Owning a business is a thrilling ride, but financial roadblocks can sometimes slow you down. Especially if your Credit Information Bureau (CIBIL) score is less than ideal, securing a business loan can feel like an uphill battle. However, don't lose hope! This blog empowers you with the knowledge of essential documents to prepare for a business loan application, even with a low CIBIL score.
Understanding the Importance of Documents
While a low CIBIL score might raise a red flag for lenders, strong supporting documents can showcase your business's potential and strengthen your loan application. These documents provide a comprehensive picture of your business's health, increasing the lender's confidence in your ability to repay the loan.
Crucial Documents for Your Business Loan for low CIBIL score Application :

• Business KYC Documents:
  • Company Registration Proof: This could be a Certificate of Incorporation, Partnership Deed, or Shop and Establishment Certificate, depending on your business structure.
  • PAN Card: A copy of the PAN Card for your company/firm/individual.
• Identity & Address Proof:
  • Identity Proof for Directors/Partners/Guarantors: This could include Aadhaar Card, Passport, Voter ID Card, or Driving License for all directors, partners, and guarantors involved in the business.
  • Address Proof: Documents like Aadhaar Card, Passport, Voter ID Card, Driving License, or utility bills (electricity bill, water bill) can serve as address proof for your business and key personnel.

Financial Documents: Building Trust Beyond CIBIL
A low CIBIL score can be mitigated by presenting strong financial documents that demonstrate your business's stability and potential for growth. Here's what to include:

• Audited Financials (Last 3 Years - If Applicable): If your business has been operational for 3 years or more, submit audited balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and tax audit reports. These documents provide a clear picture of your past financial performance.
• Provisional Financials (For New Businesses): If your business is relatively new (less than 3 years old), submit provisional financials along with VAT returns. Project future financial performance through well-structured financial projections.
• Bank Statements (Latest 6-12 Months): Provide bank statements for your business account covering the past 6 months (minimum) or 12 months (for takeover proposals). If you have multiple bank accounts, ensure statements cover at least 75% of your business turnover. Consistent and healthy cash flow reflected in your bank statements strengthens your application.

Supplementary Documents to Bolster Your Case:
Beyond the core documents, consider including these to further showcase your creditworthiness:

• Business Plan (For New Businesses or Loan Purpose Specific): A well-crafted business plan outlining your venture's goals, strategies, and financial projections demonstrates a clear vision for the future and responsible financial planning.
• Security Documents (If Applicable): If you're applying for a loan secured by property or assets, include ownership certificates and no-objection certificates (NOCs) for the collateral. This can improve your chances of loan approval, especially with a lower CIBIL score.
• Purchase Orders/Contracts (For Specific Loan Purposes): If your loan is to finance a specific purchase (equipment, inventory), include relevant purchase orders or contracts. This demonstrates a concrete use for the loan funds.

Additional Tips for Success with a Low CIBIL Score:

• Explain Loan Purpose Clearly: Clearly articulate the purpose of your loan and how the funds will be utilized. This demonstrates responsible financial planning.
• Maintain Transparency: Be upfront about your CIBIL score and explain any mitigating factors that might have led to a lower score. Honesty builds trust with the lender.
• Consider a Guarantor: Having a guarantor with a strong credit score can significantly improve your chances of loan approval, especially with a low CIBIL score.
• Explore Alternative Lenders: Don't limit yourself to traditional banks. Research alternative lenders who might be more flexible with credit score requirements for businesses with strong potential.

Conclusion
Even with a low CIBIL score, securing a business loan is possible. By gathering the essential documents highlighted in this blog, showcasing your business's financial health, and presenting a compelling case, you can increase your chances of loan approval. Remember, a well-prepared application with strong supporting documents paves the way for securing the financial boost your business needs to thrive. So, don't be discouraged, gather your documents, tell your business story, and embark on your journey to securing the perfect loan!

Owning a business is a thrilling journey, but sometimes growth requires a financial boost. An ICICI business loan can be the fuel that propels your venture forward. However, navigating the application process can feel daunting. Don't worry, this blog equips you with a comprehensive checklist to ensure you're well-prepared for your ICICI business loan application, empowering a smooth and successful journey.
Understanding Your Needs
Before diving into the application process, take a step back. Here's what you need to clarify:

• Loan Amount: Determine the exact amount you require to meet your business needs. This could be for starting a new venture, expanding operations, purchasing equipment, or managing cash flow.
• Loan Purpose: Clearly define the purpose for which you need the loan. Different loan types might be available depending on your specific needs (term loan, working capital loan, etc.).
• Repayment Tenure: Consider a realistic repayment timeline that aligns with your projected cash flow and avoids financial strain.

Gathering the Necessary Documents
Once you have a clear understanding of your needs, it's time to gather the essential documents for your ICICI business loan application. Here's a comprehensive checklist:
Business KYC Documents:

• Company Registration Proof: This could be a Certificate of Incorporation, Partnership Deed, or Shop and Establishment Certificate, depending on your business structure.
• PAN Card: A copy of the PAN Card for your company/firm/individual.

Identity & Address Proof:

• Identity Proof for Directors/Partners/Guarantors: This could include Aadhaar Card, Passport, Voter ID Card, or Driving License for all directors, partners, and guarantors involved in the business.
• Address Proof: Documents like Aadhaar Card, Passport, Voter ID Card, Driving License, or utility bills (electricity bill, water bill) can serve as address proof for your business and key personnel.

Financial Documents:

• Audited Financials (Last 3 Years): If your business has been operational for 3 years or more, submit audited balance sheets, profit and loss statements, and tax audit reports.
• Provisional Financials (For New Businesses): If your business is relatively new (less than 3 years old), submit provisional financials along with VAT returns.
• Bank Statements (Latest 6-12 Months): Provide bank statements for your business account covering the past 6 months (minimum) or 12 months (for takeover proposals). If you have multiple bank accounts, ensure statements cover at least 75% of your business turnover.

Additional Documents (Depending on Loan Type):

• Business Plan/Project Report: For specific loan types, a detailed business plan outlining your venture's goals, strategies, and financial projections might be required.
• Property Documents (For Loan Secured by Property): If you're applying for a loan secured by property, documents like ownership certificates and no-objection certificates (NOCs) might be necessary.

Preparing for a Smooth Application Process
Here are some additional tips to ensure a smooth ICICI business loan application experience:

• Maintain a Good Credit Score: A healthy credit score significantly increases your chances of loan approval and potentially secures a more favorable interest rate.
• Demonstrate Strong Financial Health: Prepare well-organized financial documents that accurately reflect your business's financial health and stability.
• Explain Loan Purpose Clearly: Clearly articulate the purpose of your loan and how the funds will be utilized. This demonstrates responsible financial planning.
• Prepare a Compelling Business Plan: For new businesses or loan applications requiring a business plan, present a well-structured plan outlining your vision, strategies, and financial projections.
• Seek Professional Help (Optional): Consider consulting a financial advisor or chartered accountant for guidance on preparing your loan application and ensuring you have all the necessary documentation.

Conclusion
By following this comprehensive checklist and preparing the required documents, you can approach your ICICI business loan application with confidence. Remember, a well-organized and well-presented application increases your chances of approval and secures the most favorable loan terms for your business growth. So, breathe easy, gather your documents, and embark on your journey to securing the perfect ICICI business loan to fuel your entrepreneurial dreams!

Hi everyone!
I am a 24-year-old who will be moving to Germany from the US this year. Luckily I do not have to search for an apartment yet. My mother purchased an apartment and is moving as well so I will be staying with her for at least the first year so I can settle in and save up money. However, I am the type of person who likes to have a 5-year plan set up and start looking into things in advance so I can be prepared and set things up for myself. So, to get to the actual questions: I am looking for advice and info on finding apartments in Germany and what all I should prepare for when the time goes. Apologies for the long post, I'd like to any info that could potentially be relevant.
A little about myself and my situation: I will be living near but outside of Bonn to start and when I can move out I will be looking for apartments in both Bonn and Köln. Ideally close to a bus or train station as I do not intend on owning a car.
I am a freelance illustrator, about to graduate from school in commercial art. While I currently I am not working full time I doubt I will have any issue finding enough work to support myself within the next 1-2 years.
I do not have my own rental history or credit history(I did not take out loans for my schooling), but will be paying my own insurances, phone plan, and likely covering the internet bill for my mothers' apartment while I live with her so I'm assuming that will help with my Schufa score.
Also I do have a German Passport so I luckily won't have to worry about any extra issues with visas.
I don't have any pets or kids(and don't plan on it). I play the violin (but also if that becomes an issue I do have practice mutes which make it so the violin can not be heard through walls). And as long as I find a decent apartment with the space that I need I will likely be renting long term with no intention to move for a minimum of 5 years(likely longer).
​
My main questions are: First of all, how difficult is it currently to find apartments in these cities? What should I prepare for when searching and applying for apartments? How difficult is it to get approved without previous rental history? What are the general requirements for applicants? And in general, what are things I can do to raise my chances of finding an apartment, as well as any general advice you would give to someone in my situation?
Thank you in advance for any advice or information.
​
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My mother is a bully (no she’s not I’m crazy ) she body shames me as i walk through the door , as if not like I’ve already dreaded every waking second about how bad i look . I request her to not call me names about my weight cause they make me feel like I’m naked in a room full of men : ashamed and embarrassed. But she proceeds to . I have depression that took course like a river flowing straight to the sea passed into my DNA from my father not skipping the course , she knows this and still tries to gaslight me into thinking I’m The bad person and she’s the victim. I felt like ending my all . I sometimes think that’s what she wants . Me who has always resided in the shadows of peoples validation and reassurance, When she told me that I am no good , a desperate wannabe , an attention whore , and once again let me know how awfully bad I look . I couldn’t handle the words . So I just sunk so beneath into the depths of the abyss of desperation and of not being enough . ~ It’s dark in here , but that’s okay cause no one will ever see the stretch marks in my hands . It’s quiet in here , but that’s okay cause no one will tell me that I used to look better when I was not “fat”. and do you know what’s funny or even ironic, It is that it’s not even me who made me gain 20 pounds by binge eating , it’s the pills I take so that I don’t go insane . The steroids are the worst i thought cause of all this body dysmorphia , but somehow humans always overthrow anything lifeless and claim the throne of being the perverse pros . will I ever be back from my exile into the abyss ? Guess not .

CoverVol.1PreviousNextMapsWiki+DiscordRoyal RoadWebNovelTapasKo-FiFandom/wiki
Big update at the end of Part.2, make sure you check it out. It is important.
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My initial surprise waned as a burning hatred boiled up within me. There was no hesitation in my choice. I dipped my mind into my Spatial Ring and pulled out two syringes; the thick red substance within wobbled with the movement.
I eyed my father and mother, who were faring better against their paladin. We were too close to each other to use a wide area of effect magic, and the stragglers were beginning to gather themselves as a new group of rugged-looking paladins showed up.
Their armor was different, some haphazardly maintained, dented in the shoulders and helmets. Overall, they looked like a band of brigands. The purple articles of clothing and cloaks were thrashed, but the marked-out and desecrated symbols of Amon-Ra were present. They were all members of the Chapter of Despair.
I met my father’s eyes and threw the syringe with all my might. We had talked about using the drugs if things got out of hand. A shadowy hand whipped out from my father and snatched the syringe out of the air. He quickly injected himself in the thigh, and I followed suit.
The effects were almost immediate. I felt my skin get taunt. My veins bulged and pulsed against my skin as my heart thumped in my chest. Sylas’s version of my stimulant was made with purer and higher quality ingredients, as well as being appropriately mixed, which made it all the more potent.
And with it, my emotions exploded out of me.
“Wow, what did you just stab yourself with? I don’t even want to imagine the—”
Alnwar’s words were cut short as he fell to the floor and reached for his own throat, choking on the air around him. The paladins were forced to their knees as well, and all the fighting in the pit had ceased for a moment as the full force of my bloodlust suffocated those around me.
“Alnwar Strongfold. Today is your last day on this planet.”
Power coursed through my muscles and veins as I shot forward like a cannon, aiming straight for the man’s throat. My body became wreathed in golden lightning as white flames danced along my spear’s tip. Alnwar managed to get back to his feet, but he blocked my thrust with shaky hands.
He dodged and blocked my repeated strike, the fear in his eyes and the hesitation in his movements clear. I didn’t give him a moment of respite as I pushed the assault. I swept my spear along his body for a slash and knocked his long sword up into the air.
I repositioned the tip for a thrust to the heart, but the second short sword came up to deflect it. I sent a blast of close-range white fire at him, but he dodged to the side with his tremendous speed. We locked back into a fury of blows, and I continued to push him into a corner. As the fight progressed, the fear of his features lessened as he regained control of himself.
One thing is certain. Alnwar is not a pushover, and judging by his soul, he is at the level of a War God but not nearly at the top like King Maxwell or even a Grandmaster mage like Bowen. This means the stories of him slaying an Exarch must be fabricated lies.
With my heightened senses, I heard the swing and ducked to the side, avoiding the massive war hammer that aimed to crush me into dust. The impact made a crater on the ground, and I went to thrust my sword into the paladin but was forced to react to Alnwar’s attack instead.
I used gravity to force me the opposite way and to the side. My body jerked violently as my equilibrium shattered from the change. It made me want to vomit, but with that unnatural movement, I dodged the attack entirely and went for a counter-attack on Alnwar.
Thankfully, Cerila was right behind to deal with the paladin, and for the first time, her sword came into contact with flesh. The paladin whipped around his hammer with great force that moved the air as blood splattered from a sizable gap in his back. At the time, I also caught a glimpse of my parents.
My mother had left to kill the new Chapter of Despair paladins and allow my father free reign during his battle. A storm of shadows swelled and exploded out toward the paladin, who countered with golden spells of light magic. The intensity of their battle had increased tenfold as it destroyed the land around them, and any unlucky to get caught up in it had their lives snuffed out by tendrils of shadows or bolts of light.
Regardless, my focus remained on the fight at hand as I trusted that Cerila would handle that paladin from here on out. Alnwar had mostly regained his composure and dropped into a low stance. He kept both his short and long sword pointed at me and struck out like a viper.
I had to pay close attention to his body to see which blade would come at me, but I was able to read it with my enhanced body, the increased focus from the combat drug, and years of experience. I went for a leg sweep using my spear as a staff, but Alnwar dodged back out of range.
He shot forward immediately after, and I sent him retreating with another thrust, or so I thought. Alnwar crossed his blades into an x and blocked my spear in the center. He used the momentum to get under and knock my spear up, and instead of retreating like he usually did, he pushed into me.
He shoulder-checked and staggered me, and I watched as the short sword went low and aimed directly at my side. The blade would pierce my side and right into my internal organs.
If it could, that was.
I trusted in Squeak’s and Padraic’s abilities, and instead of backing away, I brought the shaft of my spear down on his head. Alwarn’s grin was disgusting as the blade impacted me, but it was wiped away in a flash as the sound of metal on metal rang out. My spear crashed into his head, and I sent a knee into his gut, knocking him into the air slightly.
With my spear in hand and my body enhanced to its maximum, I pushed Alnwar away and sent him flying into a pile of rubble. I flipped my spear around and pointed the golden horn at Alnwar as I primed a White Fire Lance to end him. It was far easier and faster to cast than a plasma-based spell, and I had already prepared it as he was flying off.
The white fire warped the air as the intense heat boiled off my spear. But within a matter of moments, the spell launched a jagged lance of white flames at Alnwar. However, I sensed an incoming spell core and watched with surprise as a golden hammer sniped the Flame Lance out of the air. The paladin fighting Cerila had taken a brief moment to launch a spell to protect Alnwar.
Honestly, these two paladins are more of a problem than Alnwar at this point.
Cerila was struggling against her opponent. Her movements were sluggish as time went on. She hadn’t slept in a full day, and the long battle was draining her even more. She may actually collapse at any moment.
Alnwar burst out from the rubble and raced toward me, completely unharmed. It seemed even he could use light magic to heal himself. I prepared myself to meet his attack head-on when suddenly Alnwar stopped, skidding to a halt and throwing himself back.
A clump of purple rock collided with the ground making a crater and kicking up a large cloud of debris. There was a thunderous crash to the side as something else impacted the earth by Cerila and the paladin. A massive purple blur moved through the smoke with terrifying agility and speed, and I watched as the paladin swung his war hammer at it.
An armored hand covered in a thick layer of purple crystal impacted the hammer mid-swing and crushed it into dust. The paladin was blown back from the blow, and an armored figure that stood taller than even the massive paladin brought both his hands down and smashed the soldier on his shoulders, forcing him to his knees.
A gust of wind appeared as the crystal figure extended his hands out and back and, with explosive force, went to clap. The paladin’s head and helmet were crushed into a blood mist, his ears touching in the center. The crystal man dragged the body up and hoisted it into the air after.
“Have no fear, for your king has arrived! Let none survive our fury!” King Maxwell shouted into the air, accompanied by his menacing bloodlust.
On cue, there were caws from the air, followed by many blurs in the distance. Spells began raining down from the air on the white robbed assistants and paladins of the Chapter of Despair as Gryphon Riders decimated their ranks.
King Maxwell, covered in his crystal magic, rushed over to me, his face mostly obscured, but I could see the grin on his lips. “Come Kaladin! Let us finish this bastard!”
There was no hesitation as I sprinted to catch up to him. Alnwar scowled and ran full tilt into a group of his allies, but the two of us gave chase. We crashed into the lines of white robes and paladins and began slaughtering them.
With spear and magic, I killed dozens, burning their bodies to a crisp, impaling their chests, and crushing their bones with every swipe of my weapon. King Maxwell made mincemeat of anyone who dared to stand before him. Every punch claimed a life and sent a corpse lying in a sea of their own blood.
The ground was an ocean of crimson as we waded through the corpses of the fallen to Alnwar, who was being healed by a group of priests. His light magic must not have been enough to heal him completely. I sent a Fireball into the group, and Alnwar grabbed and tossed the priest into my spell. The priest exploded as he impacted my spell, his limbs flying off in random directions.
We were just about to attack Alnwar when something changed. My gut twisted into a knot as I sensed an overwhelming power from our side. There was a flash of light from a broken sewer pipe, and something shot out from it. It moved far faster than anything I had yet to see, and I couldn’t make it out at all.
The gust of wind blew past me as it moved straight toward Cerila. My heart leaped in my chest as I sent magic toward it in an attempt to halt its advance; even King Maxwell tossed a disk of purple crystal at it, but our attacks missed entirely.
Cerila was killing off a squad of paladins. Her chest was heaving up and down. Her eyes sunk into her skull, and the signs of intense fatigue all over her. She was late to react to the new attacker.
She brought Hubris up to defend herself, but in the blink of an eye, her entire arm was separated from her body. Her hand, still holding Hubris, spiraled in the air, trailing blood. Time seemed to come to a halt as I watched a knight wearing pristine silver armor jump into the air.
The man was tall but more lanky than muscular. The armor he wore was ornate and shimmered in the afternoon sun. A greenish-white sword that looked like it was made of crystal was clutched in one hand, and strapped to his other arm was an equally ornate shield. It was beautifully crafted, with the symbol of a bright golden sun at its center and white wings coming out from it. I had never seen it in person, but I instantly recognized it, and so did King Maxwell.
An Exarch. The Shield Exarch of the North.
The crystalline sword disappeared into thin air, leaving his hand free. He snatched Hubris out of the air, but the moment he gripped the sword, he was tossed into the ground as if the sword had dragged him. He impacted the ground like a meteor, as King Maxwell and I arrived on top of him.
The Exarch laid on his back, Hubris in one hand, and his shield sprawled out to the side. I thrust my spear down at the fallen man, and King Maxwell went to stomp his head.
“That was unexpected,” the Exarch grumbled in a relaxed tone.
I swore I didn’t even blink, but his shield was suddenly positioned in front of him. I hit the shield with my spear, but it bounced straight off. King Maxwell’s kick was stopped dead in its tracks. A burst of white light flashed from the sun on the shield, and I felt the intense heat and powerful mana, so I dodged back out of instinct.
The magic barely grazed my arm, but I felt my flesh burn, then nothing. I had lost a chunk of my forearm along with my jacket.
An instantly cast spell? From the shield itself?
“Kaladin, stay back. Grab Cerila and take her to Sylvia. I’ll handle this guy,” King Maxwell said in a low voice.
I rushed over to Cerila, who was gripping her missing arm, trying to staunch the bleeding. The Exarach was already back on his feet, trying to pull Hubris off the ground but to no avail. Eventually, he just shrugged and summoned his sword back from his Spatial Ring.
I picked Cerila up and rushed her over to Sylvia. Alnwar might get away, but Cerila’s life was more important. My worry for her overran my seething hatred for him.
I saw that my father had defeated the other paladin. Shadows crawled around him as his purple and black spear embedded into the head of the slumped-over paladin. In the meantime, Sylvia had encased the other three in a sphere of blood and was attacking and killing anyone who approached her.
She cut the head off a white robbed man and looked at me with worried eyes. I handed the moaning Cerila off to her and took over the defense position as spells from the Gryphon Knights rained down.
Cerila let out one final scream before she passed out as her arm began to regrow. I stepped back, let the spells of the knights finish off the last few remaining assailants in this area, and turned my attention to Sylvia.
She pulled away from Cerila’s neck with a frown. “She passed out, but she isn’t in danger anymore.”
“Good, put her in the sphere with the others for the time being,” I requested.
Sylvia nodded, and a tendril of blood snaked out from one of the nearby bodies and wrapped Cerila up, only to crawl itself into a crimson sphere. It was… unnerving a bit, but I had gotten used to it, so there was no reason to be surprised anymore.
Off in the distance, King Maxwell and the Exarch were exchanging blows. Each strike rocked the ground and sent shockwaves across the entire place. Entire sections of the crater were being torn to pieces as the two fought at inhuman speeds.
“So that’s an Exarch…” Sylvia muttered from my side.
“Yes.”
“Can the king win?” Sylvia asked, looking at me from the side.
If Grandpa’s words are to be believed…
“If we threw everything at him, maybe,” I answered.
I was beginning to see what Grandpa meant. King Maxwell, the strongest man on the continent, was not able to land even a single hit on the Exarch. His massive tower shield seemed to move immediately to block and strike, and although his sword was not a Holy Artifact, whenever he swung the blade, it would slice into the King’s crystal armor, taking a massive chunk out of it. Thankfully, it was quickly regrown, but how long could King Maxwell keep up?
My father and mother made their way over to us. The two of them were drenched head to toe in the blood of their enemies and their own as well. Without even needing to be asked, Sylvia immediately healed the two of them.
The three of us watched the two fight, and it was clear that we could not intervene recklessly. King Maxwell was giving it his all, and so was the Exarch. Any slip up would be the end for us.
Eventually, the two men broke apart from each other. Neither of them was winded or wounded. The Exarch stood tall and planted his shield into the ground with a thud.
“It’s an honor to meet the Berserker King face to face. The stories don’t do your strength justice,” the Exarch said humbly.
“Gerimia Foster, the Shield Exarch. Tell me, why have you invaded my kingdom?” King Maxwell demanded.
“All land is equally ours under our god. I have every right to be here. And besides, I think it’s rather obvious as to why I’ve come. But there seems to be an issue…so I’ll be taking my leave now,” Gerimia said.
What? He’s just going to leave?
“What?! We can’t leave now you just—”
Alnwar’s yapping was silenced with a single glance from the Exarch. “I won’t be hearing any complaints from you.”
Gerimia looked up into the sky as Gryphon Knights circled above. “Besides, we are outnumbered, and I don’t intend to wait things out only to starve to death. I’m a defensive specialist; I can’t defeat an army with this many elites alone. We are leaving.”
“As if I’d let you. This hole will be your grave,” King Maxwell snarled.
“No, it really won’t be. But if you want it to be yours, that’s fine with me, Your Majesty,” Gerimia said with a shrug.
King Maxwell shot forward, but he stopped in his tracks. We all felt it. The feeling of dread increased, and the hair on the back of my neck stood at attention. And my body screamed at me to run. It was a familiar sensation, and Sylvia was the first to shout.
“Stop him! He is starting a ritua—”
Sylvia’s warning was stopped just with the Exarch’s voice, “I do not permit you to preach to me. You shall all know silence.”
The sun on the shield lit up, and a burst of light flashed. No magic or sudden pain hit us, but there was a definite change. All the sound in the entire crater had ceased as if the world had gone deaf.
King Maxwell rushed forward, but an enormous golden barrier flashed to life. It reminded me of the barrier that Mason erected in Gilcour Thicket all those years ago, but this one was three times as big and covered their entire side in holy light.
“Here all me faithful, I hereby command you, be strong and courageous. Have no fear or dread of them, for your god is with you today.”
Once again, the Exarch’s shield flickered to life. With golden rays, the sun shined, and the wings shimmered, and rays of light streamed out from it. They arced off and danced in the air, and we all watched as they shot down and into the invaders. The white robes and paladins all glowed with a holy light as they began to stand up, examining themselves as if surprised by something.
Even the people who were at death’s door and nothing but limbless corpses began to regrow limbs and stand back up, full of vigor, as they picked up weapons. The only bright side was that the dead stayed dead and did not rise. Even so, we were once again surrounded.
The refreshed mob let out war cries as they rushed us with renewed fervor. Spells from the knights crashed into their ranks just as before, but it appeared as if they were less effective. People were losing body parts from Fire Balls or falling rocks, but they healed almost immediately and got right back up.
The first wave crashed into us, and with Sylvia’s help, the four of us began to fight back. We killed dozens more, and there was a stark difference now. Before, the white-robed people seemed nothing more than civilians, blindly rushing to their deaths. But now, even the weakest amongst them was slightly more robust, which wasn’t much, all things considered, as they still died all the same.
It was also unnerving that we were the only ones that couldn’t speak. Our swords clashing, the cutting of flesh, none of it made any noise. It was only the shouts of zealots and the low hum of a chorus of voices mumbling in sync off in the distance.
Sylvia yelled into the air, like she was breaking free of the silence, and shouted, “Hold them back! They are doing a ritual! I have to try to stop them! Throw the bodies toward me!”
Sylvia jumped back, and blood began to spiral out from the corpses and shoot out into the crowd. The blood pooled on the ground and, like a rushing river, began to flow toward us. The crimson liquid gathered above Sylvia into a massive ball as she quickly mumbled to herself with her eyes closed.
I had no idea what she was doing, but we did as she asked. I thrust my spear into the heart of a woman and tossed her body over my head and into a pile. My mother cut through the hoard with her twin lightning-clad blades as my father used his shadows to launch the bodies backward.
And their souls…they have golden chains around them now…what is happening?

Part.2 https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/1cfm0im/deathworld_commando_reborn_vol7_ch206_in_ou

This particular festival is tied strongly with the Iliac Bay politics. The preceding week is devoted to the election of the two leaders who would guide the League through the next decade. By tradition, the candidates, and delegated voters from every city-state of the league gather in the city of Balfiera to present themselves and cast vote in person. Counting their ships with crews, and invited honorary guests, the population of Balfiera is said to double on those days.
After the outcome of the election is announced, the celebratory part begins. The main attraction here is a regatta, a sea-race though all the length of the Iliac Bay from the isle of Balfiera to the isle of Betony. But that is not the contest of pure speed - packed cargo waits on Betony, its amount exceeding the size of a typical ship hold two or three times. Thus, it measures the logistical capabilities of the captains, and the endurance and speed of all the crew.
From the Iliac Bay, each city-state puts forward its own ship. They all are much similar in construction - mid-sized, with two or three masts, mostly square-rigged, except for the gaff sail on the aft. Such ships have shown themselves to be capable both in the relatively calm waters of the Abecean Sea and in the open ocean. They are small enough to be fast and maneuverable, but big enough to carry the cargo, and the fighting complement of the marines and shipboard ballistae. There is no surprise that the shipbuilding of the rest of the nations is influenced by the Iliac designs to a greater or lesser degree.
YgM: They are cheap to build, that's their main advantage. Freehold and Sapiarchy designs are superior in every way, but you can't turn them out with the same speed as those clinker brigs.
Of the guest competitors, the most impressive one is, obviously, from the Potentate. Saint Barenziah of Port Katariah is competing for the second time. She have been constructed as a flagship for the upcoming expedition to the Akavir, and now waits for the rest of the fleet to be built. Her dark hull is made of the finest Nibenese softwood, the multitude of independent sealed holds ensure that she stays afloat even when severely damaged. The fully battened sails from the closely-woven moth silk are dyed bright purple. A great treasure ship, she is slower than average. But she is big enough to fit all the cargo in one go, and the crew can populate a decent-sized town. Using the ship-mounted cranes, she can be loaded and unloaded surprisingly rapidly. Only the unfortunate low tide had prevented her from winning the race the last time.
YgM: This bloated cow of a boat managed to run aground smack in the middle of the Iliac Bay. Independent holds worked well, though. So after the high tide she needed only three months to limp back to Port Katariah. Let us all hope they don't run aground in the middle of the ocean if and when they finally sail to Akavir. It's a fine bunch of lads and lasses serving on her, would be a pity to lose them..
From the port of Alinor hails the beautiful Root Square of Minus One. The crystal ships of Sapiarchy, with their impossible geometry and wing-like sun-sails are rarely seen on the trade routes. The performance under sail is invariably awe-inspiring, but it is mitigated by the fact that the crew seems to consist of enthusiastic amateurs who don't see the open seas often.
A less refined take on the same design is marked as being from the newly-constructed port town of Jode's Pocket. The port doesn't see much trade, as few merchants wish to go up the Strid river, but just as a ship itself, it is a testament to the fledgling Bosmer state ambitions. The ship, pretentionsly named Valentis the Great, has been commissioned from the Sapiarchy shipyards. Doubly restricted by the unwillingness of the Altmer to disclose all their secrets, and the necessity to dock in the freshwater port, it came out too small for its sails, and a bit awkward on sharp turns.
Two longships from the port of Solitude and the port of Windhelm stand side by side, as similar as sisters. Named Blessing of Akatosh and Kyne's Breast, both are in Atmoran style, and thus much different from the rest. Clinker-built from the long planks of the ancient northern oaks, their length is limited by the height of the tree itself. Shallow-keeled, broad and flexible, they show their best in the icy Sea of Ghosts, where they can go up the rivers on oars, and survive the impact on floating ice that sinks bigger and sturdier ships of the southern style. The sail plan is simplistic, though, and doesn't allow to sail as fast and as close to the wind. The Wrothgarian ship is all prettied up, with the sails and crew uniforms dyed Queen's red. The Snow-Throat crew, in comparison, looks as if they have wintered on the floating ice halfway to Atmora with only horkers for company.
YgM: If that's the ship I know as 'Kyne's Tits', then yes. Yes, they did.
The port of Greenheart is represented by Thousand and First Eye. Formerly an EEC merchant ship, it has been claimed under the ancient rights of salvage. The legality of its aquisition is as dubious as a Free City status of the Greenheart itself, but too many interests are tied in to make an issue of it. Built in the Potentate many years ago, it is a workmanlike affair, far removed from the splendor of the Saint Barenziah. However, recently it has been upgraded with the complicated system of studding sails that unfurl to the sides like a pair of great wings - and which its agile Bosmer-Khajiit crew operates flawlessly.
Similar sails adorn the ships from Pelletine and Anequina. Few can match the natural grace of the people of Azurah on the masts, and that allows them to operate the rigs of such complexity that would confound the average sailor. The hull of the Anequina's ship is a veritable antique - an ancient Imperial warship, captured together with its home port Leyawiin in the time of troubles. The ship of Pelletine is newly-built though, garish with the carved guilded ornaments and bright paint.
Freehold is represented by a different vessel at each Regatta, following some complicated internal arrangement between the merchant families. Once they even put out a full Goblin crew, if you can imagine that. This year their representative is conservative enough, Dibella's Grace, belonging to the Patrician Umbranox. She would be similar enough to the Iliac Bay ships to be indistinguishable, if not for the Altmeri sun-sails augmenting the usual canvas ones.
Similar enough to the classical Iliac brig is also Hundig's Rage of Stros M'kai. She is lateen-rigged in a more archaic way, though. And she seems to carry more ballistae than usual, including the compact alchemical ones hidden behind the clever windows of the lower deck. There also appears to be no distinction between the sailors and the marines in the crew, as everyone is lightly armored and carries a sword at all times.
Gifted Heart flies the banner of port Evermore. Depending on the complicated ebb and flow of the relationships between the Iliac Bay and their eastern neighbours, it is not always allowed at the Regatta. But the trade up the Bjoulsae is not blockaded by Wayrest now, and the ancient galley of old Breton design is welcomed as an honorable guest.
From Blacklight comes Saint Jiub. Her battened silk sails make her appear similar to the Potentate ships from the distance. The hull design, however, is quite archaic and ungainly. The Resdayn ships only rarely make it as far as the Abecean Sea, mostly being used for local transportation across the Inner Sea - and so they lag behind in their shipbuilding.
The most outlandish-looking is the contestant from Soulrest. From the first impression, an uncharitable observer would call it a giant raft fully assembled of reeds and hollow trunks. But a closer look reveals much cleverness - Eternal Change is a twin-hulled vessel, stable enough for the shore trade, but also able to navigate the swampy shallow rivers and lakes of the southern Black Marsh. The materials are chosen with the traditional Argonian ingenuity to either resist rot naturally, or treated with fire to become such.

Hello again! I’m enjoying writing these during the games. Turns out I enjoy pretending to be a pundit.
Some caveats as always: This is based purely on watching the games, not stats or box scores. So, you know, vibes. Also, in the interest of disclosure, I did not get to watch the Brahmas-Renegades game to the fullest extent I would have liked. I wasn’t in market for OTA, and I tried to watch both with one on a second screen, but it turns out I’m not Kevin Harlan and can only focus on one game at a time. Finally, with 4 blowouts, it’s hard to rank any losing team in the top 4.
Here we go!

1. Bham: I wrote this after their first drive. A great team helped by a terrible coach on the other side, Birmingham dominated. Now, I don’t know if Houston thought the Stallions were vampires, or what, but they sure seemed to just invite them to score. The streak continues.
2. St. Louis: very frustrating 2nd and 3rd quarters again, but the dominance in the 1st and 4th made up for it. We wanted to AJ and go to stretch the field, and it didn’t happen all the way through, but it did when it mattered to put the game away. That Butler tuddy was fun to see. Defensively it was a little sloppy during the 2nd and 3rd, but this defense is a turnover machine overall. They dominated the 4th on Defense and ST, highlighted by a late interception and blocked punt. I do wish they would tighten up a bit against the run through a whole game, and on the middle of the field as well. And dumb penalties need to stop on both sides of the ball. A dominant win that was not without its frustrations. If you don’t like that, you don’t like Battlehawk football.
3. Brahmas: A strong win even with some adversity it seems. Only got to watch highlights, so, not much for me to comment on. Did see Dormandy threw 3 picks, so, that’s not great. Sure it was over the second-worst team(my disdain for Johnson sent Houston back to 8, spoiler alert) but this is overall a strong team poised to be a strong contender in the XFL conference.
4. Michigan: That scary ass defense set their now-Etling-led offense up swimmingly to start the game after a strip sack and recovery on the third(I think) play of the game. Even though they tried their best to let Memphis win in the middle quarters, I still think this is the team’s greatest strength, especially when they tightened up in the endgame. Master Bates is a mortal man! We had to that learn twice, due to some end of half shenanigans that make football great. Offense seems to be gelling more, especially in the second half. I’m still not convinced by Etling’s version of this offense either, but this was a better showing, and the unit’s second best overall. To me, a clear number 2 in a weak conference. But man if that defense isn’t electric.
5. DC: They fought to stay in the game overall, but Ta’amu had a bad day turnover wise, and it showed when he was benched in the 4th for garbage time. The defense, like Michigan, can be scary, but it can’t be ignored that they gave up 45. Still, outside of those two touchdowns at the end of the first half, their offense gave them no help. And, I know people disagreed with me after my first post, but I do, now, think Ta’amu has lost a step. They’re going to need to figure out things across the board if they want to hope to keep pace in conference. I’m also starting to think both conferences has significant gaps between their second and third place teams… but last time I doubted DC this much they turned it around, so we’ll see.
6. Memphis: In a game where both teams were starting new QBs, Williams got off to a bad start. Strip sack early on set them back. There were some flashes, especially in that third scoring drive, but the turnovers and missed easy throws define his game. Still, after Nolan opted not to kick a field goal at the end of the half, Memphis made them pay with a tasty touchdown, and did it again after a muffed punt! However, those first two scores still felt more like Panther mistakes than Boats victories. Defensively they couldn’t stop Wes Hills in the red zone and, though they got to him, didn’t disrupt Etling’s passing game enough. Ship these boats down the river with FedEx®️, it’s over.
7. Arlington: Perez passes 1,000 season yards in vain. Good for him. There is no better example of “wins aren’t a QB stat” right now. This team is done.
8. Houston: Pathetic. Fire Curtis Johnson. God that feels good to say. I don’t like Curtis Johnson. Johnson deponendus est.

Getting a 100% score on Originality.ai, involves ensuring your content is as human-like and unique as possible.
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3. Edit Extensively: After generating content with AI, edit it thoroughly. Change sentence structures, replace common phrases with creative expressions, and ensure the text flows naturally like human writing.
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7. Reference Current and Localized Information: Include up-to-date and location-specific information that AI might not access or prioritize, which can add a layer of authenticity AI-generated content often lacks.
8. Use Multiple AI Tools: If you use AI, don't rely on a single model. Combine outputs from different AI writing tools to diversify the styles and avoid pattern recognition by detectors.
9. Manual Review by Others: Have your content reviewed by other people. Fresh eyes can spot AI-like patterns or unnatural phrasing that you might overlook.
10. Regularly Update Your Methods: As AI detection tools evolve, so should your strategies. Keep abreast of the latest in AI writing and detection technology to continuously refine your approach.

Stay tuned for more tips and tricks.

"Greetings readers of this website or of wherever your seeing this narration, my name is Beyond Light starting another transmission to continue my fable. Before we proceed with the narration of my "journey", I shall give some rules about TWW and explain the main story line. The narration and story that you readers are following is nothing more but an story as well the events, everything that is being told here is nothing more a story I created. After all that's what the author does, he creates a story with his characters on it, and he narrates to people their adventures, what happens inside and how the story goes on...every single story has a purpose and meaning, they all have a different lesson to teach the readers and most important, they carry a message from the authors to the readers as well. So sit down, pick your popcorn and I hope you enjoy my narration, I promise to not stay constantly breaking the fourth wall and going out of the character, having said that let's proceed from where we stopped"
(Scene cuts and blackens, returning back to the last scene)
As I was preparing to leave the strange room I was, I noticed there was no door anymore for me to leave, like if it just disappeared. "Can this be another change of the shifting room?" - I told myself while inspecting again the walls, It was when I had the idea to touch the walls to see if I could spawn a door there and for my surprise the bricks started changing and shaping to form a door for me. Upon leaving the tower, I started walking while reading the book to find possible ways to reach and talk with this "Storyteller Spider" who was responsible for my entire existence probably. During my trip I noticed a river in the distance, well hidden by the dense fog of the place. As I approached the river I saw a raft next to it, probably it leaded to the place I wanted to go, where I could possibly find my answers so I entered the raft to start my next trip. The book also had some kind of map pointing my current location and where the river would lead so It was easy guiding myself through it while the raft was starting to navigate through the weird waters. As I was reading through the book's pages, I realized there was an "moon" above me, somehow starring at me. "Hello Ms. Moon, the night is beautiful today isn't it?" - I said in low tone to the moon above me, the moon did not seemed to answer me but they were looking at me still. "Can I ask who you are and why your looking at me?" - I said again trying to get the moon to talk with me
"I am....Nevermoon ☽" - said the entity
"And what are you exactly? Your not one of those editors right?" - I asked curiously to the moon
"The Editors can only write what they can perceive, but I exist above their perception....I am outside of their story, I am the little moon shining through the pages while they sit on their desk to write their story down" - replied Nevermoon to Skinande
"And what is this place then?" - I asked again
"Is named the Collective Webs, the point where all stories are tangled and connected flowing through this river...the waters your navigating right now connects every single web from the Collective Webs" - replied Nevermoon
"So...if everything exists on those webs, and if they carry all the flux of the stories, does that means we are outside of the universe?" - I asked to the moon again trying to understand better the place I was in
"Not only the universe, but the multiverse and even the omniverse...in those webs lays everything that exists....and your currently about to leave the Collective Webs" - replied Nevermoon
"Wait hold on, you mean...this place is currently above Yggdrasil?" - I asked surprised
"Yggdrasil or Terra as humans calls her, is a aspect of existence that embodies existence itself with every single story being inside her but even someone like her is still part of a narrative written by Editors. Traveling beyond the limits of Yggdrasil's branches, you reach the place you are right now, the Collective Webs, weaved by Editors to connect every single story existing created by them" - replied Nevermoon
"And what's beyond it?" - I asked to the moon
"The Primary Web" - replied Nevermoon
"What's that?" - I asked confused
"The Primary Web is the web that holds the entire stack of stories we are part of, including Yggdrasil and the Collective Webs, however to leave the Collective Webs your gonna have to pass through The Point of no Return first" - Replied Nevermoon
"Point of what?...." - I asked not understanding what the moon meant, deeply I was curious to know more about the trip I was doing and even If I had the book, I still wanted to learn more about how things worked
"The region where this river your navigating meets its conclusion, the region in which your about to enter. The Point of no Return is where all the stories of the Collective Webs collides, crashes and ends...where the river's flow ends into a void blank ocean, is the barrier that separates an fictional character from accessing the Primary Web" - replied Nevermoon
"So recapping this place is the Collective Web, and for me to reach and talk with that spider I need pass through some kind of barrier?" - I asked trying to understand better as the raft kept navigating through the river
"Correct" - replied Nevermoon
"And what's beyond the Primary Web exactly?" - I asked
"The Dark Frontier, Inaccessible to you, to me and to everyone in all stories including the editors who controls them, unfortunately I don't know what lays above the Dark Frontier" - replied Nevermoon
Before I could ask more questions to the moon above me, I started to notice the raft was leaving the river and starting to head towards some kind of ocean with the skies entirely black. The waters of that blank ocean were an dark blue making it impossible to see the bottom, although judging by the explanation of Nevermoon, those "waters" were actually webs that somehow looked like a river and right now I was about to leave the story I was in towards the Point of no Return. I spent hours on the raft just navigating through an dark ocean, the only thing I had as companion was the moon above me, being the only single light I had to guide me towards this black ocean. During the trip I started to notice a fog forming around the area, probably indicating I was entering the Point of no Return, I confess I was extremely nervous for not just the situation being so confusing and scary but I was also stepping in places mankind would never dream with, places beyond their comprehension and understanding so It was like if a boulder was being placed over my back like if I was carrying some kind of burden. "I am even human at this point??" - I asked myself. I couldn't help it I mean, one time your just a ordinary teenager leading your life and then you discover your world is fiction and you build a whole journey to meet with God, I was completely lost at this point but one thing I knew for sure. I came this whole whole way to meet that spider god and I was not gonna back off now. "Im willed to cross as much layers I need just to find my answers, even if I need to kill that spider and those editors, I will do anything to find answers of what I am and what my world is" - I said to myself with a tone of determination as the raft crossed the point of no return. From that point all I could see around me was the raft I was in, the thick and dense fog around me and of course, the "waters". It was when the raft stopped like if it was impossible going further. "Did I arrived??" - I said while looking around trying to find anything that would help me leave. While exploring I noticed in front of the raft strange patterns similar to webs, they were almost invisible but I could still see them and looking above it seemed like they extended further. The moon stopped responding my questions hours ago so I decided to attempt a risky move and made a jump to grab those webs and trying to hold myself on it. For my surprise it worked and I could hold into them without problem, so I started "climbing" into them towards what seemed the "ceiling" or something similar, also seemed to be made of webs. I tried sticking my hands to cross the ceiling to see if I could cross the barrier that separated the Collective Webs from what seemed to be the Primary Web, it was literally above. With a lot of effort and determination I managed to cross and pass my hands through the ceiling, forcing myself to go in and cross the barrier by force, I was finally there.....
"Woah...this chapter extended a lot, I'm amazed how it lasted considering the last one was probably not that long. I would like to thank whoever is reading this, your support and attention means a lot to me more than anything and if you have questions I will be glad to answer them, as well doubts too. Thank you yet again for being here with me, this is your guest Beyond Light shutting down the transmission and if I haven't said this yet; Good-Morning, Good-Evening, and Goodnight"
-Transmission Terminated by Beyond Light, your shining guest
Previous / Next

Hello everyone,
I’m here to give hope to all the folks that hate Anki. I have tried anki off and on through the last two years and honestly hate it. It feels like a waste of time for me so here’s what I did.
Tested April 8 and passed.
Cbssa 29 December-62% 95% chance of passing. (This is without any step prep and just having done blocks through the first year and half of school USMD) Form 25 february- 72% Form26 march- 77% Form 28 march- 76% Old free 120, 10 days before exam-85% Form 31, 7 days before exam-84% New free 120, 4 days before exam-84%
UW approx 50% complete at 64% correct Amboss 70% complete at 87% correct
My percent correct for amboss is highly skewed because I would use the add-on for anki and study material and then do the relevant practice questions. Again, I did not use anki for study, just the amboss add on. Highly highly recommend this, this was so helpful!
I began dedicated in march, studied for four and half weeks. I was getting a close to pass/safe score before dedicated and here’s how:
I studied material in the blocks thoroughly! I looked at processes and themes. I did not memorize facts, I made flow charts and stories to explain things. I focused on quality over quantity. I did not ever move on pass something unless I I thoroughly understood it, I sent many many emails for extra explanations from professors. I used in house material first to get a basic understanding then I used pathoma and first aid, then I did the relevant questions on amboss from the zanki deck with the amboss add on. The only time I would skip material was if it was low yield or I truly couldn’t make sense of it then I kinda abandoned it (you won’t be able to understand everything and that’s okay)
I scored very well on in house exams doing this. I did not study at all over summer break. I used that as a time to solely recharge. Just chilled back home.
I used sketchy pharm and sketchy micro for hi yields only. (Antibiotics, cardio, renal drugs) and hi yield bugs.
Whenever we moved into a new block, I didn’t necessarily review old material. Instead I just reviewed stuff that related to what I was learning. EX: during neuro the anatomy went over the hypothalamus and pituitary, I briefly reviewed the hypothalamic pituitary axis from endocrine block. I did this throughout the years and I felt it was very helpful to review stuff that related to what I was currently doing. This was not a lot of stuff just a few concepts each week or so.
Dedicated: 5 weeks
Sketchy biochem and pixorize biochem- took about 2 weeks to do those thoroughly and used the first aid chapters on biochem to supplement and review
Pathoma from start to finish and read the pathoma text 2x through
Reviewed pharm and micro that I had already learned. I didn’t add much new material except biochem and biostats was basically starting from scratch for me.
So that’s it folks, I feel like where I was strong was having a good foundation from the start and learning things thoroughly and in a way that made sense to me. I had a lot of doubts bc of how much people push anki, but I often feel that you can memorize a card but not really understand it or the process so it only gets you so far.
Good luck everyone and feel free to ask questions!

File Sequence: <Beginning> -First Contact[10]- -Conclusion- <Legends>
_______________________________
Secret Files: <CoS[1]> -Cos[2]-
Note: Figured it would be "lore-flexible'' to divide the "Tree" into 3 branches; Legends(WP/Side stories that might not be canon), Archives(Main safe route), and Secret Files(Major Spoilers). Also, no intro quotes this time, sorry, i decided to make them only for "serious" chapters.(Besides, i wrote like 20 already.) Also, Lazarus is not around due to internet issues, so, *tsk* im doing it all alone, again...
Oh yeah, I also must congratulate myself with my last chapter. Forget about not receiving any help requests, we managed to remain on 0 comments and -1(if i remove mine) upvotes. And more than 6k people saw the post. Unbelievable... Thats the record! Of lowest score ever possible. You can't repeat it on HFY subreddit, or probably ANY subreddit with at least 2000 followers for that matter. Even if you tried to do so on purpose... Should i drop the writing for real this time? I think im cursed...
...
...
...

Return Of Vanquished

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
/Connected.
/Mellator Matrix Mind.
/SubUnit: AVA-9252002
/Memory Transmission Subject: Woorrrl, emperor of Bloboid empire. Former Grand Admiral of First Blockade of Intergalactic Alliance. Current Chancellor of Intergalactic Senate.
/Time-space: 9 rotations from Black Battle.
/Location: On the way to Gh'urrl.
/Sequence Code: .- .-- ..- -- .- -- -.- --.. -- -... .-
/Transmission in 3...2...1...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
We were quiet.
All of us.
Yes, just like that monsters, "Shaders"...
Entire fleet crew was traveling back home, without dropping a word to one another. Of course, as there was really nothing to talk about to begin with. We just blankly looked at our screens and panels, or even freezing our minds at times, looking into one spot.
Around 80 percent of our "first strike" and observation fleet was destroyed. Their remains, or "corpses", as our warrior race likes to name them, was drifting back there, way on the edge of the dead space quadrants. And we probably won't be able to retrieve any of them at all, like we tend to do with broken down or dismantled equipment...
Our remaining ships wasn't in their "blooming" stage either. Some had broken wings, not fully functioning FTL drives and gears, unstable shields that consumed more energy while trying to stabilize themselves and ultimately failing by simply popping due to unbalanced particle voltage, missing few components here and there, and also had empty pockets of hatches, where our "life-probe's" supposed to be stored. Well, thats due to the fact that some of them were deactivated in that skirmish or used to rescue our crew.
Now we were flying across the expanse of space, back to square one(both literally and figuratively), where it all started. Most of our dining and rest rooms were now overcrowded. Since the most of our Escorting Fleets were obliterated, their helmsmen and crew now was aboard the Mothership, cleaning the deck from all this mess or fixing and repairing systems. And oh holy pores, there was things to repair...
The "Scout Fist" alone had 90 percent of it's weapons broken down and melted. It's main turrets were burnt and smoked with fifty or so shades of gray, showing the complete combat incapacity. Mothership's main shield generator occasionally short-wired, making it look like a giant broken lightbulb, or billboard with electricity problems. Only thing that kept us alive is the hull itself, that, thankfully, was only scratched and "drawn" over with that constant laser beams. I really wonder how big of a repairment fees the Alliance will have to pay for all of this...
As for me? I just stood, (well, not really as these black snipers somehow managed to disable most of our gravitational panels as well so we been half walking-half hovering from now on) on the main deck, surrounded with my fellow generals as well as unused engineers on standby. We have to admit, going straight to the enemy was not the wisest idea, and it will cost us. A lot. I doubted that there could be a possible way to confront them. In fact, after seeing how these "Dark Warriors" fought, any direct assault would end up in their favor, leaving us at their mercy. I didn't know what are we going to do now. Just didn't...
The signal light on the panel blinked, indicating the incoming call. I tiredly waved my manipulator and one of the Ewwlian workers, that was not even supposed to be on this ship, nodded and patched it through.
After a longer than usual static, the main screen finally lit up, revealing the all known war hero, Mikik (despite his firm stance, it was a little awkward to loot at as two Tamlite spiders, one Crickzuk praying mantis, and one Shuulma octopus in their suits with "Q" symbol on their uniform tried to fix one of the gravity panels, blowtorching the floor behind his back).
"Greetings, Your Highness..." He tiredly hissed.
"Likewise, Fleetmaster." I replied.
"I'm rather glad to notify that most of our FTL drives have been stabilised and we can increase our speeds at 40 percent."
"Good" i sighed, rubbing my cuirasses below my metal suit "Reroute energy in main engines and increase the collider particles acceleration."
"Yes, Your Highness..." He nodded then turned to his(and not) crew " Activate FTL drives!" With echoes of "Aye aye sir!" and feet (or appendages for some) stamping, the crew trotted to the engines to activate them to their max. With buzzing of hundreds remaining engines, ships are now flew with their "normal" sub-light speeds, cutting the fabric of space even more than before.
We all just took our seats (or fixated the exoskeleton to the floor in my case). Mikik took a sip from his favorite drink and exhaled:
"Finally... I wonder, what we do now?"
"So do i..." i answered. "What i can say for sure however, is that R'ikitiks lost their status of "Strongest warriors in the galaxy", no offence [gentlemen]..."
"None taken." General lizards waved back and gritted their teeth, realizing the full weight of shame in that statement.
"True, true..." Fleetmaster Mikik sighed. "I can't even imagine that walk of shame when we will tell the senate that our 'Scout Fist' failed. Oh, and the panic of society, it's going to be a nightmare..."
"Yeah, but we can't help but tell them." I growled "Everyone must know how much of a danger these "Shaders" possess. We must unite like never before, if we want our people to be safe." I raised my manipulators in determination.
**********
Attention to all personnel. We will arrive in Lura Twins system in half a suuta. Get ready.
**********
Suddenly was announced from main intercom by the tech team.
"Oh well, here we go..." I replied.
When we finally entered the system, i entered the observatory room and opened the main telescope to see one of these twins. What i saw however shocked me to my cores. There wasn't two tropical worlds with all their sands and beach water that most of xenos so liked to swim in. What there was instead is two black spheres with red outlines. The oceans was not even visible. Entire landscape was complete darkness. The center of the planet looked like a red eye, rings of glowing lights surrounded the sides. It looked like that rings you see on the stump of the tree, or cırcles of streets in the center of megapolis. It looked like some eldrich abomination consumed and terraformed it...
Once i shakingly shifted my visors from it, i saw even more horrifying picture; Hundreds, no, thousands of darker than black ellipsoids with different sizes were rotating around it, constructing the rings with their bodies.
Suddenly, few dozen of them flew directly to "Scout Fist". They ignored any fire from the support fleets, their ability to dodge every shot made them look twice as menacing. When they reached the Mothership, they have formed the the ring on semi-perpendicular diagonal from its axes around it, spinning in that slow and scary manner. It did not took long enough as all of our systems roared with alarms from incoming laser rain. We were doomed. For sure this time.
Now the atmosphere depressure alarms joined the party as the giant hole was blown straight in the middle of the main deck, sucking in all of ship's crew members. I felt that my exoskeleton too, was losing its posture and slowly started to slide to that breach.
Oh no...
I quickly grabbed one of the panel slabs and tried my best to hold on it. Unfrotunately, the grounding plates that it was installed on, slowly started to come off of its pocket. Just a few more [seconds] and it will be all gone. One last loud metal gritting and i flew base forward in that breach along with that slab i was holding on, spinning like a propeller in the void of open space.
This. Cannot. BE!
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
/[Dream] class memory sequence ended.
/Returning to original sequence.
/Transmission in 3...2...1...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I woke up cold like the side of a freezer. With nearly a roar i jumped from my socket, making a flip, and ended up upside down on the ceiling, clinging to the dim spotlight like a [tick].
"Are you okay?" I heard one of the General R'ikitiks asked as the rest of them looked at me from their rest bunks, woken from all the noise i made.
"I'm fine. It was just a nightmare, sorry..." i guiltily exhaled, looking at the dents on the metal i made with my manipulators. Then i jolted from abrupt and yet so familiar intercom announcment:
************
Attention to all personnel. We will arrive in Lura Twins system in half a suuta. Get ready.
************
"Okay, maybe not!" I exclaimed and quickly hovered(Yes, gravity panels was still an issue) from the cabin.
While i could not believe that this is possible, i still wanted to make sure it was just a stupid dream and not some sort of "forecast". I tried my best to move in this zero gravity and swimmed in the corridors like a [jellyfish] retracting my appendages on the walls and propulsing forward. When i managed to get to the main observation compartment, i rushed to the main telescope, pushing aside the navigation specialist before he even could say "Your Highness?!". When i looked trough it, for real this time, i saw that familiar sand-planet, with all it's glory of that cloud clusters, some craters and that famous river on the equator.
What a relief.
"S-sir?"
I looked at the source of meowling, and saw one of the most recognizable Ewwlians in my fleet, Captain Moor. He stood(as much as one could with gravi-panels working only with 20% output) among the navigation team members, with ears slightly folded on the back of his head. One would think that he supposed to be on one of that drone-carrier frigates, but guess what? Yes, it was abandoned and blew up in the dead space as well. In fact two thirds of Mothership itself was disconnected and left behind as it was broken down and became a dead weight on our engines and energy routes. We were only hanging on the remaining disc of one third of it's former glory, crowding it from the toilets to rest rooms.
"Im fine." i camly replied "Well, not completely but everything is better than it could be..."
The concerns slowly faded away from his muzzle and ears flip back up. Then he asked me once again, flicking his tail:
" E-excuse me sir, shouldn't we start to prepare for the landing?"
"Oh, oh right!" i snapped, remebering all of the duties i have to perform on this now one-wreck-of-a-ship. "Tell everyone to gather on main deck, we need to contact the Lyra-1."
He saluted me with firm tail swing and trotted back in the corridors.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
/Time-skip: {20 human minutes}
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
It was actually painfully long to properly enter the orbit of this planet. Thats due to the fact that our non-FTL thrusters was kinda in "shambles" as well. So here were are, nearly drifting to this choke-point. And, as all strategically important things, it was well defended. Why it's been pointed out? Thats because entire armada came to meet the remains of our expedition.
When these ships swarmed us, we got an immediate signal, hailing us. With my manipulator wave, it was patched through. On the screen was an wery familiar member of molluscoid species:
"What is the meaning of this?! The 'Scout Fist' wasn't supposed to return! Why more than the half of it is GONE?!" the octopus on the other side of the screen exclaimed. " Also my radars only scans like twenty destroyers, where are the remaining, like, five hundred of them?!"
"Calm down Bluufo..." i tiredly responded. " It's gonna be a wery, WERY, long story..."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
/Memory transmission ended.
/Sequence Code: .. --.. -- ..- .-- --.. -- .--. --.- .-.. .-.. -- ...-
/Disconnection...
+++++++++++++++++++++++++

In August, I made a significant decision to step away from my decent-paying job. Reflecting on my preparation journey, I came to the realization that balancing work and preparation wasn't conducive to excelling for me (taking a break wasn't feasible either).Living on my own, I dedicated myself fully to preparation. I took more than 40 mock exams, gaining confidence as I consistently scored 98% or higher in the final phase of preparation.
On the big day, I tackled 19 questions in VARC, 10 in DILR, and 13 in QA. The post-exam analysis on Telegram filled me with confidence; I was sure I had performed well and would achieve a good score and percentile. However, the wait for the response sheet was nerve-wracking. Amidst this, I also wrote SNAP, which I felt went smoothly.
As I headed to write NMAT, the response sheet for the previous exam was released, and to my dismay, I had only scored 4 marks in VARC.
CAT OA 95.35 VARC 34.xx DILR 99.xx QA 99.xx
I felt shattered and cried in the rickshaw after seeing my score. I wrote NMAT with tears in my eyes, haunted by the results. Coming back to an empty home, I cried all day. My parents were supportive but disappointed. It felt like everything was over, and everyone was asking about my scores, which added to the stress.
No one believed in me except for my partner, who never lets me doubt myself. Never. He believed in me even when I stopped believing in myself. He made me pull myself up and focus on XAT.
I had no zeal left, all I did was past year papers and some YouTube videos for DM.
Despite giving my best effort, my XAT score fell short, landing at a disappointing ~29 marks. Realizing this, I understood that my chances for a top-tier college were slim, and I might have to settle for a tier 2 or 3 institution.
When the XAT results were released, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had scored 96.6, clearing all sectionals for both programs. This unexpected success brought a ray of hope into my journey.
Filled with renewed determination, my partner and I stayed up until 4 in the morning crafting my SOP
I went to my partner's place to prepare for my interviews because I knew I'm lagging somewhere. I wasn't being able to impress the panelists.
My partner( who is from a tier 1 B-School himself) gave it his all. Made me prepare HR questions,and everything under the sun,took mock interviews. Grilled my ass in them. Discussed my interview performances. Gave a structure to my PI preparation. He saw in me what nobody else did. My friend, guide and mentor. I'll always be grateful for what he did for me.
8th of March: XLRI BM interview. To calm my nerves, I went to the hotel, had adrak wali chai, and took a moment for myself.
During the group discussion (GD), I spoke second, making four solid entries with industry examples and quotes. It boosted my confidence for the Personal Interview (PI). When it was my turn for the PI, I entered with a calm and confident demeanor, framing my answers thoughtfully. The interview went exceptionally well, leaving me with a feeling of certainty that I would secure a spot, at least in the Delhi campus.
Afterward, I met with my partner at Cyber Hub for lunch. Sharing my experience with him, he expressed confidence in my success, even more than I did. His unwavering belief was a constant source of motivation.
16th of March: XLRI HRM interview. During the group discussion (GD), I spoke fourth and made four entries, but it didn't go as well as I had hoped.
When it was my turn for the Personal Interview (PI), I wasn't feeling confident. Unfortunately, I bombed the interview and was on the verge of tears.
Returning from the interview, I shared my disappointment with my partner, who obviously consoled me.
As time went by, I received admission offers from IMT Ghaziabad (marketing) and IMI Delhi core programs and XIMB. I convinced myself that IMT was a good option, being closer to home and all.
However, deep down, I still hoped for a positive outcome from XLRI. The prolonged delay in results only heightened my anxiety. My percentile was not as high as I had hoped, and I kept questioning my interview performance.
Doubts crept in as I analyzed and reanalyzed my answers, unsure of what the final decision would be.
To distract myself from the constant scrolling and waiting, I decided to go on a small trip with my friends. While sipping on banta at a roadside stall, a message popped up on Telegram announcing that XLRI results were out. With trembling hands, I checked my email, and there it was - WL 100, a waitlist position. But it didn't matter; I had made it to XLRI Jamshedpur.
The mix of emotions overwhelmed me, and I couldn't contain my joy. I called my boyfriend and tears of relief and happiness flowed freely. Rechecking the mail thread confirmed my acceptance into the BM program in Delhi.
BM delhi - converted BM JSR - WL 100 HRM - WL 64
Could not believe my eyes. I did it. After everything. After every pang of self doubt, after every failure, all the anxiety attacks. I did it.
The cream of the crop, XLRI Jamshedpur, awaits me.
I was happy, but there was one more person who was happier :)
I owe it to that man. ❤️

Since it's decision release day, a lot more ppl are probably active on this sub. So, I wanted to share my stats, and was wondering if you could chance me, since people with similar stats who are accepted may see this! I plan to apply next year, so I want to see how qualified I am!
NVM SCREW IT IM DOING IT NOW I HAVE NO PATIENCE LMAOO 😭
(All the crossed out info would reveal stuff about myself, crossing out for privacy + none of the ecs or awards are in order, I just listed them as I remembered them)
Indian Female
Rlly competitive area
Straight As
SAT/ACT: 1370 SAT (710 RW + 660 Math), 28 ACT (I plan to get my SAT math score up over the summer, this was my score without prep)
Classes (that matter):
French 1
Orchestra (will be doing the higher orchestra in highschool)
PA ELA, Science, and Social Studies (higher level than reg ela, sci and social)
Honors Geometry
(These are the highest classes my school offers)
STEM Activities
First Lego League Robotics, 2019 - Present, hours per week
Junior Varsity Science Olympiad, 2023 - 2024, 3 hours per week
Other Activities
Kathak (Indian Classical Dancing), 2016 - Present, 2.5 hours per week
------- (non-audition orchestra club I joined), 2022 - 2023, 2 hours per week
Chamber Strings, 2023 - Present, 3 hours per week, Fourth Chair First Violin
Indian Carnatic Singing, 2021 - Present, 1.5 hours per week
Art YouTube channel with 50,000+ views
STEM Awards
2023, First Lego League ------- Qualifier Champion's Award
2024, First Lego League ------- Sectional Champion's Award
2022, First Lego League ------- Qualifier Champion's Award
2024, First Lego League ------- Sectional Robot Performance 1st Place
2022, First Lego League ------- Qualifier Robot Performance Award 2nd Place
2023, First Lego League ----- State Competition Core Values Award
2024, Science Olympiad Regional Competition - 3rd Place Junior Varsity Forestry
2024, Science Olympiad District --- Invitational - 1st Place Junior Varsity Forestry
2024, Science Olympiad District --- Invitational - 2nd Place Junior Varsity Ecology
2024, Science Olympiad District --- Invitational - 3rd Place Junior Varsity Experimental Design
Other Awards
Participated in Illinois Music Education Association (ILMEA) District 9 Festival
I'm also going to have a leadership position as one of the two coaches of a First Lego League robotics team next year.
And this year my team was accepted to fll world, so I'm planning to add that once I do it
And next year I plan to do more robotics, not fll but maybe vex or like frc or smth, I'm looking into it rn
Tbh I've seen so many ppl on here with cracked stats that I literally can't compete but I wanted to see my chances 😭😭

How can I manifest money? is a commonly asked question for manifestation..
I have compiled a table of commonly used methods. Experiment and discover which ones resonate with you look through. Research your favorites online to dive deeper. Good luck!

 Technique Name Description Steps to Manifest Money ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Vision Board A collage of images representing desired wealth outcomes. - Gather images of wealth symbols
- Place prominently in living space
- Visualize daily Affirmations Positive, present-tense statements to foster a prosperity mindset. - Write or print statements
- Repeat daily
- Post in visible areas Financial Meditation Using meditation to focus and manifest wealth. - Meditate daily on financial goals
- Use guided wealth meditations Money Manifestation Spells Using rituals or ceremonies to attract wealth. - Find suitable spells
- Create a calm ritual space
- Perform regularly Creative Visualization Mentally picturing yourself achieving wealth. - Practice daily visualization
- Use strong, positive imagery
- Focus on feelings of success Manifestation Box Placing written desires in a box to focus intentions. - Decorate a special box
- Write desires on paper
- Review and visualize regularly Energy Clearing Removing negative energy regarding money. - Use sage or incense
- Cleanse home and workspace
- Practice positive thinking Gratitude Journaling Writing about things you are grateful for to attract more. - Keep a daily journal
- Note financial wins
- Reflect on progress 3-6-9 Manifestation Method Using number patterns and repetition to focus intentions. - Write your financial wish 3 times in the morning
- Repeat it 6 times in the afternoon
- Write it 9 times at night Scripting Writing detailed scenarios of your life as if they have happened. - Write journal entries from future self
- Include specifics of your financial success
- Read regularly Positive Environment Surrounding yourself with positive influences and wealth signs. - Decorate with inspiring artwork
- Join wealthy networks
- Attend uplifting events Feng Shui Arranging your living space to attract wealth. - Apply Feng Shui principles
- Place wealth symbols
- Maintain clutter-free environments Charity and Philanthropy Giving to attract more abundance through good karma. - Choose causes you care about
- Donate time or money
- Believe in reciprocal generosity Abundance Checks Writing checks to yourself to manifest financial abundance. - Write a check to yourself on the new moon
- Specify an amount you want to manifest
- Visualize receiving that money Mirror Work Using affirmations while looking into a mirror to boost confidence. - Look into a mirror daily
- Speak affirmations about wealth
- Feel the emotions of having wealth Crystal Healing Using stones and crystals that promote financial prosperity. - Identify crystals like citrine or jade
- Place them in your wallet or purse
- Meditate holding them Mind Mapping Creating visual diagrams of your path to wealth. - Draw your financial goals as a central idea
- Branch out methods of achievement
- Use colors and symbols for emphasis Lunar Cycle Manifestation Leveraging the phases of the moon to enhance manifestation efforts. - Start new projects on the new moon
- Set intentions during the full moon
- Release negativity on the waning moon Water Manifestation Using water as a conduit for intentions, inspired by its flowing properties. - Write financial goals on paper
- Place in a flowing stream or river
- Visualize goals flowing into reality Color Visualization Incorporating specific colors associated with wealth and prosperity. - Wear green or gold clothing
- Decorate areas with these colors
- Use colored lights for meditation Sound Frequency Meditation Listening to specific sound frequencies believed to attract abundance. - Use frequencies like 528 Hz or 639 Hz
- Meditate with these sounds daily
- Combine with affirmations Aromatherapy for Prosperity Using essential oils that are thought to increase wealth attraction. - Diffuse cinnamon or patchouli oil
- Apply oils while setting intentions
- Inhale deeply during financial meditations Digital Vision Board Creating an electronic version of a vision board for constant access. - Use apps or software to design the board
- Include images of wealth and success
- Review and update regularly Prosperity Dance Ritual Combining physical movement with intentions to manifest money. - Create a playlist of uplifting music
- Dance regularly while visualizing wealth
- Use symbolic gestures or steps Planting Seeds for Prosperity Literal planting of seeds as a metaphor for financial growth. - Plant seeds in a garden or pot
- Associate each with a financial goal
- Nurture regularly as you would your finances Future Self Visualization Engaging in deep visualizations where you meet and learn from your future, wealthier self. - Engage in guided meditations
- Imagine conversations with your future self
- Embody lessons and advice received 

Source
​

General Content Warning for this entire write-up, so everyone can have a good time: - Extensive discussion of topics related to mental illness, including self-harm, suicidal ideation, mania / bipolar disorder, distortion of truth, medication, involuntary hospitalization, medical abuse in a hospital setting, and romanticization of mental illness. - Non-detailed mentions of domestic violence (implied abuse by intimate partner and parents) and sexual / gender-based violence (including rape, child sexual assault, grooming, sex trafficking and torture). These last few items feature prominently in one installment, pertaining to a work of fiction; descriptions may be a bit more specific/detailed in that segment, but not graphic. - Mentions and quotes of unchill bigoted behavior, including ableism (mental and physical), white nonsense / white fragility / racism, fatphobia, prejudice against drug users.
Additional CWs may be added at the beginning of specific segments when relevant. While these are heavy topics, the tone of this write-up is generally light-hearted and aims to entertain. If this approach sounds uncomfortable or trivializing, this may not be a good read for you; please trust your gut!
*
Picture this: it's the early 2010s, somewhere in the western world. Instagram is a novelty, Harvey Weinstein runs Hollywood, almost no one on Earth leans one way or the other about RNA vaccines, and Donald Trump is that one real estate guy you vaguely remember from Home Alone 2. New player Lady Gaga is the most interesting thing to have happened to pop since Madonna, and the whole industry is attempting to catch up; Miley Cyrus is the chick who used to be on Hannah Montana; Melanie Martinez hasn't hatched yet. The time of Oddball Concept Divas is dawning just below the horizon.
You're a Bowie-loving student who skipped goth night at the club to tag along with your art school friends for a very special evening. You're a giddy sixteen-year old rocking cat ears, purple Wet 'n Wild eyeliner, a polyester petticoat, and a coffin-shaped backpack. You're an effete theater kid who sewed his own waistcoat for the occasion, but won't dare wear it to school the next day. You're a buff, bearded dude in a Venom shirt who's trying not to look too excited, since your girlfriend supposedly had to drag you here. You're a slightly bemused parent leaning against the back wall of the venue, sipping a warm half-pint, wondering if this isn't all a bit dark for a tween. (“It's called 'Victoriandustrial', mom,” you've been told in the car, “and it's not dark, it's art.”)
On stage is a pink-haired woman, with red porcelain-doll lips and a heart painted on her cheek. Among a set of antique consoles, twee tchotchkes, teacups and plastic rats, she pounces and twirls in glittery platform boots, tattered striped stockings, and a tightly laced crystal-studded corset that looks like it's splattered in blood. This is ostensibly a concert, but there is no live band. Where one would expect a drum kit or a bass, three bedazzled burlesque vixens act as back-up singers and dancers, with the occasional vaudeville act – a fire-twirling number, a fan dance, throwing pastries and spitting tea into the audience. Lots of wholesome girl-on-girl kissing, too. The music on the backing track is a genre-bender of clanging beats and beeps, lofty orchestral strings, and the frantic hammering of a MIDI harpsichord, as the pink-haired frontlady sings of heartache and betrayal and drowning. Think if the Brontë sisters had invented industrial rock.
The audience gasps in excitement when the lady whips out a vamped-out wireless electric violin. With rockstar cool and virtuoso poise, she leans into the instrument, touches the bow to the strings, and tears out a single plaintive, impeccably distorted high note. Then her fingers go wild, and for a few seconds, everything is perfect suspended animation. Uncannily perfect, almost. Just behind you, you hear someone whisper: “Wait, is she miming it?”
*
Forgive the theatrical intro, but I had to set the stage for... the drama. And I do mean drama in the thespian sense of the term! This, ladies and gentlemen, is a Shakespeare play: wordy and confusing, but it's neat how the main character's opening lines foreshadow the tragic climax. It's a Greek tragedy for the digital age – if, instead of killing his dad and banging his mom, after becoming king, Oedipus was doomed to becoming uniquely obnoxious. It's The Rocky Horror Show under the grim direction of Samuel Beckett. Like all good theatre, this story is about how fiction bleeds into reality – through the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, and how all the world's a stage and all that.

WHO IS EMILIE AUTUMN, AND WHAT'S THE DRAMA?

Here's the Broadway Weekly blurb, so you can decide whether the show is worth your time: Emilie Autumn, also known as EA, is a US-American alternative singer-songwriter, author, and actor. She became known in alt circles in the mid-2010s for her violin skills, unique fashion, outspoken stances on feminism and mental health advocacy, and the way she dramatized and sublimated her own life story in her art. In 2009, she self-published a semi-autobiographical book that became a sort of bible to her creative universe and fandom. She toured extensively and enjoyed niche, but considerable success until the mid-2010s – with hordes of devoted fans adopting her fashion sense and lingo, and crediting her music for getting them through dark times.
For the past twelve years or so, EA has mostly been focused on adapting her book into a stage musical, releasing two more albums of songs intended for the libretto. At the time of this write-up, it has been six years since the last album and a decade since the last live show. Although she still talks about the musical as an ongoing, Broadway-bound project, in recent years, she's often gone dark for months at a time on social media. There is no forum, no large Discord, no active community to speak of; comments are restricted on her currently-inactive Instagram and blog.
Who is she hiding from, you ask? Why, you've probably guessed it: the hordes of devoted fans whom she infuriates every time she does anything.
And what are they furious about? (Or frustrated, flummoxed, or plain ol' flabbergasted?) Well, it depends who you ask. For some, it's disappointment in her artistic and marketing choices (what are fans for?). Others cite unkept promises or absurd release delays. For others yet, it's the AliBaba merch sold at jaw-dropping markups with three paragraphs of purple prose in the product description.. Or maybe it was the angry rants on Twitter? Okay, it's the casual bigotry that she staunchly denies or dismisses. It's the criticism she can't take. It's the fact that she won't stop lying about her own life! Either way, I don't personally know of any fanbase that has been so consistently exasperated, for so many years, and for such a diverse array of reasons, by their favorite artist.
In truth, each individual mini-scandal isn't all that juicy or scandalous. Nobody died, no one got sued; nothing of significant value, other than time and sanity, was taken away from anyone. What I find interesting here is the years and years of bizarre parasocial codependency (and antagonism) between a fragile woman who became addicted to her own poppycock, and an obsessive fanbase who cared way too much not to take it personally.
Before we even get to EA's relationship with her fans, you're going to need some lore about EA herself. A “Hobby History” of sorts. Strap in! There's romance, tragedy, laughter, character development, variety numbers, numerous costume changes, (actual) celebrity cameos – and based on how long this OpenOffice doc already is at the time of my writing this, we're probably going to need several intermissions too. This write-up is link-heavy, both with receipts and with additional watching and listening material. Not all of them need to be clicked in order to understand the story; I'm merely providing the rabbit holes. I've tried to make things more easily navigable by including a little glossary about the nature of links; one emoji-indicator carries over the next link until I use a different one.
🪞 = picture / visual 🎵 = music 📺 = video 📝 = primary source / receipt 🔍 = press article / write-up / further reading 🎤 = song lyrics / spoken word audio 🐀 = anonymous fan confession 🦠 = reaction / meme

BAROQUE BEGINNINGS: THE VIOLIN YEARS

VampireFreaks: Do you ever smile to yourself knowing your old music teachers might be seeing your success? EA: I smile to myself knowing they might be dead. (Long-lost interview, late 2000s)

Born in Malibu in the late 70s, Emilie Autumn, often known as EA, was originally trained as a classical violinist.
By her account, she started playing the violin at age 4, and was homeschooled at age 9 so that she could focus on her instrument. After stints at various performing arts colleges, some rather prestigious, she dropped out of formal schooling in her mid-to-late teens to embark on a solo violin career.
In 2001, after disappointing experiences with major record companies, she created her own label, Traitor Records, and released a EP of chamber music, with minor success. The stuffy industry of classical music didn't “get” the twenty-something manic-pixie-fiddler, who played Bach just a bit too fast, but with electric stage presence – wearing period corsets, combat boots, and the occasional fairy wings. But EA evidently knew that there was an audience for that somewhere.
And that somewhere – drumroll – was Illinois.

VW: What do you most hope to accomplish? EA: Everything. (‘Virtual World Radio’ Interview, 2002 📝)

ENCHANT ERA: BRUSHES WITH FAME ON FAERIE WINGS

What if I'm an ocean, far too shallow, much too deep? (...) What if I'm a siren singing gentlemen to sleep? (“What If”, 2003 🎵)

Soon, EA relocated from her native California to Chicago. There, in between odd jobs, she veered away from baroque and began performing her own “fantasy rock” stylings at piano bars, holiday fairs and local venues – and building a decent following through her LiveJournal, website, and IRL friends. People loved the whole renegade genius thing, loved the violin, loved the nightingale voice, loved the fairy wings and costumes🪞, loved the handmade merch and general disdain for The Business, loved her deadpan humor and bookish nerdiness. In 2003, she released her first LP, Enchant 🎵 – an ethereal, introspective indie-pop joint, born under the sign of Imogen Heap, with a moon in Fiona Apple and Tori Amos rising.
Everything about EA's act was exquisitely DIY, personal, and intricate. For instance, the Enchant booklet folded out into a Masquerade-style puzzle of her own design.🪞 The first person to solve the puzzle would win “the Wings, Ruff, Fan and Scepter of the Faerie Queene herself” – all lovingly handmade by EA, and depicted in peak 2003 graphic design on the booklet. For months, YEARS after Enchant came out, people poured over the cryptic metaphors and literary references, the historical symbolism and visual puns of the artwork, looking for hints and patterns. They read every fan chat, every interview, every relevant Shakespeare play, hoping to decipher the inner workings of EA's mind and find new keys to the puzzle. Sure, it's been two decades now and no one's ever managed to crack the damn thing 🔍, which is by now widely assumed to be flawed and unsolvable; still, it's the kind of zany, brainy, immersive experience that tends to cultivate a niche but hyper-invested fanbase.
So it makes perfect sense that underground aficionada and internet frontierswoman Courtney Love (she haunted public AOL chatrooms as early as 1995! 🔍) would take an interest. Just a few months after releasing Enchant, EA was off to southern France to record violin and vocals for Courtney's new solo album; a few months after that, in early 2004, she joined Courtney's band on a brief tour to promote the record.
Alas, no cigar: America's Sweetheart flopped. Maybe because most of those summer recording sessions were ultimately lost to an engineering oopsie; maybe because Courtney was having an especially rough year – and going through all the “rock-bottom moments” that she would discuss in group therapy, later that fall, when she began her sobriety journey at court-ordered rehab. EA, a former homeschool kid who had never done drugs, seems to remember the tour as a generally terrifying experience; she later stated, with some bitterness, that the experience was not worth the time it had taken away from her own solo career.
But it was a good year for TV appearances! Here she is on the David Letterman Show in March 2004, rocking out on a perfectly inaudible violin as C-Love fades in and out of her own body. 📺 She also landed a cute tutorial segment on HGTV's Crafters: Coast to Coast, making sushi-shaped soap and fairy wings. In December, she accompanied Billy Corgan for a Christmas song on a Chicago station.
All of this was chronicled in quirky, wordy posts on her blog – interspersed with late-night musings about casual misogyny in the media 📝, including against Courtney, handmade crafts and clothing auctions, candid pictures of outings with friends in Chicago... as well as periodic updates on the progress of her next opus: Opheliac.

God, too much to even begin to tell right now, and I’m recording anyway, but I can give you this update: I just finished yesterday recording violin parts and backing vocals for B. Corgan’s first single (...) More later, recording piano for my new track “GOD HELP ME”…why do I torture myself with my own self-inflicted drama…or is it a way of exorcizing…yes, I’ll go with that one for now…☠ (“Whirlwind...”, December 2004)

By that point, EA was starting to be more open about her conflicted relationship with what would later be diagnosed as bipolar disorder. The galaxy-brain moments, the trance of creative frenzies, the liminal high of going three days without sleep, the magic... the crippling sensitivity, the restless anxiety, the Zoloft that one both needs and hates, the ever-lurking suicidal thoughts. As EA gradually revealed over the course of 2004, Opheliac would be an exploration of the “mad woman” archetype. The title was a medical neologism for “the syndrome of Ophelia”, as in the tragic character from Hamlet 🔍, driven to insanity and ultimate self-destruction by the fuckboys who rule her life. Here's EA explaining it in her own words. 🎤 The album would dive into how psychiatry and romantic relationships are governed by old misogynistic tropes, and how the “mentally ill” label is used to silence and downplay the justified anger and hurt of abused women.
In a striking case of life imitating art (are you picking up on the theme yet?), this concept was about to become more painfully relevant than ever to EA's personal existence.
CW: implied partner abuse, suicidal ideation.

DISENCHANTMENT: A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS

In the lake, you will find me Behind your house, behind your house (...) My ocean is bluer than the heart you had to break My sea is deeper than your lake (“In the Lake”, 2005 🎵)

Where were we? Ah yes, the Christmas song with Billy Corgan at the end of 2004. Around that time, EA was also recording violin parts and backing vocals for his upcoming solo album. 🎵 They had presumably connected through Courtney, they both lived in Chicago, I guess something clicked.
In January of 2005, EA abruptly went off of her meds, broke up with her live-in boyfriend-slash-bassist, packed up her violin and corsets, and moved into Corgan's mansion. In March of 2005, she posted very melancholy lyrics about drowning in a lake to haunt a deceitful lover. The post was entitled“In The Lake (The Zoloft is calling my name...)” 🎤📝. Later, after the song was released as a B-side, EA disclosed that it had been intended as a public suicide note 📝.
Blog entries from that time touched on a “whirlwind of action and emotion”, “changing residences” and feeling like “you're falling through the air, but you don't know if you'll hit the water or the rocks” 📝. But, EA being an expert vague-poster, her posts remained very elusive about what was going on, who was involved, and how it impacted her. (The specifics were pieced together years later, by fan-led forensic efforts – which, obviously, involved ascertaining the existence of an actual body of water in Billy Corgan's backyard 📝).
Whatever happened over the course of those months was never disclosed explicitly by EA, but is widely assumed to have inspired songs such as “Liar” 🎤, “Misery Loves Company”, “Let the Record Show”, and “I Know Where You Sleep”, , recorded that same spring. A solid quarter of the Opheliac tracklist – which was shaping out to be decidedly darker and grittier than Enchant.

You can lie to the papers, you can hide from the press (...) I know your tainted flesh, I know your filthy soul I know each trick you played, whore you laid, dream you stole I know the bed in the room in the wall in the house Where you got what you wanted and ruined it all I know the secrets that you keep I know where you sleep

Even as her personal blog posts grew more somber, nihilistic, and generally fed-up in the face of what she called “the worst breakdown of her young life”, even as the songwriting process had her rummage through traumatic memories [CW: CSA] 🎤, and even as the Corgan-adjacent trauma was compounded by various rushed moves and broken friendships over that summer and fall, EA remained remarkably (some might say frantically) prolific.
Other than progress on Opheliac, 2005 saw multiple violin collaborations with alternative bands, numerous auctions of, mh, visually strident “punktorian” fashion pieces 📝🪞 (“STRESS COUTURE!” 🦠📺), and an updated re-issue of her 2001 poetry collection, complete with audiobook. ("...The book has been selling like crack in a limo with Courtney Love (and believe me, I know)." - Ooooof, EA. Low-hanging fruit. 📝)
In October, she started recruiting:

WANTED: Hot goth bitch to join touring band of other hot goth bitches. (...) Must be able to: sing backing vocals in a wide range with excellent pitch, growl à la Kittie, handle minimal keyboard parts, push buttons/turn knobs with killer attitude, be extremely comfortable on stage in bloomers and a corset, reside in the Chicago area, know the difference between a crumpet and a scone, have at least one hidden talent. 📝

By winter, most of her blog post titles were written in THIS FORMAT!!!!!!!! In December, she announced that “Emilie Autumn and the Bloody Crumpets” would preview Opheliac live at the Double Door in Chicago, on Friday the 13th (ooh!) of the following month. “We are coming to destroy your world,” the post threatened enticingly. "Miss it and suffer. We really don't want to hurt you.” The flyer advertised a dress code:

Masquerade, Ophelias, green girls, Victorian insane asylum escapees, princes of Denmark, bloomered harlots and rogues – general burlesque ribaldry!

Exit diaphanous butterfly wings and elven tiaras 📺, enter the haunted murder-doll with the blood-red heart on her cheek; out with Elizabethan chamber-pop, in with Victoriandustrial. The fairy had to die to make way for the iconic, the sublime, the tragic, the ridiculous, the positively bananas...

OPHELIAC ERA: LET THE RECORD SHOW

EA: What's more interesting, and what's more fun to watch, than a crazy girl's self-destruction? Nothing. Nothing in the world. (The Opheliac Companion, 2008 🎤)
If I'm going down Then I'm going down good I'm going down Then I'm going down clean (...) The prettiest broken girl you've ever seen (“Let the Record Show”, 2006 🎵)

CW: mania, self-harm, abortion, suicidal ideation, hospitalization.
If you haven't gathered as much by now, what fans were witnessing in real time on EA's blog, without necessarily seeing it, was the ebb and flow of a months-long manic episode. That's not me armchair-diagnosing: EA herself has discussed penning and recording a lot of her best material in a trance-like rush, “when you're writing on the ceiling because there's not enough paper to contain your thoughts”.

...Once I became stable and healthy, I realized that I had no memory of how a great deal of my music had been created. I had written and even programmed most of my best work in a similar manic state, and, when stark raving sane, I didn’t know how to do it anymore, because the part of me that really composes never needed to know how to do it, it just did. (2019 Instagram post 📝)

It's not an uncommon experience for artists with bipolar disorder. Before you burn so hot that you wind up in the back of an ambulance, and/or before the pendulum swings back towards debilitating depression, the boundless energy, heightened sensitivity, and unexpected thought patterns associated with mania can lead to periods of prolific and effortless creation.
Mania also has the potential to lower your inhibitions, making you more bodacious, more quick-witted – more dazzling, more fun at parties, more dramatic. All traits that are valued in the entertainment industry, especially one that, with the rise of social media, was coming to rely increasingly on parasocial engagement and “personal branding”. Why would you refrain from oversharing, overreacting, overworking, overpromising, overcurating a fantasy image of yourself... when new industry models reward exactly that?
My point is that, in retrospect, “the end was built into the beginning”: all the things that would make fans go “What the hell, Emilie!” in subsequent years were brewing below the surface before the album even dropped.
In the summer of 2006, EA said goodbye to her Chicago friends and returned to California, where she moved in with her new beau, another Illinois-born guitarist with an impressive forehead: Brendon Small, of Dethklok/Metalocalypse quasi-fame. (If you're into that sort of thing: the orchestral strings on “Detharmonic”? Yep, that's EA! 🎵📺)
In September, Opheliac was released into the world. Expectations were high... And many sources agree it was a goddamn banger. It was ultrafemme, ultradark, unhinged, hilarious and deadly and brilliant. It had gnarly kitchen-sink drums layered under angelic string harmonies, fauxperatic swells, and guttural screaming. It had sarcastically self-aware double-entendres that were also literary references that were also musical notation jokes. You get the idea: it was the album that a small, but sizable demographic of tormented millennial teens had been waiting to obsess over. Some time in late 2005 or so, EA had signed with German label Trisol Records, which gave her access to better promotion, press coverage and touring opportunities in Europe when the album came out in the fall. By winter, she was on the cover of alternative mags, and the talk of the town on underground music webzines. Within a year, she was embarking on the first of three almost-back-to-back European tours.
It was around that time that EA started giving her fanbase a more defined, aesthetically on-brand identity. EA, funnily enough, disliked the term “fan” due to its proximity to “fanatic”, and started calling individual supporters “muffins” or the "Bloomer Brigade". (After The Book came out in 2009, they would become “Plague Rats”. You know how pets get weird if you re-name them too many times? I wonder if the same is true of fans.) Meanwhile, EA's fanbase as a collective – as well as her home, her recording studio, her online forum and her inner brainspace... – became canonically known as “The Asylum”. Cue infinite jokes about her fans being “committed.”
And they really were, in a slightly more intense way than your average indie-alternative fanbase. Many fans enthusiastically adopted facets of EA's mannerisms and lingo, which gave the fandom a definite LARP-ing bend; and the official forum did, in fact, offer a subforum for Asylum-themed role-play. (In a number of ways, the Asylum was basically Juggalos for socially anxious theater goths. Substitute the clown facepaint, Faygo, and hatchets for cheek-hearts, Earl Grey tea, and obsolete medical tools.) While there was always some side-eye at the embarrassingly candid, often very young Plague Rats who took the Asylum thing too seriously (always speaking in character and worshipping the ground Mistress Emilie walked on), a lot of people were quite thrilled to play romantic Victorian madhouse with their new favorite artist. Live shows were like costume balls. The forum thrived.
It was like Opheliac had opened a portal to this vibrant and inclusive alternate dimension, which the community was now bringing to life in the real world. And each tour brought more inmates (muffins, Plague Rats, you get it) to the Asylum. “Spread the Plague!” was the name of the game.
So, on paper, in the three years that followed Opheliac, EA kind of won the high-concept-indie-artist equivalent of the lottery. After going through her own personal hell of abuse, major upheavals and serious mental health crises, she had decided to gamble on a radically different tone and musical direction. She came out the other side with critical acclaim for her soul-baring record, tons of live shows with a badass girl squad, photoshoots so iconic they pop up on random Pinterest boards to this day, snazzy corporate sponsorships (including Manic Panic and RockLove Jewelry), and an exponentially growing fanbase who couldn't get enough of whatever she had to give. And she gave quite a lot!
Within those three years, in between tours, EA released A Bit O' This & That 🎵 (a compilation of demos and back-catalogue curiosities), Laced / Unlaced (a full-instrumental double album - one side was the baroque recordings from her late teens, the other was demented, distortion-heavy classical-prog), and three EPs packed with new songs, covers, remixes and bonus content. There was also a deluxe reissue of Enchant, without the puzzle, but with a brand new booklet of handwritten lyrics and marginalia. All came in lovely inter-matching digipaks that really made you want to collect them all – much like the handmade merch 📝🪞 that EA still sold on some legs of her tours. She spent time with the fans at most shows, eventually holding meet-and-greets and private showcases for VIP ticket-holders. She also released “The Opheliac Companion”, a kind of “director's commentary” of the album – roughly 10 hours worth of lyrical deep dives, microphone specs, tangents within tangents within tangents, and whacky (tipsy, sometimes unintelligible) banter between EA and her sound engineer🎤. On top of all that, she wrote, designed and self-published a fully illustrated 200-page coffee-table book, the first print of which sold out within a year. Not bad!
Of course, things that seem to good to be true usually are: at this stage in the story, EA is never as enthusiastically prolific as when her personal life is falling apart behind the scenes.
In the three years that followed Opheliac, along with soaring success, EA got to experience: more rapid-cycling between manic phases and the pits of depression, multiple harrowing medication adjustments, an very-much-unwanted pregnancy followed by a traumatic abortion, a suicide attempt, at least one inpatient stay, and a break-up in the aftermath of it all. There were also a few physical health scares that required hospitalization. On one occasion, she had to go off all her meds cold-turkey when they were confiscated at the EU border right before the start of a tour. In some pictures from her summer 2007 festival appearances, you can make out faint self-harm scars on her thigh through the layered stockings. (Obvious CW, for the morbidly curious.🪞(But if you weren't, would you still be reading?))
So yeah. EA was not doing great.
She didn't share any of these struggles with her fans in real time; her posts were all droll banter and updates on tours and releases. Most of what I just listed was disclosed in late 2009, in the autobiographical part of The Book. (The Book gets at least one instalment of its own. Bear with me, there's a LOT to unpack.) And The Book, while never specifying a timeline, kind of really made it sound like the Bad Stuff (the abortion, the suicide attempt, the hospital stay) had taken place a while back, before the release of Opheliac. In fact, EA plainly stated as much, citing “getting locked up and being put in the asylum" 📝 as the reason for the shift in sound between Enchant and Opheliac.
She repeatedly referred to herself as “stabilized” and “now properly medicated” in interviews. As far as the fanbase was concerned, she had triumphed over her abusers, turned trauma into beauty, and lived to pass on her story of survival. And now she had found balance and community and true acceptance of herself, all that good stuff – and all was fine and dandy within the Asylum. On stage, she sang about blind rage and all-consuming despair and general hopelessness, but she didn't actually feel like that – not anymore, right?
This narrative was both inspirational and quite convenient for the fans. We love our Mad Hatters 🎵📺, our Rainmen, our manic pixies. We love and celebrate “crazy” when it manifests as outside-the-box brilliance and/or bubbly eccentricity. But in my experience, even in spaces that ostensibly focus on "destigmatizing mental illness", positivity and support can quickly turn to rejection and awkwardness when your “quirks” manifest in more challenging ways – like through erratic decisions, aggressive or dishonest behavior, or increasingly untethered beliefs about yourself and the world. No matter how much people claim to “embrace the madness”, it just isn't that fun or in good taste for a large group to play-act ~ whimsical insanity ~ with someone who is for realsies mentally falling apart.
Before time has had time to do its thing, "revisiting your trauma" is just called ruminating. And it's rarely good for you, even when you commit some of greatest art in the process.
I think fans had to assume that there was some critical distance in EA's act, that these extreme negative emotions were all theater – because if they weren't, then the Asylum wasn't an empowering performance about healing from past hurt. It was more like a years-long reality show in which a woman picked at her wounds publicly, again and again, in real time, to the cheers of oblivious strangers who thought they were watching a play.
All I'm saying is that EA was essentially still in the thick of raw trauma when she became a poster-child for overcoming it; that the last thing a person needs, at such a vulnerable stage in their life, is an intense parasocial relationship with sad goth teenagers, let alone one centered around romanticized retellings of their own darkest moments; and that if more people had declined to actively engage in pretend-play that toed the line of self-harm... there is a chance that things might have turned out differently. Maybe EA would still be a successful musician whose career isn't plagued by conflict and mutual disappointment, and maybe some fans wouldn't have wasted years getting red in the face at an over-exposed mentally ill woman for not getting her shit together.
OKAY, THAT GOT HEAVY (and preachy), apologies and thank you for your patience. I will now quit my soapboxing, resume telling the story, and let you draw your own conclusion as our dark plot unravels.

EPILOGUE: DEAD IS THE NEW ALIVE

A quick taste of the poison A quick twist of the knife When the obsession with death, the obsession with death Becomes a way of life ("Dead is the New Alive", 2006 🎵)
I am still over-glorified My reasons to live Were my reasons to die But at least they were mine (“306”, 2006)

In summation: becoming an overnight success thanks to your darkest trauma will do things to person's mind.
As EA kept hyping up how much her fans meant to her, and what an amazing and inclusive and free-thinking motley crew the Asylum was, she was also growing more and more controlling of her increasingly large (and opinionated, and overall rather young) fanbase – and more generally, of the way people ought to talk to and about her.
It was during the Opheliac era that she started reveling in made-up stories about her own life. Then came the habit of losing her shit on fans that she perceived as ungrateful or disrespectful. It was also then that massive kerfuffles became routine on the merch and planning front, and EA's creative output started to routinely fall short of her promises. The more fans started raising legitimate complaints, the more defensive and uncompromising EA became in her public interactions. The more people expressed weariness of the Asylum theme, or started questioning EA's hot takes on mental health and feminism, the harder she doubled down on the Asylum lore and fictional universe. Which is where the drama really starts.
Alright, the time has come. Let's talk about The Book.
...Actually, let's not. I'm nearing my character limit, and you could probably use a break and a stretch after making it this far. This is our intermission, and we'll get to The Book in our next instalment.
Thank you for reading! Stay tuned if you're interested in how it all comes tumbling down.

Hello. This is a small excerpt from one my beginning chapters. Generally looking for assistance on finding the correct way to use description in the scenes to come to define the castle and keep in words. Any words would be appreciated, something you do/don't like, if the sentence and paragraphs flow well, etc... Thanks for any input/feedback.

Madoc stopped eating and leaned forward. Out from the lush, narrow pass from the Keep came the keeper; his master, Caius. He was tall and imposing with a visage that deceived betrothed; he was his father's perfect age though he did not bear his tongue. He became Archon by blood and lineage, the one and only true heir to the Partisan throne.
In tow were the few of his best, and following was a proud banneret and squire, the Acchorian flag held high. It always seemed excessive to Madoc, but his master was fanatical and meticulous—a zeal for propriety. He would check to make sure all things were in order before checking them again. It was so since his father’s sentence. Whenever he spent too much time in his high tower, Madoc would join him, albeit from the outside.
He shouted some commands at soldiers, grouping the siege men with jailers before having them taken away with needless force. Yet, as always, he straight-lined across the bank and pointed to Madoc, hidden in the trees.
Madoc raised an arm. “Oh, good day, master!” he called. “And as handsome as ever today, lord Archon.”
“Get down from there, you monkey,” he could hear him grumble.
Madoc chuckled and descended the tree, hopping from the bark to his steed, which frightened it, though he guided its forward lurch to Caius. The man shooed away his men, telling them to return to the Keep and ensure the men were jailed. They obeyed their lord. He wanted an entrance, it seemed; there was an image to keep as the lord Archon.
Once the men had dispersed, and the two were away from action, he looked around before muttering, “I’ve told you to stay in the Keep, boy.” Madoc was used to his admonishments.
The courier smiled, bowing slightly. “Your Keep is incredibly grand, my lord Archon, but I like to move.” He smiled. “I’m not one to find in the same place.”
“Yet you're always in these trees.”
“The same?”
“I’ve spotted you, have I not?”
“You’ve good eyes, lord Archon.”
Caius grunted in acknowledgment.
Madoc continued, “It is too a beautiful day, master.” He reined his steed to face the river. “It warms, and the grass is green today.”
“It’s still too damn cold.” The man had a gruff voice and a serious face which complimented his thick black hair.
“Aye.”
There was a long moment of silence as the two looked across the river; Madoc was hesitant to poke the tiger. Yet, he did anyway. “You’re brooding again today.”
“I am not,” he retorted.
“You are.” Madoc stuffed a handful of nuts in his mouth. “You’ll scare the soldiers. They don’t like it when you smolder.”
The man grunted once more. “What of this siege?” he asked, crossing his sleeved arms. The man was chic in black.
“Could we even call it a siege, master?” Madoc asked, watching as a young man, no older than sixteen, was dragged away, hurling at them insults as water dripped from his drenched form. “See the bridge?” He leaned forward, pointing down the stream. The bridge across was less than a mile’s distance.
The Archon followed his gaze. “It’s hard to miss.”
Madoc gestured forward. “Those who you call ‘siege men’ would say otherwise.”
“So it is true what my men say,” he mused.
“Would they lie to their Archon?”
“It was Tobias who told me.” The Warbane. “Three hundred men racing to my walls. They’ve traveled far.”
"Master, Keep Carceri is the most prestigious castle in all of Abhmere!" Madoc praised, flaring his arms wide. "What could three hundred men possibly do to you? They do not know how to even wield their weapons! The Keep had felt not a pebble; they hadn’t reached even the surrounding trees."
"It is not the people I fear," The Archon snapped, albeit quietly. "It's what they're running from."
“Ah,” Madoc smiled. “The Cursed One. Of course.”
“And you’d speak no word of it!” the Archon hissed at him, snapping his fingers.
“As we’ve agreed,” Madoc began, bowing. “Allow me entry to your keep and your guard, and it stays between us.”
As Archon, Caius’ actions are for the Southern war; he had no words to waste on northern myths, for none would listen. Unlike his father and his men, the man believed in superstition and conspiracy; a bad habit of his.
Madoc sighed, assuring, “The Rue is far north, my lord Archon. Both Wywood Hold and Mistmarch stand before him and the south. There is nothing to fear.”
“Until there is!” He raised a wild arm. “Just how long until he and his Beasts flood the kingdoms? There north lies an insult to all things divine, and am I meant to continue sending my men to die in a pointless war to the south?” he scoffed, perturbed.
The master has been shunned once before by his formal requests to the capital. His father did not play nice, but the Archon of Keep Carceri remained stubborn. Madoc found him appealing from such, though until the master learned his lesson—as his father had said—he would stay at the Keep.
“Aren’t you going to say something?” he huffed.
Madoc blinked a few times, looking at it. “What is it that I should say to calm my master in his distress?” he teased.
“Forget I asked,” the man grunted, twisting and returning to the pass in which the Keep was through. Madoc followed on horseback.
“May I speak freely, my lord?” Madoc asked, grinning.
“When have you not, stray cat?” He looked angry but was not—a common mistake from others.
“If it’s my input you want, I will deliver,” he began, quietening as they passed a garrison. “Your father is in no rush for the business you speak. There is a war to the south, my lord, and even you must understand that very few believe in Beasts. The last they were seen was the Varicosa. Nearly a century ago, my lord.”
“Three hundred men come to my walls crying wolf and I am meant to believe they speak of a funny sheep?” He shook his head.
“May I speak freely once more?”
“Shut your mouth, boy.”
Madoc smiled, refusing his orders, for he was not his Archon, just as he was not his courier. “The north is rampant with myths, master,” he said. “You think not the words of Blindseers travel far, scaring away their children with tales like their nannies once had?”
“Do not compare Beasts to folk tales, stray cat,” he chastised as the two approached the treeline; Madoc’s steed was too large to fit with him atop, so he dismounted, sending it away with a slap. “It is no myth, but now a fact that is going unbelieved.”
“Then send a party, my lord,” Madoc said. “You are the Partisan Archon of Keep Carceri. Your title itself is esteemed; let alone you, yourself. You need not the permission of your father to send a handful of your trusted north to hear these myths firsthand. Perhaps you’ll bring back an Abyssal souvenir to show your father. Be the winds to change the tides of war.”
The Archon glared at him, and the courier sighed deeply—he often took his master for a Nassimari. They shared the iron will.
“Oh, but not I.” Madoc surrendered his hands. “I wield knife, not blade. I know not how they fight,” he stated, referring to Caius’ men, the two now ascending a hill and bypassing a clearing of trees.
“And how could I send a party?” he then asked as the cobble walls began to come into view. “The Cascords have the privilege of the realm. Not I nor my father. The northerners won’t take kindly to my people.”
“Personally, lord Archon, I believe that to dispatch a greater threat, they would even assist you.”
“That is not a risk I will take,” he said simply before glaring ahead. “But the problem remains.”
“Aye.” He bowed his head.

I'm completely new, so sorry for the beginner question. Which size & gear ratio multiplier (baitcaster) reel would be appropriate for the following?
8' pike- & general purpose rod.
12' salmon rod.
70-250 g (2.5-9 oz) lure weight, using mostly various jigs & crank/swim lures.
Home-base will be a calm-flowing deep river & shallow lakes, but will also be fishing in deep dams & FAST-flowing rapids.
More info:
I realise that this is a wide range of applications, but I'm just beginning & don't yet know what types of fishing I'll end up doing most. So I need a general-purpose setup which won't break my bank.
I can't afford two separate reels as I'm just starting out, and startup cost for fishing in the local environment is brutal enough as it is. So right now I need one general-purpose reel to cover the whole range.
The local fishing store was... less than helpful.
Here, most people fish/hunt since before they can walk, so an adult beginner simply won't get any help at all. Best case you get tricked into buying a woefully undeoversized reel so you'll have to come back for a second reel.

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With renewed vigour of leading the “discovery” of the century/millenia, I grab the paper again and start sketching a coil of wire. I try to illustrate that the wire itself creates a magnetic field around it, circularly, and by coiling it, it adds per coil.
Looking at the others, they are nodding, but none of them are looking at me. Instead, they are looking at the electromagnet I made.
Changing tactics, I pass them the electromagnet, still hooked to my phone. Very carefully, Thallion grabs the coil with another cloth and examines it. Seeing no moving parts, he brings it close to the coins, which move and stick to it.
“I’ve never seen anything like it! Motion at a distance. No contact, no connection. The ability to transfer energy over distance with this technology is immense!”
I lean in to correct him that it cannot transfer energy or material over long distances, but then I remember the electric grid, and maglevs, and just nod and shrug in agreement. If only I could talk to them more easily! This is becoming painful to continue! All these ideas and no way to transfer them!
Putting that aside for now, I zone back in seeing that they have all passed the magnet around and played with it a bit. I then unplug it from my phone to save as much power as possible.
Going back to offline wikipedia, I open up the entry on DC motors. They are a bit simpler to make, and do not require DC power to run unlike synchronous AC, although I will have to replace it with a synchronous in the future. I start sketching a very crude example of the stator, with its 2 curved magnets inside a hollow tube. I see Silvra taking notes, doing a better job of sketching what I am making than what I am making myself. How? No clue, another question to ask once I figure out how to communicate verbally. Anyways, I start sketching the rotor. I am doing a very basic 2 pole design, with only a current in and current out, with many loops in that one section.
“Looking at this, it looks like it should spin…” Silvra notes, continuing to sketch.
“Yes!” I exclaim, nodding my head.
“But why do you want to make something spin? That won’t help you. And at this scale, spinning anything is not worth losing whatever the glowy brick is doing to give you these ideas.”
I stop. Taking a deep breath, I start a new sketch, with a river, turning into a waterfall and flowing rapidly. I then draw a water wheel, and an arrow pointing my motor sketch to its centre.
“Well that’s not going to do much, spinning a thing in the water will not make it flow faster,” Silvra remarks.
“No… but the water will spin the wheel.” Thallion states ponderously.
Suddenly Lena bursts out, “You mean that this thing is reversible?!”
Nodding again, I finish my sketch by adding wires coming off of the motor, turned generator, and into my phone. Drawing a little battery symbol and happy face to top it off.
“If we can make from running water, we could power all of our devices. We could build more! We could make some that are on for more than a few seconds at a time and do more!” Silvra exclaims, realizing the full potential of what can be done.
She continues: “What do we need to do this? Materials, people, anything! This is not just a toy, this could feed an entire paradigm shift”
Thallion, hearing paradigm shift, replies: “Let’s not get too hasty, so far we have just a sketch on some paper, and for all we know, this has some other limit that prevents it from working long term.”
I shake my head, thinking of the generators whose hearts have been going for almost a century with just maintenance and a lot of grease.
“No?! Then how.. Where… what… you are very lost. You have limitless supplies of free energy, capable of doing all the things we do, but without living cost. The light you made glow, that was at the level of an elf being accepted into the mage academy, they could only maintain it for a few seconds. Your brick did more than that before you stopped it. How much energy are we talking about here?”
I begin to draw, first a house, then multiple houses, stacked on top of each other, I draw a tower, a building, a skyscraper, each using the house as scale. I then take the skyscraper and group them together, forming a city, drawing roads between them.
I then draw a map of what I have seen of the village, a few houses, Kidman’s place, the schoolhouse and the river.
I draw a circle around that, showing the size of the village. Placing a smaller circle next to it, and an arrow pointing between the 2, I try and communicate scaling down. Thallion nods along. Lena, now seeing maps, catches on quickly. I then draw circles beside the first, representing small towns, cities, and finally large cities. I then draw a circle filling the entire page representing fractions of metropolises such as Tokyo, London, Toronto, New York, etc.
“B.. B.. But that many people… each with their own brick… and the ability to create that much living space… you truly are the summon. No one with this much power could be on the same planet as us without seeing us as weak, conquering us in days flat.” Thallion stammers out.
I nod as well, my facial expression souring based on the realization how much power I just showed them.
“But it still took centuries to get to that point, something we don’t have to worry about, so let’s get a list,” lena cheerfully interjects.
I start tallying. 1, 5 ,10 and circling the 10, I write “10” below it. Then I show 10 “10”s, and label that 100.
Thallion clues in immediately. “You’re base ten as well?! Great! That will make math translation so much easier!”
I circle the 100, and draw a picture of the sun, and a circle for the planet. I draw a circle around the sun, going through the planet.
“No, no way… only one hundred?” Thallion remarks
“One hundred what?” Lena chimes in.
“His society went from us to that, in one hundred years. Because of what he just showed us.”
“WHAT?!” Lena and Silvra interject.
“Yes. At least from what I understand. Assuming he drew the sun and the object going around it is us, which is still debated in research, it took 100 cycles to do that. 100 cycles is one. Hundred. Years. That’s it.”
I nod, confirming what he said. Sure there were a few large cities pre electrification, but it is due to the ability to transmit this energy we have mega cities.
Thallion goes over and collapses into the chair, realizing what I just shared. Lena and Silvra are equally stunned, but remain on their feet, possibly not grasping the full impact of what I have shown them.
“I don’t know if I want to go through with this.” Thallion states, forehead on hands in deep contemplation and fear. “The amount of power he just showed, and if this goes wrong, the amount of power that can go to the wrong side…”
I start backing away from him, grabbing my phone and backpack, getting ready to run if it does come down to that.
“I am not going to hurt you. The damage is done. We know it’s possible. We know the scale of change this will do.”
I settle down a bit, less scared for my life than I was a few seconds ago.
“Look, Thal, we saw the level of change it can cause, but it does not have to.”
“It does, energy is power. Literally, and what he is saying is that we can have limitless power with no living involvement. Next he’ll say that it can occur with nothing more than a basic button and run forever, travel across vast distances and literally be nothing but water! That amount of power diverted into anything is terrifying! And to have it without needing intent, desire, or any knowledge or wisdom about it is insane! We know he does not need intent, he put the brick down and passed the device! It is alive and lives beyond his control. Technically with Silvra’s readings, it is more alive than he is!”
“I want to learn more, but right now, unleashing this on the world without realizing what it could do is just asking for a catastrophe.”
Thinking about all of the death and destruction, famine, overshoot, climate issues and how much the planet is dying, I nod slowly in minor agreement.
“You are a teacher!” Silvra suddenly interjects. “Where is your love of knowledge, the thirst for wisdom, and the desire to ask why and how?! You are different than most scholars, you know what can happen, but what if we don’t? Do you want to live like this forever, in some small village, teaching the same things over and over again? Never learning something new? We are here to learn! Just because we now have access to a small sliver does not mean we won’t learn the lessons his people went through! In fact, he will probably tell us!”
“That’s the issue! We will learn why, but not grasp it! The difference between knowledge and wisdom is not the info, but how it is held. Knowledge can be lost, made, found, used, transferred! Wisdom is structured knowledge. We need to learn the past to build the present. Sure we can get some fancy information, but unless we truly understand in our hearts what we are doing, with the full intent of it, we truly do not know. We have, but do not grasp!”
Thallion, collapses back onto the chair, rubbing his knee and chest, coughing slightly.
“Then we make the wisdom on the way!” Lena states, talking for the first time in a long while. “We may not have the wisdom, but without knowledge we are nothing, and if we have access to the knowledge, we can steer what happens. We can pass the info along, noting and teaching as needed. I would be dead if I had to figure out that the grackle berry bushes were poisonous after they turn red, but are extremely valuable as food when green or blue! I learned that from our mother! I did not need to learn the lesson directly, but by getting the full story.”
“We bit the apple long ago, might as well eat the rest, and approach with caution and humility, for this much power can corrupt, but can also be molded into something much better.”
Sighing, Thallion repositions himself in his chair. “Sister, you are right. We should not give up just because we can see a possible path. The pages of the future are not written yet, but let’s approach with caution, writing down everything, good and bad that comes of this.”
Seeing resolution and it not involving killing me, I settle back down, and continue to sketch the rotor.

Sunday, April 21 - Saturday, April 27, 2024

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