Beginnings. Illustrious. Vivacious. Monstrous. Scintillating. Star-Studded. Nautical. Creeping. Vainglorious. Luminous. Villainous. Venerable. Exuberant. Esteemed. Legendary…. Epic. Wonderful, Briliant, Victorious, Foundational, Iconic!!! Champions. Sixteen of them. One prize. One Ultimate Champion. Who will beat all other winners and become the ultimate winner themselves? As we get ready to close the curtain one last time on Bunny’s Big Brother, let’s find out who is the Shining Star of our champion cast in Bunny’s Pokémon Big Brother CHAMPION ROYALE!
Season Finale: CHAMPION ROYALE!!!
Meet the Cast:
Season 1 – Lance the Escavalier
Season 2 – Carlos the Pangoro
Season 3 – Nickels the Nickit
Season 4 – Xio the Meowscarada
Season 5 – Selene the Lampent
Season 6 – Candy the Wigglytuff
Season 7 – Splaatz the Stunfisk
Season 8 – Dirk the Kricketune
Season 9 – Echo the Arctibax
Season 10 – Mobee the Bewear
Season 11 – Professor Bane the Crobat
Season 12 – Lisette the Solrock
Season 13 – Maeva the Chimeco
Season 14 – Dayley-Jane the Dewgong
Season 15 – DJ Volt Switch the Emolga
Season 16 – Benedict the Chespin
Intro: We are reporting live at the site of Bunny’s Pokémon Big Brother Finale House! The crowd is thick and loud as fans from all over are excited to watch the sixteen champions enter the house LIVE! We stand in Poketopia, home of the Battle Revolution! The Shining Neon Colloseum, in a penthouse suite in the grand city is where the final bout will begin! Here come the Legendary Sixteen right now!!!! Lance the original winner is so stunning in his armor! Carlos has evolved and looks much tougher. Nickels is strutting in conifdent as ever next to Xio, who looks completely unphased by all of the winners around her! Selene fits right in with the bright lights. Looks like Candy is evolved as well and—OH—she tripped over Splaatz. That’s embarrassing and you can tell she isn’t happy even if she’s putting on a smile. Dirk and Echo are next, both eyeing up the competition already. Echo being evolved now already ups his threat level. Mobee gets an uproarious cheer from the crowd! And WOW the Professor gracefully glides over the crowd! He really did escape capture back in Mazda’s Season. Lisette seems to be meditating and Maeva is pumping herself up. She looks a bit snooty now that we know how she really is but we are eager to see how she plays. Dayley-Jane gets another huge cheer from the crowd. She really is a lovable gal ain’t she? DJ clicks a track on the DJ booth to keep one last song playing but then hops out to join the entourage. She’s still keeping up her day job too, so inspiring! Finally, Benedict walks up. Unlike the others, he looks somber. Wonder what his deal is? Oh well, let’s watch them all compete in the bright stadium for the first HOH!
First HOH: In this bright lights HOH, the houseguests all race to complete a task, with the first to complete it knocking someone out of the running. In the first heat, Maeva clears first and knocks out Bane because he came in second and is a huge comp threat. In the next round, Echo wins and takes out Maeva, who just won. Splaatz wins round three by accident and takes out Day, who was big on his original season. Candy wins next and takes out Nickels. Xio takes out DJ, followed by Benedict winning and immediately knocking Xio out. Candy wins again and takes out Dirk. Echo then wins again to take out Candy before she gets too much momentum. Carlos wins and takes out Lance, Mobee then wins and takes out Carlos, Benedict then wins and takes out Mobee! Splaatz wins again and takes out Selene as she is hiding in the background. Lisette wins the next round to take out Benedict. In the final three, Echo wins again and takes out Lisette, as she did a good job hiding til then. In Splaatz versus Echo, the fish surprisingly keeps up with the dragon and at the last second, takes over?!?!?! Splaatz is the first HOH!
Week 1: Splaatz is very confused how he won that last round but Echo comes up and congratulates him. The two get along well and Splaatz works up the courage to ask to be in an alliance, which the dragon happily agrees. Bane goes to Candy to tell her that the villains need to stick together, she agrees and they grab Maeva. She is initially reluctant, not trusting Bane, but she agrees eventually. Mobee goes to monitor the living room like before and DJ flies up to him. They end up chatting and realize they enjoy each other. At the nomination ceremony, Splaatz has decided to put up DJ and Dirk, saying how he doesn’t want to make too much waves and this seems to be the way to do it best. Dirk is unamused and DJ is frightened. Echo gets suspicious of Bane and shares his thoughts with Nickels, they pull in Carlos to form an anti-villain alliance. Benedict eavesdrops and plans his next move. He goes up to Nickels and makes up how Dirk must be playing the villain this time, because he is acting weird. Nickels considers his approach but ultimately decides to trust him as an alliance member. At the veto, Carlos, Echo, and Mobee all play but it comes down to Carlos and Splaatz. Splaatz ends up winning again but while actually trying and is exuberant! DJ pleads with him but he ultimately keeps his noms the same.
After the veto ceremony, Benedict tells DJ to do as he says and trust him, as Gigi did. She agrees and starts buttering up to the villains. She gets Candy to be even nicer to the house and apologize to Splaatz. She also helps Bane create a new game. Meanwhile, Benedict starts prodding Dirk and Day, causing them to be at odds with each other. Dirk eventually snaps and lashes out at Day, shocking everyone. Maeva can tell something fishy is happening but rolls with it since it is week one. At the eviction ceremony in the glittering colosseum, the two nominees tell why they should stay. Dirk is more bitter while DJ stays heartfelt, convincing everyone but a suspicious Maeva. In the end, by a vote of 12 to 1… Dirk, you have been evicted.
Week 2: The next HOH is a high flying roulette-themed obstacle course, based off of the Neon Colosseum’s roulette rules. DJ and Mobee work together to get to the end but Nickels keeps up with them. In the final stretch, Mobee sees Nickels catching up and throws DJ, giving her just enough of an edge to win the HOH! Nickels and Maeva both approach DJ to tell her their suspicions on Benedict’s behavior. At first, they fight, but realizing they have the same goal causes them to cut it out long enough to tell her. DJ is reluctant but Maeva reminds her how he betrayed Gigi and she is firm. Benedict and Carlos become the nominees. Day, Echo, and Maeva play in the veto and Echo actually manages to come out on top over Day. Echo talks with Nickels about saving Carlos but she is hesitant, telling him that Carlos makes a good pawn next to benedict because everyone likes Carlos. He ends up not using it. During the week, Benedict begins making breakfast early, irritating his roommate Carlos and causing him to be grumpier. Xio confronts Benedict for this, telling him he is purposefully making Carlos mad and it’s brutal. He tells her he doesn’t understand the problem if Carlos doesn’t like breakfast. She sneers but doesn’t have a comeback. The next day, Benedict holds a house meeting. He apologizes if he’s been rubbing people the wrong way but he is just trying to fit in since he is newer. Lisette says that everyone should give him a chance, which the villains, Selene, and Mobee agree with. Echo, Carlos, Nickels, and Maeva are all hesitant. At the eviction ceremony, Carlos is grumpy and bitter and doesn’t do much to defend himself. Benedict, again apologizes. In a 9 to 3 vote… Carlos is evicted.
Week 3: Several house membets are completely shocked by Carlos going home, including HOH DJ and his two allies, Nickels and Echo. Also surprised is Xio. The next HOH is an endurance comp called the floor is lava based off of the Lava Colosseum! Mobee, Splaatz, and Xio are the last three remaining. Knowing she was on the outs of the last vote, Xio fights hard to survive, fighting her pain. Splaatz eventually drops and Mobee remains with Xio. Eventually, Mobee drops and Xio wins! Xio already knows her noms. She puts up Benedict next to Selene, as she was one of the people vouching for him last round. Benedict chooses to stay back and not make too much of a scene this round, lest he blow up his cover. Meanwhile, DJ and Mobee plan how to move forward. Maeva is listening in to this convo and realizes how close they are. At the veto, a mental comp, Selene ends up winning by a landslide, saving herself. Maeva rushes to Xio about the DJ and Mobee situation, and points out how Mobee is a comp threat as well. Xio decides Mobee is a good replacement, as he is likeable and a good pawn next to Benedict. Mobee holds a house meeting and cries during it, thinking he was doing so much better at being friendly this time. Maeva calls him out for his crocodile tears and argues that he is putting on an act. Lisette calls out Maeva for being so harsh and chastises her for being such a villain. Maeva asks her if she is planning on voting for him to stay and she is silent, but says that shouldn’t matter. Maeva retorts and says it’s not jury so jury management doesn’t exist yet. At the eviction, Mobee is shaking next to a smug Benedict. Benedict’s speech touches on how Mobee doesn’t seem ready for the big leagues. The bear gets up angrily and almost picks up Benedict, shocking everyone. He stops himself and realizes what he did. The vote comes in and by a vote of 8 to 3, Mobee, you have been evicted.
Week 4: The next HOH begins as they houseguests must ascend a glimmering rock wall, themed after the Crystal colosseum. Day and Maeva take an early lead but are caught up by falling rocks. Lisette closes the gap and eventually surpasses Maeva. Day and Lisette race for the end and… Lisette win! Lisette in her HOH room ponders about who to put up and ally with. She turns to Xio, Day, and Selene as her allies. The Witch’s Coven, as they call themselves, wants to shift the focus, as Benedict is doing too well at not going home. Instead, Lisette targets Maeva, who is playing sneaky, as well as Benedict’s ally, Echo. Bane laughs at Maeva being on the block and she is enraged with him. He says “it doesn’t matter since it’s not jury yet.” Having her own words turned on her, Maeva storms out and swears she will get revenge on him and Candy. At the POV, the witches’ coven is playing with three members and Xio ends up winning! She chooses to keep the nominations the same. Splaatz goes to Lance to tell him how much it means to be there with one of his heros, but Lance mishears him and calls him out for calling him a rude name. The two get in a petty argument where Lance’s bad hearing keeps making things worse. Meanwhile, Maeva tries to get the vote off of her by spreading anti-Benedict propaganda around the house. Day has a change of heart about this and wants to vote out Echo, even while her alliance is targeting Maeva. Benedict, aware his name is still out there, pleads to DJ not to vote out his ally. At the eviction, Maeva thinks she has done enough work but the vote comes out and is a 5 to 5. The Coven is shocked, one of their own must have flipped. But Lisette gets to break the tie, and is all too happy to evict her target, Maeva.
Week 5: The next HOH is themed after the Sunset colosseum, and sees the houseguests racing to stack piles of rubble. Echo, DJ, and Xio make the highest stack but DJ’s crumbles before the time limit. Both wanting to take control, Echo and Xio try really hard to build the highest. The timer buzzes aaaand Echo is the winner! Benedict instinctively high fives Echo and celebrates with him. Later, Nickels is peeved that Echo is so publicly working with Benedict. Echo tells her she had the opportunity to have a good ally but she chose to burn that bridge and that’s her fault. Offended, she tells him to make that alliance with Benedict work out but she won’t be part of it. Echo is saddened, but doesn’t want to put Nickels up. Instead, he shifts the target to former villains, with Bane being the target and Selene going up next to him. Xio cheers that Selene could be going home, making the Lamp angry at her, since they were supposed to be working together. Benedict goes on to win the veto and vows to Echo not to use it. However, at the veto ceremony, he uses it to save Selene, shocking everyone as he winks at Xio. Echo then solidifies this by putting Xio up. Selene goes to her to tell her she is sorry for their misunderstanding but they work together. Candy turns to Lisette and tells her she is tired of working with Bane and if she helps her get the Professor out this week, she will work with her. Lisette agrees, knowing everyone wants Bane out anyways. At the eviction, Xio seemingly patches things up with everyone. The vote comes in, by a unanimous vote… Bane, you are evicted.
Double Eviction: Surprise! The Jury starts tonight and the next HOH is beginning right now with one more person leaving! A quiz colosseum is held in the Sunset colloseum, with one miss causing someone to be out of the running. It comes down to DJ, Nickels, and Lisette. But Lisette gets the last question right and the other two miss, with Lisette winning her second HOH. Lisette puts up Nickels and Day. Nickels because she is playing a lowkey game but making waves in the Benedict situation. Day because she wavered on her vote for Benedict. She doesn’t put down Benedict as he is good for drama and polarizing the house, which is good for her game. Nickels wins the veto and takes herself off. Lisette decides to put up Splaatz, because she is worried he will fumble his way to the end. Most people seem to share this idea except for Echo, who wants to wotk with Splaatz. The vote comes in. By a vote of 7 to 1… Splaatz, you have been evicted and will be moving into the jury house.
Week 6: The Next HOH begins as a race through the mysterious mansion in the courtyard colosseum. No one can tell where anyone is but Candy comes out first and wins! As HOH, Candy calls in Benedict. She tells him he has been playing a sloppy and obvious villain game and he is gonna get evicted too soon if he doesn’t simmer down and get some real allies. He is shocked and admits he just wants to win. She says they all do and the least they can do is help each other. She says she will help him if he keeps causing more chaos and also gets DJ on their side. He agrees and talks to DJ. The squirrel is hesitant but decides it would be a great way of getting revenge on Benedict if she gets the chance. Candy puts up Lance as the pawn next to her target, Xio, who has been against Benedict’s chaos this whole game. DJ goes on to win the veto and chooses to not give Candy any suspicion by not using it. Meanwhile, the witches coven fractures, with Day not agreeing with Lisette and Xio feeling not supported on the block by Selene. DJ infiltrates this meeting after storms out, telling them about Xio being the real target but she has a plan to keep her without drawing suspicion if they can get Day to play nice. Xio borrows an item from Lisette and breaks it. Lisette then goes to “rant” to Day, who is being nice with her, thinking they both will vote Xio. Echo, meanwhile, confirms his alliance with Benedict, and feels like he is finally gaining more traction. But the house takes this the wrong way. At the eviction, the vote comes in, and by a vote of 4 to 3… Lance, you have been evicted.
Week 7: The next HOH begins, a waterfall diving competition, based off of the Waterfall Colosseum. Whoever makes the biggest splash wins! With her natural watery prowess, Day dives in and wins the HOH! Day is approached in the HOH by Candy and Benedict, who ask her to work with them. DJ sees whats happening and goes back to Lisette and Selene. The two talk and realize that they can’t beat Benedict’s control of the house by just going against him, but they have to work with him. So the three of DJ, Lisette, and Selene enter the HOH “accidentally” and propose the six will control the house. They say they want Echo to go on the block, as he is getting too good at the comps. Benedict is hesitant but Candy nudges him, as secretly this will be great for her game. He agrees and tells Day he won’t be mad if this happens. Echo goes up next to Nickels. The two former allies face off in the veto, both bitterly making jabs at the other for turning on them. It comes down to just the two nominees and… Echo edges her out, winning the veto. Echo saves himself and puts the power in Day’s hands to put up a replacement. Her choice is the person not in her alliance who has made affronts to her, Xio. Lisette has the whole house do tarot readings to ease the tension which goes down well. Lisette gets the Sun, a symbol of positivity and creativity. Benedict draws the Moon, symbolizing Illusion and inner conflict. He shudders when the white moon of the card turns red in his hands. Echo draws the Fool, a card of new beginnings but also endings. Selene draws death, the card of change in the game. Nickels draws the Hermit, a card of isolation and reflection. Candy draws the Lovers, with the card representing connections and pairs, symbolizing her manipulation of Benedict. Day draws Strength, a card of inner strength and Willpower. Xio draws the Tower, representing sudden downfall and incredible sudden changes. She shudders and uses the moment to apologize to everyone, saying she wants to be a beacon of hope but got lost. The house receives this well. Benedict considers flipping to Xio because of her show of faith being bad but Candy reminds him that Xio is on the bottom of the pecking order on that side, likely meaning they don’t even have to take her out. He relents and the eviction goes through. The vote comes in and by a vote of 5 to 1, Nickels you have been evicted.
Week 8: The Next HOH begins in the Sunny Park colosseum, with contestants having to hunt for pellets and use them to knock out targets. DJ and Echo prove the most adept but in a last second victory, Echo wins. Benedict goes to Echo in the HOH but Echo has realized too late that Benedict is working with everybody, even causing him to turn on Nickels. Benedict doesn’t try to hide his smug smirk as he agrees and walks out, daring him to put him on the block. He feels this must be hiding something and starts asking around the house for their opinions. Xio reveals the existence of the Witches Coven, and how they have been together for weeks, including saving her last week. Knowing of this alliance, Echo saves Xio and puts up Selene and Day. At the veto, Selene wins. Selene approaches Echo, telling him she knows of someone playing both sides, revealing DJ trying to play double agent. After she pulls herself off the block, DJ goes up as the replacement. Candy works on ingratiating herself with the outsiders in Xio and Echo, trying to forge paths ahead. But is unsuccessful at breaking Echo. Echo is accosted by DJ for putting her up over Benedict. He asks her to say why she was double crossing and she says its because she was trying to sabotage Benedict. If anything, Day, Selene, and Lisette should be the real double agents. Echo goes to rage to Selene for how she tricked him but she swears it was the truth completely, and he chose to believe it in a negative light, not her. Day joins the fight and lashes out at Xio and Selene for being the reason she is on the block. Lisette stays out of it, knowing the time to jump ship is coming up. At the eviction, Dj and DayJay give their pleas, but the votes are tallied. By a unanimous vote… Dayley-Jane, you have been evicted.
Double Eviction!!: Second double eviction because you know we gotta! The HOH starts with a lightning round of dodgeball on wooden poles. Selene is knocked out first. Then DJ gets knocked out by Candy. Lisette falls off on her own. Xio goes after Benedict but is taken out by Candy. Then Candy expertly dodges and takes out Benedict, winning the HOH. She nominates the two people who are on the bottom of the pecking order, Echo and Xio. The veto plays out with Benedict winning. Echo pleads for Benedict to help him out, as they were friends. Benedict doesn’t even look him in the eye as he chooses to not play the veto. Echo pleads to the voters to let him keep playing and he will take out Benedict, but Lisette and Selene have basically already jumped ship and moved on. The vote comes in, and by a vote of 4 to 0… Echo, you have been evicted.
Week 9: With Six houseguests remaining, they are taken to the Gateway colosseum to have mock Pokemon battles. In the first round, Xio beats Lisette and Selene beats DJ, with Benedict drawing a spot in the top 3. In a first to win two times in a row scenario, Selene beats both and comes out victorious. Selene and Lisette decide that they have to cut ties and work with the more devious players to have a better shot at the end. Selene puts up DJ and Xio, with DJ being the target. Benedict is alone in his room when he hallucinates more blood on his paws. He shouts and Xio comes in to see whats up. She helps him calm down and he realizes he is down a bad path. She helps him calm down and he thanks her, even with him harassing her all game she still helped him. Candy witnesses the two help each other out and is beyond irritated, she goes to Selene, who is still iffy on Xio, to warn her. At the veto, Candy wins it. She takes off DJ and Selene spitefully puts up Benedict, who trembles going to the block. Lisette confronts Selene for making such a rushed decision, as the goal was to keep Benedict and his threat around longer. At the eviction, Benedict argues that he has realizes how the game has changed him and he wants to prove how he changed. Lisette doesn’t believe him but DJ seems to be enamored. The vote comes in, and by a vote of 2 to 1… Xio you have been evicted.
Week 10: Five stars remain and there are five points in the Stars of the Main Street colosseum, where the houseguests go to do a full BPBB quiz! Lisette misses one question and gets behind as the other get ahead. It comes down to a tie-breaker between Dj and Benedict and the winner is… DJ! Benedict goes to apologize to DJ for real and she forgives him, happy to see his true self back again. She feels played by Selene and Candy so they go on the block. Lisette is still suspicious of Benedict and starts watching him for suspicious activity, noticing him look at his paws a lot. She decides to talk to him with the ruse of working together. At the veto, DJ wins again and claims her game, choosing not to use the veto. Realizing the danger they are in, Selene and Candy go to their respective closest allies, Benedict and Lisette. The two touch base with Benedict telling Lisette he is fine voting Candy with her, as he doesn’t want to force DJ to have to break a tie. At the eviction, the votes are read and by a vote of 2 to 0… Selene, you have been evicted. Benedict looks over at Lisette with a shocked look, realizing she caught on to him.
Week 10: As the final HOH starts, the houseguest are in the Stargazer colosseum for an epic triathlon of quizzes, endurance, and races. In the first part, Benedict pulls ahead, with Lisette on his tail. He falls behind in part two, giving Lisette and Candy a chance to catch him. The three are neck and neck in part three but Lisette comes out on top! Benedict goes to Lisette on her HOH to grovel but she stops him, saying she misheard the vote last week and though the vote was for Selene anyways so its good he didn’t make poor DJ break the tie. He feels reassured and goes back out. Lisette puts up DJ and Candy as the nominees. Lisette reassures DJ about how Benedict likes her and she wouldn’t go home. Benedict touches base with Lisette, claiming that he knows DJ has too much social traction and needs to go next because of this. On his way out, Candy enters the room and chats with Lisette. She says that the noms should stay the same so DJ can be evicted for sure this week. Lisette doesn’t trust her and tells her to her face she is no better than Benedict, but is powerless without him. The two stare each other down. At the veto, Lisette wins it, and Benedict sighs a sigh of relief. But Lisette shocks everyone by saving Candy and puts up Benedict. Lisette calls him out for faking his turnaround to play with everyone’s emotions. He breaks down, claiming his intense want, no, NEED to win the game. He can’t get it out of his head and it burdens him with the thoughts of betrayal, including the allies he betrayed this season, with Nickels, Echo, and even Xio who showed him so much kindness leaving because of him. DJ is in tears and even Candy can’t watch. Afterwards, Benedict goes to his only real ally, Candy. He begs her for advice on how to get out of this, as she helped him so much. She looks him in the eye as she tells him that he did this to himself. At the eviction, Candy gets the sole vote to evict and casts it to evict, Benedict.
The Reunion: Folks we are live again right outside the Neon Colosseum for the Finale of Bunny’s Pokémon Big Brother Champion Royale! Our Sixteen winners have been whittled down to three and it is not what we expected at all! In a house where everyone wants to be the biggest truck on the highway, we have three mid-sized sedans who have slipped through the gaps and swept their way to the end. DJ VOLT SWITCH, Elesa’s iconic Emolga who created the jams we are listening to even right now! She plays up her social game very well with honesty and loyalty, but is no slouch in the competitions. Though she has been left out of some secrets in the game, she was well=liked in the house and leveraged her position between alliances to get information! Sweet Candy the Wigglytuff who played Sickly Sweet last but downright Sick this time. She got in close with all of the villains but managed to be the cherry flavored licorice that was easier to manage. She avoided detection aligning with big villain Benedict and hiding behind the scenes of his chaos, even almost controlling his moves at points. The Sunstone herself, LISETTE the Solrock, who foresaw victory once, but is this a double reading? Lisette bided her time throughout the game, getting whatever information she could and waiting to play it until the time was right. She was at the center of multiple alliances but always stayed just far enough away from the drama that no one was even targeting her. The Sun? No Lisette is after The World!
Joining us on stage now are the 9 jurors! Starting with Splaatz—Ope watch your step, you gotta be careful or else you’ll trip. Here comes Lance the OG! Though he is old he is still our knight in shining armor. Nickels struts up so casually ooh lala. Here comes Echo, kind of sheepishly, don’t be shy buddy! Day gracefully swims up on stage, still to audience cheering. Wait, the cheering is getting louder? Oh it’s Xio! She is surprisingly well-received. Selene keeps the applause growing. She seems to be goading the audience on with her behavior, not wanting to stay out of the spotlight hmm. And then—oh wow I can’t hear anything with the thunder of the crowd for… Benedict? Interesting outcome here that our little villain has become a real crowd pleaser. Even as he walks to his seat with his head held low.
The jurors speak with our lovely reporter. Lance speaks about how great it was to come back and how this game is way changed from when he won season 1. Xio and Nickels agree, but they still worked hard to adapt to the changes. Selene scoffs a bit, another early winner, she notes that herself and Candy were very well integrated, they just needed to change their approach. Xio says it was much harder playing from the bottom rather than the top and it was a fight, but she had a ton of fun doing so. Day mentions she felt the same way. A house full of winners is not to be underestimated for a second, as they all could be planning many different things behind each other’s backs. Splaatz is—oh he’s asleep… moving on. Nickels asks Echo about how he changed his game this time, and why he turned on her. He apologizes, saying he was blinded by seeing opportunities with Benedict because he didn’t fight with him, only told him what he wanted to hear. And he realized too late that that was a ruse. She accepts his apologies and all eyes turn to Benedict. He looks up, seemingly just noticing eyes are on him. He looks down at his paws. “All I’ve seen since last season is blood on my paws. The need to win never left me. I had to do it at all cost. I lost myself in that game and resorted to every trick in the book to make the winners trust me. And it worked… but I fell deeper and deeper down the hole. And now, I don’t feel like I deserved to win at all.” Xio jumps up and makes him look up. “You deserved your win as much as we all deserved ours. It’s a game, it doesn’t have to define you. You define you, so get up and prove it.” Benedict is in disbelief that Xio is still defending him. “You hear that crowd? They were entertained, we entertained them! Your devioushness entertained them! You gave them a show by tricking a bunch of winners, so own up to it and be the entertainer we know you are.” He gives off a small, barely noticeable,but definitely real this time, smile. Xio turns to the crowd “ARE YOU GUYS READY FOR OUR FINAL THREE???” The crowd erupts in excitement!! “THEN GET READY BECAUSE HERE THEY ARE!!”
Final HOH Part 1: The HOH opens on top of the rotating Roulette wheel in the Neon Colosseum, with the audience now filled and the three houseguests circling in the middle, holding on for dear life. At the same time, they are throwing dodgeballs at each other. Candy is targeting Lisette out of spite, putting on a performance for the audience about how Lisette is a traitor to their alliance. DJ is caught in the crossfire but expertly dodges. She manages to catch a ball that Candy threw and chucks it back, knocking her out. Lisette smiles at DJ but DJ knows she still has to win. She tells Lisette she is sorry but she is done working with people and has to take her game into her own hands, not relying on others to fail but herself to succeed. Lisette agrees, but she wants to be the one to succeed. Lisette lobs a ball at Dj and knocks her out, winning Part 1.
Final HOH Part 2: Part begins with Candy and DJ on the Rotating Roulette platform again, racing around to land the colored balls in order of the competitions and the winners of each one. DJ takes an early lead, having been very aware of the game the whole beginning. Candy struggles at first but when she catches up to leaving the villains alliance and joining Benedict, she takes off, knowing how well she played Benedict as her own puppet that she controlled votes for that she easily crushes the midgame part. Her lead takes her ahead on time going into the endgame. DJ misses a key vote and has to go back, but Candy remembers who saved Benedict countless times, and gets it right, winning part 2.
Final HOH Part 3: The crowd is in uproars as Candy and Lisette reach the stage for final quiz, again on our roulette platform (we paid a lot of money for that). Each juror question goes by, with Lisette and Candy answering in tandem, Both get question after question correct, eventually reaching the last question about Benedict. The crowd is shocked as they both answer together again and… get it wrong. Well, that’s anticlimactic. Benedict sighs, no one knew his true self. But the tie-breaker is revealed, how many rotations has the rotating platform made? With both answering two numbers away from each other, Candy goes just over, eliminating her, and crowning Lisette the final HOH. Lisette has both DJ and Candy in front of her. She doesn’t say much but looks at them. She says that DJ played an impeccable social game and is incredibly loved by the fans and the house. Candy, meanwhile, played a strategic game and almost fooled her a couple times. She turns to Candy “I made a gamble with bringing a social threat to the end before with Amni, but not this time. Candy, let’s give em a show.” And casts her vote to evict DJ.
The Jury Questioning: DJ isn’t shocked, she did a lot this time around and knew she made herself a bigger threat. She exits the house and gets cheers from the audience! She hops to the DJ booth and begins playing the final epic track for the showdown between Candy and Lisette. Both have been in this position before in the final 2 and both have won, but now, only one can become a two-time winner and be crowned the ultimate Champion! Lisette opens with her speech first. She pitches her game strong, how she gravitated towards groups in the early game without committing too strongly, so she didn’t go down with the ship. She still managed to control so many votes in the house by having reach with her Witches Coven and eventually jumping ship and siding with Benedict, as she knew he was under Candy’s thumb and she could infiltrate that alliance to get to the end and destroy it. The jury is impressed by her showing and all eyes turn to Candy. Candy starts saying how she knew her game was already known going into the house and she had to play different. Her main strategy was to fall into the background and connect with the players playing sloppier than her so she could be the puppetmaster and sneak to the end. And for her, that was found in Benedict, who she found it very easy to manipulate. She is the villain they all knew she was but she wasn’t targeted because of her great strategy. She saved Benedict’s game and carried him to the end so that she could have a guaranteed extra life in the endgame with him. Murmurs arise from the jury, Benedict looks incredibly hurt. Xio asks Candy what her biggest move was outside of controlling Benedict. Candy says that she made sure that the villains she worked with got cut before she could get too powerful, even working with Lisette to get out Bane and Maeva. DJ gets up from the booth and asks Lisette why she went to the end with Candy instead of her if she thought Candy was going to be tougher. Lisette clarifies that she thought Candy would be good at explaining her game, but she knows not to rely on other’s failing but on herself to succeed, and DJ has a great story and was well-loved and if she wanted to win, she had to cut DJ and masterfully explain her game to the jury. Benedict finally speaks up to ask Candy if he meant anything to her at all throughout the game. She hesitates, caught off guard, before replying in all honesty that, she wanted to mentor him to be a better player. He says he did well enough for making it to the end twice and didn’t need her to do all that. In their final speeches, Candy says that she used other people as her pawns and navigated a really good game to make it to the end hidden amongst the other players. Lisette says that she played a perfect game, not even touching the block and noting that she has not received a vote against her in either of her games, this one being perfect. She finishes by saying how she played more up front and aggressive to counter the sneakier players of the season and did not back down from the threats that all the winners possessed. The jury is impressed and goes to cast their votes.
Jury Voting: Splaatz says he had a fun time playing again and wants to vote for someone who played really good, even showing him more how to play. Lance says that while some people are old school, some people are REALLY old school, but can still play with the best of the best and be even better. Nickels says she is honored to be in the winners season but one winner played like how she thinks a winner should. Day says she worked with both finalists, but she always felt the house pulling towards one player, as the sun has a lot of gravity and control over the tides. Echo says point blank that he felt the manipulation from both sides, but one felt malicious, and another felt like game, and he knows which he respects more. Xio says that some lines shouldn’t be crossed. Selene says that she was honored to be so thoroughly outplayed, turning from the Queen to the Pawn who was merely a stepping stone in someone elses game, it was thrilling. Benedict silently casts his vote. DJ cues the final tune before hopping down with her vote, saying that it should be obvious. The votes come in… by a vote of 9 to 0… the winner is…
Winner: Lisette!
Runner-Up: Candy!
Confetti cannons and flamethrowers start lighting up the sky with neon streams shining bright all over the sky! Though it is the dead of night, it is as bright as the sun, and Lisette is feeling absolutely radiant. Candy sits in shock, in disbelief. Lisette throws her the Lovers card again. “You misread it the first time so maybe you can learn before you try to tell the fortune teller what her fortune is.” Candy throws the card on the ground in anger and pouts. The jurors go and cheer for Lisette, the ultimate champion and two time winner, STILL having never received a single vote to evict in two entire seasons. The fan favorite vote comes in and… IT’S A TIE???
Fan Favorites: Benedict and Xio!!!
Benedict goes up to Candy, still fuming, and looks her in the eyes. “You know what, you really did teach me something. You taught me that some people never change, but I don’t have to be one of them.” Xio comes up and takes Benedict back to the celebration, sticking her tongue out at Candy as she leaves. The party goes through the night. The sun eventually rises, as Lisette has risen to the top of the competition, as this era of Bunny’s Pokemon Big Brother has come to an end.
My Thoughts: I enjoyed this season a lot. It kept me on the edge as the winners played their games again, some way better than others. Gameplay-wise, I think I preferred last season but I think it’s more so because of the subtle moves made in the dark as no one wanted to be too big of a target. The villains ended up flopping early, which kind of was to be expected, given that everyone else is a relaly smart player to have won. Candy surprised me this time, sneaking in to take over Benedict, being a key player in his storyline, even a bigger villain than he tried to be. It really helped me tie up the storyline really well and I like how it happened. She also played a stellar game again, controlling things from the chaos in the shadows. The other side of the house was not slouching though. Lisette, Selene, Xio, and Day all played smart games, not committing too much to each other but still working well enough to not crumble. Lisette as a winner for this season is great! She put in work to keep her position, as it was in danger of falling apart so much. She leveraged every ally she had and every competition she had to get forward every week. And it worked as she got to the end without hitting the block AGAIN and played a PERFECT game, not receiving a single vote to evict and getting every vote to win. She did that in a winner season too, ultimate winner for sure!
So whats next? Well... that's the end. I knew since the beginning that Season 17 would be the end but it coming up still feels so weird. I am about to start a busy summer and don't have as much time for all of my hobbies but I still feel sad finishing this series. I think I am going to make a series epilogue soon so stay tuned for that but... otherwise that's it. I thank you all again so much for sticking with me the whole time, it's been a wonderful journey!

I'm not totally sure how to feel about this situation that I'm in. For context, I've been in graphic design 15 years or so, and about 10 professionally. Most of my professional work has been within my own companies. Clothing, freelance, contract advertising.
I've gotten to the point where I'm tired of being independent and doing everything on my own, I don't have the same drive that I used to where I would do music festival and comic convention vending every weekend to make ends meet. This year I decided it's time to find a role within a team so that my life can be a bit more stable and relaxed as I grow into my thirties.
I applied for a designer role at the leading vehicle wrap shop in my hometown. Prior to my interview, the owner requested a design test. I hate the idea of design tests, but this is a small, family owned company. I decided I'm willing to play ball if it gets me an interview. After all, I prefer a small place that I can help grow with the skills I've acquired over the past decade, as opposed to a corporate designer in a stuffy environment. He sends me a template for a truck, and basically told me to show him what I've got. I created a logo and style guide for a fake electricity company. Nailed the composition. Created a photorealistic mockup in PS for a bit of overkill. Send it to him and wait for the response.
When he gets back to me later that day, he's clearly impressed by my work and sets up an interview immediately. When I go to the interview a couple of days later everything goes smoothly. We have a lot of good back and forth banter. He's touring me around the building and using language that's highly suggestive of me already having the position. He reviews my portfolio with me, notes many times on how impressed he is and how well I demonstrated my range in my portfolio. He asks me what I'm seeking for pay, and then proposes the idea of a second design test. He tells me for the first time that there are two other applicants and while he thinks I'm the most advanced applicant, he still wants to see what the three of us can come up with for a "real client scenario."
At this point I'm more than a little annoyed, but I just smile through it and tell him I'd be willing to do another testing round. After all, they're a small company, and sorely in need of someone with a real design background if I'm being honest, and I know they have to be careful where they put their money. I give the benefit of the doubt that the guy just doesn't realize how sleazy he's being and how frowned upon this is. He was really cool otherwise.
Well, fast forward to this morning and he sends me over the specs for the new "test." It's for a real company. I know of the company he's requesting this test for. I google them to verify..yup, they're a real company. I email the owner and politely ask "Hey, GUY, quick question, is this for an actual company that's hired your company for design work?"
He responds "Yes." to my email.
Where do I go from here? Am I supposed to feel as livid as I do? I really want a well paying internal job, and this place really seems like it could be a great fit. I think that I can help them a lot as he's wanting to expand into areas that I have a lot of expertise in. But this one has me unsure of how to move forward. Do I attempt to educate him at the cost of my hiring by telling him how frowned upon this practice is, and that he should be able to make a decision based on my portfolio and interview process? Do I deny the work and insult him in the process? Do I deny the work and tell him that I'm willing to do this for a standard hourly rate? Do I just do it? Do I just do it, but watermark the living hell out of it?
I could really use some insight from some of you more senior level guys. Thank you in advance <3

Any posts pertaining to car buying suggestions or advice belong in this weekly megathread; do not post car-choosing questions in the main queue. A fresh thread will be posted every Monday and posts auto sorted by new. A few other subreddits worth checking out that will help your car buying experience are /WhatCarShouldIBuy, /UsedCars and /AskCarSales. www.everydaydriver.com may also be helpful.
Make/Model-specific questions should be asked on Make/Model-specific subreddits. Check the AutosNetwork for a complete list of those subreddits. Also check out our community-sourced Ultimate car buying wiki.
For those posting:
Please use the following template in your post.
Location: (Specify your country or region)
Price range: (Minimum-Maximum in your local currency)
Lease or Buy:
New or used:
Type of vehicle: (Truck, Car, Sports Car, Sedan, Crossover, SUV, Racecar, Luxury etc.)
Must haves: (4x4, AWD, Fuel efficient, Navigation, Turbo, V8, V6, Trunk space, Smooth ride, Leather etc.)
Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc):
Intended use: (Daily Driver, Family Car, Weekend Car, Track Toy, Project Car, Work Truck, Off-roading etc.)
Vehicles you've already considered:
Is this your 1st vehicle:
Do you need a Warranty:
Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: (fluids, alternator, battery, brake pads etc)
Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: (engine and transmission, timing belt/chains, body work, suspension etc )
Additional Notes:
​
For those providing suggestions: Facts are ideal in this thread, especially when trying to help out a new car buyer. Please help out buyers with sources and reasoning for your suggestions.
For those asking for help, be sure to thank those who take the time to offer you advice (especially those who lead you to a purchase.) A follow up thank you and the knowledge that their advice led to a purchase is a very warm fuzzy feeling.

What (and sorry about the title....and, yes, i'm talking about succession planning.......) have you done to insure your legacy (3rd generation) continues? In my case, the legacy of my father (1950 immigrant) and I (m61 divorced, I've been involved since I could walk much to my mother's chagrine).
My ee's know a lot (I have a great crew) but not nearly everything.
What have you prepared for the day you get hit by a truck (euphemistically speaking of course)?
Did your lawyer walk you through it? Did you find a template online? Did you flat out wing it? Do tell. TIA
Edit: Seems like SOP'ing every minute detail is the way to go. I have key ppl with SOP's in every area so those bases are covered. When it comes to my domain, not so much. Time to change that. Thanks all for your input. Greatly appreciate it.

Edit: o7
Responding via edits is silly. Standard hyperbolic response, as I mentioned below. But I gotta address two things just so y'all aware that I can offer a rebuttal if need be. 4THOT says:

Here's the full interview with the UN Rapporteur on Violence against Women claiming she isn't aware of the rocket attacks - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bar-shemur-8b1bb23b_the-un-rapporteur-on-violence-against-women-activity-7171212859895459841-gq6B

I don't know why he's attempting to "find" the "full interview". The linkedin video he has given here is literally the exact same video I gave in my comment. Click the hyperlink saying "the lengthier clip." They're both posted by the interviewer, Bar Shem-Ur. Mate, did you even read my original comment? If you scroll down this page (part 3), you can see I say "the segment that aired on Hazinor, Channel 13 is exactly the same." I searched for where the footage originally aired and found no additional material. 4THOT, mate, the "clip-chimp" is this 30s clip the Jerusalem Post originally posted. When I say "lengthier" clip, I am talking about the 5min segment that you had to "find" despite the fact that I already found it.

nvm this dipshit didn't find the actual interview, this is a cut from twitter

Once again, the video from Twitter I provided is the exact same video as the linkedin one. There is no entire, unedited full interview anywhere without the tiktok rapid cuts. There might be more footage out there, who knows, I've literally never claimed to have found the "full" interview. I called it a clip compilation because I don't know if more footage exits. Another baffling response. Anyways, I'll leave the rest, this is not the way to have a back-and-forth. Toodles! XD
Edit 2: Just to clarify what I was attempting to do in my comment, 4THOT still has not directly answered this question from part 3, the main post:

Do you think Alsalem holds the position that Hamas or Hezbollah have never fired rockets against Israel?

I honestly don't remember the last time I saw someone claim that Hamas has never fired rockets against Israel; this would be an astronomically fringe position. If you read the headline of the JP alone, and maybe even the article, you can still come away with the conclusion that Alsalem believes that Hamas has never fired rockets against Israel. I gave evidence of the fact that some people came away with this conclusion in the redacted comment:

Because if they've lived their entire lives unaware of the rocket attacks,

I don't believe that to be true; Alsalem has not lived her entire life unaware of the rocket attacks. We need more evidence to establish that then this interview.
Notice how I have actually quoted 4THOT verbatim down below? But for some reason, I need to provide a "direct link" to it, even though you can see it if you just scroll down the page? Baffling, like I said. "Isn't that interesting?" You're quoted verbatim mate! What do you think is "interesting" here?
4THOT you are killing me:

Here's the actual thread where you were banned.

You do realize that I've linked the thread I was banned twice? A third time as well if you want to include the moment where I linked someone else's comment in that thread. Unbelievable.
I never said the headline is "incorrect" these are the actual words I used in my direct appeal:

If the headline is poor, I might present information in the comments in order to ensure that the criticism is well-directed.

I believe that the headline could lead to a misinterpretation. I was later proven to be correct. I provided evidence of that misinterpretation in the direct appeal. And 4THOT refuses to engage with any of it. Again, these edits reply are so silly. I have no idea why he's so reluctant to have an actual exchange, but judging by how he's already responded, I get it mate. Finito once more. I gotta go get some cheese balls...

The Short Version can be found here.

Part 1 here. Part 2 here.

The Beekeeper. Bzzt:

Ah, I'm so fucked. 💀

Challenges...

This part is going to be an interesting challenge. I would say I’m walking a tightrope here, but that metaphor implies that there’s some slim chance where one can write a section like this and not get banned, um, again (and again?). The original plan was something a bit more comprehensive, where alongside another matter, I would make the case that there have been a number of pro-Palestine users that have correctly addressed misinformation on this sub, where they do a decent job of breaking circlejerks, adding some sordid nuance to threads that otherwise would have devolved into the ones laid out in Part 1 and Part 2. These users will, inevitably, have an “interaction” with 4THOT at some point; they will subsequently be banned on justifications that I obviously believe are nonsensical, where said justifications are also exhibited by 4THOT, whether in that exchange itself or in other threads; and these users are not interested in returning to the sub.
I abandoned this plan for a long litany of reasons; there’s two in particular I’ll highlight here: (1) I don't believe I can achieve the effects I desire; and (2) I'm keen to avoid any accusations of this section being some “hit-piece” or “hate-post.”
I do not intend to present arguments against any other aspect of moderation that I might find to be problematic; I do not intend to make comments on character. I am simply razor-focused on one aspect of moderation here, and one aspect of the unbanning process.

...and Goals

This part will attempt to try and have my other goal — which is shared by many other users in this sub — come into fruition: I believe users should be able to participate in this sub without needing to take into consideration what 4THOT’s personal views are on a matter.
The only things a user should be cognizant of is what are Reddit's site wide rules, including those specific to this sub; what are the subreddit rules; and what are Destiny's desires in terms of what comments and submissions are allowed here. I also believe subreddit rule 6 (rule 5 on new reddit) needs to be amended to remove the arbitrariness.
If a user comes away with a different interpretation of events than 4THOT does, and said user doesn't exhibit any other behaviour in their comment or submission that violates those stated parameters, then that user ought not to be banned.
If 4THOT’s personal opinion is something that we need to be mindful of — and Destiny approves of this notion, agreeing that opinions 4THOT alone finds to be beyond the pale warrants an immediate ban — then, unironically, that stipulation should be added to the subreddit rules.
Furthermore, as mentioned in the TL;DR, I am requesting clarification on if there’s any procedure by which you can get unbanned when 4THOT sets a condition on the unban — and whether or not he should be setting conditions on the ban. 4THOT has mentioned that "Ninou has orders to not unban certain [regards.]"
As it stands, it’s not clear if Destiny approves of this behaviour. I say this because I have not seen him comment on this aspect of moderation when it comes to the subreddit. If he already disapproves of this behaviour, then I would request that this sentiment be conveyed to 4THOT, which should hopefully reduce the likelihood this reoccurs in the future.
I'm asking that Destiny clarify here because then it's something that can be clipped, and moderators here can use that clip when, well, moderating.
One final point before I critique the bans. There’s a noticeable difference between this section on 4THOT, and his um, passionate challenge to Kelly Jean: she’s easy to avoid. Just close the stream mate! Whereas 4THOT has control over who can participate in this subreddit, Kelly Jean can't dictate who can and can't appear on stream. Mashallah. 🙏 Thus, I feel this submission has justification.

The Bullet: A Forlorn Attempt for Consistency

The second ban is infinitely more interesting, but I’ll briefly address the first 30-day ban. I am not here to relitigate this discourse. The post in question that led to the infraction was removed, but it's still available if you’re a moderator, and I won't be reposting it here. The gist of the post was a question on whether or not we should be banning people for misinformation, referencing a user who received a 90-day ban from 4THOT for posting a misquote from a mainstream Israeli news outlet, during a live translation of a speech Netanyahu was giving. I’m pretty sure 4THOT knows who i24News are, so I couldn't quite follow his thought process here.
Moreover, if you’ve gone through the examples above, then you can easily imagine my bafflement here as well, particularly because a couple days earlier a Twitter clip was posted of an individual clearly misspeaking.
The user who submitted this post was only banned for 10 days — despite doubling down on this not being a misspeak — and I was bemused by the inconsistency being applied here. Being completely consistent in terms of my own principles, I mentioned in my post that I don’t think either of them should be banned, but if this is the standard that is going to be maintained, then it would only be reasonable that some level of leniency is given if you happen to inadvertently post misinformation from a reputable news outlet.
Regarding the Netanyahu misquote, I am in full agreement with 4THOT that it is a misquote, but it is regrettable that, well, some chose to challenge him on this front, arguing that the corrected quote is functionally the same, or worse. Take note of how civil his interlocutor here is up until the point 4THOT used an insult; unwisely, his interlocutor chose to match tone. I’m only mentioning this because, despite the insults 4THOT might use against me, I have no interest in engaging in a similar style of rhetoric as I don't find it to be conducive to a productive conversation, and I’m hoping I don't have to deal with a level of vitriol here that users are sometimes not allowed to match — not that I have any interest in doing so. There’s a couple tame jokes in this post, but hopefully I don’t get a response like this:

Thank fucking God that guy died because he'd absolutely kill himself by biting off his own tongue to choke on his own blood if he ever read the obese shithead redditors backseating one of the most extreme acts of political protest any human being can ever do.
HE INTENDED TO DIE NIGHTMARISHLY YOU IDIOT THAT WAS THE POINT

Frisco, you got cooked mate 😭.

A Guardian Angel?

Now, after I was banned, another user made a post about the ban upon myself, which generated a fair amount of interest, you fucking drama frogs. Here, I simply wish to make four remarks:

• I'm sure you can see how different in tone, rhetoric, and substance OP’s post is compared to my original post (for those of you that remember reading it), and compared to this post. There are a number of insults that are frequently used against 4THOT which I don’t use as I’m looking for good-faith engagement from him. That being said, I appreciate the fact that OP wasn’t looking for a meaningful, productive exchange with 4THOT here, and thus they didn’t feel the need to temper their rhetoric.
• In the pinned comment, 4THOT uses a fair amount of hyperbole. The original post was very benign, and didn’t come anywhere close to conveying a sentiment that “this Reddit is ruined” or “4THOT is literally the IDF.” I don’t see how you can come away with this reading considering how mild the post was.
• Once more, I am not here to relitigate this, but I would have loved to address some of the criticism levelled against myself in the comments under OP’s post; I certainly wasn’t going to re-open those conversations a month later. That being said, I appreciate users like Wannabe_Sadboi for making the arguments that I, more or less, would have made had I had the opportunity to immediately respond. Just to quote one of their comments: “People shouldn’t be banned for being partisan, they should be banned only for breaking rules, and Splemndid didn’t break any rules.” But, apparently, there are rules being broken here, and it is not clear what these rules are, and whether or not Destiny approves of them.
• If the original post was problematic because it was too indirect, then hopefully this post which is significantly more direct — but kept well under the threshold of something that could be constituted as a “hate-post” — should not be a problem.

Chilling Effect. Brrr 🥶

When I was hit with the 30 day ban, I sent a direct appeal hoping the length of the ban would at least be reduced, which didn't receive a response, and neither did sending an unban request via the unban request form. No biggie. At least with a temporary ban I know when to expect to be unbanned.
After the 30 day ban, I decided to give up doing two things: (1) making attempts to get other users unbanned when I felt the justifications were not cogent or fair; and (2) participating in I-P threads that 4THOT himself had already made comments within — in particular, those where he was actively arguing with other users on the subreddit. This is a bad chilling effect; even if I see a comment they have made where they’ve made a false claim, or I disagree with their analysis or moral claims, I’m choosing not to engage because I'd rather not go through yet another cycle of bans. I value shitposting in the subreddit more than having arguments with 4THOT.
Moreover, I’m also not interested in getting caught in the crossfire when, upon finishing his Reddit debate, he bans his interlocutor from the subreddit, and also those who have made similar comments to the one his interlocutor has espoused elsewhere in the thread. He does not always do this, and I would literally never make the claim that he just “ban everyone that disagrees with [him]”. I won’t call this hyperbole as I’m sure someone has levelled this incorrect accusation against him. 4THOT is capable — and has demonstrated on myriad occasions — of being able to have dispassionate disagreements. The issue is that I’m not interested in rolling the dice here with another ban.
Thus, I decided to avoid 4THOT entirely while participating in the sub as normal, making the usual shitposts. (Y’all are welcome for the template, btw. I went frame by frame, looking for the shot of Destiny at his most euphoric.) Alas, woe is me, I made a fatal error: I can’t avoid 4THOT if I choose to comment in a thread first. Browsing new, the bane of my existence, Hobbitfollower you dastardly devil.

The Nuke: A Muddled Statement and Different Interpretations

In the trenches of new, I came across a submission which posted this version of a Jerusalem Post article. If you've read The Six Points, then you can see what I'm attempting to do in my comment, that was apparently egregious enough to warrant banning me “until Israel/Palestine is over.” Before I go over this, I’m going to once again link the comment I made on this subreddit defending Israel from the accusation that they have been siding with ISIS for years.

Consistency

I apply the exact same methodology when dispelling conspiracy theories on Israel as I do for the UN official whose comments are the subject of the post. I’m digging up the relevant primary sources; I’m searching for archived versions of articles posted on inactive websites; I’m reading multiple articles from different Israeli outlets reporting on the same speech; and I’m reading the entire transcript of the nearly hour-long speech by the head of the Israeli Military Intelligence at the time, Herzi Halevi, just so I can make an informed comment here. At no point am I ever concerned that I could be banned for this comment. I can freely talk about anti-Israel propaganda, and I know no moderator is going to bat an eye at that.
I recently watched a Hasan video because dgg taught me the art of hate-watching, and now I hate-watch dgg while they hate-watch Hasan. Early on in the video, an article headline by the Intercept is shown: “Leaked Cables Show White House Opposes Palestinian Statehood.” Ken Klippenstein appears in the byline, which immediately sets off a red flag for me because I’ve found reporting by him in the past to be absolutely dreadful, including the time when he used to work for the Grayzone, where he gave Seymour Hersh a softball interview, and allowed him to spread risible conspiracy theories. The Intercept article shown in Hasan’s video doesn't provide the cables they are reporting on, but they are available on Ken’s substack. Without going on a tangent, unsurprisingly, the Intercept’s piece on these cables misrepresents them (IMO).
Similarly, when I had a discussion with a tankie on another subreddit on whether or not the 2010 Australian Labor Party leadership spill was “a US-backed coup”, I once again seeked out all the relevant and many Wikileaks cables, read them all, and made my own assessment.

Dolls

Enough examples! You get the idea! I have a consistent principle that I am applying here. Upon opening up the JP article OP submitted, I see Danielle Greyman-Kennard in the byline. This is a person who previously wrote an article claiming that a dead Palestinian baby was a doll (which is not the first or last time this has happened in general; Pallywood amirite?). When it was brought to her attention that this is a body going through rigor mortis, she doubled-down in a patronising tweet.
Eventually, someone at the JP realized the fuck-up, and the article was retracted. There are a number of journalists and writers for Israeli outlets that seek to publish or tweet out any information that casts pro-Palestine organisations or individuals in a bad light — and that’s fine. If you’re pro-Palestine, and you’re saying or doing some dumb shit, that’s on you, not the individual that wants to report on it. However, there are biases at play here, where one must be cognizant of how these biases can filter down into how information is presented.

Direct Appeal

The following is the direct appeal I sent when I was banned which will serve as a clarification on the comment:
What up, I initially disagreed with your assessment, but upon re-reading it, now I'm unsure what our disagreement is, and what you think I was trying to address in my comment. Hopefully, the following will serve as clarification.
When I opened up the submission, I read the headline, I read the article, I watched the clip contained within, and then I sought out any additional footage from the interview that was readily available. The safe assumption I make when it comes to article submissions on reddit is that folk are generally not going to read the article, and will likely only comment based on the headline. If the headline is poor, I might present information in the comments in order to ensure that the criticism is well-directed. The headline of the Jerusalem Post article is:

UN Special Rapporteur 'unaware' of rocket attacks on Israel

If you asked the average person what they thought this headline meant, they would think the UNSR thought there had been no rocket attacks launched against Israel ever or since the start of the war. As evidence that some came away with this conclusion, you can read [redacted link] here posted on [redacted subreddit] (emphasis mine):

This can't be real right? This is a fake article right? Or a satire piece? Because if they've lived their entire lives unaware of the rocket attacks, then they have no right having anything to do with the global politics or whatever it is the UN does. That's just insane.

In other words, this individual is in disbelief, and they're astonished that Reem Alsalem, the UNSR, is completely unaware of any rocket/missile attacks that have been fired against Israel ever. Here I hope we can acknowledge two things: (1) Alsalem does believe there have been missile attacks against Israel at various points in time; and (2) most pro-Hamas sycophants aren't going to deny these missile attacks have taken place -- they want these attacks to take place. Alternatively, they might seek to diminish the destructive capability of these attacks, or assert that it is Israel's fault these attacks are occurring. It's pretty rare to come across someone claiming they've never happened, period.
My comment was made to highlight that she was really caught up in the frequency of the attacks and how she was possibly misinterpreting the question. Reem Alsalem has a wide litany of dumb beliefs that you can criticize her on; in this case, I thought the criticism would be better directed for being unaware of the frequency of attacks. The JP itself does include a line that would have better served as a headline:

[UN Special Rapporteur] unaware of the frequent rocket attacks made by Hamas and Hezbollah against Israel.

As mentioned, I was trying to ensure that commenters didn't make comments like the one I linked. Re-reading my own comment, it could have been phrased better to make sure that those who read it understood my intentions.

Further comments

The rest of the direct appeal consisted of me clearing up any misconceptions that I might be pro-Hamas, providing various links of comments that demonstrate what my beliefs are. This my attempt to "pass the litmus test" as I don't believe I'm being engaged on the merits of my argument.
Once again, as I’ve hopefully established by now, we know there can be a widespread reluctance here to sometimes read past the headline and open the article, and even the article itself might not have sufficient context to truly parse what is being said. At the time, the only additional footage available from the interview was the five minute, heavily edited clip compilation available on the interviewer’s Twitter. It is just… irritating to watch. Partly because, as I said, I have to suffer through listening to Alsalem’s asinine beliefs, but also because it’s so chopped up that I can't quite tell what’s been cut out, what statements are directly following from which questions, and so on.
Other users also had interpretations of their own to give, taking note of the fact that there may be an edit after she says "but". I actually don’t think there was anything additional said, and it’s just awkwardly edited. However, unlike with Herzi Halevi’s speech, I and everyone else watching these clips are working with scraps here, and the segment that aired on Hazinor, Channel 13 is exactly the same. There is ambiguity here; an amorphous, nebulous, incoherent jumble of statements where one can make a range of interpretations — but one of those interpretations was not permissible on the subreddit. My own of course.
I’m still baffled as to what 4THOT’s contention here is. He comments:

!cleanse nvm you're an idiot. She says she has seen "attacks" but does not specify from where or whom or when. When he specifically asks if she's seen rocket attacks that have been reported from the north from Hezbollah and South from Hamas without "every single day" and is asked about rocket attacks from those areas says she hasn't seen it.

I presume the position he holds here is that Alsalem is being sly: when she says that she has seen attacks, she is actually referring to Israeli attacks, not Hamas or Hezbollah. For further clarity, I would have asked 4THOT:

• Do you think Alsalem holds the position that Hamas or Hezbollah have never fired rockets against Israel?
• If no, do you think Alsalem holds the position that Hamas or Hezbollah have never fired rockets against Israel since the initial barrage of rocket attacks on Oct. 7th?

In his first reply to my comment, he armed me and said I was his “strongest soldier.” 😳 Must have noticed these guns 💪😎. It seems like he originally agreed with me, and I don't know what impact, if any, this had on the ultimate decision.
I remember staring at this section of the unban request form thinking, "Err, I don't know." Like you all, when I've been banned by Destiny in the past, I know what to write here. He doesn't like snark; if you're being a condescending prick, get that ass banned. I have a general understanding of what sort of comments Destiny hates in this subreddit, and thus I know how to participate in the subreddit without being on the receiving end of a ban.
Taking the recommendation of another user, I cobbled together something for the unban form, and figured I'd just try again in a month. Alas, both the form and my last exchange with 4THOT was unsuccessful, and I would not have even attempted to send an unban request form to Ninou had I known that she had "orders to not unban" certain users. While I can understand that there may be certain users whose offenses are so egregious that a ban conditional on a lengthy period of time having been passed first is warranted, I don't believe I fall in this camp.
It's often stated by both Destiny and other moderators that the "process to get unbanned is pretty easy." Conditional bans tarnish the smoothness of this process, where good-faith unban requests are rejected due to the condition set, and I don't believe this should be the case.
If Destiny could offer further clarity here, that would be appreciated by both myself and others who have had this conditional ban placed upon them.

The Litmus Test:

Scroll up all the way to the top of Part 1, and what do you notice I've done in the preamble? I’m keen to avoid guilt by association; I believe Destiny just calls this being “webbed.” In the TL;DR I specifically mention the "pro-Israel crowd"; I know what this will invoke in the minds of people reading this, the associations people will draw to other people who have made criticism against the pro-Israel crowd. Thus, I feel the need to ensure that I dissociate myself from those people. That’s why you see the statement about Hasbara and brigading; it’s me raising a giant flag screeching, “Hey, I’m not like the others, this post is different!”
Let me give a couple examples here (suffer through some more examples…you must suffer…).

Example I - An Odd Title and an Audacious Inquiry

In this submission, OP posts a Twitter video with the submission title: “Reuters video shows militants armed with assault rifles atop aid convoy trucks and shooting at palstinians [sic] approaching the trucks.” Now, no one mentioned this in the comments, so to add some clarification here: this is not Reuters reporting, this is a clip from a Reuters live stream showing a view from a tent camp in Rafah. (Specific timestamp here.) Anyone watching this stream can clip whatever noteworthy event they see and add their own statements on what has transpired. As far as I can tell, that seems to be what the original clip here from N12 news has done, and it was also posted on their website, with no additional details.
This individual (henceforth called Doc) asked some fair questions. They made mistakes, of course, such as watching the clip on mute (you silly goose); but I would agree that “shooting at palstinians [sic]” invokes an image of, well, Palestinians being riddled with bullets, and instead we get what seems to be shots fired into the air. I don’t think it’s unreasonable to ask that the title reflect this distinction. What’s unfortunate here is that merely attempting to get an accurate summary is enough for OP to assume the worst about them, and thus we get the rebuke: “Keep dicksucking the terrorists stealing the aid.” I’ve seen Doc’s comments before, when they say they’re an “Israel stan”, they are. But for OP, they immediately engaged in “the web”, guilt by association, etc., and that was enough to result in this petty infighting. I thought leftists were the only ones that did that?

Example II - No Steelmans Allowed

In the second example, it’s me that’s on the receiving end of the purity test. Personally, as someone who is not a leftist (see what I’ve done there?), I do think a considerable number of y’all miss the mark when it comes to criticising leftists, and I attempt to steelman their positions as I find that to be more conducive for better discourse. Feel free to disagree with the steelman, the point is that merely providing that steelman is enough for OP to assume that these are my own positions — despite clearly stating multiple times that I’m not pro-Palestine, that I support Operation Prosperity Guardian, etc. Once again I bring up that I have defended Israel from silly conspiracy theories when they mentioned “your tribe”, as that’s my attempt to pass the litmus test, demonstrating my impartiality here.

Example III - ???

I'm not sure if 4THOT engaged in a similar type of purity testing both for the initial comment I was banned for, and also in my last exchange with them on another subreddit. The exchange was pretty bizarre: I asked if they checked Reddit DMs; they replied that they do, and “our agreement stands.” In their next reply, they mentioned that they confused me with another person, and said that, “Yes, once I/P is over I will let your people go.” That phrase “your people”, is quite similar to how the OP in the previous example said “your tribe” and “your side.” This seems to be the guilt by association I spoke on: I’m being lumped in with a group whose views generally don’t align with my own. That’s why part 1 begins with an introduction on myself. I need to pass the litmus test first before I can get good engagement — and it’s unfortunate that I feel compelled to do that.

Engage in good-faith

The conclusion here is a simple one: don't assume what positions your interlocutor holds merely because they're skeptical about that framing of certain stories, or because they attempt to provide a steelman for the opposing side.

Finito for Real

What I’m looking for here is clarity. UN officials will continue to say and do stupid things; that applies to pro-Palestine people, that applies to leftists. But every now and then, upon seeing one of these submissions, I might think, “Eh, this is pretty stupid, but I think it’s stupid for slightly different reasons to everyone else.” Can I express those opinions here? Must I add a preamble to every comment so that people don’t assume the worst? Do I need to be thinking, “Hmm, I wonder what 4THOT thinks about this story?”

Free me OOOO 🐟

Thanks to everyone that offered feedback. :)

I have an intense amount of OCD during my gameplays especially with mods like Kaiserreich where everything is well setup and clean.
I have an obsession with even numbers and originality, also with lines, names, flags, everything basically. For example, if I'm playing U.S. I'll be making the armies, 24 divisions with 12 infantry, 4 tank, 4 cavalry/special forces, 4 motorised etc. And I'll be naming it historically or to my liking. I don't like how numbers like "2nd" look so I'll put II. instead. Same with the navy, 4 battleships, 8 cruisers, 14 destroyers etc. Either 2 or 4 squadrons within a fleet. Always choosing commanders with higher quality portraits. And division logos has to have similar colours to the general colour palette, and always using the star or the castle looking logo, since my brain have decided they're the most "original" looking ones.
Every production line has to have an even number of factories. 12 for rifles, 6 for tank, 4 for aircraft, 2 for trucks etc.
Templates need to be balanced too, so if I have made 3 infantry battalions, I can only put 3 battalions next to it, like 3 artillery. Support companies have to go in same manner in every template. Engineer corps first, artillery secon, recon third.
Companies are the same, more original looking companies with nice logos and even number benefits like 10% production efficiency, 5% reliability etc. (5 is the only okay number since it's also systematic) Doesn't matter if they're the worst company. That's just how my brain wants it. It ruins my armies sometimes because they require more diversity, maybe better companies or advisors (I choose advisors in the same manner, as number benefits, high quality portraits) that is why it's also hard to play smaller countries, since generic logos and generals look ugly usually.
I am going to lose my mind. I keep deleting and redownloading the game just to keep satisfying my OCD. Sorry for the Patrick Batemanesque rant.

Here is a guide on how to fight and defeat Germany and the USSR with Poland, using the left sanation path. But first, why would you want to do this?

• If you play as Poland on historical and don’t give up the east or Danzig, it is you plus the allies against the Axis and the Comintern. Also, you are pretty isolated from the allies. This is an incredibly challenging scenario, and one that I personally find very fun.
• Second, the Sanation left path is very underappreciated that needs some appreciation! In my opinion, this is *kind of* Poland’s strongest path. There are plenty of paths for Poland that are stronger after the war - the Slavic Union comes to mind. But you don’t need to be strong *after* the war, you need to get strong *before* the war, and this is where Sanation left excels.
• LARP lol. Defeating both the Nazis and the Soviets as Democratic Poland?? That is cool as hell.

What makes the Sanation left path strong? Polish militarism + right wing paramilitarism = +4.5% recruitable pop. You will have more manpower than you will ever need with this path - far more than the cores from monarchist paths can give you before the war. Second, common organization of society gives +10% factory output. Third, Walery Slawek as both a leader and advisor is +20% stability. Nothing to turn up your nose at. Fourth, you only spend the equivalent of 6 focuses on your political path to get all of its benefits, giving you more time to use on Poland’s excellent industrial branch.
Ok! So now onto the guide.
Intelligence Agency
You’ll want an intelligence agency as Poland that has Psychological Warfare, and army department. This is used for two important tasks.

• As early as possible, you want to start boosting ideology in Hungary. Hungary gets the “strengthen fascists” spirit, giving them +0.03 daily fascism support until Dec 6 1938. If you can stop them from getting more than 40% fascist support, they can never renounce the treaty of trianon and join Germany. But Germany still gives them carpathian ruthenia. So you can use Hungarian neutrality to block troops moving from the USSR-Romania side to the Germany-Italy side, and this makes a huge difference in making the war manageable.
• Secondly, use spies (probably after dec 6 1938) to infiltrate the German army. This will help you see where their troops are behind the front lines, which will be important to our military strategy.

Army Setup Before the War
You want 6 armies of 18 width infantry, with engineers, artillery, and anti-air support companies. Remember to train them to regulars - this makes a huge difference in their combat effectiveness! You also really want the 1939 engineer technology for the +50% entrenchment. This, plus grand battleplan, will make it so you can hardly be pushed.
2 armies go on the main German boarder, between Slovakia and the Baltic coast. 1 army goes on the Konigsburg pocket border. 1 army goes on the Slovakian border. 2 armies can be held in reserve around the capital to provide additional support where needed and plug gaps, and they will go to the USSR to latvia border a few months befure the USSSR declares war.
So you will need to produce: lots of guns, support equipment, anti-air, artillery, trains, and trucks, before the war.
After the war starts, you will want to focus on winning the air war. Swap to producing fighters (as many as it takes), getting 200 transport planes, getting an army of 10w paratroopers with support artillery, and getting an army of 10w port guards with support artillery to stop soviet navel invasions
Technology and Doctrines
Focus on industrial tech, of course. Here are the strategically important technologies for our strategy

• Fighters. You want Improved Small Airframe as fast as possible, and you want to make sure that the moment you unlock it you already have survivability studies, heavy MG, range improvements, and engines 3.
• Radar. Make sure your radar is at least up to date, and ideally ahead of time! Coordination helps on the defence a fair bit, but more importantly, radar helps you win the air war in a huge way, and having overlapping radar helps you see where your enemies are behind the front line. This is very very helpful for paradropping. I like to have maxed out radar stations in Warszawa, and Plock.
• Paratroopers. You really only just need the first paratrooper tech. But don’t forget it!
• Grand Battleplan. Go for infiltration. The main reason we want grand battleplan is for the entrenchment. You need that early in the war. Once you survive Germany and the USSR banging their heads against your trenches for a while, you have won. Superior firepower, in my opinion in this scenario, will help you ‘win more’ if you would have already won, but Grand Battleplan helps you *not lose* on the day Germany declares war, which is the most important day of the playthrough.
• Paratrooper Special Forces Doctrine - Combat Insertion. This is critical to the strategy - make sure you have 100 air XP saved up to get the first two doctrines in this special forces doctrine before you win the air war.
• Operational Integrity - The best doctrine for fighters, and you will be focusing hard on fighters.

Political Power Priorities
You will need political power to crush resistance in Danzig, so save up initially for that. Aside from that I would prioritize as follows:

1. Partial Mobilization
2. Limited Conscription
3. Defence expert army chief (start building that XP early!)
4. Air reformer airforce chief (you need air XP for those paratroopers!)
5. Improved working conditions. Get that stability! Using this earlier hurts less than using it later.
6. Illusive Gentleman! You need to keep Hungary from going Fascist!
7. Wallery the political advisor for +10% stability.
8. The Leftist Legionary. Extra democracy support is nice, and +15% attack and defence for paratroopers will come in handy when you start going on the offensive.
9. PKP industrial concern. +15% industrial research is nice!
10. Infantry expert & air superiority expert. You don’t need these before the war, of course.

NOTE: Make sure that you have enough political power saved up for the start of the war! You want to instantly switch to total mobilization, and activate women in the workforce). Activating extensive conscription is nice but there is no need to do it instantly.
NOTE: Get a military theorist before you start buying land doctrines, but remember that you don’t need them before the start of the war, so put off the military theorist as long as possible and just bank the xp.
Focus Order Phase 1: Danzig & Agrarian Reforms
(the first number in brackets is whether it is a 35 day focus (0.5) or a 70 day focus (1), the second number is the total number of 70 day focuses done to that point)

1. Clamp down on Danzig (0.5-0.5)
2. The Four Year Plan (0.5-1)
3. Central Region Strategy (0.5-1.5)
4. New Polish Industry (0.5-2)
5. Ban the Nazi Party (0.5-2.5)
6. Integrate Gdansk (1-3.5)
7. Invest in the Old Polish Region (0.5-4)
8. Fill the Railway Gaps (1-5)
9. Agrarian Reform (1-6)

Note: After you clamp down on Danzig, switch your garrison law to “local police force”, make sure you prioritize equipment and manpower to garrisons, switch your garrison template to the horse one, and then delete all your starting cavalry divisions to make sure there is enough equipment for the garrisons. Then, spend political power on “unification propaganda”, and unpause. Right before you are ready to ban the nazi party, take the “raid nazi resistance” decision. This should ensure that you have enough compliance on time, and that the focus will not cancel when you are half way through it (which otherwise can happen and is very annoying)
These focuses give you all of Danzig’s factories, 3 civs and 4 mills, gets you off embargoed economy, and takes care of the peasant’s strike just in the nick of time.
Focus Order Phase 2: Industrial Development

1. Expand the university of warsaw (1-7)
2. Invest in eastern poland (1-8)
3. Modernize congressional factories (1-9)
4. Expand Krakow industries (1-10)
5. Modernize Galician industry (1-11)
6. National Defence fund (1-12)

These focuses give you an extra research slot at a time when you will need it, 8 civs and 5 mils, and a big improvement to partial mobilization through the -35% consumer goods factor that will last two years. This also gives you just enough time to do your political branches before the German invasion.
Focus Order Phase 3: Political Tree

1. Complete the april constitution (1-13)
2. Polish Militarism (0.5-13.5)
3. Consolidate the Sanation Government (0.5-14)
4. The Sanation Left (0.5-14.5)
5. The Sanation Right (0.5-15)
6. Support Right-Wing Paramilitarism (0.5-15.5)
7. Department of Home Defence (0.5-16)
8. The Left Chairman (1-17)
9. Common Organization of Society (0.5-17.5)
10. A New King in the Castle (0.5-18)
11. Prepare for the Next War (0.5-18.5)

This gets you all the benefits of the sanation path, including the massive boost to recruitable population and a lot of stability. You also get the equivalent of 170 military experience.
Military Strategy when Germany Invades

• Keep the air contested and try to win the air war with the Nazis. They will bang their heads against your position, and that’s great. If you've followed this guide and you actively manage your defence (moving adjacent troops to reinforce weak tiles under attack) they shouldn't be able to push you a single tile.
• In my experience, the germans (and eventually Italians) are so busy trying to overcome your defence that they aren’t able to make it through Belgium to capitulate france. This is a huge win.
• The first thing you should do, when you are ready to advance, is to close the Konigsburg pocket. Ideally, try your best to do that before the soviets invade. Try to push here even in yellow air, using the huge planning bonuses from grand battle plan doctrine. It may be costly, but it is necessary.
• When you close the Konigsburg pocket, send that army to the border with Lithuania so that you won’t get a nasty surprise when the soviets annex them. If you like, set them up with an order to advance to Riga and execute it, so that they rush in when the Soviets annex lithuania.
• Try to build up level 2 forts on the entirety of the border with the Soviets. You will be taking focuses that upgrade these fort levels, so getting them to level 2 before these focuses fire off will help immensely. These forts allow you to basically ignore the soviets until the Germans are defeated.

How to take land from Germany:

• After you can get green Air, put out your transport planes and get ready for some paradrops. Find opportunities for paradrop-encirclements. Start by looking at the baltic coast: find a weak tile, and while paused order your adjacent units to attack it, and order a paradrop on that tile to help it break.
• Don’t forget to attack adjacent tiles if they are trying to reinforce the weak one, to slow down their reinforcement.
• When it looks like your units are about to win the battle, pause the game because it is time to order a lot more paradrops. You want to order a single unit to drop on a continuous stretch of tiles between the breech you are about to create and the baltic coast.
• Then order some redundant paradrops on tiles next to your line of tiles, just in case any of them are secretly occupied. It will take time for your paratroopers to lose, and if any of the adjacent tiles are occupied by you, the unit will retreat there instead of being deleted, so make sure that even if the encounter resistance, they will have a title to retreat into!
• Feel free to leave ports inside of the encirclement. Thanks to the royal navy, those ports won’t be of much use in getting supply to the enemy. But you can also, sometimes, feel comfy paradropping on ports that seem lightly guarded, as long as you paradrop many adjacent tiles as well to further de-org the port and ensure that even if you lose your paratroopers have somewhere to retreat to.
• Then, unpause, and watch the chaos. Order your regular units to attack the pocket. Manually order around your dropped paratroopers to hog as many tiles as possible before the enemy is able to reorganize itself.
• Eventually the lines will re-solidify (but with many encircled units destroyed) and you can repeat the paradrop on a new weak spot. I would focus on advancing along the baltic coast. It is easier here thanks to the royal navy, robs germany of important industry, is much nicer than trying to go through the Sudaten forts, and when you do link up with the French/UK lines, you will be in great shape (though don’t expect to do this before the soviets invade).
• I find that by the time that take the baltic coast and link up with France, Germany is so weakened that you can just mass paradrop on their victory points to capitulate them. But it is a very risky maneuver.

Focus order Phase 5: Preparing for the Soviet Invasion

1. Central Defence of Poland (1- 19.5)
2. Plan East (1-20.5)
3. Fortify Ukraine (1-21.5)
4. Fortification of the North (1-22.5)
5. (After this: whatever. Consider ‘local western plans’, polish school of mathematics, air production)

Make sure that before you get ‘fortify ukraine’, you have completed level 2 forts in the entire affected area. Same goes for the fortification of the north focus. Central defence + plan east should speed up your construction by 55%.
Military Strategy When the Soviets Invade
Hopefully when the soviets invade, you have level 3 forts along the whole border. This should make it easy to hold with 2 armies.

• Don’t be caught off guard by Romania invading! Make sure to send a few divisions with a fallback line by the Romanian border, and ensure that the rail network is good enough that division there won’t starve.
• Don’t be caught off guard by the soviets suddenly annexing Lithuania! Gets some kind of army there before they do - ideally the army that took down the Konigsburg pocket.
• Don’t be caught off guard by soviet naval invasions! They will straight up invade places as far afield as Stettin if you don’t guard your ports! Use an army of 10w infantry with artillery - that should be good enough.
• I would not try to advance against the Soviets until Germany and Italy have capitulated. Make good use of those level 3 forts.
• After the axis capitulates, try to make big encirclements, but it won’t be as effective on them as it was on Germany. You can also use paratroopers to capture and camp out along the railway lines. Paratroopers can act like ultra-fast motorized divisions, instantly exploiting a gap in the line to rush forward and capture supply hubs. Make sure to keep building airports and radar stations as you advance.
• It will be slow, but by the time the axis capitulates victory is certain.

Ok! I hope you enjoyed the guide! Now get out there, and help Poland save the world from tyranny!

Using the cars template because I tried posting there then realized I couldn't as a new account. Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions!
Location: central Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Price range: Was hoping for 50k, but based on what I’ve looked at, probably going to be higher. Obviously I would *like* to pay as little as possible, but I have a brief opportunity where I *can* afford the 70k-ish of what I'm looking at currently, if its worth it in the long run

Lease or Buy: Either, but so far pricing on used vs new models has been so close as to make it more sensible to go new

New or used: Either

Type of vehicle: SUV – prefer compact but larger okay if comfortable to drive

Must haves: AWD, PHEV, birdseye camera – safety features trump ‘comfort’ features such as heated seats, etc, and would be nice to have a vehicle I (63”) can fold down the seats in and sleep in the back

Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc): Auto

Intended use: (Daily Driver, Family Car, Weekend Car, Track Toy, Project Car, Work Truck, Off-roading etc.)

Daily commute of 74km, all highway. Above wish for sleeping space is in the hopes of being able to travel (within Canada) from time to time.

Vehicles you've already considered:
1. Honda CR-V hybrid – loved it, but my understanding is that regular hybrids and highways don’t mix, and Honda doesn’t have a PHEV suv in Canada nor did the salesperson see any indication they planned to anytime soon
2. RAV4 prime – unable to test drive, did test drive the regular hybrid, it’s… fine? But didn’t feel like it would be a comfortable long ride. Back seat was a bit cramped for longer legged individuals. Also, I’ve called around and estimates are “2 months to 3 years”, “1 year”, or “up to 4 years” wait.
3. Kia – avoided due to bad experience with my last one. That was a decade and a half or so ago but reading around the resale value doesn’t sound all that good, and I see a lot of complaints of trouble getting things covered under warranty.
4. Hyundai – haven’t owned one, but read the same issues as Kia, and I do know the local dealer isn’t able to keep up with warranty/maintenance appointments and cars sit for long periods of time waiting.
5. Mitsubishi – I have read good things about the Outlander PHEV, however my parents bought a new ICE Outlander a couple years ago and within a couple of months the paint and plastic around the running boards was already starting to show flaws (which they were told wasn’t covered), and at a scheduled maintenance appointment, were told by the dealer that they would need new brakes *and* a new battery by the end of the first year.
6. Jeep/VW – owners of both have told me parts can be very expensive and hard to get around here.
7. Not interested in Teslas.

Is this your 1st vehicle: No

Do you need a Warranty: Yes, and based on both having little mechanical knowledge myself and this being a PHEV as well, I’d like a solid and long lasting one.

Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: (fluids, alternator, battery, brake pads etc)

Can’t change fluids in a strata, I have googled simple work before on previous cars such as changing battery, fluids, wipers – not sure how much of that will translate to a PHEV though?
Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: No

Additional Notes:
1. Happy to look at other options, but in addition to what I’ve already looked at above, I’m currently looking at Mazda. The cx90 and cx70 are both larger than I wanted, but having test driven a 90, it was very comfortable, and didn’t ‘feel’ like a large vehicle. Never owned a Mazda before but a few family members have been pleased with theirs. I know the vehicles are almost alike, was thinking the 70 as I don’t need the extra third row, but based on the similarities, wondering if a 90 wouldn’t be a better idea as spare seats aren’t necessarily a bad idea, they fold down anyway so I can still use the back to sleep in, etc?

2. Warranty? My real problem is warranty/protection plan details. Honda’s was very nice and straightforward, had protection plans for corrosion, paint, tires, day to day wear, Toyota’s less so but I’ve owned a Toyota before and have a good idea of what they’re like…but frankly I’ve been looking and reading and researching and comparing for months and my ADHD brain has just quit on the language of all these things. I tried looking at the warranty info on Mazda’s website but couldn’t make head nor tail of it, so I asked the salesperson (who was new) and they said protection plans, etc would be discussed with financing, not him. I intend to ask to be put in touch with someone who can discuss them with me, but just wondering if anyone has any experience/opinions on their plans and options.

3. Add-ons? Friend said getting manufacturer’s product would affect resale value but salesperson said they could be added afterward, or (weirdly) even bought as third party products. I’m interested in roof rack, trailer hitch, (possibly) digital rearview mirror, wheel locks (or wheel locks and lug nuts? Not sure the difference), retractable cargo cover, cargo net, soft bumper guard. Definitely cargo and floor liners but those I can’t see as making any difference between manufacturer or third party as long as they’re good quality?

4. 3^rd party extended warranty… do I stick with the lower years/kms warranty from the dealer then switch to 3^rd party, or get as long as I can out of the dealer and then switch?

Any posts pertaining to car buying suggestions or advice belong in this weekly megathread; do not post car-choosing questions in the main queue. A fresh thread will be posted every Monday and posts auto sorted by new. A few other subreddits worth checking out that will help your car buying experience are /WhatCarShouldIBuy, /UsedCars and /AskCarSales. www.everydaydriver.com may also be helpful.
Make/Model-specific questions should be asked on Make/Model-specific subreddits. Check the AutosNetwork for a complete list of those subreddits. Also check out our community-sourced Ultimate car buying wiki.
For those posting:
Please use the following template in your post.
Location: (Specify your country or region)
Price range: (Minimum-Maximum in your local currency)
Lease or Buy:
New or used:
Type of vehicle: (Truck, Car, Sports Car, Sedan, Crossover, SUV, Racecar, Luxury etc.)
Must haves: (4x4, AWD, Fuel efficient, Navigation, Turbo, V8, V6, Trunk space, Smooth ride, Leather etc.)
Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc):
Intended use: (Daily Driver, Family Car, Weekend Car, Track Toy, Project Car, Work Truck, Off-roading etc.)
Vehicles you've already considered:
Is this your 1st vehicle:
Do you need a Warranty:
Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: (fluids, alternator, battery, brake pads etc)
Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: (engine and transmission, timing belt/chains, body work, suspension etc )
Additional Notes:
​
For those providing suggestions: Facts are ideal in this thread, especially when trying to help out a new car buyer. Please help out buyers with sources and reasoning for your suggestions.
For those asking for help, be sure to thank those who take the time to offer you advice (especially those who lead you to a purchase.) A follow up thank you and the knowledge that their advice led to a purchase is a very warm fuzzy feeling.

Kevin Green, Prime

It's Prime Time!

Thirteen years ago, a secret government fertility laboratory manipulated the genetic structure of dozens of babies in an attempt to create a group of ultra-powered beings. However, it appeared the experiment was a failure, as none of the babies were registered as anything other than normal humans. Kevin Green was one such baby. Now thirteen years old, Kevin was living a normal life in Canoga Park, California when he discovered he had the ability to transform into a musclebound superhero. Dubbing himself Prime, Kevin set out to become the world's greatest superhero.
Note: There was a time where Prime was separated into two entities, Kevin and Prime, who each only had part of their full power and are thus weakened in all of the feats they perform. Feats from this time will be marked with [H]
Each feat will be marked with the source

Power Mechanics

Kevin transforms into Prime by creating "liquid flesh" from his torso, which envelops him and takes a form shaped by Kevin's subconscious. This form is host to a variety of powers.

General

• Transformation^P2
• The genetic material that was used to create Prime is from an alternate dimension that was made with a mix of magic and science^PO2
• The clothing is also part of the Prime-bodies^P3
  • Prototype stretches his cape^FR
• Originally, when Prime transformed back into Kevin, Kevin was trapped inside what amounts to a bag of liquid flesh he had to tear free from,^P1 though he eventually reached a level of control where the body simply sloughs off him as slime
• Kevin can terminate the Prime-body early through conscious effort^PG

Prime Time

• Prime only has a certain amount of "Prime Time" before his current Prime-body begins to decompose^P4
• Military scientists were able to stabilize Prime and reverse his body's decomposition^P5
• As Prime's control of his powers gets better, his "Prime Time" increases to the point that the doctor who gave him his powers says that he could fight for hours or even days^PG
• Prime mentions that he can stay transformed for a week^PO2
• Kevin can reverse the decomposition by focusing^P11

Regeneration

• Prime's control gets better over time to the point that he can regenerate damage done to his body^P13
• Regenerates his head after it gets splattered^UF1
• Regenerates after his skin is blasted off^HC17
• Regenerates after Black Knight's Photon Sword makes his body fall apart^UF8
• Regenerates after Kevin's heart gets ripped out while he's still Prime^PO4
• [H] Regenerates after Wolverine slashes him^RG
• Regenerates after Solitaire stuffs a grenade in his mouth^R7

Misc/Weirdness

• Colonel Samuels was able to disrupt the transformation with a special shock collar^P9
• When Kevin transforms into Prime while suffering a concussion, Prime's head is turned backwards^P22
  • He twists his own neck to bring his head back into place^P23
• Kevin uses his arm to rip open his Prime-body to spray slime at the Lizard without terminating the body entirely^R2
• While his powers are on the fritz, trying to create a Prime-body causes him to accidentally create a giant spider monster of Prime-flesh^R3

First Prime

The first iteration of Prime that Kevin transforms into. Inspired by Kevin's adoration of his father and the exaggerated proportions of comic books and cartoons, this body serves as the visual template for later Prime-bodies.

Physicals

Strength

Striking

• Punches Prototype into a large crane, smashing it and making a large crater^P4
• Flips a tank with a punch^P1
• Smacks Organism 8 into machinery hard enough to crumple it^P3
• Smashes a table^P1

Flying Charges

• Flies through the ground to bury a nuke deep enough that it won't hurt people^P9
• Splatters Organism 8's head^P2
  • Organism 8 is durable enough to leap through the roof of a building^P2
• Flies through several walls^MT7
• Smashes through a large wall in an abandoned military base^P9
• Smashes through a wall^CD
• Smashes through the roof of a gymnasium^P1
• Flies through a plane's wing^UP0
• Smashes through the roof of a house^P1

Lifting/Throwing

• Carries a plane to the ground^UP0
• Swings Organism 8 into a wall hard enough to break a big hole in it^P3
• Catches a falling tank^P3
• Lifts a large truck^P4
• Rips a jungle gym out of the ground and uses it as a cage for a demon^P5
• Carries a bunch of sandbags^FR
• Tosses a couch^P1

Grip

• Twists a flamethrower around a man^P1
• Snaps the handle of a big metal mace in his hand^P5
• Crushes a flamethrower between his hands^MT7

Other

• Shatters the big metal chair he's strapped to^P3
• Breaks the table and chains restraining him^P10
• Easily tosses aside the soldiers restraining him^P8
• Thunderclaps to take down some drug dealers^P1
• Breaks the sidewalk while landing^P2
• Rips open a car roof^MT7
• Rips off a demon's arm^P5
• Accidentally snaps a man's arm^P1

Durability

Blunt

• Takes a hit from a demon with a mace^P5
  • The demon smashed a building with its mace^P4
• Punched through a wall by Dr. Gross, who performed the same procedure on himself that gave Prime his powers^MT7
• Embedded in the sidewalk up to his waist by a blow from Organism 8^P2
• Kicked into a lamppost hard enough to warp it by Organism 8^P2
• Kicked by Prototype while low on energy^CD
• A man wearing a discarded Prime-body no sells a car crashing into him^UP4
• Blocks a slide thrown at him with his arm^P5

Piercing

• Machine gun fire is harmless^P1
• A knife breaks against a man wearing a discarded Prime-body^UP3
• Bullets bounce off a man wearing a discarded Prime-body^UP4

Explosives

• No sells a point-blank nuclear explosion^P9
• Hit by a missile, though he was close enough to the end of his cycle that he turns back into Kevin^UP3
• Heavy machine guns, grenades, and bazookas deal only superficial damage^P1
• A missile bounces off of a man wearing a discarded Prime-body^UP4

Energy

• Blasted in the face by Prototype then blasted through a brick house^P4
  • Prototype's blasts are hot enough to evaporate a water giant^FR
• No sells a flamethrower^P1
• Electricity can't hurt him^P3
• Blasted with microwaves^P4

Other

• A man breaks his ankle kicking Prime^P1
• Even while decomposing, the Prime-body still protects Kevin from the heat of reentry and an impact that makes a giant crater^P6

Flight/Speed

• Ducks a punch from Organism 8^P2
• Dodges a flamethrower^MT7
• Flies from southern California to Somalia and back in a very short time^P1

Powers

Energy Blasts

• Blasts back a demon that has him in a bear hug with a burst of energy from his chest^P5
• Blows men in power armor off of him by releasing an energy blast from his body^CD
• Blasts himself out of a goop monster suffocating him^CD

Misc

• Spins in place, destroying the house he's in^P1
• Blows out a flamethrower with super-breath^MT7

Rogue Prime

As Kevin becomes more cynical and jaded doing superhero work, with rising anti-Ultra sentiments among the public and people trying to manipulate him for their own means, his Prime-body also changes. Inspired more by rugged, individualistic antiheroes, Rogue Prime has a different costume and color scheme, as well as piercings and tattoos

Physicals

Strength

Striking

• Shatters a big rock^UF1
• Punches Hardcase to the ground hard enough to leave a crater^PG
• Cracks the ground with a blow^GF
  • Again^P16
• Punches the ground, knocking a slab of pavement up^P13
• Smashes machinery^UF2
• Breaks a pillar with a backhand^P15

Flying Charges

• Flies Elven through the levels of a parking garage and makes a big crater in the ground^UP5
• Destroys a house^P14
• Smashes through the roof of a stone temple^RU6
• Flies through the roof of a club^P11
• Charges Hardcase into the Hollywood sign, smashing part of it^PG
• Tackles Prototype into a building^UF0B
• Destroys Navy helicopters^P14

Lifting/Throwing

• Tosses around large rocks^UF1
• Lifts Muscle Beach with one arm^P12
• Throws a car^P13
  • Throws more^UP5
• Lifts a car^PG
• Flings Hardcase into a tree hard enough to break it in half^PG
• Throws a man over some buildings^P0.5
• Throws two men across a street^P16

Other

• Rips the roof off of a lab^P10
• Bends a tank barrel^GF
  • Again^P13
• Rips Anything off of him while being smothered^GF
• Rips off a helicopter's windscreen^P16
• Rips a stool out of the floor^P11

Durability

Blunt

• Takes blows from Planet Class, who he says is stronger than him^P13
• Slammed about by Atalon's gravity powers hard enough to smash stone^UF1
• Takes hits from Hardcase^PG
• Tanks a punch from Cayman^GF
  • Cayman rips off vault doors^P13
• Crashes into Turbocharge, which launches him hard enough to carve a trench in the ground^P16
• Falls hard enough to smash stone with his face^RU6
• No sells a man shattering a chair on his head^P11
• A man breaks his hand punching Prime^P11

Piercing

• No sells a tank shell^P13
• Bullets bounce off^GF
• A helicopter blade breaks on him^P16
• Uncut after flying through a window^P14

Energy

• Hit with a blast from Prototype that destroys machinery^UF2
  • Prototype bores through stone with a blast^UF5
• Blasted by Rune using the Sword of Fangs^RU6
• Blasted by Mantra^GM
• Blasted by Pressure directly in the mouth^GF
  • Pressure's blast smashes stone^{Godwheel 1}
• Electrocuted by Plug^GF
• Blasted with some kind of electric energy cannon^P0.5

Other

• Withstands Samuels' electric collar and rips it out of himself^P10
• Resists mind control^E0

Flight/Speed

• Keeps up with Turbocharge^P16
  • Turbocharge is faster than jets or rockets and can cross 1000 miles in a matter of minutes^R10
• Easily overtakes a car on the highway^PG
• Flies faster than Prototype^UF1
• Does tight loops while flying^PG

Powers

• KOs Kutt with a blast^P13

Final Prime

Kevin's ultimate Prime-body, a form that reconciles the idealism that inspired First Prime and the cynicism that inspired Rogue Prime

Physicals

Strength

Striking

• Trades blows with Thor^AU
• [H] Trades blows with Professor Hulk^IH
• [H] Defeats a gamma giant with Professor Hulk^IH
• Launches Captain America with a punch to his shield^CA
• Launches Atalon with blows^UF5
• KOs Primevil, a magically-reanimated Prime corpse^P23
• KOs an alt-universe Rogue Prime^CA
• While his power is being magically sapped, clashes punches with Sludge which makes a shockwave that levels half of Central Park^SL12
• Right after being tackled into the street hard enough to make a giant crater, Maxis says that it can't measure how hard Prime hit it when he punches it into a building^RC12
• Punches Sludge through a wall^SL12
• Punches Sludge into a tree hard enough to uproot it and break it in half^SL12
• Backhands Wrath hard enough to bust a hole in a wall^WR9
• Shatters a large security machine^RC1
• Punches through a cyborg^RC6
• Punches into a metal wall^RC8
• Punches through a sewer wall^MT15
• Hits the floor hard enough to knock UltraForce and some monsters off of their feet^UP
• [H] Smashes concrete^R4
• Punches through a Shifter^US1B
• Punches out demons^UP8
• Punches out a komodo dragon^R15

Flying Charges

• Creates earthquakes on an island by repeatedly striking the ground^UF5
• Flies through the ground to make a tunnel to an underground kingdom^DF
• Burrows into a volcano^US1B
• Flies up from a lab beneath the sewer through to the street above^PG
• Flies up to the street through the subway^P18
• Flies out of a giant monster then KOs it^P17
• [H] Flies through a giant monster's head^IH
• Hits the ground, shaking it to knock over Turbocharge^R9
• Flies through a steel hatch^DF
• Destroys a cyborg^RC6
• Bursts through rubble^UF6
• Tackles a man through a thick concrete wall^R14
• Smashes through a wall^RC2
• Flies through a hangar floor^RC8
• Smashes through a cathedral wall^R7
• Smashes through a pillar^US1A

Lifting/Throwing

• [H] Lifts a giant monster bigger than the Statue of Liberty^IH
• [H] Lifts the Statue of Liberty's arm then throws it high into the air^PI
• [H] Carries a plane with a giant Prime-flesh monster riding it to the ground safely^R3
• Carries a van full of people^UF8
• Holds up a big slab of metal while its being welded^RC10
• Throws two men into the air^R7

Ripping/Tearing

• [H] Rips apart a giant slime monster^R3
• Rips a tank in half^UI
• Rips off a jet's wing^R1
• [H] Rips apart a techno-organic creature^RR
• Rips off a sewer wall and hits Dr. Gross with it^PG
• [H] Tears apart Spider-Prime's webbing^R4
• [H] Rips off a car roof^IH
• Rips off a car door^R7

Grip

• Twists a girder into a sharp point^RC11
• Crushes a ray gun^R9
• Crushes a concrete pillar^RC10
• Crushes power armor gauntlets^R11

Other

• Matches strength with Juggernaut^NE4
• Pushes an aircraft carrier out of the way of an incoming missile from the inside^MT24
• Pushes Hardcase and Demonseed through a portal^RC15
• [H] Catches Rogue's punch^RG
  • The X-Men were vaguely weakened by being in the Malibu universe^RG
• Holds back Elven^P26
• Flexes out of Ben Reilly's hold^US1A
• Flexes out of chains^R14
• [H] Stomps on the ground to cause several gamma-irradiated children to fall then thunderclaps^IH

Durability

Blunt

• Trades blows with Thor^AU
• [H] Trades blows with Professor Hulk^IH
• Tackled by Juggernaut^NE4
• Hit by Atalon^UF5
  • Atalon splattered Rogue Prime's head^UF1
• Takes hits from Primevil, who is as strong as him^P22
• Takes hits from an alt-universe Rogue Prime while low on power^CA
• Not hurt by Elven's blows^E1
  • Elven punches him through several buildings^P26
• Hit by Keith^R8
  • Keith destroyed a building^R6
• Slammed by NM-E to the ground hard enough to make a crater^HC17
• Fine after crashing to the ground hard enough to make a big crater^R4
• Tackled through a wall by Prototype^RC9
• Knocked through walls^UP
• Punched through a wall by the Manhattan Project^P18
• Hit by Dr. Gross over the head with a pipe^PG
• While having his power magically sapped, gets hit by Sludge^SL12
  • While at full power, he can barely feel Sludge's blows^SL12
• No sells a blow from Captain America while low on power^CA
• A tanker truck crashes into him^R6

Piercing

• Bullets bounce off^P25
  • [H] Again^R3
  • Once more^RC6

Energy

• Blasted by Nemesis, an entity comprised of the Infinity Stones^AU
• [H] Unfazed by a combined blast from Storm, Banshee, Bishop, and Jubilee^RG
  • The X-Men were vaguely weakened by being in the Malibu universe^RG
• Blasted by an alt-universe Rogue Prime^CA
• Struck by lightning^P20
• Blasted by a man in power armor^R11

Other

• Withstands Black Knight's Photon Sword^RC8
• Withstands a paralysis ray^R9
• Unharmed by Sludge^SL12 when coming into contact with Sludge melts flesh^UP8
• Withstands Whistler's sonic powers, which cause convulsions, unconsciousness, and hallucinations^RC5
• A harpoon in the chest doesn't affect him^RC1
• Ben Reilly says a mountain could fall on Prime and he wouldn't be hurt^US1B

Flight/Speed

Reaction/Dodging

• Dodges charges from an Ultra copying his powers^P18
• [H] Does a blast of fire from Phoenix-possessed Amber Hunt^RA
• Dodges NM-E's energy cannon and missiles^HC17
• [H] Catches Rogue's punch^RG
  • The X-Men were vaguely weakened by being in the Malibu universe^RG
• Catches Captain America's shield throw^CA
• Dodges a strike from Thor^AU
• Dodges a spire thrown by Keith^R8

Flight/Movement

• Lags behind Turbocharge and Zip Zap in a race at first, but uses more power to gain on them^R10
• Tags Captain America^CA
• Vibrates his fists at ultraspeed to shake apart a monster^P19
• Flies in a circle quickly to create a vortex and funnel away smoke from an oil fire^P20
• Pulls a man out of a falling car before it hits the ground^P26
• Flings Ben Reilly off of him then catches him before he can fill on a sharp pillar^US1A
• Catches a kid who jumped off of a building^R7
• Saves two kids just before they get hit by a car^R12
• Flies fast enough that people can't see him^R9

Skill/Misc

Combat

• Counter's Dr. Gross' punch^PG
• Gets an alien in a wrestling hold^NE4

Misc

• Has enough control to crush Whistler's throat just enough that he can't use his powers^RC5
• Defeats a group of tengu using his shadow^R5
• Talks Hiruko out of killing him^R5
• [H] Punches the Phoenix Force^RR

Powers

• Blasts Primevil^P23
• Senses that a witch has taken control of Sludge and follows that sense to stop him from breaking into a museum^SL12
• Can glow^P17

Temporary Forms

Space Prime

Colonel Samuels of the US military discovered Prime's secret identity and coerced Kevin into assisting him with military missions. To that end, Kevin was manipulated to reshape Prime into a form suited for a moon mission. This form has a metallic shell to prevent the body from expanding in the vacuum of space as well as air-tanks, as well as oxygen tanks and a space suit inside for Kevin if the body decomposes.

Striking

• Punches off the heads of a moon rock giant^P7
• Chops through a large moon rock column^P7
• Shatters stone on the moon^BT2
• Destroys moon rock monster copies of his parents^P7
• Knocks away a flying saucer on the moon^BT2

Flying Charges

• Flies through a moon rock giant, leaving a large hole in its torso^P7
• Breaks through a moon cave wall^P7
• Smashes through a rock column rising from the moon^P7

Misc Strength

• Breaks out of the moon ground after it opens up and buries him up to the waist^P7

Durability

• Hit by a rock column rising from the moon^P7
• Blasted with laser guns and a beam from a flying saucer^BT2
  • The laser guns smashed rock^BT2
• Serves as a heat shield while re-entering Earth's atmosphere^PT6

Flight

• Flies out to the moon^BT1
• Flies out of quicksand-like moon dust^P7

Spider-Prime

While Prime was trapped in the mainline Marvel Universe, he tried to help Spider-Man fight the Lizard. With his powers on the fritz, he transformed into a body inspired by Spider-Man which he dubbed Spider-Prime. This body only had a fraction of the power of his regular bodies due to his powers going haywire. This body had six arms (though when he transformed again later he had only two) and allowed Prime to use webbing like Spider-Man

Strength

• Repeatedly punches Lizard and rings Spider-Man's bell^PI
• Flips a bulldozer^R1

Durability

• Tackled through a wall by Final Prime^R4
• Slammed into a wall by the Lizard hard enough to break it^PI

Agility

• Mentions his body is designed for speed and agility while dodging Final Prime's blows^R4

Webbing

• Wraps up some men^R1
• Webs Final Prime's face, though he rips it apart^R4
• Web swings like Spider-Man^R4

Misc

• Showed up in Spider-Verse

Phoenix Prime

When the Phoenix Force traveled to the Malibu universe, it took Prime as a host. Because the Phoenix Force originated in the Marvel universe and not the Malibu universe, it is not at full power when it possesses Prime

• Blasts Storm, Banshee, and Rogue^RG
  • The X-Men were vaguely weakened by being in the Malibu universe^RG
• Roasts Wolverine^RG
• Absorbs life energy from UltraForce and the X-Men^RG
• Withstands attacks from UltraForce and the X-Men before the Phoenix leaves Prime^RG

Respect Threads for scaling:

• Thor
• Professor Hulk
• Juggernaut
• Rune
• Spider-Man
• Ben Reilly
• Captain America
• Storm
• Rogue
• Wolverine
• Bishop

Hello everyone, I have a permutations algorithm I need assistance with.
I am looking to create a program that can process nested template strings along with filenames. So for example:
Template string:
A {sculpture, painting} of a {seagull {on a pier, on a beach}, poodle {places.txt}}.
Contents of places.txt
on a sofa in a truck
^Assume these are on seperate lines
Generated strings:
A sculpture of a seagull on a pier. A sculpture of a seagull on a beach. A sculpture of a poodle on a sofa. A sculpture of a poodle in a truck. A painting of a seagull on a pier. A painting of a seagull on a beach. A painting of a poodle on a sofa. A painting of a poodle in a truck.
This is what I've gotten as of now:

def expand_template(template_string): # Recursively replace file references first template_vars = re.findall(r'{(\w+.txt)}', template_string) for var in template_vars: if os.path.isfile(var): with open(var, 'r') as file: # Reading and replacing in the template string file_contents = [line.strip() for line in file] template_string = template_string.replace('{' + var + '}', '{' + ','.join(file_contents) + '}') else: print(f"File not found: {var}") sys.exit(1) # And then replace inner (nested) templates # This regex will ONLY match the innermost template # The problem is that the innermost template doesn't need to be expanded while '{' in template_string: template_string = re.sub(r'{([^{}]+)}', lambda x: process_inner_template(x.group(1)), template_string) return template_string def process_inner_template(content): # Split the content by commas not inside nested brackets parts = re.split(r',\s*(?![{}]*})', content) expanded_parts = [expand_template('{' + part + '}') if '{' in part else part for part in parts] return ','.join(expanded_parts).strip('{}') def generate_permutations(template_string): # Find all template variables in the string variables = re.findall(r'{([}]+)}', template_string) # Extract the options for each variable options = [var.split(', ') for var in variables] # Generate all possible combinations of options combinations = list(itertools.product(*options)) permutations = [] for combination in combinations: # Replace each variable with its corresponding option permutation = template_string for var, option in zip(variables, combination): permutation = permutation.replace('{' + var + '}', option) permutations.append(permutation) return permutations def process_template(template_string): expanded_template = expand_template(template_string) return generate_permutations(expanded_template) if name == 'main': if len(sys.argv) != 3: print("Usage: python nestedpermprocessor.py  ") sys.exit(1) template_string = sys.argv[1] output_file = sys.argv[2] # Process the template string to expand and generate permutations permutations = process_template(template_string) # Write permutations to the output file with open(output_file, 'w') as file: for permutation in permutations: file.write(permutation + '\n') print(f"Generated strings written to {output_file}") 

Any posts pertaining to car buying suggestions or advice belong in this weekly megathread; do not post car-choosing questions in the main queue. A fresh thread will be posted every Monday and posts auto sorted by new. A few other subreddits worth checking out that will help your car buying experience are /WhatCarShouldIBuy, /UsedCars and /AskCarSales. www.everydaydriver.com may also be helpful.
Make/Model-specific questions should be asked on Make/Model-specific subreddits. Check the AutosNetwork for a complete list of those subreddits. Also check out our community-sourced Ultimate car buying wiki.
For those posting:
Please use the following template in your post.
Location: (Specify your country or region)
Price range: (Minimum-Maximum in your local currency)
Lease or Buy:
New or used:
Type of vehicle: (Truck, Car, Sports Car, Sedan, Crossover, SUV, Racecar, Luxury etc.)
Must haves: (4x4, AWD, Fuel efficient, Navigation, Turbo, V8, V6, Trunk space, Smooth ride, Leather etc.)
Desired transmission (auto/manual, etc):
Intended use: (Daily Driver, Family Car, Weekend Car, Track Toy, Project Car, Work Truck, Off-roading etc.)
Vehicles you've already considered:
Is this your 1st vehicle:
Do you need a Warranty:
Can you do Minor work on your own vehicle: (fluids, alternator, battery, brake pads etc)
Can you do Major work on your own vehicle: (engine and transmission, timing belt/chains, body work, suspension etc )
Additional Notes:
​
For those providing suggestions: Facts are ideal in this thread, especially when trying to help out a new car buyer. Please help out buyers with sources and reasoning for your suggestions.
For those asking for help, be sure to thank those who take the time to offer you advice (especially those who lead you to a purchase.) A follow up thank you and the knowledge that their advice led to a purchase is a very warm fuzzy feeling.