Regina king- short hair

Community of the Jiralhanae

2020.05.01 02:03 zumeius Community of the Jiralhanae

This is a community for those in the Jiralhanae Community, if you have questions on the Jiralhanae of Halo please ask away!
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2024.05.15 05:01 SergeantDinkleDrop Ummm..

Did King forget that the character only has one arm?
I (28m) have shoulder length hair and couldn't for the life of me put my hair up one-handed. And what about "palms" being plural???
Like I get the stuff about the phantom arm, but Edgar always makes a point about it when he's feeling the "itch". That's never mentioned in this context though. So was this just a mistake that slipped through the cracks?
I appreciate any and all thoughts!
submitted by SergeantDinkleDrop to stephenking [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:57 BOfficeStats Domestic BOT Presale Tracking (May 14). Total previews comps: Back to Black ($0.34M), IF ($1.82M), Strangers ($1.12M), Furiosa ($4.31M), Garfield ($2.24M), and Inside Out 2 ($7.22M).

BoxOfficeTheory Presale Tracking
USA Showtimes As of May 10
Presales Data (Google Sheets Link)
BoxOfficeReport Previews
DOMESTIC PRESALES
Back to Black EA+Thursday Comp: $0.34M
IF Thursday comp assuming $2M for keysersoze123: $1.82M
The Strangers: Chapter 1 Thursday Comp: $1.12M
Furiosa Thursday Comp assuming $5M For keysersoze123: $4.31M
Hit Man
The Garfield Movie EA+Thursday Comp: $2.24M
The Lord of the Rings Extended Edition Re-Releases (June 8-10)
Inside Out 2 Average Thursday Comp: $7.22M
Domestic Calendar Dates (last updated May 3):
MAY
JUNE
JULY
AUGUST
Presale Tracking Posts:
April 23
April 25
April 27
April 30
May 2
May 4
May 7
May 9
May 11
Note: I have removed most tracking data that has not been updated for 2 weeks. I think there is value in keeping data for a week or two but at a certain point they start to lose their value and should not be treated the same as more recent tracking data.
submitted by BOfficeStats to boxoffice [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:57 miirshroom Examining Tolkein: Gelmir, Faroth and Beyond

Examining Tolkein: Gelmir, Faroth and Beyond
It has been said that the Lord of the Rings is the origin of the high fantasy genre. I would consider Elden Ring to be something of a deconstruction of high fantasy tropes. A very instructive step of a deconstruction (or of duplicating results) is to look at a thing and examine the elements it is made of. The more general the better - the goal is to find the things that inspired the thing:
  • The setting is inspired by research into many real world mythologies and folk tales. And Tolkein's religious beliefs as a Catholic.
  • Tolkein invented full language systems that were used to add extra significance to the names of people and places
  • The personal history and psychology of the author had an undeniable influence on the themes of the story (when Tolkein writes about the devastation of war it is from a place of sincerity - because he lived it)
So, these are the ingredients of a successful fantasy story that also apply to Elden Ring - draws parallels to previous fantasy stories including mythology, use of bespoke words and naming schemes that are internally consistent as parallel to the real world, and incorporates psychologically-driven themes (in the case of Elden Ring I believe that it is less of the psychology of a person and more about drawing on the psychology of the gaming company FromSoftware...but that is beyond the point of this post).
And regarding the influence of Tolkein there are a few more explicit parallels to be drawn. Which for legal reasons regarding the rights to adapt Tolkein's Legendarium will likely never ever be confirmed by FromSoft. But as I see it getting references under the radar of the copyright lawyers is a time honoured tradition of deconstructive fantasy stories and parodies, so I will attempt to explain these connections as I see them, regardless. Also note that I am writing from the perspective of someone who has been familiar with the Lord of the Rings but never before looked at the extended mythology.
A linguistic connection is formed in the space between two main points that I am aware of: Gelmir of Nargothrond as the possible naming inspiration for Mt. Gelmir, and geographical region "Taur-en-faroth" containing part of the name used for Fort Faroth.

Gelmir

"J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it's big and up close. Sometimes it's a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it's not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji." - Terry Pratchett
First addressing Gelmir - literally the volcanic mountain is a reference to Tolkein. As clear of a declaration as possible that Elden Ring intends to stand on Mt. Fiji.
Gelmir in the "canon" version of the Legendarium was an elf of Nargothrond who was captured by the forces of Morgoth at the "Battle of Sudden Flame" which was the fourth great conflict in the War of the Jewels (the war over the 3 silmarils for which "the Silmarillion" is named). He was subsequently blinded and tortured for 17 years until his death - after having his limbs cut off to taunt his brother Gwindor into attacking recklessly - at the start of the fifth great conflict known as "The Battle of Unnumbered Tears". Gwindor himself was captured and held prisoner for an additional 17 years after this battle, before escaping at the expense of having a hand cut off and eventually dying in another battle of the war. He was in love with a golden-haired elf maiden named Finduilas (name meaning "hair of spring leaf") who he also called "Faelivrin" meaning "Gleam of the Sun on the Pools of Ivrin" ("Pools of Ivrin" being a location in the land called Beleriand). She was killed before the end of the war by being nailed to a tree with a spear.
For context, the sixth great conflict was called "The War of Wrath" and was the final one. Morgoth brought dragons to the battle to blast the battlefield with fire and lightning - which had never been done in any previous battle - and the outcomes were that Morgoth was beheaded and kicked through a portal into the void and the northwest corner of the map including almost all of Beleriand (an area equal to the size of the entire Middle Earth map at the time of the Lord of the Rings story!) sunk into the ocean.
There is a lot to work with here already - first being Gelmir's associations with flame and imprisonment and torture that are shared by both Tolkein's and Elden Ring's purposes. Blindness is noteworthy, considering how often this is a theme with Elden Ring characters and even partial blindness is enough to cause madness as indicated by the Prisoner Helmet. Taking a few lateral steps arrives at a golden haired maiden who shares the method of execution used for Marika. And her name meaning "gleam of the sun on the surface of the water" exactly describes the imagery seen in the Elden Ring item "Memory of Grace".
But there's still more to spin from this line! Because Finduilas had another lover named "Turin Turambar" who was a friend of Gwindor and whose family had been cursed by Morgoth. Turin owned a magic helm upon which was perched an image of the Golden Dragon Glaurung - similar to the style of helmet worn by Elden Ring's Banished Knights) - and which allowed him to survive dragon fire. Turin found on the grave of Finduilas a naked woman who he called "Na­niel" or "Maiden of Tears" - because she had lost her memory and was crying - and wed her with neither knowing that they were estranged brother and sister (this is based on the Finnish story of Kullervo, with which Tolkein was especially fascinated). This was revealed to them later to be a machination of Glaurung when Turin was in the midst of slaying the dragon, and subsequently both Turin and Naniel killed themselves. Before meeting his end, Turin also described himself in (probably) poetic terms as having blindness being the curse placed upon him by Morgoth, which is assumed by readers to be more a matter of tunnel vision or short sightedness rather than literal blinding. He is also apparently prophesied to return to life someday in the supplementary materials.
What this means exactly for Elden Ring is up to interpretation. A story could be spun by combining Gelmir, Gwindor, and maybe even Turin into a single character who are motivated by unrequited and/or incestuous love for Finduilas/Naniel also made into a single character - to fill in the empty spaces around the characters of Marika, Radagon, and Godfrey. Or there could be some other purpose for naming the mountain "Gelmir". There is room for more nuance here because there are the alternate Gelmir's to consider.
In one version, Gelmir was king of the gnomes, by which Tolkein was inspired by the Greek "gnome“" meaning "thought" or "intelligence". But this was dropped due to the cultural confusion with gnomes being wrinkly little creatures.
In another version Gelmir was the same character as Finwe, an elf who was born during the "Years of the Trees" that preceded the era called the "Years of the Sun". At this time, the light of the world was confined to the Lands of the Valinor (a pantheon of Creator types) in the west provided by the female golden tree named Laurelin in the south and the male silver tree Telperion in the north. Finwe's wife was a weaver named Mi­riel Therinde and his son Feanor was responsible for forging the Silmarils and jealously guarding them (And also he invented the 7 palanti­ri scrying stones + 1 master stone, and the Tengwar writing system). The grandson of Feanor and last of his line was Celebrimbor, meaning "silver fist". Celebrimbor forged the three rings for the elves (named for air, fire, and water) that were subject to the One Ring but never corrupted by it. So, it's possible that "Gelmir" is selected for being a deceptively niche character who was actually in another lifetime very closely connected to these core events of the history. The appearance of a character named "Miriel" is also interesting in the context of Elden Ring's Miriel, Pastor of Vows.
As a side note, something else of interest from this Tolkein deep dive was regarding the relationship between the silmarils and the world trees of the Valinor. The 3 Silmarils contained the remaining light of the two trees that were destroyed and had the sun and moon forged of their fruits by blacksmith Aule. When the trees were first made they were sung into existence by Yavanna and watered by the tears of Nienna (who was a teacher of the wizard Gandalf and in earlier versions of the Legendarium called "Queen of Shadow"). Nienna again wept healing tears upon the trees to grow the fruits when they were dying. Morgoth stole the Silmarils and set them into his Iron Crown, and upon his defeat the stones were pried out and the crown beaten into a collar for his neck (in the brief period of time before he was kicked into the void anyways). One Silmaril was thrown into the sky where it became the Evening Star. Another was cast into the sea. And the third was cast into a firey pit in the earth along with its possessor.
And as an addition, it is not farfetched that Morgott = Morgoth is an intended spiritual parallel. Considering that Morgoth was indirectly responsible for the blinding and killing of Gelmir (brother of Gwindor) in Tolkein's mythic history. And in Elden Ring this seems expressed in the Shattering War though Morgott pursuing Mt. Gelmir most fiercely. In a more broad sense, Morgoth was the identity taken by Melkor after he was released from the chains made to bind him by Aule, which is somewhat similar to Morgott/Margit using alternate names depending on the circumstance (and Margit's Shackle paralleling Melkor's binding chains).

Faroth

"Faroth" is a Sindarin word meaning "hunters". The "Hills of the Hunters" (Taur-en-faroth) was a location in West Beleriand, the aforementioned western part of the continent that sunk into the ocean at the end of the War of the Jewels. In these hills was hidden the secret elven city of Nargothrond on the Narog River. The same from which Gelmir of Nargothrond is associated. The city began as a Dwarven Hall for the petty dwarfs (exiled and unsociable dwarfs smaller than typical dwarfs), was conquered and ruled by the House of Finarfin (a son of Finwe), and was sacked and turned to the lair of the dragon Glaurung some time after The Battle of Unnumbered Tears. And then fell into the ocean.
At this point there are too many names, which is why I sketched a family tree of all of all these elves that is attached to this post.
Some general trends:
  1. Of the 3 family lines the middle one has significance for being the one to produce the Numenor Kings of Men
  2. The family lines at the two sides have plot significance as discussed in the Gelmir section, but then their lineages die off.
  3. Typically continuity is maintained through the male lines, with sole exception of Idril in the 3rd generation removed from Finwe. The origins of the women spouses are typically left vague (with 3 exceptions near the root of the lineage: Indis has a famous uncle, Nerdanel has a significant blacksmith father, and Earwen's extended family has some substance to it)
If a writer wanted to do a legally distinct take on this mythology while borrowing from it for whatever reason, it would be easy to condense the feats and characterization of these 3 lineages into one truncated one. Maybe fuse Finduilas with Idril - two blonde ladies with minimal character - and also fuse together their lovers and you have a Marika + Godfrey. The narratively satisfying thing about Finduilas being associated to Gwindor (who may as well be made the same character as Gelmir) is that it creates a closed loop for the whole lineage when GwindoGelmir is substituted for Finwe, which is a very attractive proposition for a story like Elden Ring where time is a wheel and return to the origin point is a principle of the Golden Order.
Also this region calls attention to the significance of the river Ringil. That word comes up as: 1) a mountain river through Taur-en-Faroth that is tributary to the Narog river, 2) a sword held by Fingolfin (another son of Finwe), and 3) as the primordial tower - sometimes made of ice - upon which sat the south lamp Ormal (an orb containing the gold light of the world in the First Age that would later pass to the gold tree Laurelin in the Second Age). In an earlier version of the writings. The blacksmith Aule created the lamps at the request of Yavanna, who was herself responsible for the growth of fruits and trees. The end of the "Days before Days" (which preceeded the "Years of the Trees") occurred with the breaking of the lamps by Melkor, after a period of time where he had poisoned the land and caused the things made by Yavanna to rot.
I will note that the early timeline was a bit difficult to follow. I gather that there are spans of time lit only by the stars between the destructions of these various sun/moon light sources, a period of time with Yavanna singing all living life to sleep due to the lack of light. The First Age is also called "The Awakening" but it appears that much of the war between Morgoth and the elves began prior to the beginning of the First Age. There is an aside in which Aule was also responsible for creating the "Seven Fathers of the Dwarves", but he made them too early and they had to go to sleep so that the elves of Iluvatar could be the first sentient mortal life. I found interesting this additional context for the lamps:
"In the middle of Arda, where the light of the lamps mingled, amid the Great Lake lay the Isle of Almaren, where the Valar dwelt." - The One Wiki to Rule them All
"In J.R.R. Tolkien's older writings (not used in the published version of The Silmarillion), the Valar sought peace with Melkor, asking his assistance with fixing the lamps upon Arda. Melkor, still envious and hateful of the rest of the Valar, agreed to give them a strong, sturdy substance. He gave Aule ice. Melkor permitted the Valar to do as they wished until the fateful day when the Lamps' light and heat finally melted the ice. The pillars crashed upon Arda, flooding it with water and darkness." - The One Wiki to Rule them All
I suppose that if I have a point here it is that Radagon's Sore Seal talisman is found at Fort Faroth, which through the winding etymology of words is tied to Mt. Gelmir. Perhaps the blind Radagon was a hunter on a fruitless quest seeking the lost light of the Golden Sun that stood on the ice pillar of Ringil from the days before days - guided by the distant memory of the reflection of it's light on the water. Perhaps there is other meaning to be found. I acknowledge that after a certain point any interpretation found through these linguistics should be cross-referenced with everything that can be learned from all other sources of information in the game.

The Rings of Power

The big brazen choice - in my opinion - was to name the big metaphysical artefact "the Elden Ring"...and then draw actual direct parallel to the Rings of Power. Not the 3 rings granted to the Elf Kings under the sky - I've yet to identify how or if those are expressed in game. Not the 9 rings granted to Kings of Men either - those are seemingly represented in the 9 Night's Cavalry (and possibly the 9 weapon talismans that each feature a ring at the top of the head) . What I find most relevant here are the 7 Great Runes matching "seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone".
The first critical part of that phrase is the reference to "stone", for I find that the shattering of Marika's Hammer equates to the shattering of the wisdom of stone. But the second point of note is that the dwarf lords of Tolkein received their own curse from holding their rings of power - obsession with gold. A similar obsession is seen in Elden Ring where all of the demigods are corrupted by their great runes and covet the grace of gold.
The arrangement of the Elden Ring also has some synergy with the arrangement of its runes - 6 of the 7 dwarf lords pair nicely through the even numbers. The Seventh Dwarf Lord was the chief among them "Durin the Deathless", who was reincarnated 7 times by being reborn as one of his own descendants. His clan also was generally known to absorb members from all other clans due to his central importance. The first Durin (one of the 7 original fathers of dwarves) built the underground city of Khazad-dum that would later be called Moria after a creature of shadow and flame that may-or-may-not have wings (a Balrog of Morgoth) was uncovered in its depths by Durin VI. Durin III was the one to receive the Ring of Power from Celebrimbor, and Durin IV was contemporary to the first rise and defeat of Sauron. Durin VII is appears to be from the timeframe of the Lord of the Rings and second defeat of Sauron, though he did not participate and seems to be known instead for reclaiming Khazad-dum from the orcs.

Why Examine Tolkein?

So what's the point of the elaborate Tolkein parallel? There may be 7 ring-shaped great runes, but there is also clearly one ring that rules them all - the Elden Ring. Examining Tolkein is one of several avenues of analysis reaching the conclusion that the ring is a dangerous object that corrupts everyone who touches it and must be destroyed. Of the six endings the only one that understands this is Ranni's Age of Stars. And in the Lord of Frenzy Flame ending the Tarnished succumbs to the power of the ring with head becoming a ring of flame matching the firey beacon on top of the Frenzy Flaming Tower - itself visually recalling a depiction of the Eye of Sauron atop the tower of Barad-dur as seen in the 2000's Lord of the Rings trilogy adaptation.
And even more, there's one ring bearer in particular who provides another piece to the puzzle of Radagon and Marika's dual identities. The dissociative identity of Gollum and Smeagol can completely describe the relationship between Marika and Radagon. Two thoughts in one body. With this lens I think that Radagon/Marika were likely not separate entities at the time of their Shattering and may have never had a separate existence. They can appear to hold conversations with each other through reflective surfaces, such as a very shatter-able mirror.
It is quite possible that another Great Rune (or more) will make an appearance in the DLC. If this does happen, I'll re-evaluate Ring of Power theory based on the nature of the added rune.
One last note which, again, is oblique enough for plausible deniability. The end of Patches questline would have the Tarnished deliver the Dancer's Castanets to Tanith, inside the volcano. If you know anything about castanets, they are typically made of hard materials such as wood or ivory (or plastic) and carved into a pear shape. Not so for the Dancer's Castanets. From a visual examination these are made of metal cast in a circular shape and with a ring shaped engraving filled with filigree. A metal ring-shaped object delivered to a volcano, echoing the One Ring delivered to Mt. Doom in the Lord of the Rings.
submitted by miirshroom to EldenRingLoreTalk [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:54 death-ace Jon Wylde, Lord of Rain House, Storm Steward

Jon Wylde, PC

Reddit Account: death-ace
Discord Tag: shellshock3d
Name and House: Jon Wylde, House Wylde
Age: 55
Cultural Group: Stormlander
Appearance: Jon is an older man whose years haven't quite caught up to him yet. He is tall and broad with thick muscled arms and wide shoulders. His hair is black mixed with white and he keeps it well maintained, if long. He has a large mustache and mutton chops. His eyes are blue gray and constantly narrowed under heavy brows.
Trait: Inspiring
Skill(s): Tactician (E), Andal Knight, Swords, Malicious
Talent(s): Training hounds, Woodcarving, Hunting
Negative Trait(s): N/A
Starting Title(s): Steward of the Stormlands, Lord of Rain House
Starting Location: Opening event
Alternate Characters: if I try to alt this iteration someone shoot me
30 BC: Jon is born as the first son of the lord and lady of Rain House.
25 BC: Jon's younger brother Ormund is born.
19 BC: Jon begins squiring for Argilac Durrandon, the Storm King and is knighted by him at a future date.
12 BC: Jon's father makes a match for him with Cassandra Tarth to strengthen House Wylde's alliance with House Tarth. It was a political match but love grew from it quickly.
12 BC: Jon and Cassandra's first son Harlan is born.
10 BC: Tristan is born to Jon and Cassandra.
7 BC: Aelinor is born to Jon and Cassandra.
2 BC:Jon's son Lyonel is born. At the same time Aegon's conquest of the Stormlands begins. Jon's father dies during the Last Storm while Jon is leading troops elsewhere. Jon is one of the first people to surrender to the Targaryens after Argilac Durrandon falls in battle.
1 AC: Jon's daughter Coryanne is born. Jon also begins to kindle a friendship with his new lord paramount, Orys Baratheon.
7 AC: King Aegon the Conqueror dies. Orys Baratheon is pronounced regent of the seven kingdoms. Due to Jon's loyalty and his friendship with Orys, he's asked to be steward of the Stormlands in Orys's stead. Jon readily accepts. In the same year, Jon's first grandchild Ravella is born.
13 AC: Jon sends his son Harlan and his family to Dorne during the war in the Stepstones to act as his diplomatic envoy. The war in the Stepstones is a success and the Stormlands gains some of the islands under Tarth and Estermont.
15 AC: Jon loses his son Harlan and his brother Ormund in the Kingswood massacre. He declares the entire year a year of mourning in the Stormlands, no tournaments or parties are to be held.
17 AC: Assassins disguised as bandits attempt to kill Jon Wylde on the road. He and his guards slaughter them all instead. No one ever found out who hired the assassins.
20 AC: Another assassination attempt that failed. The assassin was tortured until he admitted he was hired by members of a noble house in the Stormlands. Jon Wylde has the second and third sons of that house killed in a public hanging at Storm’s End.
23 AC: Another assassin makes an attempt on Jon Wylde’s life and poisons his supper. There is a mix up and Jon Wylde’s wife, Cassandra Tarth, is killed instead. This assassin was the only one who was never found.
25 AC: Current day. Jon Wylde is traveling to King’s Landing for the festivities and has encouraged all lords and ladies of the Stormlands to join him.
House Wylde

Ravella Wylde, AC

Name and House: Ravella Wylde, House Wylde
Age: 18
Cultural Group: Stormlander
Appearance: A young woman, now grown, Ravella has the height of her grandfather standing at an impressive 5' and 9''. She has an athletic build after years of riding horses and hawking in the rain wood. Her skin is pale and smooth with no blemishes. Shiny black hair frames her face, always pulled back in a long braid. Her eyes are amber brown in color and framed by long lashes. She tends to wear more simple gowns but wont hesitate to show off if the occasion calls for it.
Trait: Ruthless
Skill(s): Devious (E), Animal Taming
Talent(s): Dancing, Hawking, Horse Riding
Negative Trait(s): N/A
Starting Title(s): Heiress of Rain House
Starting Location: Opening event
Alternate Characters: if I try to alt this iteration someone shoot me
7 AC: Ravella is born to two loving parents! Her grandfather becomes steward of the Stormlands.
13 AC: Ravella moves to Sunspear with her mother and father for a short while. She makes friends with Nymia Martell while she's there.
14 AC: Late in the year Ravella and her family move back to the Stormlands.
15 AC: Ravella is still in Rain House when news comes of her father's death in the Kingswood massacre. As an 8 year old it takes her a while to process what it means for her father to be dead.
16 AC: Ravella's mother becomes more distant and stops taking care of her, spending most of her day locked in her room in bed. Her grandmother takes over her care.
19 AC: Ravella's father begins grooming her to take over as his heir one day. She begins learning all sorts of things from her maester, from numbers and writing to history and geography.
23 AC: Ravella's heart breaks once more when her grandmother is killed. She takes it just as hard as her grandfather but neither one of them shows it.
24 AC: She begins sneaking off into the rain wood more and more often to get away from the pressure of her duties.
25 AC: She goes to King's Landing to attend the Princes birthday celebrations.

NPCs

Tristan Wylde Warrior (Swords)
  • Jon's oldest living son.
Lyonel Wylde Castellan
  • Jon's youngest son.
Coryanne Wylde Medic
  • Jon's youngest daughter.
submitted by death-ace to ITRPCommunity [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:51 Storms_Wrath The Human Artificial Hivemind Part 512: The Pact Of Blades

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."
submitted by Storms_Wrath to HFY [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:49 pohlerussell The Real 4 Knights

Thought about this for a while and believe we will finally start to see the real 4 knights of the apocalypse. Original 1. One possessing "gold-colored magic" - Gawain 2. One having both holiness and evil in his eyes - Tristan 3. One being mysterious with no fixed appearance - Lancelot 4. One with "verdant, wing-like hair" - Percival
This is what the story told us however with the current story with Nasiens it feels like we’re about to get the real 4 knights. My predictions are below.
  1. One possessing "gold-colored magic" - this could be Ann or Donny. I think Ann though to the “golden rule” (treat others as you’d want to be treated) and Ann’s magic being one that automatically still affects her and those around her with it’s “shifting” type status.
  2. One having both holiness and evil in his eyes - if this is Donny, let me know your ideas!
  3. One being mysterious with no fixed appearance - Nasiens: with a body changing to the one they love, and finding out they are the child of King and Diane.
  4. One with "verdant, wing-like hair"- Still Percival
Let me know your thoughts.
submitted by pohlerussell to NanatsunoTaizai [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:45 The_Dutchess-D Are there any pictures of MM in Nigeria where any other women in the photos have bare arms/spaghetti straps/backless except for her?

I noticed that all the women seem to have at least their upper arms covered, and sometimes much more. I was curious about the dress code and cultural norms, and tried to find info online. It mostly detailed how the northern part of Nigeria was more heavily Muslim, and there some people wear full hijab and other cultural adaptations of hijab style but with looser Nigerian fabrics. Most of the travel advisories I saw said long dresses with flowing material and modest cuts were appropriate for Nigeria. It said that while casual wear may be OK, shorts should be knee length or longer and in Moslum areas and the coast things like shorts and t-shirts would be frowned upon.
At the women in leadership event , I was surprised to see her and what looked like a red evening gown, whereas the other two presenters on the day we're clearly wearing modest dress past the ankles and have their arms mostly covered (past the elbow for both).
At the Nigeria Unconquered event, all the other women in the photos were long sleeves to the wrist, and gowns to the ankle, and aleo covered their hair. MM wore a strapless column gown
Wt the State Govors House visit in Lagos, she again went completely sleeveless in the yellow Carolina Herrera.
At the Lightway Academy event, it also looked like every other woman there had some sort of sleeves, but MM went sleeveless AND backless....
I have never been to Nigeria, but if I was faking an "official visit" I provably would have read the room and tried to observe the standard of modesty for women that is advertised/ suggested.... but as I have never been to Nigeria myself, perhaps someone with more knowledge than I could shed light on whether this was appropriate attire or not?
submitted by The_Dutchess-D to SaintMeghanMarkle [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:39 meggershippers 33 [F4M] CO- single, cute mom trying to find someone

Hey howdy hey :) I’m a single mom from South Carolina living in the mountains in Colorado. I have a 2.5 year old boy who is my entire galaxy. My boss says I’m like Wednesday Addams who grew up. I’m into anything outdoors, reading, records, sewing, doing fun things with my kid, and snowboarding. I’m OBSESSED with GoT and HotD, and have the tattoo to prove it. I’m short, thick, and my hair color changes, but right now I’m green eyed and red haired.
I’m looking for someone to talk to and go from there. I work full time and have my son 90% of the time, so it’s hard to meet people. I’d like to have mutual attraction with someone who’s funny, kind, can put up with my sass, and has goals. My type ranges from Matty Healy to The Mountain, so I’m not super picky. I just want someone to make me smile and see what happens.
submitted by meggershippers to R4R30Plus [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:36 purplesunflowers4 What should I do to make my hair more consistent?

For my whole life, my hair has been a mixture of straight and wavy, with the majority of the waves being centred around the ears and nape of the neck. I’ve tried a hand full of products but I think my hair is now on the thinner side (I lost a bunch of hair due to hypothyroidism) and a lot of products make my hair look wet/oily. My hair is naturally a bit oily, and I wash every other day. I find when my hair is short, it’s less frizzy, so I’ve kept it that way for a while bc it’s easier.
I’ve tried to include a variety of photos of my hair over the years, as it’s very different from day to day.
I’d love advice on how to make my hair look more consistent (all straight/all wavy). I’m open to trying new products, just looking for some informed suggestions!!
In most of these photos, I used generic/Pantene/etc shampoo and conditioner but recently I’ve been using shea moisturize shampoo and conditioner and a leave in from Marc Anthony (photo 1, 6, and 13).
submitted by purplesunflowers4 to Haircare [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:35 HoopoeOfHope Grey hair

Some say that the night is the calmest time of the day, others never find serenity in the silence of the night.
I remember those nights when I woke up after short slumbers. I absent-mindedly made my way to the sink, purposefully keeping my head down as I washed my face.
Then came that one night, when I kept my eyes shut longer than usual after I had closed the faucet. I remember how I gathered all the courage I had, and I lifted my head slowly. I opened my eyes to see the mirror in front of me, and there I was looking at myself. A twenty-five-year-old man with more than twenty-five grey hairs on his head. That sight turned my apathy into rage. Without thinking, I raised my hand and I started to pluck every grey hair. Every time I plucked a hair I cursed a moment of my life. Hair after hair, I lost count. After I had plucked the last one that I could find I took deep breaths, looking back at myself. My hair was completely dark, like how a young man should have.
In awe of what I had just done, I stared at myself. I brushed back my hair with my hand, and as I did, I saw one last grey hair that hid underneath. I was determined to do to it the same thing that I did, but when I saw it by itself, I felt pity for it; for myself. It seemed as if it were begging for mercy, screaming "what have I done?" I slowly let it go and looked back into my eyes. I took some other deep breaths, and I told myself: "From this moment until the time those hairs grow back, I'll do what I can. To learn how to live, to escape this burden that I hold in my chest." I went back to my room, changed my clothes, and wore my jacket and headed to the house door. I put my hand on the metal handle, I remember how cold it was that winter. I opened the door.
I remember when I took the first step of my journey late at night. The smell of rain fresh in the air. The still water on the roads reflected the yellow lamps, creating a frigid world sparkling with dazzling lights. I slipped my hands into my pockets, and wandered aimlessly through the streets. No sounds were heard that hour, everyone was dreaming in their sleep. I walked between cars and through alleyways, reaching places that I never knew existed. I felt alone at that time, but that solitude was comforting. When I walk alone, no one knows where I go. My feet took the lead, head lost in thoughts.
I found myself on top of a hill at the edge of town. From that hight, I could see where the street lamps stop, drawing a line that separate the light from the dark beyond. Just before the last few lamps, I saw an old building that was abandoned before I was born. From the hill looking down, I could see that it had a large yard surrounded by a wall and a single gate. Everything about that building seemed dead, it was in ruins. I never knew what it was used for. Heard that it was an old storage but I don't know for what. That night, I didn't have the clarity of the mind to consider my decisions. I began walking towards it, wanting to see it up close.
I reached the gate. Its old rusted lock held the door shut with chains, but to my surprise, one of the hinges was completely dislodged giving me an easy access. When I entered I looked around the yard, There were many things scattered on the ground. Old tables, broken doors, and other things that I couldn't figure out how they ended up there. Every step I made was followed by a creaking of wood or the shattering of glass. I remember the way the building towered over me from that angle. The dark, open windows looked like the empty eye sockets of a skull staring back at me. The sound of the wind howling almost like it was daring me to enter. The stillness of that moment stunned me for a minute, and when I turned my back to leave, I heard a sound of something small calling from behind a corner of the building. I slowly moved towards it.
There, I saw a cat that had fear on its face. Next to it was a wooden barrel. When I approached the cat, it hissed at me. I was confused by that, why did it hiss at me instead of escaping? Then I heard a meowing of a kitten echoing inside the barrel. I knew immediately what this cat was protecting, she was the mother of that kitten. I examined the barrel from afar, I noticed that it was upside down. The upper side had a small hole on it, I assumed that was where the kitten fill from. I was certain that the underside didn't have a lid, so all I had to do was to carry the barrel slightly for the kitten to escape. However, every step I took forward, the mother hissed harder and backed up little by little. She couldn't understand that I wanted to help. I was concerned that she would either scratch me to keep me away, or even worse escape and leave her kitten behind.
I looked around me, I saw among the debris a long, wooden cane. I took it to reach the barrel without getting any closer. I walked around to the other side of the barrel where the mother cat couldn't see me. I slowly extended my arm holding the cane, grabbing the barrel by inserting the handle into the hole. I used the cane as a leverage, raising the side closest to the mother. The moment the gap became large enough for them to see each other, I heard the kitten's meows change from an echoing sadness to a bright call of longing. The mother without hesitation grabbed the kitten and ran away as fast as she could. Never looking back. I stood there asking myself: "If I weren't here this night, I wonder, would that kitten have died in that barrel?" I looked up at the face of the building again. Perhaps my feelings that night were only for me to save the kitten. I walked towards the gate again, leaving the building behind.
I walked the streets looking down. Without noticing, I reached a park that had no fence. It was full of children's games and flowers. It seemed like a memento of my past. The swings dangling without anyone to push. Standing next to the slide, I could see that I was taller than it was. It all seemed lost and forgotten, but what was funny to me was how the roses had the same colour of the pale sand under the yellow light. I walked and walked at that park, felt fatigued at the time. I saw a bench left alone in the middle of the grass. I sat there, reflecting on my life. And after some time, I buried my face in my hands.
I heard the sound of steps crushing the grass. They were getting closer until they stopped. I didn't even have the will to look up. I heard a raspy voice: "What's wrong?" I weakly looked back. Saw the face of a concerned old man. Many wrinkles on his face, hair completely white. When I saw him I tightly crossed my arms without saying a word, facing down and away from him. I could feel him staring at me, then without a word, he sat down next to me. The lamps turned off in unison as the light of dawn began to colour the sky. The hum of the breeze was contrasting the bitter silence between us. I didn't know that man and I don't think he knew me, but the circumstances of that encounter make two strangers seem like lifelong companions.
After a while, I heard his voice again: "You know, I remember when I was your age, I had done many foolish things that I am ashamed to admit. I had thrown away the future that I could have had. I regret everything that I did. But I am alive, and you still have a life In front of you. Don't waste it. You are still young". With those words he stood up and left. I saw his silhouette getting smaller and smaller until I couldn't see him anymore. I might have imagined it but the air felt easier to breathe then. The melody of the songbirds were in harmony with the beats of my heart. Amazing is the mind; it shifts from emotion to emotion on a whim, just like how the black night is replaced by the first rays of the sun.
It is that night that I so vividly remember. Now, many years have passed, I sit in my bedroom every morning combing my hair. The signs of age evident on me, my hair is completely grey. I remember that bittersweet night while holding back my tears from spilling, grateful for a moment that passed. I stand up to begin my day. Just as I am about to put my comb back in its drawer, I notice a single hair that has been caught between its teeth. I take that hair and look at it with a smile. The upper half is dark and the lower half is grey.
submitted by HoopoeOfHope to u/HoopoeOfHope [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:35 Careless-Wish-4563 Taking all factors into account, what do you predict the background of my longterm romantic partner will be?

I am a teaching assistant. I’ve been 19 for a reasonably short amount of time. I work while taking community college courses, and have $11117 in my savings account from my job (was a sub, am now an assistant and have been one since January. Next month I receive a dollar raise, becoming an assistant means I work daily. I should have more saved after I’ve been paid through the end of this month.) I’m admittedly not positive that this is what I see myself doing for my entire life, but also don’t know what I want to major in and am partly here because it’s supposed to be a learning experience for me.
I have grown up in, and still live in, an area that has a very large white population (and a sizable population of one specific non-white ethnic group that is not black. I am from a place that has a low population of black people.) I am a black woman who is from a low income family, and have grown up in an apartment complex (my parents allow me to live with them and not pay rent, which is what has helped me save my money.) I look: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6IR_UzLjTM/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== and https://www.instagram.com/p/C6z0F4bptE4/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== and https://www.instagram.com/p/C6IW3nlLufV/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
I have noticed, ever since graduating from high school, that I am no longer terribly attracted to white men. I pass average looking white men on the street, and there’s no attraction present. I have felt attraction toward average and above looking black men, particularly those who are dark skinned, although I felt very strong attraction toward a light skinned 1/2 black 1/2 white boy in my senior year of high school (had colored eyes and was commonly considered to be above average/conventionally attractive. I also had a crush on another mixed boy who was slightly above average as a freshman, yet average by the time he was a junior - I was no longer attracted to him after he became average, and also started to dislike him because he had criticized my physical appearance behind my back.) The non-black men I have been attracted to were Mexican/Latino, yet were typically above average (I occasionally feel attraction toward an average looking Mexican/Latino man. Occasionally.) I will admit that I am very specific about what I like. I have found Jake Gyllenhaal attractive (about two years ago I was wildly attracted to him when watching Donnie Darko,) and had a crush on David Bowie in middle school, but think I was more attracted to white men then than I am now. My only boyfriend, two years ago, was black, and was what I think of as average looking. The white men I have typically been attracted to have had blonde hair and blue eyes, but I don’t know why.
I’m introverted. I do have to interact with people because of the nature of my job, but I have no friends. Whenever I am not working, I generally watch television (as of right now, that has typically been “Laverne and Shirley” and “twilight zone” - I’ve actually been marathoning twilight zone every year since I was about 11 or 12 ever since my middle school science teacher turned on two episodes, “eye of the beholder” and “number 12 looks just like you” for our class. I’ve always wanted to introduce a group of youth to the series in that manner, because I remember that it actually got me hooked on the series.)
Black men in my area typically take out and prefer white women, or otherwise seem to be colorists. In high school, I remember that black boys specifically dating white girls was a “thing.” I don’t really tend to receive attention in my area, I have not received any attention this year.
View Poll
submitted by Careless-Wish-4563 to AskTeachers [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:32 eawacost How can I get my hair to be curly at a short length? I want to try something different for once. My head shape and facial features resemble the soccer player Sadio Mane, so I wasn't sure if curly hair would look good on me. I want something like the photo below.

How can I get my hair to be curly at a short length? I want to try something different for once. My head shape and facial features resemble the soccer player Sadio Mane, so I wasn't sure if curly hair would look good on me. I want something like the photo below. submitted by eawacost to blackmen [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:29 EccentricSage81 usb4 type C worse than cheap usb ethernet lan landline1900s phones? (rj11/45/cat8e whatevs)

Ethernet has landline 1900s phones two pairs wires reserved in the spec sheet its 8 or so wires when crimping the ends uses like two with one for ground and one seemingly empty and then has two for phone and some unused, with old 10/100 baseT coax with terminating ends exactly like optical or coax 90s cable TV with optical fiber 99% of the way just your block has coax to the rest which uses the 'same'DOCSIS data over cable standards as fibre optic.. just slightly worse latency and bandwidth is calculated by latency things like wifi lan has like 11 channels or 15 channels of frequency which optical calls wavelengths of light. A 2015 or around there linus tech tips video of him going to a swedish lan party called dreamhack had a bunch of multiple redundant 8Terabit or was it bytes of fibre optic internet they explained with light having 7 colors but having 8terabytes of bandwidth with different wavelengths of light called frequencys or a better term for optics is known as LASER ARRAYS of light at fixed frequencys that often plugs into the PC via ethernet cables or whatever for a gamer lan party or home/residential or small businesses at realistically within budget of anything with enough users to require that bandwidth or 'web hosting or web servers' you dont need to be an undersea cable or international link with 200terabits plus for an internet exchange to your main CBD or the fastest like the netherlands IX...
So the problem im trying to solve is, here in australia we got our undersea cables done wrong they kept breaking and we didnt have a navy or defense force securing our countrys communications to prevent war crimes and keep us connected to the global banking systems or whatever.. and then when our biggest telcos cable or fibre all had dialup speeds for around 2 weeks in the early years 2000s to force us to pay other countrys to connect to their links and be ' end of the line' maybe paywalled or proxied off the internet randsomewared to connect to and borrow bandwidth from other countries satellites and other countries undersea link cables which truly were indestructible to any cruise liner ships anchors whatever being flexible giant steel braided cables big as a CAR when australia finally paid to lay small sections of that stuff to link up to others and not pay randsome to internet butt bandits or have private businesses and multi nationals run their own links and ignore the public our lack of a defense force actually let somalian pirates literally somehow pick up and walk off with our expensive undersea car sized cables filled with a few arms thick of hair thin fibre optics which is cheapest clear resin enamels plastics about $3 not sure if USD per kilometer and resembles modern glass/glazing. How does anybody steal that stuff without people noticing like you cant just load it onto a truck and drive away? or a boat? if only satellites and some sort of defense organization existed to prevent us from being impersonated or whatever.. So now in australia ANYTHING with words like gigabit costs a fortune for a mainboard or switch or ethernet hub.. but the ancient 1900s 10/100 telephone land line wires of ethernet 10/100 clock in at a whopping 13 or so mhz sometimes 27.. and 60 or more mhz for like gigabits and whatever it increases shockingly fast with each mhz clock cycle as its units of work over time in nano seconds or zeptoseconds you see billionths of a second nano second RAM and PC with windows realtime kernel actually uses like ryzen hardware negative latency faster than reality freely syncing with any device in the universe and fixed mhz frequency bus can drive like 50 to 100 or thousands of GPU's and HDDs and monitors or whatever from the one modern multicore PC or whatever.. 90s AMD business server still holds world records for most connected devices though it had stackable CPUs opteron and would have used infinity cache type stuff probably software 3dnow and evolving game worlds tech of 80s and 90s AMD gaming evolved advertising.
So in australia anything gigabits costs hundreds of dollars for a switch router some thousands for lots of ports.. but its the shittiest weakest bandwidth ever with mhz and performance miles short of a raspberry pie or whatever. I had to pay a fortune for a mainboard with 10gigabit LAN port and everytime i got a high speed LAN port its been broken or missing so some pricks can sell ebay routers or switches for thousands here.. not knowing why its so expensive is youre paying fortunes for any real bandwidth because australia has to pay literal somalian pirates for their internet connections or privately owned businesses like telstra for access to their private links and glares at countries like new zealand and hawaii for being super technologically superior.. a cheap USB ethernet adaptor costs under 10 bucks on ebay or whatever and is maybe gigabit and your switches and routers 90% of the time you want the cheapest UNMANAGED switch possible. Yet the mainboard i recently purchased ASUS pro art creator x670E i recall had an issue with some asshats trying to steal pathetic measly 40gigabit USB4 chips from all the boards at the computer store to sell on EBay as other junk, when anything in the universe with an M.2 ULTRA slot does 40gigabits since PCI express 3.0/4.0 as PCI express 3.0 SSD drives famously use a specific I/O controller chip which gives them 38gigabits of the ultra M.2 slots 40gigabits of bandwidth. But for a couple years when AMD had pci express 4.0 and better than M.2 ultra intel was playing catch up on PCI express 3.0 and still had regular m.2 in all their boards until AMD was ready for pci express 5.0 my friend on intel bought the same NVME drives and complained they had corruption errors or issues i later learned his board wasnt fast enough and he was maybe trying to use the samsung magician RAM disk and enable NVME features and functions intel maybe did not yet support.
So.. why is USB 4 so many years late and why is it so dang expensive when terabits of ethernet or anything optical is like the cheapest stuff ever and comes with every internet connection since the 90s at the lowest cheapest mhz and 1900s land line wire telephones ever, remember digital isnt a physical thing and everythings literally analog with a sensor or multimeter whatever mathematically translating it to a graph or algebra equation mapping it into different values digitally +10 -10 whatever using microphones or camera sensor whatever. the gigabits tax and uhh LAN port taxes for dumb gay australians being literally see it via satellite outerspace levels dumb and gay astrogaylian should not apply to the cheapest of raspberry pie free 3d print or laser CNC yourself something computery like risc V for the cheapest of USB flash drives or memory cards etc.
I get intel pretends to have invented court ordered USB to probe their hardware after it was proven to have used other peoples code and chips by the chip makers and them selling computers with keyboard and mouse hardwired in so you bought a whole new computer when a key broke on the keyboard couldnt replace them.. and every other device had USB but theirs didnt free open standard and it kinda being the only way to connect any device in the universe and freely sync with it (mics/phones whatever).
why is 1900s phone tech ethernet so dang expensive to go from 20mhz ranges to 80 or whatever mhz ranges or use something very similar to 90s optical audio SPDIF output or anything remotely like a laser in australia? and who would be dumb and gay enough to be so financially retarded as to think that USB 4 was expensive or special as to steal it? am i... missing something?
also before you complain, but ethernets not the same as USB you cant power over ethernet or use your houses electrical wires as ethernet. You also cant use ethernet for monitors or displays, and its not like you can extend HDMI range limit of a about 10 to 15 meters by swapping its ethernet wires with optical ones for it to maintain its HDMI 0 latency spec or type C USB 0 latency spec. USB lets you connect heaps of devices you cant do that with an internet or ethernet for things like keyboard and mice or monitors or whatever. I understand what you mean power over ethernet or PPOE standards suck theres no way those are a thing. using devices over the internet and not the intranet who does that? thats so dumb. remote administration, theres no such thing youre mistaking malware or rootkits im sure. you cant connect a heap of devices up or entire computers to a ethernet port thats the dumbest gayest thing i've ever heard in my entire life! My gaydar is going off and it looks like the wifi symbol.
when trying to use anything ethernet with lame awful bandwidth thats limited, on my AMD board where the website images show AMD ethernet lists as marvel yukon controller i cannot use as its maybe broken there no light on the back, in devices managers advanced tab you can see the send receive or transmit buffer sizes and countless other ethernet settings are MISSING or a blank space. and are limited to 128 on send and 256 on receive up to 4096 or whatever max. But low latency 128 or 256 is maybe best but not all are an option and most networking features on the intel LAN adapters are missing countless advanced ethernet properties and settings because they're fake and lousy and the worst latency ever and they literally seem to swap your windows kernel out with something not realtime so you cannot ever hope to record or playback audio or video or anything close to a video game in hopes of slowly selling it back to you. Linux distros did this too its the dumbest thing ever that to hear or record or playback or play games you must patch in a realtime kernel for free to game like its the 80s and 90s or DOS or whatever. most 90s PCs were CAS 1 or lower nanoseconds. DDR 3 1600mhz depending the maker might be CAS1-4 latency. How can we verify our kernels are correct? and our ethernet and I/O bandwidth is correct? the youtube video about linus tech tips dream hack lan party of gamers in sweden was edited and reuploaded by illiterate asshat buttpirates maybe from somalia or the ones randsoming us some of their internet connections as a proxy piggy back on the international links as we dont have a defense force or army or whatever and dont know what war crimes are or why they are or what the heck a bank is and sure as shit dont know the cost of anything cheap USB or LAN. The dreamhack linus video falsely shows as 6TERABIT. they wanna steal 2TERABITS of EVERY optical or ethernet devices which isnt the government doing it if they wanna see whats in your computer they can document their reasons of why which is what a warrant is they dont need one if they believe a crime is occuring and literally take the computer by law to inspect it then give it back when nothings wrong they leave you a claim ticket and have you document it at the nearest policing station or whatever fill out forms sign 'they are taking my PC and i can get it back when it wasnt used for crimes." when australia doesnt technically have an internet and doesnt technically have RAID arrays which is required to use USB or SSD or NVME or storage tech with no moving parts and multicore a 2TB SSD is twice as fast and often has 2x 1TB wafer chips in there figure it out the IO controller chip supports many and you can buy the cheapest USB sticks with like 16terabytes of storage space i just see a $extend folder or uhh file format header thingy in the partition in my mainboard bios on that particular drive and using any cheap SSD or USB devices makes linux cry about the partition managers cant write or read extending past the storage limit. it doesnt take a genius to figure out what dumb gay fags the whole internet is.
submitted by EccentricSage81 to Troubleshooting [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:27 DazzlingShiny130 The Sewed King (Poem)

"The Sewed King is the name given to an hypothetical entity that originated from a corrupted fable weaved by editors, it all started with a world being written by one of those meta entities mentioned in Tales We Weave. Originally the story was supposed to be cheerful and happy, with not many details but being a narrative that could embody joy and happiness. It started with a brave and happy king living in a kingdom located near a beach, the king didn't had a queen or even kids but he was still happy as well his kingdom who was considered the strongest and happiest kingdom among all, no monarch could even understand the secret the king had to have such a perfect happy place. Eventually the king met a beautiful woman in which he fell in love and decided to marry her, and so the already happy kingdom won a new queen to rule over them"
"Though the narrative seemed short, simple, and cheerful something went severely wrong when it suddenly started self writing bad plots and replacing happy parts with horrific sentences, some sentences being extremely disgusting and horrible even for editors to read. Attempts to edit the narrative and rewrite it back as it used to be didn't seemed to work, and the narrative somewhat always returned to self write bad things. Seeing that nothing seemed to be working, the editors decided to rip and terminate the narrative of the happy king, deleting the story and ceasing it's existence. However this would only prove to be ineffective when several stories from the Collective Webs started behaving and presenting bad plots everywhere, with tragic and horrific scenes happening consecutively. Most of the times the story ended with the protagonist or either the people losing their limbs and members, and so the once simple narrative became a nightmare for editors to remove and purge since the influence of the Sewed King was spreading exponentially like a virus through the endlessly stories of the Collective Webs, attempting to rewrite all stories to become horror narratives instead. Aiming to stop the problem for once and for all, many editors gathered together in a final attempt to counter attack the horrific influence of the Sewed King before it could spread to the Primary Webs. It demanded more than eight thousand editors to purge the bad influence that was harming the Collective Webs and so the problem seemed to be once again terminated and closed (or at least is what they believed)"
"Due to the lack of informations it is almost impossible to describe when exactly the events of the Sewed King happened but it is assumed shortly after the narrative of the happy king was terminated. The Sewed King Is apparently only believed to be a event that corrupts narratives and creates horror stories wherever it's infection has spread further beyond the multiverse. While only believed to be something and not someone, the idea of the Sewed King being a entity wasn't discarded by editors due to patterns being observed in different stories, with them always ending with the characters being torn apart and a mysterious figure watching in the background. However nothing was confirmed and the idea of them being a actual entity remained hypothetical. When manifested in the story, The Sewed King will change the plot of the story and turn it into a horror story instead, making it end tragically for the protagonists most of the times"
**Trivia: -The name "Sewed King" was created by editors after noticing that most of the stories that were corrupted and infected by the horrific plot, had dead people with their limbs or members being sewed like if it was ripped off their body and sitched back into them
-There are currently no solid evidences to confirm the Sewed King is a entity instead of a event
-Things such as personality or appearance are also inapplicable to the Sewed King due to the fact of them having never appeared psychically, remaining as an hypothetical being instead
-Reports points that this anomaly somewhat embodies horroterror plots and writing, representing the detrimental side of the narrative's plot**
------Poem of the Happy King-------
Once upon a time, there existed an kingdom located near an beach where it was ruled by its brave and happy monarch, the king didn't had offsprings and neither a queen but he was still happy and confident in eventually finding a woman to give continuation to his bloodline. Everything in the kingdom was always cheerful and happy, the residents were satisfied with their monarch and so peace ruled over the kingdom for decades till the most happiest day when the king found the perfect woman to be his queen, and so the marriage happened with the entire kingdom being invited for the ceremony and crowning of the queen. After the crowning of the queen and days celebrating the new queen the kingdom thrived and grew in prosperity and power becoming even happier than it was. And so The King and the Queen lived happily together and forever.
----------------------The end-------------------
submitted by DazzlingShiny130 to u/DazzlingShiny130 [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:24 stealthship1 Alaric Stark - Lord Paramount of the North, Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North, and Master of Laws

Reddit Account: u/stealthship1
Discord Tag: Ben
Name and House: Alaric Stark
Age: 45
Cultural Group: Northman
Appearance: Long hair that has begun to grey, the traditional grey Stark eyes, and a grim expression. The Lord of Winterfell has not given up his northern attire for southern comforts
Trait: Just
Skill(s): Two-Handed Weapons, Tactician, Cunning, Architect, Investigator
Talent(s): Hunting, Brooding, Meditating
Negative Trait(s): N/a
Starting Title(s): Lord Paramount of the North, Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North, Master of Laws
Starting Location: King's Landing
Alternate Characters: N/a
***********
Born in 20 BC, Alaric Stark was the second son of King Torrhen Stark and his wife Gilliane Mormont. As a Prince of Winterfell, Alaric was raised in the ways of his people. He was raised in the shadow of his older brother Brandon, who was always bigger, faster, stronger, and better at most things. Competition was constant between them, as well with their younger brother Roderick.
Still, the young prince flourished in his own way, preferring to spread his knowledge instead of focusing on a singular thing. He enjoyed hunting in the Wolfswood and helping improve the castle.
When Aegon the Conqueror arrived in Westeros, his father called the banners and the Kingdom of the North marched south to face the Dragonlord. At the Trident, they were met with three dragons and the combined armies of the Trident, West, Reach, Stormlands, and Blackwater. His bastard uncle, Brandon Snow, offered to slay the dragons, while Brandon and Roderick urged an immediate attack, while Alaric was of the mind to retreat back to Moat Cailin. Instead, King Torrhen would negotiate with King Aegon and the following morning, he would bend the knee and suddenly was Lord Torrhen Stark and Alaric and his brothers lost their titles as princes. The Lords of the North were enraged at the idea, but the King would hear none of it as he refused to let his people die to dragonflame.
The following year, Queen Rhaenys Targaryen arranged a betrothal of his sister Serena to the old King of the Vale, now Lord of the Vale, Ronnel Arryn. Alaric himself would marry in 2 AC and his son Benjicot was born near the end of the year. Alaric and his brothers refused to attend the wedding of Serena and Ronnel, their anger about the Dragonlords and their interference.
In 5 AC, Calon Bolton, a son of Lord Bolton, lead a rebellion of nobles against Lord Torrhen for his kneeling to the Targaryens. For all their differences in opinion, the Stark brothers stood behind their father and his loyal bannermen. Tragedy would strike and Brandon was slain in a hail of arrows near the Dreadfort and Lord Torrhen would take Calon's head with Ice after forcing his surrender. Hostages and wards were taken after the rebellion and the North returned to a sense of normalcy, though Alaric would strike out to the south. He blamed the Targaryens for his brother's death and the rebellion as a whole. He would strike out with a small group of companions for King's Landing and would arrive with the intention of killing the King. That was until he actually met King Aegon and spoke with the man. That meeting would change his entire perspective on the man. Aegon was not just doing this for glory and his own power and that day he gained a new ally. He would serve time as a justiciar for the Master of Laws Dannis Darklyn.
Two years later, Aegon would be assassinated by a conspiracy of men and would fall along with six of his seven Kingsguard. House Tully was extinguished by Queen Visenya and Vhagar for their part in the assassination, though it never quite sat right with Alaric that the Tullys were the only ones named in the investigation but there was nothing else he could have done. Orys Baratheon took up the regency of the realm with both of the Queens pregnant with Aegon's children. He would return to Winterfell in 13 AC at the request of his father. It was then he spoke to his children about his wish to choose one of the queens to formally back, having maintained neutrality in the politics of the realm. The next few weeks would be a blur and as the new year dawned, there was a scream in the morning as Lord Torrhen Stark was found dead in his chambers and a catspaw was killed attempting to flee Winterfell. Rumors swirled as Alaric and his family attempted to find the culprit behind them. Some claimed one of the rebels killed him, others stated that a member of the Company of the Rose did it, and others said that one or more of Torrhen's children killed him. The murder case would go cold and leave more questions than answers.
The next year, Lord Regent Orys Baratheon called a grand hunt in the Kingswood. Lord Alaric arrived with his family in tow to partake in the activities. This would end in disaster as bandits would descend upon the hunting parties and kill or carry off many nobles. Lord Alaric and his brother Roderick would defend their families but their brother's oldest son, Gregor Snow, was killed defending his brother Royce and Brandon Snow was also killed as the Starks retreated back towards King's Landing, bleeding out from arrow wounds on the edge of the Kingswood. The disaster in the Kingswood would eventually lead to most of the Starks returning to Winterfell but Lord Alaric remained with a few members of the family to root out the bandits and get revenge for their fallen family. By the following year, Alaric was named Master of Laws, replacing Lord Triston Massey.
From there, he would remain in King's Landing, making the infrequent trip to Winterfell for various occasions. His family would also go between the capital and Winterfell. As the years passed, Alaric has done much to aid the Queens and Lord Regent Orys in the ruling of the realm. Ice was used for countless executions of noble and common criminals alike. Alaric held a respectful rapport with both queens and their sons, but refused to publicly back either one of them, hoping that Aegon's will that Orys spoke of would give a better understanding of the situation. He even replaced his brother as the Stark in Winterfell, when he felt that Roderick's support for Queen Rhaenys would disrupt the politics of the North and installed his son Benjicot instead. That time is approaching, but there is no answer yet.
**********
AC
Name and House: Roderick Stark
Age: 40
Cultural Group: Northman
Appearance: Black of hair just beginning to grey at the roots and the typical grey Stark eyes, Roderick is the quiet wolf of his family
Trait: Hale
Skill(s): Axes, First Man Warrior, Vanguard
Talent(s): Hunting, Woodworking, Writing
Negative Trait(s): N/a
Starting Title(s): Scion of Winterfell
Starting Location: King's Landing
Alternate Characters: N/a
************
Timeline
20 BC: Born to King Torrhen and Queen Gilliane Mormont
1 BC: Travels south with his family to confront Aegon the Conqueror and his father bends the knee.
1 AC: Married to Lady Dustin
2 AC: Son Benjicot born
5 AC: Daughter Jocelyn born amid the rebellion against his father. His brother Brandon is killed and Alaric becomes the Heir of Winterfell. He later travels south to King's Landing and meets King Aegon and stays in the capital.
7 AC: King Aegon is assassinated and Alaric aids in the investigation but fails to uncover any additional information.
8 AC: Son Domeric born
14 AC: Lord Torrhen Stark dies from an assassin but the culprit is unknown.
15 AC: The Kingswood disaster happens, Alaric's nephew and uncle are killed in the chaos.
16 AC: Alaric is named Master of Laws
25 AC: Lord Regent Orys calls another massive hunt to celebrate the birthdays of the sons of the Dragon
************
NPCs
Benjicot Stark - Tourney Knight
Dalton Stark - Huntsman
************
Household
The Stark in Winterfell - Benjicot Stark
Maester - Archibald
Master at Arms - Ser Clarence Whitehill
Captain of the Winterfell Guard - Eddard Cassel
Steward - Rickard Ironsmith
Castellan - Benjen Poole
Master of Horse - Hallis
Captain of the Guards in King's Landing - Torrhen Long
submitted by stealthship1 to ITRPCommunity [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:22 ARTS1984 An Honest Conversation

Howdy y'all. I haven't posted for awhile so I thought I'd give another short story a try. This takes place during Chapter 2 after Kris, Susie and Ralsei split temporarily leaving Kris alone. Hope you enjoy.
An Honest Conversation
Kris, Susie and Ralsei came up to a split in the road in Cyber City, Ralsei noting the occasion by walking up in front of the group and looking towards Kris and Susie as they wondered what he had to say.
"Seems we've come to a split in the road. We should split up--Kris, who do you want to go with?" Ralsei looked to the human, slightly annoying Susie.
"Why does Kris get to pick all the time?!" Susie walked up towards Ralsei, grabbing him by the shirt. "You're coming with me."
With that, a blank faced Kris was left behind as Susie took off down the northern alley leaving the human behind to fend for himself.
"SUSIE!!" Ralsei shouted.
"WHAT?!"Susie responded.
"you can put me down." The goat Darkner whispered in slight annoyance.
"...oh." Susie gently stopped running, putting the hairy goat Darkner down. "Sorry."
"Why'd you leave Kris behind like that?" Ralsei asked, wiping off his green robes.
"He'll be fine." Susie sighed. "Sides...I was kinda nervous he'd choose me."
"Why?" Ralsei inquired.
"We just became friends yesterday, ya doofus." Susie explained, sitting down against the alley wall. "I'm not ready for that conversation...yet."
"That conversation?" Ralsei raised an eyelid.
"What, are you a million questions Ralsei today?"
"I'm sorry, I'm kinda new to this whole friends thing myself." Ralsei looked down.
Susie sighed, remembering that very fact herself.
"Yeah, kinda hard just having a Ralsei statue as company I suppose." Susie mused, wiping her snout. "The thing is...me and Kris have always been on the opposite end of the spectrum. Kris...he's had security his whole life. Me, I've had shitty parents and no guarantee of a good meal or warm bed. It sucks. I treated him like dirt for the longest time Ralsei. One time, I came pretty damn close to really hurting him. If I didn't stop myself right then I would've done it. I was mad at him...he was so socially awkward, never talked to anyone, kept to himself. Despite everything I did, Kris risked his life for mine. For the first time in my life, I was scared to lose someone. I saw the King holding Kris in his disgusting hands, using the very same words I muttered earlier..."QUIET PEOPLE PISS ME OFF" he uttered his tongue out. It hit me what I had to do."
"Susie, I think it's clear to me that Kris would listen and not judge you given his actions." Ralsei sat down, playing with his fur.
"You think?" Susie asked. "I hardly know the kid. All I know for sure is that he has the greatest Mom ever and that his hair smells annoyingly of apples. You don't know what willpower it took for me NOT to take a bite outta that kid's head."
"I'm sure he'd get you an apple if you asked." Ralsei snickered at the thought.
"His Mom makes good pies...I'll have to pester Kris to have his Mom make us some of her cinnamon-butterscotch pies she's known for." Susie drooled at the thought. "You should come to the Light World sometime, Ralsei. You'd enjoy it."
"I'll...keep that in mind." Ralsei looked away, dodging the question as nimbly as he could.
"I mean it! We three and Lancer would be invincible!" Susie grinned, just thinking of it. "You could be Ms. Alphy's teacher's pet and Lancer could dig all the holes in town he wanted. There's enough pot holes already as it is...a few more wouldn't hurt I suppose."
"I'm sure it would be wonderful, Susie." Ralsei acknowledged.
"Well, just think about it." Susie let end it there, seeing the troubled look on Ralsei's face. There was something he obviously wasn't telling her but it could wait. She didn't want to ruin this. "Look, the real reason I dragged you into this path was--I want to ask you about Kris."
"Kris? What about?" Ralsei asked.
"Don't tell Kris I said any of what I'm about to tell you. And I mean NONE of it Ralsei." Susie narrowed her eyes.
"My lips are zipped." Ralsei meekly responded.
"Good." Susie sighed. "After we left the Dark World yesterday, I felt things I hadn't felt ever...I wasn't sure what happened was real. All I knew was that I felt them and that I didn't want to lose them...most of all, I didn't want to lose Kris. Kris...the kid I hated for my all time in Hometown I now couldn't stand to be without. I thought of em' the whole night. I didn't get any sleep Ralsei and trust me, that bed you presented earlier was VERY tempting...you bastard."
"S-Sorry."
"It's ok...I'm just venting here. Anyway...I guess what I'm saying is that I don't know how I should go about this whole thing."
"When did you plan to have...the conversation?"
"Sometime in the Dark World, when it was just me and Kris."
"Why don't you talk to him when you guys are done with this adventure? You could walk him home." Ralsei suggested.
"Say Kris, why don't I walk ya home and we can talk serious junk...yeah Rals, that'll go down real well."
"R-Rals?"
"What, no one ever called you a nickname?" Susie raised an eyebrow.
"Well, insults like toothpaste boy not withstanding...Rals isn't bad." Ralsei blushed.
"Geez, I'm gonna have to teach you a LOT." Susie moaned, slapping the side of her snout. "Don't expect these lessons to be free either, toothpaste boy. You're gonna have to make a lot of cakes."
"S-Sure." Ralsei sweat. "I mean it though...don't make a big deal, just...offer to walk him home and just bring it up when you two are nice and relaxed."
"Like, when we're sitting down or something? Like now?"
"Yeah! We're talking, having a serious conversation aren't we?" Ralsei nodded in glee.
"No, we're talking about rainbows." Susie rolled her eyes.
"W-We are?" Ralsei second guessed himself.
"NO...that was SARCASM." Susie sighed once again. "I swear with this guy..."
"Sarcasm?"
"I swear I'm gonna call you Million Questions Ralsei forever if you don't stop." Susie crossed her arms. "It's when you want to express annoyance but do it indirectly."
"Huh. I'll have to try that..."
"Can we focus?" Susie snapped.
"O-Oh, sorry--so Kris, what do you want to ask him?"
"I try asking him if we'd still be friends if I opened that supply closet door and you guys weren't there but I chickened out at the last second. I didn't want to think about the possibility of that not being a thing."
Ralsei went silent, looking at Susie as she looked to the ground thinking of Kris in that moment.
"Susie, I didn't realize that Kris meant that much to you." Ralsei rubbed the back of his head. "Am I the one you should really be asking for advice on this? I mean, after all I'm...just learning how to be a friend. And you've done all the teaching thus far."
"Kris and I just became friends. The thought of losing that just scares me...scares me to my very core. The little I did sleep I had a nightmare. It was me and him in front of that bunker door in the woods. He was shaking the whole time, scared of something--I asked him what was wrong. He wouldn't tell me, backing away each time I walked towards the door. Suddenly, the door opened and a look of terror that I've never seen on him erupted on Kris' face. He looked at me, reached out to me but was sucked in and I had to watch as the doors closed on him. I couldn't save him, Ralsei! Kris almost died trying to save me yesterday Ralsei...I don't want to lose him." Susie began to break down. "All this time, I've treated that kid LIKE SHIT and despite everything, he still stuck his neck out for me. What do you say to that!? What do you do with that?! Jesus..."
Susie stood up, sniffling and wanting to begin walking again.
"H-Hey...Susie."Ralsei got up, gently putting a hand on Susie's arm, Susie growing stiff at the contact, Ralsei quickly pulling his hand away.
"Y-Yeah?" Susie turned around, trying to regain her composure.
"My offer still stands. I could teach you some healing spells, if you're up for it. Of course, the lessons would be payment for your advice from earlier." Ralsei offered. "This could help you protect Kris."
"They're hiding something Ralsei, I know it." Susie said. "It troubles Kris, even before we came to the Dark World. If there's something Kris knows and is trying to solve, I want to be prepared for the worst case scenario. I want to protect him."
"Then we'll start with the basics and on the way, refine your approach to conversation starters, all right?" Ralsei smirked.
"R-Rals?"
"Yes, Susie?"
"You're not half bad." Susie smirked, putting an arm around him.
"T-Thanks." Ralsei blushed. "I don't suppose that would translate to hugging..."
"DO NOT PUSH YOUR LUCK."
submitted by ARTS1984 to krusie_gang [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:22 Dantropy 24M Looking for someone special to watch all Ghibli films with and read banned books! :3

Hey! I'm Nush! I'm looking for someone to share myself with, shower them with love, and do fun stuff together!
I feel like I'm emotionally in a place where I can work towards building a relationship which hopefully would last forever, and I'm really excited to meet someone new and share experiences with!
I understand the importance of persistent effort in maintaining a relationship and I'm more than willing to go beyond whatever is expected for people I love! I'm just trying to be the best version of myself, for myself and for you. Here's a lil information about me, if I seem interesting to you, I'd love to talk to you and know you better. :D
A lil info about me!
📏- (Make a mental avatar of me) I'm 6 feet, Indian. I have dark brown eyes, short wavy black hair with brown streaks, I'm pretty athletic in my build, broad shoulders, long legs. My aesthetic constantly oscillates between nerd and stripper.
🖋 I'm an author and a poet. I like keeping things, ideas and people immortal in my work. I'd like to think of myself as a hope collector, who likes to collect abandoned hope, repurpose it, and make it into something you would want to have in your life.
🤯 The only high class meme enthusiast. This is a consequence of being on the internet for far too long. From tacky Facebook memes to Gen Z humor, you can bet I will be gasping for air.
👟 I'm really passionate about the environment, and I'm very eco-friendly. I love guerilla gardening and being a rebel against the capitalist system. I'm always open to having a healthy discussion/debate even on things I don't agree upon.
🍮 I love cooking! I'm always looking forward to learning new cuisines! I also like to grow most of my ingredients. I'd say food is one of my love languages!
⭐ I really like anime, I've had this weird generational habit of collecting different rocks (Rockhounding), I hit the gym everyday, I try to be spiritual, and read. One of my recent obsessions has been chess! I'm also fascinated by history and art.
🏳️‍🌈 I'm bisexual and an LGBT ally! I've been in the worst depression and I've made it out. Here to give away all my love. ❤️
ʕっ•ᴥ•ʔっ
submitted by Dantropy to ForeverAloneDating [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:21 SPQR-Praetor First time in my 45 year of life I pre-ordered a collector edition and the joke is on me.

As a fan who grew up with the original series which opened my eyes on the power of storytelling, I m sorely disappointed.
To the creative directowriter: Story is king.
What the hell? How can you go from a simple but elegant and emotionally resonant black and white sketches with music score rivaling to Hans Zimmer to these disgustingly ugly cut scenes? I understand you might want to take a new direction but after watching a few test runs, nobody had the balls to stand up to Cunningham and said "bro... what the #!@$?" and change direction?
What is wrong with you? The end of Homeworld 2 opened so many possibilities for a sequel and you picked the worst. How can you transform such an original idea where everybody was emotionally invested in and turn it to a dollarstore production with a cartoony villain and an uninspiring hero (I already forgot her name). I didn't even understand or care what was her problem!
How many time do we have to see the protagonist "acting" with her eyes closed as if someone pooped in that tank with her hair flowing around her head with pre-hardware rendering hair physic? Did you have a professional team at your disposal or you just borrowed your cousin's access to Vancouver Film School's computer lab on the weekend? The reason you are trying so hard to force people to feel something because the story, the struggle, the arc are so weak and they fail at every imaginable level.
Less is more. Much more.
I will never forget the impact of the first and the second game. I will never forget how I almost cried at the "She insisted that she would be the last person to disembark and set foot on the homeworld". Perhaps Rob Cunningham, time for you to disembark from the franchise and let someone else more talented helm it. You are no Karan S'jet to take this franchise home.
I am not the one dwelling on the past, I am just disappointed on what the "future" just offered me for 220$. But I will swallow this bitter pills and go play again homeworld 1 and 2 remastered.
P.S. Scarring on ships are a good idea until you are so good at the game and capturing all enemies capital ships. When they survived after 1 or 2 battles, all you see are a bunch of burnt steaks on the screen (See picture). I literally headed into the final missions with 16 "burnt steaks" destroyers, not ships. This passed quality inspection?
/quietly shake my head
submitted by SPQR-Praetor to Homeworld3 [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:20 Foreign_Ad9158 Daughter 35F need advice to get over some 'little things' with father 62M please?

I'm from a very complicated family, everyone contributes to this weirdest family relationships.
Long story short, parents been separated for 15-20yrs, Mother is 'NPD' controlling freak who hates me and wishes me dead, but slightly changed how she treats since I've been working. My elder brother is not close to me at all, thanks to Mother's manipulation that turned him against me. Father, oh, Father is just... I don't know how to talk about him, I'll try to not put too much emotional stuff in this.
Father worked really hard to raise us two kids. I used to be so sad just watching him going through daily hard labor work, day after day. As you can imagine, he does not make much.
My brother has caused lots of trouble, starting with before I even got to school, families would constantly tell him, his life was degraded because of my birth, which is probably true. Mother would say, look how much your brother sacrificed for me and whatever I ate, my brother spared for me, etc. ever since I was a baby.
While we were still in school, my brother tried to rob some taxi driver and got into lots of trouble. I watched Father’s hair turn grey overnight. Then he got a girl pregnant, and her parents threatened to sue him ‘raping the girl’. Father’s hair went almost completely grey that year.
Father looked so much older during those few years. I feel so terrible cause I was not helping much.
Parents fought every year, especially around festivals. I hate festivals and family reunions as bad as you can imagine.
Even years later now, it sets me in this dramatically desperately sad mode even just talking with them. At least a whole week would be super messed up and then slowly adjusting myself back to be a normal person.
See I really appreciate how Father has done for us and he even got me through college. I witnessed all the pain and hard work he put done for this.
I was close to him but in a weird way, I often hate him too, trying to keep my distance. I didn’t understand why.
Until the 3rd year in college, one of my friends was really depressed for a while, one day she was talking about some really difficult stuff she was going through with her dad, I was trying to listen and help her through that period.
And suddenly it hit me so hard, shit, think my dad did the same thing to me as well.
That day opened up a gap in that forced to be closed slowly healed rough ugly scar from family traumas, all those left behind memories flooded back to me. Ever since then, I have been in an even worse condition. All the sadness, oh boy, even today, I’m in tears just typing these words.
My uncle is a rapist. Before he was sent to jail, he pulled my pants as well, he didn’t do anything further besides watching, at least that one time that know of, nothing else happened. I was about maybe 5yrs old, I didn’t know what it meant. The year he was arrested, I was already in elementary school and starting to know that was, maybe, not right. When I told my parents about it, and they said, well just shut up about it and don’t mention it to anyone else, you should be ashamed.
When I was about 10yrs old, I started to be sent to semi foster type of families, mainly neighbors, because parents had to work somewhere else, and brother started boarding school. My foster family are generally nice to me, treated me well, fed me 3 meals a day. Food makes people happy.
I was also happy because Father wasn’t around.
The first time I sensed danger I was about 9yrs old.
Again, Mother had never ever told me anything about what is like being a girl, how to deal with period, breast may start to have some changes, wear underwear, wash and clean lady parts, etc. nothing.
I didn’t exist in that house unless she needed someone to vent. As you can see, I was smart, I made myself invisible as much as I could.
Around 4th grade I had to do some performance for children’s day, our headmaster accidentally realized I was not wearing any undergarments, so she kindly gave me some of her granddaughter’s. After that performance, I started to wear those every day. They look more like little cami top shirts.
One day I woke up, I was already late for school. I got so scared, and I started crying. Father was often more patient with me. He was comforting me and told me to get off bed and get ready for school. I was crying and I wasn’t paying much attention to what he said. And suddenly I realized he stopped talking. I looked up and watched him staring at me, he looked so strange and oddly scary at that moment, not like he was beat me or anything, like a … predator. I tried to figure out what caught his attention and then I realized, half of my breast was showing because the undergarments were too big for me, and I moved when sitting up in bed.
I immediately stopped crying and pulled it up. But I would never forget his eyes, the way he stared at my breasts. It often makes me sick whenever thinking about it even today. I was confused and a bit scared, and I guess ever since then it sort of startled me, the love for my father. But again, I was too young to understand what happened and I did not have anyone around me to tell me girls’ changes around certain age.
Father soon left for a few years, and I was really relived. I don’t know how to describe this feeling and I could only understand myself better till years later.
After Father left, I started going around semi foster families, including my grandparents’ place. Around summertime, I realized the bathroom lock broke, so I just blocked it from inside with chairs every time taking a shower. Still one day, my grandfather forced in and claimed he needed something from the inside. I stood there naked for a second, then rushed to get my clothing and rushed out of the bathroom.
Ever since then, I tried everything to lock that door even more solidly and it worked. The problem is, even today, living thousands of miles away from where I grew up with, I am still extremely insecure with door locks, I buy all sorts of locks to double lock every door, using door stoppers as well.
Then one day, Father just showed up in my school again. He was back. I was happy but deep down something also quietly but terribly disturbed my peace.
One afternoon, while taking a shower, I suddenly felt weird. I started looking around and didn’t find anything odd. But that feeling keeps coming back. So, I looked around again; this time, I saw Father’s face and his eyes were by the window and staring at me, he was so concentrated and didn’t even realize I already saw him. I had to ask him what he was doing there, and he told me he was checking if I finished taking a shower. He looked panicked just like years ago when I busted him staring at my breasts when I was still in 4th grade.
There were so many little things that happened when I was a kid, but I did not have the knowledge to distinguish what that meant.
I remember starting from one day, my grandmother started to guard me right outside the bathroom every time I took a shower. I didn’t know what that was for, she never mentioned anything, also because she was never that close to me, and I was the least favorite kid.
It’s like a puzzle. So many things started to connect, so many memories I buried deep down started to come back to me. I was so depressed for the first few years after I realized what happened to me when I was a kid. My friend’s memory somewhat triggered my memory valve as well.
About the time I started looking for internships, I was really busy, and it was stressful. One early morning, on the way to work I picked up a call from Father. He told me he was going to commit suicide but didn’t do it because of me.
Mother is really toxic which was not news to me, and they had separated for so many years and I really pity him. I had lots of terrible memories regarding Mother, I thought about suicide so many times every day for many many years ever since I learned the word ‘death’. I just never thought Father was gonna say it out first. It really shocked me, and I was really terrified. But again, death was never an extreme word for me, it was like a relief from my parents. See confused and scared, never knew what’s really going in my mind. I had so much to deal with and I felt I was going to explode but I didn’t have time for that, I was graduating college that year.
But since that, my previous thoughts about confronting Father about his perverting behaviors when I was kid, it just could not be done.
Now for years, I was torn again and again with thoughts about confronting him also worrying it might humiliate him and caused his suicidal thoughts again. I couldn’t tell if he was just trying to manipulate me or was really desperate.
Father worked hard raising my brother and me, and I got into college.
I have been depressed for years, struggling all the time, cutting myself at times when super extremely desperate and couldn’t do anything about it. I would buy tickets traveling all over the world and put parents’ names in my travel insurance, hoping that would pay them back if anything happened.
When I was about 30yrs old, finally one day I confronted him, twice, in person and on the phone, and he denied of course.
Again, I didn’t want to say anything and get him killed, so I stayed quiet for quite a few years again.
But in recent years, I couldn’t help it. I started screaming at him in my dreams and it kept me awake for days after such dreams.
A few days ago, I texted him about it and wanted an apology. I need closure. I desperately need it. I wasn’t planning to go any further than that and I was ready to let it go if he just admits it and just apologize.
After all, for many people, it might not even be considered as such an evil thing to do, right? I don’t know, I am super exhausted and confused.
He soon replied, of course he denied again and saying I was humiliating him, and he said if I still do not believe him, I should consider him dead. Also, he said, you two are my kids, what is there that I have never seen on you two anyways?
I cried for the whole night.
It is so disgusting that he really tried to manipulate me to accept what he said with suicidal/ death threatening, also how he tried to justify his behaviors.
I wished him well and promised to send money when I can, but also told him I won’t be talking to him anymore.
This is as much as I could have done for that little kid when I look back, that little me. It was not as expected but I have to let it go now.
I so wish someone could tell me how someone can be a father also a monster. I don’t know if I am being dramatic about these ‘little things’. I am so worried about he might kill himself because I wouldn’t know how to cure myself with that strike.
But I am in so much pain inside and as always I want to save myself. Every time talking to him is like sharpening this knife to cut open this giant ugly roughly almost healed scar. It’s so ugly and painful.
submitted by Foreign_Ad9158 to relationship_advice [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:19 SothoryosFan lomas "Big Lom" Hardy - But a humble crab man he is

Reddit: u/SothoryrosFan
Discord: NorvosFan(Cuuner)
Name: Lomas "Big Lom" Hardy
Age: 46
CG: Firstmen
Appearance: Age has been kind to Lomas, refining the sharpness of his jaw, and strengthening his cheekbones. His hair is a comforting shade of brown and his eyes are a soft green, not unlike fresh grass. Years of working the fish trade and handling heavy weapons have left Lomas incredibly broad in stark contrast to his otherwise small stature.
Trait: Strong
Skill(s): Two-handed(E), Firstman warrior(E), Reckless
Talents: catching crab, cooking crab, eating crab
NT: N/A
Start Title: Lord of Strongbox
Start local: The Event
TIMELINE
FAMILY TREE
Da fam
NPCS
Maester Megellen (Medic) - An old man who has had too many conversations about crab related topics over the years
(This is the only NPC I want)
submitted by SothoryosFan to ITRPCommunity [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:15 zoeyladybard Called mentally ill today.

So today I went into work like any other day really. Previously on Monday I had dressed up and was pretty happy with myself. At the end of the day I washed my face well, and made sure I didn't have much if any makeup residue on my face. So going into work today I was fully shaved which isn't too odd for me. What was odd was my coworkers looking at me. I was thinking there's no way I missed something no way. So after a little chatting I went to the bathroom and double checked myself really good, didn't see a thing. An hour later we are in the office talking and one guy brings up trans gender people. Three of my coworkers immediately look at me and quickly turn away as I saw them dart their attention to me. The talking is the standard old man talk of, "how can they do that, why would they, they aren't women Yada yada" when at one point another coworker came to me and said aren't you hot? Referring to my long sleeve that I wore under my work shirt. I buzzed my arms so the hair was pretty short and I didn't wanna show that. And before I could answer I was being swarmed with crazy people comments and this and that. I just tried to laugh it off, but the coworker then said you aren't one of those lady types right? What does that even mean??? Him looking at me while saying it felt like he knew and somehow everyone else did. Then the man who was chief for the day said yeah you kinda look like one of those mentally ill types. My heart sank and I tried not to stutter, and just laughed it off saying no. Feeling horrible for the remark that I had just made about myself. I know I'm not mentally ill. I just wanna be pretty sometimes. And others that do it aren't either. It's just a thing we do and some have different reasons then others. For the rest of the day I felt like I was under a microscope. Catching glances at me from the other men trying to inspect me. I guess all in all I'm just kinda hurt and feel really stupid. I feel humiliated for something that i keep seperated completely from anyone else in my life. I felt that I had cleaned myself super well and that no one could notice. I don't know if they were playing with me or what, but it definitely has me shaken and pretty mad that they just assume it's mental illness. I'm not ashamed of what I do, and j feel I do it well. I know they'd never understand me, but gosh it just hurts.
Sorry for the rant I didn't know where I could post. I just knew that this was a support site and was wondering if anyone has had this happen? Were they just messing with you? Or did they actually figure it out?
Thanks girls always appreciate it ❤️
submitted by zoeyladybard to Crossdressing_support [link] [comments]

2024.05.15 04:15 SeaZombie7450 Do you guys think he’s going to be medium or short haired?

Do you guys think he’s going to be medium or short haired? submitted by SeaZombie7450 to cats [link] [comments]

http://swiebodzin.info