I'm looking for an old Christian film that I remember seeing as a kid. While I was looking for this movie, I came across an already solved post for a very similar film called "Without Reservation" (1989). I'm 99% sure I actually saw that movie when I was a kid. My grandmother had cable, and I recall seeing some movies like this on one of the Christian channels. Always stuck with me.
I think I might have actually been remembering two very similar movies, and my memories were merging them into one... That or my memories are just not all that great anymore. I remember a lot of the details of "Without Reservation", but there are details that simply do not match it at all. I definitely feel like I saw another film with an incredibly similar concept... Teens or young adults in a car crash, in the judgement line, but in this version, I remember MUCH different details...
The driver was, I think speeding, and that caused the accident. I am not entirely certain on that memory, but it feels right. I feel like the computer was MUCH older... Looked like late 70s or early 80s, might have even been a terminal, and not a proper computer. I recall one character in the film saying that they thought Heaven was supposed to have a Book of Life, to which the angel responds with something like "We always have the best stuff in Heaven. Someone from ancient times might see a scroll, someone from years past might see a book of names, and you... You see a computer". This really stuck with me strongly, cause the computer was already quite dated, and I've always been a computer nerd, so the angel calling that thing the latest and greatest had me chuckling. The computer in "Without Reservation" didn't feel nearly as old. I also am somewhat unsure on this (could be bad memory), but I feel like the view of the Computer of Life and of the judgement line was set at a possibly wider angle, and I'm unsure of the gender of the person depicting the angel. My memory is foggy on that, but I don't feel like it was a deep voiced man like was in "Without Reservation".
The premise of the film I feel like I am remembering and "Without Reservation" both feel very similar... The kids are judged for their faith and sins... I always felt it might have had a Catholic lean... Not 100% sure on that detail. "Without Reservation" focuses purely on the faith... did the kids believe or not. I feel like this film delved more into the aspect of whether they carried unforgiven sins. I also have a memory of two particular bits... The driver was found to have "died in sin" because he was disobeying the posted speed limit, which while a law of man, is still law given authority by God to the rulers of nations. That, and his recklessness murdered himself and his friends. I think I'm remembering that detail right. I hope... The second thing, and what really hit, was the person who was saved noted that they didn't feel sorrow over the friends who's souls were not saved. I think the angel informed the one person that in heaven, there are no tears, and they would not be burdened with such pain. It was such a gut punch line for a kid...
If anyone has ANY idea what film I think I saw, I'd love to know. It's been such a prominent memory, and I think my 3 decades since seeing it probably melted it in with my memories of "Without Reservation"... Or maybe I dreamed it... I dunno.
Either way, I hope someone can tell me I'm not imagining things! Heh.
And just to reiterate... I literally just watched a copy of "Without Reservation" on Youtube, and I can verify that very key elements of the movie I recall are NOT found in that movie. I'm certain I either imagined this, or that it's actually a separate film. The dialog about the computer, the idea of speeding, and the bit about not feeling sorrow in heaven were all prominent memories that stuck with me, and they are definitely not in "Without Reservation". I feel convinced this was another similar film, probably older... Or my memories are all jumbled...

Hi everyone, I would appreciate some debug suggestions for my project.
I'm trying to design a master read Avalon-MM interface with read latency of one clock cycle, to read from a slave on-chip memory RAM IP inferring from Quartus Platform Designer. But when I signal my control logic signal to read, there was no correct data received. The master signal is send out when control_go is asserted for one clock cycle. It only performs single address read.
Read Operation
Even though readdatavalid was there, no actual data is visible on the readdata bus. The memory file first couple of address data is like so:
:0400000000000000FC
:0400010000000000FB
:0400020000000000FA
:0400030000000000F9
:0400040000000000F8
:0400050000000000F7
:0400060000000000F6
:0400070000000000F5
:0400080000000000F4
:0400090000000000F3
:04000A0000000000F2
:04000B0000000000F1
:04000C0000000000F0
This is my master read interface:
\module readm_avalon`
#(parameter AVALON_DATA_WIDTH = 32,
parameter FIFO_DEPTH = 16,
parameter FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2 = 4,
parameter AVALON_ADDRESS_WIDTH = 32,
parameter AVALON_BYTE_ENABLE_WIDTH = AVALON_DATA_WIDTH/8
)
(input logic M_AVALON_CLK,
input logic M_AVALON_RSTN,
// control inputs and outputs
input logic control_fixed_location,
input logic [AVALON_ADDRESS_WIDTH-1:0] control_read_base, \// for read master`
input logic [AVALON_ADDRESS_WIDTH-1:0] control_read_length, // for read master
input logic control_go,
output logic control_done,
// user logic inputs and outputs
input logic user_read_buffer,
output logic [AVALON_DATA_WIDTH-1:0] user_buffer_data,
output logic user_data_available,
// master inputs and outputs
input logic M_AVALON_WAITREQUEST,
input logic M_AVALON_READDATAVALID,
input logic [AVALON_DATA_WIDTH-1:0] M_AVALON_READDATA,
output logic [AVALON_ADDRESS_WIDTH-1:0] M_AVALON_ADDRESS,
output logic M_AVALON_READ,
output logic [(AVALON_DATA_WIDTH/8)-1:0] M_AVALON_BYTEENABLE
);
// internal control signals
logic control_fixed_location_r0;
logic fifo_empty;
logic [AVALON_ADDRESS_WIDTH-1:0] address; // this increments for each word
logic [AVALON_ADDRESS_WIDTH-1:0] length;
logic [FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2-1:0] reads_pending;
logic increment_address;
logic too_many_pending_reads;
logic too_many_pending_reads_r0;
logic [FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2-1:0] fifo_used;
// registering the control_fixed_location bit
always_ff @(posedge M_AVALON_CLK or negedge M_AVALON_RSTN)
begin
if (M_AVALON_RSTN == 0)
begin
control_fixed_location_r0 <= 0;
end
else
begin
if (control_go == 1)
begin
control_fixed_location_r0 <= control_fixed_location;
end
end
end
// master address logic
assign M_AVALON_ADDRESS = address;
assign M_AVALON_BYTEENABLE = -1; // all ones, always performing word size accesses
always_ff @(posedge M_AVALON_CLK or negedge M_AVALON_RSTN)
begin
if (M_AVALON_RSTN == 0)
begin
address <= 0;
end
else
begin
if(control_go == 1)
begin
address <= control_read_base;
end
else if((increment_address == 1) & (control_fixed_location_r0 == 0))
begin
address <= address + AVALON_BYTE_ENABLE_WIDTH; // always performing word size accesses
end
end
end
// master length logic
always_ff @(posedge M_AVALON_CLK or negedge M_AVALON_RSTN)
begin
if (M_AVALON_RSTN == 0)
begin
length <= 0;
end
else
begin
if(control_go == 1)
begin
length <= control_read_length;
end
else if(increment_address == 1)
begin
length <= length - AVALON_BYTE_ENABLE_WIDTH; // always performing word size accesses
end
end
end
// control logic
assign too_many_pending_reads = (fifo_used + reads_pending) >= (FIFO_DEPTH - 4);
assign M_AVALON_READ = (length != 0) & (too_many_pending_reads_r0 == 0);
assign increment_address = (length != 0) & (too_many_pending_reads_r0 == 0) & (M_AVALON_WAITREQUEST == 0);
assign control_done = (reads_pending == 0) & (length == 0); // master done posting reads and all reads have returned
assign control_early_done = (length == 0); // if you need all the pending reads to return then use 'control_done' instead of this signal
always_ff @(posedge M_AVALON_CLK)
begin
if (M_AVALON_RSTN == 0)
begin
too_many_pending_reads_r0 <= 0;
end
else
begin
too_many_pending_reads_r0 <= too_many_pending_reads;
end
end
always_ff @(posedge M_AVALON_CLK or negedge M_AVALON_RSTN)
begin
if (M_AVALON_RSTN == 0)
begin
reads_pending <= 0;
end
else
begin
if(increment_address == 1)
begin
if(M_AVALON_READDATAVALID == 0)
begin
reads_pending <= reads_pending + 1;
end
else
begin
reads_pending <= reads_pending; // a read was posted, but another returned
end
end
else
begin
if(M_AVALON_READDATAVALID == 0)
begin
reads_pending <= reads_pending; // read was not posted and no read returned
end
else
begin
reads_pending <= reads_pending - 1; // read was not posted but a read returned
end
end
end
end
// read data feeding user logic
assign user_data_available = !fifo_empty;
fifo #(.ADDR_WIDTH(FIFO_DEPTH), .DATA_WIDTH(AVALON_DATA_WIDTH), .FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2(FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2))
the_master_to_user_fifo (
.rstN (M_AVALON_RSTN),
.clk (M_AVALON_CLK),
.w_data (M_AVALON_READDATA),
.empty (fifo_empty),
.r_data (user_buffer_data),
.rd (user_read_buffer),
.usedw (fifo_used),
.wr (M_AVALON_READDATAVALID)

`);` 

endmodule: readm_avalon
module fifo
#(
parameter DATA_WIDTH = 32,
parameter ADDR_WIDTH = 16,
parameter FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2 = 4
)
(input logic clk,
input logic rstN,
input logic wr, rd,
input logic [DATA_WIDTH-1:0] w_data,
output logic empty, full,
output logic [DATA_WIDTH-1:0] r_data,
output logic [FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2-1:0] usedw
);
// signal declaration
logic [ADDR_WIDTH-1:0] w_addr, r_addr;
logic wr_en, fulltemp;
//assert wr_en if FIFO not full
assign wr_en = wr & ~fulltemp;
assign full = fulltemp;
// write data feed by user logic
fifo_ctrl #(.ADDR_WIDTH(ADDR_WIDTH), .FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2(FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2))
fifo_ctrl_read (

 `.*,` `.full(fulltemp)` 

);
register_file #(.ADDR_WIDTH(ADDR_WIDTH), .DATA_WIDTH(DATA_WIDTH))
reg_file (.*);
endmodule: fifo
module fifo_ctrl
#(
parameter ADDR_WIDTH = 16,
parameter FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2 = 4
)
(input logic clk, rstN,
input logic wr, rd,
output logic empty, full,
output logic [ADDR_WIDTH-1:0] w_addr,
output logic [ADDR_WIDTH-1:0] r_addr,
output logic [FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2-1:0] usedw
);
logic [ADDR_WIDTH-1:0] w_ptr_logic, w_ptr_next, w_ptr_succ;
logic [ADDR_WIDTH-1:0] r_ptr_logic, r_ptr_next, r_ptr_succ;
logic fifo_full, fifo_empty, full_next, empty_next;
// fifo control logic
always_ff @(posedge clk or negedge rstN)
if (rstN == 0) begin
w_ptr_logic <= 0;

 `r_ptr_logic <= 0;` `fifo_full <= 1'b0;` `fifo_empty <= 1'b1;` `end` 

else begin
w_ptr_logic <= w_ptr_next;

 `r_ptr_logic <= r_ptr_next;` `fifo_full <= full_next;` `fifo_empty <= empty_next;` `end` 

//next-state logic for read and write pointers
always_comb begin
// successive pointer values

 `w_ptr_succ = w_ptr_logic + FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2;` `r_ptr_succ = r_ptr_logic + FIFO_DEPTH_LOG2;` 

// default old values

 `w_ptr_next = w_ptr_logic;` `r_ptr_next = r_ptr_logic;` `full_next = fifo_full;` `empty_next = fifo_empty;` `unique case ({wr, rd})` 

2'b01: //read
if (fifo_empty == 0) begin
r_ptr_next = r_ptr_succ;
full_next = 1'b0;
if (r_ptr_succ == w_ptr_logic)
empty_next = 1'b1;
end

 `2'b10: //write` 

if (fifo_full == 0) begin
w_ptr_next = w_ptr_succ;
empty_next = 1'b0;
if (w_ptr_succ == r_ptr_logic)
full_next = 1'b1;
end

 `2'b11:` 

begin
r_ptr_next = r_ptr_succ;
w_ptr_next = w_ptr_succ;
end

 `default: ; //empty case` `endcase` 

end
always_ff @(posedge clk or negedge rstN)
begin
if (rstN == 0)
begin
usedw <= 0;
end
else
begin
usedw <= w_ptr_logic - r_ptr_logic;
end

 `end` 

assign w_addr = w_ptr_logic;
assign r_addr = r_ptr_logic;
assign full = fifo_full;
assign empty = fifo_empty;
endmodule: fifo_ctrl
module register_file
#(parameter DATA_WIDTH = 32,
ADDR_WIDTH = 16
)
(input logic clk,
input logic wr_en,
input logic [ADDR_WIDTH-1:0] w_addr, r_addr,
input logic [DATA_WIDTH-1:0] w_data,
output logic [DATA_WIDTH-1:0] r_data
);
logic [DATA_WIDTH-1:0] array_reg [0:ADDR_WIDTH-1];
always_ff @(posedge clk)
if (wr_en)
array_reg[w_addr] <= w_data;

 `// read data` `assign r_data = array_reg[r_addr];` 

endmodule: register_file

Hi all,
I'm wanting to properly setup my EnderNeo so that when started it loads the proper UBL Mesh for my material. I'm printing PETG (70+ degree bed) and PLA+ (less than 65), and I was thinking to add a different UBL mesh for each.
My thought was to use the below startup code to check Initial Bed Temp, and load the proper mesh.

G90 ; use absolute coordinates
M83 ; extruder relative mode
M140 S[bed_temperature_initial_layer] ; set initial bed temp
M104 S[nozzle_temperature_initial_layer] ; set initial nozzle temp
G28 X Y ; home X & Y axis
M190 S[bed_temperature_initial_layer] ; wait for bed temp to stabilize
M109 S[nozzle_temperature_initial_layer] ; wait for nozzle temp to stabilize
G4 S90
G28 Z ; home Z axis
M105 ; Get current temperature again
IF [bed_temperature] < 66
M420 L0 ; Load Mesh 0
ELSE IF [bed_temperature] > 67
M420 L1 ; Load Mesh 1
ENDIF
G29 J2 ; Probe 4 points and tilt the mesh according to what it finds.
G1 Z20 F240
G1 X2 Y10 F3000
G1 E0
G1 X10 Y10 Z0.4250 F1500
G1 Y150 E25 F1500
G1 E-

I was also trying to setup the auto bed levelling within Repetier (click ABL, have it create both meshes at same time). Code for that is below.

G28 ; Home XYZ.
M420 L0 ; Load Mesh 0.
G29 A ; Activate the UBL System.
M190 S62 ; Heat Bed to 62C. Not required, but having the Bed at temperature may help accuracy.
M109 S215 ; Heat Nozzle to 215C. Not required, but having the Nozzle at temperature may help accuracy.
G4 S90 ; Wait for Bed to Heat Completely (1:30 Pause)
G29 P1 ; Do automated probing of the bed.
G29 P3 ; Smart Fill Repeat until all mesh points are filled in, Used to fill unreachable points.
G29 S0 ; Save UBL mesh points to slot 0 (EEPROM).
M420 Z10 ; Set Fade Height for correction at 10.0 mm.
M500 ; Save current setup. WARNING - UBL will be active at power up, before any G28
G28 ; Home XYZ.
M420 L1 ; Load Mesh 1.
G29 A ; Activate the UBL System.
M190 S75 ; Heat Bed to 75C.
M109 S245 ; Heat Nozzle to 245C.
G4 S90 ; Wait for Bed to Heat Completely (1:30 Pause)
G29 P1 ; Do automated probing of the bed.
G29 P3 ; Smart Fill Repeat until all mesh points are filled in, Used to fill unreachable points.
M420 Z10 ; Set Fade Height for correction at 10.0 mm.
G29 S1 ; Save UBL Mesh Points to slot 1 (EEPROM).
M500 ; Save current setup. WARNING - UBL will be active at power up, before any G28.
M420 L0 ; Load Mesh 0. (This will be the Standard Mesh)
G29 A ; Activate the UBL System.
M500 ; Save current setup. WARNING - UBL will be active at power up, before any G28.

It should work (in theory), but when I'm actually trying to print with it, I'm not getting promising results. Any suggestions/thoughts?

First Previous Wiki
Penny gazed at the quartet of Elders. They were all wearing the merchandise she remembered from the last Judgment, which was exceedingly awkward. Mainly because they were wearing shirts with her face on them. But it was also oddly endearing, in a way. Until now, she hadn't seen too many Elders that were on her side.
Elders that weren't just Kashaunta or the familiar faces she already knew, like Spentha or Rho and Sai, actually showing appreciation of her, felt odd. Even if these ones went a little too far in it.
"You're even more beautiful in person, Liberator," one said.
"Uh, thanks. I appreciate that. I'm glad that you all like me. Rho and Sai told me that you all are interested in something I can give you?"
"Yeah. Maybe a short interview? We won't be like that airhead reporter. We'll ask the good questions."
"Yep, we will."
"Right then," Penny said. "Well, I'm glad to meet you."
"Thank you. Now that we're here, we'd like to know how you plan on taking care of the gang leaders."
"Well, presumably by imprisoning them. I don't think they deserve to die, even if others do. I'll leave that decision up to Justicar and his various judges in the criminal system."
Penny didn't like having to lie blatantly. She wanted to kill the slavers quite brutally, but doing that was a bad idea right now. Saying it also was a bad idea, for a similar reason. And Justicar's system was worryingly preferential to Elders, from what she'd looked up after the meeting with Pundacrawla.
"Aren't you worried that the Judges won't give proper justice?"
"I trust Justicar to do everything that is necessary."
Another lie. Justicar would do whatever he could to maintain his image. Hopefully, that wouldn't be at the cost of the Alliance's very existence.
"Got it. By the way, what's it like being human? Walking on only two legs. It seems kind of unstable. Do you fall a lot?"
A genuine curiosity from them was another breath of fresh air. It was the kind of question a quadruped would definitely ask, which put her more at ease about the nature of what they were trying to do. Even more than their evident support of her, with all the merch they were wearing. Penny felt a smile crack at the corners of her lips, unbidden.
"Not really. We can use our arms to steady ourselves pretty well. Obviously it's not as easy to balance on our two legs as it is with your four, but it's still good enough. In fact, the sprinters in the Olympics use all four limbs, since running as fast as possible also requires pumping our arms. As for what it's like to be human, it's hard to describe. For many of us, it will feel colder or warmer than Sprilnav would feel in the same temperatures, due to thinner skin. Our eyesight is more frontal than yours, given our lack of snouts, so our blindspots are a lot bigger. Our feet require shoes for rough ground, and we heal slower than you by around 20%. We can't really clack our jaws to the scale that you can, though we can make them meet."
Penny bared her teeth, showing as she opened and closed her mouth. It was nice to be able to talk about things like this.
"The Olympics?" one of them asked.
"It's a competition about athletics," Penny said. "Running, jumping, throwing, diving, swimming, skiing, snowboarding, and a lot of sports. There's specific divisions, too. Like how there's a 100 meter dash, 200 meter dash, 400 meter dash, and even an 800 meter dash for those with high levels of psychic energy. Though really, psychic energy and genetic editing have been messing with the events for a while now. And there's a Winter, Summer, and Space Olympics, each with different sorts of events. They move from city to city, though the Space Olympics are pretty much always on either Luna, Ceres, or Mercury. There's a lot more information out there on various events, but it's an old cultural practice revered by the entire species. Even more so since Phoebe's increased the prize pools for everyone."
"How does your species handle space in general? I know that you guys did things way differently before First Contact."
"We did. Mining companies kept tight control on all asteroid mining, while nations controlled planets like Earth and Mars and large planetary bodies like Luna. Supposedly, a few people planned for a cloud city on Venus, but we couldn't risk having such a vulnerable population because they'd have to rely on giant balloons to survive. That would probably be the least secure way to live, given the existence of rogue organizations and all that.
As for spaceships, most of them since we really colonized Luna come equipped with spacesuit bays, zero gravity water and food packs, oxygen tanks, emergency seats, specialized anti-micrometeorite hulls, and radiation shielding. A lot of the older military ships also were equipped with big radiators until World War Three, when it all became masses of drone warfare, with the big ships kept mainly for cargo and lanes where mass drone control was impossible.
Once the Vinarii came and we got shields, we started building big again. After all, it provided a huge number of jobs, and in the post-war economies, especially with VIs in place, a lot of people needed work. But we still go and do asteroid and moon mining, star lifting, and energy gathering. We built an orbital ring around Mercury, the closest planet to Sol, to help with all of that. It doubles as a production hub, too. Now, it's all in more systems and with a lot more friends."
"Speaking of aliens, what theory does your people have on why so many creatures resemble one another? Our jaws are adapted for hard shelled creatures, and we're told that many planets have oddly similar variations of those."
"Crabs."
She guessed what they were getting at.
It is odd, isn't it? Nilnacrawla observed.
Perhaps that is another one of the Source's whims, Penny thought.
Maybe.
A few of the Elders made exclamations of shock.
"You even have a word for them that directly translates!"
Penny chuckled. "Yeah, carcinization is a bit of a meme in the science community. But I've heard the most mainstream theories since the First Contact are that the Source itself is uncreative. It has a certain template of creatures which it largely doesn't alter, though it can take in inputs from beings close to it, perhaps even influencing them."
"Influencing them?"
"Yes. Modern depictions of wendigoes, folkloric creatures from North America, a continent on Earth, are shockingly similar to the Knowers in appearance. The internet depictions of them in particular like to emphasize canine qualities, and often show them with skulls visible directly, and with dark brown or black fur. Recent depictions, as in the past 300 years, differ from their original appearances quite significantly, with the canine characteristics in particular being enhanced.
We have sorted through all known images of these creatures and found roughly 80% similarity with the Knowers and tens of thousands of images that are literally exactly the same as Knowers. The ones we searched all came before World War Three, far before even the First Contact with the Vinarii, much less the Knowers who were entirely underground at the time due to the radiation of their home star. We believe that the Source managed to influence this facet of human culture with the actual existence of a real creature.
Other examples exist, like how the Trikkec look very similar to Komodo Dragons, Vinarii look very similar to insects known as a mantis, and the Acuarfar look exactly like insects known as wasps with the single exception of their furry snouts and green instead of yellow markings. The Sprilnav species itself shares high amounts of similarity with a fictional species known as Elites in early 2000s culture, particularly with your jaws, though you all have red skin instead of grey or brown.
The Junyli, Dreedeen, and the wanderers are the main species without high amounts of appearance in our cultures at some point. This correlates with the idea of the Source being the influencer, as their predecessors all were used to fight it. Many species of the galaxy look like parts of our culture or Earth's creatures. The proximity of these examples makes this far more suspicious than if they were across the galaxy.
But since they existed first, the only answer must be that the Source brought the influence to us first and planted the ideas in our heads. As for the ones which look like Earth creatures, all of them are old enough evolutionary branches that copying from them to Earth makes more sense. Though the references centering around the early 2000s is quite odd, it is also roughly when the internet came into wide existence, so it is also possible the Source gave the ideas a push so they would propagate, for an unknown reason. Like if it seeded the ideas that propagated across the early global network Humanity used."
"Hmm. Fascinating. We've seen evidence of the 'seeding' process among some historical nations near the galactic region of Earth before. So the Source re-uses and alters depictions of life and also life itself?"
"Maybe," Penny said. "Unless the Source is more directly tied to life than we think. There's a conceptual Death, but no conceptual Life. Isn't that odd?"
"Conceptual Life died in the Source war."
How did that really work, though? Penny asked Nilnacrawla.
Imagine a conceptual being. A few of the Progenitors, as well as Narvravarana, went up to try to harvest its power. It refused, and Narvravarana used its unique abilities to try and force the deal.
Why was your civilization like this?
Excess and greed, partly. But we couldn't really do much more expansion. Vertical expansion also had its limits if we wanted to remain relevant for the remaining lifespan of the universe. So Narvravarana, along with a few of the greatest rulers and leaders of Sprilnav society, started looking to other dimensional planes. They figured it was best not to let the problem get too much worse. Or at least, that is what they say. I believe it was to harvest more resources to use against our surrounding enemies.
You didn't have any allies? Penny asked.
At that time, all the powers of the universe were enemies. All the allies eventually merged through millions of years of normalization. We happened to get on the universal stage the earliest, so other civilizations we encountered had little choice but to surrender their independence. Some fought, others didn't, but the outcome was the same.
That seems terrible.
It was, though the other universal civilizations were no better. Some of them just exterminated all alien life they found that couldn't fight back. In that sense, the pre-war Sprilnav civilization was one of the greatest, and that's why I fought for them. Obviously, I'm biased in that regard, though.
Thanks for telling me, father.
No problem, Penny.
She refocused back on the conversation at hand.
"But a thing cannot be alive if it dies. The concept of life doesn't work that way. So maybe the Source just... took in the concept of life? Or absorbed it into whatever psychic energy really is, considering that it's responsible for all of our existence?"
"That's so crazy it might actually be true," one of the Elders said. "You're incredible, Penny."
"Uh, thanks. You're all pretty great too." Her eyes drifted to the images of herself on their clothing. She couldn't really help it.
"I have a question for you."
"Yes?"
"Do you know what I'm fighting for?"
"I assume since you're asking it here, you don't just want a one word answer," an Elder said. "I would say yes, and for the liberation of the Sprilnav from the stain of slavery. Though going deeper into your history, you have also fought for other species, either in wars or just generally moving around. It does look aimless, mostly, since the galaxy's so big. But I'm sure you've got a way through that."
"In some way. Part of why I'm here isn't just about my people. It was at first, I admit that. But as I have lived here, on Justicar, for days and weeks, I've seen you less as alien. It makes it easier for sympathy and easier to break out of simple mindsets. So far, there are many problems, but there are distinct pieces. The first is that many people want to uphold slavery. I'm not sure why, but they do. It isn't profitable, and it isn't moral. Robots are cheaper in every way, and don't need food or water.
That means it's illogical or emotional. So I could try and solve the problem with violence alone, but it won't be addressing the cause, only the symptoms. I need to get to the heart of the matter. And I think it has to do with Elders' memories and the gradual woes they have accumulated going through life. I don't want to tear that away or drug them into believing they're fine. I want to find a way to outlet that productively. The second part I have identified is scale. The galaxy is enormous, and your species is incredibly numerous. I could fight planet by planet for the rest of my life, and liberation would still be difficult.
That also means I'd need a better way of doing things. Maybe an economic or political incentive. Emotional reasons will not work permanently, nor will logic, since we are in this situation. I have found several ways to address this. Sadly, since the gangs are likely monitoring this feed, I can't just outright say my strategy. All I can ask you all to do is to believe. Believe that I have a solution, and that I and those who stand with me are working on it. Believe in me because I believe in you."
None of the Elders questioned or ridiculed her words. Most of it was because they were fans of her. But one of them, an Elder named Rahautiti, had a distinct glint in his eye. Their gazes met only momentarily, but Penny could tell he knew.
And so she appeared in the mindscape, even as they concluded the interview, which would be the first of many. It was a ploy to just talk about human culture and ideals a bit more, to get it out there. Because the hivemind's theory was correct.
In the universe, ideas had power. That power could be weaponized against those who previously stood to gain. The first part of it was the image: Nova as an unbeatable bastion. Lecalicus as the Beast, a monster capable of star-crushing rage. Twilight as... whatever she did. Penny wasn't really familiar with the Progenitor's image too much, and the various names, like the Silent Night or the Smiling Darkness, were just so unbelievably edgy she cringed every time she recalled them.
But Rahautiti understood so she moved her mindscape avatar to see him.
"Hello again, Penny. I am no threat."
"I know. I'm glad that your group is led by someone as capable as you, as well as the other groups you dabble within."
"Who discovered it?"
"Phoebe. You met with Ezeonwha, and the android wanted to ensure you weren't a way for Yasihaut to kill him."
"Yeah. We did get approached about that, actually. We're supposed to kill Ezeonwha when you walk into the Judgment hall. Of course, we won't do this, and she won't be able to retaliate against us easily while there."
"Thank you for your honesty, Elder," Penny said. "It seems I'm in your debt."
"Nonsense. 2,839. That is the number of children I have had. 2,626. That is the number of children of mine which were enslaved. The remaining 213 died in unrelated incidents, with nearly half of those involving slavers killing them. I remember all of their names, and all of their faces, Penny. I want all the slavers in this universe dead."
"I cannot achieve that."
"You cannot," Rahautiti agreed. "Not with my help or even that of Kashaunta and Lecalicus. And certainly not right now. I have not lived this long to be incapable of compromise or patchwork solutions. You show great promise. I understand your aversion to killing and the circumstantial reason why you are not doing so now. I will not grow upset if you do not resume killing when the Judgment ends. Nor do I harbor a grudge against you for the speeding space entity you left outside the room to avoid uncomfortable publicity. You are incredibly young.
A sliver of a life. But you are strong, and you are mature. That sliver of your lifespan already outshines all I could do with a trillion more years, Penny. You are right in that this isn't something you can punch your way through. Trauma is part of why slavery still exists, despite it being a wholly unjust reason for the Elders to make such a sport of it. I am sure you know the story of the war, with a great hero in your head and Kashaunta at your side. My line of work is what I started to help you. Every thought about you being the Liberator, every eye that glances on you freeing slaves, helps you to gather conceptual energy. My talent happens to be great enough to sense the Pact of Blades you have, as well. If you want, I can teach you how to hide the mark on your soul and your mind."
"I would like that, yes," Penny said. "And thank you for being so reasonable. I will ask Kashaunta to protect you from what consequences come for refusing the offer on Ezeonwha."
"There are going to be attacks on him, you know. Him and your ship."
Penny felt an odd feeling in her soul. Cardi's power flared around him, and she squinted at the sky. She just barely saw a sliver of a tentacle. Most would have mistaken it for a normal speeding space entity. But here? On Justicar, with Exile obviously not being the cause?
Only one being would cause that. Fate.
Given the subject of their conversation, it was obvious what was going on.
Penny tapped Rahautiti's jaw, adding a thin mark of conceptual power so she could easily find him again. She focused on the conceptual mark she'd left on Ezeonwha. A twinge of conceptual energy came from it. It was accompanied by various impressions, like fear, pain, and acceptance.
"I have to go," Penny said. "I will be back later. Displace."
She appeared next to the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office but not next to Ezeonwha. It was carnage everywhere she looked.
"Champion!" an unknown Elder yelled. "I am Elder Na-"
Her rising fury surged, and it took all she had not to dismember him. The distant thought of the Judgment stayed her hands, though only just.
Penny's fist collided with the Elder's jaw at twice the speed of sound. A piece of his jaws flew free. Bone fragments hit the ground behind him. Hundreds of soldiers fired on her, and she slammed them to the ground with pure will. Penny tore their guns away and sent them each to pummel the Elder in front of her with as much brutality as she could. His powerful armor wasn't as capable of defense against physical attacks as it was against her psychic energy, and so he fell.
"You... cannot save him," the Elder spat. Fields of psychic suppression fell upon her, reducing her power.
"Manipulation through Determination," Penny growled. "De-"
No! Nilnacrawla said. Do not kill him! Not yet!
"What goes up will go down."
Air hardened around the Elder and accelerated rapidly.
The Elder smashed into the shield five miles above with a speed just slow enough that he wouldn't die. He fell from it and then hit it again at a more modest speed. He'd bounce on that until the Guides came to get him.
But Penny had another target. One she had to save instead of attack.
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High Judge Tassidonia awoke to the sound of explosions. He grabbed his swords, his main gun, and the personal shield he reserved for only the most dire occasions. The sky was erupting in war all around him, and buildings were already falling nearby. The spires of skyscrapers rained down upon the entrances to the Underground, crushing thousands of fleeing Sprilnav under their wide impacts.
His implant identified members of the gangs nearby, making their way to his home.
"Retribution Cycle!" Tassidonia cried. A hidden door opened, and he boarded a small hovercraft that sported a high amount of defensive and offensive technology, a gift from Justicar for dealing with all that he had related to the Judgment. Only this time, he wouldn't be on the next one. But already, the destruction was spreading.
Micro-missiles rained upon friend and foe alike. Several detonated against the layered shields. The mounted turrets on the side of his hoverbike shot lasers into the enemies his implant identified.
"Elder Tassidonia!" an Elder cried nearby. "For the crime of defying the will of-"
Tassidonia called his fury to bear. He rammed his mind into the enemy Elder, disorienting her. She reeled, about to attack, when a thick laser smashed into her chest. It pushed her against the wall, and Tassidonia kept the pressure up until her body melted. He listened to her screams impassively, occasionally sending blasts from his gun at the gangs when their members started to stray too close.
The thick red beam did its work within twenty pulses. His swords began to float beside him, keeping pace as he sped away from his home. The entire apartment complex shuddered and began to lean, its foundation being destroyed by some effect below. Tassidonia abandoned it with only minor regret. He'd known this moment would come. Everything he needed was already with him.
He linked into the Guide network, directing squadrons to attack the breaches he'd identified. Orbital strikes fell upon them in quick succession. Thick beams of light pierced through the lower planetary shields from orbital platforms, their guns honing in on Justicar's enemies. Tassidonia's implant was linked to the grid as well. So when he eyed buildings occupied with too many gang members, orbital strikes fell on them a few pulses later.
Fire and plasma rained all around him. Explosions and smoke blossomed all around him. More missiles fell from his hovercraft. A fighter ship appeared beside him, its simple stealth revealing itself to his eyes. Tassidonia waited for the pilot chamber to open, and his craft stowed itself behind him when he got in. It was fully equipped, so soon, Tassidonia was in full control of a weapon of war.
His first order of business was detecting the gangs' most fortified areas. He peppered those bases in shield-weakening mines, followed by bunker-buster missiles. Several anti-air turrets hit him, but his shields prevented them from taking him down. He dropped three high-end Butcher Androids into the fray of the largest battles.
One of the adjacent fighter wings in the separate shield sector dropped a nuke. At that moment, Tassidonia made a decision.
Whatever insanity was going on right now wasn't worth staying here on his own. He turned his ship upward, narrowly avoiding nearly fifty missiles shot from another gang fortress, which was really just the lower floors of a supermarket. Thick slabs of concrete were being set up by androids and slaves from the Underground. All he could do was watch from above and attempt to mark those that might be a problem.
Justicar's Grand Fleet was moving in, though only the carriers and their escorts were doing anything of any scale. The armies were mobilizing, and it seemed that war had finally broken out. Justicar, while isolated due to the Judgment, would have to win a war that threatened to topple his rule entirely.
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Ezeonwha woke when the walls around him shuddered.
An earthquake?
Groggily, he activated the lights in the room. Phoebe's android was charging in the wall. Her limbs swayed with the motion. The walls shuddered again, and the lights went out. Thin, tiny cracks spread in the walls, increasing his worry factors massively. His implant notified him that this wasn't a dream. Distant screams reached his ears, and he went to the window.
Hordes of Sprilnav were running on the ground, tripping over each other to escape. He heard the thump of footsteps approaching from outside. The android activated, standing up.
"Move away from the doo-"
An explosion tossed him across the room. A Sprilnav carrying some sort of mouth weapon faded into view for a moment, smoke recalibrating the stealth field. And then he was gone. Phoebe smashed into the Sprilnav, her fists pummeling the assassin faster than Ezeonwha could comprehend.
Phoebe's arms turned into swords, and she stabbed the Sprilnav at least fifty times in a single pulse. She turned to grab him, but before she reached him, a second explosion sent him flying out of the now-shattered window.
The massive skyscraper loomed large, and he saw the ground beneath it ripple. Dull thumps sounded from below, and large, circular caverns opened beneath the 102nd Visitor Welcome Office. The whole building started to list forward, and Ezeonwha frantically activated his emergency personal shield as he started falling faster and faster. A bullet hit the shield. And then a second one. Gunshots echoed out in the distance, and he saw other Sprilnav falling from broken windows in the falling skyscraper. Gunfire erupted on the streets as Guides engaged a growing army of attackers bubbling up from basements of shops and businesses.
He saw spurts of blood exit the Sprilnav nearest him, bullets tearing holes through the woman's body. Piercing screams surrounded him, a terrible chorus that reminded him of the worst wars he'd fought in. But here, his training could do nothing. She was already dead, and he knew that he was the target of this whole attack. His eyes watered, and Ezeonwha felt so powerless. So useless.
A Corrector emerged from the side of the tilting skyscraper, eyes fixed on Ezeonwha. Then he looked down. Somehow, Ezeonwha knew when the orders had been sent. He knew that it was Astipra in the distance, a jetpack on his shoulders burning a thick flame beneath him.
Astipra looked back at the building and flew toward it. Ezeonwha felt the wind rushing past the shield as pressure. Astipra, far above, vaporized falling chunks of the skyscraper with blasts from his arm cannons. He pressed back against the skyscraper, the jetpack going into overdrive. The metal bent inward, and the groaning and twisting structure continued its fall. Blasts of light from Astipra again vaporized the set of falling chunks.
"Penny," he said. It was almost a prayer, really. His desperate mind was scrambling for whatever it could get. "Please, save me!"
He didn't know if she could hear him. Logically, it was impossible. And in a battle such as this, unlikely as well. Rippling explosions erupted across the facade of the falling skyscraper as rockets struck it. More explosions bloomed as lasers from distant police vehicles, Guides, and Astipra destroyed more of the fast-flying missiles and rockets. They pounded on the world around him, a horde of madness threatening to break his brain. He could feel the wind and gravity equalize as he reached terminal velocity.
And all he could see was the world descending into war around him. The 102nd Visitor Welcome Office continued to slump and lean against Astipra's best efforts. More bullets hit Ezeonwha's personal shield, and peppered the Guides moving over to save him. Air ambulances were shot from the sky. Even small fighter crafts were shot down by powerful ground lasers. EMPs thumped, disabling all the higher functions of his implant before he could think to use it.
A much larger explosion bloomed out, and Ezeonwha followed the rocket's trail to an Elder on the ground, standing in the wreckage surrounding a sudden tunnel opening. The Elder stared at him in glee, and he lined up another shot. Two Guides fell upon the Elder, who flew up using a jetpack to cut them in half with his sword. A hard light hologram lifted a large gun, pointing at Ezeonwha as he fell.
His eyes widened. Ezeonwha did everything he could. He angled his legs and arms. He pushed at the air. He even hefted the meager psychic energy he had, struggling with all his soul to escape the death he could feel was coming to him.
Guides swarmed beyond the shield appearing, while gang soldiers died by the hundreds to carpet bombing. Personal shields sprang up to block the explosions, and the Elder had survived. A thick red laser cut one of the fighters in half from the smoke. Above him, the collapsing facade of the skyscraper consumed Astipra entirely, though large gouts of plasma and thick explosions emerged from within. He could survive if it fell upon him, but Ezonwha could not.
Penny materialized far below, closer to the field of battle. A sweeping wave of gang members began disappearing. A bullet smashed into her head and her stomach, detonating in bright explosions. A personal shield flared and disappeared. Missiles and lasers slammed into Penny by the thousands as psychic energy gathered. A constant roll of words fell from her tongue, but without his implant, they were not translated.
Missiles crumbled into dust. Lasers impacted raw space in front of Penny before bending down and back to their origins, destroying automated turrets. Bullets still hit Penny and the Guides by the thousands, firing too quickly and densely for her to entirely block. But the large ordnance from the gangs continued to work against them.
Penny looked around, confusion evident on her face. But amidst the thousands of wounded and dead Sprilnav falling from the broken windows, Ezeonwha was hidden too well.
Shattering glass could be constantly heard, and he could feel the distant screams in his soul. A bullet smashed into his personal shield again, disabling it. A pulse later, he lost feeling in his legs.
He tried to reach out to her mind, but the war in the mindscape was equally intense. Too many Elders and Guides battling it out along with various suppression artifacts made it all impossible. He could sense Penny's influence, but couldn't directly reach her.
He let out a breath, knowing it to be the final one.
I'm sorry, Penny, Ezeonwha thought.
I wish you luck in the Judgment, and I am sorry I caused this to happen to you.
Penny finally appeared in front of him, eyes wide-
Blood erupted. A searing pain in his head told him his implant had just shorted out. And in the mindscape, he saw a mental attack heading for him, its brutal power evident. He closed his eyes.

So first off, I wanted to say I support Brian, have subscribed to blueprint monthly and appreciate the work he is sharing. Also, I personally don’t believe he is trying to profit from this.
In reviewing the protocol, I have some questions over the 3 tablespoons of olive oil being recommended daily.
My concern is whether the science available really supports whether the polyphenols and oleic acid benefits outweigh the saturated fat and damage to the endothelial function with the 3 tablespoons being recommended. This more or less contradicts decades of work by plant based doctors who have pioneered the reversal of both diabetes and heart disease.
These include doctors such as:

• Dr. Neal Barnard
• Dr. Dean Ornish
• Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
• Dr. Robert Vogel

So the studies Brian cited to support the health benefits of Olive oil are on his site on the video posted here (and linked below) w/ a brief summary: https://blueprint.bryanjohnson.com/products/premium-extra-virgin-olive-oil

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32751219/
• A significant decrease in peripheral and central systolic BP (SBP) by 2.5 mmHg (95% CI: -4.7 to -0.3) and 2.7 mmHg (95% CI: -4.7 to -0.6), respectively, was observed after HPOO consumption of 60 m/L per day. Neither olive oil changed diastolic BP (DBP) or measures of arterial stiffness.
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28808791/
• This study is comparing olive oil health benefits vs. giving someone soybean oil?? This is the biggest problem I see with most olive oil studies is it weighs the oil vs. OTHER OILS, as opposed to no oil at all. In fact, I’ve not seen really seen a study that compares olive oil vs. no oil.
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0939475319302662
• Then we have this study which concludes: HP(E)VOO may improve some cardiovascular risk factors, however, public health implications are limited by overall low or moderate certainty of evidence.
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36501136/
• Twenty-six participants with MCI were randomized with 25 participants completed the study. EVOO significantly improved clinical dementia rating (CDR) and behavioral scores. EVOO also reduced BBB permeability and enhanced functional connectivity. While ROO consumption did not alter BBB permeability or brain connectivity, it improved CDR scores and increased functional brain activation to a memory task in cortical regions involved in perception and cognition. Moreover, EVOO and ROO significantly reduced blood Aβ42/Aβ40 and p-tau/t-tau ratios, suggesting that both altered the processing and clearance of Aβ. In conclusion, EVOO and ROO improved CDR and behavioral scores; only EVOO enhanced brain connectivity and reduced BBB permeability, suggesting EVOO biophenols contributed to such an effect.

The Counter-Evidence
The following is a link to Doctor Rosane Oliveira provides a decent comprehensive summary of my prior understanding and the arguments that Dr. Barnard, Ornish, Esselstyn and Vogel all share:
https://www.forksoverknives.com/wellness/why-olive-oil-is-not-healthy-for-your-heart/
This article links to the following studies. I’m not going to summarize the results as I think the article above does a better job than I can:

• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10376195/ - Brachial artery ultrasound: a noninvasive tool in the assessment of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17174226/ - Olive, soybean and palm oils intake have a similar acute detrimental effect over the endothelial function in healthy young subjects
• https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23432189/ - Primary prevention of cardiovascular disease with a Mediterranean diet

And lastly, this is a 2022 podcast where Doctor Neal Barnard addresses this topic again. As stated before, the repeating theme I notice is olive oil is healthy compared to all other oils HOWEVER it is less healthy than no oil at all and most studies focus on comparing its health benefits against other oils.
https://www.pcrm.org/news/exam-room-podcast/rethinking-olive-oil-again-all-fat-and-still-healthy-drs-neal-barnard-and
Out of fairness, I will link this Journal of the American College of Cardiology Trending Cardiovascular Nutrition Controversies with perspectives from: Andrew M. Freeman, Pamela B. Morris, Neal Barnard, Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Emilio Ros, Arthur Agatston, Stephen Devries, James O’Keefe, Michael Miller, Dean Ornish, Kim Williams, and Penny Kris-Etherton
https://www.jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2016.10.086#
This concluded that: Extra virgin olive reduces some CVD outcomes when consumed in moderate quantities.... Without defining what a “moderate quantity” was. But again, this journal was clearly intended to compare olive oil against other types of oil and NOT against no oil at all.
I’m just curious about how Brian came to his conclusions on olive oil that contradicts these doctors and the scientific methodology and testing he used to actually confirm it wasn’t doing the damage these doctors are warning against.

Untying the Knots of the Twelve-Letter Alphabet
https://www.astrologyinstitute.com/articleprofile/articles/2016/untying-the-knots-of-the-twelve-letter-alphabet
12 Letter Alphabet Exposed
https://westernastrology.net/12-letter-alphabet-exposed-part-a/
https://westernastrology.net/12letter-alphabet-exposed-part-b/
Liberating Uranus and Aquarius – From Each Other
http://www.astrologyinstitute.com/articleprofile/articles/2016/liberating-uranus-and-aquarius-from-each-other
Probing Pluto and Scorpio, Clarifying Neptune and Pisces
http://www.astrologyinstitute.com/articleprofile/articles/2015/untangling-astrologys-symbols-part3
10 Astrology Habits to Break.
https://ambientastrology.com/articles/2016/3/25/10-astrology-habits-to-break
https://soulfriendastrology.com/category/learning-astrology/
12 Letter Alphabet Exposed
FIRST HOUSE
While the words; are a manner of speech there might be less confusion if they were replaced with "present": The first house shows how we present as an individual. This presentation includes attitude, physical health, demeanor and appearance, among other things.
The first house is much more than how we strike out as an individual. It can actually show a ‘wait and see attitude’. If a passive sign is on the ascendant or the ascendant ruler in a passive sign there will be less ‘striking out’ and more withdrawal or cautious approach to life.
With other factors such as the house location of its ruler and aspects to the ascendant, the first house shows temperament style and general attitude to life, which may be nothing akin to Mars or Aries.
The odds are only one in twelve that the sign on the ascendant will be Aries and the wide scope of other possible expressions cannot all be described as Arian or Martian.
Neither should we restrict the red planet to its daytime domicile of Aries. It is also the nocturnal ruler of Scorpio although this is rarely considered or understood.
Associating Mars with the first house also ignores the other two planets which have a connection to this house.
The first is Mercury, which has its joy in the first house. The joys of the planets is a worthwhile study of its own.
Mercury has a natural association with the brain and head and this correlates well with the association of the first house with the head.
Mercury is also associated with speech and communication.
Mars has no natural association with the head or brain, unless you are thinking of using your head as a battering ram!
In the system of planetary joys Mars is placed in the sixth house of injuries and sickness, a place where it is at home.
The first house straddles the boundary between day and night which is an apt fit for adaptable Mercury as the go-between.
Saturn also has a first house association because this is where the soul is entrapped within the body as it incarnates. Saturn is the natural ruler of doorways and the first house is the soul’s doorway into physical life. The eighth house of death is the exit doorway, also associated with Saturn.
SECOND HOUSE:
Yes Taurus is about stability and physical comforts and pleasure, but has little to do with money itself. Venus, the planet which rules Taurus, is about the comforts that money can buy, the adornments and beautiful things. But money itself is represented by Mercury, the natural ruler of exchange and financial dealings. Mercury does the buying and Venus does the enjoying. Venus does not represent money; that is Mercury’s domain.
Jupiter the planet of wealth and prosperity, has a natural association with the second house. In the Chaldean order of the planets Jupiter follows Saturn. Saturn is associated with the first house, Jupiter with the second house.
THIRD HOUSE:
It is understandable that, at first glance, the third house would seem to have an association with Gemini and Mercury.
However in previous generations it was clearly understood that the third house was the house of the "goddess", and the Moon had a special relationship with this house.
In horary astrology the Moon is frequently seen as conveying messages between other planets in its role as ‘the translator of light’. Among the seven classical planets it is the fastest moving body, linking planets as it aspects one and then to another. This sequential linking is very significant in questions about communication, linking people together, or the movement of goods. In this latter respect it also has an association with transport.
FOURTH HOUSE:
Historically the 4th house is associated with foundations and property, the land, deep roots, mines and wealth from under the ground.
Compare these fixed traits to that most fluid and movable of planets: the Moon. This is not a good fit. The changeable Moon is much better suited to the busy comings and goings of the 3rd house.
In the ancient model of the “4 Ages of Man” the IC is associated with the winter of our lives. Yet in the northern hemisphere where Western astrology arose the Sun passes through Cancer at the height of summer. Neither is the 4th house a good fit for Cancer.
Historically the 4th house is associated with the father, not the mother.
FIFTH HOUSE:
The Sun is the supreme ‘Commander-in-Chief’, the symbol of might and mastery, power, truth, light and enlightenment. The superior planets genuflect and step backwards in retrograde motion when they come face to face in opposition with the Sun, and all the planets disappear in his blinding light when in conjunction with the Sun.
The fifth house is the house of fun and frivolity, parties pleasure and entertainment. In a sense this is the most superficial of houses and is in no way deserving as the home of the Lord of the Heavens.
The Sun represents so much more than parties, children, pleasure and sporting games. The importance of these activities pales into insignificance when faced with the majesty of his presence. In many religions and spiritual systems the image of god or the force which guides the universe has a solar representation.
To suggest that the Sun is restricted to the rulership of the house of fun and creativity is to diminish his great power and demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of his role in the heavens and in astrological interpretation.
In the diagram above describing the joys of the planets we see that the Sun rejoices in the ninth house, the house of higher learning, spirituality, and the search for the ultimate meaning of life. The joys of the planets describe places where planets are most comfortable and ‘feel at home’. The Sun is much more comfortable than in the ninth house of spirituality than in the fifth house of frivolity.
Neither is Leo a good fit for the fifth house as it is regarded as a barren sign because of its dryness. The 5th has long been known as the house of sex procreation and children. In horary astrology in questions of fertility and in electional astrology when choosing a suitable time for conception Leo on the ascendant or on the fifth house cusp is generally avoided because of its association with infertility and sterility.
To link the sign associated with barrenness with the house associated with fertility and creativity shows a misunderstanding of basic astrological principles.
SIXTH HOUSE:
Confusions relating to the meaning of the sixth house are worthy of an article on its own.
The association with work in the sense of career or profession can be attributed to a misreading of Lilly where he refers to the 6th house as the house of service. He was actually referring to servitude and servants.
The modern equivalent are the working poor doing menial jobs, in the service of another. There has never been, at least until recent times, a sense that the 6th house is associated with anything resembling a career. Historically this is, among other meanings, the house of slaves. While perhaps there are few real slaves in the Western world, the unskilled worker going from job to job is a close equivalent. These workers are typically more lacking in skills, rather than being skilled.
Going back to the objection mentioned above that Virgo is focused I am not sure how focus is a noteworthy trait of the sixth house, or even that Virgo is especially focused. Virgo is after all a double-bodied sign. Scorpio Aries and Capricorn also have some claim to being focused.
It is more common for people to confuse the sixth house with Virgo because of Virgo’s association with health. However the sixth house is not the house of health; that honour belongs to the first house. The sixth house is the house of ill-health and also injuries, the opposite of health. The preoccupation with exercise and diet typically associated with Virgo is better explained by the combination of the dry earth qualities of Virgo when combined with its discerning ruler: Mercury.
It is the first house which is the house of life and health and vitality. Mercury rejoices in this house and is much more comfortable here than in the sixth house of sickness and injuries.
It is Mars which rejoices in the sixth house. It is of course the minor malefic and is well suited to the house where the slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune beset us all from time to time. Incidentally in mundane astrology the sixth house is associated with the military which has an obvious connection with Mars.
SEVENTH HOUSE:
Yes the seventh house is about relationships of all types. As well as amorous relationships and contractual business type relationships, also included are adversarial relationships with open enemies and those involving a sporting or other type of contest.
Relationships involving open conflict can hardly be confused with the graciousness associated with Libra or the pleasantness associated with Venus. These relationships could better be described as Martian. As the enemy rides over hill towards you, rifle at the ready with bayonet attached, Venus is nowhere to be seen. These situations are better described by Mars. So should we associate Aries and Mars with the seventh house, as well as Libra and Venus? The logic is similar. It should not be ignored that the seventh house is as much about engagement with the enemy as it is with the lover or friend.
The seventh house is about ‘the other’ we engage with, for whatever reason, whether it be the terrorist or the lover, the violent bully or the loving spouse. The relationships associated with the seventh house can be associated with love or hate. The seventh house is primarily about the people we engage with, and the type of engagement cannot be restricted to just Venus or Libra. The planet which usually best describes the type of engagement is the one ruling the sign on the seventh house cusp or a planet conjoining the descendant.
EIGHTH HOUSE:
The confusion concerning the eighth house is connected both with the adoption of Pluto as Scorpio's modern ruler and the adoption of the '12 letter Alphabet'; system by some astrologers. In the 12 letter Alphabet, invented by Zip Dobyns, the meaning of the houses planets and signs are merged. For example the eighth house, Scorpio, and Pluto are seen to have a similar theme, referred to as an archetype. Pluto's association with transformation and regeneration and Scorpio's association with sex are both transferred to the eighth house.
However the eighth house is the house of death. While it's true that some astrologers have associated the eighth house with sex because sexual orgasm is sometimes called ‘the little death, the purpose of sex is to procreate, to bring life into the world, not death.
Previous to the modern era the eighth house was not associated with sex. This modern confusion is perpetrated by a misunderstanding of the primary functions of the houses. Sex is a fifth house matter. Death and bringing life into the world are opposite things. One should not be confused with the other.
I have often heard it said that death is only one form of transformation and somehow this justifies assigning transformation as a core meaning for the eighth house, which in turn validates Scorpio’s and Pluto’s association with the eighth house.
It is ironic that Pluto's mythical association with rape is rarely mentioned in conversations about eighth house sexual activity.
The tangled web of confusions associated with the interchange of Scorpio Pluto and the eighth house is mind boggling and really does take us a long way from the real meaning of the eighth house. Followers of the 12 Letter Alphabet system associate intimacy with the eighth house because of its new association connection with Pluto.
The core meanings of the eighth house have to do with death in the physical and real sense; fear and loss; the resources of those we engage with, and inheritance.
The eighth house is not a particular pleasant place no matter how much we might like to romanticize it or give it a positive spin. The sign on the cusp of the eighth house and the planet which rules that sign are what is relevant in any type of astrological interpretation of the 8th house.
NINTH HOUSE:
We tend to liken Jupiter to philosophy and religion and the attribution of Jupiter to the 9th House fits fairly well. (Jupiter is also the planet associated with the Ninth in the wheel of houses that begins with Saturn as the First.) The Ninth was the place of the “Sun God” in ancient astrology and was strongly associated with public religious practice; yet, like the Third, it was also associated with dreams, prophecy, and divination. The Ninth House being associated with higher education or long journeys is a later addition.
The planet in joy in the Ninth House is the Sun and, for a place that is cadent, the Ninth gets a lot of sunlight and the Sun can be happy here. It also fits well with the deification of the Sun’s power in many cosmologies and religions throughout history. It may also conform to the image of Sun as a planet of higher intellect, as the light of reason.
TENTH HOUSE:
Astrologers after my lifetime or yours will look at this affiliation with bewilderment. Archetypally mixing the House of career, reputation, and fame to Saturn and Capricorn is itself enough to throw out the entire Twelve Letter Alphabet system.
You might retort, “But it’s the place of one’s boss!” I answer that there are many kinds of bosses and they’re not all oppressive. The dimensions of leadership and mentorship – solar and not saturnine factors – are prominent Tenth House factors.
The 10th is the traditional place of one’s “action” – career, calling, fame and reputation. I include a larger sense of “vocation”, so that if you work retail by day but are a political activist or animal rights advocate otherwise, the latter would be included within your Tenth House. If a “lifestyle” includes neighborhood vigilantism, being a “survivalist”, or attending a lot of funerals, that person’s Tenth House would qualify as Saturnine.
Capricorn, as the cardinal earth sign, governed by a heavy nocturnal (feminine sign) Saturn, and the place and time of least light in the Northern Hemisphere, is completely out of place in the public and daylight-filled Tenth. Because the Tenth is place of authority, it is far closer in meaning to the Sun than the gray planet Saturn.
ELEVENTH HOUSE:
In ancient times the 11th, the “Place of the Good Spirit (or daimon)”, was a place of fortune and abundance. According to traditional sources Jupiter is in joy in the Eleventh, befitting a place that is considered so fortunate. (The Eleventh is the House opposite the 5th, the Place of Good Fortune and the joy of Venus, the other benefic.) The Eleventh House became the place of “hopes and wishes” and later the place of friendship and social groups; “hopes and wishes” is more in line with the original meaning of the Eleventh House.
Is this like the fixed air sign Aquarius? The “Water-Bearer” has a linear mental quality and a tendency to become conceptual that is not particularly like the Eleventh House in its original meanings. Aquarius is a sign of social responsibility and objective mind, and Aquarius relates well to a diurnal (masculine sign) Saturn that is a lighter Saturn than the one who governs Capricorn. However, if you confine the Eleventh House to friendships and social groups, the affiliation with the diurnal Saturn isn’t such a problem.
Things become much more confusing when astrologers mix up Aquarius with the outer planet Uranus, the planet of eccentricity, suddenness, and genius, and then try to bring in the Eleventh House. Uranus is quite different from the fixed mental “human” sign Aquarius. Uranus is rebellious, radically individualistic, and is deliberately outside convention. Aquarius, the sign opposite Leo, is humanitarian and oriented more toward groups and cultures than individuals. To bring this confusion to the Eleventh House only makes this problem worse; it obscures the original benevolent and protective quality of this house which is well demonstrated by Jupiter’s traditional association.
TWELTH HOUSE:
There are many difficulties here, and many are based on the distorted ways that the sign Pisces has been defined. But first let’s look at the Twelfth House by itself.
Like the Sixth and Eighth, the Twelfth is also disconnected to the Ascendant and is also a place about life’s difficulties. The Twelfth is a cadent house that in ancient astrology was the Place of the “Bad Spirit.” In the outer world the Twelfth is where we locate prisons, confinement in institutions, and dark hidden places. More internally, this is the place of being haunted – by previous karma, psychological “unfinished business,” and other manners of “self-doing” that come about because of what we cannot see. Psychological astrologers have looked to the Twelfth House for unacknowledged factors that may wreak havoc on one’s person and within one’s relationships. This is in keeping with the qualities of this house.
This all seems very different from the mutable watery sign Pisces that is flowing, changeable, and can develop different disguises for its personal and social roles. Pisces, as a quality of mind, has a strongly intuitive nonlinear bent. Unlike the planet Neptune, however, natives with prominent Pisces placements manage to maintain their identity even if that identity is not well-defined. Both the sign Pisces and its purported ruler Neptune are a far cry from the vice grip many of have experienced when in conditions of external or internal confinement.
Jupiter, the great benefic and the traditional ruler of Pisces, is even farther away from the significations of the Twelfth House. Jupiter – especially in the feminine sign Pisces – brings intuition of possibilities that is often called “faith” or “hope”. The Twelfth, however, is where cold reality comes at us from behind often with harmful intent; it is far closer to Saturn than Jupiter. And Saturn is, of course, the “joy” of the Twelfth House.

I had Scribd for a long time and about 6 months ago it went even further down the drain fast.
I was never 100% happy with them from the beginning , but I guess it worked okay for me at the time. A lot of what they did annoyed me. The unlimited was not actually unlimited. Anyway I (everyone from what the buzz said) started having multiple log in problems out of the blue, no way to get it fixed, and I just decided that was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I cancelled finally. I’m wondering if anyone who still uses them can speak to this. I’m thinking about going back but I just don’t know.
I listen to a shit ton of audio books constantly. I do have Libby, Hoopla, KU, and audible. Audible gets really expensive (due to the volume I listen to) None of them have everything, naturally, so it seems I need alllll the subscriptions. I only read/listen romance- all of it. All genres, tropes, gender pairings (with MM being the majority recently), time frames, planets, realms, species, etc you get the picture.

I'm not sure if I'm missing something, I'm pretty inexperienced with this game, and only have the base game. I have played a couple games playing wide, but wanted to try a tall playthrough, and maybe play as a vassal and push the realm of my liege.
The problem comes when picking who to play, I wanted to preferably only stat as a count, and eventually work my way up to a duke or king at the most, but with a king or emperor above me, my thought was to start in Sardinia in the county with the mine, but all I can seem to do is start as the ruler that owns the the three separate counties in the southern half of Sardinia. This isn't that big of a deal if that is my only option, but it is a little annoying, especially since that count does not own the barony that actually has the mine in it, that is instead owned by a vassal.
I thought maybe creating my own ruler would help fix that, but even then I cant seem to find a way to change the starting realm from the 3 counties that person would normally hold.
Am I missing anything, or is that my only option for starting in southern Sardinia?

Exfiltration

[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
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Mik
“Papa Juliet calling Mike Whiskey. I’m in. Guy says she’s in room one-zero-three-eight, do you copy?”
“I copy one zero three eight,” Mik replied quietly. She looked up at the room numbers and noted that she was at least on the correct floor. “Going there now, over.”
It was a good thing that even evil corporate secret facilities had their safety procedures. As she jogged along the corridor in what she thought was the right direction, she spotted an evacuation map of the facility, complete with room numbers. Studying the plan for a moment, she traced out a path, memorised it, then took off running.
Although people fresh from Earth often complained how hard it was to maintain a good running speed on Mars due to lack of traction, Mik had no such problems indoors. The floors weren’t the best for cornering on, but she saw no issue in running halfway up the wall to kick off in the direction she wanted to go. Her enhanced vestibular systems aided considerably in keeping her balance, no matter where her feet were placed at the time.
Now that she knew where she was going, she reached the corridor that she needed in less than a minute. But then she encountered something that wasn’t a barrier as such, but certainly caused her to think twice about what was going on.
At first glance, there was little to worry about. What she’d found was an airlock of a make and model ubiquitous to half the buildings on Mars. Given that the outside atmosphere of Mars could only be survived by one person currently on the surface of the planet, the presence of an airlock would normally have been easy to explain away as an essential safety precaution.
What gave Mik pause was the fact that the airlock was inside the building, and in fact was between her and the person she was here to rescue. This made her ask herself a very specific question:
Which side of this airlock is expected to be depressurised, and why?
There was only one logical answer, and it did nothing for her peace of mind. If she was reading the signs correctly, the person behind Dani’s abduction and subsequent imprisonment was willing to set up a lethal situation for their captive, as a last-ditch screw-you to Mik. They probably wouldn’t kill her immediately, but if Mik tried to get her out, it would go from zero to fatal in very little time indeed. And in fact, if the airlock was code-locked on the other side, it would also serve to lock Mik into the area, allowing Cyberon to simply walk in and scoop her up at their leisure.
If I keep going, I’ll be trapped and she dies no matter what. Cyberon security’s probably on the way, so Pete might not be able to get us both out in time. If we pull back, they might decide she’s no use as bait, and kill her anyway. Bad end, do not want.
Okay, so I’ve seen the trap. How do I turn it around?
*****
Dani
The cell was cold, the floor hard to sleep on, and the ration bars they’d been feeding her tasted like salted sawdust, but that wasn’t the worst part. Dani had been uncomfortable before; some of the places her father had worked had lacked many civilised creature comforts. But she’d had friendly company and she’d been able to keep track of what was going on in the larger world.
Here, she had neither.
She wasn’t sure if it was deliberate torture or just a total lack of caring about her wellbeing, but the lighting outside the Perspex panel that fronted her cell never varied. Neither dim nor overbright, it was just constant. They’d taken her watch at the same time as they’d sequestered the rest of her belongings and shoved her into an anonymous coverall, so she had no way of keeping track of time, except by way of her biological rhythms and the delivery of the food rations (which in itself was worryingly irregular, like they kept forgetting that she needed to eat).
Even the Suit, as she called him (she didn’t have a name for him, but she had a huge number of highly unflattering descriptors for him) hadn’t shown up in some time. At first, she’d been able to mark off the days in her mind by his visits, either gloating over how Mik was going to walk straight into his trap or attempting to interrogate her about Mik’s habits and potential actions. She’d done her best to give him no joy either way, which in hindsight was possibly a mistake, as he didn’t visit at all these days.
All she got was a guy walking past the cell every few hours and glancing in to make sure she hadn’t miraculously dismantled the lock and spirited herself out of the building. They didn’t talk to her, even when she called out and tried to open lines of communication. She knew they could hear her, but their faces just closed off and they walked on.
It had been days, maybe weeks, she was sure of that much. A month, even two? She couldn’t be sure. A couple of times she dreamed she’d been rescued, that the wall of the cell had just opened up and she’d walked out; the emotional crashes, when she woke and discovered the reality of the situation, had been devastating. Pretty soon, she figured, she’d be hallucinating even when she was awake, and it just wouldn’t matter anymore.
So, when she saw Mik herself step into view in front of the cell, wearing her usual t-shirt and jeans and heavy boots, along with a badass-looking long-coat, she didn’t even react at first. Either it was someone else and her eyes were playing tricks on her, or she was asleep and dreaming the whole thing, or her mind had finally cracked. Didn’t matter; Mik wasn’t there.
She waited for the apparition of her friend to morph into one of the guards or to evaporate altogether, or maybe rip the door off its runners, but none of that happened. Instead, Mik examined the lock and frowned. Then she pulled out a notebook and pencil—pens had a really hard time working in vacuum, so Mik always went old-school when it came to passing notes—and scribbled something.
Dani had never been able to read a damn thing in a dream. The words and letters always came jumbled up, probably because reading was a logical thing and dreams were by their nature illogical. So, she was fully prepared for whatever the note showed to be pure gibberish.
Instead, to her surprise, it was totally readable. NO AIR OUT HERE. NEED U TO PREP FOR DECOMPRESS, CLOSE EYES. WILL OPEN DOOR, GET U OUT. DO U TRUST ME?
She read it through several times, trying to make sense of it. Mik was still standing there, waiting, though she’d glanced from side to side a couple of times. The writing on the notepad was holding steady, not changing to something else.
Is this real? Is this actually happening?
Tears sprang to her eyes as she first began to allow herself to consider the concept. She tried to keep herself under control; every other time she’d believed she was getting out, her expectations had been cruelly dashed. But she could read the note. She could read the note.
Climbing painfully to her feet—there was little chance for exercise in the cell, and the nutrient bars didn’t leave her with much in the way of excess energy—she went over to the Perspex panel that served as a door. “Are you real?” she asked, putting her hand on the panel. “Are you really there?”
Mik nodded, then flipped a page and scribbled some more. IM REAL. IM GETTING U OUT OF THERE. DO U TRUST ME? Then she tore the page from the pad and dropped it.
Instead of fluttering lazily to the ground—under Martian gravity, it always took even longer than it did on Earth—it fell straight down, at the standard three point seven one metres per second per second.
Okay, that’s not something a hallucination would bring up. There’s only Martian air pressure out there. She’d had dreams of walking unprotected on the surface of Mars. The human brain couldn’t create the consequences of low air pressure out of whole cloth. That was a leap of logic that it couldn’t make.
Dani took a deep breath and nodded. “I trust you,” she said, aware that Mik was practised at reading lips. “I just don’t know how long I can go without air.” Attempting to hold one’s breath in vacuum or near-vacuum, she knew, was a recipe for ruptured lungs. “Should I hyperventilate?”
Instead of writing more notes, Mik made the hand gesture for ‘no time’, then pointed at her first note. Dani nodded, then stepped back. Closing her eyes, she opened her mouth, working her jaw to allow her ear canals to connect to her sinus cavities.
She heard it when the door began to open, the thin high screech of escaping air, deepening to a rumble as the air pressure dropped. Her ears popped, then popped again as she kept working her jaw. Air flowed out of her lungs, then an involuntary belch joined it.
Her skin prickled and her eyes were uncomfortable behind her tightly closed eyelids, but she didn’t dare open them. Micro-pressure did nasty things to exposed eyeballs; they didn’t pop (that was something even the stupidest of space dramas didn’t do anymore), but the sheen of tears on the exterior surface had been known to freeze or evaporate, neither of which was good for the eye.
Pressure was building unpleasantly in her gut, and she did her best to relax her sphincters. Another burp was followed by a small frrrt, and she silently blessed the fact that the nutrient bars were designed for vacuum workers, who didn’t want to share their EVA suits with abdominal gases.
And then a mouthpiece was pressed over her face, and air flowed into her lungs. Reaching up, she grabbed the pony bottle, amazed that she’d actually forgotten how Mik carried it everywhere. Once she had it, Mik let go and grabbed her arm, urging her forward.
Under the guidance of her friend, she stumbled out of the cell then turned left. They moved as fast as she was able, though she had to keep her eyes closed. How Mik had even gotten there, and what the plan was to get her out, she wasn’t sure, but she trusted Mik implicitly.
They went down the length of one corridor and then another one, much farther than she would’ve been able to go with her eyes closed and no air. Alone, she would’ve stumbled aimlessly until she died. Then they entered what she figured was an airlock, the supposition borne out when a door closed behind them and the air pressure started rising again.
When she felt it was safe, she opened her eyes and handed the pony bottle back to Mik. “Th-thanks,” she rasped, her voice rusty from disuse. “You came back. I didn’t know if you would.”
“It’s been a month, let me tell you,” Mik said lightly. “I had to get reinforcements, but here I am.”
Something clanked at floor level, and Dani looked down to see that Mik had just knocked over a bucket. “Okay,” she asked. “What’s a bucket doing in an airlock?”
“Holding the inner door open so nobody can remotely shut it behind me,” Mik explained. The other airlock door opened, and she stepped out. “C’mon, we’ve got places to be.”
Dani followed along. Her joints still felt creaky and stiff, but she was damned if she was going to slow Mik down now. “Where’d you go for reinforcements? Tharsis? Wouldn’t they just send stern memos to Cyberon or something?”
“Yeah, that’s why I didn’t go to them.” As Mik and Dani turned a corner, Dani saw two of the guards on the ground, along with a third one in an EVA suit, and a fourth person in an EVA suit standing over them with a metal bar in his hand. “Hey, we’re ready to suit up and go.”
The standing man flipped up his faceplate. “Good. The suit’s just outside. I’ll keep watching these clowns while you go get it.”
“On it.” Mik tipped Dani a wink, then ducked out through the airlock. A moment later, she was back, bringing a suit in Dani’s size.
“I was wondering how you were going to get me out of here.” Dani didn’t waste time, starting to haul on the suit even as she addressed Mik. She didn’t know the guy, but if Mik trusted him, she was willing to as well.
“It was either this or terraform the whole planet so you could just walk out normally, and terraforming was taking too long.” Mik eyed the guards unfavourably. “How badly were these assholes treating you?”
“They didn’t hit me or anything,” Dani said. “Just fed me and watched me. It was their boss who said all the nasty stuff about how you were gonna fall in his trap.”
“Mm.” Mik looked like she didn’t want to drop the matter, but the guy put his hand on her shoulder and she subsided. “Okay, then. Ready to go?”
“Nearly.” Dani locked her helmet in place, then triggered the oxygen flow. The telltales showed up green, so she nodded and gave the thumb-to-forefinger all-good gesture.
The guy with Mik flipped down his faceplate, and all three of them stepped into the airlock. It was a tight squeeze but Mik was skinny, and Dani didn’t take up much room even in a suit. “We’re going to have to move fast,” the guy said over her radio. “I have a feeling Cyberon security is incoming with everything they’ve got.”
“Yeah, no crap.” That was definitely Mik. “Just by the way: Pete, meet Dani; Dani, meet Pete.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Pete added. “Lieutenant Pete Janssen, Orbital Rescue, at your service.”
Even while Dani was trying to figure out what an Orbital Rescue pilot was doing on the surface of Mars, the airlock opened and they hustled out. The surrounding terrain was the very opposite of flat, and Dani had no idea which way to go. And then Mik’s eyes opened wide and she turned her head, looking up into the sky.
“Lander,” she said. “I can hear it coming in.”
Dani had very little experience with matters like this, but she had an idea what was coming next anyway. “They’ll be bringing in ground troops, won’t they? Looking for us?”
“Got it in one.” Mik started off into the rocks. “We have to get to the ’hopper before they catch up with us.”
“Copy that, princess.” Pete hooked one arm under Dani’s. “Let’s get moving.”
Dani had thought the nightmare was over but as she discovered, it was just beginning. Even with Pete and Mik helping her up and over the obstacles in their way, she quickly ran out of energy. Fear-generated adrenaline was well and good, but it had its limits, and her arms and legs were soon powerless noodles.
“Leave me,” she begged. “They’ll catch you, and this’ll all be for nothing.”
“And if we leave you, it’ll also be for nothing,” Mik told her grimly. “I had to do it once. It’s not happening a second time.”
“Take her,” Pete said. “I’ll go and draw them off. Even if they catch me—”
Mik cut him off. “If they can’t use you to get us back, they’ll kill you. You take her, you’re stronger than me. If they’ve got guns, which I’m pretty sure they do, they’re less likely to shoot at me than you. I’ll meet you at the ’hopper.”
Not giving Pete the option to argue, she let go Dani’s arm and vanished into the chaotic terrain.
“Wait—” began Pete, then swore. “Dammit! Okay fine, she’s not giving us a choice. Let’s get you to the ’hopper.”
As they moved off, Dani had to ask the question. “Why did you call her princess, earlier?”
“Well, she’d just told us her story, and I made a joke …”
*****
Mik
The security troopers were good at moving in EVA suits, and they definitely had guns. There were also a lot of them, which was going to make this tricky as hell. Still, Mik had a few advantages on her side, some of which they hopefully didn’t know about.
She peered around a rocky outcrop at a bunch of them, who were conferring over some kind of digital map. If they wanted to use that thing to make any kind of straight path through this labyrinth of Martian terrain, they had to be dreaming. The trouble was, if they just pushed forward en masse, they could comb every last hiding place, no matter how tricky she was. Which was why she had to pull them away from the ‘logical thinking’ mindset and into the ‘chase me’ mindset.
Picking up a friable-looking rock, she stepped into view, then hurled her missile directly at the faceplate of one of the troopers facing her. It burst on impact, leaving a cloud of dust behind. Before they could bring their guns to bear, she ducked out of sight again, heading down a twisting, turning alleyway of rock. Her natural agility and balance made up for the uneven footing, allowing her to move much faster than the troopers behind her.
The call would be going out now, converging every security trooper in the area on that spot. This included any of them that might’ve been on course to discover the rille where she and Pete had hidden the rock-hopper. If they were chasing her, they weren’t going after anyone else.
She paused after a minute or so of movement, listening hard and with her hands on the rocks on either side. Sound didn’t travel well in this atmosphere, though her ears were attuned to pick up what little there was. Vibrations through the ground were sometimes more useful, and she fancied she could feel the security troops coming her way, just as much as she could hear the scuffing and stumbling among the chaotically tumbled boulders.
The next time she nailed someone in the faceplate with a rock, one of the troopers shot at her. It didn’t come close enough to worry her, though the whole experience of being shot at in general was a new and unpleasant one. She got her target, though, dusting the man plus his comrades with the ever-present fines. The fewer of her pursuers who could see properly, the better.
And then Pete’s voice crackled in her mastoid earpiece. “We’re at the ’hopper. Want a pickup?”
“No, don’t,” she replied, talking quietly into the mouthpiece even though she knew the troopers couldn’t hear her. “They’ll shoot you out of the sky. Hold tight, I’m coming to you.”
A dozen troopers looked around in surprise as she jumped out of concealment almost within arm’s reach. She was holding two large rocks that she’d selected carefully, each one with the consistency of chalk. Both left her hands even before her feet hit the ground; not aimed at the troopers, they instead hit the rocks on either side. A great cloud of fines billowed over all of the troopers, but she wasn’t waiting around for it to dissipate.
There was a nice straight pathway for her to retreat down, but she didn’t take it. Instead, she ducked into the first niche she found that was barely large enough to take her, and flipped up the hood of the long-coat so that it covered her head. Thus concealed, facing the rock and holding still, she hopefully looked like part of the landscape.
She both heard and felt the rush of booted feet behind her; yelling inside their helmets so loudly that she heard that too. Thirty seconds ticked by in her head, and there were no stragglers following along. Cautiously, she peered out from behind the coat. She was alone.
By now there would be enough troopers spread through the chaotic terrain for false sightings to be happening on the regular, and in fact she heard a few random shots here and there which bore out that idea. But that wasn’t her problem, so she slipped unseen through the dragnet until she came to the rille. Jumping from foothold to foothold, she descended to where Pete and Dani were just getting settled on the rock-hopper.
“Oh, good,” Pete said. “You’re here. I was starting to worry.”
“Can we go now?” asked Dani plaintively. “I just want to get out of here.”
“We can,” Mik confirmed, scrambling up onto the rock-hopper and strapping herself into the middle seat, which had been installed by the crusty McPherson. She flicked the wake-up switch on the flight control computer (also supplied by McPherson), then activated the controls and lit off the attitude rockets. Slowly, then with more power as she fed fuel to the main rocket, the rock-hopper climbed into the air.
“Straight back up to the ship?” asked Pete hopefully.
“Not quite,” Mik said. “They’ve almost certainly got ships up there that can shoot us down if they see us coming up out of their area of interest, so we’re going to have to stay low for the moment until we get out from under their umbrella. Our best chance for doing that is to leave their turf altogether.”
Angling the rock-hopper eastward, she applied more thrust, and they shot away across the tumbled landscape.
[First] [Previous] [Next]
[A/N: And we’re coming to a head. The next chapter or two should see the end of this run of the adventures of Mik Wallace, Martian Walker. That’s not to say it’ll be the end of the story, but it’ll be the end of the origin story.]

This episode is where some of the best acting is but also where some of the worst writing is. Also we gets the version of the Greens we will be sticking with for the remainder of the show for the first time. Let me delve into some points that will have a lot of intersection with my criticisms from last episode
-The episode starts with Corlys in a coma after offscreen fighting in the Stepstones. Vaemond and Rhaenys discuss the succession of Driftmark if things go for the worst. Like I said previously Vaemond’s actor is absolutely fantastic (if anybody knows of any other movies, shows or plays where his actor or Corlys appear in please let me know). While on my original watch I obviously agreed Luke has no basis to inherit Driftmark I opposed Vaemond trying to get it either, just because by succession rules normally for lords, it would go to a daughter and her descendants before uncle and therefore should go to Baela, though some people in this sub have brought up the argument that maybe as a Valyrian house they have slighty different succession. I absolutely sympathize more with Vaemond on rewatch, though I still get why people might see him as the standard usurping uncle
-We go to Jace who is really trying to learn Valyrian which to his credit does show at least he takes his duty as Prince seriously even if because of bastardy should not be eligible for the throne and unlike say Joffrey from the main series who for all his many faults actually thought he was Robert’s son, Jace clearly knows what’s up, and is actively contributing to his mother’s usurpation attempt
-Rhaenyra and Daemon gets the news of Vaemond’s petition, and discuss how now with Alicent and Otto in power after Viserys increasingly failing health, and Rhaenys holding being a bit upset with them to say the least after everything that has happened, Luke’s legitimacy might be put to question and by extension Jace’s. Am I supposed to feel sympathetic and worried for you? This is all your fault! She left court to the Greens instead of staying and establishing alliances. Again you could have been made Hand and Regent while Viserys was abed and basically start establishing yourself as ruler. Also you not only have obvious bastards which is an insult and makes a joke of House Velaryon while also as Rhaenys put it perfect putting right in the center of a political storm, but you also made her believe that you killed her own son. Any other House would have probably just outright rebelled against you or at least sided with the Greens, but these are the Velaryons, the House that is so powerful it is a Great House in all but name, but yet always playing as the sidekicks to Rhaenyra despite being established as their own power in their own right in the first half of the season. If she hadn’t fake killed Laenor, she might have even convinced Corlys to take Luke as a ward, and actually get him familiar with the sea and Driftmark. I just don’t get how even TB members that like Rhaenyra personally don’t just pull their hair at every horrible decision she does.
-The Blacks arrive back at the Red Keep. The Strong boys get to watch Aemond training with Cole (I just love Luke’s nervous look upon realization). It’s clear after the whole eye incident, that Aemond saw that his own father couldn’t care less and wouldn’t defend him, and that besides his mother he would have to stand on his own and defend himself, and get stronger both physically and mentally. Also again we are shown how more Faith of the Seven imagery is shown with the Greens, with after them getting into power adding in more religious heraldry. Also I love how people point to Alicent and Otto in control as them and their “evil scheming” without taking into note they have basically been running the realm, keeping it stable and prosperity.
-Dyana. This is always a awful point to talk about. Obviously it’s there to make Aegon look bad, at the same time that Aegon would never do this in the books is debatable, as some lines hint at him accosting servants as users like me and natla among others believe, but others interpret it as merely him having a affair with said servants. Still regardless of book canon and show runner intention, it is obvious this is awful. Some people just dismiss it as awful fan fiction, but I feel if you are engaging with the show as most users due, then you have to engage with its canon to an extent for better or worse. I think you can still believe Aegon is not the best person and is incredibly flawed while still believing, he absolutely has the best claim and the realm would be better with him as king. As to Dyana’s longer implications, some people theorize maybe she will turn into the show’s version of Esselyn, despite the moon tea which maybe it’s focus is supposed to either eliminate or highlight that possibility depending on how you see it. I really hope not though.
-Rhaenyra and Daemon visit Viserys, who for all of our opinions on him, is played by amazingly by Paddy who gives it his all this episode and who also the makeup department did fantastic job. We also get introduced to Aegon III and Viserys II. It does make me curious if they will most likely be recasted or if with the king shooting schedule in between seasons they will use them, since a important part is having the kids old enough to where Aegon leaves Viserys while on dragon back during the Gullet causing him great regret down the line, as well as later with him watching his mother being eaten.
-Rhaenyra and Rhaenys talk where in order for her to back Luke’s claim they would do a dual marriage with Jace and Baela and Luke and Rhaena. Now I have already given my opinion on how this change makes Velaryons previous unwavering support make no sense, and how honestly Corlys and Rhaenys would have already pushed for this realistically before. Something that should be noted is his Rhaenyra says “Jace and Baela son will rule”. This is just hilarious. I’m sure the writers just added it without thinking but it just shows how Rhaenyra sees herself as the exception rather than the feminist pioneer many fans make her out to be
-Rhaenyra just the night before the petitions talks to Viserys and of course talks to him about the Song of Ice and Fire. Now this is setup for one of the worst writing decisions ever, but let me just say, despite giving very little screentime with little redeeming qualities to the point Tom had to to ask give them to give his character more, these writers are so insecure about their golden protagonist they literally have to beat us over the head with this stupid prophecy that will lead nowhere in the end just to make her seem more important than she is. It’s bad enough we had 8 seasons worth of buildup that led to utter disappointment, do we really need more retroactive buildup to that end goal? The fans are literally giving you another chance after the Epitome of horrible endings in pop culture, I would think you would want to cultivate that good will and stay away from that reminder not double down on it. It’s honestly so stupid. Mind you with Jace at the wall and the leaks, it’s not going to be any better, so might as well just mentally prepare myself to roll my eyes with this.
-The petition are put into place between Vaemond and Luke. I have previously stated how originally I was against the race change for the Velaryons not out of some “aNti-wOkE” mentality (my opinion is quite the opposite, I think genres like sci-fi and fantasy are enriched by more representation) but because the Strong boys plotline as all about their physical appearance and how it doesn’t match their alleged father and of their house, and I think this change just completely removes any doubt to the point of entering comedic territory. Not only that but I think unintentionally it adds a very weird undertone where the framing is we are rooting the white guy to usurp one of the few if only prominent Black House in the story. I know that isn’t the intention and to be fair the concept of whiteness and race we have in our world doesn’t exist in Westeros, but still the undertone is there and because the framing is for the audience to root for Luke it is quite uncomfortable.
-Viserys walks in to the throne room, and again it is a spectacularly well acted scene by Paddy (how he didn’t get an Emmy I don’t know). While many in the audience will take this especially TB as Viserys standing up one last time for his daughter to defend what is right though, writing wise I analyze more as a poor man literally on the brink of death having to get up to defend her screw up daughter from the consequences of her own actions. Less charitable I know but I feel closer an interpretation to the truth.
-The Greens and the Blacks with Viserys are together for dinner at his insistence. He gives a well acted speech and we see him at his most vulnerable. It’s really nice. I I don’t mind maybe a more vulnerable scene or two between the factions especially before the storm. It’s when Alicent just stands up and says “you will make a great Queen” that I lost it… Again it was a great speech, but unless this is a D&D session, and Viserys that rolled a Nat 20, there should be no reason why Alicent just completely forgets everything that has happened so far. It’s one thing if maybe she finds it in her to forgive any person insults but after what happened to Aemond, that is absolutely ridiculous. I’m one of the main defenders of show Alicent and her more empathetic portrayal, but this is too far. Her just holding her arm and saying she just got here when she was about leave like some old college friend is just mind boggling. Maybe if they developed it over a couple of episodes with years passing in between, I could see how they might reach a more amicable standing if Viserys is still alive but literally after one speech I am supposed to believe all the buildup of the last episodes is a bygone? What a joke, though only second to the following
-Viserys moments before dying in delusion answers Rhaenyra’s question to Alicent about the whole prophecy and she misinterprets it as Aegon being chosen by Viserys. This is beyond stupid. They are basically solving a problem they just created. Why is this necessary? Alicent was already geared up to fight tooth and nail for Aegon’s claim you don’t need this misunderstanding. If you just remove the prior mistake I mentioned with Alicent now congratulating Rhaenyra on being a future Queen, then you wouldn’t need this. This misunderstanding completely undermines the complex legal dispute that this was is based on, and instead becomes a game of “he said, no wait he said”. The trailers already framing it as the Greens fighting because Viserys chose him, but that never the basis for their claim. Viserys could have chosen Butterbumps for all it matters, the eldest male claimant comes next in line. This just frames Aegon’s claim deriving from Viserys will, which obviously Rhaenyra from that standpoint the audience would know the truth. And it doesn’t even matter since next episode we see the Green Council already making preparations to crown Aegon without even knowing of this, so again it’s completely and utterly unnecessary and stupid. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was a last minute change, the writers came up after waking up before coffee and just added without s single second thought. This is clearly the episode that best epitomizes how HOTD strength is it’s acting not its writing. Trust me if we didn’t have talented actors frying the best to make it work it could be far worse but there is only so much they can do with this fanfiction levels of writing.
Listen I try to be positive and respectful, these screenwriters do work hard And again I actually most like show Alicent and think it an improvement over book version, but it’s decisions like this that just GOT season 8 vibes and it literally has just started.

Overall, I really liked the movie. I thought it was a very good prequel to Fury Road. I liked that it did not try to outshine Fury Road in terms of action or visuals. It felt very tied into that film, as it should. But some prequels, obviously made after the original", will completely outshine the original or have a clashing style due to changing technology etc. I've seen people who don't agree, but to me Furiosa felt extremely tied into Fury Road. Also the color palettes did not stray too far from Fury Road. A little more broad but not too far.
I loved how the intro was similar to Fury Road's, the audio etc.
Overall, this did what a good prequel should, imo, which is build itself in a way where you could watch it before the original. Because it doesn't try to outshine the original, it would actually fit very nicely in for the most part.
Now there were a few things that bothered me about the story, namely:

• I always felt, as a lot of people did when Fury Road came out, that there seemed to be an implication that Furiosa was supposed to be one of the wives of Immortan Joe/his sons, but something went wrong and she went on to become a warrior instead.

THe movie sort of did this but it was in a very shallow way. It DID setup the plot point of her joining as a wife, so it seems that wasn't just a fan fiction but an idea Miller had. But then.... within 5 minutes she escapes and disguises herself as a war boy.
Which ties into my second point:

• Her arm. Now this is just my fan fiction, but I had always imagined that, she was going to be a wife, but something happens, maybe something that isn't her fault, or maybe she ends up fighting back for one reason or another, and ends up losing her arm. And THAT would be the catalyst for Joe to cast her aside like garbage......

....BUT, through sheer will for vengeance and to see her home again, Furiosa climbs out of the gutter back up to the top through a different route, becoming his top road warrior. The way they went, where she escapes unscathed and just keeps her head down as a war boy mechanic/drivesoldier... to me it was not as powerful as I was expecting it to be.
Also regarding the arm, I wanted to see her struggle to use it a little. Maybe the organic mechanic builds her an earlier prototype at first and it doesn't work as well....... but no, that got glazed over too. She loses her arm and 5 minutes later she gets her robot arm and it works just as well as her real arm. Losing her arm felt very inconsequential.
So those were my biggest gripes, a few plot points, pivotal ones imo, that could have been given a bit more attention in a 2 and 1/2 hour runtime. If those things had been fixed, I'd call this basically a perfect prequel. As it is, I rate it a 7.5 or 8 out of 10.
Overall....... I think Miller had all the right ideas, and on most of them, the right execution. I was pleased with the film as a prequel. I am sad about the box office. Hope Miller still gets to do another. I would love to see the Max prequel that is a proper MM film, and then imo it would be awesome to get a FR sequel with Charlize again. But who knows what will happen

I've been making Ori lore, but then scrapping it, but, I think I might have struck gold with this.
You see, if there is a "God of Knowledge", then there must be an entire Pantheon, so, I've decided to make one. This will also go a bit into Nova lore because the Pantheon would technically have ties to the Omni-Entities, due to the fact that the Omni-Entities seem to be a Multiversal equivalent to the Pantheon.
So, here are the basics:
The Divine Pantheon is basically a "corporation" of sorts, or could even be considered its own "country", with a class system and everything. It is led by four entities:

• Hylia
• Nayru
• Farore
• Din

Despite the fact that they are the rulers of the Divine Pantheon, they seem to have little understanding or control of what happens within the Pantheon itself, with it actually being ruled by Raiden, the lord of Fear.
Ori is the God of Knowledge, meaning that he is certainly above some of the other gods in the class system, but still below many others. Four of the Gods of the Pantheon shall be listed, along with what they are Gods of, and what their powers include:

• Epicure - God of the Feast - Endless Stamina, Endless Physical Strength, Self-Healing, and the ability to gain the traits of beings they eat.
• Dolion - God of Lies - Possession, Shapeshifting, Cloning, Teleportation, and the ability to mind control people into a hivemind.
• Ranjit - God of War - Endless Physical Strength, Self-Healing, Mind Control, Shapeshifting, the ability to absorb blood as food, and the ability to effectively turn their body into armor by making it harden in response to pain.
• Kalea - God of Joy - Hallucinations, Mind Control, Possession, Time Travel, and the ability to trap someone's soul in their "Toy Box".

The very bottom is the strongest, while the top is the weakest of this set. This is less than half of the Pantheon, and there might be more lore posts later.
Also, only five of the Gods actually have genders, those ones being:

• Nayru - She/Her
• Farore - She/Her
• Din - She/Her
• Raiden - He/Him
• Ori - He/Him

The other gods all are genderless.
((If somehow, someway, anyone here is a Hatchetfield Starkid fan, sorry that Kalea is just T'Noy Karaxis, I just lost all creativity suddenly.))

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Synopsis:
Juliette Contzen is a lazy, good-for-nothing princess. Overshadowed by her siblings, she's left with little to do but nap, read … and occasionally cut the falling raindrops with her sword. Spotted one day by an astonished adventurer, he insists on grading Juliette's swordsmanship, then promptly has a mental breakdown at the result.
Soon after, Juliette is given the news that her kingdom is on the brink of bankruptcy. At threat of being married off, the lazy princess vows to do whatever it takes to maintain her current lifestyle, and taking matters into her own hands, escapes in the middle of the night in order to restore her kingdom's finances.
Tags: Comedy, Adventure, Action, Fantasy, Copious Ohohohohos.
Chapter 245: A Clockwork Wish
The quiet streets of Hartzwiese stood in contrast to the lights of the many inns, bars and taverns.
Despite its modest size, the town boasted as many drinking establishments as there were adventurers somehow drunk enough to be booted from the guild hall. And yet for all the bright lanterns singing from the windows, they paled in comparison to the moonlight as it graced the steps before me. A white carpet ushering me towards a tavern Apple was now using as a stables, and where I could enjoy a complementary room, courtesy of the fact I now owned it.
But before I could put my day’s labours behind me, there was still an important task I had to do.
The most important.
Rewarding my loyal handmaiden, who throughout these arduous days had remained firm and true as much as the sword by my side.
Indeed, no ill deed went unpunished, and no good service went unrewarded.
Why … she even knew the same.
Stopping before a large fountain in the centre of the town square, Coppelia held her palm out towards me as she eyed the faintly glittering surface.
“Gimme change,” she said brightly.
“Change?”
“I want to toss a coin into the fountain~”
My mouth opened wide.
“E-Excuse me! I know very well you possess coins of your own! Furthermore, I’ll not give you money from our hard earned hazelnut croissant fund merely to quite literally toss it away!”
“It’s not throwing it away. It’s making a wish.”
“A wish?”
“Mmh~ drop a coin into a fountain. Get a wish. An absolute bargain. Haven’t you tried it before?”
“Coppelia, I’ve no need to drop coins into fountains. I ring a bell. That’s how my wishes come true.”
“Well, do you have the bell with you?”
I paused.
“... No.”
“There you go, then! Until you get your bell back, you’ll need to toss away coins for your wishes.”
She beamed with childish expectation, palm still outstretched, fully expecting me to humour her request.
Well, sadly for Coppelia, I was not so easily moved!
Our personal finances went into maintaining a minimal standard of living! And that meant every coin we had to spare went into purchasing premium apples and cinnamon rolls! It would be unconscionable of me to allow it to be spent so frivolously!
“Staaaaaaaaaaaare~”
I rolled my eyes.
“... Fine, one copper crown,” I said, rummaging through my bottomless pouch. “Really now, this is hardly a djinn you’re bribing. I’m surprised you wish to add to the fountain and not merely scoop up what’s there.”
“Hey! I have standards! … I don’t like copper, it’s less shiny than silver and gold and gets in the way when I rummage through my ill-gotten gains.”
I offered Coppelia a sigh along with the small coin.
She accepted it with a giggle. As she turned to the fountain, the stars twinkled from her eyes more than the surface of the clear water.
Plop.
It vanished into the depths.
A small proof of our hardship, now given to the fountain to judge and a magpie to steal come the morning.
“And what wish do you hope to acquire through a less shiny copper crown?”
Coppelia merely smiled.
No word left her lips as her turquoise eyes gazed at the fountain’s disturbed surface. She herself was motionless but for the soft wind tugging at the ends of her fluffy golden hair.
And then–she twirled on the spot.
Arms spinning around, she raised them out and stopped like a melodramatic ballerina.
“World domination! I shall subjugate all squishy life under my cute, clockwork heel!”
“Please pick a different wish,” I replied, waving her declaration away as I would a plain chouquette. “World domination has already been chosen by half the world’s rulers. There’s not enough wishes in any fountain to accommodate them all.”
“... Got it! I’ll take an apple strudel!”
“You can wish for something that isn’t already in our possession.”
“In that case, I’ll take an apple strudel from every bakery in the world!”
I nodded. Better. Especially as I was far more dependable than any wishing fountain.
Indeed, as soon as I returned to the Royal Villa, I’d order a squire to go fetch an apple strudel from every bakery in the world as part of some inane quest!
“But what about you?” she asked, never knowing the suffering and hardship her casual request had just caused somebody not me. “Don’t you have any wishes for the totally legitimate wishing fountain?”
I held a hand to my chest, scoffing with a princess’s dignity.
“Ohohoho … for the fountain? No. I’ve no need for a fountain to make my wishes come true, for I have my own strength of purpose. And that is enough to grant all I desire. The prosperity of my kingdom. The health of my family. And the loyalty of my subjects.”
Coppelia leaned towards me, her smile appraising my own.
“Reeaaaally?”
I reacted with the indignation such scepticism deserved … and also a quick glance around me as I eyed for witnesses.
“... W-Well, if I could maybe have one thing, it would be an opportunity to finish reading my current novels. I have been stuck on the same pages for far too long.”
“That really annoys you, huh?”
“I-It’s terrible, Coppelia! At this rate, I’ll need to re-read some of them … and frankly, it’s enough of a strike against my fragile heart to do so once! There is only so much research a princess can take!”
My loyal handmaiden giggled. She wouldn’t if she knew the dangers that overexposure to the world of bestselling adventure romances could cause. I’d seen noblewomen collapsing at court more often with a copy of Scandals Of The Incorrigible Viscount in hand than any knife to the back.
A moment later–
Plop.
A second copper crown was casually tossed into the fountain.
“Done~” said Coppelia with a satisfied clap. “I’ve made your wish for you!”
My mouth widened as I stared between the fresh ripples and her mischievous smile.
“E-Excuse me! Didn’t you say you had no copper crowns?”
“I only said I didn’t like them. I never said I didn’t have just the one lying around. Isn’t that great? Now it means we both get our wishes! Apple strudels and scandalous books galore!”
“C-Coppelia! That is an entirely unnecessary waste of a copper crown … and more besides, I could have wished for a dragon’s hoard!”
“I mean, you could. But if you thought people were a problem before, wait until they know you’re even richer than a normal princess. You’d have burglars breaking into your vault even while you’re still busy swimming around in the pile of gold.”
“Please. That happens regardless of whether or not a dragon’s hoard is involved. And if it ever became a true issue, well … I’d simply solve it by hiring a dragon.”
“You’d hire a dragon to guard a dragon’s hoard?”
“Why not? There’s clearly no better proven warden.”
“Yep, that’s true. They’d even guard it against you. How would you get the treasure back?”
“I wouldn’t. It’d simply exist to slowly erase the population of burglars from my kingdom. That would be its true value.”
Coppelia looked up in thought.
“Huh. That sounds suspiciously like something which could work.”
I smiled with quiet pride. But not too quiet. I had my pride, after all.
“Ohohoh … naturally, I’m not only a princess. I’m a genius … but since I’m mostly a princess, this also means ensuring my retainers are rewarded for their service, and bribed concerning any slovenly faces I may have made.”
“Now that’s the level of subtlety I like. Negative numbers.”
“Well, negative numbers is also how I value most fae trinkets. But perhaps you can find worth in it.”
Coppelia clapped her hands together and beamed.
“Ooooh~! I smell souvenirs! Did you steal toiletries on the way out of the Fae Realm?”
“I did not steal toiletries! … although if I’d seen any, I possibly may have!”
“So you stole something else? Like cutlery?”
“Coppelia! I do not steal things whenever I visit a different plane of existence!”
“Why not? Everyone else does.”
“I am not ‘everyone’. Even when abducted, I’m still required to display the regal bearing of my station, representing always my kingdom and my family … and there was no cutlery, either.”
“Wow. You must have had an awful time.”
I gave a grim nod.
No toiletries. No cutlery. Not even a branded napkin.
The next time I was indiscriminately abducted to the Fae Realm, I’d ensure I would wander lost until a stack of towels accidentally fell into my arms.
“It was dire. But while I didn’t return empty handed, it was with nothing drawn from a dragon’s hoard or edible like a mound of apple strudels. Regardless, here is a gift acquired from the Spring Queen to add to your collection of trinkets and doodads I have no wish to know about.”
Thus, I reached into my bottomless bag, sweated as I fished for a slender object, and then retrieved a small ring of jade.
Unlike the crystal ring gifted to me by the Winter Queen and now embellished by her sister, the jade ring was adorned only with a pattern of crystalline vines upon the band, lacking any jewel set upon it.
Even so, Coppelia’s eyes lit up like a twin pair of moons.
She pointed at herself.
“Wait, is that for me?”
“Indeed, it is. You may have it.”
“Eh … ehhh?! It actually looks expensive, though! I was expecting something like a postcard!”
I raised a brow.
“If you’d prefer a postcard, I’m sure I could ask for one instead.”
Coppelia appeared speechless. Something so impossible not even a fountain could grant it.
Blinking in disbelief, she reached out and accepted the ring. Without putting it on, she held it against the moonlight, studying its finish.
“Ooooh~ it’s so shiny! … Will I blow up if I wear it?”
“No.” I paused. “At least, I don’t think so.”
Coppelia stopped as the ring met her finger.
“There’s no need to fear,” I added as I took a step away. “It’s a ring gifted by the Spring Queen, and so is imbued also by her magic.”
“I’m not hearing anything which says I won’t blow up.”
“You won’t blow up. Probably. After all, this thing is still little more than a child’s trinket. It contains a single favoured plaything from her court of dreams. The very swing she sat upon during our meeting.”
“The swing?”
“The swing. I believe it functions similarly to the bed. Why not try summoning it in the same manner?”
Deciding she’d paid enough tribute to caution, Coppelia popped the ring on.
She studied herself to ensure she hadn’t melted, before raising her hand in curiosity.
“Sooooo … do I just need to say [Summon Swing] and–woooaahh!!”
Poof.
The moment the words left her lips, she was lifted from the ground as a swing of crystalline leaves and vines appeared where she stood, seating her automatically in the process. Against the dour backdrop of Hartzwiese’s decidedly human streets, it shone with as much vividness as the Spring Queen’s mirror-like wings.
Coppelia blinked, her eyes wide as she wrapped her hands around the ropes of crystallised vines.
And then–
She began to swing.
With only the rustling of her clothes and the fluttering of her hair to disturb the quiet scenery, she proceeded to test the Spring Queen’s plaything, wasting little time before she began to swing like a pendulum, backwards and forwards at greater speeds.
She did not say a word, nor voice any thoughts, and although she wore a smile upon her face, it was no different to one she regularly affixed upon herself.
A moment of doubt struck me.
“N-Naturally, it’s rather unorthodox as a gift. It is no great heirloom or weapon, and rather impractical so far as useful function is concerned. But I imagine the ring itself is worth some value. If you do not want it, I’m certain some curio collector would pay for its novelty value. Regardless, please consider it as a bonus.”
Suddenly, Coppelia leapt off the swing in mid-flight. She skipped a few steps owing to the momentum, yet still pirouetted effortlessly on one foot as she twisted around to face me.
Her widening smile was the only warning I received.
“–Hiieeee?!”
Because the next moment …
I experienced the sensation of being hoisted off my feet.
Oh no.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”
Wrapping her arms around my waist, she easily lifted me up.
A feeling I’d experienced once before. And one I had not forgotten. Terror mixed with only the tiniest drop of excitement met me as I was promptly swung like an errant pillow.
“C-Coooppeeeliaaaa!! M-My priiiinnceess imaaggee!!”
With a girlish smile, Coppelia paid no heed to my meek and delicate cry as she twirled on the spot.
Around and around, my hair billowed behind me as all the town became a blur which helped to hide the many holes and cracks in the walls and windows, until somehow, the other side of my hair became known to the opposite side of my face.
“Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee~”
Just as I felt the world beginning to take on entirely new colours, she came to a stop.
She placed me down, continuing to smile as I waved away her supporting hands. I stumbled as I chased equilibrium, all the while blowing the many strands of my dark hair away from my mouth. My fingers instinctively went into emergency combing mode.
“I-It seems … uughh … you enjoy … the gift … uuuh … I’m … I’m pleased …”
Coppelia stepped back, arms behind her back as she gave another twirl, this time mercifully without me attached. Like a maiden in a meadow, she lightly skipped around her new magically summoned fae swing, examining its fine spring motifs and crystalline details, before finally turning to me once again.
I leaned away, not least because there were now several versions of her before me.
“Thankies~” she said brightly. “I like this a lot!”
I held my tummy, making sure nothing terrible was about to happen before I replied.
“You’re … uugh … you’re welcome …”
She gave a giggle of amusement at my expense, then seated herself on her new swing once again.
For my part, I rather desperately eyed the direction of my kingdom’s latest acquisition. A tavern which possessed very helpful walls. Even if I had no intention on using the beds within them.
After all–
It wasn’t only Coppelia who had reason to smile tonight.
Indeed … I also had a new and improved bed to enjoy!
Now that my minor detour to this corner of my countryside was complete, my only remaining task was to thoroughly and objectively test the Spring Queen’s magic for myself.
Yes … it was time to indulge my face in the Winter Queen’s pillow once again! To hug a silken duvet now gifted with the scent of an eternal meadow! A moment to thoroughly reward myself as I purposefully shoved any and all dangerous thoughts of tomorrow to the wayside!
And nothing, I knew, could disturb me from my slumber!
That ominous feeling I’d forgotten something important?
Why … I barely even felt it!
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Quoting from the video How to kill a God

A Colour Revolution is just whatever revolution that exists in the world and in history, that Puttin & those who think like him believe is the fault of the CIA, as such the definition of what exactly is a Colour Revolution has to keep being changed so that the end goal proving it's all a CIA-OP remains intact. (...) You're not finding the common connection between everything and using that as the basis of the conclusion, you're starting with the conclusion you want, and admitting anything which disproves it, and also distracts from the fact that you've made the connection between flying & evil and refuse to explain. But that's the thing – that connection never needs to be made. The connection is taken on faith that it's there. If it can't be found it's not because it doesn't exist, it's because you fail to find it that connection can never be proven to not exist because Color Revolution Theory is not an academic or a scientific study – it's a conspiracy theory. It's a conspiracy theory that has been painted with the veneer of just enough clever sending scientific woowoo terminology to give it the air of legitimacy so that you go into it already believing that the foundation work that all things that fly are evil, has already been concluded by serious experts. So the end bit the CIA is responsible is the only bet you're allowed to question.

LazerPig described weak signals – or more accurately speaking, intelligence & counterintelligence weak signals. Weak signals are the core axiom pillars why the concept of secret police oand secret services exist in the first place – it's their raison d'être. If you're against that, guess who's the next suspect (maybe terrorist) on a hidden list of scrutiny, threatening national security™...
It's a circular reasoning:

• we don't know what our enemies/potential enemies/presumtive potential enemies are doing –>
• we must be doing something wrong –>
• we aren't paranoic enough to know –>¨
• we don't know what our enemies/potential enemies/presumtive potential enemies are doing –>
• repeat ad nauseam until the Sun explodes, or the heatwave of the universe, or Rapture, or whatever.

Isn't it nice the world we live in – and with whom we share it? Isn't it cute how there are healthy people who – by their own volition – concocted schemes & formulas to self-enforce upon themselves mental illnesses (that they don't have) to justify everything; including their monthly paychecks, fees, and the occasional hidden bribes?
But, it's paranoia. It is paranoia. It's paranoia dubbed in clever sending scientific woowoo terminology to give it the air of legitimacy(sic). It's how The System™ self-enforces itself to exist, disregarding what that system is, how it operates, what's its ideology (if it does have one in the first place), what are its interests. It's the self-licking ice cream cone. It's why dictators/authoritarians with their socio-political, economic, and enforcement (police, secret police, secret services, special services etc.) machineries are obsessed with destroying everything they see a threat & where they think know there's a threat. It's why they wake up in the morning deciding how to ruin lives. It's why their family & friends/community (awwww, there it is; there's that family values again) can afford all those fancy cars, villas, mansions, offshore accounts/properties, chic private university degrees etc. It's why (and how) their aforementioned machineries fill the hours for their monthly/quarterly performance reports, from being fired and/or thrown out the window, hoping to get a pension at the end of their tenure besides what they've stolen. It's the formula for how (and why) they justify their monstrous existence instead of shooting themselves in the head, since everyone else is chickenshit scared to do it.
There are several Wikipedia articles describing weak signals but, oddly, there isn't an English one. Closest are SWOT, risk management, and failure of imagination.
What French wikipedia says:

Signal faible – Weak signal
Weak signals are elements in the perception of the environment, whether opportunities or threats (SWOT matrix), which need to be listened to in anticipation, known as [information] monitoring (surveillance state?), with the aim of participating in the development of forward-looking choices with a view to establishing a strategy and reducing uncertainty. The use of the concept of ‘weak signal’ is expanding, although its relevance remains open to interpretation.
According to Igor Ansoff, the founder of this concept, the Strategic Early Warning System (SEWS) methodology uses weak signals to analyse partial and fragmentary information provided by the environment. This analysis sometimes complements an analysis of major trends. Weak signals are low-frequency signals, or even signals which are not apparent but which are deduced from a piece of information or a fact. SEWS is not confined to geopolitical and technological analysis, but increasingly to financial analysis.
The importance of weak signals lies not in their perception, which is rarely at first sight, but in the contrasting reactions they trigger, helping to imagine dynamic scenarios. Contrary to popular belief, weak signals are above all extrapolations of deductions, particularly in directions that are a priori impossible or even detestable. More concretely, capturing weak signals involves going beyond an initial level of appearances, information or reactions to look for ‘augmented’ data. The journalistic techniques of gathering and processing information used for this purpose make it possible to collect a great deal of data. This data must then be validated and re-interrogated before being used to build a development or management strategy.
The detection of weak signals is the subject of various corporate monitoring processes: technological, competitive, commercial and environmental, social, societal, etc. monitoring, as well as economic intelligence. Weak signals can also be detected outside any corporate logic, which means that monitoring can be supplemented by awareness-raising. Detecting weak signals is a necessary task for companies and organisations (police? secret services?): the main risk for them is not to take risks.

And to use a couple of poignant quotes:

“Trust, but verify.” “The fact that you are free is not your achievement, but rather a failure on our side.”
“If it were a fact, it wouldn't be called intelligence.”

Moving on...

The reason why God-Country-Family is such an effective way, of manipulating people, is because when the world becomes too overwhelming, the average person retreats back to what is important to them – which is their personal morals, the place they live, and their family – and so long as nothing is directly affecting those three things, then, they will rarely go out of their way to care about anything else outside of that scope. A lot of people couldn't give two shits about children dying in other countries, but when it's your family, who is under threat, that's when the knives come out. And that's what's actually happening in these revolutions and people who thought they were progressing towards a better life, suddenly, find out that they're not, and not only are they facing a lifetime of gradually declining living standards under some arsehole, but so are their children, the wall has come down and they have been exposed to the potential of a better life & a better way of doing things, and the idea that the hardship they suffer is required to protect them against the corruption of the West, no longer flies. They've seen the corruption of the West and they want to be part of it because it's better than being part of the corrupt East. (...) Every single Revolution currently described as a Colour Revolution was against a corrupt dictator in favor of actual democracy, not the feudalism disguised as democracy that they'd always lived under. That's not something that is unique to any of the Colour Revolutions, that's just what a revolution typically is they are largely throughout history about overthrowing tyrants.

This is where I have to underline an error in thinking to LazerPig, in relation to Colour Revolutions, and what I've written above.
From the perspective of the System™ as a whole, there are two fundamental fulcrum questions: 1) Who's more likely to die at a protest or revolution – parents or individuals? 2) Who's more likely to kill a policeman, riot policeman, secret police officers, and/or soldiers?
Obvious answer to the first question: individuals. Lone individuals, solo or in some ad-hoc group, are more willing to expose themselves to higher degrees of danger at a protest, or revolution upheaval. It's not definitive that they want to die, but they're one degree or two more than the average person afraid of ending up at the hospital of bruises or worse. Parents – whether under democracy or a dictatorship – will never expose themselves to danger. You might find a mother with her daughter, or a father, or a full family with some cardboard messages but... that's it. That's it. Once tear gasses are tossed and the riot police are starting to get pushy, it's full retreat for them.
... but what about the second question? I cannot recall a protest (let alone revolution) in my lifetime, where people in the crowd – individuals or family people with their kids or their kids waiting for them at their homes – suddenly decide to kill riot police, secret service officers (if they can find them), or soldiers armed with automatic rifles. I don't know how, just decide to lynch or stab them, or something. Or attack buildings associated with enforcement agencies, such as police departments, secret services HQs, military barracks, and kill whoever is in there. I can't recall, not even solo individuals, and they're the ones who supposedly have a higher degree of IDGAF of harm. People at protests, let alone revolutions, do not trust each other. Less so into killing people in uniforms, armour, and supported by tanks, helicopters, and special vehicles.
More than that, what if the protest or revolution fails? More often than not, they do – and the machineries immediately start crushing down, ruining lives in the process. No person, no matter how sane or insane, wants any consequences.
And that's the point that proves the argument; that these authoritarian/dictatorship countries know people are afraid of consequences, they know the System is ruthless, they know all the written & unwritten rules – therefore, it has to be CIA, because only lunatics (right?) have an obvious death wish against obvious self-defeating odds of success. Add the cherry on top that people, especially family types, don't even fantasize in their heads killing police, riot police, soldiers, and secret service officers – or kill whoever on shift at the ministries/departments of internal affairs, defense, barracks, police HQs etc.
In conclusion, no. Normal people & normal parents do not want to die and leave their kids alone, orphans, even to their relatives. Never rely on families for protests & revolutions, because they're the most obvious type of people who don't want to die, nor do they want to suffer any subsequent consequences (they're very exposed). The rhetoric is romanticized (parents wanting a better future for their kids) but the reality of the situation is that parents in authoritarian/dictatorship countries – paradoxically – don't love their kids, at least not at the core level. Sure, they may want in abstract a better life for them but, as it turns out, even former Communist countries favoured sending their people by the millions in wealtheir countries to drive taxis, scrub shit stains off toilets, and pick fruits & vegetables from industrial farms. Or prostitution. Or begging. Or criminality.
Or not wanting for them a universal healthcare service & preventing school shootings, right?
People averse from killing operatives & agents of their governments/states are the proof of evidence for any country that, whoever wants to coup d'etat the system, isn't organic. That's why everything is a CIA-OP to the kremlin orcs, and not something spontaneous – what peon (Приспособленчество & ничего) has a death wish for themselves and/or their families, if that's the case?
I've read the book that was cited but I want to remind a fragment from CGP Grey's video Rules for Rulers:

So potential key supporters must weigh the probability of surviving the cull and getting the rewards, versus the risk of being on the outside of a dictatorship they helped create. In a stable democracy, that's a terrible gamble. Maybe you'll be incredibly wealthy, but probably you'll be dead and have made and have made the lives of everyone you know worse. The math says no. Being on the right side of a coup in a dictatorship means having the resources to get you and your family what the peasants lack: health care, education, quality of life.

What I want to underline is that, this is also true for an authoritarian/dictatorship system, applied inversely:

So potential key supporters must weigh the probability of surviving the cull and keep the rewards, versus the risk of being on the outside of a democracy they helped create. In a dictatorship, that's a horrible gamble. Maybe you'll remain incredibly wealthy after what you've stolen during the previous regime & not be investigated by some democratic tribunal, but probably you'll be tortured to death, and have made the lives of everyone related to you – directly or by conjecture – worse. The math says no.

Hi all. I've been dealing with L4/L5 herniated disc back pain for over 5 years now. What started as a herniation turned into overcompensating muscle pain that just won't seem to go away. I'm currently in physical therapy.
Here's everything I've learned and used in the past few years. As someone that's spent hundreds of dollars over the years trying to alleviate pain I wanted to pass on my knowledge to you. I've included a description of how each item helped me, and I'm also including the full product name if you don't want to click on the link directly.
Exercise Tools
A foam roller with ridges goes a long way for blood flow and pain relief. It helps with pressure points in the glutes, cracks my back, and acts as a massager all in one. I couldn't find the original one I bought, it's a big longer but these seem to have great reviews: Product: 321 STRONG Foam Roller - Medium Density Deep Tissue Massager
A tennis ball for pressure point release, I tried a lacrosse ball and found it to be too hard. I both sit/lay on the ball as well as use it against the wall. I get a pack and stash them everywhere,cars, office, folks' house, bedroom, living room, you name it. Product: 18 Pack Tennis Balls
For the Car, Office, Home
Next is a lumbar support back and seat cushion. These have been a dream. I was looking for the seat cushion and got the lumbar support as well. I use them to sit on the couch and it elevates my core and trunk. It helps me to sit up straight and removes pressure from the area that's been suffering. Definitely recommend these. Product: FORTEM Lumbar Support Pillow and matching FORTEM Chair Cushion
Sleeping Pillows
I have several pillows when I sleep. I've found luck with several.
One is a knee pillow, this one is great for travel since it's smaller, and easy for people that like to turn over a lot.
Product: 5 STARS UNITED Knee Pillow for Side Sleepers
The other is a half moon pillow, of which I have two. I actually prefer this for several reasons. One is that it doesn't rest just between my thighs, I actually put it long-ways between my knees, calves and ankles. Plus, it's longer so when I turn over on my back I can easily shift it to directly under my knees. I have two to stack for when I'm lounging in bed. Product: 5 STARS UNITED Knee Pillow for Back Sleeping
Back tape. I try to only use this when I've flared up so my muscles don't get too used to it. But it's a dream for plane rides, road trips, or days when you're planning to be up and moving a lot.
When it comes to KT tape, and I've used a lot in the last 5 years, there is one clear winner in my book: Product: Rock Tape 2 ft roll
If you already know you want the tape and plan to be using it often, spend the money on the larger roll, it saves in the long run.
Get a good pillow for your head too. It helps me to make sure it's only cradling my head and not my upper back. Normally I don't like buying pillows online but these have great reviews and I've been very happy with them. Product: Coop Home Goods The Essence Down Alternative Pillow
What else?
For a while I was using an inversion table. It feels really good to stretch out and did help me for a while. The hardest part is apartment living as it's not exactly space saving. However it does fold up and if you have the space for it it's great to have. There are more expensive ones but I didn't see any issue with this one: Product: Innova Inversion table
If I'm planning on being on my feet a lot I use a back brace, but I read (maybe someone can confirm or deny) that it trains the muscles not to work so you're possibly doing more damage in the long run. Product: Sparthos Back Support Belt
Work
A moveable standing desk is life changing. Not even just for standing but the ability to move the desk to the height you actually need to sit up straight. Product: FLEXISPOT EC1 Electric Adjustable Height Standing Desk 48x30
A good chair and/or yoga ball. Perhaps someone in the comments can recommend a good chair, as that's something I'll need next. I currently use a yoga ball and a wobble board when I'm standing. Product: Trideer Yoga ball Product: Amazon Basics wobble board
My colleague used to sit on a Gaiam yoga ball chair. She swore by it and she used it the entire 3 years we worked together so it must have been doing something right.
Exercise
Two different physical therapists have recommended Pilates to me. There are a ton of YouTube videos so I'll let you find one you like, but the biggest thing that's stressed to me is making sure it's traditional Pilates, and making sure your form is correct.
I was also told to do drinking birds, bridge pose, and clam shells whenever I can. (These links all take you to YouTube).
Staying consistent with exercise and stretching definitely helps keep the pain at bay, as does walking on a regular basis to stave off being sedentary.
I don't do Apple watches (addicted to enough devices) but I did purchase a used FitBit to just track my steps. I know you can search "Used" on Amazon but I actually found mine on Poshmark. Works great.
Diet
I'm not going to go too much into diet since it's a controversial topic, but here are some big things that helped me:
Cutting out alcohol entirely helped with more than just the inflammation, but gave me the energy I needed to tackle the pain.
I've added more whole fruits to my diet as well and cut back significantly on ultra-processed foods.
Cutting back on caffeine helped my sleep tremendously which helped recovery time for pain.

Credit to MarcelusWalrus, who's Fallout Universe map was my point of reference for the placement of a lot of the factions on the map, this is also probably going to be a work in progress, which I'll update depending on both any suggestions or any new canon info that Bethesda releases, since I'm also trying to keep it all somewhat lore accurate to the best of our knowledge of said lore.
This is also largely just my ideas on the state of the ncr, so it's likely going to be much more detailed than most of the others, any ideas on what might flesh other groups out more are very welcome.
NCR: following their loss to the ruler of the strip, and subsequent evacuation, ncr troops returned home to find California in an even worse state, the capital was destroyed nearly exactly as the second battle for the dam took place, and it's destruction plus the armies defeat sent the already struggling ncr economy into a steep decline, seeking a solution, the reformed government attempted another, larger invasion of the mojave a few years later, which led to significant losses on both sides and ultimately another defeat.
This time, troops returned to a nation in near complete chaos. Shortages of food, water, and a now nearly worthless currency led to poverty and famine not seen since the founding of ncr, and riots over said famine, draft protests, and the resurgence of powerful raider gangs meant police and army forces were unable to keep order in many parts of the country, during this time, Brotherhood forces also began to re-emerge, defeating the scattered army in multiple battles. At this point desertion within the ncr military reached its all time high, with thousands of troops either going missing or being confirmed deserters, many of these soldiers would eventually end up forming their own gangs and petty warlord kingdoms within abandoned territories, with most becoming only slightly better than the raiders they were originally supposed to be fighting.
Eventually, the strain on the nation became too much, and the ncr began to officially withdraw from the southern states, with boneyard being one of the first, followed by almost every settlement, one by one, until the line finally held, the new border stretching from Navarro and the coast in the west to the Big Circle and Reno in the east. The ncr was gravely weakened due to its withdrawal, and lost both much of it's citizens as well as much of its industrial and commercial centers, despite this it has consolidated what it does have, and it's remaining cities are enough to keep it standing as one of the major powers of the west, albeit much less capable of its previous feats and ambitions
As of right now, the ncr is pursuing a policy largely of isolationism, and the ideas and ideals of figures like former senator Hanlon and Tandi hold great sway over the republic. Since the collapse the ncr had mainly been forced to focus its energy into rebuilding the north and solving the lingering issues of the food and water supply, and while it still boasts a comparatively formidable army, that army is strictly defensive, with no plans to fight back or reclaim territory being put in motion.
SHI EMPIRE: following the collapse of the ncr, the shi returned largely to a more isolationist stance on the outside world, shutting their gates and sealing San Francisco off from much of the outside world. Despite this, rumors persist about secret weapons deals with various wasteland groups, ranging from particularly influential warlords to the ncr itself, though this is not confirmed
THE HUB: following ncrs withdrawal from the south, the hub fell under the control of a coalition of caravan companies, local officials and army officers, and eventually managed to mitigate the damage of the collapse, soon returning to its role as a hub of trade for southern California, albeit with markedly less profit and stability, they are also one of the only places left in the south that are still in constant communication with ncr proper, with the hub maintaining telegraph lines between the powers in exchange for ncr goods and ammunition.
RENO: during the collapse, New Renos crime families declared independence from ncr, retaking official control over the city and forming a loose alliance to govern it, however this coalition quickly broke down, and the city is currently embroiled in a civil war between the Wrights, who also lead the remnants of the alliance, and the Van Graffs, who are attempting to seize complete control. So far the conflict has remained within the borders of the city and its surroundings, however ncr and Follower presence on the border has increased, both in response to a refugee crisis as well as the possibility of further escalation
WEST COAST BOS: following the decline of ncr, the brotherhood got the breathing space in the war it sorely needed, the west coasts elders and clerics needed only to wait for the ncr to continue to weaken, and following their second loss in Vegas, as well as news from the east of their victories and incoming reinforcements, the western brotherhood pushed back, retaking many of its lost bunkers and pushing ncr forces back. Currently it has merged with a large contingent of the east coast brotherhood, and brotherhood forces have been seen attacking a remnant warlord force in the boneyard area, though the exact reason for this is unknown
NCR REMNANT: largely regarded as a myth or hearsay, rumors persist about a large force of veteran rangers and soldiers who, upon receiving word or the retreat from Baja and later the south, remained in and defended the city of Dayglow, turning the city into a fortress, however due to the presence of multiple hostile groups and the lack of contact from the area, Dayglows remnants are regarded more as a conspiracy theory than an actual unit
WARLORD TERRITORY: warlord territory refers to the largely lawless stretches of former ncr land that have fallen into the control of small territorial groups, whether they be raider gangs, former army units, former brahmin barons, citizens militias or whoever else may have the incentive and manpower to claim territory, quality of life in these areas is still barely better than it was in the collapse, and wars, raids, and starvation are still commonplace, as well as the re-emergence of practices like slavery
NEW VEGAS: following the victory of the ruler of the strip over ncr, little is known in the wider west about the state of Vegas, though it would seem that progress was being made towards greater stability following ncrs retreat, this wouldn't last though, as the second ncr invasion began, and was met with extremely stiff resistance from the securitron army, as well as numerous local groups. Ultimately ncr troops managed to inflicted major casualties on the strip forces, even attacking and breaching the strip itself, and the damage done seems to have shattered Vegas as much as it did the ncr, leaving whatever plans its ruler had unfinished
THE LEGION: following their defeat at hoover dam, as well as the death of Caesar shortly after, the legion began to deteriorate and eventually dissolve, with many of its tribes returning to their former ways or what was left of them, the legion remains however, mainly in and around the capital of Flagstaff, though severely diminished, they have largely taken to ruling over or pillaging the reformed tribal groups and former ncr border settlements. Though many within the legion still hold Caesars ideals, none have been able to recapture what was broken when he died, and so the legion continues to decline.
LEGIO REGRESSUS: the name given by Legion to those who have returned to their former ways following the death of Caesar, vast swaths of the legions subjects attempted to return to their tribes roots, often to little success. Instead forming new tribes that are often completely antithetical to the legions ideals, this has led to the early beginnings of a confederation of tribes and villages that have proven to be a powerful force against the ambitions of the legion and groups like it, using legion tactics and weapons against them in response to slave raids and attempts at reintegration
GREAT KHANATE: following their move to Wyoming, the Khans formed a powerful nomadic empire based off the Mongols of old, so far little is known about their new society, though there have been reports of khan riders as far off as the california coast
EAST COAST BOS: the east coast brotherhood continues to reign as one of the major powers on the eastern seaboard, being the most powerful military force in the area, the commonwealth is the current headquarters of the high elder maxon, as well as his most trusted clerics, choosing it for its abundance of technical artifact over the comparatively safer capital wasteland, however pressure has been mounting for the elder to move once more, as the CPG at large has been becoming much less favorable towards the brotherhood, which it sees as overly protective of its tech and as overstepping its bounds far too frequently
COMMONWEALTH PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT: following the destruction of the institute the minutemen, alongside the brotherhood and multiple prominent settlements reformed the CPG, a council of representatives from each group who would govern the commonwealth amd surrounding areas, since it's inception the cpg has grown by many settlements, and the minutemen have grown alongside it, developing a standing professional garrison in many major towns, though still relying on its militia as its major military force. Recently the cpg has begun to debate the brotherhoods place on the council, and many councilors are demanding an end to the confiscation of technology from their citizens, with many demanding a right to use force against such attempts or demanding an eviction of the brotherhood from their bases across the commonwealth.