Trapped vertical

i made a youtube video of me energy trapping a yak with a vertical corkscrew in a 109 and i want to show a diagram in the corner of the video so people know what i am talking about, i cant find any good diagram of this maneuver. thank you

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Prometheus's defences had started to fail, as it took increased amounts of fire, from drones and ships of the Kirosian and Cerian space fleets. The situation was beginning to get grim, as Beyond's forces were reduced to only forty ships. It seemed as if any cries for help, would get lost in the depths of space.
However, a light began to shine on the visitors from Earth, as over a thousand Azurian ships, came in alleviating the pressure. The entire armada and reserve.
The one leading the charge, broadcasted a message to his fleet before the attack. "My people, and those of you watching back home. Today we have watched members of our clan die on this forsaken planet. Right now, our benefactors and the future Queen of Azuria are at risk of perishing to the monsters who threaten our very way of life and our existence... Forgive this selfish king, but will you follow me into battle and help me save my granddaughter and our allies?!"
Everyone watching, roared in response and stomped in rhythm. "Hai!"
Akio smiled. "Then, let us be victorious!"
The broadcast ended, as his ship, the Azure Dragon, descended towards Rennaya, ignoring the barrage of missiles fired by the Pandora. Akio looked back with a pained look, at the remaining, twenty-two Hashin with him, standing in formation by the bay door.
"I have seen all of you, grow up, trained you and guided you. I have seen you find love, be hurt, and find true happiness. Each of you are my kin, nothing can hold us back when we work together and no one can stop us." He took a deep breath, then continued. "However my comrades. Today is the one day, you are excused from your duties. This mission is out of respect for my child and the level of danger is much more than I can even anticipate. I will not fault any of you or hold a single grudge if you feel like walking out of that door right now."
None of the Hashin, flinched, nor budged, they didn't doubt each other either. Making Akio's lips tremble. "Do you know what I'm asking of you? You're lives, will be forfeit the moment we enter Rennaya."
Roku stepped up, unveiling his mask. "Do not disrespect us, Akio. Our honour was tarnished, the moment we let our prince die alone out there. We are failing right now to protect our King. Please allow us, to protect the next Queen and our Elder. For Azuria!"
He glanced back at the soldiers. "Isn't that right?!"
They stomped to rhythm, in agreement. "Hai!"
The General smiled as he watched a tear roll down the Elder's cheek. "Cheer up old friend. Let us die with you." He said, as one by one, the Hashin began jumping out of the bay doors.
On the outskirts of Senae, Atlas vs Tobi & Osei...
Osei launched several volleys ahead, as he called on lightning to reinforce himself. Atlas was elated, dissipating the volleys with electric volleys of his own, then blocked his charge, as he reached out and manifested an intricate sword out of the ground below. Which slipped into his hand, just in time to block a flaming strike from Tobi, coming from behind him and managed to push him back.
"Bring it on!" He yelled out to the brothers, while unsheathing his own sword with his other hand, then began simultaneously parrying and striking back at them both.
He broke the deadlock, then twirled around quickly in place, creating a hurricane barrier, pushing them both back. Then threw the sword he created, at Tobi, who managed to deflect it, with quick reflexes, however, the force of the impact stung his hands, distracting him for a second.
A chance the emperor did not hesitate to take, as he dodged a charge from Osei and instead, teleported behind Tobi, while raising his own sword, high above his head.
"No!" Osei yelled out.
Atlas's eyes glimmered, as he smiled, seeing both of the brothers in despair. "Imperial Judgement, Execution!"
The wind followed the emperor's strike, erasing the landscape behind Tobi, as a massive fountain of blood, sprayed out of a gaping new cut, diagonally down his chest. He dropped to the floor, dozens of meters from his original position, as he held onto his chest, freezing his wound and convulsing. It was taking everything he could, to not fall unconscious, however eventually, the darkness took over.
"I... I... I won't forgive you!" Osei yelled out furiously, losing it, as Atlas laughed out loud.
Then, he glanced back at him, soaking in the torment, he was putting the prince through. "Don't worry, he won't die. I still need him. I just wanted to make sure he had a good nap." He said, pointing his right hand at Tobi's body, as a coffin of ice, swallowed him and began healing his wound back, slowly.
Osei could not believe, the situation they were in. It felt surreal after everything he had been through. Something deep within him, began to snap, as years of trauma, boiled up to a single point. He lunged, at full speed, striking Atlas' sword, with overbearing might, and pushed him flying back into an area away from Tobi. "You bring disaster with you, everywhere you go. You're existence, is the only one, this galaxy... No, this universe never needed!"
Osei struck down as the emperor hopped to his left, freezing the prince's sword to the ground. Osei managed to break his hands-free and followed up with a high kick to his face.
Atlas bent back, nearly missing the strike, then gave him two quick punches. One to his face, the other in his gut, bursting forth a beam of ice, as it crashed him through several hills.
Osei got up, coughing blood. "Not yet! Thunder Raika!"
Lightning crashed down, meeting an umbrella of ice, that the emperor managed to raise in time, with its hilt redirecting the charge into the ground. "It's over. Just give up. You did your best."
Osei clenched his fists, seething. What must his people be thinking of him? What would his parents do?
He felt as if he had failed them and could no longer take it anymore. "Not yet. As long as I draw breath..."
He placed his hands together, condensing a massive amount of electricity within a small violet sphere, dozens of times over. "Remo Raieqa!" It shattered forth, beaming violently and eating away the landscape on the way, to Atlas.
Atlas raised a finger, as a sphere of ice, held together an unfathomable amount of pressure, causing cracks in the sphere itself. Then, he launched it towards Osei's incoming attack. "Wind Sovereign!"
The shockwave, followed by a razor blast of wind, dispersed his beam in half and dissipated it as it crashed into Osei's chest, knocking him off of his feet, and crashing him through the terrain. Osei was having a hard time, keeping his eyes open. He felt bruises and fractures in multiple parts of his body. "I've failed." A tear fell down his cheek, as his regrets ate him up.
"No, my son." His eyes glanced to his left, as he raised his head. It was as if he was daydreaming, with illusions blending in with reality.
"Mom?" He asked, unbelieving of what he was seeing.
She smiled while keeping her hands above his chest, healing him, as someone else knelt to his right and spoke. "We failed you."
He glanced at the face of a very familiar man. One wearing a crown, with a remorseful and saddened expression. "Dad? But how?"
His memory took him back to the explanations, the Novas and Tobi gave of the ethereal plane. However other than Tobi, the others had only seen one or a few Rennayans each.
Zenu shook his head. "We should have been certain of you and your brother's safety, from the very beginning. The life you've had to go through. I can never forgive myself for that."
Safiyah was fighting back tears, but she took over. "We are so sorry. Will you forgive us?"
Osei, laughed, with tears escaping his eyes. "I've never blamed you for anything. I wish things never went the way they did. You were the greatest parents. My only regret is not having enough strength to restore Rennaya myself."
He covered his eyes. "I'm sorry father, I'm no prince. I've failed to keep my brother safe and I've failed to bring justice for our people."
Zenu smiled. "If we can be forgiven, then you can too. Come on, get up."
Osei pondered about what he meant, but as he got up, slowly, his eyes grew wide. Standing around them, with Waio in front, were hundreds of millions, if not a billion people.
Safiyah spoke up. "My little Osei, no one blames you for anything, you've far exceeded what was expected of you and gave hope to the galaxy once more. You have done your part. Let us help you, with what you want to do. However, I would advise you to take your brother and escape immediately."
Osei was a little dumbfounded to be once again, seeing so many of his people. It was a little difficult for him to speak. "Thank... You."
He shook his thoughts away, remembering his mission. Then he reached his hand out, as his sword, flew back into his palm, hilt first. "I have to keep my little brother safe. My people, I ask of you, please lend me your strength."
They all began to kneel and punch the ground, as their fists broke through into a deep abyss of darkness. Each of their eyes, began to glow, like a domino effect. They all smiled and spoke together. "Yes, Your Highness."
Osei was stunned, as multiple branches of energy began, opening up, within his body.
Waio spoke up. "Do not be alarmed, my pupil. Of course, you're affinity is high with your people. All of Rennaya once celebrated your birth as a sign of hope, prosperity, and good times to come."
Seeing Waio again, made it hard for him to keep his composure. He continued to look around, remembering all of the faces, of people he used to know, as his parents placed their hands on his shoulders, then spoke in unison. "Whatever you do from now on just know, that we are proud of you and we will always love you, no matter what."
He nodded, as his tears dried up, along with them all disappearing, as Atlas broke the silence. "I was waiting back there, expecting you to come back up. You know, with how you couldn't forgive me and whatnot, but instead I find you bawling your eyes out here. What's the matter with you?"
Osei wiped his eyes, then swung his sword to his side, and released all of the built-up energy he had gathered. A skull with markings similar to Tobi's manifested over his face, then crumbled apart, as his eyes, glowed bright blue, with purple and black veins, coursing through his body, pulsing in intervals. His hair flashed full silver, then settled, mixing evenly with the rest of his jet-black hair.
Mist escaped his mouth, with each breath he took, as rings of fire crushed the ground, followed by tremors and thousands of lightning strikes. He had reached his peak.
"Sorry for the wait. I'm alright now. Let's settle this." He spoke calmly, as the tension, rose between them. They stared each other down with pure malice. Yet the emperor could not help noticing, the phenomenon occurring around him.
He laughed, realizing what was happening. "It would seem, the reports were true. The suits that have been granting your human allies, abilities, can also bring about miracles near death. It was tragic what happened on Valtorin, but it was a truly valuable experience. Luckily our drone captured everything, but to be witnessing it myself here... I'm getting even more excited."
Osei, cracked his neck, then crouched, charging up electricity, as his sword caught fire. Then he struck vertically, ripping apart the ground between them, as the aerial strike jetted with at an incredible speed.
Atlas was surprised by Osei's growth. Forcing him to shift into second gear, as he raised a steel wall out of the ground. Which forced him to drop Tobi out of his chamber and woke him up, as he wondered where his brother went.
Atlas drew his sword, coating it in fire. "I raised you. Yet, you dare stand against me!"
Osei laughed out loud. "Every living moment under you was hell. You're just a robot, gone wrong. It's time for you to get tossed to the junkyard."
The emperor glared at him, a vein nearly bursting out, on his temple. "I see, you're prepared to die."
They lunged at each other, bringing absolute devastation to their surroundings, as both of them aimed for the kill. Osei broke the deadlock, jumping back, then pointed a palm at the ground, as it started to rise. "Doteko Ohoni."
A gigantic replica of him rose out of the ground, with its inner body fueled by lava and its outer covered in titanium, diamonds, & other gems. In its hand, a sword the size of a building maintained violent, violet flames coated over it, as lightning continuously struck it.
Atlas's eyes grew wide, then he turned around, to retreat in the opposite direction while preparing a condensed sphere of lava. However, the giant lunged after him and swung vertically with precision, before he could escape.
The emperor spun around just in time, thrusting the sphere at the giant's sword, to mitigate some of the force as he was sent flying across the country. He tried regaining mobility, midflight, but the winds were too much, that's when he saw a looming shadow, covering the sky, and beginning to descend.
Atlas immediately threw his hands into the air, trying to launch anything to protect himself on time. However violet lightning struck the giant, aiding his descent down even faster and leaving a devastating impact on the face of the planet.
Osei hovered over, feeling the emperor's life force, still burning strong below. "You don't deserve any mercy!" He yelled out, knowing he could still hear him, then raised his right hand to the sky. It began to rain and then seconds later, the rain clumped together while freezing into sparrows, charged with electricity.
He watched as the remains of the giant was split in half, by a beam of lava. As it broke apart, he didn't hesitate and dropped his hand. "Kraman Armada!"
Millions of sparrows crashed down onto the emperor, cutting him up, and bombarding him with intense stings and surges. Then, froze him in a massive iceberg of birds, shocking him nonstop with tens of billions of volts.
Osei crouched down and gathered all of his energy to the edge of his blade, then burned it hotter than ever, with fire & electricity, as dark clouds supplied him with an endless capacity. He frosted his hands over to protect himself from the heat, as a superheated coat of magma pulled itself together over his blade, adding to the firepower.
He thought of everyone he needed to do this for and sealed his resolve. "Let's finish this."
Atlas was trapped, defenceless as he tried to melt himself free. Regardless of anything he could have done, it would have been too late, as Osei shot out of the sky, like lightning.
"Raieqa Omega!" He yelled before he cut through the ice and Atlas at the same time. Wiping out the entire landscape around and behind Atlas, as he whizzed past, sheathing his sword.
He turned around cursing, as multiple side effects started to take effect on his body, disorientating him, as he watched Atlas stitch back the half of his body that had nearly been cut clean. "I missed." He whispered to himself.
Atlas noticed, that several of his circuits were not working the same, since his core was nicked. He glared at Osei, with a deadly look. "You've gone too far!"
Osei smirked, knowing he struck a nerve. "I could say the same for you!" He heaved, trying to catch his breath. 'Hold on Osei, just one more.' He told himself, as he gathered up the last of his energy within him and formed a stance.
Atlas looked down at the ground, as his anger boiled over the top. All five of the elements began to rampage all around them, simultaneously. Disappearing as each one laid waste to the environment. His hair began to flash silver, as earthquakes raged the continent.
Osei's eyes grew wide, as he noticed the emperor's energy skyrocketing.
His eyes went white, then slotted back to a glowing bloodshot red. New pressure emanated from him, making the air, seem heavier to breathe. As he spoke, his voice sent chills down Osei's spine. "It's time to end this."
Osei, clenched his teeth, leaping at lightning speed. "Raieqa Omega!"
His sword, this time, collided with Atlas's, but the force of the emperor swinging back, sent him flying back over half a kilometre. Osei dropped his sword, unable to hold onto it, as he skidded, crashing across a field. He quickly got up, putting all of the energy he could muster into a condensed violet flaming sphere, charging it with electricity, and spinning around a core of magma.
Frost covered his hands, as the heat of its orbit, began cutting into his palms. He thrust it forth, just in time as the emperor landed in front of him. "Seiaqa Ultimate!"
Atlas smirked as he raised his hand at the incoming blast. Then it began to split around him as it seemingly struck an invisible barrier in front of it. Visible only as it began to crack.
Osei staggered, letting up in disbelief that it had done nothing to the emperor. He watched as Atlas raised a finger toward him, with a disappointed, yet saddened expression. "You were a good warrior. You just didn't know, who you were up against." He spoke calmly, as the sky seemed to go dark, raining with occasional rings of thunder, while he darted his finger in five thrusts at Osei's body. "Particle Decimation."
Tobi had just arrived. Just in time, to watch his brother drop to the floor.
Notes:
Raika means bolt in Rennayan.
Remo means concentrated in Rennayan.
Raieqa means shock or volt in Rennayan.
Saieqa Ultimate is ultimate lightning in Rennayan.
Kraman and Doteko Ohoni (Stone King, possibility) were taken from the Ghanian language and used as part of the Rennayan, but I may have misplaced the translations.
Previous First Chapter Next

Previous First Chapter Next
Prometheus's defences had started to fail, as it took increased amounts of fire, from drones and ships of the Kirosian and Cerian space fleets. The situation was beginning to get grim, as Beyond's forces were reduced to only forty ships. It seemed as if any cries for help, would get lost in the depths of space.
However, a light began to shine on the visitors from Earth, as over a thousand Azurian ships, came in alleviating the pressure. The entire armada and reserve.
The one leading the charge, broadcasted a message to his fleet before the attack. "My people, and those of you watching back home. Today we have watched members of our clan die on this forsaken planet. Right now, our benefactors and the future Queen of Azuria are at risk of perishing to the monsters who threaten our very way of life and our existence... Forgive this selfish king, but will you follow me into battle and help me save my granddaughter and our allies?!"
Everyone watching, roared in response and stomped in rhythm. "Hai!"
Akio smiled. "Then, let us be victorious!"
The broadcast ended, as his ship, the Azure Dragon, descended towards Rennaya, ignoring the barrage of missiles fired by the Pandora. Akio looked back with a pained look, at the remaining, twenty-two Hashin with him, standing in formation by the bay door.
"I have seen all of you, grow up, trained you and guided you. I have seen you find love, be hurt, and find true happiness. Each of you are my kin, nothing can hold us back when we work together and no one can stop us." He took a deep breath, then continued. "However my comrades. Today is the one day, you are excused from your duties. This mission is out of respect for my child and the level of danger is much more than I can even anticipate. I will not fault any of you or hold a single grudge if you feel like walking out of that door right now."
None of the Hashin, flinched, nor budged, they didn't doubt each other either. Making Akio's lips tremble. "Do you know what I'm asking of you? You're lives, will be forfeit the moment we enter Rennaya."
Roku stepped up, unveiling his mask. "Do not disrespect us, Akio. Our honor was tarnished, the moment we let our prince die alone out there. We are failing right now to protect our King. Please allow us, to protect the next Queen and our Elder. For Azuria!"
He glanced back at the soldiers. "Isn't that right?!"
They stomped to rhythm, in agreement. "Hai!"
The General smiled as he watched a tear roll down the Elder's cheek. "Cheer up old friend. Let us die with you." He said, as one by one, the Hashin began jumping out of the bay doors.
Outskirts of Senae, Atlas vs Tobi & Osei...
Osei launched several volleys ahead, as he called on lightning to reinforce himself. Atlas was elated, dissipating the volleys with electric volleys of his own, then blocked his charge, as he reached out and manifested an intricate sword out of the ground below. Which slipped into his hand, just in time to block a flaming strike from Tobi, coming from behind him and managed to push him back.
"Bring it on!" He yelled out to the brothers, while unsheathing his own sword with his other hand, then began simultaneously parrying and striking back at them both.
He broke the deadlock, then twirled around quickly in place, creating a hurricane barrier, pushing them both back. Then threw the sword he created, at Tobi, who managed to deflect it, with quick reflexes, however, the force of the impact stung his hands, distracting him for a second.
A chance the emperor did not hesitate to take, as he dodged a charge from Osei and instead, teleported behind Tobi, while raising his own sword, high above his head.
"No!" Osei yelled out.
Atlas's eyes glimmered, as he smiled, seeing both of the brothers in despair. "Imperial Judgement, Execution!"
The wind followed the emperor's strike, erasing the landscape behind Tobi, as a massive fountain of blood, sprayed out of a gaping new cut, diagonally down his chest. He dropped to the floor, dozens of meters from his original position, as he held onto his chest, freezing his wound and convulsing. It was taking everything he could, to not fall unconscious, however eventually, the darkness took over.
"I... I... I won't forgive you!" Osei yelled out furiously, losing it, as Atlas laughed out loud.
Then, he glanced back at him, soaking in the torment, he was putting the prince through. "Don't worry, he won't die. I still need him. I just wanted to make sure he had a good nap." He said, pointing his right hand at Tobi's body, as a coffin of ice, swallowed him and began healing his wound back, slowly.
Osei could not believe, the situation they were in. It felt surreal after everything he had been through. Something deep within him, began to snap, as years of trauma, boiled up to a single point. He lunged, at full speed, striking Atlas' sword, with overbearing might, and pushed him flying back into an area away from Tobi. "You bring disaster with you, everywhere you go. You're existence, is the only one, this galaxy... No, this universe never needed!"
Osei struck down as the emperor hopped to his left, freezing the prince's sword to the ground. Osei managed to break his hands-free and followed up with a high kick to his face.
Atlas bent back, nearly missing the strike, then gave him two quick punches. One to his face, the other in his gut, bursting forth a beam of ice, as it crashed him through several hills.
Osei got up, coughing blood. "Not yet! Thunder Raika!"
Lightning crashed down, meeting an umbrella of ice, that the emperor managed to raise in time, with its hilt redirecting the charge into the ground. "It's over. Just give up. You did your best."
Osei clenched his fists, seething. What must his people be thinking of him? What would his parents do?
He felt as if he had failed them and could no longer take it anymore. "Not yet. As long as I draw breath..."
He placed his hands together, condensing a massive amount of electricity within a small violet sphere, dozens of times over. "Remo Raieqa!" It shattered forth, beaming violently and eating away the landscape on the way, to Atlas.
Atlas raised a finger, as a sphere of ice, held together an unfathomable amount of pressure, causing cracks in the sphere itself. Then, he launched it towards Osei's incoming attack. "Wind Sovereign!"
The shockwave, followed by a razor blast of wind, dispersed his beam in half and dissipated it as it crashed into Osei's chest, knocking him off of his feet, and crashing him through the terrain. Osei was having a hard time, keeping his eyes open. He felt bruises and fractures in multiple parts of his body. "I've failed." A tear fell down his cheek, as his regrets ate him up.
"No, my son." His eyes glanced to his left, as he raised his head. It was as if he was daydreaming, with illusions blending in with reality.
"Mom?" He asked, unbelieving of what he was seeing.
She smiled while keeping her hands above his chest, healing him, as someone else knelt to his right and spoke. "We failed you."
He glanced at the face of a very familiar man. One wearing a crown, with a remorseful and saddened expression. "Dad? But how?"
His memory took him back to the explanations, the Novas and Tobi gave of the ethereal plane. However other than Tobi, the others had only seen one or a few Rennayans each.
Zenu shook his head. "We should have been certain of you and your brother's safety, from the very beginning. The life you've had to go through. I can never forgive myself for that."
Safiyah was fighting back tears, but she took over. "We are so sorry. Will you forgive us?"
Osei, laughed, with tears escaping his eyes. "I've never blamed you for anything. I wish things never went the way they did. You were the greatest parents. My only regret is not having enough strength to restore Rennaya myself."
He covered his eyes. "I'm sorry father, I'm no prince. I've failed to keep my brother safe and I've failed to bring justice for our people."
Zenu smiled. "If we can be forgiven, then you can too. Come on, get up."
Osei pondered about what he meant, but as he got up, slowly, his eyes grew wide. Standing around them, with Waio in front, were hundreds of millions, if not a billion people.
Safiyah spoke up. "My little Osei, no one blames you for anything, you've far exceeded what was expected of you and gave hope to the galaxy once more. You have done your part. Let us help you, with what you want to do. However, I would advise you to take your brother and escape immediately."
Osei was a little dumbfounded to be once again, seeing so many of his people. It was a little difficult for him to speak. "Thank... You."
He shook his thoughts away, remembering his mission. Then he reached his hand out, as his sword, flew back into his palm, hilt first. "I have to keep my little brother safe. My people, I ask of you, please lend me your strength."
They all began to kneel and punch the ground, as their fists broke through into a deep abyss of darkness. Each of their eyes, began to glow, like a domino effect. They all smiled and spoke together. "Yes, Your Highness."
Osei was stunned, as multiple branches of energy began, opening up, within his body.
Waio spoke up. "Do not be alarmed, my pupil. Of course, you're affinity is high with your people. All of Rennaya once celebrated your birth as a sign of hope, prosperity, and good times to come."
Seeing Waio again, made it hard for him to keep his composure. He continued to look around, remembering all of the faces, of people he used to know, as his parents placed their hands on his shoulders, then spoke in unison. "Whatever you do from now on just know, that we are proud of you and we will always love you, no matter what."
He nodded, as his tears dried up, along with them all disappearing, as Atlas broke the silence. "I was waiting back there, expecting you to come back up. You know, with how you couldn't forgive me and whatnot, but instead I find you bawling your eyes out here. What's the matter with you?"
Osei wiped his eyes, then swung his sword to his side, and released all of the built-up energy he had gathered. A skull with markings similar to Tobi's manifested over his face, then crumbled apart, as his eyes, glowed bright blue, with purple and black veins, coursing through his body, pulsing in intervals. His hair flashed full silver, then settled, mixing evenly with the rest of his jet-black hair.
Mist escaped his mouth, with each breath he took, as rings of fire crushed the ground, followed by tremors and thousands of lightning strikes. He had reached his peak.
"Sorry for the wait. I'm alright now. Let's settle this." He spoke calmly, as the tension, rose between them. They stared each other down with pure malice. Yet the emperor could not help noticing, the phenomenon occurring around him.
He laughed, realizing what was happening. "It would seem, the reports were true. The suits that have been granting your human allies, abilities, can also bring about miracles near death. It was tragic what happened on Valtorin, but it was a truly valuable experience. Luckily our drone captured everything, but to be witnessing it myself here... I'm getting even more excited."
Osei, cracked his neck, then crouched, charging up electricity, as his sword caught fire. Then he struck vertically, ripping apart the ground between them, as the aerial strike jetted with at an incredible speed.
Atlas was surprised by Osei's growth. Forcing him to shift into second gear, as he raised a steel wall out of the ground. Which forced him to drop Tobi out of his chamber and woke him up, as he wondered where his brother went.
Atlas drew his sword, coating it in fire. "I raised you. Yet, you dare stand against me!"
Osei laughed out loud. "Every living moment under you was hell. You're just a robot, gone wrong. It's time for you to get tossed to the junkyard."
The emperor glared at him, a vein nearly bursting out, on his temple. "I see, you're prepared to die."
They lunged at each other, bringing absolute devastation to their surroundings, as both of them aimed for the kill. Osei broke the deadlock, jumping back, then pointed a palm at the ground, as it started to rise. "Doteko Ohoni."
A gigantic replica of him rose out of the ground, with its inner body fueled by lava and its outer covered in titanium, diamonds, & other gems. In its hand, a sword the size of a building maintained violent, violet flames coated over it, as lightning continuously struck it.
Atlas's eyes grew wide, then he turned around, to retreat in the opposite direction while preparing a condensed sphere of lava. However, the giant lunged after him and swung vertically with precision, before he could escape.
The emperor spun around just in time, thrusting the sphere at the giant's sword, to mitigate some of the force as he was sent flying across the country. He tried regaining mobility, midflight, but the winds were too much, that's when he saw a looming shadow, covering the sky, and beginning to descend.
Atlas immediately threw his hands into the air, trying to launch anything to protect himself on time. However violet lightning struck the giant, aiding his descent down even faster and leaving a devastating impact on the face of the planet.
Osei hovered over, feeling the emperor's life force, still burning strong below. "You don't deserve any mercy!" He yelled out, knowing he could still hear him, then raised his right hand to the sky. It began to rain and then seconds later, the rain clumped together while freezing into sparrows, charged with electricity.
He watched as the remains of the giant was split in half, by a beam of lava. As it broke apart, he didn't hesitate and dropped his hand. "Kraman Armada!"
Millions of sparrows crashed down onto the emperor, cutting him up, and bombarding him with intense stings and surges. Then, froze him in a massive iceberg of birds, shocking him nonstop with tens of billions of volts.
Osei crouched down and gathered all of his energy to the edge of his blade, then burned it hotter than ever, with fire & electricity, as dark clouds supplied him with an endless capacity. He frosted his hands over to protect himself from the heat, as a superheated coat of magma pulled itself together over his blade, adding to the firepower.
He thought of everyone he needed to do this for and sealed his resolve. "Let's finish this."
Atlas was trapped, defenceless as he tried to melt himself free. Regardless of anything he could have done, it would have been too late, as Osei shot out of the sky, like lightning.
"Raieqa Omega!" He yelled before he cut through the ice and Atlas at the same time. Wiping out the entire landscape around and behind Atlas, as he whizzed past, sheathing his sword.
He turned around cursing, as multiple side effects started to take effect on his body, disorientating him, as he watched Atlas stitch back the half of his body that had nearly been cut clean. "I missed." He whispered to himself.
Atlas noticed, that several of his circuits were not working the same, since his core was nicked. He glared at Osei, with a deadly look. "You've gone too far!"
Osei smirked, knowing he struck a nerve. "I could say the same for you!" He heaved, trying to catch his breath. 'Hold on Osei, just one more.' He told himself, as he gathered up the last of his energy within him and formed a stance.
Atlas looked down at the ground, as his anger boiled over the top. All five of the elements began to rampage all around them, simultaneously. Disappearing as each one laid waste to the environment. His hair began to flash silver, as earthquakes raged the continent.
Osei's eyes grew wide, as he noticed the emperor's energy skyrocketing.
His eyes went white, then slotted back to a glowing bloodshot red. New pressure emanated from him, making the air, seem heavier to breathe. As he spoke, his voice sent chills down Osei's spine. "It's time to end this."
Osei, clenched his teeth, leaping at lightning speed. "Raieqa Omega!"
His sword, this time, collided with Atlas's, but the force of the emperor swinging back, sent him flying back over half a kilometre. Osei dropped his sword, unable to hold onto it, as he skidded, crashing across a field. He quickly got up, putting all of the energy he could muster into a condensed violet flaming sphere, charging it with electricity, and spinning around a core of magma.
Frost covered his hands, as the heat of its orbit, began cutting into his palms. He thrust it forth, just in time as the emperor landed in front of him. "Seiaqa Ultimate!"
Atlas smirked as he raised his hand at the incoming blast. Then it began to split around him as it seemingly struck an invisible barrier in front of it. Visible only as it began to crack.
Osei staggered, letting up in disbelief that it had done nothing to the emperor. He watched as Atlas raised a finger toward him, with a disappointed, yet saddened expression. "You were a good warrior. You just didn't know, who you were up against." He spoke calmly, as the sky seemed to go dark, raining with occasional rings of thunder, while he darted his finger in five thrusts at Osei's body. "Particle Decimation."
Tobi had just arrived. Just in time, to watch his brother drop to the floor.
Notes:
Raika means bolt in Rennayan.
Remo means concentrated in Rennayan.
Raieqa means shock or volt in Rennayan.
Saieqa Ultimate is ultimate lightning in Rennayan.
Kraman and Doteko Ohoni (Stone King, possibility) were taken from the Ghanian language and used as part of the Rennayan, but I may have misplaced the translations.
Previous First Chapter Next

TLDR: What perks would you like to change on your main legends? And if there were 3 choices for a red tier perks what would you like those to be.
Before I list mine I would like to state my philosophy around how I think the perks should operate. Blue perks should be the most imporant one in terms of dictating the players playstyle, about 60%. The Purple perk should mesh better with one play style, but still be usable with the other, about 30%. The red perks should be small enchantments that work with either playstyle, about 10%.
My main is Caustic:
"A" style focuses on not playing around his gas. "B" style focuses on playing around his gas.
Blue A: Keep the 75% toss range on gas traps
Blue B: gas traps last for 3 seconds longer, ult last for 5 more seconds
Purple A: Gas range increase by 50% on ult, and 15% on gas traps.
Purple B: Removes the kill switch from gas traps.
Red A: Nox vison last for 2 seconds out side of gas.
Red B: gas traps and ult is in the shape of a dome, increasing the vertical height toward the center
Red C: Caustic gets a 10% movement speed for while and gas and 2.5 secs after leaving gas.
Crypto:
"A" style for when in drone mode. "B" style is for when not in drone mode.
Blue A: the drone can hack support and weapon creates as if an assualt or support legend
Blue B: While not in drone mode, the drone's audio volume is reduced by 50%, and the light indicator is removed.
Purple A: Increase EMP by 25% in drone mode, and 10% while out of drone mode.
Purple B: Get two charges of the drone, Crypto can only pilot the last drone placed out.
Red A: Targets are highlighted for 1.5 seconds
Red B: When a drone is destoyed Cryto gets a speed boost
Red C: Crypto is not highlighted from scan, wall hack, beacons, or thermals.
Interesting an knowing what you guys would change out your mains.

Hi, I'm writing this because I never got any sort of debrief or moment to decompress from a job I quit in February of 2018. I worked for an agency that dealt with issues related to non-human intelligence. Sometimes these were referred to as EBE's, or as a friend lovingly called them, "Ayyys".
I can't divulge what I did specifically, most of the information I'm going to discuss is anecdotal information I found out about from colleagues. This is because it would be easy to identify me from what my role was, as the information I can say about what I did specifically would be personally identifying. Feel free to dismiss my post as a hoax entirely, I know the right people will believe me. I'm posting this for myself, to make peace with the gravity (no pun intended) of the situation. I tried VA and independent therapy, but divulging this sort of information to a hipster trained in active listening probably wouldn't go well. Posting here is a last resort, but I hope I'm welcome to discuss what I can.
I'll first talk about my career history, what working for the agency is like, how it functions, and then my general thoughts. If my post makes it past moderation, I'll answer as many questions as I can. I'm unwilling to post an ID privately to moderators or otherwise. People who did that faced consequences. I don't think those people were reddit leakers specifically, but any act to talk about the information in any meaningful way outside of the chain of command ends badly. I'd rather be accused of making things up than risk that, because I simply don't care what people think of me. Hopefully my post will clear up why.
I'm currently a university professor (not at the university my username would lead you to believe). I was inspired to write this post when one of my students referred to me as, verbatim "a dude who has to know about aliens". If only he knew that wasn't even the start of it.
I graduated from college in the early 90s with a degree in something I'm passionate about but never used. I started my career as an assistant for a mechanical engineer at an aerospace contractor I got after working some connections I had. Entry-level contractor jobs are easier to get than you may think (well, maybe not if you've posted here). I eventually was a project manager overseeing a small team working on experimental aircraft. Over the course of my career in aviation I worked at 3 different contractors. I was on some of the teams working in autonomous flight in Nevada, among other places.
I'll share two major things I noticed that, looking back, could be related to NHI research.
It was a sort of open secret I was let in on at some point in the late 90s that if a large-scale invasion or threat to the mainland US were to materialize, the US had an "ultimate trump-card" of sorts that would render everything we were working on as completely obsolete. Jokes like "well, work smarter not harder on 'x' because if it were to come down to it, we wouldn't use that technology anyway." weren't uncommon. I assumed this was referring to nukes.
Later, I spent time doing inspections at various secret facilities due to my standing in particular agencies. If I'm identified, I will definitely lose that standing, so there's that. This was not as exciting as it sounds, it was very technical and boring. I was mostly just a glorified HVAC inspector. I visited a handful of facilities, but two of them in particular stood out as there were areas within them I wasn't allowed to access. At the first facility, the scope of my job was to inspect the entire location. One area had its own security, who, after a long discussion, basically told me to kick rocks. My boss wasn't authorized to let me through either. I wrote a scathing report about this incident in my overall assessment of the facility and my boss erased it from the document entirely. The situation at the second facility was similar. I'll admit, I was what I guess the my students call a "Karen" about it. I knew that whoever was operating these areas was working completely outside of congressional regulation, which, while it does happen in certain sectors, is really not a good look. Once I got the job I'm talking about, I was able to confirm the second facility was related to NHI research. I was never able to confirm the first was.
After a teaching stint, I was offered an interview for a position in my project management roots again near where I was living at the time. I wasn't told what I would be working on, which isn't uncommon. I was excited to get back to work because I had been working on goal-oriented drone swarms in my free time and assumed that's what the interview would be for.
The interview took place in a SCIF in someone's house. Looking back, this was most likely a house that wasn't lived in, but just used for the purpose of interviewing potential hires without giving away the location. It's also likely this was the location because this agency doesn't exist in any official capacity. Yes, it has a name, it gets sort-of-kind-of funding. Saying the name would get me killed. I wish I were exaggerating, I was told the name at the start of the interview, and I had never heard of it before. I've never even said the name out loud. Paradoxically, even though the agency "doesn't exist" if someone knew the name, it's likely a paper trail exists through publicly available documents. A lot of the information isn't classified because the agency is so secretive going through the process to classify it in the first place would reveal it to too many people.
In past interviews, particularly for the inspection job, I could refer to specific colleagues, facilities I worked at, or contractors I was in good standing with to play the usual interview game. In this interview, I was treated like a brand new hire. While I was already offended about how I was being treated, the interviewer started grilling me about my love for Star Trek (?) and said that "theatrics" wouldn't fly in the position I was being interviewed for. Looking back, I should've never accepted the job, but the allure of working on swarms was too great.
The first office I worked at was an office building that didn't stand out in any way at all. I believe our neighbors in the office park were a fashion studio and a dentist, among others. The difference was our building had 24/7 armed security. The first few days were heavy paperwork and on-boarding. One of my old bosses called me on an office phone to talk to me before I was officially on-boarded. As a management nerd, the biggest challenge of working for this "agency" is that it's a paperless office. It has its own highly sophisticated intranet with hundreds of archival documents. The implication was, that unless it absolutely had to be saved, to never, ever write anything down. I remember an early colleague telling me "a gantt chart is a great way to get fired". This was a challenge at first, remembering all of the information with no documentation is not something I'm particularly built for, especially when the information is about NHI.
Later, I worked in a facility within-a-facility just like the one I had tried to inspect. It stored a craft. Being near the craft for extended periods of time is extremely dangerous, especially if it is being experimented on with power. I didn't observe any injuries to anyone while I was there, but all sorts of long-term nasty injuries were relayed to me through rumors and warnings. The craft was shaped like a dreidel without the handle. There was a large exterior piece that went missing when it was recovered. The theory is it acted as a stabilizer, although some argue it was a crude weapon. It sat in a custom hydraulic rig that could be used to rotate it into all sorts of different positions, kind of like those aerotrim astronaut training balls where they spin you around. I wasn't on the team that got to use the rotation rig. The rig was so large and extensive I spent a few weeks thinking it was part of the craft before someone told me otherwise. Typically, the craft would held on its side in the rig for easier storage. Its weight just naturally sat it that way, although it was intended to be flown vertically.
The shape was directly informed by its purpose. Every shape is custom molded in a metallic material that would revolutionize the way we travel if we had it. In following the topic as much as I can manage to, I've seen some other people mention the material. There were some material scientists that had been working there for decades. I never got to go inside the craft. It was guarded 24/7. Boy, did I want to look.
The agency goes out of its way to hire individuals who have little interest in working in this space at all. They recruit particularly out of BYU, although you have to have a contractor or government career for around a decade to be considered for an interview. Published papers don't hurt. When I worked at the second facility the sorts of people that were there were frustrating to interact with because my initial reaction to working in the that facility was extreme excitement, and it wasn't shared. I believe this is partially responsible for the stagnation, high turnover rate, and compartmentalization. I quickly learned who to trust, and gained some enormous that helped my work. Part of why I'm being secretive about my ID is because the turnover rate results in a sort of "summer camp" work environment. It's easy to point to "classes" of people in various non-leadership positions that all were hired, fired, or quit at similar times. If I said when I started, ended, and where I worked I'd be easily identifiable because there are so few people that match my description. Leadership has been there forever. No, not literally.
The agency is divided up into several "wings", not unlike the executive, legislative and judicial branches. I'm not insinuating they're a shadow government, but the wings check and balance each other in a way a government is at least... designed to. These wings include mechanical engineering, biologic research, weapons research, computer science, tracking, what I'll call anthropology, what I'll call crash recovery because that's what colleagues who are planning to come forward will call it, and security. I'll list some information about each. There are definitely more wings that I don't know about.
What's unique is these sub-groups exist all as part of different parent government organizations and are HQ'd where their parent agencies are. For example, the tracking wing is sort-of-kind-of embedded as R&D at NORAD. This is a simplification of the actual "paperwork" involved, it's honestly complicated and I don't know much about how it works. I do know that this is how they maintain funding even when the parent agency goes completely dark for stretches of time. It's worth mentioning that these departments employ, at most, 50 people each. It's typically much lower than that. This is why we're all pushing for whistleblower protection. It's not hard to identify us because there are so few of us in the first place.
Mechanical engineering is exactly what it sounds like. It's the most extensive, the oldest, and the most compartmentalized. We have crashed craft in various states of complete. We had a recovered craft that worked almost perfectly that was shot down by ourselves. I saw this coming, and it's part of why I quit. There's a lot of information about this wing in the public sphere. Part of their job is to determine what each shape of craft is used for. This is an important job beacuse we're unsure of NHI's intentions. If we discover the designs are intended to hurt us, action will have to be taken. I don't know what that means in practice, but it's what the engineers mostly study. Consider this lecture around the 10 minute mark about the differing characteristics of an F22 versus a passenger plane. Now imagine figuring out the purpose of the passenger plane versus the F22. Since we're humans, and those are human designs, eventually a team could figure it out. It's not as easy when the designs aren't for us, or purposes we fully understand. Triangles are the most impressive design, and we don't have one. It's likely China does, leadership is mad about that. This team discovered, a long time ago, that the reason why craft appear so bright to us humans is because it's not really "light" but rather the product of the crazy amounts of power these craft require. Sort of like smoke coming out of an exhaust pipe.
Biology is something I personally suck at, even at the high school level. I can say the NHI look like the aliens from close encounters. As far as I know, we never had one alive. My source who told this was unsure if it was true or not. I didn't learn much about this wing, it's the most secretive. I do know its HQ is hidden in almost plain sight. I still feel like the guy who told me where it is had to be lying, because it was just too obvious. There are bodies stored in other locations apart from their main HQ.
Weapons research is a large wing, and is fairly new. It was absorbed by the Space Force when it the SF was created. Frustration with the SF as a whole is part of why I left shortly before it started. I don't know much about it. It has a high turnover rate and is dangerous to work in. People were injured and compensated by a large private aerospace contractor instead of the USG. Its main job is to strap a nuke to a reverse-engineered craft and just see what the hell happens.
Computer science is (or, was, it may have moved after I left) hq'd at a facility in my home state. This is rare, because most of the other wings are within a stones throw of DC, or Nevada. This is mostly based around researching the crafts navigation system. The navigation in every craft is the same. The craft use a system that originally befuddled generations of researchers, but it's essentially a 3D dijkstra algorithm. It finds points around the craft, and chooses the most efficient possible route through space time to get to that point. Some of the parameters it uses to gauge efficiency are totally unknown to us and are a serious point of contention. It's not autonomy, but rather obstacle avoidance not unlike what you would see in a self-driving car. But, the self driving car could go through air, space and water without worrying about what medium its in. Additionally, the algo accounts for the crafts place in time. I don't think this means that the craft time travel in the way we think they can, but rather go so fast that they experience dilation and can hit objects in the future, and, potentially, past at their target destination. It's possible they do this on purpose sometimes. I don't know much about the internal programming of the computer or how it actually does any of this. There are a few senior scientists that hold that information dear. One of them jokingly refers to it as "Ayyyy C", as in, C for NHI. I know that he doesn't work with a computer, only a pad of paper and pen.
Although the algo is extremely effective, Nuclear explosions and experiments somehow interfere with this navigation. Craft particularly avoid Diablo Canyon, even if we put something they really want there. They mostly avoid previous crash sites as well. More on crashes later.
Speaking of avoidance, tracking, like I mentioned, is (or was) part of NORAD. The NHI deploy craft of various shapes and sizes all the time. I don't want to claim that they have advanced cloaking techniques, but from what I heard, the tracking department basically is in an eternal game of cat-and-mouse. They don't have adequate technology to track the transmedium craft. All I would say on a record is NHI know we can track them, and know how to avoid us. They usually avoid detection by going underwater, especially in the case of particularly large (by human measurement, enormous) craft. It's interesting that historical UFO designs mimic the design of buildings and vehicles of that time period. Whether this was just humans not being able to reference what the designs look like, or a form of mimicry is anyones guess. Someone in leadership knows the answer, I don't.
It's important to note not everyone at NORAD was part of the tracking team, but the tracking team is embedded in NORAD and interfaces with them on a minute to minute basis. This leads to scenarios where NORAD will report an object, and the tracking team will silently acknowledge, but give no explanation. This lead to a catastrophic incident that happened after I left but knew about from a colleague. Supposedly, tracking is being moved to the Space Force to clear up these miscommunications. If I were working there, I would probably be working on that onboarding process. NORAD was moved to Cheyenne not only to protect from a foreign adversary, but also because the facility is uniquely equipped to track NHI craft.
The wing I called "Anthropology" is the weirdest one by far. It focuses on a few different things. They originally studied NHIs intentions and "culture" if it's possible to call it that. The reports I read from this early research changed the way I see the world.
Anthropology and Computer Science were at one point decompartmentalized to study how the NHI interact with the craft. The NHI are linked to their craft in a way that borders on biological. The actual way they interface with the components of the craft is not as sophisticated. Take this video. Although it's an immature video, the way he interfaces with a piston that moves the gas pedal is similar, albeit much simpler than the way NHI interact with their craft. They send signals using their body to systems that control the craft. It's hypothesized that they can and prefer to control craft remotely, but I'm not sure if we were really researching this.
Take note that if the driver of the jerry-rigged death trap in the video panics, the car would accelerate due to heightened brain activity. When people wonder how a superintelligent being can crash, this is part of the answer, in conjunction with the navigation system malfunctioning. I personally don't think the NHI feel "stress" as we do, but if they heightened their activity and overrode the pathfinding system instead of letting it do its job, there could be an accident.
A smaller subset of this wing focuses on how humans can interface with craft that are currently in the sky. If you see an image of a large disc above a gas station in the snow, it was someone in this department "summoning" a craft not unlike how cheap RC car controllers can interfere with each other when used at the same time. Some people are better suited to interfere with NHI craft than others. We're not sure why.
On somewhat comedic note, one colleague was harshly punished for using this research to encounter NHI craft at a party. There was an outdoor bonfire, alcohol, and questions about what she did for work. She wasn't killed or anything, just called a dumbass and told to never, ever do that again.
Some people in this department are BYU graduates who believe they are directly interfacing with what were recorded in the bible as angels. There is an even smaller subset of this wing that focused on NHI communicating with humans. All I know about them is that they did that work at some juncture, but probably have other jobs now.
Crash Recovery probably has the most people involved. It's split up among several parent orgs, but funding is funnelled away from it and into other departments when there's little activity. This is common among the entire agency, as funding and staff get balanced between the different wings based on progress or lack thereof. Most of the crash recovery staff are staff from tracking and security that are involved in Crash Recovery. It's also made up of members of all of our favorite three letter organizations. Crash Recovery's overall structure was referred to as a volunteer fire department. It's typically some people playing pool and watching movies, but when the need arises, all hands on deck from the current staff, and on-call members.
Crashes are exceedingly rare. The number of crashes goes down exponentially because they learn to avoid the cause of the crash. When they crash, they make no effort to retrieve the debris, save for one instance. I personally believe some crashes weren't "crashes" but were NHI parking a vehicle for us, because there were no bodies recovered and the craft was in perfect shape.
Security, to put it mildly, are terrifying. Imagine the very best of the SEALS, NSA and Secret Service all working together. They are short-staffed, but that staff is not only elite, but dedicated. Their numero uno rule is people that mention the agency name are killed. It's not a question, and it happened during my time. You'll hear more about them as news about the retaliation Dave comes out. I wasn't directly interviewed by him, but I know several people who were. The security team figured it out quickly and, you could say they aren't his fans. They constantly monitor all discussions about the topic, but rarely act in real life unless absoloutely necessary. They staff facilities like the second one I worked at. This team also actively engages in disinformation, gaslighting and other similar campaigns. Their goal is to keep the US's secrets about this tech, secret, because other countries are close to breakthroughs. They also conduct counter intel on what other countries know, and counter-counter intel about what they know about what we know. Not to sound crazy, but, the security team will see this at some point or another, so, a friendly hello to them. Can't touch this ;p (I sure hope!)
I have a hunch that the current public facing task forces are actually their own wing within security. A friend of mine texted me once, "Sean Kirkpatrick, you can get your ass kicked". Ha. Don't confuse these public facing task forces with the work Dave & co. are doing. Dave is the real deal.
I should mention that Leadership is kind of its own "wing". It's not on paper, but they operate above all of the other departments. Leadership is made up of managers who pay close attention to each wing, they discuss info they know, and bring up contradictions to upper managers. I don't know how far this chain goes up. I reported to someone who reported to someone. I believe it goes higher than that. I have no idea who is at the top or what their credentials are. I suspect they're in the private sector, with their bankroll disguised as R&D for government contracts. Leadership, honestly, made the right choices with the information they had, at least when I was there. Some bad people started to get in charge and change the way things worked among the middle managers and individual teams. This pissed people off and led to multiple catastrophes. As far as I know they faced no discipline.
So, that was exhaustive. Those are the wings of the agency that I knew about during my time there. It feels good to get this off my chest. I've been sort-of keeping up to date on the topics coverage in mainstream media and want to give some of my thoughts on this.
If the US comes out directly and says "We have craft, we have bodies", it means we are on the verge of a serious global conflict like we've never seen before. They will only reveal this to the public if absolutely necessary. The way the information is going to come out is through people like Dave and further probing from congress. Not all of it should be public information, but I believe the technology that is just sitting... somewhere would completely revolutionize the way we live. I don't think anything significant will happen in my lifetime. It was a frustrating job, because everything was so stagnant and had so, so much potential. We're talking about technology so advanced it could render every single current global issue obsolete. If we solved two major issues with the craft and were able to manufacture them, we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves. The technology being incorporated into our technical revolution is a hoax. I heard one theory from a guy at a bar that the transistors at Bell Labs were inspired by technology at Area 51. This is a joke, the technology makes transistors look like sticks and stones.
I believe multiple species of NHI is misinformation spun up by the security team. There are mystery wings of the agency I didn't get to learn about during my time. It's possible one of these researches other species, but I doubt that.
NHI potentially experiment on us, and definitely experiment on animals. We have no idea why. The main reason you'll never see organized disclosure is because nobody can agree on what to say. We simply don't know enough. Namely, the NHIs intentions (sort-of, we have a good theory) and where they are from. The Anthropology wing believes the NHI are controlled by an intelligence that is beyond our current understanding of how life works. The biology reports conflict with this, which is why things can't be compartmentalized. If the government were to disclose info, they'd have to get the story straight. We also have no idea where they are from. "We" as in everyone I worked with. It's possible someone in high up in leadership knows. I don't think the answer is as simple as another planet or caves on earth.
The reason why specific facility locations are kept from the public is because some of them are sensitive and also not entirely NHI-researched based. It would be possible for some tiktokers and hippies to storm the first office I worked at if they were careful. Every place where the agency works is also home to other operations, which is why it's so hard to identify where they are. Lower leadership is hq'd in DC, and the upper management is split between Nevada, Australia and another foreign country. Security are everywhere and potentially even work remotely without an HQ.
I was contacted by a documentary filmaker when some of my friends were, but I turned it down due to my specific involvement and how easy it would be to track me down if I gave particularly juicy info. I believe the story will come out soon.
I no longer work in the field and teach full-time.
After a quick proofread, that's my post. I'm not tuned in to discussions other than what major outlets have to say, but I hope some of my information is interesting. It felt good to type, even if my post doesn't get accepted. I feel tempted to sign off with my first name how I always do in emails, but I have a feeling that would end badly. I'm currently on a camping trip with my family, but I'll be around to answer questions at various times. Please don't DM me anything too weird. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to talk, I've never done anything like this before. I'm sorry I couldn't provide information that proves who I am, I like not being paralyzed or dead. I'm sure you'll see others make the same claims in due time.
EDIT: Well, this is a lot. I checked on my post earlier this morning and didn't see anything. I'll try to respond to what I can. I'm recovering from a back injury and will be up for a while.

Please help. Are they the same type of roach or different?

Hi all,
Not much has changed since my last update at 8 weeks in terms of symptoms.
https://www.reddit.com/floxies/s/PD1wHaag0Y
I'm still struggling to walk due to pain near my left patella and thigh post-movement.
My last update was really gloomy. For those who are even newer into this than me or maybe just as a reminder to myself, despite the pain and new physical limitations, I do still manage to have some good times. My friends came over yesterday and we played board games, listened to music, and had some Thai food. I was feeling pain in my arms from just playing a board game, but honestly, in that moment, I didn't care. After this, my girlfriend and I watched Eurovision and then sat by the window to try and (unsuccessfully) get a glimpse of the northern lights. Earlier the same day, I had been feeling hopeless and despairing at what my future looked like and the fact I was trapped in the flat. I will try and remember this when I'm next in a spiral.
"Exercise" I've been doing in the past week:

• 30 step slow bursts spread throughout the day using a soft knee brace and my wheelchair as a makeshift zimmer. Managing to hit 100/200 steps across the whole day and space them by at least two hours apart.

Generally, this tactic has seemed to have reduced the knee pain and reduced the amount of time the pain lasts for. However, I'm still learning and making mistakes. I've found a hot water bottle to help somewhat with the pain/tightness.

• 1 session per day of 5 x 10 seconds seated heal raises. Don't know if these are actually doing anything positive, but they don't seem to be doing more damage. Will monitor for a few more days and then increase to 2 sessions of 3 x 10 seconds.
  
• 2 sessions per day of 10 second hold arm raises. 1 x front, 1 x vertical and 1 x outstretched. Again, they don't seem to be doing any harm so far.
  
• Spend more time sitting properly, rather than in a reclined position. This has appeared to have helped my back (not that suprising). Knees tend to like it less.
  
• Keep trying to remember to bend my knees every half an hour and raise up towards my stomach. 1/2 each leg.
  
• 2 sessions of approx 5 foot rotations in each direction. I struggle rotating them on their own. So, I hold onto foot with opposite hand and gently manipulate. Again, I don't know if this is helping.
  
• At least 2 sessions of 10 second foot paddles - just to keep the blood flowing.
  

*Supplements, etc. *
I've increased my stack in the past week. Though all within recommend daily amounts. I still don't feel comfortable with mega dosing.

• Magnesium
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin E
• Mung Bean tea
• Did Ja Jow rub and massage on painful body parts.
• Epsom salt bath once a day.

I don't know if any of these things are helping, but I don't seem to be hurting either at present.
Things that seem to have improved * Insomnia - unless in pain * Brain fog * Headache * Burning hands * Bladder issues * Cold/burning hands * Nausea
Same/fluctuate * Leg pains (knee, thighs, etc) * Elbows and shoulder pain * Lower and upper back * Burning/cold feet * Dizzy/off-balance sensation * Tinnitus * Groin pain * Heel pain
Worse/New * Achilles pain & tightness * Eye pain pressure/tendon? Dunno * Eye pain stabbing * Neuropathic stabbing pain * Buzzing sensatiin across face * Itching/buzzing on feet. * Hip pain * Neck pain
Next steps

• I bought some resistance bands and I am going to work those into my gentle exercises - starting with the lowest resistance.
  
• I'm going to give ginseng a try.
  
• Wait for my appointment with the specialist in a little over a week to see what his verdict is.
  

I plan to write my next update at 10 weeks and then 12 weeks, but I'll see how I feel.
Hoping to turn the corner soon!

Hi, I’m new here. Sorry in advance if this question is better suited elsewhere.
I picked up an upper trap exercise from some gym colleagues in the 90s. Since that time, I’ve never seen anyone else do anything similar. Not on youtube, not in exercise or bodybuilding books, not in person, nothing. It’s like some ghost exercise I’ve been doing for years and I’m very curious to learn more about it, if anyone has info about it.
setup:
on the cables, use a straight bar and set the grip height at about waist to lower back height. Face away from the bar, and grab the bar behind your back. Grip can be either palm towards your body, or palm away from your body (I do both).
holding onto the bar, take two medium steps forward. Bend forward at the waist to about 90 degrees.
elbows will be positioned at about your hips. Arms should be straight - pointing away from your head.
this should quasi resemble the shape of an uppercase letter ‘T’, with your legs being the vertical part, waist to head being the upper left part, and arms behind you being the upper right part.
the movement :
with arms extended straight behind pull the bar down to your ankle / calf area. Elbows are not locked, but arms remain pretty much straight. The action is kind of a downward arc from the shoulders. return back to the ‘T’ shape to complete the rep.
I feel the pump / burn in my upper traps. Palm position changes this a little- when I have my palms facing towards the ground from the ‘T’, the feel is slightly toward the middle of the upper traps, with palms up the feel is more towards the top of the upper traps.
my questions are - is this a known exercise? does it have a name? - does this movement target the traps? while that is absolutely where i feel it, it seems like it should be hitting the shoulders? - any idea why i’ve never found any references to it?
if you read all that, thank you. if you have thoughts to offer, please do!!

All of these balance patches with small nerfs or changes nobody asked for add up to a pattern of bad balance focus where they just randomly nerf shit that isn’t needed. The nade change would be good if they simply took away nading from below by reducing the shrapnel through soft surfaces but they decided to take away one of the funnest and most satisfying mechanics in the game instead which was grenade cooking, but more importantly just unnecessarily made nades way worse when they could’ve nerfed it differently. The frost rework is also just seeming something completely random considering the nature of trap operators themselves, there are some unique operators where this isn’t the case but they’re usually very binary by design, you either find them and counter them which in most situations isn’t very hard if youre playing methodically and smartly like you’re supposed to in siege, or you get heavily punished for not being cautious enough, so naturally a frost matt completely cripples you unless your teamates manage to look out for you before youre taken off the board. But they softened this easy to counter but very punishing if you don’t nature of this gadget by allowing you to get yourself back in the fight if the DEFENDER doesn’t capitalize on YOU hitting the matt fast enough. Then they nerfed Lesion and yeah hes been pretty good with that rework but again, I don’t think anybody was asking for a change like that considering how he was at a very balanced state before they randomly made him worse just for the fun of making a now well rounded but not overbearing operator worse. Then there’s the impact change, which not only deincentivizes the use of them as tactical utility to counter hard breaches, shields and making 3 meter vertical explosions, but it NERFED defense instead of significantly BUFFING attackers that could use some love. Yes I like that there are situational operators but even at being situational, IQ Nokk Sens Kali Gridlock and maybe even Sledge considering how many more vertical options are in the game now could all use some very positive changes that could definitely make attacking in general significantly better. And the buffs that they actually are providing are usually small for seemingly no reason, like Oryx running through Osa shields when he should be able to jump hatches faster and/or more quietly, and Sens getting another projectile when they’re not gonna have many left after the first few they throw out are countered by the thousands of ways Sens can be dealt with. Sens’s problem isn’t that they don’t have enough ROUs, it’s that the ROUs they do have are countered by every explosive Mute jammers Maestro cams EMP blasts and even stopped from deploying all their LED lights by barbed wire. Why have all these counters when Ying doesn’t have nearly as many and her gadget is significantly stronger? Who knows! But it’s not like Sens is already hard enough to make work with map knowledge you need and high skill ceiling shes intrinsically designed with.

Preparing to replace a kitchen sink (2 bowl to single), so I’ll be replacing most of the 1-1/2” drain pipe.
I’ve got a new p trap assembly, along with a new adapter for mating the tailpiece from the disposal to the drain line. I’m probably going to need at least a short vertical run from the adapter to the p trap, and I’ve got some short pieces of 1-1/2” sch 40 saved from previous projects.
Manufacture date printed on it is 2012? Should I make the trip to Home Depot for a newer piece, or full send with the scrap?
Looking to get this done in time for Mother’s Day. 😁

Hey Folks.
https://i.imgur.com/hxXDCFn.png
So my kitchen sink and guest bathroom basin (orange) gurgle rather loudly when used. Both are connected to a 50mm pipe that connects to the 110mm vertical pipe where the toilet connects to, with an vent stack I have removed the vent stack and tested with the same results of gurgling. The ensuite basin is inconsistent with gurgling, and it is much less apparent - audibly softer and does not always occur.
Before i resort to changing traps, i thought id try draw it up for your input. I dont believe the traps are the only issue here. I have also attached links to pictures to supplement my poor drawing. This is what i tried to draw:
https://i.imgur.com/uSZVZ9y.jpeg
Apart from the gurgling issue, i want to change 2 things:
The kitchen sink connection is currently using 2 90degree bends to a T on the dishwasher waste pipe. Im in two minds if i should rather use a Y piece in place of the T or run it straight down to a 90degree elbow and do away with the T altogether. I would prefer to not have a diagonal pipe, or the horizontal one thats visible now. Itll look better with the waste running straight down. The washing machine waste does not have a trap as its flush with the wall internally. However it does have a fitting that allows the washing maching to connect directly so there are no sewer odours present.
https://i.imgur.com/hwBCiGd.jpeg
This is the trap under my kitchen sink:
https://i.imgur.com/KiMY5mJ.jpeg
This is the guest bathroom basin trap:
https://i.imgur.com/Nr4Hyoi.jpeg
The guest bath, ensuite basin and shower connect into an external drain below the garden tap.
This is the ensuite basin trap:
https://i.imgur.com/3l9gIoc.jpeg
The drain has a 110mm pipe to the rodding eye that goes to council. I dont like this at all and would prefer these all be "direct" connections separate to the drain... is this normal practice for drain pipes. Seems to me to be a lazy way out. See pics below:
https://i.imgur.com/PsNkrrV.jpeg
https://i.imgur.com/ZSQHWJS.jpeg
Both baths drain well... perhaps a little too well with strong suction noises when draining. A whirl pool forms pretty quickly when wayer drains They have traps which dont get siphoned by this, but im unsure if this is normal for the suction to be so strong and loud? This is the vent stack with a side view of my DiY of the other 110mm toilet waste. Should the other waste not have a stack as well? I recently 'fixed' it as can be seen, but new pan seal for that toilet still leaks slightly, so probably need to redo it. Likely didnt clean the old surface well enough or something, so.if this 110mm needs a waste, i might as well pull it apart again.
https://i.imgur.com/bVMaQqo.jpeg
Considering all this:
What do i need to do, to stop the gurgling of my basins and sink? Is it just my traps or is there something else im missing?
Is the outside drain connection situation normal practice. I want to change have have those pipes connected separate from the drain.
TiA.

I consider myself a decent player, have solo queued to diamond many times in the past (and as recent as last season), but playing solos got me thinking about how someone should take engagements against roller players to have the best advantage. Finally got me curious enough to turn on my controller for Apex (I love me controller but don't play shooters with it out of acquired preference, I grew up on consoles).
I've seen some insane stuff from killcams in the past, and heard much of the hate around AA; did a bit of hating myself since I don't think it's very fair to have such disparity of skill requirements across input methods yet force them to play together (looking at you PC players using Roller), but I finally decided I'd give it a shot at the """no skill""" settings (according to a roller player) of 4-3 controller sens.
Using it is less fluid than mnk, and takes getting used to, but I get into some fights at quarantine zone. I get into my first close range fight and win no issue. Classic 1v1 stare down, better aim wins. I had an alternator. I found my aim was practically locked onto them and I completely shredded them. not a single missed bullet or need to hipfire, just a regular aim-off and I beamed him.
Now I can do that on MNK no problem, sure, I've practiced my recoil patterns and straffing to a science, but the thing that scared me was how I almost didn't need to move anything. I just pulled my trigger, straffed. Free headshots and movement aiminig. All I REALLY had to do was react to their movements in anyway and the controller did the rest, centering on them. It fights to keep them in your reticle so hard and there's really no input needed by the player for it to do this.
MNK players typically deal with the fact that if their shot isn't placed or spaced right, it's on them, and that shit's gonna miss. Not only that, but on MNK I move my reticle to PREDICT enemy movement since if I can't react, than I'm toast bc my shots WILL miss; however, that just wasn't a thing on Roller. There's no need for guesswork in dueling since the controller is here reacting to their movement instantaneously, meaning there's no stress on my end of what WILL happen: the enemy is trapped within the cage of my aim, and there's no way out at this range unless I'm a complete idiot.
Frankly, this is very revealing. I am not going to use controller since I don't find it as fun or rewarding to play with, but others having this really undermines my skill, and drive to play. My one saving grace is developing tricks in my mindset and toolset that let me gain an advantage:
Namely that if you're mnk fighting roller, you MUST do everything you can if possible to get their health down before they push you. Poking and headglitching are KEY, First shot advantage is a must, and you NEED to take advantage of the fact that they think they can push and 1v1 you easy, and they CAN with EZ Aimbot like that, so you need to catch them as they move and when they're most predictable. Move yourself in a way that is hard to hit if you need to push them, and keep them on their toes. Dealing damage at range is the best way to deter any roller I'd posit, they're still strong at range, but by virtue of bullet drop alone they can't hit every shot if you're smart. Vertical movement and movement in general can help when getting in close, but I don't see it as practical as I'd hope (if they're good enough they'll track you and get that AA where you moved to, but it will give an edge. Get creative.), superglides and wall bounces can helpful as ever (though I don't think an abundance of 2frame inputs to get an advantage is very fun, Didn't know I was playing SF4), do practice your wallbouncing at least and work to incorporate that movement in your games by going for it. But most importantly? you need to be fearless and focused. You need to react better than anyone, and as quickly as your neurons allow. Do it right and just maybe you can get your 20 bomb in solos, but most people have it easier than you.
Really, this just sucks. I didn't know I wasn't ready for the truth, but all those spectates or Kill cams of people in Solos and Mixtape having EZ BEAMZ just make me laugh. I've slowed down on playing Apex already, but on top of the bugs and absolutely scummy shit EA/Respawn are doing with this game, I don't know if it's worth stomaching anymore. It makes me Toxic where I'd otherwise be pretty chill seeing this kind of advantage in real time in the KC's and Spectate. I think MNK players, whoever or wherever you are if you still exist, really are better off just going to play someting else (Gigantic for me recently), but something's got to give if we love and want to play this game and see it improve. We need to adapt and lab strategies that beat Rollers together and make ourselves heard, because Respawn has literally ruined the competitive nature of this game for us. It will ALWAYS be an uphill battle if we don't make a change somehow, and have our voices be heard. I don't think there should be any fighting between roller and MNK players, we both just want the game to be fun and competitive, so we should both strive to implement solutions that satisfy everyone, like input specific queues or something. I do see a lot of roller players say "get better", but they should be sympathetic of the fact that many already "got better" by swapping to Controller. That really says a lot. Are they weak? Maybe, but better more consistent results for easier is always going to be less frustrating and more rewarding than getting better on an inferior input method. Makes me look like a fool for never swapping, but I'm still plenty good. It's just not fair. This needs to CHANGE.
TL;DR Controller AA is unfair compared to MNK, tips for coping, we all need to band together to make our voices heard and fix these issues.

G League Ignite's Tyler Smith, who turned professional at 16 as a 5 star HS prospect, to join Overtime Elite, declared for the draft and is 100% committed: https://twitter.com/DraftExpress/status/1780625720026304550 He's been prepped for this moment for a long time and soon his NBA career will begin in earnest.
Smith, 19, is 6'10, left handed, with a 7'2 wingspan; he's listed at 6'11 by the NBA but measured at 6'10 last summer at the OTE pro day. His length is one of his calling cards as a prospect. He's thin right now, but has a compact frame...he's someone who likely always will be on the thinner side but he can and likely will get much stronger from here. He's going to need to, to reach his ceiling.
Smith has positive athletic tools but not universally. He's a very fluid athlete. His fluidity is another one of his calling cards but his coordination isn't quite as good as his fluidity when on the move. He's got a lot of bounce when he has time to load, but doesn't have much when not able to. He does get off the ground quickly and has a bouncy second jump; he gets off the ground with ease there too, but not with significant elevation when he can't load. He's got acceleration when he gets a head of steam and is very quick in transition, he has suddeness as an athlete when rotating around the rim defensively, but isn't the quickest laterally nor does he have the most burst from a standstill.
For me Smith has two clear cut traits to him that define him as a player at the moment, one negative and one positive. His jump shot is the positive, and that is his major selling point as a prospect. He being lefty makes his shot a bit more difficult to contest. He's got good mechanics as a shooter. He dips the ball to gain rhythm, so he's not as good facing contests or off the dribble, although there are definitely flashes, as he is as a pure C&S guy with space, but he has great balance as a shooter, fantastic balance and real natural shooting touch. Very repeatable stroke, and he's good at relocation and finding open spots on the floor for his ballhandlers to pass the ball out to him. He understands spacing. He's got very good extension with his shot which makes it hard to contest. He's at his best in the C&S but he also has good balance as a PnP shooter, which gives him a bit of versatility as a shooter. He's gonna be someone who should step in and be a stretch 4/5 immediately in the NBA at a positive level even if he isn't yet the most dynamic overall shooter.
There were flashes as a pull up shooter and off screens this year. He's just not as good when he has to speed up the shot. His release his quick but the production of the shot is on the slower side.
He was also used down in the midpost and was able to take advantage of mismatches. He likes the turnaround jumper in the midpost. He's a better shooter from the midpost than he is a finisher at the rim when self-creating. His size and shooting touch make him someone who has real mismatch potential out of ball screens. He's not a pure post-up guy at all, but someone who will take advantage of switches out of ball screens. He will turn inside and finish at the rim as well when he has a smaller defender on him. He has the fluidity to get to the rim out of slips/ghosts.
Smith is not much of a ballhandler, does not have much burst, and doesn't explode to the rim as a driver. He's not a self-creator which everyone already pretty much knows but he's also not a great option as a catch and rip guy from the perimeter and he's not a great pure PnR guy. He's fine as a short roll PnR guy, he is a lob threat in the short roll with his bounce, has the mobility to get to the rim and finish, but not from the perimeter, just not strong enough either and can get stonewalled. He will settle for pull ups over taking the ball to the rim at times when a lane is available. He doesn't have great touch around the rim at all at this stage when on the move. However, Smith is a very good cutter which is a great skill for a young player to have. He's an instinctual cutter, both to the rim and to the FT line for jumpers, and he will move off the ball. He averaged about 2 offensive rebounds a game and he keeps the ball high when he grabs offensive rebounds. Having a good second jump makes putbacks an effective way for him to score, even though his hands aren't incredible. He knows how to make himself available at the rim as a dump off guy and in the short roll; he's an effective play finisher with a high motor and a good leaper which compliments his shooting. He's also a good transition finisher with his bounce and quickness in the open floor.
There is passing talent in him too. He's no high leverage playmaker and his decision making is not perfect, but he can make some sharp, quick reads at times and he's a good ball mover. This part of his game may have some scalability as he develops and you'd hope develop more ball skills.
Smith's game is pretty cut and dry on the offensive end, and that makes him a prospect with a higher floor than many in this class.
Smith tracks balls well off the rim and his bounce and length make him a good defensive rebounder as well. He's smaller than a lot of the matchups he faced with the Ignite at the C position, so his defensive rebounding wasn't quite as good as his offensive rebounding, he does a good job finding a body overall but sometimes relies on the bounce rather than fundamentals and had boards taken over his head, but he has the tools and instincts to be a strong all-around rebounder going forward.
The second trait that defines Smith as a player is a negative one---his perimeter defense. He's bad as a perimeter defender at the moment. He's every bit as bad as the narrative. I will say he does a fair job of being active off ball. He does a fair job of being active with his hands and digging on drives, at times trapping ballhandlers, and just all around looking to create a little havoc as a help defender. He's not a huge steals guy but he does have moments of impressive help defense.
He's not switchable at the moment and that was supposed to be a calling card of his. He was and some people still call him a 3/D prospect. That's really what Smith is sold as and where his value will be derived. He doesn't change direction well, he doesn't react well to initial moves, he's skittish with his feet, and he's just not very quick in sliding his feet. He's just not that quick, and he can be pretty handsy. Both on switches and in the PnR. He seems to lack a bit of awareness and not be quick to diagnose plays. He doesn't contain the ball well in the PnR and doesn't do a good enough job recovering to his man...he can, but too many times he's too late. He doesn't do a good enough job taking away passing lanes. He's skittish as a PnR defender; he plays too upright and doesn't offer resistance to ballhandlers driving to the rim. He doesn't cut off driving lanes. He overextends a lot when he looks to hedge on the perimeter, falls behind the play, and is not quick enough to recover back into the play.
He does not recover well out to shooters at all, would call him a liability in that department. Not only is he not quick in doing it, but he also flies out of plays on closeouts. He doesn't get out to shooters when he's in the paint quickly and he doesn't deal with PnP guys well in any way, he either can't recover to the shot meaningfully or gets taken off the dribble.
His shotblocking for me is hit and miss; he's late on rotations and he's just not big enough to get to every shot he contests. But when he does get it right, he has good timing in blocking shots. He's at his best as a shot blocker not on the weakside but when he's in drop coverage. He's at his best as a defender as a deeper drop defender. He does block a decent amount of shots here with his length, ability to get off the ground quickly, and has the short space mobility and better instincts here to be able to rotate over and block shots around the rim. He'll also deter shots with verticality. It's a more straight forward responsibility for Smith, and he handles that responsibility pretty well. He's late a lot as a rotater, or makes the wrong rotations, but he is active and he plays hard, which can cover for his mistakes a little bit and his length/bounce/athleticism helps around the rim.
He doesn't really have the size/strength to handle centers defensively one on one. He gets pushed around a ton by centers in the post...he's a below average post defender. He's got good length for his size but he's still undersized for a C. He's not a defensive anchor. He's probably at his best defensively as a 5 because his best skill defensively is his rim protection, but he's not easy to hide on that end as an on ball defender.
Defensive discipline---not biting on fakes, not picking up cheap fouls, fundamentals, is not yet where it needs to be for Smith. He fouls too much at the moment, and so many of them are avoidable. He'll also pick up moving screen fouls on offense. The nuances of the game, intangibles, aren't quite sharp enough yet for Smith.
Tyler Smith is 6'10 with fluid mobility on the offensive end, a play finisher who can dunk explosively, rebound and block some shots and shoot 3's. That checks a lot of boxes for the modern big man archetype. How far one thinks his defense+decision making+ball skills can scale up will decide his outlook and ceiling as a talent. He's one of the most clear cut prospects in this class to scout because his strengths/weaknesses are so clearly defined, IMO. It's all a matter of how much one values what he does well, and how much one thinks he can be acceptable at the things he does not do well at the moment.
I wanted to decipher between his fluidity and coordination because I feel a lot of his issues are balance related and quick twitch related than pure mobility. He's a good north-south athlete, but not a great east-west athlete...at least at the moment.
Are you all Thumbs Up, Down, or Across, on Tyler Smith?

My PBLSV719 Advanced Stick Vac came in the mail today, and I wanted to get my early impressions out, comparing it to the PBLSV716 Single Roller Pet Stick Vac I’ve been using for two years.
Major Pros:

• The noise. This is easily the most welcome improvement. The noise level of the 716 was a bit of a deterrent to using it, despite how convenient it was. It has a loud, high pitch whine from the motor, and a fairly loud roller. The 719 has much quieter rollers, and the motor noise is much more tame and lower pitch. High speed on the 719 is quieter and more pleasant sounding than eco speed on the 716.
  
• The 719 is noticeably better performing than the 716, I can actually feel the vacuum’s suction to the floor now. In my very early testing, I found myself having to make less passes on hardwood, and it seemed to be much more useful on rugs, where I didn’t even bother to use my 716 on rugs. The additional plush roller is helping, I’m sure.
  
• The canister is clear now on the 719 instead of dark tinted on the 716. The dark one looked nice, but it made it very hard to tell when I had reached the max fill line. This was actually quite annoying, looking back at it.
  
• The 719 has a HEPA filter, and the 716 doesn’t. This is ultimately what won me over when considering the upgrade.
  

Pros:

• The canister is slightly larger on the 719. 0.8L vs 1.0L.
  
• The 719 has a 10” roller width vs 9” on the 716. Might not fit in some spaces that the 716 could, but it’ll lead to less passes overall when cleaning an entire floor.
  
• The anti-hair-wrap roller works. I vacuumed up the area where my wife does her hair, and I found almost all of the hair made it into the canister, with minimal wrap. The claim is up to 9 inches of hair won’t wrap, and I believe it.
  
• On the 719, the vertical portion of the handle (when the vacuum is standing up) is now longer, so you can actually hold the vacuum from that portion now. Basically you have two angles to hold it instead of one in handheld mode.
  
• The roller base has a more secure mechanism to keep the vacuum standing up. On the 716 it felt like you had to make sure it was in the right position before letting go. It’s a more satisfying click on the 719 where you know it will stand up if you let it go. The larger base helps here as well.
  
• The roller base wheels are wider, smoother, and have less play on the 719. Much more premium feeling and quiet rolling it across the floor. Some of the play in the wheels on my 716 could be from wear, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the 719 had upgraded bearings. It feels that way.
  
• The roller base in general feels more robust. Of course I’m comparing a single roller vs a dual roller, but the 719 base does seem better built, maybe using some thicker plastics. I’m sure that contributes to less noise made from the base when rolling across the floor.
  
• The LED light is brighter on the 719 and shines a bit closer to the front of the vacuum than the one on the 716.
  
• The “Cheerio hole” is about twice as tall on the 719, so larger debris will get sucked up and not just pushed forward.
  

Minor Pros:

• The rubber flap where debris enters the canister is redesigned, it seems that less material will get trapped there now.
  
• The additional micro crevice tool, motorized beater, and hair cutter for the roller are appreciated. I’m interested to try the micro crevice tool for cleaning out vehicles.
  
• I already appreciate the accessory holder you can snap onto the extension, which holds two accessories. It’s not the most robust system, but it’s much better than not having them on the vacuum itself at all times. I think the brush tool and crevice tool will live on there for me.
  

Cons:

• I appreciated that the 716 started you on the high setting instead of eco, which I never used. The 719 starts you on medium, which appears to have less suction than high on the 716. I didn’t upgrade vacuums to have less suction, so I’ll have to switch to high almost every time I turn it on.
  
• Because of the new area to grab the vacuum that I mentioned, the buttons have been moved down. This means when you’re grabbing the vacuum in standing/roller mode, the power button is no longer conveniently located where you naturally rest your thumb. On the 716, the process was grab, press the power button with your thumb, and go. On the 719, the process will be to grab further down to turn it on and turn it to high, then shift your hand to start using it. Not a huge deal, but it won’t be as convenient to get started as it was on the 716.
  
• I’m not convinced the new system to latch the canister is any more user friendly. So far it seems more finicky to get on and off, but I imagine I’ll get used to it. It does seem like it should be more robust though, no longer relying on a small clip.
  

As a note, I did not end up going for the kit with the charging station, just didn’t have a need for it.
Hopefully this helps out for anyone who is in the market for one of the stick vacuums, or is thinking of upgrading. Most of what I talked about should also apply to the PBLSV717 dual roller. Let me know if you have any questions.

Ive been doing dips for many years, but I started to realise that I’ve been probably neglecting some small muscles that would help my dip strength better.
It just hurts my upper left trap now even when I do a support hold so I’m taking a pause on that but still want to incorporate some vertical push. My physio said it’s also good to focus on more posterior chain movements for me anyway.
I’m thinking to focus on pike push-ups as this is an exercise I’ve been neglecting for years.
What do you guys think? Is it fine to stop dips for awhile and focus on pike push-ups, HSPU etc?