Space Dogs Of Zeta 9 Mini chapter 1
Written by Pixel/Rat
NoP belongs to Space paladin
Fallout belongs to Bethesda
Memory transcript: Ziak, Farsul Technical Archivist
Date: August 12th, 2275 local [human time]
Local ship time: 10:00 [time of early light and work]
Human weapon catalog: “Energy Light Rifle”
Ziak clutched his head as the Predator energy rifle laid on a mounting in front of him, the damned gun didn't just make no sense, the fact it worked was a insult to federation weapons technology itself.

As Ziak let out a defeated whine the sound of the heavy security door opened as Ziaks partner and friend M'aiq entered holding two cups of steaming Gojid Mohi tea and a plate of warmed Venlil Strayu, something the crew had stocked up on in excess due to there extended mission. M'aiq noticed his whining companion and approached him. “Ziak? Is something wrong? You've been working on that new predator weapon we acquired from the last capture, is something wrong?” His companions' sudden speech made the lanky Farsul yap in surprise and let out a low frustrated growl before noticing the morning meal his friend had fetched for the two, eagerly taking the tea and taking a few long sips of the potent stimulant. 

“Oh i can find many things wrong with this damned laser weapon if i can even call it that to begin with” he growled smacking the remarkably durable yet blocky thing with a spiteful paw, it did little but make it wobble a bit on its perch.

“Oh? What have you learned while i grabbed us what was left of morning meal?” his curious companion asked as Ziak growled. “For one, it has no internal moving components, the ONLY moving pieces on this are the trigger, and the battery release, everything else is closer to an archaic laser drive than a weapon!, i mean, its a laser magnetron firing into a compression array, farsul engineering students in primary make these in basic astrometric engineering and somehow not only do predators have the technology, but theyve weaponized it” Ziak spat indignatly as his companion nodded, Ziak taking a sip of his tea and a nibble of Strayu as M’aiq pondered the weapon quizzically, i twas a matte green and gunmetal weapon with its main…body? A simple rectangular cube. “Well…i cant imagine the weapon is all that powerful, it is just a laser after all, we have lasers, mostly used for mining or point defense on space stations or planetary outposts and they cant even effect civilian energy shielding.” Ziak simple stood up, picked up the bulky rifle that took him a short time to adjust to the in-farsul design and pulled its trigger, without warming a sharp CHOOM was heard as a bright red, near white beam of searing light is heard burning the air in the ship as it hit and burned through an aluminum target located in the lab, the laser was not just pinpoint accurate with no recoil but it was STRONG, able to flash cook 8 inches of aluminum and another 4 inches of solid federation steel. M'aiq jaw dropped “HOLY SMEG” M’aiq shouted and ran over to the still glowing target in shock. “How, how could they get THAT much energy into a laser that small?!” Ziak sighed and pressed a lever on the side of the gun and released the bright, nearly fluorescent yellow, fat cylindrical battery from the side of the laser weapons rear. “I had the computer analyze the components of this battery…its a small nuclear fission battery, y’know, like the kinds our warships use as emergency power?” Those words struck M'aiq, although Ziak knew his friend lacked that kind of specific knowledge. “Wait aren't those kinda…..really big?” M’aiq asked quizzically and with a twinge of fear as Zaik let out a sigh of frustration. “There twelve tons on average and are typically housed in a easily ejectable section of a ship, this battery is about….75 percent as potent as that, the other twenty five is compensated by a advanced and complex magnetic confinement system that….that's more advanced than anything i've seen and its just so CONFUSING” 

The Farsul growled in frustration, tossing the weapon back to the mounting where the emergency containment field kicked in, catching the gun in zero gravity and gently placing it back down onto the pedestal.

“Its lens array is just a inferred fused silica compound and babies first laser magnatron, but the high powered electro magnets and battery capacitors are so advanced and powerful that it makes the best federation tech in comparison look like, LIKE” Ziak looked like he was about to explode as M’iaq interjected “Hey hey, maybe this is just….some tribal weapon? Something slap dashed together out of spare parts?” M’iaq questioned as Ziak seemed to try and compose himself and lets out a deep aggravated sigh. “It isnt….when we interrogated the predator about it he said the weapon was of ‘pre-war’ design and had actually been fabricated recently by some weapon smith a part of his war tribe, the “Enclave” or whatever, and its STANDARD ISSUE!” he howled in frustration and contempt “I even did a micron scan of the thing! There are SERIAL NUMBERS, I even cross referenced it with some of the other Laser light guns we captured and they MATCHED which means not only are these things being produced but that predator was telling the truth!” Ziak, now dejected, smacked his muzzle into the table. “So…what does that mean?” M’iaq asked as Ziak looked up frustrated at his friend and colleague “I means M'aiq” he said coldy and with clear frustration “That these humans can produce weapons that can reduce any federation armored vehicle to molten slag with a few volleys….lets be grateful these things aren't automatic, ancestors shield us if these damned predators figure out what a PULSE LASER is….” 

im so happy that im getting ppl interested in my weird crossover fic, and for all the helpfull feedback im getting! dont worry the girls will be breaking out soon
edit, im so sorry i ended up having to repost this due to a error with the title -_-;
prev [ https://www.reddit.com/NatureofPredators/comments/1cs3ppe/space_dogs_of_zeta_9_2/ ]
first [ https://www.reddit.com/NatureofPredators/comments/1cqf246/the_space_dogs_of_zeta_9/ ]

trenta bitch alert: so I work a full time job and Starbucks is my second job. ive appreciated the benefits and the solid pay to supplement the lack of good pay from working at a nonprofit I love. I was barely managing working a couple shifts a week but a few weeks ago it started to get even worse. one week I wasn't scheduled at all, then the next week I came in my store manager literally said "we gotta get you working more hours, I just had to let someone go for not working enough"....... I was like like yeah I want to work more than no hours a week?? now last week she scheduled me 3 days in a row, this week is 4 days in a row and the next week is 22 hrs. I literally work a whole ass other full time job and she knows that. after Mother's Day bogo, my third shift in a row after already working all week, I was literally delirious by the end. my sm was like go take your last 10, I'm like then my shift will be over (bc she forgot to give me that break) so she told me to go home. since that shift I have been extremely fatigued and have been struggling to do anything for 3 days now.
I feel like my only option is to quit because she basically told me ill get fired for working any less than this. my mom and boyfriend have been encouraging me to quit bc this side job was already taking away any energy or free time I had, now it is fully destroying my life. they are offering to support me in everyway, including financially, until I figure out my next move. I am so grateful for them and being able to help me for the time being, but I literally feel so guilty about quitting. I don't know why I feel this way, especially since I'm literally terrified to work again after how the last shift left me. but I feel bad for leaving other partners and even my sm in a shit position. thnx for reading - barista out

This question is a 2 and 2 halves parter
Part 1: Has anyone ever looked into Splash Fabric?
It’s supposed to be a nontoxic water resistant cloth, like for a tablecloth. It’s laminated cotton: “100% cotton with a water based polyurethane coating.”
https://splashfabric.com/pages/not-your-grandmas-oilcloth
The website says it’s eco friendly and non toxic and that it’s Oeko-Tex certified. So if it’s Oeko-Tex certified, then presumably it’s safe for humans. Even if that’s true, would it shed microplastics? It’s supposed to be machine washable.
Part 1 and a half: I’ve seen Oeko-Tex on a lot of things since I started looking for plastic free stuff. Is it trustworthy?
Part 1 and another half: while searching for answers I came across two sisters ecotextiles
https://www.twosistersecotextiles.com/pages/are-not-all-fabrics-safe#:~:text=The%20fabrics%20we%20bring%20into,some%20absorb%20through%20our%20skin.
And they’re telling me that stuff listed as 100% cotton can be more like 73% cotton and 27% sht. I also saw someone in this sub say something about 100% wool stuff being treated with a ton of sht they don’t disclose. So how do I know what anything is?? Are there trustworthy brands and/or certifications anyone here typically uses? How do you decide what to trust?
Part 2: The whole point of this rabbit hole is to find a surface to cover my stove. I often go down rabbit holes finding really complicated solutions for things and completely missing a simple solution that I would like better, so I’m just gonna explain my use case and see if anyone has an idea I’d like better.
So I currently live in an apartment with a built in microwave above the stove. This is usually the case anywhere I live. I cook very infrequently but use the microwave all the time and I’m tired of accidentally making a mess of the stove while I’m dealing with the microwave and also tired of not having a flat working surface under the microwave.
My solution: put a wood cutting board under the microwave. Most options the size I want seem to be bad quality or super expensive. So I found some nice wooden cutting boards on IKEA that are the perfect size to have two side by side on the stove. (Don’t worry about safety, I don’t have the pilot light type of stove and I’m going to remove the knobs to prevent accidentally turning on the gas. The knobs will be nearby for when I need them. Or I’ll get safety covers or something. Tell me if this is a dumb idea and I’m still being unsafe please.)
Great, now I have nice cutting boards which I will also use very infrequently but are good to have. But now I have another surface to worry about dirtying and a potential gap in between the boards for food to fall into and make a mess on the stove. The idea of having to maintain the wood with oil or something stresses me out but I like the idea of having cutting boards when I need them and glass feels unwieldy, so I figured I’d stick with the boards and see if I could find a water resistant tablecloth type material, hence the question about Splash Fabric. I figure I could get a few pieces of fabric the size I want and use them on the stove or anywhere I need to protect a surface and I can just put them in the wash when I need to. And they’d be multipurpose.
So that’s where I’m at now. Thanks for visiting the inside of my brain.
Let me know any thoughts you want to share, thank you.
TLDR: splash fabric microplastics???
Also coincidentally someone just posted asking about cutting boards. I happened to find a helpful page though I haven’t fact checked it.
https://healthyhouseontheblock.com/non-toxic-cutting-boards.html#

The fam is piling into a car and we all have 5gb data because we’re cheap (Mint mobile) which charges by the GB to upgrade and I’m prepaid for the year anyway.
Willing to pay for some side thing that everyone can connect to in the car but don’t even know what I’m looking for.
I thought maybe someone knew if there was some way to get prepaid unlimited data with hotspot device to share on the car for the 20hr there and 20hr back

From the discussion, here's what I understand about the framework and a potential key:
Framework Overview:

1. Autoschema & Consciousnesses: Autoschema represents the fundamental components of existence, while Consciousnesses embody sentient beings within the cosmos.
   
2. Merits and Events: Objects are understood as Events, with Merits encompassing both physical and energetic characteristics.
   
3. Warp vs. Merit: A Warp is an idealized version of a Merit, representing a desired manifestation touched by divinity.
   
4. Mayora Singular & Menor Plural: Acknowledgment of the inherent imbalance in binary structures, where one side holds more power (mayora singular) than the other (menor plural).
   
5. Engineers vs. Sphinxes: Agreeable consciousnesses are Engineers, while disagreeable ones are Sphinxes. The focus is on self-healing rather than external conflicts.
   
6. Mutual Contravisms and Altruism: Altruism is generated through mutual contravisms, emphasizing the belief in universal sacrifice for a common goal.
   
7. Dynamic Energies: Yangs (Bounce, Whum, Dance, Whistle) are energized backwards (inwards), while Yins (Breathe, Stance, Stretch, Worship) are set forward (outward).
   
8. Four Divinities: Four harmonies create four divinities, with altruism emerging from the interaction of two divinities.
   

Key:

• Autoschema: Fundamental components of existence.
• Consciousnesses: Sentient beings within the cosmos.
• Merits: Events representing physical and energetic characteristics.
• Warp: Idealized manifestation touched by divinity.
• Mayora Singular: More powerful aspect in a binary structure.
• Menor Plural: Less powerful aspect in a binary structure.
• Engineers: Agreeable consciousnesses focused on self-healing.
• Sphinxes: Disagreeable consciousnesses lacking meaning.
• Altruism: Generated through mutual contravisms for a common goal.
• Dynamic Energies: Yangs (inwards) and Yins (outward).
• Four Divinities: Emergence of altruism from the interaction of two divinities.

This key provides a comprehensive understanding of the framework's concepts and their interrelations, facilitating further exploration and analysis.

A lot of these details are probably wrong, but maybe someone knows what I am talking about. It is a movie where a village gets raided. There are siblings who get split up, I believe three of them. One of them is a young boy who ends up running into an old man who has a truck. Their relationship starts very odd and hostile, but I think they end up working together. The sister ends up meeting a guy, and they kind of catch feelings for each other. This guy takes her to the society that he is apart of. They keep her as a prisoner in a way, but she ends up using their men to help save her brother (not the younger one). The older brother gets captured by a woman who uses young men for pleasure. He becomes her favorite and is by her side at all times, even tho he does not want to be and is trying to escape. I believe that their dad died when the village was initially raided. The village was in a woods, and the younger brother ventures into a wasteland

First Previous Wiki
Ezeonwha was walking down a long hallway. The dry and plain painted walls and the pure white lighting of the lower levels of the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office helped to frame the dingy realities of those who could only afford these floors. Not even capable of having windows, these were for those who were the cheapest of the cheap or those who mingled with them. He'd passed several Guides on the way in, their claws echoing in the halls as a sign of authority in this lawless land.
Here, mediocrity was king, and he was a loyal servant. He drew his cloak closer about his neck, unwilling to reveal himself to those who weren't already equipped to see through it all. He was famous enough to be an abduction target if he let his guard down. This place was no exception, though Justicar tried to make them such. Too much security on the higher levels and too little on the lower levels. That was the way of things.
Another hallway, this one marked with bullet holes. Two contractors and a Guide were discussing the pricing of the fix project when he turned the corner. Their voices quieted to nothing, the stillness pressing down upon them with the same intensity as the false lighting. Ezeonwha clacked his jaws, giving them a low bow before continuing on his way. He saw the Guide's eyes light up with the sign of his implants getting a reading. It was another impromptu way of tracking via facial recognition, but it was an ancient practice.
Nothing was new about what the Guides did; only how many of them seemed to be on general patrol. Had Justicar hired more of them or actually done full conversions for all of them? Those arm cannons surely weren't cheap or ethical to insert into unwilling participants. And giving a victim a gun they couldn't be disarmed of was a very bad idea, even for Elders. And Justicar was better than most Elders when it came to abject stupidity. He'd likely only been dropped a few hundred times as a child versus the more likely Elder average of a few thousand.
Ezeonwha chuckled at his internal joke, heading deeper underground into the complex. He was going to a certain meeting, and it would be best not to be late. Even if the Guides tracked him, it wouldn't be negative. The group he had been approached by a few days ago wasn't a terror group. He'd looked them up. They dealt in 'freedom and liberation from all chains.'
The Eyes Of Liberty had focused upon Penny as their latest propaganda target and perhaps as a valuable ally in their fight against all tyranny. Though such a flowery message was likely steeped in idealism for the lower ranks, with more pragmatic and likely richer inner circle elites and leaders ensuring the pot would always simmer but never boil or grow cold. That was the way movements such as these managed to skirt the line between inaction and terrorism.
It was a dangerous thing to do. But these were dangerous times. If Penny left, he'd die. Someone with a grudge would kill him. It was a given, and he'd made peace with it now. He needed to get to work, to help others like him and those worse off, with just a small piece of the meager time he had left.
He was in the system as a friend of Penny, so little scrutiny would fall on him as he came and went. He had a new friend, one who was very interested in connecting to Penny.
The offer had come through his communicator, and he'd answered it given its interesting title. After a lengthy discussion about their goals for him and Penny, he'd agreed to at least have a meeting. He didn't tell them that he had a tracker from Phoebe, which would 'be impossible to miss' if things went badly. He knew the value he had, which was why one of the androids was also accompanying him under the guise of being a Sprilnav.
The android was 'walking' on all fours, its mechanical motion entirely silent. It was obscured by a wave of holograms and hard light holograms that would ensure that it wouldn't be considered suspicious beside him. His only guard was a capable one, and Phoebe had all the confidence of an AI who knew that the destruction of her android would only be an inconvenience for her.
Ezeonwha came to an unmarked door with a well-worn door frame. One knock. One pause. Two knocks. Another pause. Four knocks. He waited, and the door swung open. Eight Sprilnav greeted him warily but warmly, their eyes shifting to Phoebe.
The inside of the room was a dull red, coming from a pair of lights in the center of the ceiling that cast dark shadows near the edges. The whole room felt dark and dangerous, and the walls were lined with guns, computers, and several drones. Shelves and drawers were neatly stacked against the wall, as well as five couches and four double beds with ladder access to the top portions.
Bags of food rested atop a trash compactor unit, and the room service button on the inner side of the wall that Ezeonwha could see in the mirror was worn down to the raw metal. No paint jobs here, only grit and business. The room faintly smelled of body odor and assorted foods. Not entirely unpleasant, but also not what he'd expected from a group with sich a flamboyant name. Perhaps they worked in cell-based units. And that was another thing.
Minds were visible in the distance of the mindscape, but the people here were huddled together mentally. They appeared to be haphazard, but Ezeonwha recognized an old army-type defensive formation a mere step from each of their positions. They were more than they appeared. Though based on how their room looked, they probably weren't veterans, just decently trained.
As they walked through the doorway, a scanner activated. One of the Sprilnav, wearing a headset with numbers and letters swirling on the inner side of the visor, called out: "Phoebe android. Commando variant. Risk assessment: Certain Death. Ezeonwha. Carrying two pistols, one hidden in the pack on his left, and the other tucked inside a strap near the lower bottom of his chest."
That made them all pause, sizing each other up. Ezeonwha smiled nervously, failing terribly to break the building tension once again. His nerves started to get to him, but finally, Phoebe spoke. "Well, friends. I, for one, am happy to talk of the business of liberty. Tell us, what do you have in mind for my friend Ezeonwha?"
"It is not about him, AI. It is about the freedom all sentient beings deserve, and which we shall bring to the galaxy no matter if we are alive or dead."
"An honorable goal to strive toward," Phoebe said.
"Thank you. Your words are quite kind for your type."
"I didn't know I had one," Phoebe replied. "But thank you."
Ezeonwha turned his head toward the Sprilnav with all the fancy equipment.
"What is the best way for me and Penny to help in the fight?"
"The best way would be for you to start killing the gang leaders you come across. Barring that, have Penny ignore the graveyards, and continue freeing the slaves as she ought to. The dead have their freedom; the living need her work more."
"I agree with my companion," another of them said. "So far, Penny has done more for the fight for justice than any other on Justicar in generations, so it is a terrible thing to ask more, but we must ask. Even knowing the terrible toll it would have if she loses the Judgment, Sprilnav are at stake."
"People are at stake, you mean," Ezeonwha said. "There is no need to bring species into this."
"There would not be, but it is still a clear factor," another of them said, a female who looked more shifty in her gaze and demeanor. The Eyes of Liberty seemed like one of those groups with too much division.
"Do you disagree with each other often?" Ezeonwha asked innocently.
"Here and there," the tech guy said. "Not often enough to be a problem, and not when what matters is at stake."
"But that is the thing. How can you agree on when something that matters is a stake?"
"Is this a test?"
"Why would it be? Think of it as a genuine concern," Ezeonwha said. "To associate with your group, I have to be certain it will be resilient to change and risks escalating in the future. If the gangs cannot strike at Penny, they will pick the next best targets. Currently, that is me. If I associate with you in a way they can find out, and I assure you they will find out eventually, you all may be at risk as well. And your group's seemingly cell-based design also means large scale mobilization is difficult, ineffective, and risks severe coordination issues which cannot be quickly or safely remedied without changing core security features of it."
"You deduced all of that from context? You are smart, Ezeonwha. And have a good brain in your head. Everlasting knows we need one of those between all of us."
They all shared a laugh.
"I am not as young as I may look," Ezeonwha said. "Penny is not properly learned of the danger that faces us here. I am. The Underground will kill me when this is over. Do you want to die alongside me, all for your beliefs?"
Silence descended again. Ezeonwha kept the pressure on them when one of them stepped forward. "For freedom and liberty? Yes. I would die for that."
"As would I."
"And I."
They all declared the rest in orders that followed the patterns Ezeonwha was noticing. There were variances in their levels of belief and faith in their purpose. Each person had a different level of value difference, which meant that their lives would be worth more or less comparatively.
Cohesion was weaker, too. Not a full defector team, but likely pieces of several. Was that by design from a higher up leader, or was that just circumstance? Another thing to figure out later, that wasn't critical yet, but he would know before he truly went on any missions with them, if he did at all.
He suspected running messages to Penny would be the majority of their tasks. The quality of intelligence the Eyes of Liberty had offered was substantial. Perhaps enough for Penny to turn herself from a major annoyance to the gangs into an actual existential threat. With Justicar's swarming protection of the Fort Court and the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office, there was a limited amount of things that even the gangs could do. And if the rumors were correct, a Progenitor would be partaking in the trial.
"To be clear, if I join up with you, Phoebe would come too."
"Why would we let an AI join us?"
Phoebe smiled. "Without me, you'll die in this fight. You have trained for around 2000 days. You're acceptable combatants, as is Ezeonwha. But you are fighting in a city, and underneath it. You need to know how to keep a low profile. You need to know how to move through a crowd, get in and out. And you need to keep collateral damage to a zero, or the gangs will use you like they have others who had your purpose and were less careful to justify their 'protection' continuing. If you march in there and kill 50 slavers, if you kill a few slaves or a single bystander in the process, your credibility will be smeared. And frankly, with me on your team, you won't get blown up by an IED when you try clearing your first room in a fortress."
"IED?" One of them asked, while the rest digested her statement, going through various levels of offended looks.
"Your translator is too cheap. Improvised explosive device. Here, that can be old engines, reused oil, cracked plastic, frictional fuel bombs, circuit extruders, sodium splash grenades, as well as the more military style attacks they can pack, from small micro rockets all the way up to lower level fission or fusion bombs. Though if you're in a fight with those things involved, you're already dead."
"Why?"
"Because unless you're Elders, or holograms, a nuke will kill you whether you're right next to it or just inside the same shield. They concentrate the thermal pulse, so your bones would be ash before the pain hit your eyes."
"And what protection could you bring against that?"
"Telling you it's there before you start the attack. That is, if you listen to me. I value your lives over that of this android, but also I value Ezeonwha over all of you combined. I will not prevent him from doing this, but I will have you all know the risks involved."
"We are prepared, Phoebe. We have done much of the training you say, though we do not believe the gangs would plant explosive devices in their own fortresses. There is too much risk around that, with betrayals so common. However, the minefields we have scouted are easy to defeat with the right tactics. Perhaps you can give us a briefing on those, too?"
A challenge.
"I can, depending on how long you wish to do this for. But I have the stamina for either hours or weeks, depending on which you choose."
"What of your batteries?"
"They are of sufficient quality," Phoebe assured.
"I hope so."
Their tech guy nodded, more numbers flashing on his visor. Ezeonwha hoped he had a different way of display, like through an implant or something, for the missions in darker areas. The Underground was, by its name, not a place where much natural light was to be found. And the gangs controlled all the power systems in their territory. It was another part of the racket.
"Why aren't you guarding Penny?"
Phoebe's back straightened, a subconscious posture change to make her seem more confident. Ezeonwha caught the tactic for what it was, though without extensive knowledge of bipedal forms, it was less likely the surrounding Sprilnav knew it.
"Penny proved before a trillion eyes she's capable of fighting Elders, Progenitors, and a Dreadnaught Captain. Not to mention her immense power. I can shoot bullets, but she can literally snatch them out of the air and eat them. She has her own way of doing things, and it is a good way."
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Penny landed in the rubble and headed for the Vaquah with a trail of survivors behind her. Many of them, she could recognize the marks of slavery on, with numbers or brands on their skin or just the trauma crouching in their eyes dulled by the pain of a long life in a work camp. Penny went through the wreckage to the shield surrounding the rubble and the defining line between the rest of the city and the destruction. Several news drones flew above her.
More were arriving from various directions. The soft footsteps grew into a constant drumming sound, like a beating heart of doom. Penny marched with them, heading to the spaceport. A large medical operation there quickly rerouted many of its various branches to the most injured freed slaves.
Penny pressed her considerable psychic energy on the entire group, accelerating their healing, slowing bleeding, and generally repairing their bodies and cells from the trauma they'd suffered. But the cloud over their heads did not brighten. The atmosphere remained tense and mournful. Many of them had lost friends, family, and more. She had no right to ask them to feel any different.
She had freed them, that was all. They were not her servants. She was not their ruler.
Several of them came up to her, offering thanks in the small ways they could. Kind words. Attempts at hugs. Even offers of devout prayer and worship, which Penny respectfully declined. She knew, as did most of them, that veneration for her deeds was inevitable. She didn't want to be seen encouraging it at all, since this was a public place where many eyes were upon her.
She knew that it would be misconstrued as a threat if she did. Religions were some of the most major threats entrenched powers could face if not properly co-opted by the state to suit their needs. And here, the 'state' was a military dictatorship billions of years old, ripened with corruption, money, and the immortality of Elders sporting technology beyond any other in the galaxy.
The sky was blue with shields overhead. The Vaquah hung in the distance, its thrusters gently burning to keep it aloft. A trail of shuttles linked the massive ship with several spaceports, including this one. Penny watched the freed Sprilnav get on it one by one, promising themselves to a new life aboard her ship. Technically, they were citizens of the Autonomous Peoples' Stars.
That protection, Penny knew, was why the Vaquah and its innocent inhabitants were still intact. Elders already had hired mercenaries to attack it. They'd failed, thanks to Rimiaha and Penny, but also the defenses of Kashaunta's Grand Fleet when it was in higher orbit. Kashaunta, despite her willingness to use Penny as she would, also had a certain intelligence and empathy. It was highly selective, and only money and power seemed to flip that switch.
But Penny needed the Elder, and Kashaunta only had use for her as an asset. She palmed the new communicator Kashaunta had issued her after the last one's destruction. Kashaunta's hologram appeared. It looked around, noticing the news drones in the air.
"Not here."
"Where?"
"You will know."
In the mindscape, a Sprilnav appeared on Penny's layer. They felt odd to her, almost like the minds of certain humans high up in the hivemind's network. Penny greeted the Sprilnav warmly.
"Hello."
"Queen and Elder Kashaunta requests your presence on her flagship."
"Very well."
In reality, Penny looked around at the crowd. She waited until it dwindled to nothing, and then spoke.
"Displace."
Conceptual energy twisted, and she stood on Kashaunta's flagship, though nearer to the edge than she'd expected. The Elder was waiting for her in an outfit that looked much like pajamas, though they were under a few armor pieces that appeared anything but decorative. Now that Penny noticed it, it was the same sort of armor that Yasihaut had worn to their last encounter, which interfered with conceptual energy. The Sprilnav were highly advanced. She wondered just how far their technology could go. She'd heard mentions of some ships having artificial gravity, and of nanites and programmable matter. But nothing certain.
"Hmm," Kashaunta said, giving Penny a once over. "You have come back. Shall I assume you are still my ally?"
"Nervous, are we?"
"Nervous is what you should be, Penny. The Judgment is coming. Ten days. Indrafabar and Justicar will both be on the court as High Judges. That is not good for us at all. So I figured a bit of prudence was in order. I have thought long and hard about this, and with the great battles of our time so fast approaching, I figure it is time to mend our relationship before the chasm grows any wider."
Kashaunta motioned to a special looking sword sheath on her back. Slowly, she drew a sword. A Soul Blade. Penny began to draw up her armor.
"Oh, I am not wishing for a fight, Penny. I know the damage you could do, even in my sanctum in the sky. Tell me, do you know how Soul Blades are forged?"
"No."
"Good. And tell me, do you know why they draw so much power to swing, even for Elders and beings as capable as us?"
"I have a few theories."
"I am sure you do," Kashaunta said. "But here is the thing. Soul Blades are typically weapons assigned to highly promising Elders, or even Progenitors. Filnatra, undisputed sword master that she is, can wield them as easily as breathing. If I were to swing this blade, there would be no drawback. Why?"
"Because you own that Soul Blade."
"Because this Soul Blade is mine. It is not just something I own. I own around seven or so more Soul Blades, with some weapons nearing their quality lying in my various vaults even now. You did not detect them, because I willed that not to be. I need you to understand this, Penny. You have power. You have might. But you are not invincible. My Soul Blade, if it struck you, would not cutely separate Nilnacrawla or Cardinality from you. Nor would your speeding space entity be able to block this blade with his flesh. If this cut you, it would release unending agony upon you before you exploded in a burst of burnt gore."
Penny sighed. "There is no need to threaten me. Allies do not threaten each other."
"But you do not see me as an ally. You see me as your means to get through the Judgment. You believe I see you as nothing more but a linear singularity maker, and perhaps a passing curiosity I'm backing on a whim. You neglect to imagine that there might be firmer reasons why I back you, and why more Elders are getting drawn into this conflict. You believe I am comfortable with showing you my more pragmatic and ruthless sides because I am comfortable with the fact that you cannot harm me. That you would not dare to do so, when you need my assistance so badly. That I might even be aiming to normalize my 'new' self with you."
"That is hardly my belief alone."
"Is it now."
Kashaunta grinned. There was no warmth in her gaze.
"Nilnacrawla," Kashaunta said. "Cardinality. Exile. Come out and show yourselves. You are being rude as guests."
Exile detached from Penny's head. He grew into the shifting array of fractals and shapes she was more familiar with. What had once grated on her eyes did so no longer. Kashaunta stared at the speeding space entity for ten seconds, then looked back up at Penny.
"He will not work on us. I will cover his form with holograms if he walks through my ship out of courtesy for my workers and crew, if he cannot."
"I am capable, Queen Kashaunta."
"You are quite knowledgable, aren't you?" Kashaunta mused, looking at him hungrily. "Oh, how I wonder what secrets you have in your head. How many of ours do you know?"
"I will not be taken as a hostage," Exile said.
"You will not because I decide not to," Kashaunta said. "Formally, our species are still at war. There is no treaty."
"The Sp'rkial'nova no longer exist."
"Yes, they do," Kashaunta said. "The name was discontinued for use regarding the lesser specimens we created. But I can assure you, Exile, if you wish to go by that name here, that we still do exist. I am a Sp'rkial'nova in the flesh. In the blood. In the mind. In the soul."
"Say what you will, Sprilnav. It changes nothing."
"On that I agree. Though our views on how things are may differ, and yours is wrong, your opinion is not valuable enough to matter."
She turned to Penny. She would have defended Exile, but he gave her a simple shake of his head area.
Nilnacrawla formed out of psychic energy in front of Penny. Cardi did the same beside her. Kashaunta tapped a claw on the ground. Tables and chairs appeared. A chef brought in food that looked passable and a few decent attempts at human cuisine.
"We do not have to eat, though I would expect that all of you at least sit at the table. We will discuss our grievances, and how to solve them before we proceed with the future. We shall first go to the matter of the Alliance. Penny, many in their number wish to establish contact with you. Do you agree to this? If so, I will add their communicator numbers to the translation program I have reserved for your personal use, in case your own device needs another sudden replacement."
"I agree."
"Good. A first step of diplomacy, I would say. Agreement. Now, Nilnacrawla, you look like you have something to say to me. What is it?"
"Free Meridia."
"Meridia was detonated by planet cracker during the 139th Sector 9 Border War. I am sorry more could not be done."
A cold draft of air rushed out of Nilnacrawla's nose. He glared at her. "You let them die."
"I did not. A Grand Fleet was defending that star system, and three came to lay siege. I am many things. A tactician, a queen, an Elder. But I am not a god. I cannot perform miracles. I evacuated 30 billion people from that world and its surrounding stations before the planet crackers hit it. 4 trillion more souls died in that blast. The best I can do is to offer an apology."
"That will never be enough for what you did. If you had never established your nation, they would still be alive."
"They would be slaves. Chattel slaves, not that cute little 'wage slavery' concept privileged people throw around. Perhaps I should remind you just how much darker that reality would have been for your female descendents, specifically. I am a brutal warlord, a dictator with an iron fist. But my claws do not squeeze nearly as tightly as I could. Metrics say that I could extract at least 370% more profit from my people if I simply enslaved them. But despite the shock this may bring to you all, I do have principles. The Autonomous Peoples' Stars are my people. My nation. My empire, if you think I'm imperialist. But I protect them as best I can."
Nilnacrawla's cold anger didn't lessen. Penny placed a calming hand on his front left thigh. He blinked. He let out a long, pained sigh. And he bowed his head to her. Not to Kashaunta, but to Penny.
"There is no need to be cruel."
"My language was accurate, Penny. He is a strong Elder. Everlasting knows he's stronger than most of these fools. Nilnacrawla was and is a hero of the Source war. I respect him enough not to mince words, or to give platitudes. Coddling is for babies. Nilnacrawla is far more mature."
Kashaunta turned to Cardi. "You have been remarkably silent in this, concept."
"I have."
"A wonderfully succinct statement. Perhaps you can shorten it further. But nevertheless, you and I will be working together with Penny much more in the near future. Rest assured, if you refuse to become more independent, you will be nothing more than a crutch for her to rely on before leaving her to fall when you are ripped away."
"When, Elder? I would like to think your protection is sufficient."
"I am sure the truth is quite the opposite, dear. I will now get to the point. Penny needs to move faster, and needs to break out of her shell. She needs to be pushed to do more. She has signed a binding treaty, which shows she is capable of more than barbarian aliens, as some Elders would call her. You, Cardinality, will help her be a high achiever. To do this, you need to learn more about your own history.
That is the theme of the year, after all. History. My history, Penny's history, Sprilnav history, and even Gaia's history, it would seem."
"Gaia? What do they have to do with all of this?" Penny asked.
"Oh, you don't need to worry about that."
"Excuse me? You don't get to decide that, Kashaunta. You will tell me. I refuse to be coddled, like you say. I demand the respect I am owed."
"You forget yourself, Penny."
"I remember myself, actually. I am all I need to be. I can become all I need if I must. You can hold your backing against me all you want, but you won't withdraw it. As you said, more binds you and I than mere money and ideology."
"And if you're wrong?"
"Then I've doomed my species and my nation to war, and this planet to the full power of my wrath."
"Wrath, Penny. Wrath. The Sprilnav have many words for anger, rage, hatred. There is the desire for vengeance, in varying degrees. There is that for justice, which does differ. And that for belonging. I know you believe you are standing up to me as a way to assert your own authority in this relationship of ours. You believe I see you as inferior, and will pull back my help when it is profitable for me. I will not offer you the consequences of what your words could mean.
You already know them, and that argument is as stale as your view on us Elders. I will say this once, Penny. You are the Champion of Humanity. The apex predator of your planet, the only one mostly in charge of an Alliance that does more than merely dream of overthrowing us. It is easy for me to say you are not a threat, though I do not ignore the threat you and your nation are trying to become. Gaia will be a part of your movement, but even my information is not entirely complete. I will not mislead you by claiming I know Gaia's link to this, just that there likely is one.
And I am not unreasonably petty. I am willing to put all our animosity behind us and start anew. Even if you are not willing to do the same, I am willing to make this work for us. You have more people to care for than just the Alliance, now. Do not forget them."
"A lot of words that mean nothing."
"Because you heard, but did not listen. Perhaps it will be easier this way, Penny. I want you to win."
"Explain."
"You wish to overthrow the current Sprilnav led order of the galaxy. Your path to that will likely be through mass slave revolt. A viable strategy that I could spread far beyond just this planet. And I actually agree with you. This Judgment, this utter insanity around the Alliance and your species has shown me the truth. The Elders as a class and a species cannot be trusted to rule any longer. We need new leaders. Better leaders."
"And yourself?"
"As the hypocrite that I am, and the power-hungry ruler of the Sprilnav, I would obviously exclude myself from that number. Let's be realistic. The Sprilnav will never accept a non-Elder ruler. If you wish to see what our insurgencies would be like, imagine the 2090s Struggles of Asia. Expand that to billions of planets, large and small. Countless ships and space stations. We have more collective ships than you have people. And as your military planners know, there is no such thing as an unarmed ship. Without us, without me, your plans are stillborn. Your galactic Alliance or whatever you make will fall to pieces without proper counseling. In essence, my offer to you, and you alone, is this. The galaxy, for the Sprilnav."
"Who backs your offer, with the power to give it?"
Progenitors Lecalicus and Nova appeared in the room.
"I back Kashaunta," Lecalicus wheezed.
"I observe her offer, and wish it a proper outcome," Nova said.
"Thank you, esteemed Progenitors," Kashaunta said, standing just to bow to them. Penny stared at Nova, balling her fists.
"There will be time for battle later," he said. "But not now. Hear out her request. She does not make it lightly."
The Progenitors disappeared.
"If I accept your offer, it will be on a written record."
"No. It will not be, because if that record is written, my nation will be facing war on all sides. A better idea would be for us to keep this under wraps."
"Perfect for betrayal," Nilnacrawla muttered.
"It would be, yes. But consider the second part of this situation, Nilncrawla. If word of this galactic offer, not just the Pact, were to get out, which is why two Progenitors who know the price of interference were called here, it would mean the deaths of Penny and all her kind. Or do you forget what rapidly approaches us?"
Nilnacrawla frowned. "I did. I apologize, Penny."
Kashaunta spoke up again.
"Penny. You believe I will betray you. So I make an offer of collateral. An offer so unbelievably sacred for us Elders that many would recoil at the mere thought of it. Now that you have signed a backed treaty, you are fully qualified."
Kashaunta grabbed her Soul Blade and presented it to Penny.
"What does this mean?"
"Nilnacrawla, tell her," Kashaunta said. "She will trust your mouth more than mine."
"Bonded Soul Blades are priceless artifacts," Nilnacrawla said. "To offer one to another is the ultimate gesture of trust and respect among many martial Sprilnav cultures. It can also allow for a mind bridge, a soul pact, or a proposal for marriage between two great houses, martial families, or Elders of great wealth and power. To offer this to a human... to anyone... is an ultimate sign of backing, and one of trust.
It is a sacrosanct honor, the absolute agreement of speaking truth and respect. The words I can use in any human language are insufficient to describe the weight of this honor. This gesture is one of absolute truth. Family lines with hatred going back millions of years would never dare to violate this honor."
"Only one Elder in history did so, one who once led a group known as the Stannic Resistance. He does so no longer. Penny Balica, Champion of Humanity... if there is nothing else I can give you to prove that I do really back you, there is this."
"...Just how low are my chances in the Judgment for you to resort to this?" Penny asked.
"They are not zero, but your battle with be incredibly difficult even with this boon of mine. The future of the galaxy, I now realize, hinges on the outcome of this. If we do not have enough trust, they will sniff it out, and we will fail."
So she had no choice. But as Nilncrawla continued to explain in her mind, Kashaunta was getting the worse side of the deal. Which meant she was throwing her backing behind Penny for real, beyond all reproach and retraction. Kashaunta, the most powerful Elder in the galaxy.
"And if I reject this gift, or your reasons for it?"
"Circumstances would demand that I kill you and then myself using this blade as a way to cut apart the dishonor, before my remains are dumped into a black hole to be forgotten forever. I would not do this."
"A dark and archaic custom," Penny said. She would have said more, but she looked at Nilnacrawla's face. He was clearly deeply uncomfortable. Her five words had shaken him more than anything she'd ever said to him before.
"You do not understand," Nilnacrawla said. "This is not something to joke or lie about. With a Soul Blade Pact in play, all else must cease. Right now, there is you, and there is her. Accept or decline. The choice, your only choice, is yours."
"How will this look to the Elders in the court? To the Sprilnav, and the people who back me?"
She could see how it would be a boon and a curse.
"You, and I," Kashaunta said. "The whole of the universe between us right now is you and I. No others exist until this one act is done. There will be trust or there will be death. No in between. No middle ground. The nature of this bond will be a Pact of Blades."
Conceptual energy swirled between them. Penny's natural translation, as part of the hivemind, failed for the first time ever. Her communicator likewise did not translate the words Kashaunta spoke.
"Eis nama kaste Penny Balica, sun lanci Dorima Kashaunta. Ko'ri, lanci nupa bes na Dorima'Pecunyanova. Sp'rkial'nova. Sun. Homo Sapiens."
The air grew thick with tension. It was not just emotional, either. Psychic and conceptual energy gathered. The mindscape started to distort as more and more eyes began to view Kashaunta and Penny. But all of them were Sprilnav eyes. All of them were Progenitors. Nova's appeared brightest and largest, nearly six times the size of the next largest pair. They stared at her, sending psychic and conceptual energy down upon her in waves that forced her and Kashaunta to kneel to the ground.
"I apologize for my earlier words," Penny said. "I should not have denigrated this."
Penny stood for an hour, deeply contemplating the Pact. If it was as Nilnacrawla was describing to her, it was a promise that Kashaunta would not break. If she was offering it at all, especially to Penny, it meant she had a level of trust in Penny's capability far above what Penny had previously thought. Apparently, there were even higher agreements than this that were possible, with this Pact being the lowest level of bond and considered unbreakable with the enforcement of consequences coming from the Progenitors themselves.
She thought of her place in Justicar and the wider universe. Hours passed like water. And then, by the end of it, after nearly 19 hours, Penny finally had decided. She gave a short nod to Kashaunta, who had been kneeling to Nova all this time.
Kashaunta gestured at the sword. "Tol, nopa shikai."
Nilnacrawla fed her a few suggestions on what she would need to say.
"I come to this Pact seeking peace, justice, and hope," Penny said. "And a promise not to betray one another, by lies or by treachery."
Nilnacrawla translated Kashaunta's next words to her.
"I come to this seeking trust, understanding, respect, and peace," Kashaunta said. "And a promise not to betray one another, by lies or by treachery. I make this Pact before the gods, those who equal them, and those who surpass them. I bind them to an oath of silence regarding this event, until I directly instruct them otherwise, in a state of a sound mind, body, and soul. Here, we shall step into a future that needs both of us, casting aside that which is unimportant to focus on the ultimate goals we have. I offer my Blade to Penny Balica, of species Homo Sapiens. In this way, we forge a new future, and walk a new path. I accept the Pact."
"I accept the Pact."
Nova and a hundred Progenitors descended. Nova grew larger, and Kashaunta knelt to him. Penny remained standing. His sharp teeth glittered in the light. He pressed his claws to Penny's chest, and to Kashaunta's chest.
"The Pact of Blades is made before the Progenitors. We agree to your vow of silence. The penalty of breaking it will be dismemberment and disposal into a black hole. Penny Balica, Engineer Kashaunta. To break this Pact without mutual agreement is to call down our collective wrath upon yourselves. You both have agreed, and are of sound mind, body, and soul. The Pact is forged. By sword, by word, by action. I, Nova, Everlasting, Lord of the Progenitors, King of all Sp'rkial'nova, Heir to the Mantle of Power, Heir to Narvravarana, Progenitor, Elder, and Sprilnav, declare the deed done, etched in time, space, and Reality."
They winked out of existence one by one, leaving Penny and Kashaunta alone, to ponder the future. Penny's thoughts turned to the Judgment, and her confidence she could win it began to waver. How much worse was this Judgment going to be than before?
Penny stared at Kashaunta's Soul Blade. With careful fingers, she took it. Kashaunta sat up, satisfied.
"Now we can begin. I shall compile all the news about you I can find, and we shall see how to address the questions the High Judges will ask. Now that you trust me, I cannot betray you."

I'm very slowly getting into Nietzsche through secondary sources. I started with a quick read of his SEP page and was extremely fascinated by his critique of altruism (which isn't necessarily a condemnation if I'm understanding correctly) and positions like these:
"Indeed, the case is even worse than that, according to Nietzsche. Not only do standard moral commitments lack a foundation we thought they had, but stripped of their veneer of unquestionable authority, they prove to have been not just baseless but positively harmful. Unfortunately, the moralization of our lives has insidiously attached itself to genuine psychological needs—some basic to our condition, others cultivated by the conditions of life under morality—so its corrosive effects cannot simply be removed without further psychological damage. Still worse, the damaging side of morality has implanted itself within us in the form of a genuine self-understanding, making it hard for us to imagine ourselves living any other way. Thus, Nietzsche argues, we are faced with a difficult, long term restoration project in which the most cherished aspects of our way of life must be ruthlessly investigated, dismantled, and then reconstructed in healthier form—all while we continue somehow to sail the ship of our common ethical life on the high seas."
I'm currently taking a Social Psychology course and plan to read Bernard Reginster's The Affirmation of Life and Nietzsche: The Key Concepts (Routledge Key Guides) before taking a class on him in the fall but I'm wondering if any professional philosophers have anything to say on my question in the title? I acknowledge the question is quite broad.
​
Thanks for your time

Chips of rock flew away, taking the weapon’s edge with them. Ginendertha cursed the fact right before knocking away a spear thrust. For the first time in centuries she was well matched. For the first time, she could actually lose.
The thought of losing spurred her on, taking each of his strikes in stride. Realizing he had the greater strength, she weaved around them trying to make his spear obsolete.
Yet he recognized this and backed off. Every time she slid closer, he moved further away and jabbed at the woman. Packing more power to his attacks each time.
His surging thrust knocked her off balance, this time making her back away from his reach but he suddenly became as fast as her and flew at her with a leopard’s speed. The ax dropped from her numbing fingers, deftly snatching it with her other hand.
Blood flowed from her leg. She had forgotten the fact as she was still adjusting to her new body and became evident when she tried to move again. The longer she stayed in control the more she felt her wounds and fatigue. Not having a body in many years made it feel as new to her as if she had been a newborn.
Before his spear could connect with her flesh, a sonic boom blasted them both from their feet and crash down onto the cold, hard floor. ‘Why was it cold?’, she would’ve thought if she had the time. Pain flooded her leg. A single nudge brought down the dam she built in her mind.
Galakni got up quickly. He strained his eyes to see better in the dark but the darkness was impenetrable. Then he closed them and trained his ears to his surroundings. Apart from his opponent’s heavy breathing, there was the faint whistle of the wind indicating the way out and the withering tree that had not so long ago ascended him to godhood. There was a second voice, this one a shadow of the woman that it had been. This one breathed as heavily as Volra, but more out of hate than exhaustion.
Volra’s body was reaching its limit. Her muscles, already worn out from the constant fighting, pulsed from Galakni’s heavy pounding and cuts and scrapes from the many rocks in the floor. Ginendertha moved one arm and struggled against the overwhelming clubs of pain that slid in like molten magma. It was as if the body weighed as much as a thousand worlds. Nevertheless, she moved, slowly but surely, with one hand pushing down. Then the other. Pushing up, lifting the thousand worlds at her back. She heard his footsteps. She grabbed the broken ax and willed her aching feet towards him, slowly but surely.
Galakni braced himself when he sensed the other woman’s tension. Despite his quickness, the attack came out of nowhere, like a boulder rolling down from a steep hill the force of her charge knocked him to the ground. He knew this was not the assassin, so who was it?
With both bone and scaled fists gripping the haft, he fought hard to not let go, kicking desperately with all his strength at this opponent’s newfound power. The enemy avoided some kicks but slightly reeling from the others, pouring all her willpower into snapping teeth and raking against the stone haft imbued with the power of the gelatinous vortex once contained within the old tree. Neither tooth nor claw managed to disfigure the smooth surface of the Spear of Mof, for once it proved to be the spear of that great sorcerer.
Volra fought for control of her body. The Senerjai attacked her senses, the side effects warping her view of reality. An outsider would see that she was just struggling to get up from the stony ground but inside was so much more. Each breath took centuries, each heartbeat a decade, it seemed worlds would be born, then wither, then die as they both struggled for freedom.
‘This is my body! Leave me alone!’, she yelled within her at the ghost.
Ginendertha clogged her stomach and a purple cloud would spread across her intestines and take over her legs, ‘You’re too weak to survive. I have what it takes. You are but a speck of dust in this world but I can turn you to a shining gold’.
The Senerjai injected Volra’s mind with visions of her promises. Images of battles won, people crying out her name in glee, an army of leather clad men singing her praises in a foreign tongue while a tall, muscular man in bronze armor lifts a helmet from his head and mutters words of adoration and a proposal of marriage.
Volra did not know who the man was but could sense the ideas of world conquest and godhood that infected Galakni’s already venomous mind. Then she rejected it, knowing that it would mean betrayal of her own ruler, Tithra, and were so far beyond anything she ever wanted. Ginendertha tried everything. Showing her Tithra’s head on a platter, a bloody sword before the corpses of enemy tribesmen from the Kynha people, statues raised in her likeness, and her brother’s skull given to the shamans of the Overmountain. Ginendertha tapped into every memory she could reach to convince Volra to let her take control, yet a twinge of despair colored every attempt.
When the body recovered and dusted off her legs, carefully avoiding her wound, it was Volra who did it. Ginendertha said no more.
The assassin limped towards the sounds of Galakni fighting off Kiral. Ax in hand, she lifted it up and brought it down. When it loudly cracked she decided to slam it down a second time. Then a third. The blows grew weak until the very last one missed completely and hit the floor. An intense shudder felt up her arm.
She dropped the ax and fell down and felt no more.
When next she opened her eyes, she saw nothing but trees and singing birds. Reckoning that she was just outside the vicinity of the Overmountain, she breathed a sigh of relief despite the deep aching of her whole body. Pain lanced up at even the slightest movements and her limbs were too heavy to lift. Where was Kiral? Surely she was the one who dragged her out of the Path of Faith?
“Kiral?”, she said in a thin whisper. When there was no response she spoke out a little louder this time, “Kiral!?”, birds chirped and the susurrations of the winds rolled over her, “Kiraaaaal!”, she yelled after preparing for a few minutes.
She yelled three more times but to no avail. Giving no care as to whether surviving cultists or predators prowled nearby. Hoping against hope that her friend was not dead.
‘She isn’t dead. It only could’ve been her who took me out of that place’, she thought.
‘It was her, you fool. But the tree had changed her’, said Ginendertha inside her, ‘Don’t worry, it was common for new initiates to our order to run away once they saw how the powers changed them. It is a hard thing to adjust to the changes in your body especially when the changes are so significant’.
Volra willed her to shut up but it was no use. Though the Senerjai no longer had control over her body, her voice could still plague the assassin’s mind.
It was a trial to move but Volra managed it. First her arms then her legs. Wiggling them to get used to the pain and then increasing the movements by grabbing on to a nearby trunk and pulling herself up. Standing was the greatest challenge then for it meant an even more intense agony, the kind that she had not felt since first training under Noseraph. Without thinking, she took a direction and started walking. She was still breathing, and she had killed Galakni.

Does anyone else feel like people, especially men, often treat you less gently or carefully as they would other, smaller women? It seems like they think bigger women don’t mind being handled more roughly, physically or emotionally. I don’t think it’s usually done in bad faith but it feels… odd.
I’ve grown up more tomboyish partly because it felt like I couldn’t be as small, dainty, or delicate; I don’t think I felt like I was “allowed” to be feminine, which sounds silly typing it out but the only time it felt okay to explore that side of me, that type of expression in fashion or speech or action was when I was smaller.
Now that I’m more comfortable in my femininity, regardless of my weight‘s natural fluctuations, I notice really stark differences in how people treat me in different countries and I suspect it’s because (at least in part) with how they perceive my size. Coming from Asia, the standards are so, so different than in the West. It seems like guys where I’m from rarely give me a shot, and when they do it’s in spite of how I look rather than them adding it to the list of things they’re attracted to. I’m certain a big factor is my weight because it’s been explicitly mentioned, by men or by women. “You have [insert nice features here], if only you lost weight.” I digress though, the point is that I don’t think femininity and higher weights are associated together here.
I’m sure there are other cultural, even individual factors (maybe even where my fat is distributed?) but I’m just wondering if anyone else felt like they aren‘t as gently or carefully treated by society?

1. To the people that took classes where they donated free As with voluntary finals, grade your own work, grading outstanding work, etc. I feel bad and good for you because you are getting good grades but the education you paid for is ruined. I think the strike was a double edged sword for these people's academics.
   
2. The admins are currently in the process of administrating nothing into this university. I don't know how they can even be called an "administration" if all they administer is letters about graduate strikes that don't do anything for anyone/explain how they are still underpaying graduate workers.
   
3. I like some of the BU Today emails but I think I have around 2000 of them stacked up in my email, mostly unopened.
   
4. Rescheduling/moving of course offerings. Idk why they did it man but they moved one of my courses, that I already registered for, in the middle of finals week to days and hours that no longer worked for me so now I can't take that course anymore 😩
   
5. The elevators/escalators at Warren were and probably still are unfixed. To my knowledge most elevators at warren do not have floor lights working. Also, two B tower elevators were not working for a whole semester. The long escalator going down hasn't worked since Fall 2023. The toilet by B tower needs Piza Tower levels of continuous renovation.
   
6. During finals week all dining halls shut after 3 pm when I needed their high quality food for mere sustenance
   
7. Most CDS floors require you to work quietly which is good for some people but it seems very anti-argument/anti-brainstorming/anti-vocal. I'm not saying an officer shows up if you are not quiet but it still seems limiting in some sense.
   
8. This is kind of a me thing but instead of building CDS I think bu should have secured their ENTIRE campus on this side of the Charles River.
   
9. Protests were tame at BU compared to other universities. I think one reason for this was the fact that BU does not have enough "grass". I do not consider BU Beach, whatever that thing is in front of COM, the shrubbery near the green line, or the trees on the sidewalk grass. This campus is literally a concrete hell, all stone no grass. I believe the city painted the bike lanes green to hypnotize us into seeing more grass around campus.
   
10. Have a lovely summer everyone
    

Hermione and Harry fall into the Veil by Anonymous
Summary
Harry and Hermione fall into the veil and start popping up in time. This can be just going back to their own time or their parents or somewhere further back.

Love fall through the veil plotlines as they all tend to be very wildly AU and imaginative! This one was submitted for the Harmony Summertime Madness Fest which has both Claiming and Posting open! Works are not due until July so you have plenty of time if you choose to participate!
One of my favorite fall through the veil fics is Rouch's Through the Veil, although this prompt is focused on time travel! (a favorite trope ❤️❤️❤️)
Here's a drabble for fun based on this prompt! Maybe someone will decide to take up the challenge and write it out completely! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione stumbled towards the screaming and snapping sound of spells as she clutched her side. Every movement sent a dull throb throughout her entire body from where Dolohov’s spell had hit her. She ignored the pain with a single-minded focus of finding and making sure one person was okay. The person she was determined to keep alive no matter how many times he ran straight into danger.
Perhaps that’s why she was the only one who reacted fast enough when disaster stuck. In a large open room, dozens of fights were going on, but none as flashy and vicious as between Sirius and his cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. Sirius laughed as he fought his cousin, taunting her as they exchanged mortal curses. Sirius’ entire attention was on his dangerous and cousin and he didn’t seem to notice he was getting too close to an ominous stone arch in the center of the room. A veil drifted from the arch on a phantom wind-like ghostly fingers reaching out for those closest.
It all happened in slow motion. Bellatrix screeched in fury at Sirius’ latest taunt and snapped out a spell swifter than Sirius expected. He tried to dodge the jagged red curse, but he stumbled, and his arms pinwheeled as he tried to keep his balance and not fall backward through the arch. The veil flared hungrily as if sensing Sirius’ demise.
Harry ran forward, determination in every line of his body as he arrowed toward his godfather. He was going for Sirius. Hermione didn’t yell; she didn’t try to warn anyone. Instead, she ran as fast as she could to save Harry. To save both of them if she was lucky enough.
But she wasn’t the only one trying to save their best friend.
Harry latched on Sirius, yanking him forward just as Remus crashed into his back the momentum propelling Harry into the stone arch as suddenly he and Sirius switched. Hermione gasped as she saw the veil too close to Harry, the gossamer cloth brushing over his face, and stretched out her arm grasping the back of Harry’s shirt to try to haul him back, but he was too heavy.
With a whisper of sound, Harry and Hermione were pulled through while Remus and Sirius crashed backward onto the floor in front of the stone arch.
On the other side Hermione felt weightless, and it was hard to see as if a dense fog covered everything. The only thing she knew was that she had the fabric of Harry’s shirt grasped tight. Whispers in familiar voices echoed around her, too low to make out what they said.
She tried to yell or talk to Harry, but she wasn’t able to make a sound. A part of her wondered if she was dead or dying. It certainly didn’t feel as she thought death would. Would her hand still ache from her grip on Harry’s shirt if she was dead?
Time didn’t have any meaning. The fog could have lasted only seconds or could have lasted days. Hermione only had one point of reference, one sensation. Her hold on Harry.
An analytical part of her thought it was the only thing she could affect and so maybe she should let go and see what happened. But no. That was simply something she was never going to do.
So the stasis held, the whispers washing over her, floating in the grey fog.
Until…
But no…
Was that something different?
Was that change?
The whispers had sharpened. The fog had darkened, and the weightlessness was leaving her.
Her stomach somersaulted and suddenly she realized she was falling. She yanked with all her might on the shirt fabric she still had clutched in her hand and grunted when she slammed into something hard.
“Hermione!” someone was patting her face gently. “Hermione wake up.”
She woke up and groaned, rolling over and clutching her hand to her stomach. It felt like her fingers were broken. They ached so badly. Someone pushed at her insistently, talking and trying to grab at her hand.
“Shhh, shhh, I know it hurts. I have some dittany still in my pocket from Umbridge.”
At that familiar voice, she opened her eyes to see Harry above her, looking at her worriedly. “Harry? Harry!” She surged up, throwing her arms around him and squeezing him tightly. “You’re okay!”
“I was a bit more worried about you, actually.” He said in a slightly strained voice from her chokehold, lightly patting her arms to get her to let go.
Hermione let go abruptly, looking around for the first time, noticing they were in an unfamiliar bedroom. “Where are we?”
“I don’t know. I just woke up here, and you were next to me holding my shirt.”
“We fell into that veil, I think,” Hermione said quietly.
Harry opened his mouth to reply but abruptly shut it as they heard voices approaching the closed door to the bedroom. Standing, he swiftly pulled Hermione to her feet, stepping in front of her as they both watched the bedroom door tensely. “Do you still have your wand?”
Hermione patted her pockets for a frantic second before locating her wand. Thank god for tethering charms. “Yes.”
“It doesn’t make sense. They would have been stupid enough to leave us with our wands if they meant us harm, but we need to get back to find out what happened to everyone.”
“Yes,” she repeated, agreeing as her hand tightened on her wand with only a slight ache after the dittany.
The bedroom door opened slowly, and they heard the humming of a lullaby first. A red-haired woman entered carrying an infant that was so small it must have been only hours old. “There, there now, love. I’m sure daddy is going to smush that silly old dog for laughing too loud and frightening you.”
Harry gasped, stumbling back into Hermione and squishing her against the wall.
“Wha–” Hermione’s question was choked off as the woman’s head snapped up, her wand appearing and pointing straight at them. It was the woman’s eyes that caught her. They were the same shade of green as Harry’s eyes.
The woman, however, had no such hesitation. Her spells snapped out lightning quick, disarming them and tying them up neatly with an incarcerous. She didn’t take her eyes off them as she raised her voice, yelling, “James! Sirius!”
​

Super weird situation- I am a hospital administrator and I am partnered with a physician to run my department and there have been a lot of personality conflicts. The first physician in the role (let’s say Dr. Z) tried to have me fired and bullied and harassed me relentlessly- the physicians are not hospital employees FYI, they are contractors. She stepped down when her bosses sided with me and I haven’t had to deal with her much. Her replacement (Dr. A) was much easier to work with, initially.
The project I was managing was a regulatory visit to maintain one of our designations and it was a very big deal. The department was in shambles when I took the job and the role had been vacant for almost 2 years so it was a lot of work to get ready and as the survey got closer, tensions got very high. Dr Z was mentoring Dr. A so our personality conflicts came to the surface.
The morning of the survey, the surveyors noted a missing document that was essential to maintaining our credential so it was very stressful trying to get it on the fly. While trying to track down why we didn’t have it, there was a lot of finger pointing and blame that was unnecessary as well as negative behavior (telling the team we are screwed, going to fail, etc.)
At the end of the first day as we are still working on the document, I get a call from Dr. Z saying I am incompetent and a terrible leader and that she threw away her career because of me- the story she tells everyone else is that she stepped down to spend k more time with her kids. whatever, she had done that before and i was used to it.
the next morning i encounter her and she dresses me down on front of a bunch of people- pointing her finger in my face and saying that she is going to drag me into the CEOs office and force me to take all the blame for the document (we finished it the night before so the issue was solved). it was awful energy for the team to deal with. i just walked away when she was done yelling.
fast forward to the exit interview and we passed with flying colors. Dr. Z thanks and identifies every team member except for me and then gives all the credit to a secretary who is her pet. the application alone was 90 pages and completed almost entirely by me.
She then takes off her shoes (she is Muslim so this matters). She had been wearing 4 inch stilettos with metal spike heels. And proceeds to throw them at me. We were across the room from each other so she had to really throw them to get them to land behind me. I didn’t even notice she had done that until I felt the shoe wiz by my face. I was stunned and went to my office and then just left because I was scared.
I called my boss who was horrified. He asked me to file a workplace violence report. HR met with me today and shared the results of their investigation. They found they couldn’t substantiate that the interactions were hostile or that she intended to hurt me. So they weren’t going to do anything about it.
I’m stunned. I have told this story to multiple people and they are always stunned that a professional person would behave that way. And if one of those shoes had hit my face I would have been badly injured. I am feeling so sad and angry that I have to keep working with this person and that there will be no consequences for their actions.
I consulted an attorney and he said what she did was assault. And he immediately recognized the cultural significance of a Muslim person throwing their shoes at someone (remember George bush?)
TL:DR- I got metal stilettos thrown at me during a meeting at work and HR says it’s not workplace violence.
What should I do? I feel embarrassed but I also feel like I am not being protected and they are unwilling to control bad behavior.

By popular demand, I guess...
I was kinda just being a smart-ass, but some of you wanted more so here it is: epilogues for every NPC as if they didn't continue to travel with Gorion's Ward and instead just decided to live their own life. Obviously, there are some implied alignment changes here.
This turned out to be longer than I expected and I kinda just threw it all together while I was working. Please excuse any typos or sloppy writing.
I want to apologize for one thing, though. Viconia's epilogue really only works if GW is a male, so I had to make that assumption for the sake of her story. If it matters any, I easily play just as many female GWs as I do male GWs. In fact, I probably play more female GWs because I don't care for the romances, frequently play the canon party, and want to nip the lame Jah romance in the bud.
But, to have them all in one place, I included my original smart-ass epilogues with the additional ones I created. Now, every character from BG1 and BG2 has an epilogue. I don't have the EE characters, though, because I play the original games and don't really know them.
So, just for funsies, which one is your favorite and why?
"Anomen continued to wait at the Copper Coronet for a party of adventurers willing to travel with him. Maybe it was the grating sound of his voice, or perhaps the way he leered at women, but he continued to remain alone. Eventually, he needed to find work to make ends meet. With Gorion's Ward having disbanded the slave traders and pit fights, Hendak had to find a new form of entertainment for the patrons. As such, he invented an all male review ladies night, and Anomen found work as a 'dancer'. He left the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart to join the less noble order of the pole. He also renounced his faith to Helm and instead allied himself with Waukeen because if you wanna see some groin, you gotta have some coin."
"Despite Gorion's Ward clearing the trolls from her keep, Nalia was not able to reclaim her lands and instead lost her estate to Lord Roenall. The lord offered to let her retain residence in her family's ancestral home, but only in exchange for her hand in marriage. Nalia found the proposition to be repugnant. Instead, she salvaged whatever wealth she could from her family's keep and moved to Athkatla to start a new life. She no longer helped the less fortunate, as she was now among their numbers and had her own problems. Nalia's lack of any practical skills combined with her sense of entitlement sent her into a life of failure followed by drinking and debauchery. She now spends more time back at the Copper Coronet than anywhere else. It is hard to say where she squanders her wealth more, the alcohol, or on the dancers during Ladies Night."
"After the incident with the Planar Sphere, Valygar was finally free of his past, could retire to his cabin, and pursue his true passion: writing. Ironically, the only inspiration he found ended up stemming from his family's checkered past. Valygar's only works that even had middling success were 'Tuesdays with Lavok' and 'Dude, Where's My Planar Sphere', with the latter being made into a production at the Five Flagoons Theater."
"Haer'Dalis continued to work as a performer at the Five Flagoons Theater. Unfortunately, it struggled due to poor management. It might have turned out better if an outside agent with fresh ideas had stepped in, but Gorion's Ward had better things to do than be a bard. While the work was generally steady, the returns were not great and the material was a little low-brow for Haer'Dalis' liking. The tiefling realized he reached rock bottom when he was cast as the lead in a play about a buffoon who apparently lost a plane-shifting apparatus the size of a small castle and had to find it before his parents returned from Neverwinter. After the opening night, he took his own life in his dressing room. His body was found the next morning with a note saying, 'Art is dead and I am art, so I shall join art in death.' Biff the Understudy stepped in for Haer'Dalis despite never having an opportunity to read the script. Nevertheless, the production was a resounding success and launched Biff's career to new heights."
“A heartbroken Garrick found work as a character actor at the Five Flagoons Theater, but eventually gained more success as a writer and director. He found it to be a mostly agreeable situation, aside from a tiefling primadonna who would constantly belittle his work and call it ”trite" and “drivel”. Fortunately, that situation worked itself out in time and Garrick found Biff to be much easier to direct. With the tiefling gone, his ideas had room to grow. He invented a new kind of love story, one where the protagonist doesn't always get the girl at the end but the journey to that ending would be quite amusing. He labeled this genre “the Comedy of Romance” and the works were mostly based on his own life. His plays were quite popular among the commoners, with his top selling shows being 'Sleepless in Saradush', 'Silverymoon Linings Playbook', and 'Crazy Rich Aasimars'. He eventually fully transitioned off the stage into the director's chair. By the peak of his fame, he was married to none other than Queen Ellesime."
“Aerie continued to work at the circus and WOULD NOT SHUT UP ABOUT HER DAMN WINGS. Even Quayle eventually grew sick of hearing about it. This put strain on their relationship. Things took a turn for the better when Ribald Barterman acquired a new curiosity for his shop. It was a magical ring which he sold to Quayle at a reduced rate out of sympathy. This ”treasure" was actually a cursed Ring of Deafness, which Quayle found to be anything but a curse and wore it for the rest of his days."
“Xzar and Montaron were both slain at the hands of the Athkatla Harpers, but this is actually where their story begins. Xzar, as he had done so many times before, had a backup plan of an arcane nature should death befall either he or the halfling. Their mortal essences were pulled to a pocket plane he created. There they could be channeled into restored bodies cloned at his estate. With this particular round of ritual, Xzar had incidentally made a slight error in the incantation and the two found themselves in a time suspended state in Xzar's pocket plane. It was only five minutes for the rest of the world, but it was fifty years for them. This turned out to be a pivot point in their relationship. Having only each other's company in this shadowy void, they were finally able to work out their feelings for each other. When they had returned to the prime material plane, they discovered their mutual animosity was replaced with love. Rather than pick up their life where they left off with the Zhentarim, they decided to pack it all in, moved to Bryn Shander, and start a bed and breakfast. Montaron rediscovered his halfling roots and love for the culinary arts while Xzar would perform seances to connect guests with their late loved ones. Scones and Bones became an overnight success and was consistently listed as a “must see” in Volo's travel guides. In their golden years, the couple co-wrote a memoir of their journey, ‘Brokeback Montaron’, which is sold in bookstores everywhere."
“After briefly crossing paths with Gorion's Ward, Mazzy Fentan continued her crusade as a de facto halfling paladin. She eventually found herself petitioning for membership at the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart in Athkatla after she had singlehandedly saved a village from an ancient dracolich. Despite the extent of her virtue and accomplishment, her petition was denied on the basis that halflings could not possibly be real paladins. This inspired her next crusade, one to break down vocational barriers for all demihuman races. Why couldn't halflings be paladins or dwarves be wizards? And why did gnomes always have to be illusionists? It simply made no goddamn sense. She began to get traction with her quest when she attended lectures by the wizards of the (sword) coast in Candlekeep. With their help, she ushered Faerun into a new edition era where there would be no vocational barriers for adventurers based on their race. Soon, the world began to see roguish halflings that also venerated Helm, while tending to the wilds as a druid. Half-orc bards also studied as wizards while manifesting natural arcane abilities as sorcerers. Tiefling paladins took their crusades to the wilderness and served as rangers, while sidelining as clergy to Mystra. The world was now a liberated place, free to not make any goddamn sense in a myriad of new ways. At one point, Lady Mazzy Fentan of Trademeet (now formally a paladin) crossed paths with a dwarven shadowdancebard and in that moment she regretted everything. Seriously, just take a moment and picture that. It would look fucking ridiculous.”
“Yeslick's clanhome was flooded once again. Despondent and without options, he took work at a smithy in Baldur's Gate but never stopped dreaming of finding both a clan and a home. He found a way to bring this dream to life after a courageous halfling paladin broke down the barriers for, among other things, dwarves to be wizards. Yeslick had an idea. He studied magic diligently until he was able to cast two spells of great importance: Water Breathing and Permanence. He then searched the lands for other clanless dwarves who would be willing to try something new. With the new clan he formed, Yeslick permanently gave all his fellow clansman the ability to breath underwater. They then moved into the flooded Cloakwood Mines and built the first underwater dwarven stronghold. Using his arcane powers, Yeslick also developed the ability to speak with the marine life that shared this stronghold. And, with that, the clan Aquadwarf was born. At one point, Valygar visited and wrote a play based on Yeslick's story. However, he couldn't even get it to stage at the Five Flagoons Theater. The illustrious director Garrick was quoted as saying, “A hero that can breath underwater and talk to fish? Nobody would go for that!"
“Keldorn finally retired from the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart and looked forward to a much simpler life. He rekindled his marriage with Lady Maria and life seemed to improve. It was rather early on when the couple discovered that Maria had become pregnant again. It was also not long after that when Peony, the housekeeper, also became pregnant. Maria started to ask Keldorn about this, but Keldorn started to get defensive and asked, ”Hey, who's the Inquisitor here?" Then Keldorn started to do the math with her to track the conception of Maria's pregnancy. She certainly did not want him to get to the end of that equation, so she quickly changed the subject. She suggested getting a new maid, but Keldorn chastised her for abandoning someone in their time of need who had been like family for years. He forbade Peony's departure claiming that his god, Torm, would not stand for it. Maria then made a passive aggressive comment about Torm being the god of loyalty, but she was mostly just muttering under her breath to get the last word in. Eventually, both children were born and had probably the most awkward upbringing of anyone in Faerun."
“After Gorion's Ward helped Coran take down a wyvern, the rogue brought the beast's head back to the mayor of Beregost for the reward and accolades. He thought this put him in a position to be a hero of great renown and perhaps, just maybe, people would stop mocking him for his flashy attire and completely superfluous eye mask. They didn't. He only gained acceptance when he crossed paths with a ranger who seemed indifferent towards Coran's keen fashion sense. Coran traveled the Sword Coast with his ranger sidekick, righting the wrongs against the ‘little guy’ and taking the law into their own hands when needed. This partnership dissolved when he discovered that the ranger thought Coran was the sidekick. As if! Coran tried to correct the ranger, whose argument was, 'Really, man, if that outfit doesn't scream sidekick then I'm Elminster's twin brother.' The ranger was not related to Elminster and shared no resemblance.
“Kivan never was able to get his revenge on Tazok. Unbeknownst to him, that honor was taken by Gorion's Ward. His thirst for vengeance continued to eat away at him until he found himself in a bat infested cave in the wilderness. It was then he snapped. He turned the cave into his secret hideaway, put together a disguise and started wandering the sword coast looking for evil-doers to punish. He would leave his calling card wherever he saved the day, a token of a bat with longer ears like an elf. And bats already had rather long ears so these bat ears were almost comically obtrusive. Nevertheless, his deeds were generally appreciated and the people stared calling him Bat-elf. For a short spell, another elf tagged along with him and tried to help, but he was so flamboyantly dressed that one could pick his sidekick out of the shadows blindfolded. Kivan eventually had to send him on his way. Unfortunately, his vigilante crusade abruptly ended after receiving a cease and decist order from DC Comics. Kivan could fight both monster and marauder all day, but his 14 Constitution wouldn't hold up against a lawsuit for trademark infringement.”
“Skie was deeply affected by both the death of her brother and the assassination of her father. And yes, her father was actually murdered and didn't lol-jk back to life in some crappy DLC. In any event, through these traumas, she came to realize the puerility of what she thought was her brilliant criminal masterminding. Instead, she decided to settle down and live a more responsible life as an upstanding citizen of Baldur's Gate. She took the reins of her father's estate after his death and rose to prominence as one of the Grand Dukes of the city. She maintained her relationship with Eldoth for quite some time, inexplicably, as he refused to get a job because he didn't want to take attention from his band which he swore was going to make it. However, the bard spent most of the day either lounging at Skie’s estate or gambling away his allowance with games of three-dragon-ante at the Helm and Cloak. Eventually, inspired by the book “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar," she decided to call it quits with Eldoth and sent him packing. Shortly thereafter, she met a man who was nothing like Eldoth and they settled down together to start a family."
“Eldoth's dreams of being a world-famous musician fronting the greatest band in Faerun never reached fruition. This was partly because he didn't actually have a band and partly because he didn't have the talent to write music. Instead, he just had a lute he purchased at Lucky Aello's Discount Store that only had one A-string and was missing the E-string. Also, Eldoth could only play power chords and he couldn't really sing and play at the same time. Most of the time he would just strum a chord or two and then talk about what the song would do next, often describing a solo and half playing it on an ”air lute" (while he was still holding an actual lute, mind you) to give people the idea as to how the song would sound when it was finally written. Yeah, he was one of those guys. After Skie kicked him to the curb, he bounced between various barmaids who clearly had low self-esteem, but not low enough to keep him around for long. Eventually, he got one of them pregnant and was forced into a shotgun wedding by the barmaid's father. He now works in the kitchen at the same inn as his barmaid wife. She helps the customers up front and he cooks eggs in the back. Eldoth continues to tell himself that this experience will just provide inspiration for his music and that someday he was going to get the band back together."
“After being rescued by Gorion's Ward, Xan made his way to Baldur's Gate to regroup. He spent an inordinate amount of time beating himself up over his failures and trying to muster the gumption to continue his quest to unravel the political turmoil of the region. However, it took him months to get to this point, and by that time, Gorion's Ward already sorted out the problems in the region. Discovering this, he deemed himself a failure yet again and sunk into a deeper depression. He pulled himself out of it when he met a woman who lost most of her family to violent deaths during the iron crisis, yet she still kept herself together and became a local success in a few short years. Xan immediately fell in love with the recently single Skie Silvershield and began to court her. They eventually married and started a family. At Xan's insistence, and inspired by his wife's name, their two daughters were named Sunshine and Rainbow. Xan was a staunch supporter of his wife's career and stayed home to raise the kids. When they were older and needed less attending, he followed a new dream and became a motivational speaker.”
“Korgan had his revenge against his backstabbing crew and employer, but he felt...empty. It was done, but he felt no satisfaction. Disgruntled and disappointed, he decided to lose himself in his cups at the Copper Coronet. Even this did nothing to alleviate his malaise. One night, having passed out drunk in a peasant room at the Copper Coronet, he dreamt of that final fight but something was different. In the background of the battle, there was a glow coming from the door of a shack and he heard the whispering of a language that sounded like it was from Kara-Tur. When he woke the next morning, Korgan returned to the rooftop and found the shack from his dream. He knocked and was greeted by a priest of Illmater. Korgan told the priest of his dream and he was led into the backroom where he found a man from Kara-Tur infirm and huddled over a cup of tea. The priest explained that he had just reincarnated this man of the faith using a heart delivered by a passing adventurer. Korgan took this as a sign, converted to the faith, and the two paired up to help those in suffering as a result of the schemes of others. The tales of Korgan and Yoshimo were not only told in many of a tavern by the bards, but also collected in graphic serials that were popular among the children of Athkatla.”
“Ajantis' death sent him into an afterlife at Everwatch, the realm of Helm. For his honor and diligence, the devout knight was granted an audience with his patron. Ajantis then told Helm what utter bullshit the god was. I mean, c'mon, he's the god of protection, the Vigilant One, and he couldn't protect a group of knights from a dragon's cheap illusion spell that a mage even tried to dispel with True Sight? It was like Helm wasn't even trying. Helm was stunned by the confrontation but also had no valid defense. Ajantis called Helm to a trial that was mediated by Tyr. After careful deliberation, Tyr determined that Helm was sleeping on the job and the judgment was to demote him to a lesser deity. Now, Helm was the patron of guards, but not actual guards that ever see action, just the ceremonial ones whose weapons and armor are super shiny and probably not even real. Ajantis was then granted Helm's old portfolio and became a god that truly protected his followers.”
“Viconia left Athkatla's government district perplexed. She was rescued from burning at the stake by Gorion's Ward and then immediately dismissed. She found this to be unusual behavior for a male. She was accustomed to men either trying to bed her or kill her, but this casual indifference was completely new. Viconia came to be obsessed with Gorion's Ward from a distance. She spiraled into a fantasy where the two of them had a future together. It was pretty bad. There were some extremely embarrassing vision boards involved and that wasn't even the worst of it. When her mania reached critical mass, her obsession actually collapsed and she had an epiphany. She came to realize that she did not need this man, or any for that matter. She started on a journey of self discovery and took a moral inventory of her past relationships. She wrote about it in the book, “Men Are From Menzoberranzan, Women Are From Immilmar”. She then used the revenue from the book sales to open Athkatla's first feminist bookstore. In Her Words became a mecca for women, particularly those who felt trapped in bad relationships. The community that emerged here created the group, Friends of Galia, which strove to free women from abusive relationships. Eventually, the bookstore expanded to include an apartment block above that became a shelter for such women. Occasionally, the partners of these victims would come around to In Her Words in an attempt to drag their partners back home. You can probably guess how a confrontation between a drunken 0-level commoner and a Drow priestess of Shar ends."
“Faldorn was defeated by Jaheira in Trademeet and lost her title of Arch-Druid. In truth, she was relieved to be relieved of the position. Years of pushing forward the Shadow Druid agenda led Faldorn to realize that she had lost touch with the real Faldorn along the way. After some soul-searching, she reinvented herself as a lifestyle guru and developed an entire line of organic health and beauty products under the name, She-Wolf. Both her products and seminars were all the rage in Athkatla, specifically among noblewomen who clearly had too much free time. Faldorn eventually gave up her residence in natural environs for a lavish estate in Athkatla's government district. Her following soon pressured her to petition to join the Council of Six after the fall of the Cowled Wizards left the position open (aside from a short-term replacement). Her petition was a success and she soon found herself on the Council of Six. Under her leadership, she created created the FDAA, the Food and Drink Association of Athkatla. Now, instead of draconian rules governing magic in the city, equally restrictive rules and standards were applied to the food and drink that the people consumed.”
“Barely surviving being gravely wounded by Irenicus, Tiax left Spellhold for Athkatla where he intended to do what he did best: rule. Learning from his past campaign mistakes in Baldur's Gate, he changed his slogan from ”Tiax Rules!" to “Make Athkatla Great Again”. Of course, what he thought would make Athkatla great was putting himself in charge as a despotic leader. But, he toned down that aspect of his platform and instead focused on the history of scheming and backroom dealing of the Cowled Wizards (as if he was any less evil or scheming) and promised the people he would be different than all the other corrupt politicians. Miraculously, despite his obviously apparent character flaws, he succeeded in replacing the Cowled Wizards' representative on the Council of Six. He decided to take their stance on restrictive magic to the next level and banned magic entirely. Since he didn't study the arcane himself, it was no skin of his nose. This move undermined his support base leaving him with only the most backwards and ignorant followers. He was ultimately removed from his position when he insisted the city build a wall around the planar sphere and was expecting that the city's wizards would be the ones to pay for it. After his removal, his few remaining extreme supporters organized an invasion of the main government building under the guise of freedom of assembly. All nine of these “rebels” were rounded up, tried, and sent to prison. Tiax was convicted of treason and reincarnated in Spellhold, which was now just a common prison. After his eventual release, he was prohibited from seeking any position of power in Amn."
"Edwin Odesseiron continued to lay low with the Shadow Thieves for a while. The Cowled Wizards suffered a crippling blow as a side effect of the conflict between Gorion's Ward and Irenicus. Edwin decided to step in and finish the job. His thought was that he could wipe out the Cowled Wizard remnants and then take credit for their defeat, thereby gaining him more clout among the Red Wizards of Thay. After many conspicuous mage battles in the streets of Athkatla, he succeeded. However, the people who noticed his efforts the most were actually the people of Athkatla. They were tired of living under the Cowled Wizards' iron fist and Edwin was lauded as a liberator and hero. He even had a statue in his image raised in Waukeen's Promenade. Edwin was initially nonplussed over people finally giving him the credit he always felt he so rightfully deserved. But, he quickly came to accept their praise and bought in to being a champion for the people. Edwin continued his agenda of liberation when a clearly insane gnome who found his way on the Council of Six tried to ban magic entirely in the city. Edwin and his followers were primarily responsible for having the madman removed from his seat.
“Shar-Teel, Safana, Branwen, and Alora all happened to cross paths with each other at Elfsong one evening. Shar-Teel was looking to fight a man, Safana was looking to shag a man, Branwen was recently petrified by a man, and Alora was just excited to be somewhere new. The four got to talking with each other and, despite having wildly different personalities, seemed to hit it off. Shar-Teel was sarcastic and aggressive, Safana was self-absorbed and man-hungry, Alora was kind and sweet, and Branwen was the matriarch of the group. You wouldn't think this lot would get along, but they actually did, and their differences merely become the fuel for innocuous hi-jinks week after week.”
"With Gorion's help, Cernd was able to rescue his child that he then abandoned again at the druid grove near Trademeet. He promised that he would return to raise the child, he just needed to run to the general shop in Trademeet for some pipeweed. He never returned, but that was pretty obvious since he didn’t even smoke. Cernd continued to wander Faerun. It came to light in Cormyr that Cernd had actually married, and had children, with numerous women in Cormyr, Amn, the Sword Coast, Tethyr, Calimshan, Turmish, Halruaa, Icewind Dale, Chondath, Sembia, Impiltur, the Silver Marches, and even the Troll Hills (don't ask). Furthermore, it was discovered that Cernd was not actually a druid, just a werewolf that had a Ring of Goodberries. The druid con was so that he could have a reason to abandon his wives and children and move on to a new situation. You would be surprised at how many women could fall for a guy that can conjure an impromptu picnic in the park. Unfortunately for Cernd, Cormyr was not the kind of place to run afoul of the legal system. For the crime of bigamy, he was sentenced to life in prison. He never set foot near a druid grove again, but he was allowed to participate in a work-release program tending to the gardens of nobles.
“Kagain returned to his shop and grew even more bitter, but not over what the death of Entar Silvershield's son had done to his reputation and business. Instead, he resented that even the Enhanced Edition of the game didn't give him a remotely decent companion quest. By Moradin's hammer, Cernd even had a pretty involved companion quest and the story there both starts and ends with a deadbeat dad! Also, Kagain can regenerate! Korgan can't even do that. And another thing! He was sick of people confusing the two of them as if all dwarves look alike or something. Ok, granted, they're both old dwarves with greying beards, but Korgan's beard is tied while Kagain's beard is brushed out. Of course, none of this made sense to anyone, even to Kagain who never actually crossed paths with Cernd or Korgan. However, the dwarf had nothing to do with his time except stand in his shop, isolated and alone, until he was done in by insanity and plantar fasciitis.”
“The death of Khalid shook Jaheira to the core. She convinced herself that she could never love again, certainly not so soon after his death nor with anyone that would be a child in her eyes. That would be absurd and rather tacky. After her escape from Irenicus' prison and deposing Faldorn from the druid grove, she took over as Arch-Druid. Being a Harper just wouldn't be the same without Khalid. However, the grove would allow her to explore a new, but comfortingly familiar, phase of life. She had barely been installed as the Arch-Druid when Cernd dropped off his child and disappeared again. He did not even stay long enough to tell Jaheira the child's name. Knowing he would likely not return, she named the child Khalid after her lost love. Realizing there were other children our there without families to care for them, Jahaeira would send her subordinates to wander nearby lands and bring them to the grove for a better life. Perhaps not surprisingly, many of these children happened to be Cernd's. She eventually renamed the grove to Kinder Garden in honor of the grove's new purpose of giving these children a kinder upbringing. Jaheira's headstrong personality served her well with these lost children, who all loved her as they would any mother. The Kinder Garden became the most thriving druid grove in all of Faerun. Jaheira eventually died in 1547 DR, with hundreds of children haven been rescued in her lifetime, and a memorial was erected in her honor at the grove. The inscription read, 'Nature's Servant Awaits.'"
“After being freed from Irenicus' dungeon, Minsc put his boots on the ground at the Copper Coronet. Being the simple man that he was, he found himself unwittingly recruited into fighting in the gladiator pits (before Gorion's Ward was able to free the slaves). Yet again, Minsc took a blow to the head. But this time, its effects were something completely new. No longer was he the slow-witted evil-slaying ranger, armed to the teeth and packing a hamster. Instead, his intelligence and wisdom started to blossom and he explored, through dissertation, the impact of modern civilization on the overall ecosystem of Faerun. Indeed, before Minsc started his work, the people of Faerun didn't even have the concept of an ”ecosystem". He left Athkatla to pursue a residency at Jaheira's grove where he could study and work in peace. He published works like, “The Intersection of Geopolitics and Biodiversity: Living More but Dying Sooner”, “The Essential Symbiosis Between the Savage and Civilization”, and “Moral Urbanization: Seeking a More Comprehensive Prosperity”. Minsc continued his studies and writing and ultimately produced enough groundbreaking works to have his own annex in Candlekeep. It was shortly after the dedication of this annex that Minsc disappeared from Faerun, never to be seen again."
“Jan Jansen's fate was the most impressive of all as his endeavors shaped the very fabric of Faerun for centuries to come. His story truly serves as a moral lesson for everyone and we should heed its virtue quite seriously. Helping Lissa and Jaella planted a seed of regret in Lissa with regards to her marriage to Vaelag. Speaking of seeds, this reminds Jan of a time when he was helping his Uncle Scratchy with his turnip farm. However, Uncle Scratchy was hoodwinked and the seeds he received were actually purple carrot seeds. You can imagine Uncle Scratchy's surprise when they sprouted and he suddenly had a field of purple carrots. Well, as you probably know, you can't make turnip stew, or turnip casserole, or turnip pie with purple carrots. But it just so happened there was a mage tower nearby and the resident mage needed a vast number of carrots. Apparently, her plan was to animate them as a kind of vegetable army to combat a myconid infestation in cave system rather close to her tower. Of course, animated carrots are quite self-assured and were immune to myconoid's confusion spores. Anyway, Jan had a once-removed cousin, Bobil, that was lost in those caves when he was a young gnome. He had wandered so deep that he found himself in the den of a solitary xvart who was obsessed with a magic ring. Bobil happened to purloin that ring but it turned out to not be magic at all. However, it was still worth enough for Bobil to buy himself a nice cottage in Trademeet. He then started his own turnip farm and had better luck than Uncle Scratchy. Wait, what were we talking about, again?”
“Boo continued his mission to study the sentient life forms of Faerun and determine their potential impact on the metaverse. He preferred the continued company of Minsc due to the ranger's kindness and protectiveness. Boo found this to be quite valuable in his current miniaturized state. Even after Minsc's accident, where his intellect began to expand, Minsc never lost his good heart and inherent kindness and the two remained the best of friends. It was a number of years later that the term of Boo's mission was complete. A team of his fellow people arrived on a spelljammer to collect the giant miniaturized space hamster. Minsc (and Boo) were on a retreat in a remote part of the Neverwinter Wood when a vessel shaped like a giant acorn landed in a nearby clearing. A number of human-sized anthropomorphic hamster-like beings, who called themselves the Ysoki, emerged and met with Boo. One had a strange crystalline device which it used to restore Boo to his proper size. Minsc naturally remained composed while all this was happening. He and Boo talked often and he knew this day would be coming. Boo returned to the spelljammer with his brethren to debrief on the mission. The Ysoki wanted to bring a sample back to their homeworld for further learning and study. Boo offered Minsc for the task, as the exemplar human would fit in nicely with the Ysoki's advanced culture and society. Everyone was in agreement and made the offer to the ranger. Minsc felt like he had made every contribution he could to the people of Faerun, so he accepted and boarded the ship. Boo, excited to finally be on a spelljammer again, took the helm and plotted a course for his homeworld. At his side sat his friend and faithful companion, Minsc.”

As the sun sets, painting the sky in fiery tones, I waited by the roadside as you instructed. That’s when I heard the rumble of an old Bronco. As it quickly approached me with its top off, my eyes were glued as the rugged driver was revealed. During our conversation prior to this meet up you had sent me pictures but I had no idea how attractive you’d be in real life. You stop right next to my car and signaled me to get in. No questions were asked. No words were exchanged. I immediately feel a rush of excitement and anticipation as I hop into the vintage ride, ready for a casual encounter. I sat in your passenger seat as the fresh, cool spring air brushed against my skin. You mentioned a hidden spot and I trusted you. So I sat back and enjoyed the ride when suddenly, without warning, you veered off the road, jumping the curb and going around a gate blocking car access. The sudden movement caused everything, including me, to shift in your car, and instinctively, I found myself grabbing onto your thigh. You remained focused on the road, flashing a smirk as my hand lingered there. Before I could retract it, you guided it up to your crotch. I couldn't help but notice the thickness beneath your pants as my hand rested there. What turned me on more was the heat radiating from the blood pumping through your veins. My mouth watered…. The sun had completely set. The road, flanked by trees casting shadows, your old bronco left a trail of dust behind us as we hurried along. My anxiety spiked as we approached a sharp curve, fearing we might end up in a canal. Thankfully, you began to slow down just in time, revealing a clearing near the curve. Stopping at the sharp curb, you backed into the clearing surrounded by trees. The last couple of minutes seemed chaotic but now we were surrounded by calmness. I glanced up and noticed a splatter of twinkling lights, adding a touch of magic to our adventure. "Hop to the back," you instructed, drawing my attention to the worn-out leather seats. But before I could comply, you paused, pulling out a blanket and spreading it out for me. Typically, encounters like these were quick "cum and go" affairs, but this felt different. I moved to the back, settling in the middle as you requested, my nerves tingling with anticipation. Without warning, you leaned over from the front seat and kissed me passionately, igniting a fire within me. You sensually held my face as your warm tongue brushed up against mine. I felt flushed, motionless, and ready to be yours. You stood up, you began to undress in front of me, prompting my curiousty, "What are you doing?" I had never encouraged full nudity for public play; it felt too risky. “We're good, no one drives back here," you reassured me confidently, leaving me no choice but to trust you. You place both feet beside me as you prop yourself up, placing your elbows on the back beam of your Bronco and lean back. Dangling in front of my face is your long semi hard, uncircumcised dick. You close your eyes, lean your head back and tell me, “show me what that mouth can do." I wanted to tease you a bit, so I spent some time kissing your thighs, getting closer and closer to your balls. You let out soft moans as my mouth traveled all over your lower body. Then, I put one of your balls into my mouth, swishing it around inside before switching to the other one. Meanwhile, I stroked your thighs with my hands. Your breathing became heavy as I managed to fit both your balls into my mouth at once. Tenderly, I licked your balls while warming them up with my hot mouth. Using my tongue, I moved them all around, my lips completely taking your entire sack, up to the root of your cock, which had become hard as a rock. My hands began to stroke your cock. I pulled your member up with one hand and held it against my lips. It was dripping in glossy precum. I brush your head against my lips tasking your bitter-sweetness. I pressed my lips against your head and push your skin back as your cock traveled down my throat. You let out a loud moan letting me know how much you were enjoying my mouth. I look up as I feel you looking down at me. I pull your drenched cock out of my mouth and swipe my tongue over your pee hole. Keeping my eyes locked on yours, I slip your head back into my mouth and push down until my lips press against your base. This drives you insane! “I can tell you love sucking dick.” I grab onto each side of your hips and guide your body toward my face. I want to ensure your entire shaft is snugly nestled down my throat. Your head breaks past the throat barrier. You're so deep in my mouth that your balls are slipping inside my mouth. "Oh fuck!" you shout. "You like this dick, don't you?" Holding your dick down my throat, I couldn't speak, but I did verbally answer, "Mhm," slowly and as loud as I could. This sends vibrations through your cock, even making your balls tingle. "Oh fuck, you're going to make me cum." You have the perfect bubble butt, and I wanted to make sure to rim you for the first time. I grab your hips and signal for you to turn around. You pause for a moment, nervously turning around. Your perfectly smooth butt is ready to be tongue-fucked. I'm afraid I might be suffocated by your ass. I asked you to lean forward while I spread your cheeks, looking for your puckered hole. I lean in and take my first lick, before pushing my face forward deep in between your cheeks as my tongue circulated your hole all while I played with your dick. A few seconds later I heard you say, “oh I fucked up” I was confused what could have gone wrong. I didn’t stop making out with your hole, when I felt your hot-gooey cum on my hand. You were embarrassed to admit you had cum, and cummed quickly. You stood there motionless for a moment. Then you collapsed next to me and apologizing. I didn’t care, I had done my job. You quickly began to dress yourself when I asked, “can you rate my mouth?” You embarrassedly answered, “Are you kidding? You made me cum quick. I’d give you a higher score than 10 if I could.”

My son got invited to a pool birthday party he is in 2nd grade. My question is what is the etiquette for parents going and staying at the party ? Part of me wonders how the kids will be supervised in the pool if they need more parents and part of me thinks I should just drop him off so he actually plays with kids and isn’t just stuck by my side the whole time. Is that considered rude to not join the kid to a birthday party you know no one. Or should I be more concerned with h dropping him off where I know no one? When I was a kid my parents just dropped me off and I was lucky if they came on time to pick me up…

As the sun sets, painting the sky in fiery tones, I waited by the roadside as you instructed. That’s when I heard the rumble of an old Bronco. As it quickly approached me with its top off, my eyes were glued as the rugged driver was revealed. During our conversation prior to this meet up you had sent me pictures but I had no idea how attractive you’d be in real life. You stop right next to my car and signaled me to get in. No questions were asked. No words were exchanged. I immediately feel a rush of excitement and anticipation as I hop into the vintage ride, ready for a casual encounter. I sat in your passenger seat as the fresh, cool spring air brushed against my skin. You mentioned a hidden spot and I trusted you. So I sat back and enjoyed the ride when suddenly, without warning, you veered off the road, jumping the curb and going around a gate blocking car access. The sudden movement caused everything, including me, to shift in your car, and instinctively, I found myself grabbing onto your thigh. You remained focused on the road, flashing a smirk as my hand lingered there. Before I could retract it, you guided it up to your crotch. I couldn't help but notice the thickness beneath your pants as my hand rested there. What turned me on more was the heat radiating from the blood pumping through your veins. My mouth watered…. The sun had completely set. The road, flanked by trees casting shadows, your old bronco left a trail of dust behind us as we hurried along. My anxiety spiked as we approached a sharp curve, fearing we might end up in a canal. Thankfully, you began to slow down just in time, revealing a clearing near the curve. Stopping at the sharp curb, you backed into the clearing surrounded by trees. The last couple of minutes seemed chaotic but now we were surrounded by calmness. I glanced up and noticed a splatter of twinkling lights, adding a touch of magic to our adventure. "Hop to the back," you instructed, drawing my attention to the worn-out leather seats. But before I could comply, you paused, pulling out a blanket and spreading it out for me. Typically, encounters like these were quick "cum and go" affairs, but this felt different. I moved to the back, settling in the middle as you requested, my nerves tingling with anticipation. Without warning, you leaned over from the front seat and kissed me passionately, igniting a fire within me. You sensually held my face as your warm tongue brushed up against mine. I felt flushed, motionless, and ready to be yours. You stood up, you began to undress in front of me, prompting my curiousty, "What are you doing?" I had never encouraged full nudity for public play; it felt too risky. “We're good, no one drives back here," you reassured me confidently, leaving me no choice but to trust you. You place both feet beside me as you prop yourself up, placing your elbows on the back beam of your Bronco and lean back. Dangling in front of my face is your long semi hard, uncircumcised dick. You close your eyes, lean your head back and tell me, “show me what that mouth can do." I wanted to tease you a bit, so I spent some time kissing your thighs, getting closer and closer to your balls. You let out soft moans as my mouth traveled all over your lower body. Then, I put one of your balls into my mouth, swishing it around inside before switching to the other one. Meanwhile, I stroked your thighs with my hands. Your breathing became heavy as I managed to fit both your balls into my mouth at once. Tenderly, I licked your balls while warming them up with my hot mouth. Using my tongue, I moved them all around, my lips completely taking your entire sack, up to the root of your cock, which had become hard as a rock. My hands began to stroke your cock. I pulled your member up with one hand and held it against my lips. It was dripping in glossy precum. I brush your head against my lips tasking your bitter-sweetness. I pressed my lips against your head and push your skin back as your cock traveled down my throat. You let out a loud moan letting me know how much you were enjoying my mouth. I look up as I feel you looking down at me. I pull your drenched cock out of my mouth and swipe my tongue over your pee hole. Keeping my eyes locked on yours, I slip your head back into my mouth and push down until my lips press against your base. This drives you insane! “I can tell you love sucking dick.” I grab onto each side of your hips and guide your body toward my face. I want to ensure your entire shaft is snugly nestled down my throat. Your head breaks past the throat barrier. You're so deep in my mouth that your balls are slipping inside my mouth. "Oh fuck!" you shout. "You like this dick, don't you?" Holding your dick down my throat, I couldn't speak, but I did verbally answer, "Mhm," slowly and as loud as I could. This sends vibrations through your cock, even making your balls tingle. "Oh fuck, you're going to make me cum." You have the perfect bubble butt, and I wanted to make sure to rim you for the first time. I grab your hips and signal for you to turn around. You pause for a moment, nervously turning around. Your perfectly smooth butt is ready to be tongue-fucked. I'm afraid I might be suffocated by your ass. I asked you to lean forward while I spread your cheeks, looking for your puckered hole. I lean in and take my first lick, before pushing my face forward deep in between your cheeks as my tongue circulated your hole all while I played with your dick. A few seconds later I heard you say, “oh I fucked up” I was confused what could have gone wrong. I didn’t stop making out with your hole, when I felt your hot-gooey cum on my hand. You were embarrassed to admit you had cum, and cummed quickly. You stood there motionless for a moment. Then you collapsed next to me and apologizing. I didn’t care, I had done my job. You quickly began to dress yourself when I asked, “can you rate my mouth?” You embarrassedly answered, “Are you kidding? You made me cum quick. I’d give you a higher score than 10 if I could.”

I am a RBT and I start my masters program in August for my ABA. I want to become a behavioral therapist so I can help give kids a way of expressing themselves so they can be heard in their own way. Especially after growing up and seeing the verbal abuse that happened at my high school to our group of SE kids**
However, on social media of course, I see a lot of neurodivergent Au/DHD adults saying that ABA is abusive and was traumatic for them. When I read the articles that have been written about this topic however, it completely 180s what I was taught. (Example, if a kid is stimming you stop the stim cause it's an escape; however I know that they're stimming because they need to self soothe given they may be overstimulated so I do NOT stop the stim if it is not self harmful such as head banging). I am so confused by these articles however I also know ABA recently has had changes made to it. I don't see what I do as abuse and I don't want people think I abuse when I tell them I'm a ABA tech ):
I'm more looking for others opinions on this both good and bad, but unbiased. I am neurodivergent myself and have a hard time processing things, so I'm sorry if this post doesn't make sense.
**Growing up the techs that would work with our school's group of SE kids were NOT patient or considerate. They yelled at them when they wouldn't listen, would physically grab their arms and would ignore if they were overstimulated (one kid OBVIOUSLY needed sound canceling headphones yet their arms were forced to their sides when they went to cover their ears). After working at my center, all I have seen is our clients improving and they are provided headphones and AAC devices if needed. I am so confused where the hate is coming from. Please help.

I am a RBT and I start my masters program in August for my ABA. I want to become a behavioral therapist so I can help give kids a way of expressing themselves so they can be heard in their own way. Especially after growing up and seeing the verbal abuse that happened at my high school to our group of SE kids**
However, on social media of course, I see a lot of neurodivergent Au/DHD adults saying that ABA is abusive and was traumatic for them. When I read the articles that have been written about this topic however, it completely 180s what I was taught. (Example, if a kid is stimming you stop the stim cause it's an escape; however I know that they're stimming because they need to self soothe given they may be overstimulated so I do NOT stop the stim if it is not self harmful such as head banging). I am so confused by these articles however I also know ABA recently has had changes made to it. I don't see what I do as abuse and I don't want people think I abuse when I tell them I'm a ABA tech ):
I'm more looking for others opinions on this both good and bad, but unbiased. I am neurodivergent myself and have a hard time processing things, so I'm sorry if this post doesn't make sense.
**Growing up the techs that would work with our school's group of SE kids were NOT patient or considerate. They yelled at them when they wouldn't listen, would physically grab their arms and would ignore if they were overstimulated (one kid OBVIOUSLY needed sound canceling headphones yet their arms were forced to their sides when they went to cover their ears). After working at my center, all I have seen is our clients improving and they are provided headphones and AAC devices if needed. I am so confused where the hate is coming from. Please help.

LIBRA ZODIAC PREDICTIONS MAY 2024

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xttgsAnXHlA
libra zodiac predictions
libra zodiac predictions 2024
libra zodiac predictions 2023
libra zodiac sign 2024 predictions
libra zodiac weakness
libra horoscope predictions today
a libra zodiac sign
a libra and pisces relationship
best libra zodiac matches
what zodiac is libra's best friend
libra horoscope zodiac compatibility
libra zodiac coloring pages
zodiac libra color
libra zodiac daily horoscope
libra zodiac sign horoscope dates traits and personality
disadvantages of libra zodiac sign
daily zodiac libra
what are the zodiac dates for libra
do libra have a dark side
what is the zodiac element for libra
libra astrology predictions for 2023
zodiac predictions for libra
libra zodiac reading for today
february libra horoscope
zodiac libra facts
gemini libra problems
gemini libra and leo friendship
zodiaco libra hoy
horoscope libra health
horoscope libra yahoo
j z zodiac sign
male libra pros and cons
new libra zodiac dates
n zodiac sign
libra zodiac necklace
october libra zodiac
october libra zodiac sign
october zodiac sign picture
october zodiac personality
questions for libra
zodiac libra wallpaper
questions for libra woman
r zodiac
r zodiac signs
libra zodiac sign predictions 2023
libra zodiac sign predictions 2024
libra zodiac sign horoscope today
libra zodiac sign horoscope
libra zodiac sign horoscope 2024
libra zodiac sign horoscope 2023
libra zodiac sign 2023 predictions
is libra the prettiest zodiac sign
libra zodiac horoscope today
libra zodiac personality traits male
virgo libra cusp zodiac sign
wallpaper zodiac libra
wallpaper zodiac sign libra
what is the best zodiac sign for libra woman
zodiac libra horoscope
libra 0 degrees
libra zodiac horoscope 2024
libra star sign predictions 2024
libra star sign 2023 predictions
libra zodiac 2023 predictions
2 libra relationship
2 libra compatibility
3 zodiac signs most likely to break libra's heart
3 zodiac signs libra will likely regret breaking up with
4 libra placements
libra 4
5 libra placements
zodiac libra personality characteristics
9 libra sabian
libra predictions
2024 libra predictions
libra predictions today
libra predictions tomorrow
libra predictions for february 2024
libra predictions this week
libra predictions for april 2024
libra predictions for 2023
libra predictions march 2023
libra predictions for may 2023
libra horoscope august 2023
libra horoscope april 2023
libra horoscope april 2024
libra horoscope astrology
libra horoscope astrolis
libra horoscope april
libra horoscope animal
libra horoscope astroyogi
libra horoscope august
libra horoscope astrostyle
libra august 2023 predictions
2024 predictions astrology libra
libra ascendant 2024 predictions
libra ascendant 2023 predictions
libra april 2023 predictions
libra april predictions
astrological predictions for libra 2023
vedic astrology libra 2023 predictions
astrology predictions libra love
do libras like change
libra horoscope by ganesha
libra horoscope birthday
libra horoscope by susan miller
libra horoscope birth dates
libra horoscope best match
libra horoscope business
libra horoscope bejan daruwalla
libra horoscope by prokerala
libra horoscope by prem kumar sharma
libra horoscope bengali
libra career predictions 2023
libra career predictions
libra horoscope cafe astrology
libra horoscope compatibility
libra horoscope characteristics female
libra horoscope career
libra horoscope characteristics male
libra horoscope.com
libra horoscope cainer
libra horoscope career 2024
libra 2023 career predictions
libra 2024 career predictions
libra horoscope 2024 career predictions
libra 2023 career predictions july
tarot card predictions for libra
libra horoscope dates
libra horoscope december 2023
libra horoscope daily
libra horoscope description
libra horoscope day after tomorrow
libra horoscope december
libra horoscope definition
libra horoscope daniel dowd
libra horoscope daily ganeshaspeaks
libra horoscope details
year of the dragon 2024 predictions for libra
libra december 2023 predictions
daily predictions for libra
libra december 2022 predictions
daily horoscope libra prokerala
libra horoscope predictions today
libra horoscope elle
libra horoscope element
libra horoscope earth sign
libra horoscope español
libra horoscope explained
libra horoscope education
libra horoscope english
libra horoscope elle weekly
libra horoscope education today
libra horoscope elle monthly
libra predictions for 2024
libra predictions for today
libra predictions for june 2023
libra predictions for april 2023
libra predictions for september 2023
libra predictions for july 2023
hagan fox predictions for libra 2023
libra future predictions
saturn transit 2023 to 2026 predictions for libra
libra future predictions 2024
libra february 2024 predictions
predictions for libra
2024 predictions for libra woman
libra horoscope ganesha
libra horoscope ganesha speaks 2023
libra horoscope ganesha speaks 2024
libra horoscope general
libra horoscope ganesha speaks tomorrow
libra horoscope girl
libra horoscope gemini
libra horoscope good days
libra horoscope - google search
libra horoscope gemstone
gemini libra problems
libra horoscope hindustan times
libra horoscope hindi
libra horoscope health
libra horoscope hoy
libra horoscope huffington post
libra horoscope health 2023
libra horoscope health today
libra horoscope health 2024
libra horoscope hindi 2023
libra horoscope honey
libra horoscope 2024 predictions
libra horoscope predictions 2023
libra horse 2024 predictions
libra 2023 health predictions
horóscopo libra hoje
libra prediction in 2024
libra prediction in 2023
libra horoscope in urdu
libra horoscope in urdu weekly
libra horoscope in urdu monthly
libra horoscope in hindi
libra horoscope in urdu 2023
libra horoscope in 2024
libra horoscope in arabic
libra horoscope in chinese
libra in 2024 predictions
libra in 2023 predictions
libra prediction july 2023
libra prediction june 2023
libra horoscope june 2023
libra horoscope january 2024
libra horoscope january 2023
libra horoscope june
libra horoscope july
libra horoscope jessica adams
libra horoscope jan 2024
libra horoscope jonathan cainer
libra june 2023 predictions
libra july 2023 predictions
libra january 2024 predictions
june predictions for libra
libra horoscope kelli fox
libra horoscope kids
libra horoscope kannada
libra horoscope kerala
libra horoscope keen
libra horoscope king
libra horoscope kamal kapoor
libra horoscope knight
libra love horoscope today
libra love predictions 2023
libra love predictions 2024
libra horoscope love
libra horoscope love today
libra horoscope lucky numbers
libra horoscope love life
libra horoscope lucky color today
libra horoscope lucky color
libra horoscope love tomorrow
libra horoscope lucky days
libra lucky numbers predictions
libra prediction march 2024
libra monthly predictions 2023
libra may predictions
libra horoscope month
libra horoscope march 2024
libra horoscope may 2023
libra horoscope march 2023
libra horoscope meaning
libra horoscope march
susan miller libra 2023 predictions
libra may 2023 predictions
susan miller libra 2024 predictions
libra moon sign predictions
libra moon sign 2024 predictions
marjorie orr predictions libra
libra man 2024 predictions
libra moon sign 2023 predictions
libra male 2024 predictions
libra predictions november 2023
libra horoscope next week
libra horoscope november 2023
libra horoscope next month
libra horoscope next week career
libra horoscope november
libra horoscope next week love
libra horoscope name letters
libra horoscope now
libra horoscope next week ganeshaspeaks
libra lucky numbers lottery predictions
libra swati nakshatra 2024 predictions
libra swati nakshatra 2023 predictions
libra november 2023 predictions
libra prediction october 2023
libra october predictions
libra horoscope october 2023
libra horoscope of the day
libra horoscope oracle
libra horoscope overview
libra horoscope of 2024
libra horoscope of 2023
libra horoscope oscar cainer
libra horoscope of this week
libra october 2023 predictions
october 4 2023 predictions libra
libra prediction for this month
libra horoscope personality female
libra horoscope personality male
libra horoscope prokerala
libra horoscope picture
libra horoscope penny thornton
libra horoscope pregnancy
libra horoscope planet
libra horoscope patrick arundell
libra horoscope pinkvilla
libra horoscope partner
powerball libra lottery predictions
libra horoscope quotes
libra quarterly horoscope
questions for libra woman
questions for libras
libra rising predictions 2024
libra rising predictions 2023
libra horoscope russell grant
libra horoscope relationship
libra horoscope reading
libra horoscope rising sign
libra horoscope romance
libra horoscope right now
libra horoscope rob brezsny
libra horoscope reddit
libra rising 2024 predictions
libra rising 2023 predictions
libra prediction september
libra horoscope september 2023
libra horoscope sign
libra horoscope susan miller
libra horoscope september
libra horoscope stone
libra horoscope shqip
libra horoscope susan miller 2023
libra horoscope sign characteristics
libra horoscope saturday
libra september 2023 predictions
libra star sign 2024 predictions
libra zodiac sign 2024 predictions
libra zodiac sign 2023 predictions
libra horoscope today
libra horoscope tomorrow
libra horoscope today love
libra horoscope this week
libra horoscope today in urdu
libra horoscope today vogue
libra horoscope today prokerala
today's libra predictions
libra lotto lucky numbers predictions today
tarot predictions libra
tula rashi predictions
libra horoscope uk
libra horoscope urdu
libra horoscope updated daily
libra horoscope urdu 2023
libra horoscope upcoming week
libra horoscope urdu weekly
libra horoscope youtube
libra horoscope uk 2023
libra horoscope us
libra horoscope univision
libra horoscope vogue
libra horoscope vogue today
libra horoscope vogue india
libra horoscope vice
libra horoscope video
libra horoscope vogue 2023
libra horoscope velida
libra horoscope vice daily
libra horoscope vice monthly
libra horoscope vedic
libra weekly predictions
libra woman predictions 2024
libra horoscope weekly
libra horoscope weekly love
libra horoscope weekly in urdu
libra horoscope water sign
libra horoscope woman
libra horoscope what are they like
libra horoscope work
libra horoscope weekly hindustan times
libra woman 2023 predictions
libra woman 2024 predictions
libra prediction yesterday
libra horoscope yesterday
libra horoscope year 2024
libra horoscope year 2023
libra horoscope yahoo
libra horoscope yearly
libra horoscope yesterday hindustan times
libra horoscope yesterday vogue
libra horoscope yesterday love
libra year 2024 predictions
libra year 2023 predictions
libra zodiac predictions 2023
libra zodiac predictions 2024
libra zodiac predictions
libra horoscope zodiac
libra horoscope zodiac sign
libra horoscope zodiac astrology
libra horoscope zodiac compatibility
libra zodiac horoscope 2024
libra zodiac 2023 predictions
z library premium
z library premium membership
z library project
libra horoscope 11 march 2024
libra horoscope 13 march 2024
libra horoscope 13 march 2023
libra horoscope 1 march 2024
libra horoscope 17 march 2023
libra horoscope 10 march 2024
libra horoscope 14 march 2024
libra horoscope 12 feb 2024
libra horoscope 17 may 2023
libra horoscope 15 march 2024
libra predictions 2024
libra predictions 2023
libra 2025 predictions
libra 2022 predictions
libra horoscope 2024
libra horoscope 2024 ganeshaspeaks
libra horoscope 2024 career
libra horoscope 2024 money
libra horoscope 2024 love life
libra horoscope 2023 for students
2023 libra predictions
libra horoscope 30 march 2023
libra horoscope 31 march 2023
libra horoscope 31 december 2023
libra horoscope 31 march 2024
libra horoscope 30 october 2023
libra horoscope 30 june 2023
libra horoscope 3 march 2024
libra horoscope 30 april 2023
libra horoscope 31 january 2024
libra horoscope 30 november 2023
libra lotto prediction
libra horoscope 4 april 2024
libra horoscope 4 march 2024
libra horoscope 4 july 2023
libra horoscope 4 may 2023
libra horoscope 4 september 2023
libra horoscope 4 october 2023
libra horoscope 4 april 2023
libra horoscope 4 january 2024
libra horoscope 4 december 2023
libra horoscope 4th march 2024
4 libra placements
libra horoscope 5 july 2023
libra horoscope 5 december 2023
libra horoscope 5 june 2023
libra horoscope 5 march 2024
libra horoscope 5 april 2024
libra horoscope 5 may 2023
libra horoscope 5 march 2023
libra horoscope 5 april 2023
libra horoscope 5 october 2023
libra horoscope 5 february 2024
5 libra
libra horoscope 6 october 2023
libra horoscope 6 july 2023
libra horoscope 6 april 2023
libra horoscope 6 march 2024
libra horoscope 6 june 2023
libra horoscope 6 may 2023
libra horoscope 6 december 2023
libra horoscope 6 september 2023
libra horoscope 6 november 2023
libra horoscope 6 february 2024
libra horoscope 7 may 2023
libra horoscope 7 june 2023
libra horoscope 7 april 2023
libra horoscope 7 march 2024
libra horoscope 7 october 2023
libra horoscope 7 december 2023
libra horoscope 7 november 2023
libra horoscope 7 july 2023
libra horoscope 7 august 2023
libra horoscope 7 september 2023
libra horoscope 8 march 2024
libra horoscope 8 august 2023
libra horoscope 8 may 2023
libra horoscope 8 september 2023
libra horoscope 8 june 2023
libra horoscope 8 january 2024
libra horoscope 8 july 2023
libra horoscope 8 april 2023
libra horoscope 8 december 2023
libra horoscope 8 november 2023
800 libra horoscope
libra horoscope 9 march 2024
libra horoscope 9 january 2024
libra horoscope 9 june 2023
libra horoscope 9 august 2023
libra horoscope 9 november 2023
libra horoscope 9 september 2023
libra horoscope 9 may 2023
libra horoscope 9 october 2023
libra horoscope 9 february 2024
libra horoscope 9 october