These are some things I've found annoying or inconsistent in TOA. There might be reasons for why they work this way but it's not immediately apparent or intuitive to me.
Sun Keris

• Doesn't work on bosses
• Doesn't work on Kephri Overlords
• Doesn't work on P1 Obelisk

Death Charge

• Doesn't work on P1 Obelisk
• Doesn't work on P2 core death
• No chat box message when cooldown is over (in general)

Inventory

• Feels bad dropping pots to juggle items (hammer, neutralizing potion, water container, mirrors)
• Annoying having hammer persist in inventory on death
• Annoying having death chest close each time items are withdrawn when auto-equip is enabled

Kephri

• Melee overlord (Soldier Scarab) has a high magic level. Splash a lot in 130+ magic accuracy.
• Attack rotation is confusing when phase changing during an egg or dung animation. Hard to determine how many fireball attacks it will do before next egg/dung.

Akkha

• Switches style mid attack so you have to wait for his current attack to land before changing prayer.
• After memory phase he should always spawn in the active quadrant. Feels bad waiting 1-2 ticks for him to move or having your attack be nulled.

I cannot get past this chapter 5 fight to save my life (literally). I have tried so many different strategies, and in phase 3, it’s a TPK every time. There is an instant kill ability it’s using (I die too fast to see the name of it). I have watched videos of people playing this fight and they never insta-die. I guess they are blocking it somehow. And, I am getting whittled down in phase 2 with some room-sweeping laser that I can’t block, either. I know I’m either doing something wrong or am just terrible at blocking. It’s been like two weeks and over 20 attempts. I am losing hope. Please help!
Some build info. I am using magnify time and heal on Barret, I have Steadfast Block and Precision Block maxed out on all three characters. I am at level 70 and all materia is maxed out. I am not using magic. Is that the problem? I watched several variations of this fight and none used magic, it was all just abilities. I am spamming every ability I can: Plasma Discharge, Magnify Haste, Stop on the first Stagger, Barret spams Lifesaver, Steelskin, and Bonus Round constantly, and just keeps getting hammered down to 1/4 health constantly. I’ve tried quick switching characters, staying on Barrett, focusing on Pressuing (which barely moves). I got nothing left. I am also just terrible, I am sure that has something to do with it. But it’s so frustrating to, after about 20 attempts. And I just cannot find the block timing, it seems impossible and yet so many YTers are nailing it. how do they figure it out so fast? How many attempts should I be expecting to take to figure out blocks timing on bosses? I am just sad because I keep failing over and over, and I don’t seem to be getting any better. I just want to max out the game, and it seems impossible. I can’t even fathom how much harder it gets in future chapters. How the fuck do people do this?!

Long the largest army on the Continent, the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army exemplifies the saying that quantity has a quality all on its own. Owing to the Midwest's large manpower pool and industrial capacity, the Red Army is reliant on its sheer size and mass to overwhelm its enemies, in conjunction with its developed and advanced aviation from the Red Navy serving as the hammer to the anvil that is the massive Red Army. As part of the army expansion program, it is expected that the Red Army will be consisted of 24 divisions by 1967. Of these, 6 are Guards Rifle Divisions, 4 Artillery Divisions, 2 Special Divisions, 1 Guards Airborne and 1 Airborne Divisions, 6 Rifle Divisions and 4 Combined Arms Divisions.

Genocide looked to the sky. He thought of his mentor. The one who had saved him. He remembered his childhood. How powerless he was. He remembered the anger. He never wanted to hurt anybody. He thought of all the times he showed compassion. How much they hurt him for it. He saw the world before him, a graveyard. Humans. People that were supposed to be made in the image of some divine creator. They were but maggots feasting upon his remains. They ate away at his very being until nothing human remained. His thoughts were no longer his own. He had no joys in life that mattered. He hated humanity more than he could love anything about himself. He remember his first killing spree. Being gunned down by police. Left for dead. He remembered a hooded figure moving towards him. Getting closer the more he neared his death. He saw its pale face. Its impossibly black eyes. It was a man. This figure in question appeared to be of Japanese nationality with long, straight, loose hair. It emanated extreme malice. It offered him a choice. A purpose. Power. He thought the figure a reaper but it identified itself as Amakusa Masataka. Masataka guided him on how to kill and gave him specific locations to kill people in. In a sense, he became a hitman for quotas of people. He inquired what Masataka was. The presence of evil, his ability to appear and disappear at will, how he could control what people could see him and what people couldn't. While vague, years of killing for this being offered some insight. Amakusa Masataka belonged to a group of people not of this world. His people had been corrupted by a dark force long ago and had aligned themselves with the warlord who had subjugated their version of Japan. Their dark high priest assisted the warlord along with two others. These four rulers in turn served a larger order. The four were tasked with bringing about the end of the current world as an act of retribution for some fallen deity. Masataka's people acted as covert operatives for this empire. They were feared across the land and were collectively referred to as "Shinigami". An agent of the coming apocalypse, a servant of evil possessed by the will of those gods of death, Genocide would walk the earth.
Genocide stepped toward the station. A police cruiser rammed into him. He pulled out a knife and stabbed the hood of the car. The inhuman force of the knife created sparks which burst the engine into flames. The car crashed into a streetlight and exploded. A second cruiser neared the scene. No way a man could have done this. Yet still, out of the fires Genocide strode forth. It set upon the second vehicle, shooting out it's tires while jumping 9 feet into the air. The car tries to reverse but crashes into a wall. Genocide lands on the hood and kicks through the front window. Glass shatters under its boot, blinding the two officers inside. Genocide shoots one of the officers with a shotgun, killing him. The second officer in the passenger seat readies his pistol and takes aim. Only two shots fired, both directed at Genocide's head. It casually cocks its neck to avoid them. Then it grabs the officer's arm, breaking it. Genocide uses its free hand to grab the officer's head and bangs it into the dashboard no less than 5 times. The skull is shattered on the final impact. Genocide jumps off the car and continues on his mission.
Detective Evans speaks through a megaphone," This is your first and final warning. Stand down or we will use any and all means at our disposal to put you down." Genocide dropped its shotgun and raised its hands. A group of five SWAT team members rushed out the station, surrounding Genocide with riot shields. An officer accompanies them, edging behind the figure to apply handcuffs. Suddenly, Genocide springs to life , grabbing the officer behind him. He flips the officer over his head, slamming him into the pavement at his feet. Then Genocide stomps his head causing it to burst. Genocide drops a flash bomb from his coat sleeve, blinding the SWAT team as he draws his knife. He drives it into one SWAT member, the knife puncturing the shield and piercing his chest. Genocide kicks the corpse away withdrawing his knife. He goes to another, this time using the end of his boot toe in a rising kick to disarm their shield. He grabs them by the throat and drives the knife slowly into their eye socket. Another is tackled to the ground and beaten to death despite still being under the shield. Another is picked up and thrown into the fires still burning from the first auto incident. In no time, Genocide stood before an indistinguishable mass of gore, blood streaking across his black leather outfit. He laughed" So this is all you can give me. I'm not entertained." Officers took aim from the station windows, and snipers did so from other rooftops. Genocide laughed maniacally as he was rained down upon from all sides by a hailstorm of bullets. His body convulsed, but he did not fall. Moments more and he was on his knees. Still though, their efforts were futile. Gracia looked out and saw a black mist coalescing around the man in black. His blood. Blood erupted from his body only to transform into this dark mist that reentered his wounds. Genocide screamed. No. It was just an elevated pitch in his laughter. Optimism failed everyone yet again. Gracia saw Genocide holding something in his right hand. She could only make out a beeping red light. Genocide pushed the button triggering the carefully concealed explosives he laid in preparation for this event. C4 explosives went off in all the places he saw fit. The sniping posts he couldn't reach. The assault of lead lightened. Then Genocide drew an RPG from...somewhere. He collected himself and fired at the station's entrance. The explosion shook the station. From inside, the lights began to flicker. Communications were down on all fronts. Had he modified the rocket with some type of EMP? Not good. Amisdst the confusion Genocide entered using smoke bombs to mask his presence. Moving like a shadow, he killed everyone in the lobby silently with his knife. He made his way to the holding cells. Still they chanted. Still they praised. Still they raved for the arrival of genocide. Genocide shot the lock opening the cell. Jim Jimenez walked out and bowed before his master. Genocide smiled. He couldn't have imagined how proficient he had gotten with possession. Well, not quite possession. He had known of the Shinigami's ability to share their thoughts and emotions with humans. Shinigami like his mentor were ancient. They had so many years of memories, such strong a hatred for life that they overwhelmed the personality of the victim. The victim sees themselves as one of them. Shinigami can't force the will of the victim, so they find those who are already similar to them in some way. Genocide found the collective universal distrust of police to be a prime sentiment to capitalize on. He armed the inmates, infecting them with samples of his own dark essence.One particular inmate caught Genocide's eye. He knew the man's work. An arsonist. The one whom he recalls was responsible for blowing up his first car way back in high school. Rather than a standard firearm, Genocide gave the man a random assortment of grenades containing a special surprise. Genocide showed them visions of anarchy, of sending a message to a society that used and disregarded them. While this was also true of how he felt, years of living in darkness had changed him. He needed no purpose. No end goal. No justification. He just wanted to watch the world burn.
Genocide's small army broke off to engage several different wings of the station. Genocide went to the security room. He found Wayne, his informant, playing some FPS on one of the monitors. Wayne took of his headphones and asked," You kill everyone yet?" Genocide responded," No. You should get going before that happens. Your life becomes fair game if I run out of pigs to cook." Wayne clapped his hands, "Aight, GC my man, say less." He packed his things and left. Genocide drew a twin pair of handguns and laid waste to the station. He followed a group that took cover in the men's restroom. Kicking open multiple stalls he was surprised to find...nothing. Where had they gone? He turned around and saw his mentor, Masataka, smiling at him. It looked like him. Long, dark hair, black clothing, and soulless, empty eyes. But it wasn't. It was Genocide's own reflection in the mirror. Genocide smiled. He didn't notice the changes at first. They must have happened gradually. Subconsciously. From the final stall, an officer sprung into action, rushing Genocide, hitting him point blank with a shockgun round. Genocide felt the tingling sensation electrifying his body and grew numb. In spite of the pain, he took a single step. Then, another. He came within striking range of the officer and snatched the shockgun. Two more officers erupted from another stall, battering him with baton strikes. Genocide felt nothing. He clutched the shockgun in his hand like a bat and went to work pulverizing his attackers. An officer kicked in the bathroom door, a woman holding a pistol. She fired multiple times to no effect. Genocide stood covered in blood. He even let her reload. Twice. He wanted to see her despair. Her hopelessness. He walked towards her, shrugging off bullets as they pierced his body. His wounds healed nigh instantly due to the dark essence he had been imbued with. He held her face with both hands, lifting her body off the ground. As she screamed, he used her head to shatter the restroom mirror, running down the full length of it while smashing her into it at several points. He dropped the remains of what he held, washed his hands with soap, dried them, then exited the restroom.
The inmates that rallied for the cause of genocide attacked the station. Fortunately, they were nowhere near Genocide in terms of power and only carried one type of firearm each. They shared his healing ability but could be killed quite easily. Gracia encountered a sniper on the end or a west wing hallway. Other officers waited behind corners unable to get close. Gracia noticed the faulty lighting. In this hallway, the lights flickered in intervals of 3 seconds. Finding a pattern and timing her movements, she rushed the sniper at the exact moment the lights went out. Running the length of the hall, Gracia zigzagged, dodging the sniper inmate's bullets. She jumped on a wall, ran 3 feet on it, then kicked off it, pouncing on the assailant. She fired five shots into him, making sure to hit the brain and the heart. Two severe injuries that were impossible for Shinigami essence to heal simultaneously. Elsewhere, Evans took on another escaped inmate. A vehicular arsonist named Carson. Carson had a bag filled with an assortment of different grenades and was happily giving them out like candy on Halloween. "A flash bang here, a bit of tear gas there. Oh. Wait! Was that an ice grenade? Did the explosion freeze your leg to the floor? Whoops. Maybe a fire grenade will melt that for you. Hold on let me get one fore you," Carson rambled gleefully. Evans looked at the carnage before him. Officers burning. Officers partially frozen in blocks of ice. He took a breath and aimed his wristgun. He steadied his right forearm. Carson readied to throw a random grenade. Evans shot it the moment it left Carson's hand. The grenade exploded directly in front of Carson. Both Evans and Carson looked at each other in shock. Confetti. A party grenade? Carson quickly fumbled for another but was tackled and restrained by several officers. Meanwhile in the South wing, Lary had some colleagues set a trap for another shotgun toting inmate. He had them bait the inmate and flee. Giving chase he turned a corner and ran straight into Lary's fist. The inmate recovered and motioned to shoot Lary. "Let's tango. " Lary gave the code word. Nearby officers activated a device. A signal jammer of sorts. The inmate shoved the barrel of his gun into Lary's gut and pulled the trigger. Nothing. The special signal jammer in question was designed for firearms. It was a last resort as it left officers just as defenseless. Lary was having fun. He boxed the inmate in hand to hand combat. Despite the inmate's enhanced strength, Lary's technique pulled through. Lary ducked under one of the inmate's wide punches and did some type of rising uppercut where he jumped off the ground while spinning. One of the other officers whispered" The rising dragon." Lary smiled giving a thumbs up" Yeah, it was a rising dragon uppercut. Saw it in one O my kid's vidya games. Thought I'd try it out while I'm jacked on adrenaline".
Jim Jimenez looked long and hard at himself in the mirror. He was in the women's restroom. Some brainless woman had broken the men's restroom mirror with her face. For the first time in a long while Jim could think clearly. He was becoming sane. At the least he was no longer a raving lunatic. The life essence of the dark gods had healed the wounds to both his body and his mind. He saw his face, his scraggly dirty beard. He found a razor and shaved. He trimmed his beard somewhat. He liked it. He washed his hair. It fell down his face like silk, no longer greasy. His bloodshot eyes once burning with crazed intensity had cooled. He blinked. Just for a second, he saw the man known as Genocide. The man that attacked him. The one that killed him and gave him new life. The drug dealers. The police. They were all the same in his eyes now. They were all to blame for the world being what it is. Jim wanted to hate them. He wanted to take revenge, but he felt nothing. It didn't matter. He knew he was wronged, could logically justify acting against them, but he just didn't care anymore. About anything. He was finally free. Sensing his presence was no longer needed here, Jim vanished into the night. He needed to find someone who had had the answers he needed. Himself. Who had he been? Who was he now? Who could he become? Where was he going? So many questions to ponder indefinitely. So much time left in the rest of his life.
Genocide ran down the station's halls raining hailstorms of bullets upon its occupants. He had a handgun in each hand as well as a wristgun on each wrist. This effectively gave him 4 separate firearms that he could use simultaneously. Lary regrouped with Gracia, Evans, and a handful of others. They radioed all surviving officers near Genocide to flee to the roof. This plan had been set in motion days before the assault and had been kept hidden from most of the force. The plan involved scheduling flights for several helicopters to arrive at some point after Genocide arrived. There would be no way for him to prepare for them and pre-scheduling their arrival ensured they arrived regardless of if they were called or not. Lary and the others set about preparing the second jamming device. Genocide stood among a hallway of bodies. He saw one man clinging to life trying to crawl away. He decided on trying that other thing he saw his master do. He grabbed the dying man and pinned him to the wall. Slowly he drove a knife into his chest. As the man's life slipped away, something else entered his body. Genocide channeled a small amount of his essence into the vessel. He had steadily done this with other casualties around the station whose bodies were somewhat salvageable. He dropped the body he was holding and looked upon the others. He closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, his eyed were black, both sclera and iris. The scene before him changed. Genocide had a vision. He saw a dead gray wasteland littered with bodies. These people however weren't cops and wore traditional Japanese attire. In his hand wasn't a gun or knife but a short sickle akin to a farming tool. He heard a dark voice call out to him. Slowly, the corpses around him began to rise, now mere puppets bound eternally to their master's whim. The bodies sold to the reaper who had claimed their lives. Genocide's vision ended. His eyes had returned normal. Around him, dead cops began to rise. His dark essence had entered their bodies and reanimated them. He sent his dead army to attack the officers fleeing to the roof of the station. These zombies swarmed the stairwell giving chase to the few survivors. There were five of them. They had two flights of stairs to climb and a horde of their former colleagues close behind them. One officer tripped and was set upon by the horde. The zombies didn't bite them but held them firmly in place. The other four officers stared down wondering what to do. They could hear Genocide chuckling. They could hear humming. They could feel the temperature rising. Their colleague and the two zombies holding him were hit by an enormous green fireball. Genocide had fired a Magnum Opus and had charged the bullet to level 3. The Magnum Opus was simply a magnum that shot fireballs, with bullets that could be charged by holding down the trigger. It had three levels of charges. Level 1 was a small reddish ball of plasma. Level 2 was slightly larger and yellow. Level 3 was the maximum charge and resulted in a large slow moving green blast of energy. The officer was ignited and Genocide watched gleefully as the force of the blast sent him flying through a wall. The four officers continued up firing occasionally to slow down the zombies. Soon they made it to a door leading to the roof. Before one officer could reach it, he was sniped by Genocide, a bullet to the head killing him instantly. The remaining three made it out. They regrouped with the others already there, 12 in total, including Lary, Evans, and Gracia. This would be their final stand. They just had to hold out until Genocide made it up there. They just had to keep Genocide occupied until the helicopters arrived. Genocide slowly ascended the stairs behind his horde. On the roof, the remaining survivors faced off against waves of the undead. Evans recognized the attackers. These zombies were being controlled by nanomachines. He heard the stories of several weapons encountered by soldiers on the battlefield. These creatures were called Metaldeads as they were reanimated via machines. They had been officially banned by most of the worlds' governments for being unethical. However, this did not stop the technology from being spread still between shady organizations, terrorists, etc. Evans wondered how Genocide got this form of nanotechnology. Evans long speculated that the dark essence used by most of the killers they encountered was a a form of nanotech however it was different from anything else he had seen or heard about. The dark essence seemed to be an amalgamation of other types of nanotech. Evans had to save his inquiries for later. He reloaded his wristgun and took aim at the approaching group of Metaldeads. Gracia steadied her handgun and shot two Metaldeads in the head. From the single door countless arms seemed to spill forth from the darkness. The other officers took turns firing in intervals. this allowed them to create a steady stream of fire where no more that three guns needed to be reloaded at once. The horde seemed to thin out over time as if they were making progress. In actuality, the Metaldeads were just making room for Genocide to enter. Genocide exploded in a sprint from the door. Everyone fired upon the killer. Genocide had now chosen a wrist mounted mini flamethrower to use as his weapon. He stormed past the oncoming bullets taking some damage, but refused to slow down. He unleashed a stream of fire that caught five of the officers in one fell swoop. Gracia fired five rounds into Genocide's face. He stumbled back. Lary took the chance to fire several mine gun bullets at Genocide's feet. The mines quickly detected his movement and exploded. In seconds, Genocide was on his back.
Staring at the night sky Genocide saw the moon. He reached for it. He called for the darkness to give him more power. His wounds began healing. In the sky he could hear the whirl of propellers. There were six helicopters in total. The first two had evacuated the survivors while the others stayed to engage Genocide. Genocide got up and unstrapped the sniper rifle from his back. He stood before the searchlights as a black silhouette, cornered but unwilling to back down. Lary stared down at him smiling. "Okay!" He shouted, "Let's Tango!" Upon this declaration the second jamming device was activated. Now, isolated on the roof, Genocide's guns couldn't be fired and the helicopters were out of range of the device. Now Genocide stood like a sitting duck. A helicopter fired a rocket. Genocide side stepped and grabbed it. He turned his body redirecting the rocket to hit another helicopter. As it exploded Genocide drew his knife and threw it at another helicopter. Behind the knife was such force that it shattered the helicopter window's glass, embedding itself in the pilot. This helicopter too went down where it exploded. "Holy clucknuggets!Did you see that!?" Lary said dumbfounded. Evans looked out the helicopter door he was in jaw open in shock. "There's no way." He collected himself quickly and radioed the remaining two helicopters to keep moving and to use their machineguns as much as possible. The helicopters reigned down upon Genocide tearing apart his body. Shreds of leather and darkened blood sprayed across the pavement of the roof. Gracia watched as Genocide's body was destroyed repeatedly as it tried to heal. Surely he had to stop at some point. After 10 minutes the helicopters had exhausted their cache of ammunition and soldiers opted to fire their own rifles and occasionally throw grenades. After about six minutes, they too had run out of bullets. Genocide stood unfazed. He had long since healed himself and now appeared intangible with gunfire seeming to pass through his body. His coat once ripped , now appeared whole though on closer inspection seemed to writhe. Gracia looked in horror as she remembered the tales her adopted father had told her. Tales he had in turn heard from his predecessors. Every so often officers had reported encounters with ghost like beings cloaked in a cloud of living dark mist. The beings were rumored to be responsible for the deaths of multiple people ranging from scientists, veterans, mafia, politicians, etc. They were seen near such crime scenes and even more shockingly appeared around several sites where suicides were committed. These beings were reportedly impervious to bullets and filled anyone who got near with an impending sense of dread. If Genocide was connected to them or somehow turning into one , there was little chance they would be able to defeat him. Gracia's fears were confirmed when she saw that Genocide's leather coat had been destroyed and he had replaced it with the dark mist coalescing from his own spilled blood. The dark mist, swirling, grew larger and several tendrils sprouted out from it. Gracia could briefly make out a figure standing next to Genocide. A hooded figure cloaked in the same black substance. The figure stared up at her with soulless, blackened eyes which seemed to beckon her to jump from the aircraft she was standing in. Compelling her to give in to the death that plagued the earth. Genocide kneeled to his master. The Shinigami, Masataka stared down at his disciple. "You have done a great service to us. Even now the sealed god stirs in its slumber. Its...Awakening will soon be upon us. It calls out for war. It begs for famine. It longs to continue its conquest. We are the death it so desires. The death that is necessary for this civilization to grow. Use the power that I have bestowed upon you. Finish the mission as you see fit." The Shinigami vanished and Genocide stood.Genocide stared at his hands. He remembered the first killing spree. He was on a bus. It stopped. A woman got on the bus and walked to the back smiling as she passed him. Something about her eyes unnerved him. They were so bright but something dark reflected inside them. He ignored the thought and put in his headphones. In minutes he had dozed off. He jumped awake. He looked around and froze in panic. All around him, everyone had been hacked to pieces. He saw the driver, actively being stabbed by a masked assailant. The mask, painted white with black eyeholes, stared back at him. It raised a finger over where its lips would be. Even under the expressionless visage, he could feel that same smile. He ran home that morning. He went to his room to find it destroyed. His posters, his computer, his tv, everything, had been ruined. He turned around and saw a man at the end of the hallway holding a sledge hammer. "The hell you been, boy?", his stepdad sneered. The man dropped his hammer and walked closer, veins pulsing with rage. He tried to explain how his car had caught fire forcing him to walk 4 miles to the nearest bus stop, but the man's fist was faster than his words. "Boy!Answer me when I talk to you!!" the man says as he backhands the taste out of the would be Genocide's mouth. He took that beating for several minutes before being left to stare at his ransacked room. He hated how his stepdad went out of his way to destroy the things he loved. Soon, another set of footsteps could be heard. It was his mother standing behind his locked door. She didn't knock, or say anything. She just stood there, doing nothing as always. He never knew if she came to talk to him or apologize. All he knew was that she could never bring herself to speak to or even acknowledge him. Maybe out of guilt or perhaps shame. A year or two later after he had had enough he ran away from home. Living out on the streets alone, without friends, or family, he would embark on countless killing sprees. These killings weren't of his own volition however. He was coerced by some corrupt officers from The Unit. They made him kill on their behalf. Sometimes they were protesters, sometimes they were drug dealers, other times, petty criminals they couldn't be bothered to process. It was routine for him to be used to kill entire houses of drug riddled addicts. During one such venture he entered a drug den, killing the dealer as instructed. He took out several junkies before turning to leave. A woman who survived her injuries clung to his heel begging him to stop. Looking down he aimed the handgun he was carrying at her head of long disheveled brown hair and fired. Feeling nothing, he kicked her body aside like trash when it hit him. Her face. This woman had been his mother. What was she doing in a place like this? He felt a shock of emotion. He wondered if she had always been like this, or had she changed after he left. He never made amends, but decided to stop killing from then on. The unit did not like that. Once it became apparent that he was no longer of use to them they started a manhunt to apprehend him with lethal force. They found him. They killed him. But he survived.
He remembered the girl on the bus. He remembered her eyes. Those of a sadistic killer. Still there was something else inside them. Something faint but deeper. So. Much. Sadness. Just like him. He felt the hatred begin to spread. His purpose, he decided, was to make all humans rot in the hell they created for him.
These people, he thought to himself, these living diseases, all needed to die. Their struggles, their problems, they spread like cancer to others. The only cure for humanity's sin, its collective wrongdoings, was genocide.
Around him, dark tendrils continued to form and expand, spinning in a vortex. Genocide pulled out two pistols. He squeezed the triggers to no effect. "As I see fit, huh? Hehe." He squeezed both guns in his hands, breaking them into pieces. He concentrated. In his hands, two more guns materialized now completely black due to being forged from the dark essence. Forged by his will. Immune to the jamming device that shut down conventional firearms. He raised his arms at each remaining helicopter and opened fire. Countless tendrils whipped out and slashed at his targets joining the dark essence bullets. It was chaos. Dark tendrils and bullets tore through every direction as Genocide spun and swirled around in 360 degrees firing randomly with purpose. A tendril pierced Gracia's right arm, another, her abdomen. She was however, fortunate, as the other passengers of her helicopter were dismembered. She barely had time to jump from the vehicle before it crashed. She fell 2 yards onto solid concrete. She felt immense pain as her right shoulder shattered on impact. She looked up to see Genocide's blade like appendages ripping through the other escape helicopters. She rolled onto her back and tried to steady herself. Within seconds her body began to repair itself. The nanocells inside her had saved her life but were now depleted. She would need another supplement lest she receive another fatal injury. The standard nanocells she and the others had were much less potent than those of the killers they faced. In truth, they had only minimal strength boosts being able to lift 5-8 more pounds than before and healing being limited to one or two fatal injuries so long as death didn't occur instantly. Gracia blacked out. She awoke the next morning in a hospital. There the doctors refilled her nanocells. She learned that the station had been left in ruins. Genocide had detonated some type of minature nuke following his rampage. He always blew up the stations as if to send a message. Gracia looked out the window thinking about why she became a cop. Twice her family had been murdered by them. Her biological family had been killed in an on record drug raid committed by a group of corrupt officers called The Unit. She had been adopted by another officer that arrived at the scene who found her as a child hiding in a closed. Sadly, he too was killed for trying to expose the activities of The Unit. Gracia joined the force to avenge both losses and bring justice to the killers that disguised themselves as normal people. Law enforcement was neither good, nor bad. It depended upon the people that made it up. In the dying corrupt world Gracia lived in, she vowed to be a beacon of light. Evans laid in a bed adjacent to Lary. "That damn Genocide's somethin else in' he?Like the stories you told us were understatements. That man could legit not die at this point in the story. Like he has friggin plot armor or somthin.'' Evans cut him off" I get it. We all got our asses handed to us. But did you see that ..thing that appeared next to him. Right before he created that black vortex that wiped us out. That must have something to do with his power. Maybe there's a still a way to stop him."Lary chimed in," That fella looked like he was on the way to a black metal concert wit all the black facepaint he was wearin' Creeped me out to be honest." As the survivors mulled over their predicament, the cycle of evil continued to spread elsewhere.
Budley flips through the pages of a magazine. He checks his watch. He looks around the gas station and doesn't see any customers. Seizing the opportunity, he puts in his headphones and begins playing an imaginary guitar as he jams to a progressive deathcore album. Oblivious to the screams coming from outside, the store clerk moves on to thumping two candy bars on the counter to simulate drums. Budley sees that his shift has ended and begins locking up the store. He sweeps the aisles and jumps as a shadow appears behind him. He turns and sees a well groomed bearded man dressed in a black hoodie, black shirt, and black and gray camo pants. The man holds out his hand and smiles. Budley rings up the pack of nicotine substitute gum. "Tryin to kick the habit huh?" Budley asks. The man replies, "Somethin like that. Gotta get my priorities back in check. Focus on the things that really matter. That damn KonCreep's a hell of a band aren't they?" He nods to the playlist on Budley's phone. "Yeah, they're killer. just got into them a month back." Budley answers. "You know, I'm something of a musician myself. Maybe you'll hear of me on the news someday." Jim Jimenez says as he sees himself out. He walks to the back of the building and passes an ominous form of graffiti. A woman lays unmoving and above her, written on concrete in red is a message that simply says "Genocide Reigns".

I've been thinking about the severe lack of high gothic units in the guard's model line, I know we have a small amount of characters but I think we're outright lacking any high gothic units outside the agents. I know things are mainly geared towards utilitarian miltary in that field for Guard, but there's always been traces of the Imperial Cult in there and it has led me to wonder what an army heavily influenced by the Imperial Cult would be like, or even just having pockets of units integrated in the Imperial Guard's army composition.
So picture this, the Zealout Squad. A 10-20 man squad of Darktide-styled wild ravenous and zealous men and women ready to give their lives for the god-emperor with t-shirt 6+ saves, armed with either hand-me-down firearms that have -1 AP and are more shooty, but are less accurate than the lasgun, or various melee weapons with the sergeant equivelant having something like a hammer to give heavier infantry a harder punch. I think it could be a nice change of pace to have a couple squads of these guys to paint, just because they'd be so different-looking to the guardsmen. For those that aren't familiar with Zealots in Darktide, they're commonly dressed in more medieval worn-down looking gear with metal breastplates stuck to their chest and a few other scraps here and there, feature robes, masks, aquilas and absolutely ton of parchments and papers on them. They tend to have a pretty varied weapon set from melee weapons and small arms to worn down but still effective power hammers.
There could even be a special detachment rule for Zealot Squads, Preachers and such, something like a 6+ FNP for all Zealots and them getting the battleline keyword, or you could even get a full army of them to represent a Feudal World's guardsmen or an upgrade sprue of relics, candles, aquilas etc. to function as wargear or decorate the tanks with. Other people might not want this in their armies, that's absolutely fine. But I really do think the guard is lacking representation for its more gothic regiments, even when the old metal regiments were around.
I dunno, this was just an idea that came to my head but I was wondering what you guys would make of it. Would you like Zealot Squads working alongside your guardsmen, or even just the Imperial Cult being way more prevelant in your armies compared to the few aquilas scattered here and there?

My car's transmission is on the fritz, so it's in the shop and I'm working from home for at least today. Thank goodness I can even work from home, or things would be a lot more complicated. Anyways, that's just a bit of a vent. I've also decided that I might do little lore-esque prechapter bits for some extra flavor. Hope you guys enjoy them! I find them to be fun little thought experiments on how people might perceive the world I've created from within vs from my own perspective. Enjoy some crafting and some romance!
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We know that the spots that are caused by looking at a source of light are, in fact, damage of some sort to the eye. This is confirmed by the spots rapidly disappearing should someone be healed whilst experiencing them. But why? Is there a divinity within light, beyond what our mortal eyes can withstand? Is there some sort of invisible emanation that comes alongside the light that damages us in some way? The discovery of light damaging the eye has opened more questions for me than it has closed.
-Musings on the Relations of Light and Fire, by Jarwic Leftun
\***
Xander carefully opened the door, finding Gabrelle already asleep, and sat down on a chair. Maybe he could get that adaptive camouflage to work right on bright colors. Surely he had some colorful things in his inventory.
He did in fact have a few colorful things in his inventory, and he whiled the rest of the night away making small adjustments to the runic array that was embroidered into the cloth. He was satisfied before dawn, the cloth now performing as well with light colors as it had with darker colors. Now he just needed to make a cloak out of it. He briefly considered coating his armor with the array, but discarded it. There might be times where he’d want to be seen. Besides, a hooded cloak would better break up the outline of his figure, the ripples of fabric, especially if he were to crouch or lay prone, obscuring his outline even more. In little time at all, he had a long, deep hooded cloak of the color shifting, runed cloth in his hands. He stashed it in his inventory for now, as he had no particular need to sneak up on something right now. The rest of the time before dawn he spent silently sitting in the chair he’d chosen, trying to keep his thoughts to a minimum, just daydreaming. Night dreaming? He couldn’t sleep anymore, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t try to let his mind wander.
As the dawn came and the sun began to shine through the window of the room, Gabrelle slowly awoke, once more finding Xander sitting in a chair rather than in bed.
“Mmf,” She grunted as she stretched. “Morning, Xander. You got back late.”
“Morning, yourself,” Xander said, turning his head to look at Gabrelle. “Yeah... Yeah, I guess I did.”
“What were you doing, anyway?” She asked, curious. “You didn’t mention that you’d be out late, just that you were going to go to see Valteria at her shop.”
“I uh... went on a date.”
“I knew it! ‘Comparing notes’ was a date!” Gabrelle exclaimed triumphantly.
“It was not!” Xander complained. “But we went to a tavern in the evening and it sort of... turned into a date on the way there.”
“Awhh, that’s so cute,” Gabrelle said. “Did it go well? Is she nice? Did you kiss?”
“I think it went well. We talked a lot about different projects and ideas we had. I also got to meet another [Godsmarked] - he owns the tavern we went to. I think she’s nice. Maybe a little shy. I think she’s gotten used to being treated differently by people. I don’t think she really believed that I wanted to go on a date with her, at first. ...And yes. We kissed.”
“Ooooh, look at you! You’re growing up so fast!” Gabrelle teased.
“Oh hush. I’m older than you!” Xander huffed, then returned to seriousness. “But ah, if I’m going to be dating someone... we need to have a conversation, Gabrelle.”
“We need to stop sleeping together?” Gabrelle quickly deduced before Xander could say it himself.
“Yeah... It doesn’t feel right, even though it’s just platonic between us. I don’t think I would appreciate being in Valteria’s situation and knowing that the person I was seeing was sleeping with someone else at night.”
“Well, I figured this would happen eventually,” Gabrelle said. “Either you or I were bound to find someone eventually. Don’t worry, I’m not upset. Don’t get me wrong, the snuggles were nice, but like I told you a while ago, I don’t have nearly as much trouble sleeping when I’m with the team.”
“Thanks for not being upset, Gabrelle.”
“You know this means you have to start paying for your own room, though, right?”
“Ah, shit, you’re right. I forgot.”
Xander left the room to allow Gabrelle some privacy to get dressed and meandered back down the stairs to see if any other members of the team were already up. Looking around, he spied Graffus eating breakfast at at table and moved to sit with the dwarf.
“Mornin’” Graffus greeted Xander through a mouthful of bread.
“Morning,” Xander greeted back.
“Glad to see you made it back, we were wondering if you’d be out all night,” Graffus told him, after swallowing his bread.
“I was out a bit late, I suppose. I let the time get away from me.” Xander said, not really wanted to be teased again about going out on a date. “So what are you planning to do today?”
“Bah, Frazay has roped me into helping her do research for the drakeling. So reading is what’s in store for me.” Graffus tore himself off another piece of bread from his plate and slathered it with jam. “You going to be going back to that [Tinker] you’ve been spending time with lately?”
“Yeah, that’s the plan. I’m supposed to learn more about converting mana types today, and also help her fix the suit of armor that I wrecked.”
“Welp,” Graffus said, now on his last piece of bread, “I hope ya learn something new. Never had much to do with [Tinker]s – not saying I dislike them, just that I haven’t had much experience with them – so it don’t make much sense to me. Using a hammer is about the only overlap in our professions.”
“I think your hammer is significantly larger than the one most [Tinker]s would use,” Xander chuckled. Thinking about what he should be doing before he headed to Valteria’s, he asked Graffus, “Hey, I might need to buy some monster parts or elemental cores, something like that, for practice. You know where I would go to find stuff like that?”
Graffus shrugged. “Dunno. My guess would be an alchemy and reagents shop. That’s generally what we’ve sold monster parts to that didn’t go to a smith or leatherworker.”
“Thanks, Graffus.”
The two of them chatted for a while longer, catching up on what each other had been doing. Graffus excused himself to finish getting ready for the day, saying he needed to tend to his beard, leaving Xander downstairs. Deciding to be productive and proactive, Xander stood as well and headed out of the inn to find an alchemy shop.
It wasn’t long before he found one, a familiar scene of an eclectic collection of powders, liquids, crystals, and strange organic things floating in jars inside the building. The proprietor was a dwarf, seated at a workbench. They were grinding something into a powder as Xander entered. He received a distracted greeting before the dwarf returned to his work.
Xander wandered about the shop for a few minutes, looking at the various materials throughout the shop. He identified what he thought might be an elemental core, a jagged piece of crystal looking material that seemed to have an inner flame. As for the monster parts in jars, Xander had no idea what was what. He finally felt he’d waited long enough and moved closer to the worktable that the dwarf was still sitting at, working away at the mortar and pestle.
“Excuse me,” Xander said, grabbing the shopkeep’s attention.
“Mm?” The dwarf said questioningly. “Can I help you find something?”
“I was wondering if you had any elemental cores. Something small, I just need one to practice with.”
“Aye, I’ve a few of them around the shop. You want something to practice with? So a relatively weak core, then – not all the small ones are weak. Do you need any particular type?” The dwarf stood up and stretched, moving to one of the shelves.
“Uhm no, just whatever is cost effective, I suppose.”
The alchemist rifled through the various bits and bobs on one of the shelves nearby before producing a small chip of what looked to be a semi-translucent stone. It was tinged slightly yellow with streaks of white. “This here is a chip off a lightning attuned core. Pretty weak, but it does still produce mana.”
Xander could see the dwarf’s arm hair standing up as if from static electicity as he held up the stone. “How much?” He asked.
“Twenty gold.”
Xander shrugged. Twenty gold wasn’t an issue for him anymore, and he didn’t feel like haggling. He always hated haggling. “Sure.” He fished out the coin and handed it over to the dwarf.
The dwarf handed over the stone to Xander and the pop of a static electric shock could be heard as a tiny arc passed between the two of them. The dwarf grunted and shook his hand. “Thanks for the business,” he told Xander. “Anything else you find yourself in need of?”
“Not at the moment, but thanks for asking.” Xander waved goodbye to the dwarf and pocketed the tiny elemental core. He continued down the street in the direction of Valteria’s shop, thinking about how he was going to undo the welding job he’d done on Valteria’s armor. He’d need her to guide his repair efforts.
Xander returned to the inn momentarily to grab one of his golems. He settled on Atlas for now, as it was the most basic of the humanoid forms he’d created. No extra arms or weird feet on him, no sir.
Arriving at the building that contained Valteria’s home and shop, Xander knocked before opening the door. “Morning,” he called out.
“Xander! Hello!” Valteria called out. She was at the same work bench she’d been at yesterday. Jarrett didn’t seem to be in the shop at the moment, as Xander wasn’t able to spot the man.
Commanding Atlas to follow him in and closing the door behind him, Xander started walking towards Valteria. “How’s it going?” He asked.
“Good, it’s going good,” Valteria responded as Xander brought a stool over to her workbench. “How about yourself?”
“Not bad. The upside of not sleeping is that I never struggle in the mornings now. I used to hate waking up.” Xander laughed. “I even ran an errand before I came here! Picked up this.” Xander fished around in his pocket until he found the small chip of elemental core and held it up for Valteria to see.
“Core?” She asked distractedly, staring at Atlas. She tore her eyes away and looked closely at the small crystalline stone. “Lightning attuned?”
“That’s what the [Alchemist] at the shop said,” Xander affirmed. “Said it was a very weak one, but that it did still produce mana.”
“Mmm, a good practice piece, then.”
“I thought it would be, too. Not that I know what to do with it, yet.”
“Well, how about this: I teach you to set the stone and make some conduit, and then you can help me fix my armor. All the glue has turned to dust by now, thank the gods.”
“Sounds fair enough. So, how do mana conduits work?”
“Well, the concept is simple enough. It’s a tube which conducts mana,” Valteria began to explain.
“Mmhm.” Xander nodded along.
“What you need is a setting – usually of silver, as it has good mana conductivity – which will be the first step of conduction, taking the mana from the stone. Simply wrapping the core in silver wire can work well enough, drawing in the mana that the core puts out through its surface, but for a more effecient setting, small holes are usually drilled into the core to set the wire into as well, giving more surface area to draw from.”
“So we care about the mana conductivity of the material, then? That makes sense, I just hadn’t thought about it. I actually did a little experiment with my rune work to test which fillings were the most conductive.”
“Oh really?” Valteria said, interested. “What were your results?”
“Well, gold and silver were high up there in conductivity, and probably make the most sense for someone who has to physically manipulate material without use of a skill – both for a core setting and for inlaying a rune – but I did find that sapphires and rubies were even more efficient at transferring mana than gold and silver.”
“Mmm... interesting. I’ve heard of gemstones being used in very high-grade settings, as well as various other exotic materials. I read an account of one [Mechanist] who used tubes of mercury to conduct mana, though the relative effectiveness compared to silver wasn’t mentioned.” Valteria cleared her throat. “Uhm, now, where was I? Right, basic settings. Once you have your core – or monster organ, if you’re going that route – you connect it to the conduit. Usually, this is also silver wiring. I like to braid several smaller wires together, personally. I find it to be sturdier and hold up to flexing better. From there, it needs to be tied into a device. Which is a topic for tomorrow.” Looking around the shop, Valteria seemed to identify something on one of the shelves nearby. “I have a core that you could watch me set, and then you could try setting your own, if you’d like.”
“That sounds good to me,” Xander said. “I always love to see a master as work,” he added, opting for a little flattery.
“Follow me, then.” Valteria said, standing up from her stool and waving for Xander to follow.
Xander followed Valteria as she walked over to the shelf she’d been looking at earlier and took a palm sized, bright green stone from it. “Nature attuned core,” She explained, holding it for Xander to see. “I’m told it was taken from some kind of moving tree.” Valteria then moved to another worktable, on which were several of what looked to be drill bits to Xander. There was also an apparatus that look like it was designed to hold the bits, which was confirmed for him when Valteria slotted one of the small drill heads into the device. “This thing,” Valteria said, waving the drill a little bit, “is a life saver. I used to have to drill holes with a hand cranked one. Worth every single coin I paid for it to get an enchanted one.” She turned a dial on one side of the handheld device, which Xander was coming to think of as a magic dremel tool, and it began to come to life, the drill bit beginning to spin with a quiet whirring sound.
“Neat.” Xander commented. He watched patiently as Valteria drilled a series of shallow holes in the stone, the distinct screeching of metal on stone echoing through the shop floor. “So where’s Jarrett today?” He asked.
“Oh, he has the day off today. He asked for it about a week ago, not sure what for, though,” Valteria said distractedly. Soon she was finished with the holes she was drilling into the core, and moved to another workbench. “Now we create a setting for the core. This is a fairly simple way of doing it, mind you, but it is effective.”
Xander watched as she took sections of pre-braided silver wire and fitted the ends into the holes she had drilled. Once each hole was filled with a section of wire, Valteria began to pull wire from a spool, wrapping the stone until it was completely covered with silver wire and binding the braided sections to the stone in the process. “There,” she said, setting the stone down on the workbench. “A perfectly serviceable setting."
“So, if I understand correctly, you coat the core in a mana conductive material – the more surface area, the better, hence the holes – to create a setting?”
“Mmhmm,” Valteria said, nodding.
“Seems fairly straighforward. And then you connect the silver wiring that’s wrapped around it to more wiring, and attach that to your device? Why the distance? Why not just connect the setting directly to the device?”
“You absolutely can, if space isn’t an issue. Technically, the connection between the mana battery and the device, even if it’s just a single point with no distance, is still referred to as a conduit, though, so it’s considered a three part creation.”
“Oh, I see.”
“Do you want to try making your own, now? I don’t mind lending you a little wire.”
“Sure, but I should be good on material, I can produce it with my skills. Doesn’t last without a source of mana, but I guess the core itself might provide enough. Think this little chip is a bit small to put holes in, though.”
Xander looked at the small piece of crystal in his hand. If he just need as much contact as possible with a mana conductive material, his best bet would be to embed it into a sapphire or ruby. He decided on ruby, for no particular reason. Still holding the chip of core in his hand, he concentrated on his [Creation] ability. Valteria watched, amazed, as a ruby began to take form and grow around the piece of core until it was completely coated in a thin layer of gemstone.
“So, you can just... make things?” Valteria asked, sounding jealous.
“Well, it costs mana, and anything I make that isn’t provided a source of mana that leaves my person disintegrates in a day, but, yes. I can just make things with my skills. But,” he added, cutting off Valteria’s complaint of unfairness, “I have never received a skill that actually lets me improve a material. Sure, I have runes, which generally makes up the difference, but I don’t have any skills that improve the things I make. So, if you made a mana battery, and I made a mana battery the same way with identical materials, yours is going to be better, I assume, because you have skills that passively improve the things that you make, am I right?”
“Okayyy,” Valteria huffed. “I guess that does make it a little less unfair. But ugh! It would be so nice not having to source materials.” She looked at the ruby with a piece of core set inside it that Xander had made. “Well, I guess that about does it for making a setting... I thought it might have taken you longer to make one. I guess we can move on to fixing my armor even sooner! It’ll be nice to have it up and moving again.”
“Sure, sure, we can do that. Where is it, anyway?” Xander asked, looking around the shop again like he somehow would have missed the eight foot tall suit of armor.
“It’s in a shed behind the house,” Valteria explained. “I have it on a hoist so I can work on it.”
“Ah, that would explain why I haven’t seen it around.”
Exiting the shop, stopping for Valteria to put a small ‘closed’ sign on the door, the two of them made their way around the building, where Xander saw the small shed that presumably held Valteria’s armor. It looked like it could just barely hold the armor and one person – two, if they were comfortable with each other – inside it.
“So this is where the magic happens?” Xander asked.
“If by ‘magic’ you mean maintenance and upgrades, then yes,” Valteria agreed. She opened the door of the shed, which comprised most of the front of the tiny little building, revealing her suit of armor, which was currently hanging from several chains attached to pulleys on the ceiling. Plates of armor were laying strewn about the suite, leaving the joints and inner workings more exposed.
Xander whistled, looking at the inner workings of the suit. He could see gears, cogs, and joints, and throughout the entirety of the armor were running filaments of silver wire, which he assumed were mana conduits running to and from elemental cores and the various mana powered aspects of the suit. “This thing really is impressive. Almost as impressive as the woman who made it,” he said.
Valteria giggled, “Stop it! You’re supposed to be fixing this mess, not flirting with me!”
“Awh, can’t I do both?” Xander asked, trying to sound as saccharine as possible.
“Mmm, I suppose that if you are sufficiently skilled at multitasking, I might allow it,” Valteria said in a mockingly thoughtful tone.
“Well, I just so happen to be an expert, so flirt away I shall,” Xander replied. “Now, how about the beauty in front of me shows me exactly where the other beauty in front of me needs some repairs?”
Valteria sighed at Xander’s antics, but he could see the slight flush in her face. “Well, you welded the wrist joints, elbows, and knees. They aren’t welded all the way round, it’s more like you smoothed over a portion of it like it was wet clay. So if you could just... put it back? Shape it back to how it was, that’s should be all that’s needed.”
“Pretty straightforward,” Xander said, standing behind Valteria as she pointed out each joint. He could see the misshapen parts where he’d slapped a weld onto the metal. He leaned over her and put his hands on the elbow joint that they were closest to and began to shape the metal back to its original form.
“You’re... very close,” Valteria murmured to him as he formed the metal.
“Would you like me not to be?” He asked, carefully.
Valteria was silent for a moment before answering, “No...” quietly.
Xander carefully shifted to be a little closer, but still not quite touching, as he moved on to the wrist joint of the same arm. The process itself was simple, but he was enjoying taking his time. As he finished the wrist, he turned to look at Valteria. He found himself looking right into her eyes, as she was staring back at him. Unable to resist the temptation he leaned in a little closer, gauging Valteria’s reaction. When she, too, leaned towards him, he closed the small gap between them, drawing her into another kiss. Valteria pressed herself against him, the shed hiding them from any prying eyes on the street, and let out a small noise as Xander squeezed her tight. She was breathing a little bit harder than before the kiss as they separated again.
Valteria let out a breath. “You’re… a really good kisser.”
“Yeah?” Xander said, pleased with himself. “You’re not so bad yourself.”
“And you’re a tease, looming over me like that in this tiny little shed,” Valteria continued. “Now you’ve got me all flustered, how am I supposed to work now?” She mock complained.
Xander was glad to see that Valteria was comfortable enough with him to joke like that. “Forgive me,” he said formally, making a deep bow, “How ever can I make it up to the lady?”
“Oh stop it, I will tolerate no bowing and scraping, even in jest,” Valteria said, slapping him lightly on the shoulder, as he was still holding the bow. “You can make it up to me by fixing the rest of these joints! And by taking me out to dinner?” She added, hopefully.
“I think that can be arranged,” Xander said. “Is there anywhere you have in mind? I will admit, I haven’t become very familiar with the local restaurant scene, what with my… dietary restrictions.”
“It doesn’t… make you feel bad to go out to a restaurant, does it?” Valteria asked softly, watching his face for a reaction.
“Nah, don’t worry,” Xander said, waving off the question with one hand. “It doesn’t bother me too much. Sure, I miss the taste of a good cut of steak, but I was never that into food. Eating was more of a thing I did because I had to, so I’m not completely devastated by the loss. And I can still get some vicarious enjoyment out of watching someone else enjoy their food. Really the worst part is awkwardly having to refuse ordering anything,” he said with a laugh.
“Alright, if you say so,” Valteria said, letting out a slight breath of relief. “I was just worried that it might be upsetting to you, is all. I know I would miss eating.” She paused for a moment, something clearly on her mind. “What do you miss? If you don’t mind my asking. I just… well, I’m curious what it’s like for you.”
“Mmm, in a lot of ways, life is still the same, and in other ways, I’m technically doing better than I was before. I’m incredibly resistant to damage now, even without my armor. I do miss sleeping, though. I try to give my mind a rest and just sort of daydream and let my thoughts wander or do some meditation during the nights, but it’s just not the same. Also means I’m the one that pulls guard duty through the night,” he grumbled. “Let’s see, what else, what else. Ah, right. I can’t smell anything. Or taste. I haven’t worked out how to recreate those senses, yet. Though no sense of smell can be handy sometimes, I suppose. I don’t know if you’ve done much merc work – you mentioned being surprised that I’m not just moonlighting – but uh… the smells that you encounter on a battlefield are… unpleasant. To say the least. It was weird not having a sense of touch either, but I’ve resolved that. It’s a little bit different than my previous, natural sense of touch, but I’ve become accustomed to it to the point that I don’t much think about the difference anymore. I think I’ve even got the density of receptors down in certain areas compared to others, so I'm more sensitive in some areas than others now, just like I used to be. I’m still immune to being tickled though, so don’t even think about it – that’s a fight you’ll lose.” Growing a bit more somber, Xander continued on. “I think… the biggest thing I miss is just the feeling that I fit in more. Now I always worry about being different, there’s that nagging fear that anyone I get to know well is going to reject me once they find out what I am. Like I’m secretly lying to everyone around me with this façade I have going on.”
Valteria nodded sadly. “I get that. I’ve been… rejected before, too. At least it happens or not right from the beginning for me. I get to know if they look down on me for being different immediately instead of fearing they might later down the road.”
“Yeah,” Xander said. “People can really suck sometimes. But at least I can just, like, not tell people what I am if I so chose. You, my teammates, and the guild, since it’s on my status sheet, are really the only people who know. I keep it pretty private. You can’t do that, so I think you probably have to deal with a lot worse than I do. Not that I’d want you to hide what or who you are,” he added. “I happen to be quite enamored with who you are,” he said, teasing a smile from Valteria’s sad face.
“Sorry to bring up such a dour topic,” Valteria apologized. “I didn’t think much on it before I asked.”
“No worries,” Xander told her. “Honestly, I think it’s good to be able to talk about it with someone. It’s healthy to be able to get you feelings out there. And it helps that I feel like you understand where I’m coming from with it, though from a slightly different perspective.”
“You’re surprisingly thoughtful sometimes,” Valteria said, only half teasing.
“Only sometimes?” Xander asked with a faux expression of hurt on his face. “By the way, you didn’t react much to my comment about moonlighting as a merc. Do you ever go on contracts?”
Valteria shrugged. “I certainly wouldn’t describe myself as a professional mercenary. Moonlighter is an apt descriptor, for me, I think. I have gone on a couple, here and there, mostly on kill contracts that would net me a core or organ that would be useful for my work.”
“Mm, that makes sense. I suppose it could be handy having access to the ability to take contracts that would give you access to specialty materials,” Xander said.
“It’s also good for business,” Valteria explained. “Mercs tend to like to buy from someone who has at least been out on a contract or two before.”
“Ah, that makes sense. What kind of things do you sell to mercenaries, anyways? I saw Jarrett with a crossbow yesterday, but I imagine you make other things, too.”
“Oh all kinds of little things. Portable, flameless heaters for cooking. Water purification sieves. Mm, let’s see… I’ve made a few custom order devices, too. One customer wanted to be able to shoot a jet of flame from their gauntlet, that was a fun one.”
“Ooh, that does sound fun… reminds me of my flamethrower.”
“Your flamethrower?”
“Yeah, it’s basically a big tank with a hose attached to it. At the end of the hose is a pump that causes the flammable liquid – I use dragon’s tar – to shoot out. Add a flame that the tar passes over and bam! You’ve got a giant stream of flame that will coat anything it hits with sticky, flammable tar,” Xander said, excitedly describing the device.
“That’s… impressive. And kind of horrifying,” Valteria responded.
“Mm… I guess you’re right. I mostly use it on giant spiders. Blugh,” Xander shuddered. “But yeah, I suppose it’s not the nicest of ways to go. Very effective for area denial, though. Ah, actually I have an idea for crossbow bolt head that would ignite when it shatters! We should make that sometime and see if it sells.”
“Hmm, I think that would draw some buyers. A flaming bolt head you didn’t have to light first could be desirable to certain buyers.”
“Put that on the list and we’ll get around to it sometime.”
“We have a list?” Valteria said confusedly.
“We should!” Xander said with a laugh. “Now let’s get the rest of these joints done.”
The repair of the other arm and the leg joints that Xander had locked into position during the tournament was a short affair. Looking over the bare metal frame of the armor still hanging from the ceiling, Xander clapped his hands together, mimicking dusting them off. “Good as new!” He exclaimed. Looking over to Valteria he asked concernedly, “It is good as new, right?”
Valteria had been staring at the armor as well, lost in thought about how she was going to improve it next. “Hmm? Oh, yes. It’s right as rain again, ready for use. Thank you, by the way. For fixing it,” She said awkwardly.
“Well I’m the one who broke it, so it’s only fair that I fix it. So what do you want to work on next?” Xander asked. “I could do some rune work for you. Orrr… we could kiss some more?”
Valteria flushed at the question, but didn’t immediately say no.
A few minutes later, she found herself on her tip toes and lightly pressed against the interior wall of the shed, her lips pressed against Xanders.
Once the two of them were done acting like teenagers parked in a secluded parking lot, they made their way back into the shop. Stepping inside and closing the door behind them, Valteria let out a breath. “I think… you are going to have to do a lot of rune work to make up for how much you just kissed me, Xander.”
“What, you didn’t like it?” He said with a raised eyebrow.
“I didn’t say that,” Valteria said with a smirk.

Daily Modifiers

Vanguard Ops

• Heavyweight: Power weapons deal more damage, and more ammo is available.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Void Threat: 25% increase to incoming Void damage.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.

Dares of Eternity

• Daodan Surge: Melee abilities deal more damage and recharge much faster.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Onslaught: Playlist

• Onslaught Rules: Defend and repair the ADU against waves of combatants. There are 10 waves to a set. ADU: If the ADU is destroyed, the activity ends. Scraps: An in-activity currency. They are earned by scoring and used to purchase and upgrade defenses at the start of every set and after waves 3 and 6. Rewards: Paid out after every set upon defeating the boss wave. Subsequent sets pay out better rewards. Legend increases rewards. Bonus Objectives: Rewards resources, vendor reputation, and armaments.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
• Void Threat: 25% increase to incoming Void damage.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Seasonal

Legend/Master Lost Sector

Exotic armor drop (if solo): Chest

Perdition: Legend

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload
• Threat: [Arc] Arc
• Shields: [Arc] Arc, [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Shocker

Perdition: Master

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload
• Threat: [Arc] Arc
• Shields: [Arc] Arc, [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Shocker

Misc

• Terminal Overload: Zephyr Concourse Weapon: Circular Logic (Machine Gun)
• The Wellspring: Attack Weapon: Come to Pass (Auto Rifle)
• Altars of Sorrow Weapon: Blasphemer (Shotgun)

Guns & Materials

Banshee's Featured Weapons

Name	Type	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Masterwork
Whispering Slab	Kinetic Combat Bow	Tactile String // Natural String	Helical Fletching // Straight Fletching	Quickdraw	Unrelenting	Tier 2: Draw Time
Iota Draconis	Energy Fusion Rifle	Fluted Barrel // Hammer-Forged Rifling	Ionized Battery // Projection Fuse	Ensemble	Adagio	Tier 2: Range
Vulpecula	Kinetic Hand Cannon	Full Bore // Polygonal Rifling	Extended Mag // Alloy Magazine	Ensemble	Explosive Payload	Tier 2: Reload Speed
Piece of Mind	Kinetic Pulse Rifle	Extended Barrel // Fluted Barrel	Ricochet Rounds // Light Mag	Auto-Loading Holster	Vorpal Weapon	Tier 2: Range
Bump in the Night	Heavy Rocket Launcher	Volatile Launch // Hard Launch	Alloy Casing // Black Powder	Stats for All	Chain Reaction

Note: Fixed perks on weapons are not displayed

Master Rahool's Material Exchange

beep boop failed to fetch

Bounties

^{Never forget what has been lost. While the API protests have concluded, Reddit remains hostile to its users as their IPO looms in the horizon. More information can be found here.}

Daily Modifiers

Vanguard Ops

• Heavyweight: Power weapons deal more damage, and more ammo is available.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Void Threat: 25% increase to incoming Void damage.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.

Dares of Eternity

• Daodan Surge: Melee abilities deal more damage and recharge much faster.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Onslaught: Playlist

• Onslaught Rules: Defend and repair the ADU against waves of combatants. There are 10 waves to a set. ADU: If the ADU is destroyed, the activity ends. Scraps: An in-activity currency. They are earned by scoring and used to purchase and upgrade defenses at the start of every set and after waves 3 and 6. Rewards: Paid out after every set upon defeating the boss wave. Subsequent sets pay out better rewards. Legend increases rewards. Bonus Objectives: Rewards resources, vendor reputation, and armaments.
• Power Level Disabled: Combatant difficulty is set at a fixed level.
• Void Threat: 25% increase to incoming Void damage.
• Void Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Void damage.
• Strand Surge: 25% bonus to outgoing Strand damage.
• Champion Foes: You will face [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload, and [Stagger] Unstoppable Champions. Visit the Character or Mod Customization screen to view your active anti-Champion perks.

Seasonal

Legend/Master Lost Sector

Exotic armor drop (if solo): Chest

Perdition: Legend

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload
• Threat: [Arc] Arc
• Shields: [Arc] Arc, [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Shocker

Perdition: Master

• Legend Difficulty: Locked Equipment, Extra Shields
• Champions: [Shield-Piercing] Barrier, [Disruption] Overload
• Threat: [Arc] Arc
• Shields: [Arc] Arc, [Void] Void
• Modifiers: Shocker

Misc

• Terminal Overload: Zephyr Concourse Weapon: Circular Logic (Machine Gun)
• The Wellspring: Attack Weapon: Come to Pass (Auto Rifle)
• Altars of Sorrow Weapon: Blasphemer (Shotgun)

Guns & Materials

Banshee's Featured Weapons

Name	Type	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Masterwork
Whispering Slab	Kinetic Combat Bow	Tactile String // Natural String	Helical Fletching // Straight Fletching	Quickdraw	Unrelenting	Tier 2: Draw Time
Iota Draconis	Energy Fusion Rifle	Fluted Barrel // Hammer-Forged Rifling	Ionized Battery // Projection Fuse	Ensemble	Adagio	Tier 2: Range
Vulpecula	Kinetic Hand Cannon	Full Bore // Polygonal Rifling	Extended Mag // Alloy Magazine	Ensemble	Explosive Payload	Tier 2: Reload Speed
Piece of Mind	Kinetic Pulse Rifle	Extended Barrel // Fluted Barrel	Ricochet Rounds // Light Mag	Auto-Loading Holster	Vorpal Weapon	Tier 2: Range
Bump in the Night	Heavy Rocket Launcher	Volatile Launch // Hard Launch	Alloy Casing // Black Powder	Stats for All	Chain Reaction

Note: Fixed perks on weapons are not displayed

Master Rahool's Material Exchange

beep boop failed to fetch

Bounties

^{Never forget what has been lost. While the API protests have concluded, Reddit remains hostile to its users as their IPO looms in the horizon. More information can be found here.}

Timestamp: https://imgur.com/a/sitrZwQ
Images: https://imgur.com/a/auRN2vJ
Disclaimer: some are untested. Let me know if you want me to test a specific one. Please buy something my M14 build is hungry lol.
No Trades.
All prices do not include shipping. I will try to keep shipping cheap.
Make me a reasonable offer I’m flexible!!

GBB/C02 PISTOLS

Cybergun KWC Tanfoglio GBB race gun-$100 Compensator and rail(missing screws) C02 blowback. Some signs of wear. Missing fire selector.
Cybergun KWC Tanfoglio GBB-$90 No rails/comp. Has fire selector.
KWA Glock 17 Gen 3 untested -$80 RMR mounted plate
Dan Wesson “Evike Exclusive” 1911- $60 Silver with cool grips. No mag. Sounds cool asf.
KWC? S&W M&P9 C02 blowback-$75 Unsure the brand. Probably KWC.
APS SHARK Select Fire C02 Blowback-$70 Magazine has broken needle thing. $8-10 part
Black WE Hi Capa Caspian-$85
Silver Split Slide WE Hi-Capa Caspian $105 This thing is tight asf and I don’t really wanna sell it but that’s the way she goes.
WE 1911 Galaxy-$115 All silver short barrel. Top rail included.
KJWorks P226 w/ 1 mag $85 -more mags available
EMG Staccato C2 2011-$125 Comes with spare mag that leaks. Missing fire selector. Stipled hand grip.
Boneyard PPQ: $30 $25! poor guy. Missing a hammer assembly, inner barrel, outer barrel and magazine. But has frame, recoil spring and slide with BBH.
We Galaxy Glock-$200 $160 $115 with just gun+standard mag Comes with 1 extra standard mag and 1 extended mag. Also an evike carry case. Select fire, semi and full auto. Works no problems. Crazy high ROF. Standard trigger. I swapped out the flat one.
HFC Mac 11 is SOLD
2 Hi Capa magazines. One c02. One green gas. $30 each. Or $20 each w/ a gun

GBBR

WE MSK GBBR (needs parts) ~~$200 $170~~ SOLD!
WE SMG8 $160 $150!
Magazine holds gas and gun cycles and fires. Missing flash hider (it’s on my other mp7). Full size version of the MP7. Comparable to my VFC. Just don’t need it.

FREEBIES

Free with any purchase is a shot out red dot sight and a cheap plastic RMR sight. Pics
Okay that’s it! Feel free to message with questions or offers or if you want more pics. All prices are negotiable and I offer bundle deals Happy Shopping!

To be honest I don't know how I feel about my writing. I was hoping you guys could give some advise to help me improve. I'm new to writing longer fic, most of the stuff I wrote before is one shots and poems. Also English isn't my first language, so I'm in unfamiliar territory.

1. I'm kinda regretting writing my story in past tense. I think that present tense would have been better, reserving the past tense for my flashbacks. Is it too late to change it? I mean it would mean having to rewrite the whole fic. The problem is I altered posted 6 chapters and I'm worried it would mess it up. What do you think, should I do it. Would I loose readers? I don't want to have to repost the whole fic, because I would loose all my comments and kudos. what is the best choice here?
2. From what I learned in school and from the advice I read online, show don't tell is one of the most important rules of writing. However that is my exact problem. When I read my stuff I get the feeling like my writing is too dry and not descriptive enough and my beta agrees with me, but every time I try to be descriptive it comes off as flowery and it just feels like it was written by other people. How can I add more descriptive elements without sounding too flowery?
3. On that same note, my beta said that I tend to over explain scenes like for example in one chapter of my fic, there are several scenes where one character refusing help due to being stubborn and not wanting to be a burden and and the other character being frustrated/feeling they are taken advantage and wanting to end the friendship. I was trying to show how their friendship slowly imploded and as such certain elements pop up again and again. My beta said that it was too repetitive and that readers are not idiots who can pick up on themes without being hit over the head with a hammer. She's right of cause, but to be honest I'm not sure I'm good at writing subtext. Do you guys have any resources or tips to help me improve in that area?

Edit: Please do not delete this post. Yes I posted it before, but deleted the post because I wanted to change the title and that wasn't possible after posting. I'm not trying to spam just get this post out. sorry for any inconvenience.

As many of you may have read, there is a case of two missing adopted kids in North Carolina, where remains have been found. The news has reported that their adoptive “mother” is Avantae Deven.
I’m a curious person and started digging up information on Avantae Deven when I first read the story in my news feed and could not believe what I was reading. It seemed like whomever this woman is must have be using an alias; Avantae Deven is not a name like Kim Jones or Mackenzie Smith.
The more I dug, the weirder it seemed to get. I found a property deed to a place in Sedona, Arizona, and figured out that whomever this Avantae person is, she at one point in time had owned a home together with someone named Nicole Adams. So I dug into who Nicole Adams was, and learned that she was the widow of a spiritual leader named Robert Adams. It appeared to me that there would be no way to identify who Avantae really was, unless I could also identify the true identity of Robert Adams.
*******
I've done investigative work for many years, including skip tracing. I can conclusively state that there was absolutely no person actually named Robert Adams born in New York State on January 21, 1928. This is demonstrated by the New York Birth Index. I have combed the census records for 1930, 1940, and 1950, and cross-checked them against multiple databases, and am confident that nobody with the birth name of Robert Adams was born anywhere in the United States on January 21, 1928.
Moreover, there was absolutely no person with the true name of Robert Adams who died anywhere at all in the United States, let alone Sedona, Arizona, on March 2, 1997. This is demonstrated by the Social Security Death Index.
I began this research largely by performing exhaustive searches on the known addresses that are associated with Robert, his wife Leonie (who used to use the alias Nicole), and Avantae Deven (who turns out to be their daughter Michelle who began using the alias Avantae in the mid-1990’s or so). Most of the addresses are PO boxes. Those that are PO boxes are all *private* PO boxes, not PO boxes that one can rent from the United States Postal Service. To me, that spoke volumes. The family were clearly using aliases.
As I explain further below, I eventually determined that “Robert Adams” was Robert Spiegel, born 21 January 1932 in New York. “Nicole Adams” was actually Aileen Beverly Leonie Maxwell, born February 2, 1929, in Jamaica. “Avantae Deven” is actually their daughter, Michelle K. Spiegel, born on October 1, 1960, in California.
One of Robert’s many false stories about Robert’s life that my research has refuted is Robert’s claim that his mother was Jewish and his father was Catholic. That was a lie. Both of his parents were Jewish. It’s also interesting that he claimed that he was “raised Catholic.” There is absolutely nothing to suggest that. His mother always, in New York, lived in Jewish neighborhoods. Moreover, as will be discussed below, his parents had a Jewish wedding. It’s also downright absurd that he would tell people that he was “half Jewish.” If your mother’s Jewish, you are Jewish, pure and simple. Even if Robert’s father had truly been Catholic (which he wasn’t; his name was Samuel Spiegel and he immigrated to America in 1907, lived with his Jewish, Yiddish-speaking cousins, and spoke Yiddish himself), Robert would have been Jewish because the status of being a Jew comes from the mother. Robert’s mother’s name was Fannie (nee Fleisfeder) Spiegel. Fannie’s parents were Itzik Fleisfeder and Esther Libke (nee Rifkin) Fleisfeder. Esther’s parents were Mendel Rifkin and Sarah whose maiden name is lost to time and the disappearance of the shtetls. Robert’s claim to having had a Catholic father was utterly false, but is part and parcel of his ongoing compulsive daily lying about anything and everything.
Here is the story.
*******
Kolomyia, formerly known as Kolomea, is a city currently located in the Western Ukraine.
On January 21, 1892 (the same year that Kolomea tallis¹ workers went on strike for better pay and working conditions), Kolomea resident Rachel Katz, wife of Abraham Spiegel, gave birth to a son, who was given the name Schmuel.
On the date that Schmuel Spiegel entered the world, Kolomea was ruled by the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, and almost half of the city’s residents were Jewish.
In June of 1907, fifteen-year-old Schmuel² boarded the Zeeland, which sailed from Antwerp, Belgium, arriving at New York Harbor on June 18, 1907. The ship’s manifest states that Schmuel’s father had paid for his transport, and that Schmuel intended to reside with his father, Abe, in Brooklyn. Schmuel was granted entrance, and took up residence with his cousin Charles Fetner, who resided at 353 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn, in Apartment A with his wife Jennie and their baby daughter Ettie. The sparse record that exists suggests that although Schmuel’s father was, indeed, named Abraham, Abraham lived and died in Europe, without immigrating to America.
The 1910 census describes Samuel’s cousin Charles as a carpenter, who had been married to housewife Jennie for six years, and a father of three children-- Ettie age four, Nathan age two, and baby Jacob, who was not even a year old. Eighteen-year-old Samuel was identified by profession as a “Foreman Sailmaker” in an industry described as “pocket-books.”
Three and a half years after being granted admission, on a bitterly cold winter day, January 4, 1911, Schmuel (now employed as a pocket-book maker, and having Anglicized his name to Samuel) signed and submitted his declaration to become a United States citizen. He stated, in that declaration, that he was born on January 21, 1892.
By 1915, Samuel had left his cousin’s abode and was residing as a lodger in the home of a widow named Rose Hammer, who lived with her two adolescent sons, Meyer and Louis, at 531 E. 5^th Avenue; Samuel was now working as a “driver.”
Two years after the 1915 state census was taken, Samuel had moved back to Myrtle Avenue, but this time at building no. 849. On June 15, 2017, Samuel registered for the draft, and described himself as being a pocketbook maker, working for “A. Shoenfeld,” at 101 Crosby Street, New York. He was single. He stated, in his draft registration, that he was born on January 21, 1892.
*******
A woman named Fruma Fleisfeder was born in Beltz, Bessarabia, sometime between July 1, 1893, and 1901, to Itzik Fleisfeder and Esther Lieba Rifkin. Fruma (not living up to her pious given name) provided different dates and years of birth to different authorities on different occasions, making it impossible at this point in time to know her true position in the birth order of her family. Regardless, Fruma, who began using the name Fanny upon her entrance to the United States, did have three brothers and a sister who also came to America-- Louis Fleisfeder who was born April 10, 1890, Max Irving Fleisfeder who used October 10, 1892 as his birthdate, Hersch (later known as Harry), whose official birthdate was December 15, 1901, and Sylvia who was born in approximately 1906.
On December 1, 1919, Fruma arrived in New York Harbor on the ship La Touraine, declaring her intention, at entry, to become a United States Citizen. The ship’s manifest describes her as five feet five inches tall, with fair hair, blue eyes, and a fair complexion. The ship’s manifest states that she was, at that time, age 24. If that were correct, she would have been born in 1895.
Fruma (then going by Fanny) took up residence with her cousin Ethel (nee Ruchlin) and Ethel’s husband Samuel Steinberg, on 15^th Street, Brooklyn. Soon thereafter, Ethel gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Theresa. The 1920 census states that Fanny was Russian, didn’t speak English but, rather, spoke Hebrew, and worked as a milliner in a millinery store. The 1920 census also states that Fanny was age 25, which lines up with her being age 24 in the prior year’s ship manifest.
*******
Sam and Fanny married in Manhattan on January 24, 1925. Their marriage certificate (signed by each of them) identifies Sam as being age 32 (contradicting, by one year, his immigration records which would have placed him at age 33), and identifies Fanny as age 24, the same age that she had claimed to be six years prior, and also contradicting an immigration petition that she would file two decades in the future, which generally placed her birth year at the mid-point of 1893.
If Fanny’s immigration records (which included a petition with her signature on it) were correct, Fanny would also have been age 32 as of her marriage to Samuel, not age 24.
So did Fanny lie in her marriage certificate? Or did she lie in her immigration petition?
The marriage certificate identifies Sam as having been born in Kolomea, Austria, and his father being Abraham, and his mother being Rachel Katz. It identifies Fanny as having been born in Beltz, Russia, to a father named Isaac, and to a mother named Esther Rifkin.
The marriage certificate does not identify Fanny as having any profession, but identifies Sam as being a pocketbook maker.
Sam and Fannie were married at 125 E. 4^th Street, Manhattan, a six-story apartment building with retail units on the ground floor that is now an expensive co-op, with three-bedroom units selling for over $900,000. Present-day real estate advertisements alternatively state that the building was built in 1894, 1903, and 1905.
The first name of the rabbi who officiated was Harry. His surname starts with Reid, but the remaining letters of his signature are illegible. Rabbi Harry identified his residence as 232 Broome Street, which, at the time, was a four-story mixed use building that, among other things, housed Chevrah Ahavath Zedek Anshei Jaskinover.
Witnesses to the marriage were Mayer Budmon and Samuel Steinberg.
*******
Sam and Fanny’s existence was documented next in the 1925 New York State census by census. They were living at 205 S. 2^nd Street. Samuel was still working as a “pocketbook maker.” Fanny was identified as a “housewife.”
Fanny was identified as age 25. This was in accordance with her age as stated on her marriage certificate, but not in accordance with her immigration documents or the 1920 census.
Sam was identified as being age 28, which conflicted with all prior records.
*******
In 1930, the couple were again enumerated, this time in the Federal census. The enumerator, whose signature appears to be “Max Krahn” (or something like that) stated that he obtained the information on April 16, 1930.
Sam was identified as a “framer” of pocketbooks. He was identified as being 36 years of age, which conflicts by two years with the age that he provided to immigration authorities. Perhaps the enumerator was simply sloppy; Samuel was also incorrectly identified in the 1930 census as having been born in “Poland,” with parents who were both also born in “Poland,” notwithstanding other governmental records having identified him as being Austrian. The language he spoke? “Jewish,” according to the enumerator. Was that to mean Hebrew? Yiddish? Both?
Fannie was identified as age 30 (directly in conflict with the information she supplied in her immigration petition, which bears her signature) and as being “Russian,” with parents born in “Russia.” The 1930 census enumerator incorrectly wrote that her year of immigration was 1921. Fannie, too, was identified by the enumerator as speaking the “Jewish” language.
Although later records reflected that Sam and Fannie had a son named Irving who was born in 1926, Irving was not recorded in the 1930 census. Was he missed by the enumerator? Or was he a later-adopted son?
The couple also had a boarder, identified by the 1930 enumerator as one Esther “Larson,” age 40, born in Russia, and similarly a speaker of the “Jewish” language.
*******
The New York Birth Index identifies a baby boy, Robert Spiegel, as one of many babies having been born in the city on January 21, 1932.
*******
On May 21, 1936, Samuel committed suicide by hanging in the family residence, a tenement apartment located at 1168 Union Avenue, in the Bronx. Although, based upon the date of birth that Samuel used for official governmental purposes he was age 44, the death certificate stated that he was age 43.
Fannie engaged the Gordon Funeral Home to prepare him for burial.
Strangely, although Samuel’s headstone accurately identified him in Hebrew as Schmuel Spiegel, son of Avraham, it inexplicably incorrectly stated that he died at age 40.
Fannie of course knew her husband’s real age; both of them signed the marriage certificate that had Samuel’s correct age listed. Furthermore, Samuel had petitioned for citizenship in 1911, and stated that his date of birth was January 18, 1892.
Why would Fannie commission a headstone with a false age? Perhaps she, like her son, was a compulsive liar. Maybe that’s where Robert got it from.
*******
The 1940 census has Fannie (identified as age 38), Robert (identified as age 8), and Fannie’s son/Robert’s brother, Irving Spiegel, age 13, as living with Fannie’s 72-year-old mother, Esther Fleisfeder, at 1537 Fulton Avenue, in the Bronx. Fannie and Esther were identified as widows. Esther was identified as “U” (unable to work), while Fannie was identified as engaged in housework. No source of income for the family was identified.
No explanation is obvious regarding where Irving was living in the census taken a decade previously. Was he adopted?
There is no “Irving Spiegel” listed in the New York Birth Index for either 1926 or 1927. There is an “Irving Spiegal” listed, who was born April 29, 1926. But he is not Irving Spiegel.
I initially thought that perhaps Irving might be one of the unnamed Baby Boy Spiegels born in New York in 1926 or 1927, and that he left the hospital unnamed because his parents were waiting for his bris before naming him. However, Robert left the hospital with the name Robert. Why wait until the bris to name one child, but not the other?
*******
Slightly less than two years after she was enumerated in the 1940 census, Fannie’s mother Esther died, at home, at 1537 Fulton Avenue. The causes of death were “Coronary Thrombosis, Pulmonary Oedema Nephritis, Hypertension, Arteriosclerosis.” Esther left this world on February 6, 1942, the same day that the W. L. Steed was torpedoed, shelled and sunk less than a hundred nautical miles east of the mouth of Delaware River by a German submarine.
She was buried at Mount Moriah Cemetery in Fairview, New Jersey, the same cemetery where her son-in-law Samuel was interred.
*******
On November 12, 1943, Fannie, now residing at 1985 Bathgate Avenue, in the Bronx, petitioned for citizenship. She claimed, in that document bearing her signature, to be fifty years of age, meaning that if she was telling the truth, she would have been born in approximately 1893.
*******
On January 19, 1948, Robert (having assumed a false date of birth, that being January 18, 1931), enlisted in the New York National Guard. On paper, he had turned age 17 the day before his enlistment. In reality, he would be turning age 16 two days after his enlistment.
On December 9, 1949, Robert was discharged from the national guard, apparently for having been AWOL.
The discharge document identifies his address as being 1985 Bathgate Avenue, New York City.
*******
The 1950 census places Robert again at 1985 Bathgate Avenue, New York City. It correctly identifies him as age 18, and states that he worked as a shipping clerk for a newspaper company.
According to the 1950 census, Robert resided at the Bathgate Avenue address with his mother Fannie, who was purportedly still age 50 (seven years after she had previously claimed to immigration authorities to be age 50), and Robert’s brother Irving, age 24.
Irving was listed as unemployed and moreover, according to the census record, had not worked for the prior year. Fannie was employed full-time as a milliner in a hat factory.
*******
Military records reflect that Irving J. Spiegel, born in 1926 and a resident of 1985 Bathgate Avenue, who had completed two years of high school education, had flown bomber planes over Germany during the war. In his military documents, Irving described himself as single, with two dependents.
*******
On February 2, 1929, a baby girl given the name Aileen Beverly Leone Maxwell was born in Lucea, Hanover, Jamaica, to William Maxwell and Daisy (nee Tibbits) Maxwell. Her birth was registered by her parents.
*******
In 1954, Robert Spiegel and Aileen Maxwell were married in New York City. Their marriage license was given License No. 10284.
*******
The following year, the Kingston, Jamaica, Gleaner reported on June 6, 1955:
Miss Leonie Maxwell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Maxwell, was married recently in New York City to Mr. Robert Spiegel of the U.S.A. Both the bride and groom are students at the New York Institute of Dietetics. The bride left the island nearly two years ago for New York. Her wedding gown was chantilly lace and nylon tulle. The bodice was fashioned with a wide, scalloped neckline and elbow-length sleeves. Her three tier skirt of chantilly lace was over pleated nylon tulle. Her fingertip-length veil was adorned with pearls.
*******
If the claim regarding the couple studying at the New York Institute of Dietetics was even true, their studies at this institution didn’t last long. In May of 1956, a number of advertisements bearing Robert’s photograph appeared in the Kingston, Jamaica Gleaner. The advertisements described Robert as a psychologist, author, lecturer, and “practitioner in auto suggestion,” and identified him as “Dr. J. Robert Spiegel.” Readers were invited to come meet Robert on May 21, 1956, at Record Plaza, where he would be autographing his “latest” “world-wide” 33 and 1/3 RPM record, “How to Stop Smoking in 7 days by Auto-Suggestion.”
*******
On May 1, 1959, three residents of 1985 Bathgate Avenue, Bronx, New York, came through customs, having returned from a trip to Jamaica. They identified themselves as “Robert D. Spiegel” born in New York (in addition to giving himself a false middle initial, Robert neglected to complete the I-94-A fully, specifically by leaving his birthdate blank), “Leonie A. Spiegel” born in Jamaica on February 2, 1929, and their minor daughter, and “Sharon S. Spiegel,” born in New York. Someone also neglected to fully complete Sharon’s I-94-A, specifically by leaving her birthdate blank.
*******
Leonie had taken Sharon to Jamaica two years earlier. There are no publicly available records pertaining to their outbound transport from the United States to Jamaica. There is, however, a record pertaining to their return to the United States. That publicly available record does not provide their address, but Sharon is identified as weighing 1 stone 5 pounds (a total of 19 pounds), and Leonie is identified as weighing six stone 5 pounds (89 pounds). Interestingly, Leonie used the name “Aileen Spiegel,” and the records assert that Aileen has no middle initial. Aileen was / is her true legal first name, but it is a lie to say that she has no middle initial.
*******
Almost two years later, on January 5, 1958, the Kingston, Jamaica Gleaner reported:
Staying at the Tamarind Hotel are Mr. and Mrs. Bob Spiegel and daughter Sharon of Miami, Florida. Mrs. Spiegel is the former Leonie Maxwell, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. J. Maxwell of Lucea and has been in the United States for several years. A welcome party in their honour was given last Saturday night by Messers. Horrace, Ray, and Dennis Maxwell, brothers of Mrs. Spiegel. It was a very enjoyable affair.
*******
In 1963, roughly five years after their 1958 visit to Jamaica, Leonie petitioned for naturalization, in Louisiana. Although I am in possession of the index showing that she petitioned in 1963, I do not possess the petition itself. However, the fact that she petitioned for naturalization in Louisiana demonstrates that that at least she was residing in Louisiana at the time. Since she stated that she didn’t leave Robert’s side for over 40 years, presumably Robert, young Sharon, and also baby Michelle were living in Louisiana at that time.
*******
People who knew Robert personally relate that he stated that Leonie was a Cayman Island heiress. She wasn’t. Not only was she not born in the Cayman Islands, Leonie’s father’s estate was litigated (with the judge ruling against her) long before Robert started telling people that his wife was a Cayman Islands heiress.
Leonie’s father did leave an estate, but not to her. On November 9, 1967, the Gleaner reported that the Supreme Court had upheld the will of the late William Josiah Maxwell, the father of Horrace, Ray, Dennis, and Leonie, and the husband of Daisy Maxwell, who had contended that William’s signature was a forgery and that the person to whom his estate had been bequeathed had exercised undue influence. The court disagreed. The article reported:
The estate, which one of the executors described as “a sizeable one,” included 112 acres of land at Paradise and three houses at Lucea, Hanover.
*******
Robert apparently wasn’t banking on Leonie’s inheritance in any event. In May of 1966, advertisements appeared in the Houston Chronicle with Robert’s photo on them, selling a record that would purportedly assist people in stopping smoking in seven days. He identified himself as “Dr. J. Robert Spiegel.”
*******
On page 55 of the November 15, 1969, San Antonio, Texas Express and News, was an advertisement stating:
SCIENCE OF THE MIND
Dr. J. Robert Spiegel of Houston, director and founder of the Science of the Mind Foundation there, is conducting Sunday evening meetings at 7:30 p.m. in the Sheraton Inn, 1400 Austin Hwy.
*******
On page 4 of the July 10, 1970 edition of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram was a photograph of Robert, with a brief local news blurb:
GUEST – Dr. J Robert Spiegel of Houston, Science of Mind Foundation director, will speak at the 10:45 a.m. service tomorrow in First Church of Religious Science, 2001 6^th Ave. His subject is “What Religious Science Teaches.”
*******
On page 8 of the June 18, 1970 edition of the Houston Daily Cougar was this advertisement:
HOME OF UNIVERSAL LIFE
“Teaching Aquarian Meditation For The New Age
Meets Every Sunday, 11:00 A.M. At The World Trade Center Auditorium
Houston, Texas
DR. J. ROBERT SPIEGEL (BRAHMADANDA) DIRECTOR - FOUNDER
Aquarian Meditation Initiation for the first time offered through correspondence. For those sincere students wishing to bypass evolution and enter the 5th Kingdom. Initiation includes meditation technique, Mantra, how to "live” 24 hours a day, and much more. Write for application today:
P.O. Box 53328 Houston, Texas 052
*******
From the Galveston Daily News, May 02, 1971, Pg. 31:
AQUARIAN MEDITATION SOCIETY PRESENTS DR. J. ROBERT SPIEGEL AN AUTHOR, LECTURER, TEACHER OF YOGA & SELF DEVELOPMENT WILL SPEAK ON MAN, MIND & THE UNIVERSE WEDNESDAY, MAY 5th AT 7:30 P.M. IN THE RECREATION CENTER HARRIS COUNTY PARK, NASA RD. # 1 ALL WELCOME — DONATION $1.50
*******
The 1972 Spiritual Community Guide lists Robert twice, in the San Diego area. First, on page 117, using his alias “J. Robert Spiegel”:
THE TEMPLE OF METAPHYSICAL ABUNDANCE. J. Robert Spiegel, 1118 Torrey Pines Rd., 92037. Teaches yoga, nutrition, ESP, metaphysics, psychology, mind control
Second, on page 124, in which he, as one might have predicted, was masquerading as some sort of medical man or scholar:
"AQUARIAN MEDITATION SOCIETY, U. S. Grant Hotel, Attn: Dr. Robert Spiegel, 453-7588"
*******
Also in 1972, Volume 25 of San Diego Magazine published in November advertised gift certificates for the “Astrology Research Center.” “Give your loved one the gift of love. Only $50” said the advertisement. Where was this entity located? At 1118 Torrey Pines Road, the same address as Robert’s Temple of Metaphysical Abundance. The advertisement purported that person identified as “Lil Canaan” was the director. The telephone number was 459-6400.
In 2013, the San Diego Union Tribune published the obituary for Lillian Mulonas, who founded the La Jolla “Astrology Research Center.” At this point in time, unless Robert Adams’ only surviving daughter, Michelle/ Prentiss/ Avantae knows the answer and talks, we will not know what relationship, if any, existed between Robert’s Temple of Metaphysical Abundance and Lilian’s Astrology Research Center, both of which were located at 1118 Torrey Pines Road in 1972.
*******
From the July 12, 1973, San Diego Reader:
BRAHMADANDA FOUNDATION
“Teachings of the Cosmic Way” meets Sundays, 11:00 a.m., U.S. Grant Hotel, Crystal Room. Free admission, refreshments served. Call 453-7588 for more information.
*******
On page 51 of the June 29, 1974 edition of Phoenix’s Arizona Republic was the following advertisement:
Speaker from San Diego
Dr. J. Robert Spiegel from San Diego, a traveler and lecturer, will speak at 8 p.m., Friday in Universal Series Center, 4340 N. Seventh Ave., on the topic “Science of Being.”
He is the founder of the “Aquarian Meditation Society” in Jamaica and is founder and publisher of “Equinox,” a philosophical newspaper.
*******
The family (Adams or Spiegel, however one might want to refer to them) have resided in (that I know of) New York, Miami, Jamaica, Louisiana, La Jolla, Los Angeles, Houston, New Mexico, Hawaii, Las Vegas, Scottsdale, Sedona, and a number of cities in North Carolina.
*******
In at least the 1990’s, before he left for Sedona, Robert Adams used the address PO Box 7210, Jordan Avenue, D-30, Canoga Park, CA. He used that address on correspondence he wrote, and on at least one published document. Who else used that address? The data aggregators show that this address was also used by a Michelle K. Spiegel, and a person going by the name Leonie Maxwell. Michelle and Leonie also used other addresses associated with Robert, those being 1815 Willis Avenue Panorama City, and 21551 Burbank Boulevard, Woodland Hills.
*******
The California Birth Index shows that Michelle K. Spiegel was born on October 1, 1960, in Los Angeles County, to a mother with the maiden name Maxwell.
*******
In later life, Michelle used the addresses above that are associated with Robert and Leonie, as well as an address of 12004 Vanowen Street #14, North Hollywood. This is the same address at which Denniston Keith Maxwell, one of Leonie’s younger brothers, resided at, after his immigration to the United States. Denniston was one of Michelle’s uncles.
In a recent Facebook posting, Michelle/Avantae stated: “Never knew anything personal about said uncles, etc. Never asked, never cared.” Really? She shared an address with an uncle? Her uncle lived within a few minutes’ drive from her parents, and Michelle/Avantae never knew anything about him?
As an aside, Michelle/Avantae alleged (or admitted) that she “never cared” about anything personal regarding her uncles. If that is true, what does that tell us about Michelle/Avantae’s fundamental character? Antisocial? Psychopathic? Narcissistic in the extreme?
*******
On August 2, 1996, Michelle, going by the name Avantae E. Deven, married Tyson Ruben Alvarez in Las Vegas. The two had addresses in common in Arizona, Nevada, and Montana.
*******
Robert “Adams” died on or about March 2, 1997, in Sedona, Arizona.
Shortly after that, in the spring of 1997, “Nicole Adams” and “Avantae Deven” (both aliases; the correct legal names are Aileen Beverly Leonie Spiegel and Michelle K. Spiegel) purchased a home together in Sedona, on Navahopi Road. Shortly after the purchase, “Nicole” quit-claimed her portion to “Avantae.”
On July 17, 2001, Tyson, still married to “Avantae,” quit-claimed any interest in the Navahopi property to “Avantae,” and had the county recorder send the deed to “Avantae” in care of the Infinity Institute, at that time located at 9101 W. Sahara Ave. Suite 105 C29 (in other words, a private post box), in Las Vegas.
Avantae divorced Tyson in 2006. She had, by then, moved to North Carolina. She “served” Tyson via publication summons, claiming that she was unable to find him, despite his information being on multiple data aggregators.
You can go to various Facebook groups, and other sources, to pull up the documents that people have uncovered showing who is associated with the "Infinity Institute," and in what fashion, and also the addresses that they have used over the years.
In any event, this is the information regarding Robert that I think that people need to be aware of.
Why turn to a known liar and con man for spiritual guidance?
1A tallis is a prayer shawl.
2The ship’s manifest states that he was age 14, which conflicts by one year with what Samuel identified as his date of birth. These errors are not uncommon; his fare could have been purchased when he was age 14 and the records not updated.

I'm new to skyrim and modding in general but I read on load order is important that the game runs properly but I have no idea what or how to exactly sort it properly. Could anybody give a general guideline to follow. Currently whenever i encounter any problems i either do: a) Skip the mod entirely after searching the mods and found it might be too complex to follow b) Reinstall Skyrim and hope for the best c) Enable and disable mods to find out which is working or not working
Here's my plugin modlist if it helps
0 0 Skyrim.esm
1 1 Update.esm
2 2 Dawnguard.esm
3 3 HearthFires.esm
4 4 Dragonborn.esm
5 5 ccASVSSE001-ALMSIVI.esm
6 6 ccBGSSSE001-Fish.esm
254 FE 0 ccBGSSSE002-ExoticArrows.esl
254 FE 1 ccBGSSSE003-Zombies.esl
254 FE 2 ccBGSSSE004-RuinsEdge.esl
254 FE 3 ccBGSSSE005-Goldbrand.esl
254 FE 4 ccBGSSSE006-StendarsHammer.esl
254 FE 5 ccBGSSSE007-Chrysamere.esl
254 FE 6 ccBGSSSE010-PetDwarvenArmoredMudcrab.esl
254 FE 7 ccBGSSSE011-HrsArmrElvn.esl
254 FE 8 ccBGSSSE012-HrsArmrStl.esl
254 FE 9 ccBGSSSE014-SpellPack01.esl
254 FE a ccBGSSSE019-StaffofSheogorath.esl
254 FE b ccBGSSSE020-GrayCowl.esl
254 FE c ccBGSSSE021-LordsMail.esl
254 FE d ccMTYSSE001-KnightsOfTheNine.esl
254 FE e ccQDRSSE001-SurvivalMode.esl
7 7 ccTWBSSE001-PuzzleDungeon.esm
8 8 ccEEJSSE001-Hstead.esm
254 FE f ccQDRSSE002-Firewood.esl
254 FE 10 ccBGSSSE018-Shadowrend.esl
254 FE 11 ccBGSSSE035-PetNHound.esl
254 FE 12 ccFSVSSE001-Backpacks.esl
254 FE 13 ccEEJSSE002-Tower.esl
254 FE 14 ccEDHSSE001-NorJewel.esl
254 FE 15 ccVSVSSE002-Pets.esl
254 FE 16 ccBGSSSE037-Curios.esl
254 FE 17 ccBGSSSE034-MntUni.esl
254 FE 18 ccBGSSSE045-Hasedoki.esl
254 FE 19 ccBGSSSE008-Wraithguard.esl
254 FE 1a ccBGSSSE036-PetBWolf.esl
254 FE 1b ccFFBSSE001-ImperialDragon.esl
254 FE 1c ccMTYSSE002-VE.esl
254 FE 1d ccBGSSSE043-CrossElv.esl
254 FE 1e ccVSVSSE001-Winter.esl
254 FE 1f ccEEJSSE003-Hollow.esl
9 9 ccBGSSSE016-Umbra.esm
10 a ccBGSSSE031-AdvCyrus.esm
254 FE 20 ccBGSSSE038-BowofShadows.esl
254 FE 21 ccBGSSSE040-AdvObGobs.esl
254 FE 22 ccBGSSSE050-BA_Daedric.esl
254 FE 23 ccBGSSSE052-BA_Iron.esl
254 FE 24 ccBGSSSE054-BA_Orcish.esl
254 FE 25 ccBGSSSE058-BA_Steel.esl
254 FE 26 ccBGSSSE059-BA_Dragonplate.esl
254 FE 27 ccBGSSSE061-BA_Dwarven.esl
254 FE 28 ccPEWSSE002-ArmsOfChaos.esl
254 FE 29 ccBGSSSE041-NetchLeather.esl
254 FE 2a ccEDHSSE002-SplKntSet.esl
254 FE 2b ccBGSSSE064-BA_Elven.esl
254 FE 2c ccBGSSSE063-BA_Ebony.esl
254 FE 2d ccBGSSSE062-BA_DwarvenMail.esl
254 FE 2e ccBGSSSE060-BA_Dragonscale.esl
254 FE 2f ccBGSSSE056-BA_Silver.esl
254 FE 30 ccBGSSSE055-BA_OrcishScaled.esl
254 FE 31 ccBGSSSE053-BA_Leather.esl
254 FE 32 ccBGSSSE051-BA_DaedricMail.esl
254 FE 33 ccBGSSSE057-BA_Stalhrim.esl
254 FE 34 ccBGSSSE066-Staves.esl
11 b ccBGSSSE067-DaedInv.esm
254 FE 35 ccBGSSSE068-Bloodfall.esl
254 FE 36 ccBGSSSE069-Contest.esl
254 FE 37 ccVSVSSE003-NecroArts.esl
254 FE 38 ccVSVSSE004-BeAFarmer.esl
12 c ccBGSSSE025-AdvDSGS.esm
254 FE 39 ccFFBSSE002-CrossbowPack.esl
254 FE 3a ccBGSSSE013-Dawnfang.esl
254 FE 3b ccRMSSSE001-NecroHouse.esl
254 FE 3c ccEDHSSE003-Redguard.esl
254 FE 3d ccEEJSSE004-Hall.esl
13 d ccEEJSSE005-Cave.esm
254 FE 3e ccKRTSSE001_Altar.esl
254 FE 3f ccCBHSSE001-Gaunt.esl
14 e ccAFDSSE001-DweSanctuary.esm
254 FE 40 _ResourcePack.esl
Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch.esp
unofficial skyrim creation club content patch.esl
LegacyoftheDragonborn.esm
Occ_Skyrim_Tamriel.esp
Campfire.esm
FlowerGirls SE.esm
TrueHUD.esl
SurvivalControlPanel.esp
Experience.esl
Schlongs of Skyrim - Core.esm
High Poly Head.esm
Expressive Facegen Morphs.esl
OCPA.esl
SkyUI_SE.esp
SMIM-SE-Merged-All.esp
Audio Overhaul Skyrim.esp
Relationship Dialogue Overhaul.esp
Immersive Jewelry.esp
AI Overhaul.esp
DungeonsRevisited.esp
Hand Placed Enemies.esp
Immersive Encounters.esp
Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp
Point The Way.esp
0Kaidan.esp
Cloaks.esp
Immersive Weapons.esp
Summermyst - Enchantments of Skyrim.esp
Wildcat - Combat of Skyrim.esp
ImprovedCompanionsBoogaloo.esp
DBM_IW_Patch.esp
ElysiumEstate.esp
Schlongs of Skyrim.esp
SOS - Shop.esp
Occ_Skyrim-Legacy_of_Dragonborn_patch.esp
isilNarsil.esp
Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp
LABikiniSSE.esp
icepenguinworldmapclassic.esp
Ars Metallica.esp
Cloaks - Dawnguard.esp
Cloaks - USSEP Patch.esp
My Home Is Your Home.esp
Fenrir Blades.esp
Bijin Warmaidens.esp
RichMerchantsSkyrim_x5.esp
The Huntsman.esp
UIExtensions.esp
RaceMenu.esp
XPMSE.esp
AddItemMenuSE.esp
RaceMenuPlugin.esp
FNIS.esp
DSerArcheryGameplayOverhaul.esp
UltimateCombat.esp
Sarta Sword.esp
VioLens SE.esp
DSerCombatGameplayOverhaul.esp
MithrodinSword.esp
Sarah Follower.esp
SOSRaceMenu.esp
CBBE.esp
RaceMenuMorphsCBBE.esp
NibeneanArmorsAndOutfit.esp
CL's Crissaegrim.esp
MCMHelper.esp
MovementMCO.esp
Lazy Weapon Pack.esp
TrueDirectionalMovement.esp
Precision.esp
AX KaidanArsenal.esp
BetterQuestObjectives.esp
BetterQuestObjectives - LOTD Patch.esp
AX KaidanArmory.esp
SmoothCam.esp
Lazy Weapon Pack 2.esp
ValhallaCombat.esp
Attack_MCO.esp
KatanaCrafting.esp
IA CBBE Patch.esp
ImperialStormcloakRangerSet.esp
12FemaleBrows.esp
Keytrace.esp
scar-adxp-patch.esp
I4IconAddon.esp
Arena.esp
HotKeySkill.esp
BowRapidCombo.esp
beltfastenedquivers.esp
Chesko_WearableLantern.esp
EnhancedAtronachs.esp
BetterThirdPersonSelection.esp
Alternate Dual Wield Weapon Speed.esp
Sojourn Over Signposts.esp
JaxonzMCMKicker.esp
ValhallaBackStabFix.esp
FPSBoost.esp
Insignificant Object Remover.esp
WaitYourTurn.esp
SkyrimReputation_SSE.esp
BuyStatsPerks.esp
Skyrim Reputation Improved.esp
Skyrim Reputation Patch.esp
AutomaticItemStorage.esp
Ursine Armour - Non HDT.esp
weight_usleep.esp
Armor of Intrigue.esp
UnreadBooksGlow.esp
TransmuteSoulGems.esp
SOS - Smurf Average Addon.esp
SOS - VectorPlexus Regular Addon.esp
[dint999] HairPack02.esp
Realistic AI Detection 3 - Medium Interior, Medium Exterior.esp
SlightlyFasterDaggers.esp
Book Of Shadows.esp
Nicos Reversed Daggers.esp
ObiWarpaintsTattoos.esp
ObiTattoos.esp
DBVO.esp
Hydra's Reversed Daggers.esp
BW Lydia.esp
LeftHandRings.esp
ImmersiveJewelryXSummermyst - Unrestricted.esp
DBM_UnreadBooksGlow_Patch.esp
DBM_ImmersiveJewelry_Patch.esp
DBM_CloaksofSkyrim_Patch.esp
DBM_SMIM_Patch.esp
AI Overhaul - RDO Updated Patch.esp
BW ifd Lydia patch.esp
IFDL_BijinAlt_Patch.esp
DBM_IA_Patch.esp
LydiaPatch.esp
LydiaPatchForLOTD.esp
zhenli 1.esp
AkaviriTsurugi.esp
OrcPonytailsForHumans.esp
loki_POISE.esp
KS Hairdo's.esp
OneClickPowerAttackMCM.esp
Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul.esp
Convenient Horses.esp
Convenient Horses Anniversary Edition Patch.esp
Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim.esp
AutomaticItemStorage - Ordinator Patch.esp
Alternate Start - Live Another Life.esp
BetterQuestObjectives-AlternateStartPatch.esp
nwsFollowerFramework.esp
And here's the left panel modlist :
*DLC: HearthFires *DLC: Dragonborn *DLC: Dawnguard *Creation Club: ccVSVSSE004-BeAFarmer *Creation Club: ccVSVSSE003-NecroArts *Creation Club: ccVSVSSE002-Pets *Creation Club: ccVSVSSE001-Winter *Creation Club: ccTWBSSE001-PuzzleDungeon *Creation Club: ccRMSSSE001-NecroHouse *Creation Club: ccQDRSSE002-Firewood *Creation Club: ccQDRSSE001-SurvivalMode *Creation Club: ccPEWSSE002-ArmsOfChaos *Creation Club: ccMTYSSE002-VE *Creation Club: ccMTYSSE001-KnightsOfTheNine *Creation Club: ccKRTSSE001_Altar *Creation Club: ccFSVSSE001-Backpacks *Creation Club: ccFFBSSE002-CrossbowPack *Creation Club: ccFFBSSE001-ImperialDragon *Creation Club: ccEEJSSE005-Cave *Creation Club: ccEEJSSE004-Hall *Creation Club: ccEEJSSE003-Hollow *Creation Club: ccEEJSSE002-Tower *Creation Club: ccEEJSSE001-Hstead *Creation Club: ccEDHSSE003-Redguard *Creation Club: ccEDHSSE002-SplKntSet *Creation Club: ccEDHSSE001-NorJewel *Creation Club: ccCBHSSE001-Gaunt *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE069-Contest *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE068-Bloodfall *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE067-DaedInv *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE066-Staves *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE064-BA_Elven *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE063-BA_Ebony *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE062-BA_DwarvenMail *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE061-BA_Dwarven *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE060-BA_Dragonscale *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE059-BA_Dragonplate *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE058-BA_Steel *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE057-BA_Stalhrim *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE056-BA_Silver *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE055-BA_OrcishScaled *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE054-BA_Orcish *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE053-BA_Leather *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE052-BA_Iron *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE051-BA_DaedricMail *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE050-BA_Daedric *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE045-Hasedoki *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE043-CrossElv *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE041-NetchLeather *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE040-AdvObGobs *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE038-BowofShadows *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE037-Curios *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE036-PetBWolf *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE035-PetNHound *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE034-MntUni *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE031-AdvCyrus *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE025-AdvDSGS *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE021-LordsMail *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE020-GrayCowl *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE019-StaffofSheogorath *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE018-Shadowrend *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE016-Umbra *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE014-SpellPack01 *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE013-Dawnfang *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE012-HrsArmrStl *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE011-HrsArmrElvn *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE010-PetDwarvenArmoredMudcrab *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE008-Wraithguard *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE007-Chrysamere *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE006-StendarsHammer *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE005-Goldbrand *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE004-RuinsEdge *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE003-Zombies *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE002-ExoticArrows *Creation Club: ccBGSSSE001-Fish *Creation Club: ccASVSSE001-ALMSIVI *Creation Club: ccAFDSSE001-DweSanctuary *Creation Club: _ResourcePack -1.Bug & Game Patches_separator +- USSEP- Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch +First Person Animation Teleport Bug Fix +- USCCCP -Unofficial Skyrim Creation Club Content Patches +Alternate Start - Live Another Life - SSE +SSE Display Tweaks +powerofthree's Tweaks +AddItemMenu - Ultimate Mod Explorer -2.Overhaul and UI_separator +SkyUI +Survival Control Panel +SkyUI Config Tweak - Equipped Items On Top SE +Dear Diary +Dear Diary DM and Paper (Squish) Fixes +Quest Journal Fixes +SkyUI - Survival Mode Integration +SkyUI SE - Difficulty Persistence Fix +Audio Overhaul for Skyrim (4.1.2) +Sound Record Distributor +JContainers SE +ConsoleUtilSSE NG +ConsoleUtilSSE +Dragonborn Voice Over +Dragonborn Voice Over (DBVO) - Plugin Replacer +Geralt DBVO Pack +Talion DBVO Voice Pack +Compass Navigation Overhaul +Infinity UI +UIExtensions +Convenient Horses +Summermyst - Enchantments of Skyrim +Combat Gameplay Overhaul SE +Ultimate Combat SE +Archery Gameplay Overhaul SE +Even Better Quest Objectives SE +SmoothCam +SmoothCam - Modern Camera Preset +MCM Helper +Jaxonz MCM Kicker SE +TrueHUD - HUD Additions +Address Library for SKSE Plugins +Relationship Dialogue Overhaul - RDO SE +AI Overhaul SSE +Ordinator - Perks of Skyrim +RaceMenu +Racemenu Patch GOG +PapyrusUtil SE - Modders Scripting Utility Functions +Wildcat - Combat of Skyrim +A Quality World Map +Attack MCO-DXP +VioLens - A Killmove Mod SE +Movement MCO-DXP +Precision +Raven's Awareness - AC-Valhalla inspired TrueHud color preset +Arena - An Encounter Zone Overhaul +Hand Placed Enemies - More populated spawns dungeons and POIs +Immersive Citizens - AI Overhaul +POISE - Stagger Overhaul SKSE +POISE - Stagger Overhaul - NG +Wait Your Turn - Enemy Circling Behaviour +Nether's Follower Framework +Project New Reign - Nemesis Unlimited Behavior Engine -3.Mission & Quest Mods_separator -4.Environmental Mods_separator -5.Cities,Town Add Ons_separator -6.Building Add Ons ( Within Cities )_separator -7.Plant & Foliage Mods_separator -8.Gameplay Changes & Tweaks_separator +Valhalla Combat +True Directional Movement - Modernized Third Person Gameplay +Campfire - Complete Camping System (Supports Skyrim VR) +-CBBE- Caliente's Beautiful Bodies Enhancer +XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended +XP32 Maximum Skeleton Special Extended - 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Hi everyone,65 yo 1 hand bowler here.I actually throw BW Hybrid 2.0 (first ball out), Rubicon UC2 (on transition) and Hammer Scorpion Sting (when the lane are really burned). I'd say medium revs and medium/high speed.I found my Rubicon too close to my BW in terms of shape, just a bit longer but not by much. So I feel I need another ball for transition, one that is a bit longer but still has backend motion.Any thoughtfull suggestions ?Thanks all... Additional info; I've been bowling for a year to this date. Not too knowledgeable on ball differences, that's why I'm asking you all. Still manage a 184 avg with a 258 PB

Recently bought a new house and need to fence in a 180' straight runaway in our backyard to connect to our neighbor's fence to keep our dogs in the yard. Have spent the last two months doing yard work to get our property corners uncovered from brush to make this possible.
In the front yard we can meet our neighbors' fences with minimal work and distance to cover (70' total.) So we'll be doing privacy fencing there. Our neighborhood is a busy dog walking area. I had thought I'd try to tackle that straight 180' myself. Wife enjoys the look of a privacy fence. I do too. Thing is though, it's an unleveled yard and there are quite a bit of rocks buried that I've found.
Also, the back nearly entirely faces the side of a National Guard armory. There is a brick building that is about 25-30' high. No windows. Just bricks as far as the eyes can see. No one ever goes back there. So we don't need "privacy." We just enjoy the looks of the panels and it would make the yard look uniform.
But is it worthwhile to do chainlink for that 180' stretch? I spoke with 5 contractors throughout the area. One can install a 4' chainlink that distance for $3,100 with gates. Guy has a great reputation. Contractors were quoting from $5,800 - $7,200 for wooden privacy fencing. Then $3,000 - $5,000 for chainlink depending on material and height.
It would cost me ~$2,500 in materials to DIY a privacy fence for that stretch. Total plus the front 70' would be a little north of $3,000 plus a lot of sweat equity and no solid time table on completion date.
Is it worthwhile to pay an extra ~$1,000 to have the rear 180' ft. done by a pro who can assure the fence will be leveled and secure. Even though it would be chainlink? It would free up a lot of time to get going on other projects and enjoy the summer.
Sidebar: If we go self-install privacy fence. 180' is far too long for spike anchors, right? It would make no sense to use those vs. concrete with that distance. Wind isn't much of a factor thanks to the building next door. But the distance is really long and we get hammered by snow in the winter. Figured I'd ask more experienced people about those while I have the floor.

To be honest I don't know how I feel about my writing. I'm currently writing fic, but working on ideas for an original story. I'm new to writing longer stories, most of the stuff I wrote before is one shots and poems. Also English isn't my first language, so I'm in unfamiliar territory. I was hoping you guys could give some advise to help me improve.
1) I'm kinda regretting writing my story in past tense. I think that present tense would have been better, reserving the past tense for my flashbacks. Is it too late to change it? I mean it would mean having to rewrite the whole fic and I'm worried it would mess it up. What do you think, should I do it?
2) From what I learned in school and from the advice I read online, show don't tell is one of the most important rules of writing. However that is my exact problem. When I read my stuff I get the feeling like my writing is too dry and not descriptive enough. I do use dialog to make the story more engaging, but I have the feeling that aside form the dialog it's still a bit stilted and my beta agrees with me. However, every time I try to be descriptive it comes off as flowery and it just feels like it was written by other people. How can I add more descriptive elements without sounding too flowery?
3) On that same note, my beta said that I tend to over explain scenes like for example in one chapter of my fic, there are several scenes where one character refusing help due to being stubborn and not wanting to be a burden and and the other character being frustrated/feeling they are taken advantage and wanting to end the friendship. I was trying to show how their friendship slowly imploded and as such certain elements pop up again and again. My beta said that it was too repetitive and that readers are not idiots who can pick up on themes without being hit over the head with a hammer. She's right of cause, but to be honest I'm not sure I'm good at writing subtext. Do you guys have any resources or tips to help me improve in that area?
While this is technically about a fic, I am looking for general writing advise in general, which is why I posted in this sub, as well as on the Fanfiction Sub. I appreciate any help I get.

THE JPG AND THE SILVER MOUNTAIN WATER ARE SOLD!
If you do trade I will only trade with people with sales history! Will always prefer cash over trade!
Will likely trade for: Royal Crown (Mainly Sultan, Aeterneum, and Imperator), Roja (Higher End $200<, Imaginary Author’s, Zoologist (Mainly Penguin), Clive Christian (Mainly Blonde Amber), City Rythmn (Mainly Miami and 2654), Lorenzo Summer Hammer, Angel’s Share Refill bottle. Open to others as well.
More pictures can be taken upon request.
Please comment here before messaging.
Free Shipping for all of these, CONUS only, and Venmo or PayPal F&F or G&S only. Idk about CashApp. Please add 2% if using Venmo and 3% if using PayPal. Can work out a deal if doing more than 1 bottle.
https://imgur.com/a/2QIuUke
LV Les Sables Roses 100ml, Retails for 410 instead of 320 like most LV fragrances. WAYYY MORE LIKELY TO TAKE CASH INSTEAD OF TRADES FOR THIS SPECIFIC FRAGRANCE Retail Full Presentation with both can and box and missing a few sprays -$369
Frederic Malle Portrait of a Lady 100ml, Full Presentation, missing 2 sprays ~99%, -$255
Creed Bois Du Portugal 100ml, No Box ~92% Full, $169
Creed Millesime Imperial 100ml, Full Presentation, missing a few sprays according to the old owner + 2 from me so ~97%? Can’t shine through it with a flashlight lol -$185

Haven't been active on this subreddit in quite a while, and not sure if boards still sell on Reddit the way they used to back in the day Always knew this day would come and, at this point in my life, the board deserves a better home like the unused toys in Toy Story 3.
My relationship with this board was similar to what I imagine most people have with their first car, and I tried my best to treat it the same way Cameron's dad did his Ferrari in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. This board was my horse throughout college, taking me between the campuses of Rutgers New Brunswick so I could avoid the lengthy & crowded trips of the buses. It's never failed me.
WTS Boosted Board V2 Dual+ XR, $449 or best offer.
Description: One and only owner. ~500 miles. All electronics OEM. Original wheels, trucks, deck, etc. XR battery. Grip tape needed to be replaced at some point and, being a purist, I reached out to Boosted to see what grip tape they used for the front and back. I bought the same types they gripped the Dual+ with and did my best to use the original grip tape as a stencil for the branding. Pride myself on taking extremely good care of my stuff. Would personally label as Good/Very Good condition. Still charges & operates like the first day I got it. Has never needed to be serviced or has had any RLOD related incidents.
Accessories: 3D Printed truck risers and/or tail/nose bumpers (independently printed, not Flatland 3D) but will include the original ones. Original Charger, Controller, Mini USB Cable, truck risers, & sticker. Extra pulleys. Original hardware. Boosted Skate Tool. Boosted Backpack for carrying board & accessories. Kane's Thumbwheel that can be swapped with the original one on the controller for better use with gloves.
Just specific things I want to point out to be completely transparent about the condition. Will do my best to include specific close-up pictures of all things mentioned below:

1. Grip tape job is not perfect. Obviously pretty easy to re-grip a board with a single new piece of tape but, having tried to replicate the OEM job, it is certainly not perfect.
2. Slight chafing on nose and tail.
3. Back wheels are slightly chewed from use.
4. Seems to be a staple or something lodged very deeply in the back-right wheel. Honestly, super hard to get a picture of. It seems like it's lodged so deeply in there that it is now actually integral to the wheel. I imagine if I (or you) ever tried to dislodge it, it would take a significant chunk out of the wheel. I honestly don't think it's anything to worry about. Been there for most of the board's life & has never caused issues. Always thought it was more trouble than it was worth to try and extract.

Shipping / Pick-Up: I am located in South Jersey. Willing to travel / meet for local pick-up or test drive. Willing to ship but price of shipping would probably need to hammered out down the road. So far, FedEx seems to quote me somewhere between $15-$50 for shipping depending on where the recipient is located.
Thanks for taking the time to look/read! Please PM me if you have any questions or other photo requests that are not captured here: https://imgur.com/a/TGLMMXE

I will not discuss any gameplay any movements/cast mechanic since it's probably the biggest topic when you compare the two games and have been discussed enough, so here's a list of Gameplay related mechanics that I think differ from the previous game.
Also, there are very heavy spoilers of this EA, so I recommend to read only if you have beaten the final boss at least 5 to 10 times
Boons:
1) Getting a high rarity boon is A LOT easier in Hades 2. The fountain keepsake, Hera boon that randomly gives you 2 heroic (quite strong on the surface since the there aren't many encounters if you ask me), the guaranteed upgrade when you have a God's Keepsake on and a general sense of higher chance when choosing a boon and more non-binded reroll make you have an average Epic rarity. I never was picky with the boon rarity, but this games makes you that. Also, some boons are also very rarity and level dependent (Ephaestus can be useless and broken depending on that) while others don't make much of a difference (Hera's magic Regen is broken in every shape or form).
2) With every new mechanic we have, it seems that the number of boons the game offers is heavy-RNG dependent. You can have like 20 boons in the second biom or arrive in the third with some core boon missing. You can manipulate it well, but I usually like to see what the game has to offer more than trying to go for a certain build.
3) Duals/Legendary: I still haven't tried every legendary boon yet, but they don't feel as powerful as in the first game. Zeus' 7% chance fo kill someone randomly is just meh, Demeter's is the same and I'm kinda sad about that. Ephaestus' can be tuned to a +2 for almost any weapon except some aspect of the staff or the blades. Duals are in the same league of Hades 1, some are really good, some have a niche use and some are useless.
Poms: While your boons are "stronger" I feel like it is harder to pome them. Idk if that's just fewer pomes offered, but they're more rare in the shop since there are a lot more things to buy now (armor, selene's hex, magic potions and so on) and when you're in the last biom and get offered the three pomes you often don't have a lot of rerolls or have too many boons in the pool.
Keepsakes: I feel like this game has stronger keepsake in like 80% of the cases. Every God keepsake is stronger since you can rarify a boon of your choosing and not have that 15% more rare chance. Artemis and Hermes' ones are quite fun and can have a some gimmicky use. Icarus' keepsake can be equipped in the third biom and gives u a random hammer that can make your build broken (heavy rng but when it happens it's fantastic). The fountain one almost gives you an heroic boon, Odisseus' one gives you 15/20% damage reduction against bosses
Weapons: First of all, I was stunned that we already have 5 different weapons to choose from. And I was also more astonished when I discovered there were 2 more aspects for each weapon other than Melinoe's one. So while I sincerely think this is ridiculous amount of content, I still think that the weapon is the point they need to work more in the next updates. Almost any weapon needs to be polished in some way, for example the Axe always needs to make a normal attack before the omega, and being that slow it often causes you to take damage. The torches are kinda wacky, you cannot choose the opponent to attack and they don't give much reward for the high risk damage output you can are exposed too. The skull also doesn't have a defined role rn, it feels like the cast from the first game, but when you used the cast you could have also used the attack, special, dash and call while now you only have that and Melinoe's cast. The staff and the blades are broken if you compare them with the others since there are more "high tier" builds that can work with them and have more interesting aspects. The aspects of the other 3 kinda feel the same but it's okay right now, as I said I was shocked we had so many weapons/aspect
Resources/Grinding: While there are some new mechanics in the game like harvesting, mining and clearing shadows, they don't really have a defined curve. You can have 10/15 runs where you can't upgrade anything and then upgrade 3 things, do some "magic" stuff in the big pot (idk the English name since I'm Italian) with only one run. Also, the spawn of materials to collect during runs is too low, specially for the resources locked behind later bioms. I did not find one obsidian rock to mine in 3 runs and getting rewarded with only 3 pieces is not enough. I do not want to rush or anything, but if I have to equip a determinated tool, I at least want the thing to happen when I arrive to that biom. Also, bosses' object don't have a use rn. I have over 30 Scylla's pearl and can't exchange them or at least I haven't found how to use them, so if you know something pls tell me.
Minor thing:
Armor: rn it feels okay at best, Arachne is quite skippable unless you have low health or no magic Regen. Ephaestus' boon that gives you 75 armor is the same.
NPC during runs: They have a bigger pool of objects/boon to offer and Idk if that's a bad thing or not since we have more of them. Icarus' +20 raw special damage can be absurd on some builds and I'm glad he doesn't offer it every time. Still, you often need some death defiance from Echo and she just says no...no...no... I also don't like how they treated Artemis: she was the base for every crit based buil and having her give only one boon per run (especially when they're the same of Hades 1) is almost useless.
Surface: I know they probably overturned it since it's only two bioms for now, but holy sh!t. The Cyclop and Eris are still easier than Chronos but you don't have a build as strong as the one you have when you go against him. In the end, I like this mode a lot since kinda feels like a boss rush, where you can kinda choose your build before entering the encounter and the go slain the boss.
In the end, I think I like this game more than I initially liked the first installment. I know that it's because I know what to expect from Supergiant and from an Hades game, but the lore feels deeper and more serious than before and I really, really like the characters introduced, but damn I miss Dionysus.
Edit: Grammar