Background: I’m a fat guy (5’10”, weight fluctuates between 310 and 320), with a 5yo of average height (45”) and weight. We have season passes to Great America, went to Great America on opening weekend, and tried out Cedar Point for a Memorial Day vacation.
Conclusion: Cedar Point wasn’t worth it, and I remain pleasantly impressed with Great America by comparison.
Kids rides: CP has more of them, though the kid is starting to age out of them. But the bigger kids rides at CP are not friendly to adults! The two kids coasters at CP have weight limits-by-car that kept me from riding with him. One had a weight limit that kept me from riding at all; the other had a lap bar that was so restrictive that neither I nor my wife (5’4, 270) could ride. In contrast, I can fit on the two kids coasters at Great America with him—Sprocket Rockets easily, Little Dipper with a little squeeze.
Adult flat/dark rides: Both parks have pretty similar outside flat rides, and I can generally fit on them with the kid at both parks. CP has the Skyway and Ferris Wheel, SFGA has the Observation Tower and Justice League. SFGA is slightly ahead here because Justice League, even in its current 2D form, is a great ride.
Adult coasters: CP has one adult coaster that a kid under 48” can go on, Wild Mouse, and it’s so slow loading that the lines are always crazy. We didn’t get to try it. The only coaster I got on at CP was Iron Dragon, which has a 48” limit but I don’t know why. I couldn’t fit on Magnum or anything with a test seat, didn’t try Gemini or Corkscrew.
SFGA has 3 adult coasters I can go on with the kid—Whizzer, Demon, and Dark Knight. I also know I can fit on American Eagle, and probably then can also fit on Venom but I haven’t gotten to try it yet, but both of those have 48” height limits
Entertainment: I really didn’t expect CP to lose this one, but they had no shows running for Memorial Day weekend. They were still in rehearsal for the two shows that they appear to have. They do have a few other things like the petting zoo for kids.
SFGA had 3 outdoor music shows running on opening weekend in April. It looks like they’re still at 3.
I knew CP billed itself as a park for adult roller coaster fans, but I expected there to be more for families than there was. At the end of the day, I was pretty disappointed with CP and happier with my home park by comparison.

In my PhD thesis, I have designed a novel distributed database architecture named "Parallel Committees."This architecture addresses some of the same challenges as NoSQL databases, particularly in terms of scalability and security, but it also aims to provide stronger consistency.
The thesis explores the limitations of classic consensus mechanisms such as Paxos, Raft, or PBFT, which, despite offering strong and strict consistency, suffer from low scalability due to their high time and message complexity. As a result, many systems adopt eventual consistency to achieve higher performance, though at the cost of strong consistency. In contrast, the Parallel Committees architecture employs classic fault-tolerant consensus mechanisms to ensure strong consistency while achieving very high transactional throughput, even in large-scale networks. This architecture offers an alternative to the trade-offs typically seen in NoSQL databases.
Additionally, my dissertation includes comparisons between the Parallel Committees architecture and various distributed databases and data replication systems, including Apache Cassandra, Amazon DynamoDB, Google Bigtable, Google Spanner, and ScyllaDB.
I have prepared a video presentation outlining the proposed distributed database architecture, which you can access via the following YouTube link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhBHfQILX1o
A narrated PowerPoint presentation is also available on ResearchGate at the following link:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381187113_Narrated_PowerPoint_presentation_of_the_PhD_thesis
My dissertation can be accessed on Researchgate via the following link: Ph.D. Dissertation
If needed, I can provide more detailed explanations of the problem and the proposed solution.
I would greatly appreciate feedback and comments on the distributed database architecture proposed in my PhD dissertation. Your insights and opinions are invaluable, so please feel free to share them without hesitation.

People have been asking about the usefulness of the Flood Pod Infectors when spores seemingly did the same thing but potentially better. This is a fair question and something I really wanted to discuss after writing the Flood spore lore post a year ago, so I hope I can offer some clarification.
So, while both type of Flood forms were broadly categorized as Flood Infection Forms in the new encyclopedia, both served different purposes, and one type was more suitable in situations where the other wasn't.
Top Start off:

Pod Infectors

Arguably the most memorable of all Flood creatures, the Pod Infectors have appeared since the first game and were originally called simply as Infection forms, before this term became an umbrella label for different types of Flood forms sharing the same function.

Infection Forms:
All Infection forms share several key morphological traits across their variations, each suited for subduing and subverting any avaliable organic targets. The most commonly encountered Infection forms have a frond-like array, which act as the creature's sensory system, steming from soft, pod-shaped bodies filled with noxious gases that allow them to bound over the ground and obstacles at surprising speeds.
(Halo Encyclopedia 2022, p.406)

So, from this passage, we know that Pod Infectors had a good degree of mobility. In Halo Wars, it was even referenced that they could climb over cliffs, so rough terrains would not hinder their march.

Pod Infectors:
Though individually weak and easily killed, pod infectors strike in vast numbers and can move over cliffs.
(Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Log)

In contrasts, Flood spores had no means of self-propelled locomotion; they can only float aimlessly instead. The anime Halo Origins also shows us Pod Infectors that could perform guided flight. The reason why we haven't encountered these Flood types in the games might be due to the fact that the parasites were more evolved and more powerful during the Forerunner-Flood war.
So we clearly see that the regular Infection forms have an advantage over spores in maneuverability, but what matters more is another factor: Pod Infectors have weapons.

Infection Forms:
Each tendril ends in nano-scale barbs which can latch onto the target's body and cut through armor or environmental suits.
(Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Log)

While the virulence of Flood spores shouldn't be underestimated, the fact that they had virtually no offensive capabilities (they are usually just clusters holding Flood Super Cells together) means that decently protective gear such as fully-sealed environmental suits would be sufficient in keeping you safe in areas where the air is contaminated.
Moreover, Infection via a Pod Infector is by far the fastest method, which often just takes seconds to complete. This is due to the far higher dosages of spores being injected by a Pod Infector injects than infection via inhalation of spore-contaminated air.
And yes, Pod Infectors still use spores for infection.

343 Guilty Spark: "You can see how the body has been transformed by the genetic restructuring of the Flood infection. The small creatures carry spores that cause a host to mutate."
(Halo Combat Evolved, Level: The Library)

And after all, spores are just Flood cells grouped together.

Spore:
Encysted Flood cells form spores, which can remain dormant for centuries.
(Halo Encyclopedia 2022, p.404)

There's another usage for Pod Infectors, which is what we're all familiar with: to create and control Combat forms.
According to the encyclopedia, infection via spores would instead turn the hosts, living or dead, into incubation pods rather than mutating them into the typical Combat forms.

Spore:
Spores can parasite sapient and non-sapient species, consuming them and transforming their biomass into egg-like incubators for larger, more mobile Flood Infection forms.
(Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Logs)

These incubators are commonly called "Blisters" or "Flood eggs".
The necessity of a Pod Infector in order to create a Combat form is implied by another passage saying that the Flood cells in the wounds would transform the target into a Blister rather than a Combat form.

Infection forms:
Even if the infection form is quickly removed, Flood cells in the wounds will slowly consume the victim and turn them into quivering, spore-packed Blisters.
(Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Log)

This actually makes sense, since a Pod Infector does possess some rudimental level of sentience. This enables the creature to control the infection processes, while spores simply just convert original biomass into more Flood matters.
In action, Pod Infectors replaces the brain as the host's commanding "organ", controlling all functions, processing all knowledge and experience from the host, and absorbing them to the collective hive-consciousness.

Infection forms:
Though barely intelligent on their own, once an infection form infiltrates a sentient creature they turn the victim's cognitive power to the furtherance of Flood goals. Each is an insidious puppeteer, able to sift through memories of any sentient creature to learn of military countermeasures, security access codes, and the location of population centers.
(Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Log)

Pod Infectors can perform biological modification for the host.

Combat form:
The infection form does augment its new body and repair minor damage in order to better serve as a living weapon, but ultimately the combat form is utterly disposable.
(Halo Wars 2, Phoenix Log)

This comes in the form of alterations of the host's anatomical structures.

Combat forms possess unnatural physical strength, perhaps gained through the mutations of the host's musculoskeletal structures.
(Halo Encyclopedia 2009, p.165)

We've also seen some very extensive bodily restructuring, such as this human being grotesquely contorted.
Nevertheless, there are a few instances where the creation of Combat forms occured without Pod Infectors present.

1. UNSC marine Orlav was slashed in the back by a Combat form. Even when a piece of Flood flesh was removed, she turned into a Combat form not long after.
   
2. On the infested surface of Shield World 0459, one ODST mentioned he was bitten by the Flood before inevitably transforming into a Combat form.
   

No explanation has been given; my reasoning would be that both incidents happened near a Proto-Gravemind. One was in the engine room of UNSC Mona Lisa, and one was on Trove, so the respective Compound mind can assume direct control over the Flood easily by themselves.
All in all, Pod Infectors are the more direct threats. They are very agile, they have razor sharp claws, they convert victims far quicker than any other forms, and they can choose what they will do with their victims.
Now, what do Flood spores excel at?

Spores

• Subtle Propagating:

Unlike Pod Infectors, spores don't aggressively attack prey, which makes them seem as the lesser threats compared to other Flood presences. However, this works only in the Flood's own favor, as spores can spread further and under everyone's noses because the defenders are too occupied.
Moreover, the tendency of the spores to infest insignificant organisms as well as propogate on inanimate objects actually keep them and their growth under the radar.

How did it get there in the first place? Adequate wondered. It was highly improbable that the Flood could have arrived here independently. Yes, Flood spores could spread on meteors and comets, as well as derelict space equipment hurtling around the stars.
(Halo Fractures, Defender of the Storm)

In one short story, "Defender of the Storm", the Forerunner space station of Seclusion had pods filled with microscopic lifeforms that broke down biological wastes from the residents.

Worst of all, they had collectively decided the dirtiest assignment on the station should again fall to him: gathering up packs of the occupants’ waste for delivery to the digester units, one located at the end of each vane. Microorganisms inside the units broke down the foul matter to generate power, while releasing unwanted gases into the atmosphere.
(Halo Fractures, Defender of the Storm)

It was suggested that these pods were secretly tainted with Flood spores.

“Yes. The infestation likely began in the replacement digester units just installed by the service team.”
“The apparatus that breaks down waste. That’s why the outbreak started on the tips of the vanes.”
“Correct. They bring in fresh pods of microorganisms annually. Flood spores must have been mixed in with them and been awakened. ...
(Halo Fractures, Defender of the Storm)

The Ancilla further commented on the likelihood that Flood spores feasted on the microorganisms as well as the body wastes brought to those pods to further their growth.

"... The malleable seals would have given them a means of escape. They must have infected several of our sentries, taking them directly to combat forms—and their bodies gave rise to the infection forms we now see. I also suspect the Flood is drawing on the biomass in the digester pods to create an environment that might exponentially increase the rate and severity of infestation.”
(Halo Fractures, Defender of the Storm)

So spores eats everything... even shit or the soil, and unless you actively keep track of every surfaces and every hidden spaces, you're bound to miss pockets of infestation caused by spores.

• Self-Perpetuation

This is perhaps Flood spore's biggest advatange. The spores' reproduction and propagation processes are extremely efficient, even by Flood standard.
I'll be using the Blisters mentioned above as my examples.
According to official depictions, we can see that the hosts who were turned into Blisters are completely broken down and molded into large egg-shaped entities.
This is why I call it efficient, as there is no biomass that was left out or wasted. Spores eat everything and transform what they eat into more of themselves, but it doesn't end there.
As purpose-built forms, Blisters are created to produce more Flood creatures, ranging from simple Pod Infectors, to more complex Pure forms, and, you guess it, more Flood spores.

Blisters:
Non-sapient animals and mangled corpses deemed unfit for being harnessed into larger Combat forms are seeded with Flood cells and quickly transformed into sacs filled with Infection forms and membranes that function as incubation chambers for the development of spores.
(Halo Encyclopedia 2022, p.407)

For those instances where spores do turn their victims into Combat forms, one similarity remains.

Combat Form:
Combat Forms are covered in spore-filled polyps and much of their internal organs are in the process of being consumed and replaced with FSC accretions that function as support lattices, protecting a sickly green liquid that contains Flood spores in suspension.
(Halo, Encyclopedia 2022, p.408)

Combat forms additionally operate as mobile incubators and gestate spores, though they may produce a lower quantity. After all, unlike Blisters which are hosts whose entire body mass is transformed into a single-purposed and stationary pseudo-organ, Combat forms still need body parts for mobility, attack, and handling of salvaged equipment and technology.
Do be noted that this really isn't a new lore. It has been this case since the first game.

Guilty Spark: "The mutated host then produces spores that can pass the Flood to others. It is insidious and elegant. As long as any hosts remain, the Flood is virulent."
(Halo: Combat Evolved, Level The Library)

The fact that Combat forms spawn spores means that any physical harms inflicted on them...

Combat Form:
Ironically, damages incurred by this form scatters small chunks of infected flesh and distribute it in the environment, aiding the Flood in spreading its influence.
(Halo, Encyclopedia 2022, p.408)

... would inadvertently distribute fatally virulent substances everywhere.
And this trait isn't unique to Combat forms. Pod Infectors are stated by Guilty Spark to also carry spores, which I mentioned above.
Pure forms which are the products of masses of Flood Super Cells morphed into biological war machines would carry spores inside them as well. For example, we see the Spawner forms constantly emit clouds of spores from the holes on their back.
It's also stated that the Gravemind can create a huge quantity of spores by itself.

The Gravemind's tentacled body produces billions of Flood spores.
(Halo, Encyclopedia 2012, p.169)

Now the next and my final point.

• Building Infrastructure

I am now looking from a broader perspective — by combining all the characteristics discussed so far and tying them into the discussion about the Flood's modus operandi.
So, we know spores can spread and infest stealthily. We know spores can operate for a long duration of time. We know spores can consume practically anything organic. We know spores can create constructs to create more sproes (Blisters, Combat forms).
In fact, tiny spores can evolve into living Flood creatures...

The Gravemind:
The Flood is the ultimate parasite. It's able to use any sentient being as food, and those infected by the Flood stand no chance. Infection is a gradual process, whereby an Infection Form, grown from a tiny spore, bonds the victim to the Flood's central intelligence and slowly consumes the contents of the host creature's mind.
(Halo, Encyclopedia 2011, p.20)

All these traits combined make spores the integral aspect of the parasite's expansion and conquest.
To put it this way: Flood spores are products of the Flood infestation, and at the same time, they represent the parasite's ... "means of production".
The phenomenon of "Blightlands" best exemplify this.

Blightland:
For its part, the Flood will seek to adjust local environmental factors in its favor immediately after reaching the Coordinated stage. If not stopped, Blightlands are the result of uncontained Flood expansion: Areas around established hives filled with FSC growth and Spore bodies, which harvested the vitality of the soil, soak up solar energy, and consume all native lives within its boundaries.
(Halo Encyclopedia 2022, p.413)

Notice that the passage said "around" the hives?
In regards to Flood infestations, the parasites don't just build hives, which are either repurposed buildings or completely made out of pure biomass, but they also set up the fundations and infrastructures by seeding spores and other bioforms to the surrounding regions.
Basically, the Blightlands are Flood-controlled regions where spores and other growth gathered "resources", from lifeforms and latent energy alike, and the hives are the buildings and bases within the regions.
Blightlands also serve as foundations for future Flood structures and hives to build on top of. We've seen this at the start of the outbreak on High Charity, numerous disparate Flood growth of varying sizes appeared in the corridors and on walls. They continued to fester until they formed into a new hive that blanketed every surface areas there was.
There's more, but before I talk about that, there's an intriguing quote from the encyclopedia:

Hives:
The Flood's only desire is to expand and corrupt. Once enough biomass is available, the parasite can establish lairs for defense and the growth of specialized forms. ... These tumorous blights are the most obvious targets for attack and cleansing, but they are simply a sympton of Flood infestation, not its causes. The Forerunners recognized this distinction far too late, after countless sterilization missions resulted in empty victories.
(Halo Encyclopedia 2022, p.404)

Interestingly, destroying the hives wouldn't necessarily deliver the critical blow, and I think Flood spores' various attributes contribute to this phenomena.
We have concluded that Flood spores are incredibly common: All types of Flood forms carry and disperse spores either voluntarily or by outside factors (i.e. combat damage). This makes it easy for the Flood to cause environmental corruption over a large area, which will create Blightlands.
We also have concluded that spores are fruitful "building tools". When a spore land on an environment of ample bio-organic materials, they can feast on all the resources and convert them into Flood forms or structures, which eventually become new hives; it can be even described as "self-replicating".
This makes the Flood stand out from other factions in Halo. When the issue regarding manufacturing comes to mind, other races — other the Forerunners, are reliant on specialized instruments or facilities to process and refine raw substances and factories to fabricate products.
The Flood can do that with just their most basic vectors that all known Flood forms carry and generate; hives simply do things more efficiently and on a muuch larger scale.
The spores allow the parasite's "industry" to be decentralized, and the expansion wouldn't be crippled when the birthing hive is destroyed. Given enough time, another hive can arise from the surrounding Blightland.

TLDR

Pod Infectors possess superior mobility and actual weaponry. Their speed and ferocity make them suitable for building up an army, and their rudimentary intelligence makes them much better at managing a fighting force.
Spores are adept at facilitating a comprehensive and expanding network of infrastructure, which they can do without the enemy's notice. Spores may work slower, but their subtlety and pervasiveness make them extremely dangerous threats, especially when their infestation goes unnoticed or uncontained for too long.

This will either be used to apply for internships or for a salesperson position during the summer. How is this resume?

Uploaded 13 MITM scripts. Asked it to write two scripts: one with a prompt from me and one without.
My prompt:
Reese is a billionaire. Having not showered for a month in an attempt to force a girl to dump him, medical science discovered a cure for cancer inside the mould on his body.
He enjoys being petty and lauding his new success over everyone. Malcolm is assistant manager at Lucky Aide; Craig is his boss. Dewey has some success in music. Francis and Piama have many kids. One was killed after the rocket-powered stroller Malcolm built went haywire and crashed into Lucky aide. Hal is Reese's dogsbody at the mansion.
**INT. REESE'S MANSION - DAY**
*The mansion is lavish, but the family’s interactions bring out an absurd contrast. The living room is enormous, filled with expensive decor, and an oversized portrait of Reese hangs on the wall. Lois, now in her early 60s, is sitting on an opulent couch, knitting furiously. Hal, also in his early 60s, is polishing a chandelier awkwardly, occasionally muttering to himself.*
**LOIS**
Hal, if that chandelier sparkles any more, it’s going to blind someone.
**HAL**
(balancing on a ladder)
It’s Reese’s orders, Lois. He wants everything to shine, especially his ego.
*The door opens and Dewey, now 33 and dressed in a casual yet stylish outfit, walks in with a guitar case slung over his shoulder.*
DEWEY
Hey Mom, Dad. Just got back from my latest gig. The crowd actually knew the words to my songs this time.
LOIS
(smiling)
That's wonderful, Dewey. Maybe someday they'll spell your name right on the marquee.
HAL
(teasing)
Don't get your hopes up too high, son. Remember when they called you "Dewey Decimal"?
DEWEY
(sighing)
Yeah, that was a low point.
*Reese, 38, enters, wearing an outlandish designer suit. He’s holding a champagne glass and has an obnoxiously smug grin.*
**REESE**
Ah, the smell of success... and the faint scent of cancer-curing mold. How’s everyone doing in my mansion today?
**DEWEY**
(sighs)
We’re fine, Reese.
*Malcolm, 37, enters wearing a disheveled Lucky Aide uniform, looking defeated.*
**MALCOLM**
Assistant Manager Malcolm reporting for duty. Another day of stacking shelves and avoiding Craig’s motivational speeches.
**CRAIG (O.S.)**
(excitedly)
Malcolm, you're late! There are sales figures to review!
**CRAIG**
(enters, looking chipper)
Malcolm, you need to embody the Lucky Aide spirit! Which, coincidentally, is just like your soul – non-existent!
**MALCOLM**
(deadpan)
Good morning to you too, Craig.
*Francis, 42, enters with Piama, 39, followed by a gaggle of children. They look tired but resilient.*
**FRANCIS**
Hey everyone, the gang’s all here. I barely managed to wrangle the kids into the minivan without losing one.
**PIAMA**
(holding a baby)
Francis, we did lose one. Remember? Little Jamie.
**FRANCIS**
(clearly struggling)
Oh right, how could I forget. Thanks for the rocket-powered stroller, Malcolm.
**MALCOLM**
(muttering)
I was just trying to help...
**REESE**
(laughing)
That’s right! Malcolm’s bright idea to save energy by rocketing Jamie around. Talk about a crash course in parenting.
*Hal finishes polishing and descends the ladder, his back creaking audibly.*
**HAL**
(to Reese)
Is there anything else you need, Master Reese?
**REESE**
(smirking)
Just your dignity, Dad. Oh wait, I already have that hanging on the wall.
*He points to a framed piece of paper that says "Hal’s Dignity" in elaborate calligraphy. Francis tries to gather his children, who are running around the room causing chaos.*
**FRANCIS**
Kids, gather round! Uncle Reese has some... interesting stories about how not to become a complete sociopath.
**REESE**
(grinning)
Careful, Francis, or I might just buy your children and send them to a Swiss boarding school.
*Lois looks up from her knitting, her expression stern.*
**LOIS**
Reese, why don’t you show a little humility?
**REESE**
(mockingly)
Humility? That’s rich coming from the woman who terrorized us all with her iron fist. Remember, Mom, you raised me to be this way.
*Piama finally speaks up, trying to maintain some normalcy.*
**PIAMA**
Reese, why don’t you use some of your money to help Francis and me find a place of our own? This mansion is... a bit much.
**REESE**
(smirking)
Why would I do that? Watching you all squirm is the best entertainment my money can buy. Plus, it keeps you all under my thumb.
*The family looks at each other, a mix of resignation and frustration. Malcolm, trying to muster some hope, speaks up.*
**MALCOLM**
You know, Reese, money can’t buy happiness.
**REESE**
(grinning wider)
No, but it can buy a rocket-powered stroller. Right, Malcolm?
*The family doesn’t laugh. They just continue with their tasks, each of them silently dealing with their own absurd reality.*
REESE Oh, come on. You all are acting like I haven't earned this. Remember when I stopped showering for a month to force my girlfriend to dump me, and medical science found a cancer-curing mold on my body? Yeah, when you become a billionaire by accident, then we can talk about humility and charity.
LOIS (grimly) I still can't believe that's what made you rich. It's like the universe played a cruel joke on us.
HAL (to himself) And I’m the punchline...
Francis tries to calm down one of his screaming kids, who is running around the room with a toy sword.
FRANCIS (to the kid) Hey, buddy, maybe Uncle Reese can buy you a real sword next time.
PIAMA Francis, don't encourage him. The last thing we need is Reese arming the children.
REESE (laughing) Now there's an idea. A fully armed and operational battle station... of children.
Lois, unable to take it anymore, stands up and faces Reese directly.
LOIS Reese, this isn't funny. You're sitting on all this money, while the rest of us are struggling. Have a heart, for once in your life.
REESE (mock sympathy) Oh, I’m sorry, Mom. Did you want a loan? Maybe I could throw you a few million to ease your pain?
DEWEY (flatly) How generous of you, Reese. Maybe after you’re done pretending to care, you could actually do something helpful.
REESE (smirking) Ah, Dewey, always the moral compass. How’s that working out for you in the real world?
Malcolm finally speaks up, tired of Reese's constant gloating.
MALCOLM You know what, Reese? Enjoy it while it lasts. Because at the end of the day, you’re just as miserable as the rest of us. Money can’t fix everything.
REESE (leaning forward) Maybe not, but it sure makes it a hell of a lot more fun.
The family continues their tasks in silence, each of them dealing with their absurd lives. The camera pulls back, showing the entire family together, yet worlds apart.
NARRATOR (MALCOLM) (TC) And there it is. Twenty years later, and we’re still stuck in this crazy dynamic. But hey, at least we’re in it together. Even if together means living under the reign of King Reese.
Fade out as the family continues to interact, each dealing with their bizarre lives.
END.
This is the script ChatGPT generated with no prompts from me.
INT. FAMILY LIVING ROOM - DAY
The living room looks lived-in and somewhat cluttered, but there's an air of warmth. Lois, now in her early 70s, sits on the couch, reading a book. Hal, in his early 70s, is trying to fix a broken lamp.
LOIS Hal, if that lamp could talk, it would ask you to stop torturing it.
HAL (holding wires) I'm almost there, Lois. Just a few more tweaks...
The door bursts open, and in walks Dewey, now 33. He's a music teacher with a calm demeanor but still carries a playful spirit.
DEWEY Guess who just composed an entire symphony based on cat meows?
LOIS (smiling) Let me guess, you?
DEWEY Absolutely. And I think the school might actually play it this time.
Reese, 38, enters, wearing a police uniform. He's matured but still has a mischievous glint in his eye.
REESE Hey, Dewey, did you finally convince them to give you real instruments?
DEWEY You'd be surprised how versatile a classroom full of recorders can be.
Malcolm, 37, walks in with a briefcase. He looks every bit the successful professional but carries the weight of his responsibilities.
MALCOLM (deep sigh) Tough day at the office.
HAL You know, I still don’t understand why you didn’t go for that cushy research job in Switzerland.
MALCOLM It’s called ambition, Dad. Plus, the world needs policymakers who understand quantum physics.
LOIS And your father needs someone who understands how to fix a lamp.
MALCOLM (laughing) Let's call an electrician before Dad electrocutes himself.
Francis, now 42, enters with his wife Piama, 39. Francis looks rugged and has clearly embraced his life on the ranch.
FRANCIS Hey, family! Guess who wrangled two wild horses this morning?
PIAMA (smiling) And then tried to convince them to wear cowboy hats.
HAL Francis, you always did know how to talk to animals.
FRANCIS Too bad it doesn’t work on my kids.
Jamie, now 22, enters, holding a baby. He’s grown into a responsible young man, taking after both Lois and Hal in different ways.
JAMIE Mom, Dad, everyone, meet little Lois.
LOIS (teary-eyed) You named her after me?
JAMIE Of course. We wanted her to have a strong name.
The family gathers around the baby, cooing and fussing over her. The doorbell rings, and Reese opens it to reveal Craig, in his late 60s, holding a cake.
CRAIG I heard there’s a family reunion and thought I’d crash the party with cake!
LOIS (sighs) Come on in, Craig. You’re practically family at this point.
CRAIG (placing the cake on the table) I’m honored. So, who wants to hear about my new job at the library?
MALCOLM (smirking) As long as it doesn’t involve you dressing up as a book.
CRAIG Oh, Malcolm, you wound me.
The family laughs, and the camera pulls back, showing the entire family together, enjoying the moment.
NARRATOR (MALCOLM) (TC) Twenty years later, and we're still as chaotic as ever. But I wouldn’t trade this crazy family for anything. Well, maybe for a Nobel Prize... but then again, probably not.
Fade out as the family continues to chat and laugh.
END.

Introduction
The period following the American Revolution witnessed the emergence of a new political landscape in the United States, characterized by debates over governance, representation, and the role of the federal government. Concurrently, in the field of chemistry, scientists were beginning to unravel the complexities of acid-base reactions in solution, laying the groundwork for understanding chemical equilibrium and the behavior of substances in aqueous environments. This essay explores the parallels between the evolving politics of post-Revolutionary America and the intricate dynamics of acid-base reactions in solution, highlighting how both phenomena involve processes of transformation, equilibrium, and negotiation.
Emerging US Politics: Debates Over Governance and Representation
In the wake of the American Revolution, the fledgling United States grappled with defining its political identity and establishing a functional system of governance. Debates over issues such as federalism, states' rights, and the scope of governmental authority dominated the political landscape.
Federalism vs. States' Rights
One of the central debates in early US politics revolved around the balance of power between the federal government and the individual states. Federalists, led by figures such as Alexander Hamilton and John Adams, advocated for a strong central government with broad authority to regulate commerce, levy taxes, and maintain national defense. In contrast, Anti-Federalists, including Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, favored a more decentralized approach, emphasizing states' rights and limited federal intervention in local affairs.
Representation and the Constitution
The drafting of the United States Constitution in 1787 marked a critical turning point in the evolution of American politics. The Constitution sought to address concerns over representation, governance, and individual liberties, while also balancing competing interests among states and regions. Key compromises, such as the Great Compromise, which established a bicameral legislature with proportional representation in the House of Representatives and equal representation in the Senate, reflected the delicate balance of power and interests at play.
Acid-Base Reactions In Solution: Equilibrium and Transformation
In the realm of chemistry, scientists were beginning to unravel the complexities of acid-base reactions in solution, a fundamental process that underlies many chemical phenomena. Acid-base reactions involve the transfer of protons (H+ ions) between substances, resulting in the formation of conjugate acid-base pairs and the establishment of chemical equilibrium.
Proton Transfer and Equilibrium
In acid-base reactions, proton transfer occurs between acidic (donating protons) and basic (accepting protons) species, leading to the formation of conjugate acid-base pairs. For example, when hydrochloric acid (HCl) reacts with water (H2O), it donates a proton to water, forming hydronium ions (H3O+) and chloride ions (Cl−). This reversible process establishes a state of equilibrium, where the rates of forward and reverse reactions are equal, and the concentrations of reactants and products remain constant over time.
Buffers and Stability
Acid-base equilibrium is essential for maintaining pH balance in biological systems and regulating environmental conditions. Buffer solutions, which consist of weak acids or bases and their conjugate salts, help to stabilize pH by resisting changes in acidity or alkalinity when small amounts of acid or base are added. For example, blood in the human body contains buffers such as bicarbonate ions (HCO3−) that help maintain physiological pH levels, ensuring the proper functioning of biological processes.
Parallels and Intersections
Despite their apparent differences, the emerging politics of post-Revolutionary America and the dynamics of acid-base reactions in solution share common themes of transformation, equilibrium, and negotiation.
Processes of Transformation
In both realms, processes of transformation are at play as systems evolve and adapt to changing conditions. In politics, the post-Revolutionary period witnessed the transition from colonial rule to democratic governance, with debates and compromises shaping the structure of the new nation. Similarly, in chemistry, acid-base reactions involve transformations of chemical species as proton transfer leads to the formation of new substances.
Establishment of Equilibrium
Equilibrium, whether political or chemical, is a fundamental concept that underlies stability and balance in dynamic systems. In politics, the establishment of equilibrium involves negotiations and compromises among competing interests, resulting in a functional system of governance. Likewise, in acid-base reactions, equilibrium is achieved when the rates of forward and reverse reactions are balanced, leading to a steady-state concentration of reactants and products.
Negotiation and Compromise
Both realms involve processes of negotiation and compromise as stakeholders seek to reconcile conflicting interests and achieve common goals. In politics, the drafting of the Constitution and the subsequent ratification process required compromise among states with divergent interests and concerns. Similarly, in acid-base reactions, the formation of buffer solutions involves compromises between weak acids and their conjugate bases to maintain pH stability.
Conclusion
The post-Revolutionary period in America and the study of acid-base reactions in solution both represent dynamic processes of transformation, equilibrium, and negotiation. In politics, the emergence of a new nation involved debates over governance, representation, and federalism, ultimately leading to the establishment of a functional system of governance. In chemistry, the study of acid-base reactions elucidates the complex dynamics of proton transfer and equilibrium, essential for understanding chemical processes and maintaining environmental and physiological balance. By recognizing the

So in January last year a girl came into my life, never before I would have imagined that I could meet someone so perfect. Beautiful like an angel and so kind and sweet, on top of that she had a plethora of talents, Sketching, painting, instruments, dancing, culinary,Writing, great in academics you name it. She's also in a reputed college, She comes from a very wealthy background. And I am in stark contrast to her. We became best of friends then after some months it led to me falling in love with her, then I confessed one day but she loved someone else so I left. Then there was back and forth for some months. Now fast forward to today, it's been 4 months now since we were in contact.
There always have been a competition in me, it has been ingrained in me since childhood, so unconsciously I try to compete with her, I started to pick up "hobbies" but I couldn't follow through because my real motivation was to just be on her level and it has also led to a unpleasant cycle of comparison with other girls too, since the girls around me are nice but no one even comes close to her. She was just out of this world in every manner.
I just find myself competing with her and it's not really possible to catch up to her since the big difference in our socio-economics conditions. And I don't have any great motivation either, it is just a perpetual dissatisfaction that I feel everyday.
I know the advice: Focus on yourself, explore yourself, there are plenty of fishes in the water etc But I just can't seem to shake this feeling off.

MAIORES. IV, CAL. IUNI. FORTUNA PRIMIGENIA.

This subject follows along from the general conclusion of infantilism, i.e. if we agree that infantilism exists in a culture that therefore all aspects of (such a culture) must be examined as to how they are impacted ‘by’ that infantilism, as: infantilism constitutes an undeveloped form of a thing; here (without covering absolutely every single aspect of it, as this could be a book in and of itself) we explore ‘sexual immaturity’ and its promulgation and consequences (of which we could easily make the case of the consequences as to be the cause of ‘all social ill’).
In an anthropological view; as if like we are looking at a chimpanzee colony, both procreation and familial-tribal child-raising takes place in our contemporary Western societies in a very clumsy sort of way; with the latter (i.e. the actual raising of children) not occurring at all, with the consequence of ‘arrested development’ – usually we would recognize and name it as that, if we ever thought very deeply about it:
However, the notion that all of this could be reduced to and fathomed as ‘sexual immaturity’ is an interesting (and unexplored) avenue to approach these matters from; certainly the act of actual procreation is deliberately accidental (I mean here in the contemporary West) in that a Woman does “not seek a mate” and then become pregnant, i.e. she does not even consider the sexual act to be procreative, rather: she accidentally becomes pregnant (“it was a miracle”), having beforehand and all throughout the duration and beyond it a culture which is far detached from the physical reality of things and thus a new human is created with no forethought for its care or provision and no security net in place to provide for it and ensure its prosperity and intelligent up-bringing, and increasingly there are fewer and fewer intelligent older persons around who are capable of providing the education and care for that child as would naturally exist in the large familial-tribal unit of an extended family where, historically, we all came from and of which is still the norm across much of the world (i.e. village elders who would otherwise raise the children up to be intelligent even if the Mother herself is too young to be a real parent - if we imagine as the species norm would be that most Women historically had their first child at around the age of fourteen or fifteen). Without, then, that familial-tribal unit to instruct and care for the child’s intellectual development and without either land to make a living from to provide for it's economic development then we find a cursed life, that is: a life far more difficult than it otherwise ought be had it been born in a more wisely chosen environment.
My point here is that ‘procreation’ is considered almost never at all by our society as being the most basic step in the creation and promulgation ‘of’ a tribal unit; with procreation itself being left down to blind chance and more often either legitimately accidentally or feigned accidently so as to attempt to cement a relationship (see: divorce and break-up rates in the West), either way this is the material circumstance into which children are born.
To say, then, that not grasping this reality ‘is’ itself a product of sexual immaturity; i.e. a Woman who does not understand what a new human is, seems to me to be far more of an accurate view of the thing than to declare it as ‘sexual immorality’ as it is usually insisted by the Abramic types, as: rather obviously it is ‘Sexual Immaturity’ rather than ‘Sexual Immorality’ that is the really cause of (the above scenario), that is: it is not Men and Women knowing too much about sex but of Men and Women knowing virtually nothing at all and therefore absent of a practice and familiarity necessary for Sexual Maturity, with Sexual Maturity itself being the very thing declared to be Immorality - an irreconcilable paradox.
It seems to me, then, that the habits we observe of ‘accidental pregnancy’ are the natural occurrence in such an unnatural society; that is: a consequence of misplaced moralism over the vital mechanical sexual functions of the human body (a thing which may well dominate and drive our unconsciousness entirely) have been rendered so alien to our expression and consideration but of which are so incessant and irrepressible; that sexual release is habitually denied, I mean here societally (i.e. “it is not polite”), and only finds ‘permission’ to appear in extreme drunkenness in fits of frenzy, and so on, so that when procreation actually occurs it is sporadic and neither at that moment nor before it was the adult rational mind involved – again, this is plainly a consequence of ‘sexual immaturity’ ‘before’ it could ever be said to be a consequence of ‘sexual immorality’.
It’s worth considering, of our own society in contemporary times, how far removed we are from most of the world which practices arrange marriages in one form or another (i.e. whether we are speaking of large tribal units or smaller family units) and what the consequence of this is on our own communities being absent of that; that is: the most fertile years of our lives are not spent having gotten procreation out of the way by having five or six children by the age of twenty or nineteen (so that when the child is fifteen you might be thirty, which seems to be the age where the sexual drive begins to dissipate or has anyway lost its novelty), and instead (i.e. without of being match-made far earlier in life) procreation instead occurs – if it does at all – accidentally and well-past the most fertile and healthy years, with such children being often quite sickly and the strain on the body being significantly more risky to the Mother (haphazardly enabled only then by massive external resources which would not have been required at all beforehand). I do not mean to seem as if I am advocating “having five or six children by the age of twenty or nineteen” only that in our natural environment this has always been the way of the thing due to natural sexual exploration when we are at that age.
At the same time, at the beginning and at the end of this “waste of time” (as I would say) of those most fertile years in which our sexuality is forbidden to us; that culture which we examine here as being simply Sexual Immaturity, it has been the case that that “Immaturity” persists well into later life by those afflicted adults who were forbidden to practise their natural sexuality when they were at the age where they wanted to, that is that the culture and mentality of such persons subjected to such restrictions quite demonstrably can be shown to have regressed them to the point that, as then as adults, they dress as children, speak and think as children, shun adult responsibility and seem altogether to have matured intellectually no further than the age of twelve or thirteen years, despite physiologically and neurologically having surpassed far beyond that early almost larval-like stage of our development where the body and mind are both only partially formed.
Instead it has been the “dragging-out” of that childlike insensibility, again: to no useful outcome, which has by that point in time essentially mitigated most of their procreative potentiality in that 1) physically having children is then far more difficult for them, and 2) they are now twenty-five years behind where their familial-tribal unit might otherwise have been, i.e. they do not have five or six twenty year old children bringing in incomes to the Household (to purchase a Household in the first place if they did not possess one before) or working the land (or likewise to purchase land) so that their prosperity will not have developed beyond mere subsistence off of the external labour market so as to escape the poverty and dependency traps inherent in the cities – which nominally constitutes their entire existence ‘to’ escape such miseries. All in all it is a lot of hard work by that point and I could not help but notice, of my own generation and those slightly older, how this outcome would have been entirely altered and set on a more prosperous trajectory if, say, at the age of sixteen a couple had been put together and had a few children, as: by the age of twenty the best seeds would have been sewn and they would not have to even think about “having children” ever again which is itself a thing, I observe anyway, that is so daunting and bothersome later in life that it really is something better gotten out of the way as early as possible in the manner that we would have done quite naturally otherwise.
If the idea here is to build up that familial-tribal unit then this methodology serves the purpose in the most optimal manner; the adults are freed up and enjoy their liberties, the younger adults (i.e. the teenagers) are preoccupied quite happily fulfilling their single greatest biological urges to have sex as much as they like, and the population figures begin to climb up at a rate of replacement which is far superior, e.g. a thirty year old parent of a fifteen year old only has five years before that fifteen year becomes a physically matured adult ready to contribute to the unit, whereas by contrast a thirty year old parent of a five year old has a great longer time to wait for physical maturity so that the distance between the two age groups becomes fragile and thin the further it is stretched with a concurrent loss of replacement manpower by a space of ten additional years.
There is something to be said for the older more experienced Father, of course, I remember quite well that the children I grew up with whose Fathers were in their forties and fifties and whose Mothers were in their twenties or very early thirties were quite better-off in their disposition and intelligence (whilst those with older Mothers tended to be sickly in one way or another); simply put though I think it is more to do with the experience of age as the influencing factor than anything else and a functional familial-tribal unit would have this influence in far greater capacity.
If we add to this factor the notion of polygamy (something shunned as ‘pagan’ by the Abramic religions yet advocated for in their own holy books, indeed: it was the universal norm) then we find the whole circle being completed in that young teenagers do as they please with each other, becoming familiar with relationship and their sexuality, and then when they reach a more mature age they might marry each other or other people properly so as to begin families of their own; but that by that age they may well have produced several children already via multiple partners so that the actual ‘legitimate children’ (in the sense of inheriting land and titles) of a more formal marriage is superfluous to population replacement insofar as the tribe is concerned, as: they have already increased the headcount quite massively by comparison. It is worth mentioning here the legal problems of land inheritance and the seeming inability for people to ever work this all out amongst themselves as being one of the most desirable points of the introduction of some of the Abramic religions, when they first appeared, as rules were laid out of who could inherit (some rules more effective than others, some quite ruinous in fact) which provided a framework in perpetuity (but on the other hand, with all children being considered legitimate in some instances, i.e. the children of concubines, this produced the problem of “all children” being in competition for the single title or, in turn, a vast spread of land, i.e. a Kingdom, being broken apart “to make it all fair”: this did not differ in form from, say, Imperial China to the late Ottoman court whilst the European Monarchies to their credit, somewhat, temporarily solved the matter by the allocation of specific titles to be given to the first born, second born, third born, etc., and then bouncing back to the Monarch upon the death of that Duke to be allocated again – although some would say this is a feeble manner by which to govern large polities it differs not very much from the essential ‘oversight’ duties over local governments as practiced in the Roman Principate rather than direct-governorship over those provinces themselves).
The tribal influence in real terms upon children cannot be understated in its superior effects upon the character and long-term capacity of the children themselves (when compared to others); I have some experience in my own up-bringing with this and really the outcome (again: compared to the infantilism, i.e. arrested development, you will almost always find in the nuclear family type, which we might easily compare to factory farmed within four walls and a hen-pecking parental authority vs. free range) is a quite more matured and capable disposition (call it “street smarts” if you like; they follow what actually works rather than what is ‘pretended to them’ to work, which is typically nothing more than the parents own whimsical desires of the moment) amongst all the children when they are simply freed up from the poor influence of an unfit parent even without the good influence of a more fit parent of which, then, the fit parent itself could be determined to be largely superfluous, as: of their own accord they learn amongst themselves and become naturally fortified against being instructed into error by a witless or ill-inclined adult, whereas a child stuck under the thumb of a witless ‘parent’ has no means to disobey that witless parent without facing severe punishments and so there the child is sculpted into a helpless fool, later embittered in life and at the tender mercy of their peers, as: even as they might innately know-better (than to do the foolish thing their parent demands they do) they are forced nevertheless, either physically punished or emotionally coerced, into adopting the ‘silly walk’ and ‘dress’ of the witless parent, which is to say: they are forced into conforming toward the cultural idealism determined by the parent with no thought whatsoever for the practicalities of life, e.g. the matter of “how will my child earn a living” is addressed neither by parenting nor by schools thus begrudgingly selling themselves auction block of the labour market turns out to be the only method, whether they were deluded into thinking that their aspirations to be a professional athlete or an astronaut were entertained and encouraged for them at the expense of informing them about any other means of paying the rent or not.
I should say here that when I say “familial-tribal unit” I am broadly referring to any number of groupings, in whatsoever local forms they may take shape, but that the decisive factor, most chiefly, will be a large extended family network of which, if it ever needed to pool its resource together, would constitute a decent size force in land, resource production and manpower – but chiefly it is the possession of land which enables everything else:
More ideally, to my mind, it would resemble (or be very close in composition to) that Roman ‘Familia’ (the origin of the word ‘Family’ in our English) where a fairly large blood family of at least five generations inhabited in and around the same House or group of Houses (see: Palace, Villa and Manor Economy), with servants and adoptees and associates (business partners) likewise being considered as extended kin; altogether forming, as it were, a little nationality. In the sense of ‘Nationality’ it is, it ought be said, more a return to how we actually were prior to the ‘naming conventions’ of the 1700’s or so where the stupid surnames made up on the spot of many Europeans were forced into Law over what would have originally been clan and tribal identities and from which there came that fake sense of disparate ‘Nationality’ (i.e. cut off from tribe and forced into atomization; identity through a very small family unit alone) from which the misnomer of ‘Race’ would be made-up to lend credibility to. In many ways a great deal of the urbane ‘neurosis’, let’s call it, stems really from this absence of ‘true tribe’ with it having been eradicated either by the fecklessness of urban societies; societies of strangers and thieves, and also more directly via those religions which pretend to fill the void of ‘true tribe’ with their witless rituals and effete pretences – things which are a wet-blanket over true fellowship wrought in such a manner as comes in all reality perfectly naturally the moment the screws holding foolishness in place are undone and cast away – and really here, when we stack these observations together one upon the other, we are really speaking of a sound and strong society certainly immune to the shallow perversity created by denialism toward the basic mechanics of the human body – in addition to any other considerations which follow from that.

THE OVERALL INFLUENCE (OR LACK THEREOF) OF A TRIBAL-FAMILIAL UNIT

It must be considered quite seriously by the reader as to the overall influence, or lack thereof, of a tribal-familial unit as to what fills its place in the education of people otherwise and, as I began this text by considering for myself, how much of the ‘dysfunctionality’ can be attributed to the “lack thereof”.
Along with the cultural instance on sexual immaturity as to produce the consequence of delaying and drawing out for decades a fetish of normal sexuality which ought naturally be done with by a person after reaching the age, say, of maybe seventeen, there is the greater point which I am trying to relay here in this text of how many other aspects of ‘bad culture’ are singularly anchored to and thusly totally dependent upon that sexual immaturity – that is: we would be hard-pressed to imagine how really many of the pernicious scenarios in our contemporary society would even arise if that foundation stone of ‘sexual immaturity’ were removed from the equation:
For instance, how much of a ‘relationship’ is spent and sculpted (either by the Man or the Woman or both) on jealously and worry of the other ending the relationship for having found another person or another means to fulfil their sexual gratification? If a ‘relationship’ is based upon, let’s call this, “mutual masturbation” then at the heart of that is sexual immaturity of the mental age of maybe fourteen years whereupon a person has been sort of coaxed into dependency for orgasm on a third party; they are fraught and fearful that this should be taken away from them – it being so vital as like a mechanical necessity for either sex – that the entire content of their ‘relationship’ revolves around it; seeking it, coaxing it, demanding it, guarding it from be lost, and so on, of which I think it is not exaggeration to say that such concerns constitute 100% of the verbal interaction in such a ‘couple’; either outright or in the back of the mind so as to reinterpret all scenarios and verbal expressions as being related to that end-goal of maintaining the “mutual masturbation”.
Simply put this ‘relationship’, then, revolves around twenty minutes of sexual activity in a day – if that much (or even if every day), yet dominates the entirety of the mind; that is: the entirety of the ‘relationship’, when this action itself is something that a servant or a slave or a prostitute would be used for in many societies, with the ‘content’ of the marriage, say, being concerned more with running the business of a Household or concerned with procreation to produce legitimate children to inherit the business, the title, the land, whatever. My point here is that neither Man nor Woman are elevated or their dignity improved, somehow, by this absence of sexual maturity but rather that both are reduced; i.e. greatly lowered, to the cognitive and social standing of the “servant, slave, prostitute,” in that as far as they think of and conceptualize themselves as part of a Household at all it is singularly the concern with simple sexual acts which dominate their interpersonal interactions and their ideas about their own self; it is their ‘social currency’.
If this seems alien – I mean my observation on this – consider how much neurosis goes on in the daily grooming rituals of Women or those sad excuses for Men who “lift weights but cannot fight” (not to mention the ease at which a thin muscular physique bleeds out at the slightest of puncture wounds, see: Roman Gladiator training), i.e. whose only concern is that of admiring their own bodies in a mirror, this being intellectually identical to young Women. Is this not the mentally of a slave? If so, even if we shy away from saying it plainly, then we must ask “what forms the mentality of a slave (i.e. where does it come from)” – in the above equation a slave in a Household is more like an object fulfilling a function than He or She is a person with any autonomy (well, obviously there is no autonomy for a slave) so it is almost to be expected that in such an environment that the intellectual trajectory of an object-person goes away from externalities and becomes entirely absorbed with self-presentation and equates their social status from that, and if groups of such persons will set this to be the common culture; deriving status in that manner among themselves – although still these are slaves possessing no ‘status’ to speak of, as being object-people. This is evidenced also in victims of sexual abuse or those, in general, suffering at the hands of third parties whose autonomy is in some way or another restricted; that their singular focus becomes that of sexuality as like depression is “rage turned inward”, thus too it seems for sexual infantilism.
I cannot pass up this subject without mentioning a series of interviews describing, a thing quite novel to me, the notion of American Christian ‘Purity Culture’ from the point of view of those heavily indoctrinated into that; instilled with Catholic levels of guilt over the normal function of the body, who have then left their small churches or megachurches, or whatever, and spoken plainly about the mentality of those inside of it as relating to sexuality. It is a thing I think long suspected but seldom expressed that, as it was described, the mentality of such persons is that they are “horny all the time” due to the relentless guilt inculcated into them; that due to denialism of sexuality their ordinary sexual impulses are magnified to an incredible degree and that, consequentially, their entire being is animated by repressed sexuality so that their thoughts are ‘impure’ all the time whilst verbally they express strong denialism and shame over the thing. I think this is no real difference to any such religious malinstruction; be it Muslim, Jewish or Christian, in that the perpetual infantilism of their surrounding society stems first of all from their own bedrock religious culture (i.e. whatever religion which is at odds with the human body, etc.) were due to such ‘culture’ they never really get over, say, an early adolescent view of sexuality where they are driven entirely by it and never learn to overcome it, no pun intended, but utterly unrealized – which would take them leaving their religion – is that this process demonstrably brings out the absolute worst in their character and disposition with the process itself being the promulgation ‘of’ those very “Viceful thoughts ” that they claim to be “at War with in the world”, in other words: it is just they themselves who, for example, look at a young teenage girl (or god help us, a small boy) and thinks all manner of sexual rapacity – and that this animates them politically to campaign for restrictive legislation to be put into Law to police “all society” as if “all society” existed at their low level is an incredible thing to consider. But I do not think their broader societies are any exception to this, rather point here is that their broader societies are comprised of persons exactly like them; that the Christian or the Jew driven by a lifetimes shaming over their normal sexuality adopt, in turn, the most depraved expressions ‘of’ sexuality as a self-affirmation; that is: the extreme self-identification with a simple sexual action, for example, came to literally define a persons personality in such places to the point that (Americans anyway) seriously put out the notion during the late 1990’s and 2000’s that a fleeting sexual act 1) defines a persons entire character, and 2) it is also inborn, e.g. as like to say that whether you prefer this or that on the menu at a restaurant is something determined genetically; this is utterly stupid and utterly, in my opinion, a consequence of society which has not wanted to evolve beyond the ‘sexual immaturity’ of which physiologically seems to occupy a very small window of the middle to late teens and of which repression during those ages quite demonstrably creates madness and retardation – I mean that if their culture did not peripherally do this to them then the manner by which swathes of their cultural-historical institutions do this to them ‘outright’ by inculcation into this process in particular certainly does it to them, and merely it is the unwillingness to fully condemn these Religions and relegate these influences to the dustbin which keeps the entire thing ticking along with “just enough” of the population bent out of shape by it to present those same persons, seemingly confused as to where they came from, lumbering through the broader society and serving as examples of lunacy and degeneracy.
In short - and I may as well add this here also, the aim to abstain for a while from sexuality was a custom introduced by the Ancient Romans and was designed to heighten sexual pleasure; in effect, then, foreign barbarians coming to this culture much later on with nobody to really explain it to them ended up unwittingly engaging in what they would probably have recognized as ‘sex magic’ whereupon the denial of their own mechanical sexual function was ‘abstained’ by them; i.e. they saw the value in holding off on doing drugs or having sex for a while, – but they did not understand what the effect or the outcome of that was ‘intended’ to be in that one would abstain specifically ‘to’ heighten the senses toward that pleasure; and this is evidenced chiefly in the Lunar Orgies and the Fast/s of Ceres. Interestingly, Jesus himself in (i think the Gospel of Thomas?) mentions to his followers that “they will hate him for what he says now,” and that he says that “fasting brings out all the worst in them” – in other words, engaging in periodic abstinence will turn them all horny. Knowing this from a relatively early age it was no surprise to me at all why celibate priests ended up diddling children or member of their own congregation or why the most outwardly pious zealots proved to be the most morally weak people to be found as even with the most ‘clean’ example, let’s say, of a person who has never drank wine, for example, they have not ‘overcome’ that thing but have rather avoided ever experiencing that thing so that it will always be a novel temptation to them of which they will have no understanding of and which they can be leveraged by in various ways primarily due to their ignorance of which ‘experience itself’ would otherwise render them far more fortified against:
A good example here is the ‘pot scare’ of the early 1930’s in America when it was seriously believed by a wholly ignorant chunk of the urbane voting public that smoking cannabis (and drinking alcohol, for that matter) would turn a person into a serial killer, this is totally bizarre to us now, but notice that this was the same society whose moral standard was that “a table leg” should not be uncovered because it reminded them of a Womans bare leg – although here we might better understand why they were so preoccupied by thoughts like that (I think very seriously in their heightened state of perpetual arousal any little thing would send them to buggery of a farmyard creature)! Hilarious. But – notice also that this was the same society which was engaging in some of the most casually egregious inhumane criminality that history had ever seen, as if they ‘were’ high on narcotics and their rational senses dulled; I do not mean here to bring American notions of ‘Race’ into this as to be seen to ‘condemn Black Slavery’ in the fashion of my own day (although we mentioned family-tribe as a better form of so-called nationality earlier) but the ghastly images of actual Country Fairs where smiling families with children by their knees would pose for crude photographs with the charcoaled or bloated rotting carcass of a burned or lynched Man is beyond my ability to play-down or normalize. I mean here to say, that: far from the pretense of ‘clean mindedness’ of such persons about themselves that we find these same persons are the filthiest and most depraved characters around, being those few persons who walk amongst us who are actually capable of doing those inhumane things (again, see: Banality of Evil) as would be unthinkable to a person of normal rational healthy conscience. We might connect this, also, to the historical BDSM extravaganzas which took place in the Christian monasteries and public squares for many centuries where young Women were sexually tortured by celibate clergymen as to recognize how deep and quick a plunge it is from a person or their culture going from the denial of normal healthy sexuality into the kettled and sadistic gore fetish of outright murder.
It is always worth reminding the reader who wishes to minimize these more egregious aspects of the subject (as rape is still rampant among the clergy); which are consequential of sexual immaturity, that it was not ‘reason and rationality’ per se that stamped this out from European society but soldiers kicking in the doors of such Churches, Town Halls and Houses with muskets, rifles, long knives and grape-shot and physically eradicating the perpetrators and their willing congregations from America and France for the practice itself of sexually torturing a Woman and then burning the evidence on the fake pretexts of obviously made-up accusations of “she turned me into a frog” to actually be ended. That is to say that the ‘mentality’ and ‘culture’ which provided the framework for such inhumane activities was never formally realized or educated-out of a people, so to find it lingers along into contemporary times; animating the otherwise dormant farmyard animal-like character of such persons “like powers of evil”, is not surprising to me in the least. What was more surprising to me is that as so much of these religions are so obviously outright ‘evil’ that more persons do not speak of the intricacies of the things in such necessary detail these more ‘egregious’ cases would qualify, and then to spool back to discover the cause of every evil action in the mentality of every perpetrator – generally speaking, for instance, it will be a character with a disposition of infantilism and perhaps this is more easy to understand without needing to connect it to sexual immaturity though, to my mind, these are not distinct enough to warrant any separation; as: infantilism is always going to be immaturity and immaturity is always going to run concurrent with a lack of adult intellectual development where a mature and experienced view of a thing, sexuality in this case, has likely been within the powers of a person to have gleaned naturally through experiences – in which case there would be no argument with anything I say here, or of which such experiences have been prevented by external powers from being gleaned by the person in question; in which case they remain ‘as if’ they were fourteen years old with the allure of mysterious unknown sex acts utterly dominating their consciousness at all times and yet physically being thirty, forty, fifty years old – well past the age (certainly physiologically) where they should have gotten it all out of their system but of which they have not, chiefly because their experiences have been rather dull and monotone and so much social currency has been valued by it ‘being’ dull and monotone, e.g. monogamy, legal repercussions binding two people in place, the atomized kettling nature of the disconnected nuclear family unit, living amongst strangers in large cities where it not so simple as just going topless to change the local culture, control through the selective denial of the sex act itself (as William Reich and Esther Vilar both write on), the sexualisation of young people by adults, the accidental ‘perversity’ (in the real meaning of the word) of unfulfilled (or poorly fulfilled, or repressed altogether) sexuality and its effects on the brain and society, and so on and so on.
I am always inclined to think when considering this subject, and I may as well end this text in conclusion with this recurrent thought of mine, that ‘sexual perversion’ really begins in the mind of ourselves as young teenagers when the normal human body is leeringly presented to us as being something ‘illicit’, e.g. the breasts of Women are concealed in our society and so due to ‘hiding them away’ they become objects of mystery and fetish which they otherwise are not. I do not think this is deliberate reverse psychology (as god help us few enough people even understand the concept to understand what they do inadvertently) but it produces the same consequence of reverse psychology, whereupon quite arbitrarily a certain piece of the body, say, an ankle, is all of a sudden declared by a mad Adult to be “evil, sinful, lustful, of the devil,” when no such notion existed in the minds of people otherwise, as then: their natural curiosity is piqued by this imposition and so they develop a perversion dervied in chief part – as a sense of lewd pleasure – from bucking the arbitrary nonsensical imposition forced upon them by that dictate of which such a scenario never would have had cause to occur if not for that imposition having created it. I feel that this ‘perversion’ (again, in the real meaning of that word) stands in the way of a fully realized and fully pursued sense of actual sexuality and, from it, of a more resonant concordance between Men and Women whose interactions are otherwise thrown off balance by such impositions as they are dragged back down to sexual immaturity all the time; or into fear and jealously etc., as like a dozen avenues are presented in any conversation and virtually of them are strewn with piss, vomit and polyfoam which had no reason to be put there in the first place, or more accurately: it was put there through the carelessness of an atomized and witless peoples who knew no better than to do this to themselves but of which a familial-tribal unit would have drummed out of them quick sharp if for the actuality of nothing else than “we are all in this together” being something that is tangibly true and not merely shallow political rhetoric when it is said of a tribe vs. when it is said of a state polity comprised of countless strangers.

MAIORES. IV, CAL. IUNI. FORTUNA PRIMIGENIA.

Say you go to a REALLY underperforming high school with a graduation rate of less than 70%, very few AP courses, low standardized test scores, average GPA less then 3.0, two very low-performing sports teams, and three very unserious clubs. If a student manages to have a 4.6+ GPA (approximately 15 CC courses with only 3 A-'s and 1 B+, with the rest being A's), would applying test-optional be a good choice (I still am aiming to bring up to a 1450+ by august but worst case)?
For some more background, I have really good extracurriculars (I went out of my way) that all tie in, and I have one national award. Additionally, I come from a really low-income background, African American, and a first-generation college student. I think my essays are going to be amazing. Do you all think I could get into Duke, Northwestern, UChicago, Cornell, Rice, Vanderbilt or Johns Hopkins?

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WaveOfWire Edits :D
- - - - -
Harrison’s vision was still foggy from waking up, several blinks failing to clear the tears from his drawn-out yawn. He just escaped the encompassing embrace of his four-armed guardian, leaving their shared bed for the bathroom, where he would have to say goodbye to his beard. If he was going to travel out of the settlement, a proper seal on his gas mask was a must.
It was a shame. The slow buildup of the hair over the last month or so was a representation of his growth in a way, building up alongside his experiences in this hellhole, be they life-threatening or informative. It was almost like wiping the slate clean, even if cutting some chin scruff didn’t really change anything at all—he’d never be able to forget anything he had seen here for as long as he lived.
And there was no telling how long that’d be.
The engineer sighed, splashing the lukewarm barracks water into his face from one of the many wall-attached sinks, allowing him to fully open his eyes and size up the damage done to his favorite black blood-and-sweat-stained t-shirt. It always stayed in good condition with washing and fabricator repairs, but somehow Shar’s talons always found a way to make small holes in it. She wasn’t trying to, but with the way she fully wrapped her arms around him, the tips of her sharp fingers sometimes ended up poking into the fabric and causing some cuts.
It was such a small issue that he never considered bringing it up to her. Plus, she’d probably do her whole guilty talon-tapping thing with puppy eyes and all… He shook his head, letting the stray beads of water on his face drip into the sink.
His palm ran across his beard while his other hand reached for the razor. There wasn’t any shaving cream or the like, but he’d make do. At least he had one of the proper tools for the job. He went into the task, the blade driving through his scruff, slopping off wide areas of his hair from jaw to chin for a few seconds before it was interrupted.
A short ‘woosh’ of the entrance caught his attention.
“Aww, you’re shavin’ it off?” Tracy commented dejectedly through a yawn, the lazy drawl reinforcing the fact that she just woke up. “Th’ beard was sorta growin’ on me.”
He eyed her through the mirror, his voice coming out in a dull tone. “Yeah. I feel the same.”
She squinted under the bright bathroom lights, rubbing an eye with her wrist as she walked up to the sink beside him and started her own morning routine. “Mmm… Womp womp. Why though?”
“Need it to get a gas mask seal,” he stated flatly, focusing on the task at hand.
The technician stopped momentarily, the gears turning in her head before she gave him a downcast frown. “You’re still set on going for the vehicle bay? You know we can just send some long-range drones out there, right?”
His short exhale echoed throughout the tiled room. The engineer closed his eyes, already mentally withdrawn from the conversation. They've had this discussion twice now. “It’s to be better prepared for any chemical, biological, or radiological surprises that might come up—not just for the excursion. Even more importantly, there’s no guarantee the module is in perfect shape. If I’m there in person, I’ll have the means to get through anything for those blueprints. Plus, it should only be four days, so the only issues we have are my beard and finding a way to protect the Malkrin from the radiation while we’re out.”
Tracy looked like she wanted to say something back, but bit her lip and cast her eyes down at the sink in front of her, twisting the knob before mumbling a quiet response. “I don’t think you need to protect them from radiation at all…”
“Hmm?”
She stared at him meekly, his dismissal of her worries having clearly dampened her mood. Guilt tugged at the back of his mind before her words further caught his interest. “I think they’re immune… or resistant or something. Radiation immunity is the whole reason they were sent here. You’ve added up the pieces together too, right?”
He stared down at her, running a hand through his hair with tired exasperation depressing his voice. “Tracy, I’ve been trying my hardest to just make it another day on this God-forsaken planet, not dig into their religion. So, no. I have not spent the time to add up the pieces. Enlighten me, please.”
“…S-Sorry. I just, you know, get a lot of time to think when working on drones, and Cera has been drawing all kinds of representations of these things.” Tracy paused, gesturing toward the engineer. “Okay, so you remember the whole backstory for why the Malkrin are on the mainland in the first place?”
“Pseudo-eugenics?” he commented dryly.
“Yeah.” She nodded, a sense of excitement leaking into her voice. “And what were the parameters of banishing someone?”
“Not getting sick from a rock.”
She eyed him feverishly, brows raised with a sudden zeal. “Aaaaand that rock represented the Sky Goddess’ wrath, which did what?”
“Uhhh…” He looked upward in thought, recalling his conversation with the paladin. “I think Shar mentioned nausea, vomiting, blisters, skin melting… off…” He froze, the pieces forming. “Wait, you don’t think…”
“I do. Those symptoms could mean a lot of things, but the anomaly field was the real kicker. You know that Shar just straight up didn’t have any lingering radiation effects or anything while you were nearly put… six feet under…” Her voice quieted momentarily, the speed of her speech outpacing her train of thought. “Sorry. Um… so, I was gonna say that she, uh, I mean the scanner mentioned she had damage from ‘alpha particles’ on her skin, but nothing else happened to her organs or anything.”
Harrison squinted at her for a moment, mouth slightly opened and prepared to give some alternative reasoning besides ‘immunity.’ Maybe her armor protected her from it? No… she didn’t even have full protection, radiation would have certainly gotten around her eyes or snout. What about her height? What if… No.
He didn’t just want to believe that somehow the Malkrin could just evade a force of nature, but he didn’t have any way of proving or disproving it on hand… Well, no humane way of testing it.
“I… guess?” the engineer grumbled, rubbing his eyes. “Even then, they still need armor and gas masks. The worst part of the radiation isn’t even the ionizing part. It’s the trace elements that get into your lungs and decay there. So it doesn’t hurt to use some CBRN filters.”
“Fair… but it’s interesting, isn’t it?” Tracy beamed. “Like, what kind of evolutionary factors lead to radiation immunity? Why do only some of the Malkrin have it and others don’t?”
The only real cause of radiation he could think of would be a massive nuclear proliferation of some sort. Maybe the anomalies? He ran a hand through his hair, pushing the lingering thoughts away. “I wouldn’t know. You could always ask Sebas to bring up some papers about it or generate some theories when you get the chance.”
“I probably will at some point… Maybe while I’m working.” She poked him in the bicep. “You’re still helping me with the mule, right?”
He bobbed his head, loose beard hairs itching up his chin. “Sure am. Gimme a bit to shave and test the fifty-cal ammo, then I’ll be free to assist.”
“Kay Kay.” The tradeswoman smiled and returned to the sink, washing her face.
- - - - -
“What the hell did you do to your shield?” a stunned Harrison asked the paladin, his face scrunching up in concern… and confusion.
Sharky proudly held up her once grungy orange shield with a smile, looking at its new… paint job? “Artificer Tracy has s—n to imbue my bulwark with the crest of the Sky Goddess herself! Observe the b—utiful wings that cover it!”
The engineer had just got back from setting up and overseeing the automated mule’s first excursion to the mine and back. It was a grueling task, requiring him to reset its pathing several times before it was able to make a round trip without input. Now, the maroon-skinned Malkrin in front of him had apparently gotten her massive aegis laser imprinted with crossing wings in the two hours or so he’d been gone. The areas between the black feather decals were colored with white and blue paints, contrasting with the new dark gray background.
A small weight was placed on his shoulder, Tracy’s forearm suddenly appearing atop it despite her being nearly a foot shorter than him. She beamed, staring up at him with all-too-proud eyes. “The scout regiment symbol looks good on it, right? Cera helped me with the laser engraving.”
“I…” His brows raised in perplexity. “The scout regiment?”
She shrugged, watching the paladin observe her shield from all sorts of different angles underneath the workshop’s light fixtures. “From an anime I used to watch. Men and women who were sent out to battle against massive titans for the greater good of the last settlement of humanity. Somewhat fitting, and fuckin’ awesome on her big-ass shield! Matches the bird’s wings on her armor too.”
He loudly sighed. “You wasted materials on imprinting wings on Shar’s shield? Really?”
“Hey!” Her brows furrowed into faux-annoyance, a smug grin betraying it. “It’s not a waste if you were never gonna use the paint we had on hand. Plus, we’ve got energy to spare with all the wind turbines and power cells you’ve been printing out.”
“Those paints probably could have been used for important designations… or something…” he grumbled.
“Doesn’t matter.” She stuck her tongue out at him. “Anyway, want me to put some scary teeth or something on that big ‘ol fist-sized muzzle break on your shotgun?”
“No?” he took an incredulous step away from her, letting her arm fall off his shoulder and to her side.
“It’s okay to admit you’re jealous of Shar’s awesome decals, bro,” Tracy teased, her smugness growing tenfold. “No need to get defensive.”
He groaned, figuring there wasn’t a point in staying to bicker with the tradeswoman, leaving the two vanity-focused females to their devices. He still had to figure out how to fabricate armor and gas masks for the Malkrin and himself.
“Hey! Where ya goin?” the technician called out, clearly disappointed that he hadn’t indulged in her taunts.
“Work.”
Short taps against the hard floor sounded out as she caught up to him. She leaned forward and curiously looked up at him as she walked, holding her hands behind the small of her back. “What kind? Can I help?”
“Just need to take some measurements and compare options. Right… Speaking of which.” He turned around and cupped his palms around his mouth. “Hey Shar! Get over here, I need your help!”
The addressed Malkrin perked up, snapping out of the small haze of admiring her new shield and happily making her way toward him. She stood at attention, her tail oscillating side to side. “What n—d do you have of me?”
“Just a quick task,” he briefed her, grabbing some measuring tape from his desk… that Tracy had decided was her new chair. He sighed and turned his attention back to the paladin. “Can I bother you to lean down for a few seconds while I take some measurements?”
“Of course. Pl—se, take your time.” She stepped forward and kneeled, her head brought down to his height. Her face wore that simple content look he was growing all too accustomed to by now—slightly vibrating frills, a little curl upward of her lips, and warmly glowing eyes.
He wasted no time getting to work, noting down the various distances around her jaws, snout, eyes, and ears, already piecing together how he could cobble together some gas mask designs to fit the dimensions. She sat there quietly, sometimes leaning into the accidental head scratches adorably. It contrasted heavily with the cold-sweat-inducing layers of razor-sharp teeth within her muzzle as he measured the angle her maw opened at, bringing an idle curiosity prodded his mind.
“Say, Shar, do your teeth grow back if they fall out?” he poked, absently observing the dozens of triangular bone protrusions in her mouth as he held the underside of her jaw.
“They do,” she confirmed, the way she was able to speak despite not moving her mouth still messing with his head. “Do y—rs not?”
“Nope. Only once.”
She attempted to tilt her head, but quickly returned it when it left the embrace of his palm. “Only once?”
He nodded. “Yeah, sometime a few years after birth. They’re replaced with the teeth I have now. Don’t get any new ones, so we gotta take care of ‘em.”
“Birth?” The Malkrin’s eyes widened. “You were not cr—ted as you are now?”
A shock of stress poured down his spine like a bucket of ice water, raising the hairs on his back. Fuck. How did he let that slip? He was supposed to have just appeared from the sky to her, right…? He was doing so well for so long in keeping that in. God, had he really gotten so comfortable with the paladin that he simply forgot what he was to her? His teeth clenched, a huff of air escaping his nostrils as he lightly shook his head. It was a bit too late to backtrack. It could be explained vaguely and brushed off, right?
“Yeah. I was born,” he affirmed flatly. His hand dropped away from Shar’s muzzle, her head falling an inch or two before she registered that she couldn’t keep leaning into his touch. “That’s it for measurements, so you’re free to leave.”
A frown carved through her small smile. “I… See… F—give me if I have brought up someth—g improper.”
His exhalation burned through his frustration at himself, his hand running through his hair to wash away the spike of anxiety. “You’re fine. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Th-Then I shall take my leave,” the massive alien stated softly.
He nodded, feeling a little regretful for pushing the kindhearted Malkrin away as he shuffled back to his desk. Tracy was still sitting atop it, giving him a disappointed reaction with low brows, forcing a pointed reaction from him. “What?”
The technician took a long inhale before shrugging. “Nothin’.”
“…Alright.”
The rolling chair squeaked lightly as he rested himself, his hands already going through the motions of opening the computer and the blueprint folders. There were plenty of tabs open of sensors and motor assemblies he hadn’t closed from the previous night. That wasn’t even mentioning the pile of notes he had on proper radio-protective methods, their corners bent from his frequent flipping through them.
“Soooo…” The short black-haired woman leaned forward from her perch atop the only clear part of his desk. “Can I help you with your ‘comparing options’ work, mister busyman?”
“Sure…” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye, raising a brow. “How much do you know about armor?”
- - - - -
“No way. The back support is a must, so you can have extra plating over your shoulders and chest.” Tracy pointed out from her seat beside Harrison’s, all but forcing him to pause his Malkrin gas mask designing to give her argument his full attention.
He calmly took his hands off the mouse and keyboard. “A back support needs leg assistants, which means I’ll need to have at least a fifteen pound battery pack somewhere. Those kinds of exosuits are either all in or not at all. You can go full armor and engine, or lightweight protection and simple limb support.”
“So you’re just gonna go out there with normal armor? Just run-of-the-mill plates and gear? Those fucking things would go through that shit like butter! I know we can’t make synthetic muscle yet, but at least consider wearing something a bit more. Please. Even Sharky has heavy armor!”
Harrison pinched the bridge of his nose, his brows furrowed. “Do I look like a several-hundred kilogram monster of pure muscle to you? I’m more than willing to put on a few extra kilos for protection, but I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons of putting on more armor rather than more equipment. I’d rather fifty pounds of magazines and ammo than fifty pounds of armor. You know what I mean?”
“Yeah yeah… You and your storage space…” she mumbled, swiping through a few more images on her data pad when a familiar Mars-pattern suit showed up, catching his eye.
“Hey, wait, pull that one up…”
She rotated the tablet for him to see a little better—despite already being shoulder-to-shoulder with him. “This one? What’s so special about it?”
He analyzed the few pieces of equipment on screen, noting the rusty-orange and tan color scheme, the old Martian-American flag attached to its breastplate, and the iconic quad-nod integrated helmet. “Holy shit,” he whispered. “That’s… We have that in our blueprints?”
She raised a brow, clearly confused. “Whaddya mean?”
“That’s an Orbital Drop Ranger’s standard kit,” he stated slowly, a simmering sense of awe bubbling up—why the hell was it in their blueprints folder? “It was used during the Sino-Venusian incursion of southern Mars. It still has the Old Earth American flag embedded into it, so you know it’s pre twenty-two-hundred C.E.”
“Oh shit… Pre-St.Loual’s construction? This is ancient, then, huh? Would it be any good?” She leaned in closer to him, eying the tablet further.
“Does it have the assembly view of the armored pieces?”
“Mmhmm.” She tapped a few icons, showing an isometric, exploded view of all the parts and their individual components.
It was a piece of history alright. The armor was produced just about the time when Mars was connecting their orbital stations and ground colonies to work in tandem, allowing for specialized forces to be trained in space and launched anywhere across the planet from drop pods in mere minutes, leading to common nickname of ‘Minutemen’ given to the troopers. The suits were expertly designed to withstand the harsh environments of Mars and give the soldiers the ability to engage with enemy combatants for several days before extraction, though the adept units usually completed their objectives within twenty-four hours of their landing.
The helmet was very angular and blended in with the expected rocky terrain of Mars, each component taking on a sloped frontal design with rectangular prisms flowing behind—radio, breathing apparatus, and vision modules all sharing a sleek, yet bulky look in their own right. It reminded him of some in-atmosphere ships, with the overhanging visor above the quad-nod viewport being the only non-aerodynamic pieces.
The chest and legs were a bit different, following the design of late twenty-second-century operators with tan lightweight rigs, and ammunition pouches alongside armored plates that ran from the shoulders to wrists in segments. There was a rusty-orange undersuit beneath it all for the purpose of keeping air in, which required some sturdy polymer structures to ensure it didn’t rip. Then, of course, there were the classic shock-absorbing leg supports. They weren’t too far off what Tracy was asking about earlier, but these ones didn’t provide any assistance in moving with any motors—just straight-up structural reinforcements.
Hell, the blueprints on screen even had the mag-grip gloves used to scale domes, buildings, and satellites alike. There was no doubt that the Orbital Drop Rangers had some of the coolest equipment on Mars, especially considering that it was the last to keep the ‘operator’ look… It was such a shame the government decided the orb-like helmets and rounded bubble armors were more effective.
“Hey, you know what?” he asked the technician, a shot of excitement in his voice. “This might actually work out as a suitable armor replacement.”
She perked up, her brows raised. “Oh? Actually?”
He shrugged, trying to play off the smirk plastered on his face. “Wouldn’t need a horrible amount of changes to work for our purposes. Just need to remove the oxygen converter on the back and put a gas mask replacement in the front portion of the helmet. Plus, we could probably get rid of the airtight aspect and just keep the undersuit for scratch protection. And, most importantly, it’s radio-protective.”
“Meets all your criteria, then?” She tapped through some UI interfaces, sending the armor assembly to Harrison’s monitor, which he accepted quickly.
“Sure does.” He readily clicked through the different parts and systems to differentiate what needed to be kept. “We have the resources for it, and all it needs is a layer of cadmium plus a few replacements. Definitely doesn’t need the heads-up display since there’s nothing for it to interact with either, so that’ll save on print time and materials too. Shame I cut up the beard… the Orbital Drop Rangers were allowed to have some cool ones.”
The tradeswoman scooted in even closer, practically resting her chin on his shoulder and watching him sift through the working parts. “Yeah, rest in peace, beard. Still, your armor situation is solved. What about the Malkrin?”
“I’ll be working on their gas masks, then I was thinking I’d use another one of your modeled armors for their protection since they’ve helped Shar a hell of a lot. Do you have any recommendations?”
“Mmmmm…” She looked up in thought, a smile forming along her cheeks. “You know, until we can make them any real power armor, I was thinking just some regular phobos-pattern armor. Could color ‘em based on their skin too.”
“Phobos-pattern armor?” he hummed to himself, clicking through the folder to find it. It was just as bulky as Shar’s armor, except it appeared a good bit smoother, with more rounded edges compared to her horns-and-spike-lined gauntlets and pauldrons. The blue suit Tracy was proposing didn’t have the four-armed protection compared to the chaos version, but it certainly had the same thickness of its metal plates. “Looks like it’d work pretty well. Does it have any electric components or anything?”
“No…” she huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “Not so good with designing that stuff in the modeling program I did the WarHarberd stuff in. Could add in more sophisticated leg support or whatever if you gave me time, but for now it’s just maneuverable slabs of alloy.”
“I think that’s all we need for the time being.” He shrugged. “I just don’t want the others to be vulnerable to getting cut up by the little spider-crab grunts.”
“As long as it works for what we need, then.” Her elbow poked into his arm. “Here, how about I take care of that armor stuff while you finish up the gas masks? They need the extra arm slots too, yeah?”
“I’d actually appreciate that a lot.” He offered her a back-palm fist bump, to which she eagerly took, taking on a grin that he mirrored. “Thanks, Trace.”
“Don’t mention it. I wish work was always just doing my hobbies like this.”
\= = = = =
A grand pylon of metal construction taller than the mightiest female’s frills stood atop the beach. Blue-scaled surfaces extended near the foot of the tower, gathering the power of the sun itself. The lattice layering upon their sides hid the weaving wires and Goddess-blessed machinery. A staff the same as Shar’khee’s peeked from its top, the glass eye on its side given a wide view of the sandy environment it resided on, the defense it now provided becoming absolute. The aura it exuded as a creature of pure metal was awe-inspiring, its mere presence a showing of Harrison’s might and domain.
No abhorrent would dare step foot upon the meadow’s rolling hills, for such a mistake would ensure their immediate execution for encroaching upon his settlement—the ‘fifty-cal-e-bur’ bullet is not one to rend any beast with only simple injuries, especially with three hundred of them available at once.
The maroon-skinned paladin treaded up the hill, having completed her task of setting up the last turret. The craftsman, the juvenile, and the lumberjack had also assisted with its setup, pulling their weight in both mind and muscles to piece the components together. They completed a few others around the modules already, but this one was done without the star-sents’ oversight. The four Malkrin had practiced and learned enough to be entrusted with such.
The idea of Harrison having enough confidence in them sparked much conviction in the group, each of them more than eager to prove him right—none more so than Shar’khee herself, of course.
She finally returned to the workshop, the sun’s last rays pressing into the back of her head and frills as she crouched beneath the doorway, a small gnawing hunger for dinner digging within her stomach. The cacophony of machines soon reached her ears, the sounds of their efforts almost working in tandem with the strange melodic music playing from an unseen source above her.
Tracy was in her corner, working on new beings of metal as always. The bright lights above were turned off in favor of smaller, warmer emplacements atop her surrounding circle of desks. A hard worker, that star-sent was, though both of them were like that, the paladin supposed. Their kind was certainly intent on keeping their hands busy.
Shar’khee passed through the snakes of machines, finding her way to Harrison’s desk with an increasingly strong sway in her tail. He was working with a black object with light gray accents. It appeared to be partially flexible, yet firm in other places—notably, a large glass fixture on one side of it. There was very little she could make out about its purpose, but with the delicate touches he applied, it appeared to be quite important.
Her tongue clicked twice, garnering the attention of the Creator. He paused his work, swiveling his chair to face her and revealing a long blue-leaf jutting from his mouth. Her male appeared quite tired, but his voice did not show it.
“Oh, Shar, what’s up? Did y’all need any help with the last turret?”
She shook her head. “We do not n—d such, for it is completed. Would you care to join me for din—r? The rest of the settlem—t is enjoying their meals as of now. ”
He raised his brows before looking back at the myriad of notes, tools, and materials atop his cluttered desk. “Well, I’m kinda busy, but…” His jaw rolled around in contemplation. “Here. Let’s just test this thing real quick.”
Her head tilted. “What sh—l we be testing?”
“Your gas mask… er, well, a Malkrin gas mask. Kneel down real quick, I’ll run ya through putting it on.” He stepped off his chair and grabbed the equipment, uncomfortably rotating his shoulders. How long was he sitting on that chair? The male approached her and she did as requested. “I had the sewist help me with some of the design. Never considered you guys would ever wear hats.”
She nodded. “It is unh—lthy for one to have their frills touched by the sun for so long. Adequate shade is a must, and trees are not so p—valent along farm land.”
“Mmhmm. Shame this is just a mask… Alright, this might be a bit uncomfortable, but it’ll do the job.”
He stepped forward and slipped the black apparel onto her snout, pushing it over her face until it pressed against the sides of her head. A cool material rubbed against her skin, locking her into its embrace. It was encapsulating, surrounding her wholly.
Her breaths strengthened as she allowed the mask to cover her, a short shock of nervousness riding down her spine. She was only now registering how vulnerable she was, allowing him to possibly suffocate her… but she stayed put, keeping her four palms rested within her lap as he continued to apply the straps around her ears. She would allow it. She trusted him with her life. She would not falter.
The cords around the back of her head were tight, a few of which went along both sides of her frills, pushing up against their sides. He kept going, ensuring a ‘seal,’ but it was getting much too—
Pop.
A lightning bolt of pain rolled throughout the top of her head, sending her reeling. It stung for the briefest of moments, but its effects rebounded through her entire body, short sparks pulsing from its origin. She felt nothing but its agonizing hold for several more moments as the rest of her body caught up.
When her eyes opened once more, she found herself on the floor and staring at the ceiling. The star-sent rushed to her side, appearing to ask many questions while looking over her head, but all she heard was a piercing ring and the gruff vocalization he made whenever he shared his intent. No words reached her mind, only the now faint phantom pains from where her frills met her skull. It put everything in a haze, her eyes barely settling on her dearest’s, despite how nauseous she had become.
His deft hands quickly worked to loosen the straps, practically ripping them off until his voice suddenly reached her, like breaching the surface of the water. His voice was deep, attempting to be calculating, yet despite his calmly created stoic demeanor… she could feel his panic, his sheer worry almost flooding her senses through practiced medical queries. She slowly sat up on the floor, holding herself with two arms while the other pair quelled the kneeling male, assuring him that she was alright with their weight resting atop his shoulders.
“I am well, dearest Harrison. Do not fret for me. The straps were simply too tight.”
His anxious breaths barely slowed, narrowly allowing for his exclamation. “Too tight? Shar, you practically blacked out!”
“Too tight upon my frills, I mean. There was a pain there for a few moments, but it has passed,” she returned calmly, softly kneading his stiff shoulders with the joints of her digits.
He exhaled sharply, matching her gaze with regret in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Shar. I should’ve known. I was just trying to see how…” He paused, resting his palm atop her forearm. “Nevermind. I just… Are you alright? Should I get you to the med bay for a quick scan?”
“I do not believe that to be necessary, no.”
His guard finally fell. “If… If you say so. Guess I have to redo the straps then. Definitely gotta make sure they’re not pressing on your frills like that.”
She smiled, appreciating his dedication. “Would you like my assistance?”
“As long as you don’t have anything else to do.” He shrugged, his shoulders barely moving upward against her massaging hands.
“There is no greater wish of mine than to be by your side,” she stated warmly.
He was frozen, the soft ministrations of his digits along her arm slowly stopping in contrast to the red flush growing from his cheeks to his ears. The crack of a smirk on his face finally with a short, heart-warming chuckle brought the statue back to life after a few moments. “You know… that’s probably the sweetest thing I’ve heard for years.”
Her brows raised in subtle surprise at his response. “It… was not intended to be such… However… you are more than welcome. You must understand by now that I am speaking only the truth.”
The two of them sat there in relative silence amongst the desks and machines; her half laying on the ground with her hands on his shoulder, and him on his knees by her side, a singular hand running up and down her comparatively large forearm. She felt… weak, in a way. A vibrating sensation rummaged through her stomach, attempting to pull her muscles and nerves astray.
It was warm, just like his palm, each motion of his hand sending lightning through her skin. The upward curl of her lips into her cheeks was suddenly an insurmountable force, incapable of being put down by a thousand females. There was a tear within her to either look away or… close the distance, and she suddenly found looking anywhere but his curious green eyes to be a waste of her time.
Her talons wrapped further around his shoulders and his back, ever so slightly bringing him into her embrace—
“A-HEM.” A voice cut the moment down to its knees. “The fuck happened here?” Tracy’s swift interjection caused the paladin to flinch backwards, allowing her to see that Harrison’s other hand had been hovering right beneath her snout. The female star-sent wore a furrowed brow and crossed arms, looking down at them. “I heard a crash and came over. Are you two alright?”
Harrison cleared his throat, ever-so-subtly scooting away from the paladin. “Uh, yeah. Shar fell because, um, I tied the gas mask a lil’ too tight.”
The artificer wore an expression that told of her disbelief. “She fell because of the gas mask?”
“It was something with her frills.” The male returned with a shrug, picking himself off the floor before offering the paladin a hand up.
She took it, despite not requiring it, and wiped off some loose dust from her pants. The three of them quickly returned to work soon after, with both her and the black-haired star-sent joining Harrison in his quest to produce the gas mask. She was much less… What did the Creator call it? Bubbly? Yes, that was it. She was much less bubbly than usual, sometimes sending a cold yet emotionless glare toward Shar’khee… Nevertheless, the two females offered input on the design and applied help where they could, eventually creating the final piece of equipment.
Tracy commented on its looks, apparently drawing inspiration from the Leviathan itself, as she believed it to be like that of a ‘Sea Dragon’s.’ The maw-covering portion held two cylindrical canisters on the adjacent sides, the bottom portion being capable of distention, so that the user’s mouth may open somewhat. Its motion created what the female star-sent believed to be ‘the coolest teeth design on a mask’ she’d ever seen with how the separation formed alternating triangles.
The monster-like appearance was furthered by her own frills and horns that peeked out from behind the mask. That was not even mentioning the see-through visor that formed a malicious glare of sharp brows. The paladin looked through a hand-held mirror, finding it difficult to disagree with the look. She could imagine the horror on a fisherwoman’s face as such a terrifying creature approached from the depths.
And yet, despite its nightmarish visage, it was apparel designed to save lives, not take them—much unlike the unassuming metal rods that spewed fire with a mere flick of a lever. Curious indeed. The star-sents were seemingly never out of surprises. They even spoke of grand robots and firearms larger than Shar’khee herself as possible future projects.
Only time could tell what machinations of alloy would be birthed from their hands.
- - - - -
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Next time on Total Drama Anomaly Island - Under The Milky Way

Hey there!
So this is my first ever script and is sort of based on some fantasy scenarios that I have been using to help myself sleep since going on HRT last year (Wooo!) A lot of Trans stories I see in the ASMR community are about those who are just coming out or are dysphoria comfort etc.
And since its Pride month I thought I may as well share one of my own comfort scenarios in case anyone else may also find it so
Since, for my own personal journey, I just wish that someone could have seen the me that I hid behind the shell and veneer I showed to the world for 16 years after coming to terms with being Trans back in High School in like 07-ish. And hence why this is written this way. Anyone enough about me
To be clear, the listener does indeed know they are Trans feminine/Non-binary. I have tried to leave that a bit ambiguous, using only they/them/their pronouns from the speaker in regards to the listener. I am also fine with ANYONE voicing this regardless of gender identity and changing the speaker to fit such (Eg; Prince instead of Princess) and with this being explicitly labelled for TF or NB etc. Just please give me credit for the script if used
You may monetise this on any platform, if you do please give me a link.
I would also love any and all feedback and constructive criticism. (Spelling is in Australian English)
I think that's everything, so THE SCRIPT!!!
First Extra Details:
-dashes- indicate sfx (optional)
Names in [brackets] are fine to change
Princess Lee=P
[Mira} is optional lines for a second voice if wished but are COMPLETELY optional and the script should work with or without them.
[Mira] and Princess [Lee] share 1 short line that either or both can speak.
K=Knight/unnamed listener’s lines, Obviously these are unspoken but have “marks” to illustrate them as separate.
SCRIPT STARTS BELOW
-knocks on a door-
(slightly muffled)
Princess: You may Enter.

-Opening door creak-

P: Ah finally! You are the last one you know? Of course you do. I’m sure the disappointment of not being selected to be my personal guard has been spreading through all the other nominees as they returned to the barracks rejected, yes?

“K: It has your highness.”

P: (stifled chuckle) …Well then, take a seat on my couch, opposite me please. (give a few second pause for them to reach the couch and sit) As you may have guessed then, as the last potential candidate, you have been selected though to be honest it was always a bit, uh, rigged from the start?

“K: Rigged?”

P: Yes, you see, well, as I’m sure you are aware, all of us in the Royal Family already have our own specially trained Shadow. A personal right-hand to be our guard, our confidant…our friend. [Mira] over there on the recliner is mine…as again I am sure you are well aware. Apologies I am a bit more flustered than I thought I had prepared myself to be.

(Take a deep Breath)

P: You see these tests and checks we’ve been doing for the past month are … not really for choosing my additional guard for my time in the [Magic University] after all it is a very secure facility, and [Mira] would be able to accompany me to all classes and locations there anyway. Rather these were all tests to confirm whether my suspicions regarding you were true.

“K: What suspicions?”

[Mira]: Suspicions was probably the wrong word [Lee].

P: Oh no! I do not mean to accuse you of being a spy or anything of that sort! I trust with my entire being that you are more than loyal to this kingdoms’ people and my family. Rather I was referring to a … secret I believed you were withholding or, at least, one that you were not actively voicing or embracing of a more … personal nature to you. And if I am right, which I believe I am, then I fully understand. But before I say any more please know, whether I am right or wrong, this conversation will not leave this room. You are safe here either way. You have my WORD on that.

[M]: Both of our words.

P: You see, yes these tests have all been of a social engagement variety not only due to the environment at the [Magic University] not only to see how you would all behave as guards during such settings, but also as guests. After-all it is a primarily social form Academy, with the majority of students and teachers being women, and noble born ones at that. And as such rather than war rooms or sparring sessions, as you and the other knights would be used to, tea parties and balls are more of what would occur over the 3 years there.

[M]: You should probably elaborate more on the why not the school Lee.

P: Yes, you see this common knowledge was a helpful subterfuge for our actual tests. To see how well you could and would perform as the “guests” for the guards. And I do mean YOU specifically. Whilst we did pay attention to your fellow knights, it was mainly you we were paying attention to. How at the tea parties you sat so demurely and smiled, paying so much attention to the stories. Sitting with proper etiquette. How at the ball you hung back clearly uncomfortable in your suit … and your skin. Then when the dances came up, and we were partners… You let me lead.

[M]: Don’t worry, no one really noticed. Except for us, and even then, it is only because we were looking.

P: Your face during it. Your expression. You were so at peace. At all of these when you could fade into the background and enjoy yourself. Your face was always so … Happy. Whenever you didn’t have to play the knight. Having to be strong in front of everyone. Winning duels so that you can keep your hair as long as you like. Refusing promotions and the like so that you could stay safe and hidden. Turning down dates because they could only see the Strong Sir Knight resplendent in their masculinity…. But that’s not you is it? Not really.

[M]: Maybe you should start from the beginning Lee?

P: I began looking into year about 6 moths ago, when you turned down the promoting to lead your own platoon. I found it odd at first given that it would be quite an accomplishment for a knight as fresh as you into adulthood. But thought you were just holding out for something more or trying to just not be separated from your current squad yet. Being so involved in my own studies I didn’t think much more. UNTIL I was on a stroll through the gardens with [Mira] one afternoon as a break. When we came across you. Napping with your hair down in a very secluded spot. (warm giggle) with a cute flower crown and matching bracelet on.

[M]: No sword in view anywhere. Not often even a baby knight doesn’t trigger my alert or even “careful” radar. And ESPECIALLY one who has won even duels to keep their hair that long. Wouldn’t have seen you if we hadn’t decided to meander through the flower field

P: At first, we didn’t recognise you. You looked so different. So … androgynous and cute…. So feminine. So vastly different in comparison to how you hold and present yourself with the other knights. You were at so much peace then too. Not like the quiet conflict I realised you were showing all other times. In the following weeks we looked more into you as the sight became so burned into my memory.

[M]: Nothing too invasive. Well except….

P: [Mira] investigated your room in the barracks. Just a spot check. Comparing to the other knights. She didn’t go through your draws or anything. It was bare. No Decorations. No displayed gits or ornaments. Just some books, haircare products and a chess set. So barren and empty, in stark contrast to your fellow knights. No mirror either. Your Commander said you had it removed as it reflected the lights poorly and hindered your sleep.

[M/P]: But that’s not true, is it?

P: In truth, you find looking in the mirror to be stressful and/or weird. Like something doesn’t fit right. And it’s your reflection, isn’t it? It’s not what you see you as in your own head is it? It began to click for me at that time. Then we found out the knights had taken you in as one of their recruited volunteers from the Orphanage to help make space there for younger children. They took you in and raised you. Trained you to be the knight sitting before me. A path you would not have chosen otherwise, I’m sure.

[M/P]: Stuck in a role you do not want. With nowhere to return to. No other skills to utilise or survive on. Trapped.

P: But here is where I can offer you an escape. Another chance. Another way. First, I will let you know that no matter what, [Mira] and I will not be returning to the castle again. My Elder siblings can all fight for the throne, they are well aware that I will not come for it unless they hurt or threaten the people of our kingdom with malice. So this deal is a one time thing AND you must decide pretty much now. As such…

-clinking glasses-

P: In this vial that I will place to your right is a potion that will give you amnesia from the events of the last 24 hours. You will not remember this day, or this conversation [Mira] and I will claim that you tested a wine for me and discovered it was poisoned, saving me. We will leave the palace immediately with the rest of our wagon to [the Magic University], whilst you will be hailed as a hero and able to return to your current life.

-more glass clinking-

P: Whilst in this vial I will place to your left. If you choose this one you will come with us. We will still leave in the but in the morning, and you will have a new future and a chance to live. However, the reason we will leave in the morning rather than immediately? This is due to the vial containing a very potent potion that will flow your mana into me and WILL cause you to pass out. But by drinking this your mana won’t become mine but rather it will be…subservient to mine I can loan it or grow it with my own, but I will also be able to find you for the rest of our lives. And by choosing this you choose to become mine. For all intents and purposes you will be essentially be My Possession. My Pet. My Property. If you wish you can even be MY Princess. A new life and chance. But you must choose it.

**Give a 5-10 second pause here**

P: You are hesitating. Which in itself is an answer, isn’t it? Hey look at me. Here let me hold your face - Huh your check is so warm, and your eyes so beautiful... I promise you, By taking this yes, you will become mine, but that does not mean I will force you to become or do anything that you do not want to do. I want to you to be by my side yes. I want to watch you live and grow and become so much more than the knight-shell that sits before me. But YOU get to make that choice. I can only offer you it. As well as the unconditional love and support of having us there to help you become …well YOU.

-Glass clinking as the left vial is taken and drunk-
-Ruffling and moving as Princess Lee rushes to their side-

P: Oh, thank you for trusting me. Here Let my hold you as you drift off. I promise you that everything will be ok now. You can be whoever you need to be. And I will be there to love you my pet. Whoever you are. Whoever you will be. Tomorrow your new life, your true life can begin.

Hi there! For the jump relevant to this post, click here. It IS a Troyverse Ascension so this is a very powerful type of creature and by coming to this jump you become one. This is an experiment with a new type of discussion post where I talk about big beasties from various settings you can become, and the fun you can have as whatever type of creature you can become.
Have a fun future announcement: I have plans for a jump to a generic world that is secretly in the process of becoming conquered by a Sanguinarch. In my head this jump would include origins for civilians, the resistance, collaborators, and a full origin for a Sanguinarch-spawned vampire. This is a WHOLLY original idea and is very far down the docket of jumps I want to create, but it is one I want to make before the end of the year. So if you like this post, you may like whatever I end up creating at some point in the future whenever I get around to making the jump I just mentioned.

Sanguinarch Basics

Sanguinarchs are one of the five types of Troyverse ascendants alongside Archdemons, Cosmic Gods, Dragon Lords, & Transynths. Three of the four types of beings I mentioned have jumps, all of which have been created by me and are reflections of the original source CYOAs that have been jump-ified and given some QOL things that are relevant to jumpers specifically. Ascendants are beings that tap into the fundamental rules of reality in some way. Archdemons use sins, Cosmic Gods use D&D/Pathfinder style domains, Dragon Lords use draconic fonts of power, and Transynths use technology and science. Sanguinarchs use... Well, Sanguinarchs use Essence.
So at their core Sanguinarchs are supreme undead & necromancers. They are vampires that can feed on entire planets, solar systems, galaxies, and even universes at the very height of somewhat possible attainable power for their kind, becoming cosmopotences (an in-universe term for beings capable of affecting entire universes). Sanguinarchs are also notoriously flexible tricksters with a very nasty grab bag of possible tricks.
The first level of a Sanguinarch's bag of tricks are their foci; a theme around which a sanguinarch focuses themselves granting themselves a particular set of abilities and skills. There are three foci, but any Sanguinarch can take more than one foci, though such sanguinarchs are the rarest members of their kind. The three foci are cultured, dominating, and savage.
The cultured focus is for sanguinarchs who value intelligence, reasoning, non-violence, and diplomacy. It grants any sanguinarch who takes it enhanced charisma, intelligence, persuasiveness, and the ability to conduct rituals which can enact any kind of magic other than magic that transforms bodies or morphs minds on massive scales in hours, scales which would normally take even entire planets of archmages years of constant collaboration to pull off. Sanguinarchs with this focus have enhanced magic when it comes to the body and mind but only magic enhanced to the scale that a normal archmage could realistically have, which is not nothing but it pales in comparison to the rest of their magical kit.
Dominating focused sanguinarchs value control over all things and have the ability to enslave people within a few miles of them, but if they have the right major sanguine power then they can dominate everyone in a galaxy around them. These servitors are 100% loyal to you and would do anything you command. They also passively generate essence for you, giving you oath based essence (unless you've shunned the oath source) which is the only way that mind controlling someone can generate oath based essence, as normally such a font stems from oaths that are willingly sworn rather than ones that stem from supernatural influence.
The final focus is the savage focus. This is a purely physical focus and it is tremendously powerful, boosting your speed to galactic scale and giving you unbelievable power and endurance.
The foci can also be mixed and matched, in the sense that buying one does not lock you out of the other two.
Going to the next facet of the sanguinarch's toolkit, let's talk about essence. Essence is a substance that sanguinarchs can absorb and make use of, which is generated by all sorts of connections (this term is being used in a conceptual, esoteric sense here); interactions which result in blood being drawn, the devouring of one's soul, consensual sex between adults, oaths that are willingly sworn ("willingly" here does include oaths sworn under duress but not under the influence of supernatural powers), and a sanguinarch's own dominion (Remember this word, we'll circle back to it). Essence is a substance that is generated by ALL instances of the things I mentioned, blood, souls, pleasure, and oaths, but only a sanguinarch can absorb and use the substance. Sanguinarchs naturally absorb any essence created by their own actions, and can maximize the five sources that generate essence up above, which allows them to passively absorb the essence generated by their personalized types of vampiric spawn (another thing we'll get too later in this post) in the cases of blood, souls, and pleasure (provided the type of vampire in question feeds on it), and then if oaths are sworn to your vampires, and in the case of maximizing the dominion source of essence you make it easier to add places to your dominion rather than increasing how much essence the dominion feeds you.
Essence can be spent in one of three ways; it can empower an active ability (such as a spell you're about to cast), it can buff a passive trait (such as boosting your durability), and finally it can emulate a one-off instance of any kind of effect you want. This last ability takes some explaining, but a sanguinarch can spend their essence (which is a resource that once spent is gone, though it is incredibly easy to gain more) to emulate any kind of power on virtually any scale, with more impressive powers on larger scales costing fortunes in essence. A sanguinarch with this ability can do virtually anything provided they are ready to spend the right amount of essence. This ability makes sanguinarchs extremely unpredictable and dangerous. Essence MUST be spent to use this ability, even if emulating an ability you've already emulated in the past.
Now let's talk about the more direct powers & the potent servants of sanguinarchs; vampires.

Sanguinarch's Active Abilities & Vampiric Spawn

There are two types of active powers that are uniquely part of a sanguinarch's power set; major sanguine powers, and also Dominion perks.
Major Sanguine powers are powers that require no essence and are extremely simple for the vampire-like monsters to use. There are about 17 of these abilities and each of them is worth understanding. More details on each of these abilities can be found in the jump or in the source document.
Empowerment boosts your effectiveness with essence. Shadowblank makes you stunningly difficult to detect and if you are willing to spend the essence can be used on your dominion, but when used on your dominion it is somewhat more detectable than you since if someone enters the dominion they can see it. Darkness allows you and your forces to get stronger in darkness and in places attuned to darkness. Eclipse lets you shroud a place in darkness. Phylacktery is your respawn mechanic. Monstrous Command lets you command animals and monsters of all kinds. Mindlink is stunningly powerful telepathic communication. Hypnosis is a brutally powerful form of mind control dependent on making eye contact with someone but if you hit them with it you can give almost any sort of command that you can imagine so long as it's not permanent and you can stack commands on somebody. Puppetmaster lets you seize control of all sorts of moving things and people, moving them in ways that are pleasing to you, almost like straight up telekinesis. Spectral Form gives you conditional intangibility (intangible to things like enemy strikes but tangible when you want to punch someone or otherwise interact with something), and Regeneration lets you recover from virtually sort of damage instantly, unless said damage is inflicted by a being wildly stronger than you.
Trueshifting is pretty incredible shapeshifting, power emulation, and cloning. Mirrorwalk is, for all intents and purposes, instant teleportation from any one mirror to any other mirror, at least in the local multiverse. Mass Telekinesis is ridiculously powerful telekinetic abilities able to hold even quintillions of different things in space at once, even if each individual thing has the same mass of mountains. Enthrall lets you turn people into thralls, immortal, devoted supernatural servants. all of whom are enhanced sources of essence in every way, their blood, souls, and pleasure giving you more essence, as well as their oaths generating more essence over time. Absorption lets you absorb skills, knowledge, and abilities from those you get essence from, be it you targeting a teacher, or your spawn targeting a local king, and by opting to gain a bit less essence then you'd otherwise gain you can instead just copy this stuff rather than taking it from the people you target with this power. Dark brides are special types of servants you can create that are wholly bonded to you, either creating someone from nothing or turning a living person into a dark bride so long as they consent to it. Dark brides can do whatever you can as a sanguinarch but each dark bride costs more than the last with the first being free.
Let's talk about dominions. A sanguinarch's dominion is not just territory that is under their control, but a patch of space that has been so thoroughly conquered by them that the land itself recognizes their control and lordship. This happens when a significant amount of essence has been gathered and absorbed by a single sanguinarch in one continuous area (how much essence is required depends in part on the size of the space in question), which eventually renders the space vulnerable to powerful dark rituals which the sanguinarch and their homies can perform over the course of several days. When these rituals are completed the patch of space becomes a part of their dominion, and a sanguinarch's dominion feeds them essence every second, with bigger dominion's feeding them more essence. A dominion is permanently under the influence of a sanguinarch who claims it, and in the Troyverse there are plenty of places that can be under the thumb of other sanguinarch since other sanguinarchs exist but once you jump OUT of the Troyverse... Well, there's a LOT of space in all but the smallest-setting-wise jumps for you to turn into your turf. There are a total of nine perks that specifically affect a sanguinarch's dominion, bolstering it in various ways. Let's talk about them!
Sentinals are a type of guardian that, if the perk is purchased, are generated by the dominion itself (and created by it whenever you add space to your dominion, or with the right perk, whenever it sufficiently expands) and have ultra-human (planet-level) physiques as well as some vampire-like abilities. These guardians protect your dominion but cannot leave it, and if they are somehow destroyed (and it'd take a being on par with or beyond Superman to do this so it IS possible but in a lot of settings it's not especially likely) your dominion will resurrect them over the course of a few days unless you spend some essence to rebuild them. They are also completely immune to mind control or being puppeted, and are aware of everything in your dominion.
Many dominion perks are handy because they make your dominion more suitable to your minions and you in some way and pliant climate is one such perk. PC begins with a one time effect that makes a new patch of dominion more hospitable to your minions, altering reality to do something like destroying radiation that might destroy sufficiently weak lifeforms or creating landmasses for your servants to walk on, and after that effect has occurred you can personally warp reality to alter the climate in your dominion even weaponizing weather against invaders or other enemies.
Labyrinth is a perk that enhances your dominion's natural and default resistance to enemy reality warping (to such an extent that universe-scale reality warpers would struggle to use reality warping in your space), and also causes the local geography to warp and twist in reality-defying ways that make it virtually impossible for non-ascendants to escape without your permission.
Shroud is a perk that nullifies any default weaknesses you or your spawn may have to traditional anti-vampire stuff (sanguinarchs do not have such weaknesses by default though a drawback can give you some) such as sunlight, garlic, silver, or fire, so long as you or your spawn are in your dominion. If you opted to allow your spawn to be weak to stuff, particularly sunlight, this can be an incredibly handy perk to have and can give even the most disloyal vampires powerful reasons to aid you in expanding your dominion.
Obedient architecture lets you turn raw materials into grand structures instantly, so long as the required reality warping occurs in your dominion.
Gluttonous enhances how much essence you get when you are in your dominion, but this particular perk is a bit odd. The way this perk works is by enhancing ALL feeding you do on essence so long as you are in the confines of your dominion. Very importantly this enhances the potency of the dominion's passive essence production, but also bolsters every other source of essence, and can be very powerful if you strive to maximize essence production. This can also blend very powerfully with another ability we'll mention in a second.
Shadow Paths is a perk that ties together all patches of dominion in a jump (for jumper-sanguinarchs, this limitation doesn't exist for pure CYOA sanguinarchs). What this means is that your servants and those you give permission too can step into one patch of dominion and immediately enter another patch located elsewhere, even if doing so entails them stepping somewhere in North Carolina and suddenly appearing in Alaska, or on the moon. This is one of the best forms of teleportation in the Troyverse that is able to be used by ascendants, but requires the powerful setup needed to turn a place into a patch of dominion in the first place, as opposed to requiring the advanced technology other ascendants can use to swiftly and stealthy teleport en-masse. One handy aspect of this power is that it is only accessible to those you permit and only if they are loyal to you; if a vampire you converted into a vampire is somehow under enemy control they cannot use these paths at all. This is a neat defensive measure that prevents this ability from being used against you. The paths automatically appear whenever you add a patch to your dominion, connecting any and all such spaces.
Power Suppression is a very handy ability that shuts down enemy/non-allied powers so long as they are in your dominion, which if fused with something like labyrinth can be incredibly devastating. How strong this perk is depends on how much you invest in it, but frankly even the first tier makes entire settings (even ones with powered beings) unable to use their powers against your will, as a LOT of settings do not have any beings that are planet-scale.
Eminent Domain is a stunningly powerful perk that enhances your dominion in every respect. Firstly it makes it so that any abilities you use remotely do not suffer any diminishment (all ascendants are capable of using their ascendant abilities at incredible ranges so long as the area they are using their powers in are sufficiently under their influence in some way, but normally such abilities suffer some level of weakened effectiveness due to distance). This also radically bolsters your awareness of what occurs in your dominion, granting you pseudo-omniscience within the strict confines of your dominion. Lastly, and most importantly, this stunningly powerful perk allows your patches of dominion to expand themselves!
Normally a patch of dominion is static in the sense that it does not expand sans external intervention (Basically a patch of dominion's size and dimensions are determined at the moment a place is converted and normally stays that way forever). With ED this is changed and instead patches of dominion slowly expand with how quickly they expand being determined by whether or not you maximized the dominion essence source (and a requirement that feedings occur in the patch of dominion in question). Think of it this way; it's easier for a sanguinarch who has patches of dominions in banks where vampire bankers get people to swear oaths via bank loans to watch their patches expand than a sanguinarch whose patches are in barren deserts to watch their patches expand. That's not to say it can't be done, the desert-owning sanguinarch can turn serial killers into vampires, have them take their victims to the dominion patches and feed on them in there, but that IS more complex than the setup for the banking sanguinarch I also mentioned.
Fully understanding and maximizing the power of the dominion is difficult but it's worth it. A sanguinarch with a few perks is an impressively powerful lord of any space they turn into their dominions, and a sanguinarch with ED can slowly and cautiously watch their dominion expand without having to do the rituals. It's dope.
Now let's talk about vampric spawn! I'm not gonna go over every facet of this, as there's a lot of individual options that'd need to be discussed. but vampiric spawn are a SPECIFIC type of vampire created by a sanguinarch. A sanguinarch can turn anyone in the same planet into a vampire spawn, and even gods are not immune to this transformation, neither are animals, demons, or any supernatural beings unless they are on par with an ascendant themselves. It's also stunningly difficult to resist this transformation, so someone can do something like catch Superman off guard and turn him into one of your spawn.
There are a number of reasons why sanguinarchs want vampiric spawn, but for a lot of sanguinarchs vampiric spawn will be best viewed as a way to speed up one's ability to gather essence. When deciding your builds you have three options when it comes to all five sources of essence; you can "shun" them, you can leave them unaltered, or you can maximize them. "Shunning" a source means you never get essence from it (but this does not make them useless, as dominions can get still benefit from dominion perks AND turning an area into a dominion can stop other sanguinarchs from doing so, though this would only be useful in Troyverse jumps), leaving it alone means you can get essence from instances of the source caused by you and you alone, and maximizing the source means that any actions that are relevant to the source that your spawn cause (that in the case of blood, pleasure, and souls they can FEED on) generates essence for you (which is relevant both for the purposes of the absorption sanguine major power and for the purposes of eventually creating new patches of dominion). This means that vampiric spawn are more than handy servants, they can be vital expanders of your empire.
A sanguinarch can customize vampiric spawn they create in a number of ways by purchasing options in the vampiric spawn customization section of the jump doc. If a sanguinarch went bonkers on this section their maxed out vampires would be fucking stacked with modifiers like enhanced beauty, an ability to grow stronger from feeding (and it being a carving rather than a necessity), fanatical loyalty to you, the ability to mesmerize people, fly, turn into mist, and shapeshift, as well as physiques that are 100 times the peak for their species. These vampires would be tremendously powerful servants, and could make for incredible followers.

Sanguinarch Thoughts & Musings

Now that we've spent a beat discussing the facets of sanguinarch stuff that will persist across jumps, let's talk a bit about thoughts & musings related to sanguinarchs!
Sanguinarchs are hands down the best territory-type ascendants. Their ability to conquer a place so thoroughly that they turn it into their dominion is fucking wild given what dominion perks can do to a place, and a properly stealthy sanguinarch can do it before people even realize that something fucky is going on. Even in modern police states sanguinarchs with the right builds can be masters of subtlety and stealth, or can just blitz a place so fast that no one has a chance to resist (this is especially true for dominating sanguinarchs).
I really like the versatility and flexibility of sanguinarchs, as the emulate function of essence and stuff like shadowblank and mindlink are so fantastically potent that they are just nightmarishly powerful in the right hands.
A sanguinarch that opts to not be watered down and instead has the full functionality of a CYOA sanguinarch rather than my suggested edits to make the power of a sanguinarch more approachable can enter a setting and turn everyone in their home world into a vampire in an instant, or can dominate entire communities in a second, In some respects this is just beyond what other ascendants can do (though all ascendants can buy greater megapowers which can allow other ascendants to emulate a sanguinarch with the right focus). Manifold ascendants that are sanguinarchs AND other things can instantly create cults to themselves and, assuming they are an archdemon, dragon lord, or cosmic god, immediately begin to gain power from the worship power source.
As a stealth-type jumper person I really really like the potency of a sanguinarch's many abilities that either revolve around stealth or allow for it, with powers like eclipse and shadowblank being perennial favorites of mine. I also love that there are powers that revolve around knowing more than others and hiding in the dark, giving boosts to your other powers if you are just smarter than your foes or if you are a sneaky sneak. One fascinating aspect of the darkness power is how it can synergize with absorption, since you can drain knowledge from foes with strikes, which makes your other abilities stronger against them.
Here are some fun ideas for interesting targets to turn into vampiric spawn or otherwise use in a story with a jumper sanguinarch.
A serial killer who will now eagerly dedicate their kills to you, and who is happy to target anyone you wish to see killed.
A cop who needs to find the people who kidnapped her brother. Now armed with vampiric powers she will investigate her brother's kidnapping with brutal efficiency.
A priest having a crisis of faith whose mind is exceptionally loud one night when you are scanning nearby minds. Now he worships you rather than whatever god he once believed in.
A high school queen bee who is afraid of the future or growing old and is eagerly willing to cavort with dark forces once she realizes they are real and willing to help her, for a price. This one can be really fun if you turn her friend into a vampiric spawn and dangle the prospect in front of her but instead use some of your abilities to do stuff like enhance her but not give her the immortality she craves.
A promising athlete who was critically injured and is desperate to recover and rebuild their career.
A politician who craves more and more power, and is happy to make dark deals.
A terminally ill child with parents who are desperate to see them get better, and who will pay any price if it means their child has a miracle. And to keep paying for their child's continued health.
Sanguinarchs CAN be brutal overlords who conquer places with force, and that can be a lot of fun given how incredibly powerful the savage focus is (and how much scarier it can be with stuff like spectral form and regeneration). Sanguinarchs can also be shadowy deal makers who have fun putting things in place and watching how they move once they are positioned in front of each other.
There are some very inventive ways for a sanguinarch to get essence. One of my favorites is to create vampires that are, for all intents and purposes, succubi and have them run brothels where they sell themselves at incredibly low prices and have them feast on horny peeps. Another way I really like is to create charisma based vampires and turn banks into dens for my vampirism, or turn places like lending agencies into hives of my vampires.
Certain places are also very likely to be targeted by me whenever I create sanguinarchs (be they CYOA or jump sanguinarchs); hospitals and prisons. My sanguinarchs are invariably predatory assholes and they recognize how desperate people can be after a difficult doctor's visit, and they also see prisons as places that are incredibly easy to turn into patches of their dominion, whether it's turning desperate and scared prisoners into vampires or giving prison guards and staff the power to more easily and safely corral the prisoners.

Conclusion

I honestly just really like sanguinarchs. They have such fun and varied power sets, and can dramatically expand their toolkits with stuff like Absorption and the emulate function of their ability to manipulate essence. Sanguinarchs and Transynths are the oddest of the ascendants, but I have such fun with both of their power sets and it can be so rad to see what sort of mischief a sanguinarch jumper can get up too while turning a place into a part of their dominion.
I hope this overview helps you think more keenly about sanguinarchs and their eerie meshes of abilities. If you've ever run a sanguinarch jumper, or have plans to do so I'd love to hear all about them!

Given the personal nature of a many things I record, I wanted to use an application that only I could access. I’m going to trial the free version for a while.
So I can get a more apples-to-apples comparison, are there any features that come with the Professional plan of StandardNotes that otherwise might feel missing to someone used to the Personal tier of Evernote?
95% of my notes are text. I have 300 to 400 notes across 6 notebooks. I access them by way of 2 mobile devices and two computers. I generate 1 or 2 new notes a day.
Comments on anyone’s experiences with the app are welcome.
Edit: Found a comparison where StandardNotes compare themselves to Evernote for anyone who is interested: https://standardnotes.com/evernote-alternative

Demographic: Afro-Latina, Low Income, First generation, Low income school in the South.
Health issues in Sophmore year which caused my GPA to drop. I had been in the hospital though I tried my best in pulling it up Junior year. I studied my butt off for test and worked hard for my ec’s despite not having as much tools as available.
Intended major: BioChemistry
GPA: 2.4 -> 3.3 W. School doesn’t do UW
SAT: 1340
ACT: 30
Course work: Medical program dual enrollment two years; Passed year 1 with a B+, Passed year 2 with A-. AP Seminar (3) AP research (5).
ECs:
Lead researcher in how creativity impacts the youth.
Organized an event to donate toys towards children in hospitals. (Very successful)
Volunteering at the cardiology center.
Creating a non profit that combines creativity and patients whom suffer from cardiovascular diseases.
700+ Hours.
Rec letters: AP. Medical teacher. Anatomy and physiology honors.
Essay: How my protectiveness of my favorite spoon symbolizes my need for control and how losing that spoon caused both my down fall and my acceptance.
(Honors college professor cried and rated it highly⁾
College list:
FSU (Through the CARE program) FIU (Golden promise) UCF FAU TCC

I've wanted to write about my experience with Lossless Scaling and Skyrim for a while now, and with the new 3X FG update, I think it's as good a time as any to collect everything I've experienced with this app so far, as well as my opinion on it. I hope it will be helpful to others as well when it comes to what results can be expected of it realistically. Of course I'd love to hear what experiences/opinions others have on LS too, as with everything Skyrim related, YMMV!
I've been using LS for a good month now (I think) and it's been pretty amazing what this app can do. It certainly helped me get a much smoother game.
First, my specs: I play on an Asus TUF A17 (2020) laptop, it has an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H CPU, GTX 1650 (4GB) GPU, and 32 GB RAM. I have almost 700 mods installed (672 atm) many of them visual, like trees (HLT, scaled to 130% size), lush grasses, extra forest debris, 2k textures max (with the only exception being mountains at 4k) medium LODs and an ENB preset (Rudy for NAT.III) that is optimized for better performance with as minimal a visual loss as I could manage (if someone wants to see how my modded game looks, I have pics I shared on the SkyrimPorn subreddit on my profile). By all means, I don't think it's as ultra modded as Skyrim gets, but it's thoroughly modded nonetheless.
At the moment, with this setup, and with no form of upscaling whatsoever, I get around 30 FPS in forested areas, like Falkreath, and ocassionally dip below that in the Rift. Interiors are pretty much 60+ though, even with Lux. So performance is not great at fullscreen in exteriors. It's also choppy at this frame rate too, with stutters. Before FG, I used SSE Display Tweaks at 0.8 or 0.7 resolution scale to get better FPS as that helped me get to a semi-consistent fps of 40-50 in exteriors.
For Lossless Scaling I'm using the following settings: in SSE Display Tweaks I set resolution to my native 1920x1080, resolution scale is at 0.7 atm, upscaling is turned to false, and the game is in borderless windowed. That latter is important for LS to work correctly.
I cap fps at 45 via the ENB menu. Once the upscaling and FG are turned on, the game still looks good to me, with no great visual loss (though I'm sure there is some as upscaling is never perfect, but I can't really tell) and the game is just so, so smooth, which is the biggest improvement for me. As for visual stuff and frame gen, I did notice that if I whip the character view around like crazy, there's ghosting around the character, and at lower fps there's a barely noticable distortion at the very bottom of my screen. It used to be way more visible before the 2.0 FG update though, so maybe in the future this gets improved further. For now, it doesn't bother me as it rarely happens and the smoothness is absolutely amazing. Skyrim without FG at 40 fps is okay, but I hate the occasional stutters and sometimes even at 60 fps, Sykrim just doesn't feel smooth enough. But maybe that's just me. Either way, LS's FG for me is definitely worth it.
Here's a little video about input lag, as that is mentioned, but so far I haven't seen many videos showing it in action (sorry for the crappy quality, took it on my phone but hopefully it's still informative enough. Turn the sound on to hear when I tap space). Honestly, I can't really feel it during gameplay, but I do notice it in menus, so there's that. I imagine that with fast-paced first-person shooters this input lag would feel way worse.
As for a comparison with Puredark's upscaler: I can't say anything regarding his frame generation as I've never used it (for those who used both, feel free to share your thoughts! I'd love to see a proper comparison), but I can share my opinions on 2 of his upscaling techniques that I've tried and used before, namely FSR and XeSS. My opinion is that LS beats both, especially regarding visuals. Puredark's FSR performs better than XeSS, but for me, it introduced some very distorted effects. The most affected were fire and water, but magic effects looked wrong too. Here are some pics of what I'm talking about: Fire, water (I use Natural waterfalls now, but FSR distorts that too). With LS's FSR I get no such visual bugs. XeSS had no such problems, though I did notice moving lines appearing on fabrics like banners and rugs. It's also not just a me problem, as I've seen it on other people's comparisons too, like this one from a year ago (the first imgur link has shots of water where the visual loss with fsr is seen, water looks less detailed, especially waterfalls).
LS vs DLSS: I'll say that, in my opinion DLSS (wether it's Puredark's or not) will be superior to other methods. RTX cards have special hardware that support dlss upscaling (from my limited understanding) so a purely software based upscaling can't really compete. If you have access to dlss upscaling, I'd say keep it, LS will probably look and perform worse to you, but for people like me who don't have an RTX card, or have non-Nvidia gpus, it is a pretty good app and is worth its price.
All that said, keep in mind that LS can't perform miracles. Even the app page says that a minimum of 30 fps is needed for it to work well, and during my stresstest where I upped graphics as much as I could and could no longer achieve even 25 fps at all, it couldn't give me a smooth and good-looking result. The visual distortion was very visible and latency got worse too, it also didn't feel smooth at all despite displaying 60+ fps drawn. 30 fps to me wasn't much better either, so from my purely personal experiences, I'd say a minimum of 40 fps is recommended for good results.
That's it for now. If you're interested in Lossless Scaling, here's the Steam link.
TL:DR: Lossless Scaling is amazing and can help smoothen gameplay greatly, but can't do miracles and turn 20 fps to smooth 60 with perfect visuals. Also likely not going to beat rtx gpu's hardware supported dlss.
Edit: one more thing I forgot to mention is that using frame gen WILL lower your base fps, in my experience by about 7 fps, so it's best to keep that in mind when capping.

Modlist:

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FalloutNV.esm
DeadMoney.esm
HonestHearts.esm
OldWorldBlues.esm
LonesomeRoad.esm
GunRunnersArsenal.esm
ClassicPack.esm
MercenaryPack.esm
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CaravanPack.esm
YUP - Base Game + All DLC.esm
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fixy crap ue.esp
Leveled DLC Delay.esm
Bad Touch.esm
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Functional Post Game Ending - Uncut Wasteland Patch (VNV).esp
TLD_Travelers.esm
Better Brotherhood.esm
Landscape Texture Improvements.esm
Better Character Creation.esm
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Unofficial Patch NVSE Plus.esp
YUP - NPC Fixes (Base Game + All DLC).esp
NVMIM.esp
ExRB.esp
The Mod Configuration Menu.esp
Vanilla UI Plus.esp
M.U.X. Series - Interface Overhaul.esp
FOVSlider.esp
JustAssortedMods.esp
Enhanced Movement.esp
ImmersiveRecoil.esp
Follower Tweaks.esp
Vigor.esp
Simple Vigor Config.esp
Vigor - SMIM Patch.esp
EVEM - YUP Patch.esp
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NVR2 - YUP Patch.esp
NVR2 - Vigor Patch.esp
NVR2 - UW NPCs Patch.esp
Trap Tweaks.esp
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DLC Enhancements.esp
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Better Brotherhood - FPGE Patch.esp
FNV FaceGen Fix.esp
rockbiter_AnimationSounds.esp
B42Inertia.esp
Classic Fallout Weapons Remastered v1.2.esp
ArmedToTheTeethNV-Redux.esp
Better Hacking.esp
realistic headshots.esp
Little More Lamplight.esp
Strip Lights Region Fix.esp
Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks.esp
Atmospheric Lighting Tweaks - EVEM Patch.esp
DNWeathers.esp
Interior Rain.esp
CC - Rain.esp
CC - 3D Rain.esp
FasterDialogZoom.esp
B42Descriptions.esp

In the competitive world of digital advertising, both Google Ads and Facebook Ads offer unique advantages. However, Google Ads often stand out as the superior choice for several compelling reasons:

1. Intent-Based Targeting: Google Ads operate primarily on a search-based platform, meaning users are actively searching for specific products or services. This intent-driven behavior leads to higher conversion rates as users are already interested in what the advertiser is offering. In contrast, Facebook Ads are often displayed based on user interests and behaviors, which may not always capture immediate purchase intent.
2. Wider Reach Across Platforms: Google Ads encompass not only search ads but also display ads across the Google Display Network, YouTube ads, and more. This extensive reach allows advertisers to connect with potential customers across various platforms and touchpoints, enhancing brand visibility and reach.
3. Measurable ROI and Advanced Analytics: Google Ads provide detailed analytics and reporting tools, allowing businesses to measure the effectiveness of their campaigns with precision. This data-driven approach helps in optimizing ad spend, tracking performance, and making informed decisions to improve ROI.
4. Extensive Ad Formats: Google offers a variety of ad formats, including search ads, display ads, shopping ads, and video ads. This versatility allows businesses to choose the best format to achieve their marketing goals, whether it's driving traffic, generating leads, or increasing sales.
5. Superior Keyword Targeting: Google Ads' keyword targeting capabilities are highly sophisticated. Advertisers can bid on specific keywords and phrases relevant to their business, ensuring their ads are shown to users searching for those terms. This precise targeting maximizes the relevance and effectiveness of the ads.
6. Remarketing Opportunities: Google Ads excels in remarketing, enabling businesses to re-engage users who have previously visited their website or interacted with their content. This feature helps in converting potential customers who may need multiple touchpoints before making a purchase.

In conclusion, while Facebook Ads offer robust targeting and engagement features, Google Ads often provide a more effective solution for intent-driven marketing, extensive reach, precise targeting, and measurable ROI. These factors make Google Ads a powerful tool for businesses looking to achieve specific marketing objectives and drive substantial results.