Could Crypto crash with this post?
2.7 trillion on a non functioning medium of exchange. At the highest level money itself is an illusion.
On relative world cryptocurrency has become a illusory commodity. Its not being even used much....
To the best of the authors knowledge a being higher than his own claims of who he is had influence in the creation of Bitcoin..
Highest level people starving to death? "Money" in cases that will never be spent? Daily loss of "Money" through passwords, keys, etc.
People overestimate in cases what they need in this life. Stinginess can be a self destructive hell.
Without picking on Rishi Sunak too much...800M my man your in charge of a country, with guaranteed income for the future, going on the streets and feeding a few homeless with your own funds would do wonders for your image.....
(Unverified)
M
Fictional creations/movies based on M: include KEYSER SOZE/VERBAL KINT, RAIN MAN (also largely based on Bhagwan Shree Kim peek), HITCH, The fresh prince of Bel-air is also partly based on Ms Life, 'Rancho' from the Bollywood superhit, 3 IDIOTS)
Funds Krishna consciousness confirms M is genuinely heir to (current finances, liquid funds maybe 500, income PIP)
The trillion in the Catholic church
The entire MVT
All funds in Krishna temples across the world
All funds in churches of Mother Mary across the world (last form identity L, previously Ms Mother)
All Funds in Parvati Maa temples across the world (Last Form identity L, Previously Ms Mother)
All funds in Temples in Ambe Maa Temples across the world (Last Form Identity L Previously Ms Mother)
Starring in Gods biggest shocker ever on earth.....
The greatest TRUE LIFE story ever TOLD...m
The diverter of Typhoon Haiyan in 2013 thanks to Shree Krishna with works done in Hanoi
The stopped of 21 Earthquakes/aftershocks before they happened across the world thanks to the Lotus Feet of Shree Krishna
The stemmer of 50000 casualties in the 2020 Aegean sea earthquake with works done before, during and after the quake in Izmir.
Saver of the world with the other higher beings with works done on the streets of Marseille in 2022....a being higher than M predicted an Armageddon set to wipe out 99.9% of this world's population as suffering in this creation got too much and it was put onto M and the other higher beings. We couldn't TAKE iT at one point Plan B was about to be enacted. Thanks to GOD, Shree Krishna and the other higher consciousnesses and beings we made it....Just About....
M returned from a spell on the streets of Marseille in December 2022, having just SAVED the WORLD....when it hits...
The human story is he was testing himself.....
If H&M meet you would understand that GOD is the greatest...
Take it easy (the things he'll get crucified for and has been doing have not been disclosed in this message)
Still a human....having a blissful joyful peaceful evening. Thanks to God.
Oppurtunity arises to feed hungry and you can afford it....do it. Yolo. Enjoy. Pray. Dance.
GOD is the GREATEST
GODS biggest mirencle ever on earth? LIFE is the DANCER, YOU are the Dance..
Lot of suffering in this life for M. Betrayed. Cheated.
I shook up the UNIVERSE
Its a LIGHTNING BOLT-ON from the heavens

Hey folks, I'm not just sharing this to show you the list. I also hope some of you might consider copy-catting the idea! Do a classic metal version, or Black Metal, or whatever, and share with us!
The YouTube Music Playlist can be found here:
And here's the text version of the list:

100 Demons – Forsaken
Aborted - Dreadbringer
Abbie Falls - Pitch Black
Across the Sun – May Silence Keep You
Aftershock – Prelude to Forever
After The Burial - Behold The Crown
A Hero A Fake – I Know I
All Out War – Into the Killing Fields
Allt – Paralyzed
All That Remains - This Calling
Alpha Wolf - Akudama
alt. - BACK TO EARTH
A Mourning Star – A World Beyond
Angelmaker- What I Would Give
Annalynn - Closer to the Edge
Annisokay - Coma Blue
Any Given Day – Savior
Architects - These Colors Don’t Run
As Blood Runs Black – In Dying Days
As I Lay Daying - The Sound of Truth
Asking Alexandria - A Single Moment of Sincerity
Atena – Oil Rigs
ATLVS – Comethazine
Atreyu – Crimson
Attack! Attack! – Killing for Sport
Avenged Sevenfold – Unholy Confessions
Aviana – Rage
August Burns Red - White Washed
AVOID - Whatever
Bad Omens - ARTIFICIAL SUICIDE
Before I Turn – Aglaeca
Being as an ocean - the hardest part is forgetting those you swore you would never forget
Bleed from Within - Alive
Bleeding Through - Revenge I Seek
Bloodywood - Machi Bhasad
Bodysnatcher – Exterminate
Botch – One Twenty Two
Boundaries – I'd Rather Not Say
Breakdown of Sanity – The Storm
Bring Me the Horizon - Shadow Moses
Bullet for my Valentine - Four Words (To Choke Upon)
Bury Tomorrow – Choke
Caliban – Memorial
Carnifex - Die Without Hope
Caskets - The Final Say
Chamber - Replacing Every Weakness
Chelsea Grin – Cheyne Stokes
Chimaira – Pure Hatred
Classic Jack – LAG
Code Orange - Forever
coldrain - 2020
Conquer Divide - Afterthought.wav
Converge – A Single Tear
Counterparts - Whispers Of Your Death
Crimson Eyes – Serenity
Crown the Empire – The Fallout
Crystal Lake - Apollo
Currents - Better Days
Daedric - Alchemy
Dance Gavin Dance – Chucky vs. The Giant Tortoise
Dark Divine - The Fear
Darkest Hour - Goddess of War, Give Me Something to Die For
Darko US - Pale Tongue
Dal Av & Jackson Rose – Insanely Illegal Cage Fight
Dead Crown – Joker
Dealer – Crooked
Defocus – Crooked Mind
Demon Hunter - Cross to Bear
Disembodied – 7 Stitches
Downswing – Bound to Misery (feat. AVOID)
Dying Wish - Enemies in Red
Earth Crisis – Forced March
Eighteen Visions – Reality Killer
Elwood Stray - Half Life
Emmure - When Keeping It Real Goes Wrong
Enterprise Earth – Reanimate // Disintegrate
ERRA - Lunar Halo
Esprit D’Air - Ocean’s Call
Every Time I Die - Map Change
Fallstar – When Justice Cracks the Sky
Fit for a King - Backbreaker
Fit for an Autopsy – Under a Serpent Sun
Flames of Betrayal – The Rain Reeks of Heaven
Foreign Hands - Separation Souvenir
For the Fallen Dreams – Sulfate
For today - Break the Cycle
Get the Shot – Deathbound (feat Rob Watson)
Ghost Iris – My Dear Rat Kings
Gideon -- Bite Down
God Forbid - To the Fallen Hero
Great American Ghost – Ann Arbor (Be Safe)
Greyhaven - Kappa (River Child)
Guilt Trip – Eyes Wide Shut
Hanabie - Otaku Lovely Densetsu
Harm’s Way – Become a Machine
Haste the Day – 68
Hatebreed – Own Your World
Heart of a Coward – Hollow
Heaven Shall Fall – Hunters Will Be Hunted
Holding Absence - Monochrome
Humanity’s Last Breath - Labyrinthian
Ice Nine Kills – The American Nightmare
If I Were You – System Failure
Imminence – Chasing Shadows
Impending Doom - There Will be Violence
In Heart’s Wake – Survival (The Chariot)
I Prevail - Deadweight
I See Stars - Running With Scissors
InChaos - Butterfly Effect
Ingested – I, Despoiler
Invent Animate - False Meridian
Jesus Piece - Fear of Failure
Job for a Cowboy – Sun of Nihility
Johnny Booth - The Ladder
Killswitch Engage - My Last Serenade
Kill The Lights - Dead From The Start
Knocked Loose - Deep in the Willow
Kublai Khan - The Hammer
Lamb of God - Descending
Left to Suffer – Overwhelming Power
Length of Time – Love Your Enemies
LVNDMARKS - False Reality
Light the Torch - Die Alone
Like Moths To Flames - Dissociative Being
Loathe - Aggressive Evolution
Lorna Shore – Of the Abyss
Make Them Suffer - Uncharted
Misery Signals - Luminary
Malevolence – On Broken Glass
MAYFLOWER – Misery
Maylene & the Sons of Disaster – Caution: Dangerous Curves Ahead
MIRE – Inside
Miss May I – Hey Mister
Monochromatic Black – False Kings
Morning Again – Dictation of Beauty
Motionless in White – Disguise
Mouth for War – Saturate Me
Mugshot – Egodystonic
Myka Relocate – Hide the Truth
Norma Jean - Sword in Mouth, Fire Eyes
Nora – I Should Have Sent Flowers
Novelists FR - Souvenirs
Of Mice and Men - The Depths
Ocean Sleeper - Your Love I'll Never Need
Opal In Sky - The Blight
Orthodox - Cave In
Overcast – Bleed into One
Paleface – Lights Out
Paria - The Absurdity of Solace
Parkway Drive – Dark Days
Patient Sixty-Seven - Hibbertia
Periphery - Stranger Things
PERN – Gasping for Air
Phinehas – I Am the Lion
Piecemeal – Proclamation
Poison the Well - Nerdy
Polaris - The Remedy
Prayer for Cleansing – Feinbhas a Ghabhail
Pupil Slicer - No Temple
Reflections - Help
Reliqa – Tyrant
Renesans - Labor of Hate
Reprisal – Get Ready for War
Rings of Saturn - Senseless Massacre
Sail’s End - The Sound of Silence 3: Three
Sanction – The Prophet Who Saw Fire
SAVE US – Distance
Scarlet Horizon - Seed
Sea of Treachery – Unleash the Serpents
Serration – Simulations of Hell
Shadow of Intent – The Prelude to Bereavement
Shadows Fall – The Light that Blinds
Shai Halud - Solely Concentrating on the Negative Aspects of Life
Shorebreak – From the Path of Survival
Silent Planet - Antimatter
Signs of the Swarm – Amongst the Low and Empty
Silverstein - Your Sword vs My Dagger
Sion – More than Just Myself
Slaughter to Prevail - Viking
Sleep Token – The Summoning
Snapcase – Harrison Bergeron
Spite – led
Spiritbox - The Beauty Of Suffering
Spiritual Chaos - End
Suicide Silence - Unanswered
Sunami – Mind Your Business
Sworn In – Snake Eyes
Tenside - Come Alive Dying
The Acacia Strain - The Impaler
The Afterimage – Secrets
The Amity Affliction – Pittsburgh
The Black Dahlia Murder – What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
The Browning - The End of Existence
The Chariot - David De La Hoz
The Devil Wears Prada - Danger: Wildman
The Dillinger Escape Plan - One of Us is The Killer
The Empire Shall Fall – Voices Forming Weapons
The Ghost Inside – Aftermath
The Gloom in the Corner – Bleed You Out
The Human Abstract – Vela, Together We Await the Storm
The Ongoing Concept - Feel Again
The Plot in You - Crows
The Zenith Passage – Deus Deceptor
Thornhill - Nurture
Throwdown – This Continuum
Thrown - on the verge
Thy Art is Murder – Holy War
Times of Grace – Medusa
To the Grave – Terrorist Threat
Trivium - Down from the Sky
Undying – Echoes
Unearth - This Glorious Nightmare
Upon a Burning Body – Extermination
Varials – Anything to Numb
VCTMS – Pull From the Hurt
Veil of Maya - Outsider
VEXED – X my <3 (Hope to Die)
Vision of Disorder - D.T.O.
Wage War - The River
Walls of Jericho – Forever Militant
War of Ages – Collapse
We Are The Empty – Carcass
We Came As Romans - What I Wished I never Had
Whitechapel - I Will Find You
While She Sleeps - You Are We
Within Destruction – Void
Within the Ruins – Gods Amongst Men
Wolves at the Gate – Deadweight
World of Pleasure – Carbon Copy
Xibalba – Death Threat
Zao - Resistance

my husband got a tattoo six months ago and I just found out about it bc I saw it through his shirt. The issue is not getting the tattoo.. it’s the lack of considering or sharing the idea of getting one with me prior, but most importantly, it’s a word that is emotional hurtful to me based on some hard times and trauma we’ve been through.
He already has a tattoo of this word. And he got it tattooed again TWICE in different areas 6months ago.
I was upset about the first time he did it. I told him it felt like a complete disregard to how I felt and what I’ve been through. And the fact he did it again, knowing how I feel, it just appalling.
He says it’s a spiritual thing, and that God is always number 1, and he feels this word makes him feel protected and is a reminder of making it through hard times. So regardless of how emotionally triggering and reminds me of the traumatic events I’ve been through with him, he gets it anyways bc it’s spiritual. BTW, it’s a word that he says is supposed to mean Jesus, but it’s not a real world or referenced anywhere as it relates to various names of Jesus.
I feel betrayed emotionally and just completely disregarded and disrespected.
I hate the secrecy, hiding, “reasons”, I feel like I can’t trust him to keep my well-being as his wife a priority. Like if something hurts me, doesn’t matter he will do what he wants anyways.
The fact he tripled down and got 2 more! Then tried to say he got them without telling me bc we were not as “intimate” at the timely and it’s “his body, his temple”
🙄
Idk what I’m looking for here or what to do. Needed a place to vent.
*lots of nuance and details from our past obviously not mentioned, but it’s been very hard and emotionally detrimental to our relationship. Lying,betrayal (no cheating), financial misconduct, using spirituality as reasoning for bad behavior. And not going to share the word as it could be identifying

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As a kid, I was super quiet. When I went to Sunday school at temple, I often got bullied and picked on by other kids, so I left early or just didn’t go. Teachers often saw people treat me like this and did nothing to help. My Temple is very based in donations as I live in a rich community and we were absolutely the poorest and were never able to afford the service trips or nice seats in the front. When my mom lost her sister and sought help from our rabbi he told her to go pray about it without saying much else. My whole life, I’ve avoided my temple like the plague and only gone to three services a year after being bat mitzvahed (and even that felt like a chore). I tried to reconnect with my temple and organized a donation drive at my school for a homeless shelter and brought several heavy boxes of donations to the temple and when I arrived, nobody helped me carry anything in and just had me leave everything in a corner without even a “thank you”. Recently I’ve found myself wanting to delve into my religious identity more but I just don’t find myself connected to Judaism after everything that’s happened. This temple is the only one in my area besides an orthodox one which I’d have to go to alone and I just don’t feel comfortable as I’m scared of being excluded again. I try to read parts of the torah but just feel disconnected. But I feel wrong turning to another faith, like I’m “cheating” because there are so few jews left today. I don’t know what to do. Any advice?

Chapter 30 - Interlopers
Previous Chapter
“Okay, you’re SURE this won’t be permanent?” Trix tried to turn her head to look at the computer console as the two other women worked behind her back.
“Sure we’re sure. It won’t wash out with water but we have a solvent on hand that’ll nullify the dye. Makes it completely clear. Technically still present but invisible.” Min swiped a finger up the side of Trix’s head. The computer instantly changed. “YES! Yellow along the sides, and red up top. That’s PERFECT.”
“Hold your wings out to the side, feathers.” Ma’et gazed down at the pattern and arrangement of the feathers on the wing. “Yeah, definitely. Make the wings match the hair. Or, uh, head feathers. Whatever it’s called. Red along these big whatchamacallums. Yellow above. And when her wingtip controls finish fabbing, the silver will look amazing next to it.”
“She really ought to have earrings too.” Min glanced at each of the long, elf-life ears tipped with small, fine feathers. “We could do some really intricate patterns with ears that long.”
Ma’et glanced up there and shook her head. “It’d look great but I’m not touching any piercings without Josh. No way I want to find out they have arteries up there the hard way.”
The computer image was shifting rapidly as they spat out ideas, but since Min and Ma’et wouldn’t let her see she had to be content with their descriptions. “I’m just a little nervous about this. I really, really don’t want to have to pull those feathers later.”
Ma’et put her hands on either side of Trix’s head, tilting it slightly as she watched the computer image changing. “Don’t you guys dye your feathers back on Kiveyt?”
“Sure. We have both impermanent and permanent dyes.” Trix fought the urge to swat away the hands that were moving her head around. “Impermanent dyes wash out with water. Permanent ones don’t. Only way to undo those is to pull the feathers out entirely, which is both painful and embarrassing until they regrow.”
Min was putting on plastic gloves as she adjusted the dye solution to match the colors on the screen. “Do your feathers ever just fall out by themselves? On Earth, birds lose feathers over time as they get replaced. ”
“Healthy feathers don’t fall out, no. They can be pulled out but it isn’t pleasant. Damaged feathers will fall out on their own.” Trix lifted up her arm and placed a finger under one of her feathers to lift it up. “Actually there was a big trend thirty years ago to trim the vanes of each feather into various patterns. But that had the same problem as dyeing the feathers, where if you wanted to undo it you had to pull the trimmed feathers out.”
Min and Ma’et shared a glance at that. “Should we consider…” Min began, before Ma’et cut her off. “Nope. Solvent will clear the dye but it won’t undo a trim.”
Min nodded and picked up a series of plastic strips. Each strip was placed under a line of feathers on Trix’s head to separate out each line of feathers along the group, to ensure that no dye would leak onto other feathers.
Ma’et put on gloves of her own and picked up a small detailing brush. “You know, we really ought to have asked Alex to join us.”
Trix fought to keep her head still. She’d been warned what might happen if she moved too much, and she had no desire at all to make an already lengthy process take even longer. “Why’s that? Do we need his approval for something like this?”
“Nope.” Min lifted up her brush and began to carefully brush the solution over the feathers just above Trix’s forehead. “He’s just really, really good at it. He actually taught the both of us how to do dye our hair.”
Ma’et nodded, as she joined in brushing the red dye along the plastic line at the front. “He won’t tell us why, but I had some issues doing it myself at first. It was really uneven, I’d get dye everywhere, it was a mess. He taught me how to make it even and clean. Hell, if Min’s busy or something I still make him dye my hair.”
Trix began to turn her head out of habit, but was stopped by a strong hand against her temple. “Red isn’t natural for you?”
“This shade of Red isn’t natural for any humans. Natural redheads are a lot closer to a brown than mine.” Ma’et swiped her fingers against a towel, and dipped the brush back into the solution. “There are treatments that can make dyes like mine permanent so our hair always grows with this color, but I like being able to change it up. When we’re done I’ll show you some of the photos I’ve taken with different styles and colors.”
“When we’re done. How long will that take?” Irritation tinged her voice as Trix struggled to fight it down.
“Sorry, feathers. But we’re still looking at another hour or so, minimum. The solution dries fast though, so by the time we’re done with your wings your head will be ready for brushing.” Ma’et lifted the uppermost plastic to begin on the layer below it. “Bear with us while we work, will ya?”
“Fine, fine.” Trix took a very slow breath trying to stay as still as possible. “Now what were you saying before about piercings?”
“It’s a fashion thing back on earth. You have metal studs put through your ears to…”
—--
Alex shoved a spoonful of cereal into his mouth absentmindedly as his eyes scanned down the quickboard. The latest survey data here at Point 3 was more disappointing than he’d hoped. The mineral content was high but much of it was in the form of metallic salts and various alloys that would be much, much more work to separate and extract into pure forms than free elements. It would still be worth the effort of doing so, but since the asteroids in Point 2 had similar composition minus the alloys, extracting from that first would be greatly preferred.
He was going over some of the math in his head when a bright, colorful apparition walked through the door.
His spoon froze two inches from his mouth as his eyes flicked up to the resident Avian. The feathers along her head crest had been dyed a brilliant crimson, with orange and yellow bordering them - making the crest distinct and almost hair-like from the rest of her plumage. In addition the large feathers of her wings were dyed similarly, with brilliant red along the large feathers on the bottom of the wings, shifting to orange and yellow above.
It took a few moments for Alex’s mental gears to shift properly but before he did, Trix had walked over to the food dispenser. She walked back to the table with a plate of toast and eggs, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the Captain. “Problem, babe?”
If the sudden change in appearance hadn’t caught Alex entirely offguard, the sudden vernacular would have. The spoon clattered down into the bowl as his fingers relaxed with the surprise, the sound shaking him loose of the sudden surprise. “Trix, where did you hear that?”
Trix sat down, putting an egg on her toast and covering it with entirely too much tabasco sauce. “Min and Ji say it all the time. They always say it’s a joke. Why?”
“Uhm. Okay, well… it’s sort of an extremely familiar greeting. Like… ah, sort of sometimes used with...” Alex fumbled for words and eventually gave up. “Par, help me out here.”
“Certainly. Trksehn, while the word can be used informally between very close friends it’s also known to be used between even closer relationships, such as lovers or family. Using the designation of ‘babe’ often carries connotations of interest as well; often designating attractiveness to the subject.”
Trix nearly dropped her toast as she glanced over the captain with mortification on her face as she absorbed what she just heard. “Oh, uh… I knew it was a joke and I didn’t realize, so…”
Alex shook his head, reaching over to grab a napkin to mop up the milk he’d spilled when he dropped his spoon. “No worries. I’m not offended. Just, ah, you might want to run those little jokes past Min before using them on the rest of the crew.”
Trix nodded, and took a big bite out of the toast. After chewing briefly, she swallowed and looked a bit guilty. “Sorry again. I didn’t really know what it meant. Ji and Min always thought it was hilarious when I said it, so…”
Alex waved it off. “No need to explain. I know those two well enough to know how they are.” He picked up the spoon and crunched down on another mouthful of cereal, before pointing it towards Trix. “Mrph, Thrm Eye…” He swallowed heavily. “Sorry. So that Dye job?”
Trix grinned and spread her wings wide, showing off the colors. “Ma’et says I’m a natural redhead, so they went with bright and fiery. What do you think?”
“It suits you incredibly wel! I’m assuming they used triethylaminete? I wouldn’t normally ask, but I have no idea what Kyshe will think of it and I promised not one feather damaged….” Alex glanced over the large, brilliantly-dyed feathers somewhat trepidatiously.
“I have no idea. Min and Ma’et could tell you. They did say they had something they could put on to make it clear if I don’t like it.” Trix reached over to brush her fingers over one of the scarlet-hued feathers. “I asked like, six times.”
“Probably was then. I think it looks great, but obviously I’m not the one you’re interested in impressing. It’ll be interesting to see the reactions back on Kiveyt.” Alex finished off the cereal rapidly and pushed the bowl aside. He keyed in a sequence into the pad. “Josh, go ahead and start the recall on the salvage ‘bot. I’ve seen all I want to see here. Drop a beacon and let’s get packed up. Trix should be up to the bridge in like, fourty-five. Let’s try to get underway to Point 1 within 30 of her arriving.”
Trix finished off the first piece of toast, and was coating the second egg with tabasco as she looked up. “Weren’t we planning to be here for a few more days?”
“Yeah, but the core samples are making it pretty clear that this place isn’t worth our time. I’d rather get started on the big money items.” He turned back to the face on the quickboard. “Any issues with that?”
Josh was already entering in the commands to halt the core sampling process, and detach the bot from the most valuable asteroid present. “No issues here. If you want to leave that fast, though, we’ll have to leave the tap here.”
“That’s fine, we have enough scrap on board to fab a new one long before we arrive. I’m going to tell ‘Manda about the change in plans. Let me know if anything comes up.” Josh simply nodded in response, and the screen blanked out.
Alex tapped a couple more times on the quickboard. “Amanda, I know you’re asleep right now so I’m just going to leave this message. I’m sure you’ve noticed but Point 3 ain’t worth the time compared to 2 so we’re taking off early. Get started on whatever you can identify from here on out, but I want a rundown of the biggest money we can fit in the hold within a day. We’ll have Trix get some experience splitting rocks, just to liven things up. Let me know if there’s any issues with the plan.”
He tapped the end button, and turned to Trix. “Any questions, Pilot?”
“Just one. What do you mean by splitting rocks?” Trix finished off the second piece of toast and began wolfing down a third.
“Well, the ship ain’t very big. The biggest and richest asteroids out there would dwarf us, and moving them is a headache. We can’t take them through d-space without expensive external shielding we don’t have, so we’re going to have to break off great big chunks in order to grab ‘em and stuff ‘em in the hold. We do that with the salvage bot’s drill and some very carefully placed explosives. You had fun shooting shit out in space, I figured maybe blowing shit up then chasing down and grabbing them with the shuttle might pique your interest as well.”
“You know, that actually does sound like it might be right up my alley…” Trix grinned. “It’s been weeks since Farscope and I wouldn’t mind taking the shuttle out for a spin.”
“Perfect. Ma’et’s got experience with that so we’ll pair you two up for shifts once we reach Point 1.” Alex stood up and lifted the quickboard up, tapping it on his shoulder. “I’m going to start making arrangements for that. Josh’ll handle any other questions you have, but call me if anything he can’t answer comes up.”
—--
The bridge of the Dreadnought ‘Calamity’ was dead silent, save the ever-present barely audible hum of the ventilation systems that made life possible in the infinite inky void of space and the soft tapping of fingers against control consoles. Captain Nathaniel Wessex sat in the command chair of the gargantuan ship, waiting patiently. Despite the nervousness and tension among his crew, his face was a mask of calm.
Underneath the mask, where none could see, where he hid his emotions he railed against the politicians for choosing him for this assignment.
Sending a dreadnought on a diplomatic mission was about as far from typical as it gets. Dreadnoughts were annihilation made manifest, the sort of thing you send to strike terror into your enemies. Every single meter of deckplate, every single kilometer of cable within the ship was designed and built around a single purpose : Destruction. On a scale never before seen in the days of blue-water ships making their way via sail or propeller across the vast waves of earth.
Yet every argument against the deployment by the captain himself, his superiors in the navy, and even many in the government were dismissed. First contact had been made and the polities of both Sol and Proxima were in utter chaos. The border disputes, the tension over Keplite, the endless posturing by each side had crashed down in the space of hours. Now the tension was entirely over whether or not one side or the other would pull off a coup with these new species, and whether or not the known hostile races would interrupt the diplomacy. Each side was eager to impress and terrified about the unknown, necessitating his ship’s presence.
Rumor had it that Proxima had known for well over a month about the discovery, and was negotiating with Sol about making an official trip to the Perseus arm of the galaxy to meet with the new species there. Whether or not they believed it at first, once the emergency beacon from the Arcadia had arrived everything changed. The full data dump had immediately been sent to Sol and with it, the two sides had come together faster than imaginable for their own goals. Proxima, leveraging the information as a means to ensure peace. Sol, attempting to ensure that Proxima would not attempt to represent humanity without equal opportunity to be involved.
The diplomatic mission was put together in mere hours and his ship was tapped for it nearly from the get go.
And now as he stood ready to serve his military, his country, his species he fought desperately not to let his emotions show as the colossal hulk of the Sol Dreadnought ‘Imperium’ sat there, a scant ten thousand kilometers from him. A week ago they’d be warming up weapons, loading missile launch bays, and Damage Control units (along with the inevitable medical corpsmen) would be prepping to race across the ship wherever needed. Now both ships were present for something other than fighting, a deeply unnatural feeling.
On the bridge he was secure, of course. A Dreadnought’s armor and shielding were unmatched, and even if his opponent was as heavily armed and armored as he was they could withstand an incredible amount of punishment. More than enough to be able to retaliate in kind. The thought that any aggression would result in mutual destruction of the two vessels, however, was anything but calming.
“Any word from the Sol delegates?” He kept his voice perfectly calm, cool and collected as he turned his head to the communications station.
“No sir. Last communique from the USN was just to expect a delay. No details beyond that.” One of the communication techs brought up the message log and read it off dutifully, and the captain suppressed a sigh. And a swear.
“Thank you, Lieutenant.”
Damned diplomats. “You’d think that for a group whose entire job is to ensure that everything goes as smoothly as possible they’d at least have the courtesy to show up on time,” he thought to himself. The Dreadnought escort from Sol had arrived with time to spare, but the diplomats themselves were still no-shows.
Thirty minutes later, the Comms station finally reported back. “Sir. Incoming from the Imperium. Rear Admiral Soldado is requesting a direct line to yourself and to the head of the delegation.”
“Thank you, Lieutenant. I’ll take it at my chair.” The words of the captain alone were enough for a screen to immediately slide out from the side of the command station, rotating on an articulating arm around to face him. It was blank for a brief moment before two faces appeared side-by-side in front of him.
“This is Captain Wessex of the PSA Calamity.”
“It is an honor, Captain Wessex. I am Rear Admiral Chloe Soldado of the USN Imperium.”
“Rear Admiral, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I am the representative of the Proxima delegation to Farscope, Kase Tremaine.”
“Thank you for receiving our communication. We’ve been notified that the courier ship being used by our envoy has been delayed due to an issue with its Keplite Core. Our diplomatic delegation has changed ships and will be arriving within the day. We apologize for the delay but appreciate your patience in this matter.”
Kase leaned back in his chair on the screen. “Such occurrences are not uncommon, Rear Admiral. I appreciate your bringing it to our attention. If I may, I believe it may be prudent for us to enter D-Space as soon as your delegate arrives. We have a lengthy journey ahead of us and it would be advisable that we begin as quickly as possible.”
Rear Admiral glanced over off screen briefly, then back. “I see no issue with that. If I may, however, is there any particular need for such haste?”
Kase and Captain Nathaniel briefly made eye contact before the Captain cleared his throat. “It’s not so much a need for haste so much as, well, several members of our government wish to have… Other representatives of humanity present in the Perseus arm as quickly as possible. The ship which has made first contact is known to have a somewhat ‘eclectic’ crew and one of our tasks will be to, ah, well… clear up any potential confusion about our species once we arrive.”
The allusion to an ‘eclectic’ crew immediately caught the Rear Admiral’s attention. “Could you perhaps be a bit more specific?” She inquired.
Kase looked distinctly uncomfortable, but mentally steeled himself as he powered forward with the explanation. “Ah… well, to be frank the first contact ship is the Arcadia. Commanded by one Alexander Sherman. If you’re unfamiliar with him, I recommend reading up on the exploration of the habitable exoworld ‘Guylevo’. And, ah, the aftermath of the incident wherein the good captain was expelled from the Terran Explorers League. If you lack the data on your ship, we can transmit it over…”
Captain Wessex silently prayed that they did indeed lack the data, since that would give them an excuse to terminate the call before the Rear Admiral was apprised of exactly who they’d be dealing with once they reached the Perseus Arm, but unfortunately there was no luck there.
“Guylevo?” The Rear Admiral turned to the side as she pulled up the database entry on it, and began to skim. Her expression twitched noticeably as she read, and… was that a smile? No, definitely not.
“I see. So to sum up, the ship that made first contact has a Captain with a history of making immature jokes, acting before he thinks, and being inordinately stubborn.” The Rear Admiral turned her attention back to the faces on the video call. “Does the data dump we received from his ship contain any details about his activities out there?”
Captain Wessex nodded at that. It seemed like she wasn’t about to blame Proxima for Captain Sherman’s eccentricity, which was a pleasant surprise. “It does, yes. Have you had much time to read it?”
“Only skimmed at the moment. I’ve several staff members who are poring over it in detail, but for myself it’s been a bit of a whirlwind getting everything prepared for this expedition.”
Kase and the Captain were both on the same page here, and he immediately jumped into the opening she gave them. “In that case, I believe the most prudent thing to do would be to adjourn for the time being while we wait for your envoy to arrive. We can spend the time reading up on the Captain’s activities as well as go over the species profiles present within the dump.”
The Captain nodded with approval, and the Rear Admiral sat silent for a moment as she considered. “In light of the amount of unknowns that the data will likely clear up, I think that’s not a bad call.” She finally stated. “According to the information we were presented, we’re looking at a twenty-eight day trip to our destination along the optimal path. Given that’s the case, we’ll have plenty of time to formulate plans and goals once we arrive. Thank you for your time, Gentlemen. I shall leave you to it.”
“I look forward to speaking again with you soon, Rear Admiral.”
—--
The shuttle rocketed through space, twisting around as a massive articulating arm extended from its back. A loop of braided metal cable hung at the end of the arm, and it instantly tightened around the spinning chunk of metal the shuttle was chasing. The cable immediately released from the arm, allowing the metal chunk to continue to drift briefly before it began to reel in.
“C’mon, Josh. You said that one would be tricky.” Trix released her wingtip controls and sighed contentedly. Flying the Arcadia was amazing, the ship was massive and powerful beyond anything she’d imagined. But the shuttle was responsive, quick and nimble in a way a massive ship never could be.
Honestly compared to firing the Railcannon, blowing up the massive rich mineral was lackluster. The salvage ‘bot set the charges, the charges went off, and then the huge chunks began to float away. Amanda and Alex were using the salvage ‘bot’s thrusters to keep the big chunks in place while the small chunks that were sent flying were grabbed by the shuttle. Trix and Ma’et were in the shuttle, with Trix running down the expensive debris while Ma’et controlled the SRMS arm that actually hooked the asteroids.
From there the braided cable would be slowly wound back in, the tension eventually bringing the metal chunk to a relative stop compared to the shuttle. The arm would then guide it into the main shuttle body, before they went off on another run chasing down even more.
“That one WAS tricky. It’s just that we have such an excellent pilot and system specialist that you’re making even the tricky ones seem easy.” Josh chuckled over the comm. The cable was being slowly drawn in as Trix let her wings droop back down.
The new wingtip controls were unlike any before. Even her Aunt’s controls were nothing compared to the engineering that had gone into hers. She no longer needed to use the flight stick, instead her wingtip controls could be used to interface directly with the shuttle. While it wasn’t more precise than the flight stick, to her it was a more natural way of flying. Haptic feedback would also give her tactile response information when flying in atmosphere (Or so Min had claimed). Most impressively, she could move her wings in front of her and create a holographic screen that could display media. It was slightly lower quality than a quickboard, but far more portable.
The humming stopped and Trix sat waiting as the image of the metallic debris on the monitor slowly ceased its spinning. Before the cable’s tension could begin spinning it in the opposite degree, the SRMS arm latched on and the tension was released as the cable spun out and loosened around the rock. The cable itself whipped around as the tenson it had built up from the spinning space rock was released, but Ma’et had expected this and carefully positioned the arm so that it did little more than bang against the metal.
“That’s seven big chunks so far,” Ma’et had commented as she maneuvered the arm around to place the rock near the shuttle’s exterior access door. The compartment was a vacuum from previous collections so aside from the motor humming as the door opened, there was no rush of escaping air or other noise. “Wonder how much they’re worth?”
“Well, we’re going to have to separate out the alloys, but preliminary guesswork based on the spectroscopic analysis indicates… roughly two point six billion credits for the metallic asteroid as a whole. So the piece you just ran down is somewhere in the neighborhood of 3 million credits or so.” Josh’s shift was nearing its end, so he sounded a bit on the tired side. “Unless you meant in local currency, in which case your guess is as good as mine.”
Trix felt the banging of the rock as it was stowed away in the shuttle hold through the soles of her feet, the tips of her talons rattling slightly against the padded flooring as the shuttle’s gravity re-engaged and all the collected precious metals settled down against the floor. She swept her wings around and reached out to press her fingers against the metal controls, feeling the shuttle’s engines grow in power as she did so. “Where to next?”
“Hold that thought.” Alex responded over the comms, and suddenly the comm channel grew louder and much, much busier.
“We caught the edge of the flash on the aft array.” “We couldn’t have seen it if we were moving, the engine wash would have blinded those sensors.” “Ship heading coming around 90-counter. Reorienting the primary array, port-side.” “Do we have any data to refine the angle further?” “No, the flash didn’t last long enough.” “We had cameras on the asteroid when the flash happened. Any chance of refining the data based on the reflection from the flash on camera?” “All video feeds are being run through analysis. Based on current facing, suggesting to reorient the primary array at 337 degrees, with 14 degree inclination.”
“What’s going on?” Trix glanced over at Ma’et.
“Not sure. Something happened, that’s for sure.” Ma’et reached out to grab a cable from the console in front of her, and pressed it to her temple. “Not enough bandwidth from here for me to link in directly but… it looks like there was a massive flash. EM data across nearly the entire spectrum, all at once. We’re trying to figure out what caused it.”
“Shit. Everyone, I think that flash was an FTL arrival.” Alex sounded worried, and suddenly one of the displays on the shuttle blinked to life. A blurry, grainy image of a bright object appeared - slowly coming into more and more focus. “It’s still being analyzed but that looks an awful lot like the same ship that showed up here last time we were in system. The one that took a shot at us.”
The image continued to be refined, slowly. “I’m calling it.” Alex’s face appeared on another console, opposite the blurry image. “Trix, Ma’et, back here now. Salvage Bot is bringing over a big chunk of the asteroid with it. Between that and the bits you scooped up, we’ve got roughly six percent of the asteroid in storage. That’s good enough for me. Trix, once you get back on board I want you on the bridge. This might be a long shift, so get whatever rest you can and let Ma’et pilot the shuttle back.”
Trix released her wingtips and glanced over to Ma’et. “Well then, care to do the honors?”
—--
Trix jogged on up to the bridge, and immediately took her seat. “So what’s going exactly?”
“Well, the big flash we now think was definitely the arrival of another ship. It came in much closer to us than the last time we encountered one, and this time we were looking out for it which is why we missed it the first time. Par’s been reviewing records from when we were rescuing the trade ship crew and we found a similar flash appearing before we detected the Tanjeeri ship coming in.” Alex gestured to the main screen and this time the image of the ship was not blurry at all. It was much crisper and detailed, though the fact that it was a ship wasn’t quite as apparent to her.
The image showed an odd looking object that almost seemed to be a collection of spheres with debris sticking out of it. The front had a weird curved hook-like structure, and there were long spines sticking out the sides. The rear of the vessel bulged out strangely, giving it an ugly and lopsided look. Trix couldn’t help but compare it to the Arcadia, which seemed sleek and angular in comparison.
“That’s a Tanjeeri ship?” She couldn’t quite keep the derision from her voice, and Alex nodded. “Matches the only one we’ve seen ourselves. We honestly don’t know much about it. But it’s formidable enough that the rest of the species out here fear them, so we don’t want to find out first hand just what it can do. We currently have it at slightly over one hundred sixty million kilometers, which is why it took so long for the image to resolve into this.”
Trix punched up the details on her console. “So at our max acceleration, they’re still 16 hours away?”
“Yep. But near as we can tell they’re barely coming in at 4 G’s, so that puts them at closer to 25 hours away. Thing is, there’s no guarantee that’s their max acceleration. And keep in mind they’ve already got some velocity built up while we have none. If we let them get too close before moving, they could reach us even if we out-accelerate them.” Alex sounded worried.
“Okay.” Trix began going through a mental checklist of the ship’s readiness. “Engines are almost entirely ready. You want us to just fly away as fast as we can?”
Alex shook his head, but kept his eyes locked on the screen. “I don’t want to fight, but at the same time this is a good opportunity for us. Last time we faced the Tanjeeri we couldn’t respond well because we had rescuees on board. This time I want to get a slightly better grasp of their capabilities. I want you to fly perpendicular to them - let’s start a big curve around the system. Give it, say, 6 G’s of acceleration. We’ll build up velocity but give ourselves a fair amount of leeway so we can see how fast their ship can actually go.”
Trix punched in the commands and brought up a large-scale model of the system they were in. She blew it up on the main display for the captain to see. “In that case, why don’t we cut behind the fourth planetoid’s orbit here? If they follow us and try to head us off inside our curve, it’ll force them to cut in further or go wide. Either way, it’ll give us a chance to gain a bit of extra distance on them as they compensate.”
Alex looked up at the plot with surprise, then down at Trix. “You just th… nevermind. That’s a good idea. A damn good idea. Plot the course, pilot.”
Trix couldn’t help but beam with pride at the praise, and immediately began punching in course corrections and instructions on her console.
Alex, for his part, brought up his own console. “P, did you prompt her to do that?” He wrote to Par.
“Not at all, Captain. That idea was entirely hers.”
“You mean after 25 days spent studying she’s become adept enough to be able to plot two converging courses, calculate the interception point, and then line it up with an orbital object to force the Tanjeeri to divert?”
“She’s been an exceptional student, Captain. And while she does make extensive use of the computer’s abilities to calculate the courses, I believe she has a natural talent for visualizing courses in a 3D space and then plotting them at her workstation.”
“You might see it as natural talent but I see it as pure genius. It’s almost scary how well she’s fitting into this role.”
“What we call it is immaterial. Her skills are immature and she lacks experience but she shows incredible promise to be a first class pilot. That’s what matters the most.”
Alex grinned as he closed the chat window and stood up. “Attention all crew. We have confirmation of a Tanjeeri vessel on an intercept course with the Arcadia. In order to better understand what we’re facing, we’re not leaving immediately. Our plan is to keep a very, very respectable distance from them and see how they maneuver. How fast they are. I’m also planning to drop a decoy and see how good their sensors are. But, absolutely zero combat. If anyone has questions or concerns now’s the time to bring them up. Otherwise it’s business as usual for a while.”
He sat back down, and spoke directly to Trix. “Go ahead and plot the course, Pilot. Then I want you to go get eight hours of sleep. I want you rested when we let them get close enough to really start evaluating them.”
Trix nodded, then tilted her head at the Captain. “What about you? Will I be rested up and you’ll be dead tired?”
“Nah. I’m cheating.” He held up a small inhaler. The word on the side took a minute to translate, but eventually she saw ‘Insomniol’ appear in a language she could understand. “Staving off sleep for the next couple days. I’ll be paying the price for several days after this, but once we’re done I’ll recuperate while we’re in d-space on our way back to Kiveyt.”
Trix peered in closely at the inhaler. “Would that work for me if I used it?”
“No clue. Your biology is similar to ours, but tiny differences can result in extremely different effects. Best not to risk it until we know for sure.” Alex made a shooing motion with his hands. “Get a quick bite, and get some rest. You’ll be glad you did.”
—--
Next Chapter

I originally planned to write a comment in u/Mindless-Base8597’s current thread about our thoughts on the Cyberpunk 2077 sequel, just a handful of bullet points, but I am legitimately insane and I could not stop. And I have a major league passion for this IP, so I figured I would dump all my thoughts in here on the off-chance that some of you solid choombattas would give it a skim and share your opinions. There’s probably going to be overlap with a lot of thoughts others have introduced, but maybe there will be some ideas that challenge them too. There's also going to be alot of tabletoppish stuff as well, which I hope resonates with some people but I know it's not for everyone. I also understand that alot of these ideas may not even be plausible considering the work it'd take to implement them, however this game is going to be baking in the oven of development for several years and technology is advancing faster and faster day by day, so who knows. Anyhow, thanks for taking the time to click on my big ol wall of text and I hope my ideas can provoke some thought-bounceage, simultaneous dreaming or at least some mild entertainment.
THINGS I THINK THE SEQUEL MUST HAVE:
Crew building: The tabletop Cyberpunk is designed for a group of players that work together to do stuff, therefore the player should be involved in these kinds of team-oriented jobs in which they carry out their role. The concept of crews is well-established in the lore and game world, and would be a very welcome addition as a gameplay mechanic, especially given the focus on the crew in Edgerunners. It can be managed with slots via a “Crew” tab in the menu and your Street Cred could be the metric by which it expands. In 2077, Street Cred was bound to unlocking gear for some reason, which doesn’t make a lot of sense, because which Night City vendor is going to turn away eddies just because they think the customer doesn’t have enough street cred? Pretty asinine when you think about it. Maybe you start off with just one friend in your crew and as you gain Street Cred, you unlock more slots until you can have 5 or 6 other chooms you can be tight with and carry out jobs together. They could be fleshed out characters you can get attached to, and/or disposable replaceable gonks given how easy it is to die for nothing in Night City. A crew hangout or hideout where you get together and plan operations would also be fuckin nova.
Character networking: We see V making friends and contacts in 2077, and in Phantom Liberty we see V contacting them for help. It would be very cool to see more of this implemented in a broader scope. If we've got a job to do from a fixer or a task we have to accomplish in the story, but we're not equipped to storm in and handle it ourselves, maybe we call some buddies or hire someone from.. I don't know, Afterlife (you know, the mercenary bar full of mercenaries that are looking for work). We need some recon done, call up your crew’s netrunner and pay them for a quick rundown. We need information, we call up the fixer in whatever district we need the info for, and they have us do a task for them, pay them, or direct us to someone else to get the info. Networking can obviously also factor into crew building as well.
Player agency: I’ve only played a little handful of Phantom Liberty so far, but wow, they’re firing on all cylinders with this. Three moments stick out to me so far where I had the option to talk it out and make decisions, but was still allowed to bring my weapon up, and was able to just waste the threat on the spot mid-sentence. Now that’s what I call agency. I don’t think this simply just a want or an idea, I think it’s a given that more of this approach will be taken in the sequel if the way they handled it in Phantom Liberty tells us anything. More ways for us to really decide what we do.
A humanity system: Another cue from Edgerunners, where humanity was a big deal. If we're not playing as V, we don't have the Relic in our head, and that's something that has to be considered. They kinda put it in 2077 in part with the rage state mechanic but that's all the way at the top of a skill tree, and doesn't put you on MaxTac's radar or have any consequences. If modders can implement it into 2077 in their free time, CDPR can do it too.
Cosmetic and visual cybernetics: Come on choom, speaks for itself. Needs to happen. The Arasaka Cyberarms mod shouldn’t have to exist in a world where there’s droves of cyberarms just hanging around and laying in boxes. Give us subdermal LEDs (which are just junk for some reason). Neck/throat cyberware, ear cyberware, chest cyberware, lip cyberware, we want all of that. Such a standard thing for this world and adheres firmly to the rule of cool. Also when we chrome up, whether it’s functional or cosmetic, what cyberware we choose should appear on our person when appropriate. I wanna see that sandevistan protruding from my back. I wanna see that frontal cortex implant that gets me mad crit chance on my temples. And so on and so forth.
Separate tattoo locations: What if I just want one tattoo on my only 'ganic bicep? What if I like one part of a face tattoo but don't like the other stuff it comes with? Shouldn't have to use a mod for that. A tattoo artist isn't ever going to tell you "yeah, I can do that one on your arm, but I also have to put a snake on your whole torso" no matter how gonked off of secondhand drugs he is.
Regarding the story: We at least need a player character that isn't bound by the ludonarrative dissonance of impending death on a timer. If we've got a chip in our head that's gonna kill us in an urgent time frame, we shouldn't want to be hustling around the city buying luxury cars, participating in boxing matches and doing work for the police. Other than that, I don't care. CDPR are master storytellers, they'll make it and I'll like it. No good endings though, not in Night City.
Common sense fixers: Why on earth would a fixer hire a loud merc to do a quiet job? If you haven't spent any points in stealth skills, if you don’t have silencers in your stash, if you don’t have optical camo, etc., then fixers should not obligate you to carry out solo infiltration jobs where discretion is key. It just sets the player up to be chastised and paid less. They should simply not consider you for the job, but instead give you a different way you can contribute to the job. More on this later.
More functional optics cyberware: There’s no reason our Kiroshi optics shouldn’t be able to flick into thermal infrared or night vision mode if we buy a model with that feature. Why we weren’t available to buy optics with these features in 2077 is beyond me. A corp like Kiroshi has definitely entered this market.
Weapon customization: This is another no-brainer. Your weapons are an extension of yourself. You should get a say in what they look like. If I use Fenrir in 2077, why do I have to have that god awful Maelstrom logo on it when spraypaint clearly exists? At the very least, they should be fully cosmetically customizable. If you’re a techie, you should have the ability to tinker on them and fine tune them how you like, too. If you’re not a techie, there's good incentive to go make friends with one or have one in your crew. Might have a think about having your character just choose one or two weapons in the beginning and then you have to stick with them for the whole game as a component of your character, and those will be your special guns and your special guns alone. We pretty much do this anyway if we make a character build in 2077. Just like any characters we meet that carry and use their own iconic weapons, your one or two weapons will be YOUR special iconics and you can modify/have them modified to your tastes with progressively better stats, custom tuning, appearance customization and weapon effects of your choice. Jackie had two pistols and a machete that were definitively HIS hallmark weapons and components of HIS character and personality. Obviously you can use other iconics too, but they will never be YOURS. Yeah it does kind of cripple the freedom, but in a sensible way because it forces you stick to your role, make your character truly important and unique like they should be in an RPG. Plus it's kind of gonk for a corpo counterintel character to be using a sniper rifle all game and then decide they want to start using a katana without having spec'd into reflexes. What would you even do with a katana if your job has always been quickhacking and shooting from a city block away? An illusory freedom that wouldn't be missed for long, imo.
Meaningful vendors: I can play a whole character start to finish in 2077 without buying anything from a point of sale except for the odd trip into a clothing store. Even then, there’s clothes laying around for free all over the place. All of these gun shops, eateries, netrunner supply jams, junk shops, are pretty much useless. Find a way to involve them in the gameplay. Maybe some biz owners have work for you and unlock the real preem shit after you’ve increased your rep with them? Maybe you did a job that inadvertently allowed a proprietor to get a hold of some unique cyberware in their stock. Maybe you buy enough junk from a guy and he decides to sign an exclusive deal with you where he regularly sends junk shipments to your techie, who is in turn able to craft more things for you. Set up a gun dealer with a line on cost-effective components, I reckon they might be elated with the profit that they're gonna turn and maybe they've got something special for you in the back. I also noticed a vendor in Dogtown that asked if we're shopping for a Christmas present or to equip a small army. A merchant like that would be pretty valuable for someone who runs a crew that needs equipment.
Attention to economy balance: 2077 gets to a point really fast where eddies don’t mean a thing. One, because there’s not much to buy after you chrome up to whatever build you’re going for and you have all the cars and apartments you want. Furthermore, you can make more money in 10 minutes of murdering unmarked gangbangers on the map and selling their guns than you do in an actual gig. Make the Eurodollar important. Make it scarce. Think about introducing a technological macguffin that locks weapons to their owners like MGS4, not preventing you from taking them for disassembly but preventing you from selling them for easy money. You’re in a bleak, gnarly trash-ridden, sex-crazed psychotic neon dystopia where humans kidnap other humans to chop them up for XBD sales and cyberware/organ harvesting, people are enslaved in broad daylight and resigned to truly fucking heinous existences as sex and torture objects, and lives are routinely brutally ended over paltry sums of eddies. Only corpos live that high life, and even then, they're never truly safe. Make the eurodollar live up to the lore.
Trauma Team: Kind of speaks for itself but if we're neck deep in eddies, we aughta be able to invest in a Trauma Team coverage package. Instead of a game over screen and a reload from a checkpoint, why don't we implement this chef kiss worldbuilding into the actual gameplay? Don't let it go to waste.
THINGS I THINK WOULD BE INTERESTING:
Meaningful lifepaths/tabletop roles and gameplay implications: In 2077, we get the choice between three lifepaths: Nomad, Streetkid or Corpo. The tabletop roles include Rocker, Solo, Media, Nomad, Netrunner, Techie (can be combined with MedTech), and Corpo (I excluded Fixer and Lawman excluded for gameplay and narrative reasons). Gigs should be predominantly focused around these roles, allowing for some extreme diversity. The gigs that fixers give you should be the same for every character, but what you are doing in them will be different depending on your role. For instance, you're a rocker (rocker could mean rappeDJ/whatever too at this point), your role in the gig might be running interference or causing a diversion so the solos can make a hit. You're a netrunner, you're disabling security systems and providing recon for the rest of the crew. You're a media, you've gotta interrogate the miniboss at the end or slide your friend a story to air that will get the opposing faction's attention. You’re a nomad, you’re cutting off enemy reinforcements with your cool vehicle before they get to the gig site. Bang, now you've got ridiculous degrees of replayability, and not only do you have gigs that are far deeper than sneaking in/killing everyone and taking something after a quick one-sided phone call, your lifepath is meaningful and you don’t even have to live out a short intro for it. Maybe this is an implausible pipe dream because it might mean CDPR has to design every gig like 9 times though. But I'm sure many players would agree, less gigs is a totally acceptable tradeoff for higher quality. There are 81 gigs in Cyberpunk 2077 (I think). I would easily agree to chop that number down to 20 or 25 if they could implement this degree of depth, and encourage replayability so you get to experience these gigs from multiple angles.
In any case, this is going to limit players severely in what they can and can't do as far as their abilities go, but in a good way. It's going to up the RPG factor big time and make the player commit to the role they've chosen. Sure, now you can't do everything, you have a skill set limited to your chosen expertise, and it might be narrow, but.. good thing you'll have a crew that makes up for it! Need to craft stuff but you're not a techie? Get one in your crew. You a netrunner that can't handle the heat of firefights? You need a solo or two. Are you an ugly dirty nomad who hasn't had a hot shower for a few months and nobody wants to get near you? Get a hot, cool rocker to handle your social situations for you. So on and so forth.
Thoughts on tabletop attributes: I think they did a preem job adapting Cyberpunk 2020's tabletop attributes to 2077. It doesn’t need to be changed, really, but there are little ways they could make it evolve a bit so it’s not the exact same. The tabletop attributes are Intelligence, Reflexes, Tech, Cool, Attractiveness, Luck, Body and Empathy (excluded Movement Ability for obvious reasons). CDPR could think about how to implement the attributes they didn’t in 2077. Like Cool or Attractiveness functioning like Charisma in other RPGs, or being somehow related to your clothing. Hard to think about because clothing is so subjective, but it's the rule in Cyberpunk that you have to look as cool as possible and even if you fuck up, you have to make it look like you meant to fuck up. Empathy could be a stat that determines how well your can read people, tell if they're lying to you or not. Maybe the player can have one of those clothing store workers or a Mox contact appraise their Attractiveness and have them assign some kind of tasks to increase it? It's good the way it is now but just something to think about.
Vehicle customization: It’d be cool to have access to this via a garage or chain of garage businesses to trick out our vehicles cosmetically and functionally. Better yet, if you have a nomad in your crew/are a nomad, that you’d have access to exclusive modifications that will be available to utilize for gigs or just for aesthetics.
Gig preparation: Gotta intercept a convoy? Good idea to hit up your nomad choom first if you have one, and get him to install a custom EMP switcheroo in your offroad rig, or pay his buddies to set up spike strips lest you have to figure out a way to bring it to a halt the hard way. Pulling off a gig where you know there will be a big NCPD response? Best get equipped with an advanced area radio scrambler. This can kind of tie into your role-specific gig executions too. For instance, a rocker might have to go acquire some glitter and figure out a way to distribute it to the enemies on the site before the job so they’re all twacked out when the rest of the crew comes. This should also tie into the networking, more of utilizing your friends and acquaintances. Friends with the codefreak watching the Maelstrom warehouse? Give em a call, pay them/trick them/otherwise convince them to take the day off.
Role-specific activities: Just simple radiant quest-ish things that pertain to your lifepath that don't infringe on the story. Jobs that don't need to be facilitated by a fixer, jobs you get via phone or a job site on the Net. Solos could have radiants where they pick up a quick huscle job to provide overwatch for a deal, or go repo something. Rockers need to slap up gig posters and get secure lines on designer drugs for the clubs they play. Medias need to get requested footage or conduct a short interview. Netrunners doing security audits or subnet infiltrations. Stuff like that. In addition to eddies, players would also be gaining XP for their role that unlocks lifepath-specific bonuses that make you better at your role in gigs. Maybe an experienced team member can have access to different approaches in them, or get better rewards.
Tabletop skills: In the final version of 2077, we’ve got skills such as Headhunter, Shinobi, Netrunner, Solo, Engineer. The tabletop skills relevant to gameplay could be Authority, Awareness (or Perception), Athletics, General Knowledge, Interrogation or Streetwise. Perhaps some of these could be implemented, as Netrunner, Solo and Tech are already roles. Roles could give accelerated XP gain to these if they pertain. For instance, a corpo is going to eventually be really good with Authority, a solo is going to be really streetwise, etc.
Tabletop motivations: This might be a VA budget nightmare depending on how they'd run it, but when you create a character in the tabletop, there's criteria such as the thing your character values the most (money, honor, power, etc), your personality traits, how you feel about people, your upbringing, etc. CDPR is smart. If anyone can find a way to cleverly implement even light aspects of this, it would be them. You could be given small drip feed rewards for adhering to your character’s standards. Maybe your character is “stable and serious” which allows you to start with a bonus to Cool. Maybe they’re “friendly and outgoing” which would open speech checks with likeminded NPCs as a way to possibly advance in a mission or establish a contact. Maybe they’re “rebellious, antisocial, violent” so they get a slight damage bonus.
Gang/Corp relations: Doing a lot of work for a specific gang or corp? They should like you better and show it because it’s in their best interest that you are succeeding. Maybe they send some money shards or weapons from time to time, maybe they give you specific rewards, maybe they lend you someone you can add to your crew, maybe you can call some of them for backup in a fight or a deal or a gig. But if they don’t like you, you might want to rethink passing through their territory, have a plan or expect them to send someone to take you out. Or if you’re cool with them, maybe you can call on them to offload stolen goods you "found". Also note that all of the gangs in Night City in 2077 are completely fucking abhorrent except for one. Maybe they can create some new gangs or resurrect some left out gangs from prior lore. Incorporate some gangs that aren’t inherently nefarious, it'd be a good way to pick up some work for a new merc with no rep.
Neighborhood notoriety: If you're running around helping people all day in an community, guarantee they're all talking to eachother about it. Same if you're running around killing people all day. You could be respected as a protector of the district, or feared as a specter that will flatline whoever for being in the way. Westbrook vendors might give you discounts for breaking them free from Tyger Claw protection. Watson clubs might refuse to let you in if you zeroed some of their talent, or they might call the cops on you in SanDom just because they saw you wipe 6th Street party and they're scared. Maybe you'll get free synth noodles from a certain stand simply because the owner is scared to charge you anything. Maybe people should notice what you do and act accordingly, if your character's goals are anything like V's and every other aspiring merc in Night City. Maybe try to put your gun away before you talk to someone, lest they see a gun in their face and consider disliking you.
Think about stashing your money: If I'm a criminal in Night City where the cops don't do shit and I just watched you dump 30 legendary weapons into an automated sale box in Northside at night and it spit out a quarter million eddies, I'm going to flatline you instantly when you're not looking and electric slide over to the nearest dollhouse and live there for the next year. If I'm a netrunner and I scan you sitting in a booth at a club and see how loaded you are, I'm going to tell my crew and they're going to show up behind you next time you have to take a piss. If I watch you give Garry the Prophet 40 thousand eds, I'm following you down the stairs to Vik's but you're not gonna make it there. Maybe don't run around with millions of eddies on your cred chip. Keep your scratch safe at a safe in your crew's hangout and they can use it when they need it to upgrade their gear, acquire intel, hire huscle, upgrade your digs, whatever. It's Cyberpunk 2077, there's a whole ass net and you can buy your neon windbreakers and tight leather pants online from the safety of wherever is safe for you.
THINGS I THINK WE COULD DO WITHOUT:
NCPD scanner nonsense: Bounties for higher profile criminals would be fine, as the NCPD is generally really down bad on their budget and manpower, and can hardly control anything as it is. They could be accessed via the net. But just running around taking care of all of their business for them? No, choom, don’t be doing their job for them when they’d just as soon lock you up, zero you, or get you entangled in some corruption fiasco where you’re a loose end. No way. Don’t work for the badges unless it's in a gig facilitated by a fixer, it’s never worth it. Wipe these encounters entirely and put that energy and labor into something else.
Carry weight issues: Alright if we're chromed to the gills it makes sense that we can carry alot, but even so, who carries around 20 guns and 8 melee weapons on their person when you can only have 3 equipped? I think it should be toned down, and that would also benefit the economic immersion aspect of the sequel. If we run into a Tyger Claws hangout and massacre everyone, how about we call our crew to come pick through the shit off the ground instead of picking it all up ourselves and lugging it to a sale box? Also..
Effortless disassembly anywhere: If we're a techie, we're likely breaking things down into components all the time if we don't need them, putting them into the crew's pool. But why are we doing that in the middle of a Tyger Claws basketball court that we just slaughtered in broad daylight? At least take them to the trunk of your car, or better yet, your workbench back at HQ. If we're not a techie, well what are we doing trying to tinker with stuff? Go bring it to your hangout so your techie or nomad can take a look at it. Makes your lifepath and your crew choice matter more.
Regarding acting talent budget: Keanu and Idris knocked it out of the park, they are incredibly good at what they do, but CDPR should consider reallocating that Hollywood budget into other things. If they have to get celebrities, they don’t have to go all the way to Hollywood. There's a giant pool of very charismatic entertainers they could pick up, but the IP is ubiquitous enough at this point that they simply don't need the marketing boost from Hollywood star power. There are plenty of huge, well-known well-loved faces out there in the world of entertainment (music, youtube, comedy, athletics, journalism) that are avid gamers themselves would likely be thrilled to participate in the game that wouldn’t require a Hollywood paycheck. I could write more all day on tons of excellent looks for these roles, but I’ll save it for another time.
Regarding romance options: Might get heat for this one because romance options are nigh required in open-world RPGs, but I want a setting or at least a dialogue option to friendzone romance options right off the bat without losing story outcomes. Romance IS a possible factor in tabletop character creation but some people just aren't into it. Some people just want to be friends, too, and that's also very valid. Nudity and mature content is a given, obviously Cyberpunk is not a family friendly world and there's a modern understanding that games with adult content and gratuitous violence are going to be graphic. All I'm saying is it's fucking weird when I'm playing this game and my wife walks by and sees POV footage of my character splacking with moaning and gyrating tits. Makes me uncomfortable. Maybe just a problem for me, whatever. Simple options about it would be nice, something better than just slapping underwear on the models. Fade to black is such an easy solution.
Flying cars: Probably going to catch more heat for this too, because this is something everyone raves over, but I don’t find it necessary at all. Most AVs are generally autopiloted anyway and most Night City airspace is reserved for corporations, and introducing manual flying vehicles would a) totally undermine the existence of ground vehicles and b) result in a colossal psychocyberlibertarian airborne clusterfuck without an entire extensively supported NCPD air traffic control division, and from a lore standpoint, they just don’t have that kind of juice. And there’d have to be landing pads and AV parking all over the place, unless for some reason we are the only person in Night City that has a flying car; in which case, that just makes no sense. We'd be on the radar of every other freak that wants a flying car and they'd be itching to kill us and take it. Not to mention how many gangs and psychopaths would shoot it out of the sky for fun. Might as well just fast travel at that point, chooms. I’ll say it’d be a good idea for your crew to somehow acquire an AV for use in jobs, but just to fly around in a car? And do what? Look at shit from far away? Unnecessary.
Consumables: We don’t really need to be carrying around 47 cans of NiCola, 91 burritos, 20 containers of RAM Jolt, 75 slices of locust pizza, etc. in our pockets/invisible backpack/up our asses. Eliminate them entirely, instead replacing the whole concept with food stalls and eateries where you can order and immediately take a seat to consume an appropriate selection of a menu item that grants you a temp buff depending on what you order. Vending machines are strewn about all over the place and most players buy something once just to see what happens. Give those places a reason to exist.
Map marked collectibles: Collectibles are great but when you just scatter them on the map with map markers like the tarot graffiti, it just feels like a chore. It's the first thing I do after Konpeki, just driving around getting all the tarot spots just to get them out of the way. Consider erasing those map markers and making hidden collectibles much more valuable. Night City is an amazing world space, incentivize it's exploration.
Multiplayer: There should be no multiplayer BS involved if it’s going to take away from the singleplayer experience in any way, especially if CDPR has to piss swaths of their budget away for it. At the very most, make some kind of PvE jam accessed as side content. There are many players in the world with subpar internet connections, including myself, and they should not have to deal with connection issues for a singleplayer game. Having players roving the map at the same time as yourself is just going to turn it into GTA5 with griefing and other such bullshit, and make it so the game is unable to be paused, and I do not want to be bogged down dealing with other people’s children or hackers (players, not in-world adversaries) dicking with my shit. Also consider that an anti-cheat would have to be utilized and I don’t want CDPR to have to redirect any budget to be maintaining it to defend the game from people who just want to fuck it up. Lastly, keep singleplayer gaming alive. Look at all this fucking shit I wrote. Do you think I have friends? Not all of us have or even want a gang of friends/online strangers to be involved when we game. Play multiplayer games if you like multiplayer games, no need to make this singleplayer masterpiece into an online fuckfest when there's a hundred other popular online fuckfests going on.
IN CONCLUSION Thanks so much for reading or even skimming through this mess, chooms. Whether you like my ideas or hate them, I live in a world where not alot of people listen to me when I talk, so it actually does mean alot to me that you bothered to even click on this, for what it's worth. Even if you see something in that clusterfuck that made you go "no way, get real." Anyway, hope you’re having an awesome day, and if you’re not, I hope it gets better posthaste because you are, in fact, important. Also if anyone from CDPR sees this, feel free to steal all of my ideas for free.

[A transcription of a text attributed to Arch-Prelate Oscius Agimus VII of the Greater Cyrodiil Akatosh Chantry, Imperial City Precinct, in the year 4E 318, originally published ten years before he became arch-prelate, commentating on a series of hymns attributed to St. Martin.]
In the mighty name of Akatosh, Most Legitimate, Divinity of all That is Everlasting, Who is the Law,
Ceremoniously approved hearsay of Sheogorath claimed that this was the first of the hymns, called by some the imperial mystery hymns or the ascenscion hymns, composed by St. Martin Septim (may he pray for me) in his private journal as he walked with Cyrodiil’s Champion on his way to the Temple of Akatosh, where he attained Holy Communion:
Do I wish you too would tremble, Father, so I could believe you’re like me, learned and trepidatious?
Do I wish you’d left me in Sam¹ ’s warm embrace, breath kissing my blood from within, heating my veins with sweet lakes of Sithis² ?
Do I really want to give you form, or do I want to give you greater likeness unto me? something ripe and tender for folly to grope and cling onto, like a halberd pole strapped with a sky shard to cut my way out?
Do I really want to be a sinner, or have I hated to see the holy face of my father who orphaned and before that abandoned me?³
Are my birth stars curses to bear with grinding jaws and stammering tongues, or are destiny’s threads my spellhand armanents?
What will I feel within your scales, when my image becomes your golden image and my bones become your golden bones? What use will you have for your hands within your wings?
Who am I become within the archer’s cadaver, with no arrow sailing at all? Is mine a song of a heart unpiercing, a lunar shape returning to dawn’s arc and orbit?
How am I to know anything at all, when the great bow confounds me and the sight of the subtle bowl rims peeled back as parchment drives me to shivering⁴ ?
How did my stars think complete and total abdication was a fair thing to ask of a waking dovah⁵ ?
Why was I taught not to raise my voice above a whimper, when this roar of music makes me want to shout for joy?
[1] “Sam” is believed to refer to a mortal lover of unknown gender by imperial scholarly consensus. Some commentators have postulated a connection to a daedroth of sexuality, which has been considered purely speculative by archaeological scholars.
[2] “Sweet lakes of Sithis” is believed to negatively reference St. Martin’s struggles with alcoholism. Suggestions that he practiced daedric worship are unsubstantiated.
[3] The Crowned Dragon Emperor Uriel Septim VII is believed to have sent St. Martin away in a hurry on the night of his assassination. Imperial scholars do not believe there is any indication that the late emperor Uriel Septim was an absent father to the saintly son of his own prophecies. Rather, this line draws attention to the metaphysical differences between St. Martin’s corporeal father and his everlasting Father in Aetherius.
[4] This line exists in parallel with an anecdote that St. Martin desired to study the Elder Scrolls as a child, but he was unable to stomach being near them or their priests without becoming ill or absentmindedly thunderous. This is believed to be because he was already close to the Dragon, but not yet balanced in himself.
[5] “Dovah” means dragon in Dovahzul, according to The Annals of the Last Dragonborn (Winterhold College Press, 2E 212).

I need advice
Me 18F Him 20M 8 months together. Okay so basically here's some information before. My boyfriend and his family is religious and I'm not. He's very perfect and yeah we have our ups and downs but with him being religious I can't do certain things. I want to get a tattoo and always have but he said he will leave me and then today he told me he overthinks when I hang out with my mom because she will make me cheat on him?? I legit said fu*k you to him and yeah that's mean but he basically said he dosent want me to be around my own mom and thinks she's a bad person when she has done NOTHING for him to make him feel that way. We have been dating for almost 9 months have been set on being with each other and marrying each other. Another thing I have to get baptized in order to marry him . Because that's his parents rules. He is 20 aka a full grown adult and idk I get that's how he was raised but like idk. AND I have always wanted to have a beautiful wedding outside and it's all perfect and all that jazz but we have to get married in a temple which is the exact opposite of what I want. So basically I need help. I don't have friends and I feel like I need to leave him but I don't want to throw it all away and I love him. Like maybe should I bring up what I want??? Idk I'm lost. I brought up to him that I have been thinking about getting a tattoo and he guilt tripped me so I gave up on that. He makes fun of all my friends so I legit have no friends. So please someone help me because I don't want to leave him and throw the last year of my life and it was basically for nothing.
TL;DR my boyfriend and I have different views about multiple things and I don’t know if I should break up with him or put my views aside.

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We learn to look at the Ego as an enemy. Many spiritual practices place it as the target to be shot down, the reason that prevents us from evolving, the obstacle between the Divine and us. But, in fact, if it were not for the Ego, we would not even be able to be incarnated living this profoundly sacred experience. Perhaps angels and archangels could walk here, but they do not feel the world and have no way of alchemizing it, so they are useless without the existence of the dual realities and their multiple humanities.
The Ego is the thread that links all our incarnations. It is the link that unites us to all the past experiences as the cement necessary to build the Temple within which the Soul will shine one day. It is the basis from which all our incarnation is structured, for without an Ego, there would be no experience in the material world at all. That is the reason for the Fall of Man, without which we would have no way to make the synthesis of Heaven with Earth and allow the planet to ascend to higher dimensions.
The process, therefore, is not to get rid of the Ego, but to transform the raw stone into a crystal, in a way that when the Soul presents itself and begins to live through that Ego, this Ego can become translucent and allow the light of that Soul to shine integrally and fully until the Monad, at its right time, can undo the walls of the Temple and become the only operative reality, offering that Ego as a consecrated host. Because, if by magic arts, we were able to undo the Ego, still far from our innermost nuclei, I assure you that the next day we would wake up in the nearest asylum totally incapable of operating in the world.
The Ego is one of the most genuine expressions of material life and unlike the deeply rooted idea that the Ego is a liar, a manipulator, who cheats to take advantage, in reality, it is the opposite. The Ego is always authentic, direct, and raw; it does not lie, it does not deceive, it does not manipulate... it expresses without shame, without fear, all its selfishness, all its vanity, all its arrogance, and so many other traits, while still in its most primary phases, and that is precisely why we all end up trying to suppress it, to cover it up, to hide those same rougher traits that shame us in the eyes of others, as if they were there as a mistake of the Cosmos, and not as the natural process of the evolution of the world in its increasing transformation towards transcendence. And it is here when we deny this Ego and try to exclude it from the equation, that we fall into the trap of building a persona around this Ego. And it is at this point that we lose ourselves.
The persona, often confused with the Ego itself, is a character created by us to hide this same Ego, to camouflage those rougher aspects that cannot be ignored, but which we so often try to hide from ourselves and from others in the illusion that they no longer exist. Well, they do. They are all there repressed under the persona. And while they are there, the evolutionary process is stagnated. And it is this persona, contrary to the Ego, who is lying, manipulative, dangerous, astute, selfish, and will do everything to maintain the farce. It is a mask that we put on our real face as operators within duality. This face is not that of the Soul, much less that of the Monad, because these nuclei have no face because they are not a "Person", they have no name, because they identify themselves by the function they represent, they do not have a place, because they are united with Totality, but the Ego does, it has a face, it has a name among many names, it has a place among many places, it is made of the clay of the world and the dust of cycles, and therefore an essential element within the alchemy of the world.
Thus, to remove the masks in order to return to our real face, as I wrote in another text called "Releasing all Masks", is not to return to the Soul, but the Ego, and to assume once and for all the wrinkles of its face, without shame, because each one of them are there as a result of the experiences made in this world throughout the incarnations, and therefore, in each one of them, there is a deeply sacred history to be revealed, a unique, unrepeatable experience, which, despite the pain, brings us, as a result, the Consecration of this World.
May we undress the characters we build out of shame from our Ego, and allow it to express itself in freedom just like a child, always on the watchful vigilance of our Consciousness, because it is this Consciousness, when it merges with the world, that gives meaning to Life, allowing this same Ego to be transformed from raw stone into a translucent crystal. The more we observe the Ego without repressing or hiding it, accepting it for what it is, the more this Ego fills itself with Soul, transubstantiating its rougher forms into more luminous ones.
And when we observe this Ego expressing itself in total freedom through others who, ignorant of its presence, have the privilege of not building any persona, nor putting on any mask, let us praise that experience, for what happens there is true and sacred, genuine and pure. In due time that stone will become more translucent, rounder, softer, but until that moment arrives, let us praise the experience that is taking place there in deep reverence.
In the end, the one who has always been hated as the villain of the story will become the true hero, the Sacred Chalice upon which the wine of the Spirit will one day be poured and without which the experience which God has reserved for this dimensional plane would not be possible.
Therefore, let us cherish him in his rudeness, inspire him in his ignorance, appease him in his torments, and thereby help him in the polishing of his edges as he freely expresses himself on the serene and compassionate guidance of our Consciousness. Let us be like Krishna, Arjuna's coachman who leads his three horses (the personality) while Arjuna (the Ego) takes up the battle with Karna (his own shadow), consecrating himself as a hero after victory.
And then, when anger turns into Compassion, vanity into Service, arrogance into Humility, jealousy into Deep Love, agitation into Simplicity, that hated stone can finally shine in Glory to the Supreme Being because we dared to look it in the eye in full acceptance, without fighting it, without repressing it, allowing it to cry all its pains in our lap and rescue the past in a deep healing. This healing can only happen when we undress all the characters and look in the mirror at that only face that accompanies us from the beginning, a tired and suffering face, perceiving the wounds that Life was leaving on its wrinkled skin and, through these, the deep alchemy that, silently, and far from our eyes, was transforming us and the world.
Yes, because contrary to what we may think, the one who expresses Humility, Simplicity, Compassion, and Love, is the Ego itself after being completely transformed, and not our profound Consciousness, because this Consciousness is neutral and does not take on any color.
When we arrived here, as Spirit, the Father placed a rough stone in our hands and said: "I offer you the most sacred thing I have. Transform it into the most perfect of crystals". This stone is our Ego, which will one day shine in Glory as the Sacred Chalice within which the Spirit sanctified by the presence of the Son will rise as a God who awakens within his creation, looking upwards from below. And only then will our most profound mission be completed.
Deep Peace, Pedro Elias

Black Mirror Mormonism - E8: "Up Where We Belong"

Abstract: Set in a near-future world where many become discouraged over Jesus late return, the Mormons build a space elevator from Independence, Missouri to the moon. This episode tells a heartfelt love story of two pioneers, Sarah and David, who are selected to establish the first manned moon base. Their journey blends faith, science, and romance, culminating in a testament to human resilience and unity.
[feat. Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes - "Up Where We Belong" - Accompanies the elevator's ascent, symbolizing hope and aspiration.]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpYxZ-1PnlA

Act 1: "The Prophecy and the Promise"

Scene 1: "Prophetic Beginnings" Visuals: Independence, Missouri. A bustling community gathers at a grand temple.
Characters: Sarah (an engineer with a passion for exploration), David (a devout but practical farmer), Mormon leaders, excited community members.
Details: Jesus has been just over the horizon for forever. So, membership agrees just for now, to go find him. The Mormon leaders announce the ambitious plan to build a space elevator to the moon, citing a prophecy. Sarah and David, both chosen for the mission, share a meaningful glance as they hear the news.
Theme: Faith-driven ambition and the spark of new connections based on new possibilities such as space elevators. Understanding Jesus aint' coming right just yet but that's okay. The introduction sequence is set to "Lean on Me" representing the need to lean on each other instead of, or in addition to, imaginary deities. [ re: How To Build a Space Elevator - See https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/space-elevators-are-less-sci-fi-than-you-think/ ]. The LDS help the poor and needy around the world without expectation of return on investment, choosing to build up their riches in heaven instead of earth.
Soundtrack: "Lean on Me" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZ-MySzAac represents community collaboration and leaning on each other.

Act 2: "Building the Dream"

Scene 2: "Engineering the Impossible" Visuals: A massive construction site. The base of the space elevator begins to take shape.
Characters: Sarah, David, lead engineer, construction workers.
Details: Sarah works tirelessly on the engineering team while David helps with the logistics. They bond over shared meals and late-night talks, discussing their dreams and fears. Their connection deepens as they work together.
Theme: Building not just a dream, but a relationship.
Soundtrack: "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey underscores the montage of construction and the growing closeness between Sarah and David.

Act 3: "First Steps to the Moon"

Scene 3: "The Journey Begins" Visuals: The completed space elevator stands tall. A small group of pioneers, including Sarah and David, prepares for the journey.
Characters: Sarah, David, their families, Mormon leaders.
Details: Sarah and David say emotional goodbyes to their families. They board the elevator, filled with a mix of excitement and trepidation. As the elevator ascends, Sarah and David hold hands, gazing out at the shrinking Earth.
Theme: The courage to embark on a new adventure together.
Soundtrack: "Up Where We Belong" by Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes plays as the elevator ascends, symbolizing hope and aspiration.

Act 4: "Moon Colony Challenges"

Scene 4: "Lunar Struggles" Visuals: The pioneers set up the first manned moon base, a metallic structure against the stark lunar landscape.
Characters: Sarah, David, fellow pioneers, mission control on Earth.
Details: Sarah and David face unforeseen challenges, including equipment malfunctions and limited resources. Despite the hardships, their love and faith keep them united. They find solace in each other, even as they struggle to survive.
Theme: Perseverance through love and faith.
Soundtrack by Touissaint, Alan - "You Will Not Lose", https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UC4W5CukY0

Act 5: "A New Beginning"

Scene 5: "Hope on the Horizon" Visuals: The moon base thrives, with lush greenhouses and sustainable living quarters. The pioneers celebrate their achievements.
Characters: Sarah, David, fellow pioneers, Mormon leaders, community members on Earth.
Details: The successful establishment of the moon base is celebrated both on the moon and Earth. Sarah and David look back at their journey with pride, their bond stronger than ever. Their love story becomes an inspiration to the entire community.
Theme: Triumph and unity through love and innovation.
Soundtrack: Final hypothetical unmade imaginary Season finale Episode - Outro"Both Sides Now" (E1 tale of two universes throwback - https://www.reddit.com/exmormon/comments/1d7n4u3/black_mirror_mormonism_e1_a_tale_of_two_universes/ - by Joni Mitchell ties the contrasting futures together, highlighting the stark differences and many possibilities. The lovely couple looks across the solar system at earth's clouds from a new perspective on the moon.
Soundtrack:

"Lean on Me" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOZ-MySzAac
Journey - "Don't Stop Believin'" - Highlights the construction efforts and growing relationship.
Joe Cocker and Jennifer Warnes - "Up Where We Belong" - Accompanies the elevator's ascent, symbolizing hope and aspiration.
Alan Touissaint "You Will Not Lose", Celebrates collaboration and the pioneers' resilience and teamwork. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UC4W5CukY0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yXr2EFomFkU
This (hypothetical imaginary season finale episode) concludes with Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now" as a E1 throwback https://www.reddit.com/exmormon/comments/1d7n4u3/black_mirror_mormonism_e1_a_tale_of_two_universes/

Life is difficult most of the time. Who can avoid sickness, aging and weakness, separation from loved ones, deaths of friends and family members, loss of wealth, and hate and mistreatment from others? The poor seek wealth, the childless want to have children, the unemployed want to find work, and on and on. How many of these wishes can come true? Is there any way to solve these unfortunate problems?
Life is full of calamities. Many people die in hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and fires. Many others starve due to drought or too much rain. Unexpected death is facing us every year. In a nuclear or biological war, the human race could be eliminated. Is there any way to avoid these disasters?
The revolving wheel of birth and death is painful. And death is not the end. A living body can die, but its consciousness never dies. Upon the death of the body, consciousness leaves the body and goes to one of the six paths: heaven, the human world, the asura world, the animal world, the hungry ghost world, or hell. Heaven and the human world are the better places of these six, but the cycle of birth and death is unavoidable. Everybody has to go through the birth-and-death cycle on one of the six paths. Imagine how terrible it must be in the animal world, and how painful it must be in hell! The birth-and-death cycle through the six paths is known as the “six-path revolving wheel of Birth-and-Death”. Is there any way to escape this revolving wheel of Birth-and-Death and secure a peaceful, happy eternal life?
Overcoming Life’s Difficulties and Escaping From the Cycle of Birth and Death Eliminate life’s difficulties and divert calamities. Whether we have a fortunate life or an unfortunate life is determined by our own mind and our own behavior. It is a system of cause and effect. Causes and effects involve three time periods: the past, the present, and the future. A difficult life and the occurrence of disasters are results of previous evil thoughts or bad behavior. But can divert and avoid unfortunate events by reciting Buddha’s name. The Sutras tell us that serious offenses and crimes committed aeons ago can be eliminated by sincerely reciting Buddha’s name. The Sutras also say that there is a limitless number of Buddhas in the universe who protect those who recite, “Amitabha Buddha”. Buddha possesses infinite virtue, supreme wisdom, and boundless might. If you have Buddha’s blessing, no disaster can befall you.
Escape the revolving wheel of birth and death and attain enlightenment. Is there any other place besides the six paths? The answer is yes. The six paths are worldly, common states. There are also holy places that are the states of Buddha. There is a World of Ultimate Bliss that lies to the west, far away from our world: the realm of Amitabha Buddha – the Pure Land. Everything there is made of gold and seven kind of precious jewels. The environment is pure and magnificent. It is superior to any palace in any other heaven by a million-fold. (There are many layers of heaven). Life in the World of Ultimate Bliss is eternal, in contrast to that on the six paths, which are locked in a continuous cycle of birth and death. According to the Sutras, if you are born in the World of Ultimate Bliss, your body is as radiant as gold. You are full of spiritual power. You manifest clothing and food by simply thinking about them. Your life is eternal, and you will become a Buddha after you complete your study under Amitabha Buddha. How do you get to the World of Ultimate Bliss? According to the Sutras, Amitabha Buddha will lead you there at the end of your life, provided that you repeatedly and single-mindedly recite “Amitabha Buddha” until you have achieved perfect concentration. All these benefits are described in the Sutras.
Benefits of Buddha Recitation Here are ten benefits you can gain by reciting “Amitabha Buddha”: • The protection of all heavenly gods, day and night. • The protection of 25 great Bodhisattvas, including Guan Yin. • The protection and blessings of all Buddhas. Particularly, Amitabha Buddha will shed light on you and protect you. • No evil spirits or poisonous snakes can harm you. • Flood, fire, and weapons will not harm you. Accidents will not happen to you. • The karma of your past wrongdoings, mischievous deeds, and misbehaviors will all be eliminated. • You will have no nightmares – only peaceful dreams. In them you may see Amitabha Buddha’s radiant golden image. • You will be happy, good-looking, energetic, healthy, and successful. • You will have the respect of other people. • As the end of your life approaches, you will not be afraid and you will be of sound mind. The Three Sages of the World of Ultimate Bliss will present you with a golden platform and will lead you to their realm [the Pure Land]. There you will be born by transformation from a lotus flower, and will enjoy both happiness and eternal life. 3 Of these ten benefits, the first nine can change the difficult life you are now living to a smooth and peaceful one, while the tenth benefit frees you from the revolving wheel of birth and death.
Morning and Evening Devotions To practice Buddha recitation, perform these simple morning and evening recitations. 1. Recite: “Homage to our teacher, Shakyamuni, Buddha of loving-kindness and compassion.” (During this recitation, bow or hold your palms together in front of your chest.) 2. Recite: “Homage to Amitabha, Buddha of great loving-kindness and compassion.” (Again, bow or hold your palms together in front of your chest.) 3. Recite “Namo Amitabha” or “Namo Amitabha Buddha” at least 100 times – the more repetitions, the better. You can kneel, sit, or stand. There is no need to bow, but be respectful and sincere. You can increase the number of recitations you do each day, but you should not decrease them. 4. Recite: “Namo Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva”. (Recite and bow once). 5. Recite “Namo Da Shi Zhi Bodhisattva” or “Homage to Great Strength Bodhisattva”. (Recite and bow once.) (Guan Shi Yin [or Guan Yin] and Da Shi Zhi [or Great Strength Bodhisattva] are Amitabha Buddha’s two great assistants in the Pure Land; together; the three are known as the The Sages of the World of Ultimate Bliss. They are our teachers and friends, and we bow to them to show our respect. 6. Recite: “Homage to the Great Pure Sea of Bodhisattvas.” (Recite and bow once) There are many Bodhisattvas in the World of Ultimate Bliss. They are all our future teachers and friends 7. Recite the following Verse for the Transference of Merit: “I vow to adorn the Buddha’s pure land with this merit. Repay the four gracious kindnesses and aid those in the three paths of suffering below. May those who see and hear my vow all bring forth the Bodhi mind. And when this life is finished, may we be born together with other devotees in the World of Ultimate Bliss.” (This declaration is to direct the merits of reciting the Buddha’s name to glorify Buddha’s pure land, to help those named in this paragraph, and to affirm our determination to be born in the World of Ultimate Bliss. A different version of a recitation for the transfer of merit is presented on the page titled “Dedication of Merit”.)

Bow. The preceding exercises should be performed twice every day: in the morning and in the evening. You should clean your hands and rinse your mouth before starting your recitation. You can omit the bowing if there is no portrait of Buddha to bow to. If possible, you can light some incense before you begin, but you can omit the burning of incense if it is inconvenient. You should face to the west if possible, and you should be sincere. If time permits, between Steps 2 and 3 you should recite the “Amitabha Sutra” once, the “Vow to Achieve Birth in the Pure Land”: “We wish to be born in the Western Pure Land From nine levels of lotus blossoms. When the lotus opens, We shall see the Buddha and shall be enlightened to the eternal Truth, With Bodhisattvas who never regress on the Path as our companions.” three times, and the “Verse in Praise of Amitabha” once: “Amitabha’s body is the color of gold; The splendor of his hallmarks has no peer. The light of his brow shines around a hundred worlds; Wide as the seas are his eyes pure and clear. Shining in his brilliance by transformation Are countless Bodhisattvas and infinite Buddhas. His forty-eight vows will be our liberation; In nine lotus-stages we reach the farthest shore. Homage to the Buddha of the Western Pure Land, Kind and Compassionate Amitabha! Homage to Amitabha Buddha!”

The Ten Recitation Method The exercise presented in the previous section is designed for very busy people, and the following two-step exercise is designed for people who are even busier than that. It takes only five minutes to complete, and it is the simplest and the most practical method for assuring success in this lifetime:

Recite the words “Namo Amitabha” or “Namo Amitabha Buddha” three, five, or more times as you take one breath. Repeat this exercise with each breath for ten breaths.
Finish this exercise by reciting the Verse for the Transference of Merit presented in Step 7 of the previous exercise or on the page titled “Dedication of Merit”.

The most important requirement for practicing this method is to do your recitations both in the morning and in the evening, every day. Face a portrait of Buddha if you have one, and try to face west as you recite.
Ingredients for Success in Buddha Recitation Recitation and Good Behavior. Reciting Buddha’s name is the main ingredient for success in Buddha recitation. Good behaviors are the supplemental ingredients. Both are necessary to assure full benefits and success in practicing Buddhism. They are like the two wings of a bird; both are required for a bird to fly. Many people cannot distinguish good behaviors from evil ones. The following is a list of ten bad behaviors, as presented in the Sutra on the Ten Paths of Good Karma. If you do not practice any one of these ten bad behaviors, your behavior is good. Conversely, if you practice any one of them, your behavior is bad:

Killing.
Stealing.
Committing adultery. (The first three bad behaviors are known collectively as the three physical evils.)
Lying.
Erotic language.
Evil talk.
Two-tongued talk. (Bad behaviors 4 through 7 are known as the four oral evils.)
Greed.
Anger
Delusion. (Bad behaviors 8 through 10 are called the three mental evils.)

Points to remember about the ten bad behaviors:
• Injuring an animal, large or small, is considered killing.
• If one acquires property or fame through dishonest or illegal means such as stealing, robbery, cheating, or coercion, it is considered stealing.
• Any sexual activity between people who are not husband and wife is adultery.
• Any talk that is less than true is lying.
• Any oral or written language that advocates excessive or abnormal sexual behavior is considered erotic language.
• Impolite, scornful, or hostile language is evil talk.
• Using language to divide other people’s friendship and mutual trust is two-tongued talk.
• Excessive or ceaseless desire for property and wealth, with a failure to give to good causes, is greed.
• Flying into a rage whenever something desired is not acquired as desired is anger.
• Lack of wisdom, unreasonableness, being opinionated, and refusing to believe the Buddha’s teachings on causality are all forms of delusion.
Conditions for Being Born in the Pure Land There are 84,000 ways of practicing Buddhism, but reciting Buddha’s name in order to be born in the World of Ultimate Bliss is a special method. It has been called “the greatest path of all paths”. Although the method is very simple, the principle is beyond our comprehension; only a Buddha can really understanding it. However, one does not need to understand the principle to practice it and to reap its full benefits. Remember that a Buddha has the highest moral standards, and that the words of a Buddha are always true. Consequently, whatever is said in the Sutras must be true. There are three conditions for being born in the World of Ultimate Bliss: belief, determination, and practice. These three conditions can be summed up as follows:
• To succeed in Buddha recitation, we must believe that there is a World of Ultimate Bliss, and that we can be born there if we recite Buddha’s name.
• Second, we must realize that this is the evil world of the five turbidities, and that we must have a firm and sincere determination to go to the World of Ultimate Bliss in order to be reborn there.
• Third, we must practice reciting Buddha’s name every day.
Follow successful examples. There are many examples we can follow to achieve success in Buddha recitation:
• Because of his great kindness and compassion, Shakyamuni Buddha taught us how to recite Buddha’s name in order to be born into the World of Ultimate Bliss. This is the simplest, surest way of escaping from the cycle of birth and death and attaining enlightenment. All other paths are much more difficult. Many great scholars have studied the path of Buddha recitation and discovered that the more they studied it, the more they appreciated it, and the more they became convinced that it is the most suitable path for success in Buddha recitation:

Because of his great kindness and compassion, Shakyamuni Buddha taught us how to recite Buddha’s name in order to be born into the World of Ultimate Bliss. This is the simplest, surest way of escaping from the cycle of birth and death and attaining enlightenment. All other paths are much more difficult. Many great scholars have studied the path of Buddha recitation and discovered that the more they studied it, the more they appreciated it, and the more they became convinced that it is the most suitable path for everybody.
In the Flower Adornment Assembly, both Wen Shu and Pu Xian – two sages who are assistants to Shakyamuni Buddha – advised people to practice this path. The two great Bodhisattvas of India, Ma Ming and Lung Shu, advocated Buddha recitation as the path for everybody. In China, great Dharma masters from Hui Yuan to Yin Guang started practicing other paths but later switched to this path.
There are countless numbers of Great Masters and other persons who have practiced and embraced this path. We should follow their examples.

Study the Sutras. The Pure Land path is mentioned in almost all Buddhist Sutras. However, three Sutras discuss it most specifically: The “Amitabha Sutra”, the “Infinite Life Sutra”, and the “Contemplation Sutra”. One should read the “Amitabha Sutra” many times. If time permits, one should read other Sutras, commentaries, and other materials about the Pure Land and Pure Land Study.
Common erroneous ideas. There are several erroneous ideas that can adversely affect your Pure Land Study:

“Good thoughts and good behavior are as good as reciting Buddha’ s name”: Everyone has experienced the evil mind sets of greed, anger, and delusion. Furthermore, many people often commit the physical evils of killing, stealing and adultery. Consequently, you probably cannot say that you always have decent thoughts and exemplary behavior. Even if you did, these merits would only help you cultivate your future fortune and well-being – that is, they could help you attain rebirth in a heaven or as a human being after your present life, but they would not help you escape from the cycle of birth and death or to achieve rebirth in the World of Ultimate Bliss. If you want to be in the World of Ultimate Bliss, you must cultivate wisdom. Wisdom can be cultivated through the recitation of Buddha’s name. It is important that you distinguish wisdom from good fortune. Do not confuse them and miss the chance of going to the World of Ultimate Bliss.
The common excuse of “I’m too busy to recite Buddha’s name”: By reciting Buddha’s name, you can ease your difficult life, avoid disasters, and be reborn in the World of Ultimate Bliss. So do not take it lightly. Do not allow the excuse of “having no time” to let this opportunity slip away. Being “too busy” is not a good excuse because you can recite Buddha’s name at any time: whether you are walking, sitting, or resting. No matter what your vocation is – education, farming, industry, or business – you can practice Buddha recitation without affecting your work. The following passage, called “Not Busy”, will show that you are not too busy to recite Buddha’s name.

Not Busy You are really not busy, yet you insist that you are. There are 24 hours in a day: eight hours for sleep; three hours for meals; one hour for coffee, refreshments, and bathroom breaks; at least two hours to go out for a drink and to return home and chat; and two hours for a nap – making a total of 16 hours. You may have many things to do for the remaining eight hours. But you cannot say that it’s too time-consuming if you devote just half an hour to recite Buddha’s name. If you want to put off reciting Buddha’s name until some future time, you should remember that life is as fleeting as a breath, and that death makes no distinction between the young and the old. Do not forget the pain we suffer on the revolving wheel of birth and death. Escaping this suffering and being born in the World of Ultimate Bliss is life’s most important business.
Guidelines to remember when reciting Buddha’s name When reciting Buddha’s name, you must set everything else aside and concentrate. Recitation of Buddha’s name must be initiated by your mind, must be recited by your mouth, must enter your ears, and must register in your mind. You must think clearly, recite clearly, and hear clearly. Only in this way you can get a result.
Clearing up some misconceptions Some people say: We live in a dormitory or other shared quarters. It is inconvenient to bow and pay homage to Buddha. We would disturb other people if we recite. Answer: It is true there are some inconveniences involved in reciting in a public place. But if you realize how important Buddha recitation is, you can sincerely recite Buddha’s name in your mind, without making a sound – and you will attain all the benefits of Buddha recitation. It is not necessary to recite and bow in front of a portrait of Buddha if that is inconvenient; the most important thing is to be sincere.
Some say: I don’t have time to visit a monastery, temple, or learning center. Answer: You do not have to go to those places to practice Buddha recitation. You can recite Buddha’s name at home.
Some say: Reciting Buddha’s name is for those who have money – I do not have money for this. Answer: There is no need to spend any money. Paying homage to Buddha with three sticks of incense does not cost much. You even do not have to have incense. The only thing you need is to be respectful and sincere in your mind.
Some say: One must be a vegetarian to practice Buddhism. I cannot be a vegetarian. Answer: You do not have to be a vegetarian for the time being. The important rule is not to kill. If you can avoid killing animals, you shall be credited with great virtues. You can eat “three-pure meat” for your meals. “Three-pure meat” has the following characteristics: The animal was not specifically killed for you; you did not witness the killing; and you did not hear the killing. There is plenty of meat and fish (not live) in the markets that is “three-pure meat”.
Link: http://read.goodweb.net.cn/PDF/p31/A%20Spiritual%20Goal%20For%20This%20Lifetime.pdf

Life is difficult most of the time. Who can avoid sickness, aging and weakness, separation from loved ones, deaths of friends and family members, loss of wealth, and hate and mistreatment from others? The poor seek wealth, the childless want to have children, the unemployed want to find work, and on and on. How many of these wishes can come true? Is there any way to solve these unfortunate problems?
Life is full of calamities. Many people die in hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, and fires. Many others starve due to drought or too much rain. Unexpected death is facing us every year. In a nuclear or biological war, the human race could be eliminated. Is there any way to avoid these disasters?
The revolving wheel of birth and death is painful. And death is not the end. A living body can die, but its consciousness never dies. Upon the death of the body, consciousness leaves the body and goes to one of the six paths: heaven, the human world, the asura world, the animal world, the hungry ghost world, or hell. Heaven and the human world are the better places of these six, but the cycle of birth and death is unavoidable. Everybody has to go through the birth-and-death cycle on one of the six paths. Imagine how terrible it must be in the animal world, and how painful it must be in hell! The birth-and-death cycle through the six paths is known as the “six-path revolving wheel of Birth-and-Death”. Is there any way to escape this revolving wheel of Birth-and-Death and secure a peaceful, happy eternal life?
Overcoming Life’s Difficulties and Escaping From the Cycle of Birth and Death Eliminate life’s difficulties and divert calamities. Whether we have a fortunate life or an unfortunate life is determined by our own mind and our own behavior. It is a system of cause and effect. Causes and effects involve three time periods: the past, the present, and the future. A difficult life and the occurrence of disasters are results of previous evil thoughts or bad behavior. But can divert and avoid unfortunate events by reciting Buddha’s name. The Sutras tell us that serious offenses and crimes committed aeons ago can be eliminated by sincerely reciting Buddha’s name. The Sutras also say that there is a limitless number of Buddhas in the universe who protect those who recite, “Amitabha Buddha”. Buddha possesses infinite virtue, supreme wisdom, and boundless might. If you have Buddha’s blessing, no disaster can befall you.
Escape the revolving wheel of birth and death and attain enlightenment. Is there any other place besides the six paths? The answer is yes. The six paths are worldly, common states. There are also holy places that are the states of Buddha. There is a World of Ultimate Bliss that lies to the west, far away from our world: the realm of Amitabha Buddha – the Pure Land. Everything there is made of gold and seven kind of precious jewels. The environment is pure and magnificent. It is superior to any palace in any other heaven by a million-fold. (There are many layers of heaven). Life in the World of Ultimate Bliss is eternal, in contrast to that on the six paths, which are locked in a continuous cycle of birth and death. According to the Sutras, if you are born in the World of Ultimate Bliss, your body is as radiant as gold. You are full of spiritual power. You manifest clothing and food by simply thinking about them. Your life is eternal, and you will become a Buddha after you complete your study under Amitabha Buddha. How do you get to the World of Ultimate Bliss? According to the Sutras, Amitabha Buddha will lead you there at the end of your life, provided that you repeatedly and single-mindedly recite “Amitabha Buddha” until you have achieved perfect concentration. All these benefits are described in the Sutras.
Benefits of Buddha Recitation Here are ten benefits you can gain by reciting “Amitabha Buddha”: • The protection of all heavenly gods, day and night. • The protection of 25 great Bodhisattvas, including Guan Yin. • The protection and blessings of all Buddhas. Particularly, Amitabha Buddha will shed light on you and protect you. • No evil spirits or poisonous snakes can harm you. • Flood, fire, and weapons will not harm you. Accidents will not happen to you. • The karma of your past wrongdoings, mischievous deeds, and misbehaviors will all be eliminated. • You will have no nightmares – only peaceful dreams. In them you may see Amitabha Buddha’s radiant golden image. • You will be happy, good-looking, energetic, healthy, and successful. • You will have the respect of other people. • As the end of your life approaches, you will not be afraid and you will be of sound mind. The Three Sages of the World of Ultimate Bliss will present you with a golden platform and will lead you to their realm [the Pure Land]. There you will be born by transformation from a lotus flower, and will enjoy both happiness and eternal life. 3 Of these ten benefits, the first nine can change the difficult life you are now living to a smooth and peaceful one, while the tenth benefit frees you from the revolving wheel of birth and death.
Morning and Evening Devotions To practice Buddha recitation, perform these simple morning and evening recitations. 1. Recite: “Homage to our teacher, Shakyamuni, Buddha of loving-kindness and compassion.” (During this recitation, bow or hold your palms together in front of your chest.) 2. Recite: “Homage to Amitabha, Buddha of great loving-kindness and compassion.” (Again, bow or hold your palms together in front of your chest.) 3. Recite “Namo Amitabha” or “Namo Amitabha Buddha” at least 100 times – the more repetitions, the better. You can kneel, sit, or stand. There is no need to bow, but be respectful and sincere. You can increase the number of recitations you do each day, but you should not decrease them. 4. Recite: “Namo Guan Shi Yin Bodhisattva”. (Recite and bow once). 5. Recite “Namo Da Shi Zhi Bodhisattva” or “Homage to Great Strength Bodhisattva”. (Recite and bow once.) (Guan Shi Yin [or Guan Yin] and Da Shi Zhi [or Great Strength Bodhisattva] are Amitabha Buddha’s two great assistants in the Pure Land; together; the three are known as the The Sages of the World of Ultimate Bliss. They are our teachers and friends, and we bow to them to show our respect. 6. Recite: “Homage to the Great Pure Sea of Bodhisattvas.” (Recite and bow once) There are many Bodhisattvas in the World of Ultimate Bliss. They are all our future teachers and friends 7. Recite the following Verse for the Transference of Merit: “I vow to adorn the Buddha’s pure land with this merit. Repay the four gracious kindnesses and aid those in the three paths of suffering below. May those who see and hear my vow all bring forth the Bodhi mind. And when this life is finished, may we be born together with other devotees in the World of Ultimate Bliss.” (This declaration is to direct the merits of reciting the Buddha’s name to glorify Buddha’s pure land, to help those named in this paragraph, and to affirm our determination to be born in the World of Ultimate Bliss. A different version of a recitation for the transfer of merit is presented on the page titled “Dedication of Merit”.)

Bow. The preceding exercises should be performed twice every day: in the morning and in the evening. You should clean your hands and rinse your mouth before starting your recitation. You can omit the bowing if there is no portrait of Buddha to bow to. If possible, you can light some incense before you begin, but you can omit the burning of incense if it is inconvenient. You should face to the west if possible, and you should be sincere. If time permits, between Steps 2 and 3 you should recite the “Amitabha Sutra” once, the “Vow to Achieve Birth in the Pure Land”: “We wish to be born in the Western Pure Land From nine levels of lotus blossoms. When the lotus opens, We shall see the Buddha and shall be enlightened to the eternal Truth, With Bodhisattvas who never regress on the Path as our companions.” three times, and the “Verse in Praise of Amitabha” once: “Amitabha’s body is the color of gold; The splendor of his hallmarks has no peer. The light of his brow shines around a hundred worlds; Wide as the seas are his eyes pure and clear. Shining in his brilliance by transformation Are countless Bodhisattvas and infinite Buddhas. His forty-eight vows will be our liberation; In nine lotus-stages we reach the farthest shore. Homage to the Buddha of the Western Pure Land, Kind and Compassionate Amitabha! Homage to Amitabha Buddha!”

The Ten Recitation Method The exercise presented in the previous section is designed for very busy people, and the following two-step exercise is designed for people who are even busier than that. It takes only five minutes to complete, and it is the simplest and the most practical method for assuring success in this lifetime:

Recite the words “Namo Amitabha” or “Namo Amitabha Buddha” three, five, or more times as you take one breath. Repeat this exercise with each breath for ten breaths.
Finish this exercise by reciting the Verse for the Transference of Merit presented in Step 7 of the previous exercise or on the page titled “Dedication of Merit”.

The most important requirement for practicing this method is to do your recitations both in the morning and in the evening, every day. Face a portrait of Buddha if you have one, and try to face west as you recite.
Ingredients for Success in Buddha Recitation Recitation and Good Behavior. Reciting Buddha’s name is the main ingredient for success in Buddha recitation. Good behaviors are the supplemental ingredients. Both are necessary to assure full benefits and success in practicing Buddhism. They are like the two wings of a bird; both are required for a bird to fly. Many people cannot distinguish good behaviors from evil ones. The following is a list of ten bad behaviors, as presented in the Sutra on the Ten Paths of Good Karma. If you do not practice any one of these ten bad behaviors, your behavior is good. Conversely, if you practice any one of them, your behavior is bad:

Killing.
Stealing.
Committing adultery. (The first three bad behaviors are known collectively as the three physical evils.)
Lying.
Erotic language.
Evil talk.
Two-tongued talk. (Bad behaviors 4 through 7 are known as the four oral evils.)
Greed.
Anger
Delusion. (Bad behaviors 8 through 10 are called the three mental evils.)

Points to remember about the ten bad behaviors:
• Injuring an animal, large or small, is considered killing.
• If one acquires property or fame through dishonest or illegal means such as stealing, robbery, cheating, or coercion, it is considered stealing.
• Any sexual activity between people who are not husband and wife is adultery.
• Any talk that is less than true is lying.
• Any oral or written language that advocates excessive or abnormal sexual behavior is considered erotic language.
• Impolite, scornful, or hostile language is evil talk.
• Using language to divide other people’s friendship and mutual trust is two-tongued talk.
• Excessive or ceaseless desire for property and wealth, with a failure to give to good causes, is greed.
• Flying into a rage whenever something desired is not acquired as desired is anger.
• Lack of wisdom, unreasonableness, being opinionated, and refusing to believe the Buddha’s teachings on causality are all forms of delusion.
Conditions for Being Born in the Pure Land There are 84,000 ways of practicing Buddhism, but reciting Buddha’s name in order to be born in the World of Ultimate Bliss is a special method. It has been called “the greatest path of all paths”. Although the method is very simple, the principle is beyond our comprehension; only a Buddha can really understanding it. However, one does not need to understand the principle to practice it and to reap its full benefits. Remember that a Buddha has the highest moral standards, and that the words of a Buddha are always true. Consequently, whatever is said in the Sutras must be true. There are three conditions for being born in the World of Ultimate Bliss: belief, determination, and practice. These three conditions can be summed up as follows:
• To succeed in Buddha recitation, we must believe that there is a World of Ultimate Bliss, and that we can be born there if we recite Buddha’s name.
• Second, we must realize that this is the evil world of the five turbidities, and that we must have a firm and sincere determination to go to the World of Ultimate Bliss in order to be reborn there.
• Third, we must practice reciting Buddha’s name every day.
Follow successful examples. There are many examples we can follow to achieve success in Buddha recitation:
• Because of his great kindness and compassion, Shakyamuni Buddha taught us how to recite Buddha’s name in order to be born into the World of Ultimate Bliss. This is the simplest, surest way of escaping from the cycle of birth and death and attaining enlightenment. All other paths are much more difficult. Many great scholars have studied the path of Buddha recitation and discovered that the more they studied it, the more they appreciated it, and the more they became convinced that it is the most suitable path for success in Buddha recitation:

Because of his great kindness and compassion, Shakyamuni Buddha taught us how to recite Buddha’s name in order to be born into the World of Ultimate Bliss. This is the simplest, surest way of escaping from the cycle of birth and death and attaining enlightenment. All other paths are much more difficult. Many great scholars have studied the path of Buddha recitation and discovered that the more they studied it, the more they appreciated it, and the more they became convinced that it is the most suitable path for everybody.
In the Flower Adornment Assembly, both Wen Shu and Pu Xian – two sages who are assistants to Shakyamuni Buddha – advised people to practice this path. The two great Bodhisattvas of India, Ma Ming and Lung Shu, advocated Buddha recitation as the path for everybody. In China, great Dharma masters from Hui Yuan to Yin Guang started practicing other paths but later switched to this path.
There are countless numbers of Great Masters and other persons who have practiced and embraced this path. We should follow their examples.

Study the Sutras. The Pure Land path is mentioned in almost all Buddhist Sutras. However, three Sutras discuss it most specifically: The “Amitabha Sutra”, the “Infinite Life Sutra”, and the “Contemplation Sutra”. One should read the “Amitabha Sutra” many times. If time permits, one should read other Sutras, commentaries, and other materials about the Pure Land and Pure Land Study.
Common erroneous ideas. There are several erroneous ideas that can adversely affect your Pure Land Study:

“Good thoughts and good behavior are as good as reciting Buddha’ s name”: Everyone has experienced the evil mind sets of greed, anger, and delusion. Furthermore, many people often commit the physical evils of killing, stealing and adultery. Consequently, you probably cannot say that you always have decent thoughts and exemplary behavior. Even if you did, these merits would only help you cultivate your future fortune and well-being – that is, they could help you attain rebirth in a heaven or as a human being after your present life, but they would not help you escape from the cycle of birth and death or to achieve rebirth in the World of Ultimate Bliss. If you want to be in the World of Ultimate Bliss, you must cultivate wisdom. Wisdom can be cultivated through the recitation of Buddha’s name. It is important that you distinguish wisdom from good fortune. Do not confuse them and miss the chance of going to the World of Ultimate Bliss.
The common excuse of “I’m too busy to recite Buddha’s name”: By reciting Buddha’s name, you can ease your difficult life, avoid disasters, and be reborn in the World of Ultimate Bliss. So do not take it lightly. Do not allow the excuse of “having no time” to let this opportunity slip away. Being “too busy” is not a good excuse because you can recite Buddha’s name at any time: whether you are walking, sitting, or resting. No matter what your vocation is – education, farming, industry, or business – you can practice Buddha recitation without affecting your work. The following passage, called “Not Busy”, will show that you are not too busy to recite Buddha’s name.

Not Busy You are really not busy, yet you insist that you are. There are 24 hours in a day: eight hours for sleep; three hours for meals; one hour for coffee, refreshments, and bathroom breaks; at least two hours to go out for a drink and to return home and chat; and two hours for a nap – making a total of 16 hours. You may have many things to do for the remaining eight hours. But you cannot say that it’s too time-consuming if you devote just half an hour to recite Buddha’s name. If you want to put off reciting Buddha’s name until some future time, you should remember that life is as fleeting as a breath, and that death makes no distinction between the young and the old. Do not forget the pain we suffer on the revolving wheel of birth and death. Escaping this suffering and being born in the World of Ultimate Bliss is life’s most important business.
Guidelines to remember when reciting Buddha’s name When reciting Buddha’s name, you must set everything else aside and concentrate. Recitation of Buddha’s name must be initiated by your mind, must be recited by your mouth, must enter your ears, and must register in your mind. You must think clearly, recite clearly, and hear clearly. Only in this way you can get a result.
Clearing up some misconceptions Some people say: We live in a dormitory or other shared quarters. It is inconvenient to bow and pay homage to Buddha. We would disturb other people if we recite. Answer: It is true there are some inconveniences involved in reciting in a public place. But if you realize how important Buddha recitation is, you can sincerely recite Buddha’s name in your mind, without making a sound – and you will attain all the benefits of Buddha recitation. It is not necessary to recite and bow in front of a portrait of Buddha if that is inconvenient; the most important thing is to be sincere.
Some say: I don’t have time to visit a monastery, temple, or learning center. Answer: You do not have to go to those places to practice Buddha recitation. You can recite Buddha’s name at home.
Some say: Reciting Buddha’s name is for those who have money – I do not have money for this. Answer: There is no need to spend any money. Paying homage to Buddha with three sticks of incense does not cost much. You even do not have to have incense. The only thing you need is to be respectful and sincere in your mind.
Some say: One must be a vegetarian to practice Buddhism. I cannot be a vegetarian. Answer: You do not have to be a vegetarian for the time being. The important rule is not to kill. If you can avoid killing animals, you shall be credited with great virtues. You can eat “three-pure meat” for your meals. “Three-pure meat” has the following characteristics: The animal was not specifically killed for you; you did not witness the killing; and you did not hear the killing. There is plenty of meat and fish (not live) in the markets that is “three-pure meat”.
Link: http://read.goodweb.net.cn/PDF/p31/A%20Spiritual%20Goal%20For%20This%20Lifetime.pdf

Has something ever happened to you and you wished if only you could change the situation? Most of us had gone through this situation. The truth in life is nothing just happens, but that is not the best thing about it. Most people take charge of there lives while the others just live the lives that they have been programmed to live. Now, the Universal Cheat Code is a program that makes you take charge of your life. What do I mean? According to numerologist, every occurrence in life is related to a number, from your date of birth to your greatest strength and to the things you attract. So, this cheat code are codes that if know you could focus on change your life. The summary of everything is it make you manifest what you want in life; be it love, hate, pain, bliss and so on. The power to change things is in your hand, never settle for what life has brought to you without making good use of it. I know not many people will take action but aren’t you tired of being laughed at? Aren’t you tired of tolerating your boss? These are the main reasons this program was made. It was made to make sure you have a better life, a better personality. It is a teaching taught by Master Li which helped millions of underclass Chinese workers lift their lives out of poverty.
I may not know the specific reason why you need it but if are among the set of people I am going to be talking about about below, then you should consider getting it soon. 1) If you want to change your present situation to your dream life. 2) If you move from one problem to another no matter how hard you try. 3) If you are tired of being understand a boss that doesn’t appreciate your work. 4) If you want to attract a lover.
There are other people who this program can help, but I can guarantee that the people above are going to get results if they use this program.
On March 21st, 1991, Master Li was brutally attacked and arrested by the "Guoanbu", better known as Communist China's, infamously vicious secret police service.
The Guoanbu were notorious for their brutal tactics and persecution of everyday citizens for any show of disrespect against the state. Unfortunately, Master Li had fallen into their crosshairs...
Master Li was not arrested for any real crime, but instead arrested and threatened with the death penalty for his growing influence amongst millions of working-class Chinese...
Master Li shot to fame after his unique teachings helped millions of underclass Chinese workers lift themselves out of crippling poverty and into an abundance of life-changing wealth.
You might remember China implemented the "one child policy". This was partly due to Master Li's followers finally having the money to support multiple children, and country's population unexpectedly surging. Anyway...
Master Li's arrest came as a severe shock to his followers, as his teachings were, at the time, best described as a blend of traditional Zen Buddhism, astrology and powerful numerology. ‍ More confusing still was the fact his teachings actually worked.
Grandmaster monks and the Chinese working class all condemned Master Li's detention.
After all...China was still recovering from the reign of Chairman Mao Zedong, a powerful dictator responsible for the deaths of 80 million peasants.
Master Li was helping these people. He was like their Mother Theresa... why was he being arrested?
It was a confusing time for Master Li's devout followers, but there were things they did not know about him - and the Secret Police had begun to grow suspicious...
Master Li's humble life as a well-respected Monk was about to be turned upside down....
This is a story of fame, murder, money and manifestation.
But let's start with Master Li's escape...
Once the secret police had Master Li in custody, he was repeatedly beaten by specialist agents who used a variety of banned torture techniques to break his will.
The whole time these beatings took place, Master Li did not make a sound. Instead, he meditated silently as whips and chains lashed across his back.
The room was swelteringly hot. Sweat mixed with blood as it dripped from his head and into his clasped hands. Still, Master Li remained in the lotus position, meditating throughout the ordeal.
Just hours earlier, Master Li was teaching a class of aspiring students the powers of meditation and manifestation. Just as his lecture came to an end, police broke down the door to his temple and dragged him out into the streets.
Taken from the tranquility of his monastery and thrown into a police torture chamber, Master Li's core philosophy and beliefs were being tested to their limits.
The police continued to beat Master Li for several days, before the police chief instructed them to stop, fearing Master Li might succumb to his wounds.
Though the beatings stopped, the punishment didn't end. He was deprived of sleep and went without clean water or sufficient food for months and kept with only a bucket for a toilet.
These were not the conditions for a man who had literally improved the lives of millions.
Yet, throughout his time in prison, Master Li sat peacefully in his cell.
He never protested his torture.
To keep Master Li locked in jail, the police had accused him of murdering a local monk. A shocking charge in Buddhist Asia...
Of course, the charge was fake - made up by the state - but it was widely publicized in Chinese media to help the authorities discredit Master Li and strip him of his growing influence.
It also, worryingly, carried the death sentence if found guilty - a penalty that is still used heavily in China to this day.
It was no time for Master Li to sit by and await his fate. He needed to escape, and fast.
His life was on the line.
Master Li remained in police custody for several more months, until on January 11th, 1992, his cell was miraculously found empty. Master Li had vanished.
A country-wide search was initiated, with both police and troops searching throughout China's provinces for the mystical, and much-loved monk.
Master Li managed to evade authorities and had escaped high into the Tibetan mountains, known as the Hengduan Mountain Range, where he remained for the next 25 years.
The Hengduan Mountains are an incredibly spiritual part of the world. Buddhist monasteries gently adorn the intimidating mountainsides, and prayer flags flutter amongst the roar of river rapids in the valleys below.
Through the next decades, Master Li refined his numerology skills from the safety of his Tibetan monastery, eventually settling on the practice of what he called "Universal Cheat Codes".
Quietly, word of Master Li's location spread amongst his followers, and he began to receive visitors from mainland China. Both new and old students made the arduous journey high up into the mountains to meet and thank Master Li for his teachings.
Thousands of Master Li's students who studied under him before his arrest had gone on to become millionaires, and even billionaires, or become famous and successful in their careers.
One of his students, Kimsong Xiao, had gone on to become one of China's leading technology entrepreneurs, and as a way to thank Master Li for his contribution, Xiao set up this website to share Master Li's work with the world.
To meet Master Li, click the button below. If you are not one of the first 15 people to visit this website today, you will be redirected to the homepage.
>>> Click here to get the program<<<

Have it set on the Moon during the Helium 3 mining boom.Make it a kind of Wild West gold rush story.
Basic premise, going to the moon is expensive, the only option for most people is borrowing large sums of money(10's of millions of dollars).
Lenders/governments prefer lending to large families. Since they can reproduce and are less likely to fall apart(when facing financial ramifications). "Families" can only be formed via adoption, parentage or marriage.
Each family is given a "credit rating" that is partially based on the "perceived" stability of the family itself. This means a family divorce could cost a family millions, in contrast welcoming a new inlaw to the family could drastically reduce financing costs.
A follow up is the problem of people marrying in and marrying out of families. Losing your daughter can be expensive, but it is possible to sell her for $10 million to the inlaws. In this environment you'd have a wide range of nationalities with differing religious backgrounds, with domestic cultural differences becoming a plot point.
On top of the financing/family side of the equation you'd have the work.
Owning a spacesuit is crazy expensive on the moon dune to lunar dust being so incredibly abrasive. The working class cannot afford space suits and the only way of exploring the lunar surface is via Rovers. The rovers of course would be a real obvious stand in for Wagons/Ship/Trailer homse. It's the only way to go out on the range and avoid the depression caused by being trapped in a space habitat.
The economic niche of the families, is operating small to mid sized businesses, to facilitate the big mining conglomerates. So different families would take on different roles, some would focus on farming, others would be collecting sewage(remember nitrogen is crazy expensive on the moon), others would build roads, mine water etc.
Our story would focus on a family attempting to run a Garage/Machine shop. They would be doing rover maintenance as their main income with doing oddjobs when the market for it arises it.
The goal is to become a $billion family. 40 people, with a net worth of $25 million or more. This sounds wild on earth but on the moon a meal will cost you $200. So this is the lunar equivalent of having a 2 car garage and a pool.
This premise of having a successful large family becomes the driving force of the story. There are no side stories or b plots used as filler. Family drama isn't just used to fill run time, the family drama is no different from losing a compressor motor. Everything revolves the goal of becoming success.
Each episode is based around the premise of achieving a set goal. It could be decorating and preparing for a wedding, getting a room built for a newborn, or simply getting the sewage system working so people can shower instead of bathing with wet naps.
This would obviously resemble a reality tv show, the type found on the discovery channel. It would obviously resemble the drama of running a family farm during the wild west. But most critically of all it follows what real life astronauts do on the ISS. They're mechanics and machinists, focused on keeping the energy going.
Each episode would include a starting and final finacial statement. Like BSG the families finances would be on a whiteboard, with changes downwards written in red and upward written in green.
Basic plot ideas.
1) Family takes the rover to the big city to do some trading.
2) Two families squabble, as neither is ok with letting their kids "marry out".
3) Father catches son in law cheating on his daugther and is struggling with whether or not he should be telling her before or after they negotiate a big loan.
4) A episode dedicated to getting a water recycling system running, so they can finally start bathing.
5) Family rover gets lost and a search crew(with the neighbors must be found)
6) Competing family tries to force the family to move.
7) Sex trafficking ring is discovered.
8) The family adopts several victims of sex trafficking.
9) Family plays with religious conversion as a means of getting loan rates down.
10) Family goes on a diet plan, to get food costs down.
11) A nursery has to be built for a new family member.
12) One of the children is diagnosed with autism, siginificantly downgrading the families credit rating. Meanwhile it's notice that the kid is particularly good at particular tasks helping the family advancing forward.
13) Daughter becomes a family counsellor after finishing her Masters via distance education. She struggles with the ethical ramifications for being responsible downgrading a family's credit rating.
14) A nephew explains that his inlaws are destroying his life. As a result a minature family war erupts with the end result of the two families being merged together.
15) A group of family members become repo men out of desperation. As a result they have to steal basic equipment needed for a neighbouring families electrical and sewage systems.
16) After some limited success the family works on a Christmas family for a family in dire straights.
17) Family starts working excessive amounts of overtime to meet a contract deadline. Multiple members of the family start taking stimulants to achieve their goals. Interesting dynamic arises when a father son combo share an addiction cycle together.
18) A debate arises for whether or not they can afford "accredited" home schooling for the kids, and whether or not they should halt the kids "formal" education and focus on their hands on learning, making them child labourers.
19) After the big wedding the two families deal with the ramifications of their cultural and religious differences.
20) Siblings fight over who gets primary access to the old rover now that a new one has been purchased. Debate breaks down to dating needs(family expansion), versus needs of parents(wanting their kids to have time outside)
21) A grandmother struggles with her ability to help the family as there isn't much need for a nurse as they give up on formal homeschooling. As a result she ends up becoming a "county" paramedic.