coincidence and she soon realized it was one of those ranger's animals, she quickly pulled her bow, but before she could begin to take aim, the eagle flew away and emitted a loud shriek and, within seconds, a round of arrows came from the foliage towards them, despite the surprise, all members of the black capes could dodge them, but the others rangers jumped out of their hiding spot and attacked them, Beatrice fired skyward a special arrow that leaves a trail of red dust, that was the signal for all the other Noxian soldiers to charge towards them, even with the skills the rangers had, they could not defeat so many enemies.
The Demacian rangers started with the upper hand, attacking the black capes from all side, but that situation changed when the Noxian foot soldiers arrived, the amount of troops was overwhelming for the rangers and their solid formation quickly began to crumble with a single casualty, the rangers scatters, desperately trying to end up victorious in this battle, and Beatrice decided to climb up a tree to get a better sight range and hunt down the remaining rangers, from up there, she could see the same azurite eagle from before flying toward her, carrying a ranger with a crossbow on its talons, Beatrice attempted to shoot them down, but, despite her superb accuracy, that eagle managed to dodge all of her shoots and to jump to another branch when the ranger fired back, when Beatrice could finally fire again, she aimed directly for the ranger's hearth, but that was merely a feint, when the eagle got ready to dodge once more, Beatrice changed the trajectory of her shoot, firing an arrow that pierced through one of the eagle's wing, severely wounded, the eagle had no other option but to land, but before that, it flew over Beatrice and the ranger-knight jumped off the eagle to attack Beatrice hand-to-hand, despite not being her expertise, she was able to defend herself against that ranger-knight, while on the middle of the confrontation, suddenly, the ranger-knight whistled, and despite the injury, her eagle flew towards Beatrice once more and clawed her eyes, making Beatrice lose her balance and fall down the tree, hitting her head and falling unconscious.
Some days later, she finally woke up, but something was very wrong with her, she had her eyes wide open, she could feel that, and yet, she could not see anything. That blasted ranger's bird had scarred her eyes and blinded her. While Beatrice was still trying to figure out how to react to this, a nearby soldier informed her about the situation, they were in a carriage and were being escorted back to Noxus, they managed to defeat the Demacian rangers and kill seven out of the nine that were in that forest, but they also suffered a lot of casualties, including the other four members of the black capes. Beatrice was in shock, in a single day she had lost everything, her most powerful asset and all of her trusted companions, a mix of awful emotions started tormenting her, anger, sadness, resentment… She was unable to even articulate a word and suffered in silence until they arrived at the Noxian capital. A helpful soldier escorted her to the doctors where they confirmed Beatrice's worst fear: They were not able to cure her blindness.
After hearing that, she took a decisions, with the aid of the same soldier, she went to have a conversation with her gran general, Swain, when they arrived at his place, she was informed that Swain was already expecting her and she could pass, when Beatrice got inside his office, before being able to say a single word, she immediately fell on her knees and started apologizing for her current state while tears ran down her now useless eyes, after some time of time, Beatrice said she had one request for her grand general, for him to execute her, for she is unable to be of use to the empire of Noxus, now that her vision had been taken away.
After hearing that, Swain produced the first sound he made since Beatrice had entered his office, by sighting to that extreme request she was making, after that, he got up and walked towards her, slowly but firmly, when he was in front of her, he asked if she wished to still be of use for Noxus, Beatrice insisted that she could not do that in her stat, and to that, Swain answered by repeating the exact same question. Without even questioning what that use could be, Beatrice said she wishes to serve Noxus until the last of her days. After that affirmation, Swain placed his hand on her head. A very weirdly-shaped hand, it felt more… like a claw. Before being able to think about that for much, a strange and painful sensation went through all of Beatrice, like if a thunderstorm was happening inside her body, after that sensation stopped, she… could see again. Although overjoyed for a moment, she realized something was wrong… she was seeing herself. Swain explained he had integrated her in his flock of ravens, that their consciences are now linked and she could see through them, after that brief explanation, Swain asked this time if she still wishes to serve him. Still disoriented, Beatrice, while smiling, answered that that would be her greatest honor.

A few pictures of the current setup:
https://imgur.com/a/MPVaDLa
There are so many options online and at my local home improvement stores that I truly cannot figure out what pieces I need to buy in order to first connect the two gutters together and then what to use in order to bury them underground and ensure they last more than a few years (and not get clogged or used by moles). Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hi. I have a 2019 Honda accord for which I am trying to replace the side mirror. I went to the dealership and they were asking for 400 for the part itself. I found something on eBay for 70, but the wire’s aren’t lining up. I mistakenly got the 3 wire before, and then ordered the 7 (what I thought was correct).
Bear with me, I’m new at this. I don’t usually do this stuff myself, but I am trying to save some money on the labor and part if I can.
Picture attached shows the wires. The left is the new one and the right is what I’m trying to replace (busted).
My question is if the wires absolutely have to match up or is there something I can get away with since only one is out of place?
If I can’t get away with it, would you know where I can find this exact assembly (not dealership). I am not having any luck.
Thank you!

Hello, I've been wearing glasses forever and recently have gotten into the rx sunglasses as well (because without them, there's no point in wearing sunglasses for me, sad story). So I own pair of rx sunglasses with brown lenses and I have 0 issues with them. I just ordered a pair of WP sunglasses, same prescription, but grey lenses - and I can't see well with them at all. Be aware, these lenses are NON polarized as I am very sensitive to polarized glasses and cannot wear them (and my rx is pretty high so it messes up everything), but I had the same feeling wearing these as they were polarized - words were not clear, almost like moving, not sharp, not static, kind of a dizzy effect, subtle.
Before you ask, no, they did not make a mistake and these were indeed non polarized, but makes me wonder, is there anyone who has experienced a difference with rx sunglasses depending on the color of the lens? Why can I see well with my brown lenses sunglasses and not well with these new gray lenses sunglasses, having them the same exact rx? Could gray tinted lenses create a sort of "polarizing" effect? Appreciate your thoughts.

Wow. So much has changed...
Long story short, I got my start in roleplaying back during the golden age of AOL and Yahoo (anyone else remember the Red Dragon Inn back in the late 90s and early 2000s?). Ah, those were the days, right? When the biggest worry was your dial-up connection, haha.
As I'm sure you'd all agree—finding long-term, advanced/literate writers is much more challenging these days. I have fond memories of when the process of coming up with a plot was an organic process; where you'd genuinely take the time to get to know the other person, build rapport, and allow a plot to form naturally.
That's what I'm hoping to find. With that said, I put a lot of effort into this post, so hopefully there's someone else out there who values the same things in a writing partner!
First of all, here's a bit about me as a person:

• I'm 30+, male, and I've written several novels and a bunch of articles, mostly in historical fiction and contemporary stories. Writing isn't just my job; it's pretty much a part of who I am.
• I'm always trying to learn something new, whether it's from books, documentaries, or just good old chatting. History and cultures fascinate me the most.
• When I'm not buried in books or work, I love to hike and take photos. There’s something about being out in nature that just clears my head.
• I love to read (especially non-fiction and historical fiction). I'm always down for swapping book recommendations, if you're also a reader!
• I love peanut butter (crunchy over smooth any day – fight me).
• On that note, if I'm being honest, coffee isn't just a drink for me; it's a ritual!
• I'm a big fan of the simple things in life. Give me a sunset, a good laugh, or a perfect slice of pizza, and I’m set.
• I love diving into those deep, meandering conversations that start with "what if" and end somewhere between "the meaning of life" and "why can’t we tickle ourselves?"
• Fun fact: I used to be able to recite all 50 states in alphabetical order — a party trick born out of a grade school challenge, haha.

Here's what I'm looking for in a writer:

• Writing Style - I'm looking for a partner who has a strong command of the English language. I'm talking about descriptive passages that paint clear pictures, dialogue that is crisp, concise, and not overly flowery. I prefer to write in the 3rd person, past tense. I prefer modern fiction and historical fiction stories.
• Communication - Life's unpredictable! What’s important is keeping each other in the loop about our schedules and any changes in the story or our approach. A quick heads-up can make a huge difference. It's all about being honest and direct with our feedback and thoughts.
• Long-Term Plots - I'm really looking for a writing partner who's in it for the long haul and is passionate about crafting intricate, plot-driven stories. For me, the joy of roleplaying lies in developing a story that evolves over time, with twists and turns that keep us both engaged and inspired.
• Sense of Humor - Writing together should be fun and relaxed, not just a serious crafting of narratives. It’s important to me that we can both throw in a bit of humor now and then, not only in our stories but in our interactions too.

And there you have it! If you're a detail-oriented, communicative, mature, and long-term story lover, you might just be the writing partner I'm looking for.
We should totally write such a good story that our keyboards will need a vacation after we're done, haha. I hope to hear from you!

I’m sorta new to this whole concept, i watched some youtube videos by a self proclaimed “satanic witch” who opened me up a bit more to it all. She was saying how demons can be good & you don’t need to do sacrifices that hurt others or the self in order to benefit from their helpfulness.
But my issue is if these demons are so benevolent like she claims then why call it a demon to begin with? Would’t that just be angel?
I’ve heard people say it’s not all black & white, that some angels do bad & some demons do good & that’s fair to a certain point but if said entity does both good & bad then i dont believe it fits either description, it should be called some in between entity. If it acts like an angel it should be called angel & if it acts like a demon it should be called a demon. If it acts like both it’s neither. Imo ofc.
Now i know that what is “good” can be subjective to a certain point since there is value in interacting/connecting with demons or evil in general since it allows for deeper self knowledge & integration but to worship or make pacts with these entities seems impractical & illogical to me in the bigger picture since by definition they are lying, malevolent, & insidious entities who always aim to undermine anyone with any opportunity they get. To say a demon wants otherwise would be to acknowledge that “demon” is not actually a demon but an in between entity. Even if a demon does offer some sort of benefit or gift it’s always met with the intention to screw you over one way or another if not then it wouldn’t fit the description of a demon or my definition at least.
Buuut let’s say i’m just harping on semantics & in her mind these entities whom she worships aren’t demons by my definition but are actually some in between entities… Why would you worship or make a pact with an entity who could potentially hurt you or those you care for? Especially when every demon has an angelic counterpart that offers the same gifts as the demon. Why not just worship or make pacts with angelic entities who have no intention or ability to hurt you or anyone else & would only offer you goodness. That seems more practical & logical. What can demons offer that an angel can not & makes it worth the risk when angels can seemingly offer the same goodness & more without the risk? The only thing i can think of that a demon can offer that an angel cant is harm. But even if the goal is harm i still think angels are better for that because no one truly wants harm, people want relief & see harm as a tool to achieve this feeling. & angelic energy can give this feeling of relief more directly rather than through a roundabout means like harm. Am i missing something?
TLDR: how can a demon be good if by definition they are bad, don’t they mean in between good & bad entities? & wouldn’t it be more practical to worship angels since they pose no threat to your safety & offer the same or more gifts?

I dated my ex boyfriend for a year and a half between 2018-2019. He is 17 years my senior and has some diagnosed mental disorders. I was young and truly believe I was groomed by him. During the period we were together, I also worked for him at his small business. Our relationship was unhealthy to say the least.
We had an incident one night (summer 2019) where he grabbed me by the throat, and pushed me against a wall. After that traumatic incident, things about our relationship changed and I wanted it to end. I had told him I didn't want a relationship with him but he insisted on continuing to see me and try to win me back. I continued to see him but less frequently, and officially ended things on January 2020, when I told him I no longer wanted to see him anymore. I was living at my family's house at the time. After that, he started flooding me with text messages and emails begging me to reconsider. He told me he would commit suicide because of our breakup. He also refused to return my things that were left in his apartment. I tried keeping things cordial for 6 months by answering texts, being nice, and assuring him we can keep in touch. By the summer of 2020, I had enough of the daily calls and texts and told him I needed a break from communication. That's when things started getting bad.
He started sending me gifts using my parent's address (he must have gotten the address through an Amazon account). I texted him telling him that I did not want anything sent to my family's house but he never listened. He also would message me on different numbers pretending to be someone else, make up stories about him committing suicide, to see my reaction. At this point, I blocked him and all the numbers he would message me on.
The first police report I opened was on 2022 when he sent me the following message:
"I am moving several explicit photos of you on work laptop because I need space on the USB drive. There isn't a password on the laptop and all of the team can use it but I don't think they'll notice it there. It's not my fault if it gets hacked and released on the internet. That isn't my problem anymore. If you have any objection to this you can message me."
The police said his wording doesn't constitute "revenge porn" since he didn't post it, he just moved it to another device. I also filed a PFA/restraining order against him at that time. He has never been served since he doesn't have a trackable address and regularly leaves the country for work and spends months outside the country at a time.
Things continue to escalate between 2022-now as he sends letters addressed to my father with embarrassing and intimate details about our relationship, packages with lingerie and my things, and pictures of me drinking (my family is very conservative and he knows this). I continue to take these letters and packages to the police station, but I feel like nothing has been done to stop the harassment. He has caused so much torment in my life. I'm paranoid all the time. I feel depressed and isolated. I just want it to stop.
I have a temporary PFA that's valid for another year but I am unsure how to serve him since he continues to leave the country and no one knows when he get's back. Is there a Constable or professional I can hire to serve him papers? What kind of lawyer can I hire to help me? I was thinking of maybe suing his company as well? I'm in the Pennsylvania area. Any advice and recommendation is really appreciated.

Anyone watching this trial?

This is loosely related, but the Daybell case is turning out to be a great source for a preview of what’s to come.

• Ms. Beaty is one of the prosecutors
• ISP Lab supervisor testimony
• FBI CAST & CSLI testimony from the supervisor in Idaho

I think there’s a decent chance the same ISP Lab Supervisor and/or FBI CAST Supervisor will be the ones to testify on this case, bc their departments are for state of Idaho & supervisors typically closely oversee processes for high-profile cases & are more equipped to testify.

• . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - *

FBI CAST / CSLI Supervisor - Day 22

(just ended about 45 mins ago at the time I’m posting this)

• He’s disclosed a lot but most of the info is with more abundant data to work off of.
• Google location history is the main source of the precise locations we saw pertaining to Alex Cox’s movements. > — I wonder if that means Alex Cox had a Droid (anyone know?), or if we might see something like this data come out with this case. > — being logged into Gmail gives them very precise location points, you could see Alex Cox move around Walmart based on phone location
• {For anyone interested in the Delphi case, the 100m range is explained}.
• I find it very interesting how willingly and easily the CAST team at FBI cooperated with this Daybell case, in contrast with subpoenas and the Touhey process being employed in the Kohberger case
• There are a lot of overlapping coverage zones in Idaho > (but this case is based on the opposite corner of the state, so it didn’t show the maps they use near where this investigation is based)
• he goes over AT&T drive test data
• a lot of the data presented is specific to AT&T {insights useful for Kohberger, Delphi cases} > — a lot from Verizon too.
• Random fact learned: Verizon doesn’t store location details in the data & analytics log on phones when texts are sent and received like other carriers do

Note: he’s not shown on screen & is likely using an alias.
Hot take: my guess on why they don’t have the cooperation from the FBI CAST / CSLI team on Kohberger case seems likely to be that they misrepresented or cherry-picked info, which the FBI CAST team isn’t willing to limit their statements to in testimony, & are going back & forth about providing a report limited to that, rather than FBI just stonewalling their request for the data.

^{That’s ^ my wild guess, not evidenced directly, just a personal opinion on what I think is likely}

• . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - *

ISP Lab Supervisor Ms. Dace - Day 20

• Her testimony did not help the prosecution at all IMO, but they did provide some interesting insights into their processes
• They didn’t find a single hint of Chad’s DNA on anything they tested > — despite 18 of the items being tools he owned & presumably has used…. > — They assumed ownership and that his DNA would be present (apparently neglecting to consider that someone else’s DNA being present could be exculpatory for the defendant) > huge risk from this testimony: conspiracy to commit murder + 1st degree murder —> just conspiracy}
• There was essentially no unexpected or incriminating DNA anywhere (Lori’s was mixed with Tylee’s in some places but she’s already convicted so that rly makes no dif)
• She gave some insights that help to understand the super high #s given in this case. — They assume mixture but test for a unique profile among it. — {they expected DNA from soil, decomposition fluids from both victims, and ashes <-interesting}
• They got reference samples from all the main players and, using using atypical methodology, did not test for any outside contributor’s identities > — “Atypical” bc thats how they did it “for this case,” she clarified (unique instructions or circumstances apparently)
• For all cases, they only test exactly the items & places on the items that police or prosecutors instruct them to, or things they’re instructed to test by court orders
• in this case, she saw potential blood on 10 items which they only determined was consistent with blood, but didn’t test whose it was on any of them.
• Their policy is not to run consumptive testing without approval. > — And apparently didn’t seek, or weren’t granted approval, despite not nothing testing positive for the defendant’s DNA

I was pretty shocked at how much DNA they opted to preserve rather than consume. In this case, what could they possibly need to save it for that would be more important than THIS investigation & trial !!!? - no one wants to clone this dude & taxpayers prob aren’t hoping for a re-do - and especially given that they don’t have even one tiny HINT of Chad’s DNA on anything….!..?..!.? - Yikes - (no fault of Ms. Dace though; she just tests what she’s told to).

• they assume it was on tool handles since he owned them, but that also bases the choice not to confirm on the assumption that no one else’s would be present…. we’ll see if the jury accepts that….

(For clarity: I think he obviously played a key role in the kid’s deaths & is guilty of at least conspiracy to commit murder, just now question the strength of the first degree murder charge, not his actual guilt)

• . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - *

Ms. Beaty - special prosecutor from the Kohberger case is on this trial too.

• she’s more effective on the Daybell case IMO, watching has guven me a better impression of her
• it might be just bc she has better arguments to use to lay out a clear picture, or it might be that she has a dif role in the Kohberger case > — She seems to get stuck with a lot of long-shot requests, likely bc she has a higher rank
• she seems confident, calm, & precise
  Side-note: Prosecutor Wood’s performance is a lot more mild than what I expected. Pryor is coming off as more thorough and inquisitive, but both of them come off as very kind and reasonable. Pryor’s been given an extremely difficult task to undertake single-handedly, facing what seems impossible. He’s missed a few key opportunities to question some things, but I think he’s matching the performance of the prosecutors thus far, from what I’ve seen. Beaty seems most harsh / stern from the bunch, but more likable than she’s come off in the Kohberger case IMO
  
• . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - * . - *
  

Anyone else watching this one?
— If not, honestly, I do not recommend. This trial is dominated by soft-spoken, slow-speakers lol.
Any other take-aways?
Or questions? (I watched more than most ppl prob have the patience for - it’s kind of like a long version of those old Clear Eyes commercials, but with lots of dead silence in between statements - so I’d be happy to answer if I can)

• anyone know whether Alex Cox had a Droid?

Beside White's because the fact of the matter is they are now owned by a Tokyo, Japan company named ABC-Mart. So, if you are looking for a pair of boots American made that would be : Drew's, Frank's, Jk's or Nick's.
I bought JK's. The boot themselves I had them customer to fit my enormous wide feet. The boot is amazing. It took about 1-2 months of break in. Which for me is terrible. But after that...everyday they get better and better. They have become my everyday wear because not only they good for the work I do, but they are damn comfortable.
Now, their service, the guy I talked to Jake and eventually the owner's son they are extremely nice people, they want to do right. But I order my boots in Dec. And didn't see them until May. I had to get sizing done twice because they lost my fit. Mind you @ that time it was 8-10 weeks max...not 20.
Would I buy them again...absolutely. but I would like to try Nick's because I hear so many good things about the boot.

I recently got my CCL and I've been carrying my firearm inside my center console. I ordered a magnetic mount rack and installed one in my vehicle (pictured) to keep my firearm about my person. Since we live in the great state of IL I did do extensive research on the laws but I'm confuse as all hell on what is or isn't acceptable so I wanted to see if anyone in here have this in their vehicle or if it's completely unnecessary or 100% know that this is illegal.
I'm moving to Indiana soon so I am leaning towards a more careful approach and plan to just keep the loaded firearm in a case (glove box), but I still have family here in IL I'd like to visit so I'd like to know if this mount rack is a no-no.
Any insight would be appreciated!

After 30 Minutes The Mystery Was Solved!
I was surprised it happened so fast! The comics revealed: https://imgur.com/a/OKa34f2
Mystery Picture:
https://imgur.com/a/mystery-comics-SWYl4y8
Intro Text:
Hello, everyone! This will be my 250th official swap (I've had others that never got confirmed for one reason or another, but let's not be pedantic). In honor of that, I have a giveaway of two comics that I shall provide some clues about! Whoever can guess what the comics are based on the clues gets them. If a number of hours pass with no correct guess, I will provide additional clues. Ya'll are pretty smart, however, so this shouldn't take super long, I'd imagine. These two comics are completely free to the man/woman/person who guesses what they are but if you'd be willing to pay the six or seven bucks it would cost me to ship these I'd appreciate it. Now, can you GUESS THE COMICS based on my clues?
Starter Clues:

• As the picture shows, these are two DC comics. They are issues from the same series and occur in chronological order of each other.
• These comics were printed after 2000 but before 2010
• The series these two comics are a part of is a series focused on a duo of two big-name heroes.
• A version of a hero who had appeared in other comics appears for the first time in the the, "Main," DC continuity in these two comics--first in a cameo and then with a full appearance.

Conclusion:
Thank you, everyone, for being awesome and helping me get to 250 swaps with this post! I've got some new stuff to sell that I will work on making some posts of in very the near future as well.

So In short my mom years ago made me wear skirts and boob forms and tank tops and apply breast growth supplements and fed me extra because she thought It would prompt me to transition to becoming a girl so she could have 2 daughters. It did not, because that's not who I am.
Writing that post reminded me that she put the clothes in my closet, and after I found them and remembered how awful it was (she made me wear huge fake boobs under my clothes and I was only able to wear skirts), and then I got suspicious and I had an idea to look into her Amazon history to see what the packages that she got a week ago (but wouldnt allow me to open) were.
She ordered a mf "electric massage breast enhancer", a "smart wearable butt lift machine",a pair of fucking "high waisted body shaper shorts", and a "chest push up top". I'm seconds from straight up buying a shit ton of food, locking my mf room shut, and not coming out. I'm just waiting for her to tell me start wearing it.
I don't know why the fuck she has such an obsession with me becoming transgender, because I'm not and it's not like that even makes sense to try to coax your own son into that so you can have 2 daughters because it just doesn't? I'm documenting this shit and preparing to leave early asap.
Fuck why.

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⚠️ WARNING: Maasverse Spoilers—Proceed with Caution ⚠️

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Part 1: Characters and Courts (sorry for those who already saw this post and now it's gone. I realized after publishing that Reddit formatting deleted a solid CHUNK of detail after the fact. Gimme a few days and I'll get it back up and published)
Part 2: World Map, Items, Terms & Other - YOU ARE HERE
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If this is the first post you've landed on, see Part 1 above for an introductory explanation to this two part post.

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UK + IRELAND

PRYTHIAN

A combination of Prydain, the old Welsh name for Britain, and Brython, which translates to “Ancient Britons” from Welsh.

HYBERN

A riff of Hibernia, the Classical Latin name for Ireland.

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Artist of Prythian map: P-dulcis on redbubble

ADDITIONAL EUROPEAN-PARALLEL LOCATIONS

ILLYRIA

The Ancient Greeks used the term Illyria to define a region in the western part of the Balkan Peninsula. The numerous peoples who populated those areas were known collectively as the Illyrians. The region itself is quite mountainous.

THE MIDDLE

May refer to the Midlands, the central part of England, though geographically the Prythian map places the Middle central to Prythian, not central to England; with the Prythian inclusion of Scotland, the Middle on Prythian maps is located further north than the actual Midlands of England.

UNDER THE MOUNTAIN

A potential nod to the Schiehallion, a cone-shaped mountain often referred to as the center of Scotland. It's name comes from the Gaelic Sìth Chailleann, meaning "fairy hill of the Caledonians." On the southwestern side of the mountain is said to lie the well-concealed Uamh Tom a' Mhòr-fhir, a cave serving as an entrance to the underworld.
As the Schiehallion lies in the middle of Scotland (the Night Court) and not the middle of mainland UK (Prythian), the Sciehallion could instead be representative of Ramiel.

THE WESTERN ISLES

May refer to the Outer Hebrides, also known as the Western Isles, which is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland. They are also sometimes known as Innse Gall, a Gaelic term meaning "islands of the foreigners/strangers" which was originally used by mainland Highlanders when the islands were ruled by the Norse.
ACOTAR role: The Prison is located in the Western Isles.

THE PRISON

Though located in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland rather than the Outer, the Prison may be a nod to Beinn Shiantaidh, which is Scottish Gaelic for "holy mountain." It is located on the western side of the Island of Jura and is the second highest peak of the Paps of Jura.
Fun fact: Pap is of Old Norse origin and means breast.

VALLAHAN

Valhalla is the hall of slain warriors in Norse mythology, located in Asgard, where those who die in combat live in peace under the leadership of the god, Odin. They are said to dwell in Valhalla until the events of Ragnarök, where they will then march out to fight in aid of Odin against the jötnar, a type of being in Germanic mythology.
ACOTAR role: Vallahan is a faerie territory located in the northwest portion of the Continent.

ADRIATA

The Adriatic Sea is located in Southern Europe and separates the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. It contains more than 1,300 islands.

BOG OF OORID

The Oorid Lough is a freshwater lake in the west of Ireland.

CRETEA

Crete is the largest and southernmost island in Greece.
ACOTAR role: Cretea is where Miryam and Drakon's people lived following the War.

LAPPLUND

Lapland is a geographic region in Northern Fennoscandia which covers much of the Nordic countries. It is also a province of Sweden and the largest region of Finland.
ACOTAR role: Lapplund is where the Cauldron was hidden.

ITICA

Ithaca is an island featured in the Odyssey and was the island home of Odysseus. It is also a real island in Greece. The Kathara Monastery is located in Ithaca.
ACOTAR role: Itica is one of three temples where the feet of the Cauldron were hidden.

MONTESERE

Montserrat is a mountain range near Barcelona.
ACOTAR role: Montesere is a fae territory located in the Continent's NW and is considered generally wealthy. They allied with the loyalists in the War.

RAVENNIA

Ravenna is located in Northern Italy and was the capital of the Western Roman Empire.
ACOTAR role: Ravenna is a fae territory on the Continent and allied with the Loyalists during the War.

DUNMERE

Dunmere is a hamlet in Cornwall, England.
ACOTAR role: Dunmere is a town located within the Night Court, between Velaris and the sea.

NEVA

The Neva is the fourth-largest river in Europe and is located in northwestern Russia.
ACOTAR role: Neva is one of the largest human cities on the Continent and is where the Archeron sisters' father travels to trade.

SCYTHIA

The Scythians were an ancient Eastern Iranic equestrian nomadic people who migrated from Central Asia to the steppes of modern-day Ukraine and Southern Russia.
ACOTAR role: Scythia is one of the territories of the human lands on the Continent, ruled by Queen Vassa. They are said to be a horse loving people.

ROSEHALL

Rosehall is the name of a remote hamlet in the Scottish Highlands.
Fun fact: The 2nd Duke of Westminster acquired the Rosehall estate and his mistress at the time, Coco Chanel, redecorated the interior to her own liking. Winston Churchill, a close friend of the Duke, also visited the estate.
ACOTAR role: Rosehall is mentioned in ACOFAS and is theorized to be the place where Azriel's mother resides.

AFRICA-PARALLEL LOCATIONS

THE BLACK LAND

Black Land translates from Kemet, a popular ancient name for Egypt, which is derived from the color of the fertile black soil along the cultivated area of the Nile valley.
ACOTAR role: The Black Land is a region of the continent where human slaves were ruled over by a High Fae queen. Miryam and Drakon joined the mortals in the War and freed Miryam's people by crossing the desert and eventually the sea.

THE ERYTHRIAN SEA

The Erythraean Sea, originally an Ancient Greek geographical designation, has been used as a name for the Red Sea which lies between Africa and Asia.
ACOTAR role: Drakon used his magic to split the Erythian Sea.

ASIA-PARALLEL LOCATIONS

XIAN

Xi'an is the the most populous city in Northwest China snd the second most popular tourist destination in China.
ACOTAR role: Xian is a Fae territory on the Continent and allied with the Loyalists during the War. A large majority of the Dawn Court is made of Fae from Xian, including Thesan's mother. Feyre remarks that Amren may have molded her mortal body after their peoples.

BHARAT

Bhārat is one of the two principal official short names for the Republic of India.
ACOTAR role: The Archerons lost their fortune when their father's ships sank on the way to Bharat.

RASK

May refer to Rask, a city in Iran, that serves as both capital of its county and district.
ACOTAR role: Rask is a Fae territory on the Continent and allied with the Loyalists during the War.

ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS

VELARIS

Possibly derived from the Latin vēlo*,* meaning "to veil, cover, wrap" along with "to hide, conceal" and "to clothe in." Could also derive from the Latin vēlum, meaning "to veil, curtain" and also indicates a tarpaulin acting as cover for outdoor spaces.

THE WALL

No singular reference, but the presence of a wall separating one race from another, often humans from mythical beings, is rife throughout history, mythology, and fantasy.
One from each category that has loose ties to ACOTAR: (1) Hadrian's Wall, ie the Roman Wall, a defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia. It spanned from coast to coast, cutting across the entire width of Northern England. (2) In Norse mythology, the Master Builder asking for the hand of the goddess Freyja as payment for constructing a wall around Asgard to defend the gods. (3) The English village of Wall in Neil Gaiman's Stardust, named after the wall separating the land of Faerie from the mortal realm, highly guarded and cautioned against for mortals seeking to pass through.

THE MOONSTONE PALACE

Romans linked moonstone to the moon goddess Diana (goddess of wild animals and the hunt) and Ancient Greeks linked it to their lunar deities Artemis, Hecate, and Selene.

SIDRA RIVER

Sidra is a name of Latin origin and means "Goddess of the stars" or "like a star."

RAMIEL

Ramiel is a fallen Watcher, a type of Biblical angel, one of the 20 Watchers that rebelled against God by mating with mortal women, therefore creating the Nephilim (Shadowhunters, anyone?). Ramiel means "God has thundered." Ramiel is sometimes conflated with Remiel, also known as Jeremiel, meaning "God shall have mercy," as is listed as one of the seven Holy Angels. He is the archangel of hope and is responsible for divine visions and guiding the souls of the faithful into Heaven.

POOL OF STARLIGHT

No plausible connection found, though there is a famous pool in Greek mythology—a pool Mnemosyne presided over in Hades, counterpart to the river Lethe. Dead souls would drink from Lethe to wipe their past lives from remembrance when reincarnated. Those who drank from Mnemosyne's pool remembered and halted their transmigration of the soul.

ATHELWOOD

Ethel (also aethel) is an Old English word meaning "noble." Athelwood can mean "noblewood."
ACOTAR role: Athelwood is Morrigan's estate located in the Night Court.

GOLLIAN MOUNTAINS

Göll is one of the named Valkyries from Norse mythology. Her name means "tumult," or "noise, battle."
ACOTAR role: The Gollian Mountains are where the Valkyries were slain during the War.

MYRMIDONS

In Ancient Greek mythology, the Myrmidons were an Ancient Greek tribe. In the Iliad, they are the soldiers commanded by Achilles. Myrmidon has also come to mean "a follower or subordinate of a powerful person, typically one who is unscrupulous or carries out orders unquestioningly."
ACOTAR role: The Myrmidons are a set of mountains serving as the border between the Day Court and the Night Court from which the Illyrians migrated.

CESERA

No direct reference found, but may allude to Caesarea, the name of numerous cities and locations throughout the Roman Empire.
ACOTAR role: Cesera is one of three temples where the feet of the Cauldron were hidden.

SANGRAVAH

No direct reference found (and I lost my mind searching for one). Closest I came to was the similarly sounding Angharad, a feminine Welsh name, long associated with Welsh royalty, history, and myth, including Arthurian legend.
ACOTAR role: Sangravah is one of three temples where the feet of the Cauldron were hidden.

GREENFIELD VILLAGE

No direct connection found, though Greenfield is the name of several villages of England.
ACOTAR role: Greenfield village is a neighboring village to where Feyre grew up and where Isaac Hale's wife is from.

WINDHAVEN CAMP

No connection found, though a separate Windhaven also appears in Tower of Dawn in the TOG series. Altun—Windhaven being the rough translation—is located in a three-peaked mountain range and is the home of Sartaq's hearth-mother and family.
Fun fact: Windhaven is the name of a science-fiction novel by George R. R. Martin and Lisa Tuttle following a group of humans who crash-landed on a foreign planet and learned to craft their own wings out of the spaceship wreckage.

THE WOLF'S DEN

No connection found, BUT fun fact: there is a named Wolf's Den castle in George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series (aka Game of Thrones) that now serves as a prison. "All the days were much the same inside the Wolf's Den, and any change was usually for the worse." A Dance with Dragons, Ch 29
ACOTAR role: The Wolf's Den is the name of the worst tavern in Velaris that Nesta is known to frequent.

SILVERSPRING CREEK

No plausible connection found, BUT fun fact: "Silver Springs" is a song written by Stevie Nicks, performed by Fleetwood Mac, and is so strongly ACOTAR-coded even my non-loving playlist-to-book self can't deny it. If you want more bread crumbles that SJM is a Stevie Nicks fan, "Rhiannon" and it's lyric origins have potential ties to the Rhiannon of TOG.
You could be my silver springBlue-green colors flashin'I would be your only dreamYour shinin' autumn ocean crashin'
Time cas t a spell on you*, but you won't forget me*I know I could have loved youBut you would not let me
ACOTAR role: Silverspring Creek is a stream running through Feyre's human village, near where she hunted rabbits.

STRYGA'S CASTLE

No direct reference found, but due to Stryga/the Weaver resembling a female demon akin to a vampire in Slavic mythology (see the Monster section above), it is possible Stryga's former home, before she was confined to her cottage, is reminiscent of Bram Stoker's 1897 Dracula and the Transylvanian Castle complete with three vampiric sister brides who entice men with their beauty and charm before proceeding to feed upon them.

The Night Sky

ARKTOS

Arktos, also written Arctus, means "bear" in Ancient Greek. Arktos was a centaur who fought against the Lapith spearmen. The Arktos Megale (aka Ursa Major, the Great Bear) is one of the original 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy who drew on earlier works by Greek, Egyptian, Babylonian, and Assyrian astronomers.
ACOTAR role: Arktos is one of the three regarded holy stars (the furthest left star) of the Illyrians and serves as part of the symbol for the Night Court. The echelon of Arktosian is reserved for Illyrians who survive the Blood Right but fail to reach Ramiel.

CARYNTH

May refer to Corinth, an ancient city that was one of the largest and most important of Greece, or Carinthia, the southernmost Austrian state in the Eastern Alps, noted for its mountains and lakes.
ACOTAR role: Carynth is one of the three regarded holy stars (the middle star) of the Illyrians and serves as part of the symbol for the Night Court. The echelon of Carynthian is reserved for Illyrians who scale the summit of Ramiel during the Blood Rite and are considered elite warriors.

ORISTES

Orestes (also spelled Orestes) means "stands on a mountain" and he is the subject of several Ancient Greek plays and myths concerning his madness and purification.
ACOTAR role: Orestes is one of the three regarded holy stars (the furthest right star) of the Illyrians and serves as part of the symbol for the Night Court. The echelon of Oristian is reserved for Illyrians who make it to the Ramiel during the Blood Rite but don't reach the top.

Locations not listed: A slew of various more minor locations have not been listed, including the Four Market Squares of Velaris, certain cottages and houses, and even the Ironcrest Illyrian war-camp.
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THE CAULDRON

There are many magical cauldrons present in various mythologies, one being the Pair Dadeni in Welsh mythology, a magical cauldron able to resurrect the dead, and the coire ansic of Irish mythology, the cauldron of the chief god of the Tuatha Dé Danann, which never ran empty.

TRUTH-TELLER

Possibly inspired by Fragarach, an Irish mythological sword known as "The Whisperer" or "The Answerer." It was the sword of Nuada, the first high king; it was said that no one could tell a lie with Fragarach at their throat and that the sword inflicting wounds from which no one could recover.

THE HARP

May refer to the uaithne, the magical harp of the Dagda, the chief god of the Tuatha Dé Danann in Irish mythology. It could control men's emotions and change the seasons.

THE MASK

In Egyptian culture, death masks were designed to guide the spirits of those mummified into the next world.

THE UNKNOWN 4th TROVE ITEM

Seen in a vision by Nesta via Lathys, which we now know to be the Horn, and may refer to the Gjallarhorn of Norse mythology, the sound of which is said to herald the beginning of Ragnarok.

ATARAXIA

Ataraxia, in Ancient Greek philosophy, was a state of calmness untroubled by mental or emotional disquiet, ie tranquility of the mind. It was considered the ideal mental state for soldiers entering battle.
ACOTAR Role: Nesta's Made sword.

GWYDION

Gwydion is a name meaning "born of the trees" and is the given name of Gwydion fab Dôn, a magician, hero, and trickster of Welsh mythology. Caer Wydion, the castle of Gwydion, was the traditional Welsh name for the Milky Way.
ACOTAR role: The Starsword and twin to Truth-Teller.

NARBEN

No direct reference found, though narben in German means "scar."
ACOTAR role: Narben is a lost sword from the Dread Trove.

OUROBOROS MIRROR

The ouroboros is an ancient symbol of a serpent or a dragon eating its own tale, first present in ancient Egyptian iconography and the Greek magical tradition, the term itself deriving from Ancient Greek. It has been used frequently and extensively throughout fantasy literature. It often symbolizes the cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

BOOK OF BREATHINGS

The Books of Breathing are a set of ancient Egyptian funerary texts that are intended to enable those deceased to continue their existence in the afterlife. It is a simplified form of the Book of the Dead.

VERITAS ORB

Veritas is of Latin origin meaning "truth." It is the name for the Roman virtue of truthfulness and in Roman mythology, Veritas is the Goddess of Truth. Universities and colleges such as Harvard use the term veritas as their motto.

SYMPHONIA

Symphonia is Greek in origin and was used to denote a variety of musical instruments.

AMARANTHA'S NECKLACE AND RING (JURIAN'S FINGER AND EYE)

Jurian's finger bone and eye, kept by Amarantha, are reminiscent of relics and reliquaries, often religious in nature. Relics typically consist of the physical remains or personal affects of a saint and the reliquary is the container that holds them.

FAEBANE

Possibly inspired by wolfsbane (aka aconite or monkshood), a poisonous flower ancient Greeks would poison arrows and bait with to hunt wolves. It is lethal and often fatal and is an oft-used plant and poison within the fantasy genre.
Fun fact: In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet himself was killed with an aconite-laced blade.

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DAEMATI

Potentially a combination of the Greek word dae (to give) and the concept of mati, labeled as "the evil eye" in Greek classical antiquity. Daemati may effectively mean "to give the evil eye."

THE WEAVER'S SONG

The Weaver's song, sung when Feyre was stealing Rhysand's ring from her cottage, is similar to "The Twa Sisters," a traditional murder ballad dating back to mid 17th century England. It tells of two sisters who travel down to a body of water where the older one pushes the younger one in. A harp or a fiddle is then made out of the murdered sister's body, which plays itself and sings about her murder.

As Jos Buttler bids adieu to the 2024 edition of the IPL, the picture for playing XI takes a turn. With the probability of Tom Kohler Cadmore replacing Jos Buttler, what other changes should the management make in the playing XI for the next two matches ?
A. Rovman Powell : Starts slow before settling in for big shots, struggles to tackle immediate pressure, struggles to play against medium fast bowlers and spinners in most occassions. I think the management should move Rovman Powell to no. 5, with Jurel at no. 6 and Hetmyer at no. 7 respectively. Rovman Powell has expressed his desire to play up the order, and even in the Caribbean Premier League he play's at no. 5.
B. Donovan Ferreira : While he is termed to be a destructive middle order batsman who has not been given too many chances, I think the management should include Donovan Ferreira in the playing XI against PKBS and KKR, instead of Rovman Powell. A slot of no. 5 should be perfect for Donovan Ferreira.
C. Considering the Guwahati pitch to be slightly fast paced, I think the management should bring in Keshav Maharaj as a third spinner who can probably slow the game and help the team restrict the opposition to a par score.
Playing XI predictions for RR vs PKBS :
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- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Tom Kohler Cadmore (✈️)
- Sanju Samson (C/WK)
- Riyan Parag
- Dhruv Jurel
- Shimron Hetmyer (✈️)
- Trent Boult (✈️)
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Yuzvendra Chahal
- Sandeep Sharma
- Avesh Khan
(IMP : Donovan Ferreira / Rovman Powell / Shubham Dubey)
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Let me know your thoughts.
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(I am not a creationist, but I am a bored contrarian and I need to argue with somebody right now. Also, I'm trying to get a better grasp of the rules of phylogeny, so maybe y'all can teach me something.).
Reasons that I think the LUCA was an animal:
1: Unicellularity is hard. We have this idealized conception of a unicellular microbe, where you stick a single cell on a petri dish and then overnight it becomes a million cells, but the vast majority of life can't do anything like this--certainly the LUCA couldn't, right? I think there would be an advantage to early life being multicellular, in that early life could "borrow" RNA/DNA/proteins with neighboring cells. Also they wouldn't need a full complement of molecular machinery if their neighbor can help out, even if their neighbor is a different species. Just like I can borrow my neighbor's stove if I'm making a special meal, early life probably borrowed very basic molecular machinery from the neighboring cell. And if any of their genes broke, they could maybe get a replacement from their neighbor? I think that it's hard to live all by your lonesome self if you're a primitive life form, so being multicellular is easier since you can rely on neighbor cells for various things and don't have to do everything yourself. I also think there's a very blurry line between a single multicellular organism and an interdependent community of unicellular organisms where none of the organisms could survive without the others. Many scientists agree that early life was like this—an interdependent community—and much life still is like this. But why should this type of community be considered to be closer to unicellularity than multicellularity?
2: The nucleus seems like a leftover relic from the RNA world. The primary function seems to be to separate transcription and translation, but why would you want to do this in a DNA organism? Why are you separating transcription from translation if you already have this elegant system in prokaryotes of just having the ribosome and the RNA polymerase right next to each other doing their things almost simultaneously, much, much faster and more efficiently than eukaryotes. Why make everything ten times slower by evolving a nucleus when you could just not evolve a nucleus? Evolution doesn’t plan ahead, and I fail to see how the nucleus is a favorable adaptation in the short term. On the other hand, a nucleus makes a ton of sense for an organism with an RNA genome because you'd need a way to separate your genomic RNA from your RNA transcripts so they could be regulated separately -- You wouldn't want to splice up or run a ribosome over your RNA genome, that would be a disaster.
3: Having a nucleus would make it easier to evolve DNA. Whatever enzyme is deoxygenating the RNA backbone wouldn't run into the problem of accidentally deoxygenating the RNA transcripts. Since the transcripts are outside the nucleus.
4: The nucleus could be an early form of cell specialization for a multicellular life form. If we think of the nucleus as a separate cell from the cytoplasmic space, I think the picture of early RNA life becomes clearer. Some cells/compartments evolve to specialize in replication and transcription -- these become the nucleus -- wheras other cells/compartments become specialized for translation of proteins --these became the cytoplasmic space, which ultimately engulfed the nucleus. In this primitive RNA organism, there would have been little distinction between replication and transcription. The cells of various sizes would have shared proteins, allowing the smaller cells specialized for replication/transcription to still benefit from the gene products being produced in the larger cells specialized for translation. The smaller cells would do a more faithful job of replicating the genome and not have to risk damaging their genes in the messy process of gene expression.
5: Based on the multiple chromosomes in the nucleus, the first Eukaryote was a likely a synthesis of multiple organisms. Multiple organisms implies multicellular. If we look inside the nucleus, we see multiple, weird, x-shaped chromosomes, with a bunch of dumb hacks (centrosomes, telomerase, etc) to keep them from falling apart as they replicate. The bacterial system makes so much more sense for modern organisms -- just having a single circular chromosome: simple, elegant, effective. Again, the eukaryotic system seems like a molecular fossil from an earlier era where these features were actually necessary. I'd argue that the eukaryotic system supports multiple chromosomes because the original chromosomes were the RNA genomes of different interdependent organisms that lived in a multicellular community. Their RNA migrated into a single nucleus for better regulated and better synchronized replication of the community genes.
6: The homologies between Porifera and Amoebozoa make no sense if Animals came from Choanoflagellates. It is widely assumed that multicellular eukaryotes evolved from single-celled eukaryotes, and this seems to be the case in land plants, at least, since they're so similar to algae which obviously came before land plants--but are we sure that it isn't the other way around for animals? Conventional wisdom is that animals evolved from choanoflagellates, and we see very similar cells to choanoflagellates in Porifera called choanocytes. BUT: Porifera (sponges) also have amoebocytes, which look and function a lot like amoebas. Amoebas are believed to be relatively closely related to animals, although not as closely related as choanoflagellates. Yet animals cannot have evolved from both amoebas and choanoflagellates, and choanoflagellates look nothing like amoebas. Isn't it an odd coincidence that amoebocyte cells in sponges are so much like amoebas? If animals came from choanoflagellates, then the similarity of amoebas and amoebocytes would have to be a coincidence. An alternative direction of evolution makes a lot more sense to me: Animals came first, and amoebas and choanoflagellates are separate lineages of reduced animals that have evolved down to only being a single cell. Other eukaryotes (such as fungi, algae and plants) could be evolved from these single-celled descendants of animals.
7: Gene homologies between microsporidia and prokaryotes. Since microsporidia are very obviously reduced fungi, this makes no sense in the current prokaryote-first paradigm, so these gene homologies are handwaved away as being the result of horizontal gene transfer. But what if it isn't horizontal gene transfer? Microsporidia is a parasitic clade of fungi which has lost most of its genes, seemingly lost its mitochondria (are we absolutely sure they ever had mitochondria?) and shrunk to about the size of a bacterium. Its shrunk so much and lost so many genes that it actually is able to withstand mutations to very basic molecular machinery such as its ribosomes, which are very different from the ribosomes of other eukaryotes and seem more similar to the smaller ribosomes of prokaryotes. Perhaps prokaryotes are just even-further-reduced microsporidia that have lost their nucleus, circularized their DNA (which can also happen in cancer cells, google "eccDNA") and further streamlined their molecular machinery.
8: We can learn a lot about the order of the clades from the type of ecological niches they currently occupy. For example: there do exist extremophile bacteria, so there's nothing inherent in bacterial microbiology that prevents them from evolving into extremophiles. So why do we see mostly extremophile archaea, but bacteria occupy almost all of the generalist, high productivity microbial niches? I'd argue: Probably, archaea had a head start in evolving specialized adaptations for extremophile environments. Probably, archaea came first. Imagine an archaeon existing before there were any bacteria, and it evolved to occupy all microbe ecological niches. Then bacteria came along in a new adaptive radiation with superior molecular biology. They were able to supplant archaea from most generalist niches but haven't been able to challenge archaea for extremophile niches for which archaea have specialized genes and specialized adaptations. And neither bacteria nor archaea seriously challenge eukaryotes for the larger ecological niches which require even more specialized adaptations. This to me implies that Eukaryotes came first, archaea came second, and bacteria are the most recent domain.
9: Animals almost exclusively occupy the large, complex, predator niche. I'd argue that the large predator niche, of all ecological niches, is the one where the greatest advantage is given to the organism who evolves to fill the niche first. Because selection pressure changes a lot once the predator appears: Things that can't run away from the predator are forced to make themselves as unappetizing as possible. So they can't have complex proteins, since complex proteins = tastier. So how can any clade evolve into a predator if there already exists a predator clade that could eat it? The fossil record seems to think: It can’t. Throughout the entire fossil record for which we have good records (since the Cambrian), the predator is always an animal. Never does a slime mold or a fungus something evolve muscles and teeth and start competing with animals for the predator niche. But this isn’t 100% true -- you have Venus fly traps, I suppose? So that’s one exception, the only one I can think of. Animal predators today have billions of years of evolutionary head start evolving such things as muscles, a nervous system, circulatory system, etc. If anything else other than an animal starts evolving complex structures or energy storage, it's only going to make itself tastier to an animal. The predator is also the niche that cares the least about the efficiency of basic molecular processes -- it doesn't need to be efficient when the world is its buffet. For this reason, I'd argue that the predator clade must have established itself very early. Probably the kingdom that occupies the apex predator niche at any given time is the absolute oldest lineage of multicellular life. Because long, long after all the original autotrophs have gone extinct, replaced with things that don't waste so much energy and have more efficient and streamlined molecular biology, the apex predator clade would remain on its throne, since nothing, I'd argue, would be able to compete with its evolutionary head start evolving so many complex adaptations for multicellularity. Are we to believe there was ever a time when the apex predator niche was something other than an animal? It's difficult to imagine. If that apex predator was a prokaryote, what is it about animal molecular biology that allowed it to overcome such extreme odds and supplant that prokaryote as the apex predator?
10: The fossil record of animals before the Cambrian is probably very incomplete. The first complex animals in the fossil record (the cambrian explosion) seem very, very advanced already -- I think this is a representation that our fossil record is incomplete and animals are a much older clade than they seem. Since predators are rarer in an ecosystem, and may have been even rarer when energy was scarcer due to less oxygen in the atmosphere (early heterotrophic life likely breathed sulfur compounds), we may simply not have any good fossils of animals from before the cambrian.
11: It's also possible that early animals simply weren't made out of the right material to fossilize. Maybe Archean-eon animals had no bones or anything like that and so they didn't fossilize, so we don't have examples of them. We can't assume that just because you don't find fossilized animals from ~3 billion years ago doesn't mean they weren't around then. And even if we did find fossilized animals from that long ago, they were probably so radically different from modern animals that we might misidentify them. For example, we have many fossils of strange creatures from billions of years ago, nobody knows what they are. Maybe they are animals? Example: Google “Grypania”. Currently there is a debate on whether these are algae or bacteria. But they are quite large, and they look sortof wormlike, so, in my view, there’s no reason they couldn’t be primitive animals.
12: Animals are slow reproducing but have the most sophisticated adaptations for multicellularity. The slower something reproduces, the slower it evolves, since there’s less opportunities for mutations. So how did animals have time to acquire so many complex adaptations for multicellularity? They must be an especially ancient lineage, something that has been multicellular much longer than anything else – otherwise they wouldn’t have had time to acquire so many complex adaptations for multicellularity.
13: Phylogenetic trees based on bioinformatics suffer from "long branch attraction" artefacts -- where fast reproducing, simple, and numerous organisms group together at the base of the tree. This is a well-known problem for making phylogenetic trees. Since prokaryotes are so much more numerous and reproduce so much faster than eukaryotes, it’s natural that they would have the most genetic diversity, even if they evolved later. The appearance of prokaryotes at the base of the tree of life derived from bioinformatics algorithms may be a product of long branch attraction.
14: Counterpoints on mitochondrias. I’ll admit that mitochondrias do look a lot like bacterial symbiotes, but that doesn't necessarily mean the original eukaryotes had mitochondrias. Once alphaproteobacteria evolved, it might have infected many lineages of eukaryotes simultaneously, since nothing had resistance to its infections yet. Maybe it impersonated the mitosome and supplanted its function, and did such a good job as a mitosome that the only surviving eukaryotic lineages are ones with alphaproteobacterial infections. Also, if we assume that bacteria are reduced eukaryotes, then many of the gene homologies for mitochondria associated genes could have been present in the eukaryotic LUCA, and perhaps they were used for regulating the mitosome which preceded mitochondrias. I think that the mitochondria is an interesting piece of the puzzle, but it doesn't conclusively demonstrate that prokaryotes came first.
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I make ASCII phylogenetic tree for fun:

 _______________________________________________Placazoa 1____LUCA_____________________________________________5_____Ctenophora _______Cnidaria ___Bilateria ______________________________________________Porifera _____________Choanoflagellatea _________Dinoflagellata _______Algae ____Viridiplantae __2___________________________________Amoebozoa _________________________________Fungi _3_______Microsporidia __4____Archaea ^ ______Bacteria (endosymbiosis into various eukaryotic clades) _____Mitochondria ^ (horizontal gene transfer from now-extinct RNA life forms to bacteria and archaea) ______________________primitive RNA life forms (extinct) 1: A community of highly interdependent organisms evolves into multicellular eukaryotic progenator with a DNA genome inside a nucleus. This hypothetical LUCA is a relatively large and complex heterotroph which fed on primitive RNA life forms. 2: First truely unicellular (non-colonial) organisms (independent living isn't easy!) 3: Extreme miniaturization 4: Loss of eukaryotic nucleus 5: Complex adaptations for apex predator niches (neurons, etc) 

Gas Giants, Space Pirates, & Bureaucrats is a mid-future space opera featuring themes of government corruption, corporate intrigue, and military logistics on sides of a conflict both legal and illicit, interspersed with fast paced and high intensity combat combat sequences - boots on the ground, as well as space and atmospheric dogfighting.