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Qur'an Recitation

2012.03.28 06:02 Taqwacore Qur'an Recitation

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2015.05.27 05:58 RAC, NSBM, neofolk, what have you - post it

This sub is for music from artists like Barry White or Jack White.
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2011.05.27 04:26 papermario13689 Manga Swap: Buy, Sell, Trade.

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2024.05.19 22:30 KingCreeperSeth My DCU (Chapter 1: Gods on Earth - Act 3)

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait, between varying interests and having to make this entire act from scratch rather than just giving it an update, this portion of my DCU definitely did take longer to make than most! But I’m here, I’m ready, let’s get right into it!
As usual, here is the lineup for this concluding act to my first chapter of the DCU:
  1. The Flashpoint Paradox (Film);
  2. Hawk man and Hawkgirl (Film);
  3. The Birds of Prey (Film);
  4. Cyborg Season 2 (TV Show);
  5. The Justice Society (Film);
  6. Aquaman: The Last King (Film);
  7. Superman: Warworld (Film);
  8. Teen Titans: Judas (Film);
  9. The Brave and the Bold 2 (Film);
  10. The Supers (TV Show);
  11. Wonder Woman: Odyssey (Film);
  12. Batgirl Season 2 (TV Show);
  13. Batman: The Red Hood (Film);
  14. Justice League Apokalips Part 1: War (Film);
  15. Suicide Squad: Operation Apokalips (Film);
  16. The New Gods (Film);
  17. Justice League Apokalips Part 2: Crisis (Film)
And without further ado, here we go:
-The Flashpoint Paradox (Film)
Protagonists: The Flash, Batman (Thomas Wayne) Antagonists: Reverse Flash, Flashpoint Aquaman, Flashpoint Wonder Woman Side Characters: Cyborg, Flashpoint Superman, Nora and Henry Allen, Lois Lane, Rebellion, Atlantians, Amazonians Cameo Characters: Superman, Batman, Jason Todd
Plot: Barry Allen had done the unthinkable. He ran fast enough to break through the time barrier and save his mother’s life. But would the butterfly effect be worth it? Nora Allen was alive, but the world Barry knew before was dead, replaced with one unfamiliar to him. Bruce Wayne is dead, Metropolis was almost completely destroyed, and on top of all of that, the friends he had once known were were fighting a war that could spell doom for the entire world. Can Barry keep this new universe together? Or will a haunting shadow remind him why you should never change the past?
Setting: Central City, Metropolis
Mid-Credits Scene: On a faraway planet, a stolen relic called the Regeneration Matrix is regenerating a figure back to full health from their coffin. When the process is complete, the figure awakens and sits up in his coffin. He looks around, revealed to be Superman back from the dead, asking where he is. A nearby medical robot gives him a simple answer, “Warworld.”
Post-Credits Scene: Focus is put onto the Wayne Family graveyard, panning over numerous graves. Eventually, the focus is directed to the grave of Jason Todd, though the grave is dug up and the coffin underneath is empty. Nearby, a figure is limping through the cemetery, revealed to be Jason Todd, who is leaving his grave and heading towards Gotham.
-Hawkman and Hawkgirl (Film)
Protagonists: Hawkman, Hawkgirl Antagonist: Hath-Set Side Characters: (Idk I’m not very up to date on their lore lol) Cameo Character: Doctor Fate
Plot: Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders are two ordinary individuals with no connection whatsoever. That is, until an enemy from the ancient past makes his return to remind them of how they are bound. The two hawk-people must now work together to break a dark cycle they are forever caught in, and along the way, remember who they were meant to be in lives past.
Settings: New York, briefly Egypt
Mid-Credits Scene: Having survived the cycle for the first time, Carter and Shiera enjoy their momentary peace at home. However, a man who calls himself Doctor Fate appears before them and requests their help. He tells them a threat of considerable proportions is on its way to Earth, and he needs their assistance to defeat it. They ask for time to think it over, to which Doctor Fate gives them, but warns them that time is running short.
-The Birds of Prey (Film)
Protagonists: Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Black Canary, Huntress, Katana Antagonists: Joker’s Daughter, Sons of Joker, the Joker Side Characters: Francine Charles, Commissioner Gordon, Renée Montoya, other characters’ respective side characters Cameo Characters: Oliver Queen, Batman, Jason Todd
Plot: Batgirl has spent months getting her team into line, but they are finally ready. Black Canary, Huntress, and a new girl calling herself Katana, under Barbara’s leadership become a new, fierce superhero team called the Birds of Prey. Their first mission? Bring down the Sons of Joker, and learn their connection to the Clown Prince of Crime himself. But will the new team be able to work together? Or will Barbara crumble, and bring her team with her?
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Within her hospital room following being shot and paralyzed by the Joker, Barbara is visited by a man while she sleeps. This man is revealed to be Jason Todd, who apologizes for Barbara’s fate, blaming Batman for another failure, though he guarantees this one will be his last.
-Cyborg Season 2 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Cyborg Antagonists: The Brain, Monsieur Mallah Side Characters: Silas Stone, Sarah Charles, Beast Boy Cameo Characters: T. O. Morrow, The Grid
Overall Plot: After much grief between his friends and coworkers Superman and Nightwing, Cyborg finds himself disconnected from his friends and begins taking justice across the world into his own hands. But when he faces a threat that he finds himself unable to defeat alone, he learns to open himself up to those around him, and share his pain so that others may help to fix it.
Episode One Plot: Cyborg seeks to solve the problems of people around him his own way, which leads him into the heart of a rogue H.I.V.E. operation calling themselves B.R.A.I.N.
Episode Two Plot: Cyborg launches his own investigation into BRAIN, but finds Beast Boy as an interference when he tries helping his friend out.
Episode Three Plot: Trapped on an unknown island, Cyborg must rely on the help from his friend Beast Boy when his systems shut down and they seek an escape.
Episode Four Plot: BRAIN reveals itself to be ruled by a robotic organism called the Brain, which reveals its plans for world domination to Cyborg.
Episode Five Plot: Attempting a search for the Brain’s supposed doomsday device, Cyborg uncovers a large conspiracy tying the Brain back to the invader Brainiac.
Episode Six Plot: In the season finale, Cyborg learns to let his friends in as he stops the Brain from continuing Brainiac’s work and controlling the world.
Setting: Central City, various other places
Mid-Credits Scene: After defeating the Brain, Cyborg leaves his computer running on an AI program he created called “The Grid.” When he leaves, a string of green code merges itself with the blue code running on the screen, turning a large portion of it green in the shape of a skull.
-The Justice Society (Film)
Protagonists: Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Mister Terrific, Wildcat, Stargirl Antagonist: Despero Side Characters: Respective side characters (I’m lazy, sorry lol) Cameo Characters: Adam Strange, Vandal Savage
Plot: For the past few years, Doctor Fate has sensed a presence of tremendous power threatening to invade the earth, and now that presence has finally arrived. Despero, a conqueror from the stars with unlimited power, has arrived on earth, yet the Justice League is spread too thin and too far to help against the incoming threat. Fate realizes that he will have to assemble a new team to defeat Despero and stop his invasion, a team he has spent the better part of the past few months gathering.
Settings: Various cities
Mid-Credits Scene: Following their victory and return home, the Justice Society are confronted by a mysterious man called Adam Strange, who teleported himself to them to warn of a new incoming threat, and claiming that they have come for Carter and Shiera.
Post-Credits Scene: Far away, mysterious soldiers locate a tomb and open a single coffin resting inside. Out from the coffin springs a large man, who attacks the soldiers before asking what year it is, and who they are. They answer that it is the 21st century, and they are here to welcome “the Savage,” to the new age, to which the man laughs maniacally.
-Aquaman: The Last King (Film)
Protagonists: Aquaman, Aqualad (Jackson Hyde) Antagonists: Black Manta, Starro Side Characters: Mera, Orm, Garth, Arthur Jr., Atlanteans Cameo Characters: Jesse Hyde
Plot: At last, Black Manta’s final revenge has come. For years, he has been plotting, researching a way to exact his vengeance on Aquaman following so many failures. At last, he has found it, enlisting the help of an ancient beast from the stars named Starro to help him destroy Atlantis and claim the title of its dark king. But when both Aquaman and Manta find that the new conqueror seeks control and destruction of everything they know, new alliances must be forged to bring peace to Atlantis once and for all.
Setting: Atlantis
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his sacrifice to defeat Starro, David finds himself in an ocean-like afterlife, where he meets his father Jesse for the first time in years. David apologizes for his actions, and his grief, to which Jesse forgives him, and the two embrace once more.
-Superman: Warworld (Film)
Protagonist: Superman Antagonists: Mongul, Ultra Humanite, Mongul’s Champions (The Teacher, the Mother, the Orphan, the Darling, and the Unmade) Side Characters: Kryl-Ux, Otho-Ra, Osul-Ra, Thao-La Cameo Characters: The Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, Lois Lane
Plot: After being killed by Doomsday during the Brainiac Invasion, Superman has found himself brought back to life via a lost Kryptonian Regeneration Matrix located on the distant planet Warworld. Once he is awakened, Superman is quickly introduced to the harsh, gladiator-like lifestyle of the planet, run by its cruel ruler: Mongul. Superman must now put his strength and will to the test as he battles and chooses his way through a cosmic adventure like no other, all in an attempt to return home and rescue the people of the desolate planet.
Setting: Warworld
Mid-Credits Scene: On Earth, in the Fortress of Solitude, a similar Regeneration Matrix has finished the body that was meant to be Superman’s, but a new force has taken it over. The Eradicator declares himself Superman, and seeks to prove itself as the ultimate Man of Steel.
Post-Credits Scene: Lois Lane is walking out of a shop with a coffee in hand, when she notices a red and blue figure flying through the sky. Her, and many civilians, rush to the city square to see the returned Man of Steel, only for him to turn his face and reveal a half-robotic one underneath.
-Teen Titans: Judas (Film)
Protagonists: Red X, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, Donna Troy Antagonists: H.I.V.E. (Namely Adeline Kane and Damien Darhk), Deathstroke, Terra Side Characters: None Cameo Characters: Blue Beetle, Aqualad, Bumblebee, Arsenal, Rose Wilson
Plot: Following the supposed death of Nightwing, the Titans have mostly disbanded to follow their own paths. But when the villainous mercenary Deathstroke returns to the scene to exact revenge for his son’s death, the young heroes must unify once again to put an end to H.I.V.E., before they are all killed. But with a traitor in their team, and a thief who feels all to similar to the team’s dearly departed leader, the Titans find themselves lost in a conspiracy that leaves them unsure of who to trust and who not to.
Setting: San Francisco
Mid-Credits Scene: With Grayson alive and returned to his rightful position as team leader, Starfire asks him if things will truly be back to normal. Nightwing tells her no, that the events of the last few days have opened his eyes to not only be more careful, but also to increase his efforts to better train the next generation of superheroes. He shows her the new rebuilt tower, labeled Titans Academy, with a good few new recruits already waiting outside.
Post-Credits Scene: After being sent to prison, Slade is confronted by his daughter Rose, who has come to visit him. She shames him for his act of violence against the children, claiming that he has brought dishonor to their family. He retorts, saying that he did it out of love and mourning for Grant, and that she should be ashamed for not doing anything. The two leave with a disagreement and hatred for one another, Rose pulling out a tracker to the Titans Academy, as well as a mask she intends to wear for the trip.
-The Brave and the Bold 2 (Film)
Protagonists: Green Arrow, Black Canary, Arsenal Antagonist: Cheshire Side Characters: Respective side characters (who I still don’t know cuz I don’t read their comics lol) Cameo Characters: Batman, Ra’s Al Ghul, Shado
Plot: Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, now betrothed to one another, have their life set. Marriage, money, and the skills to defend themselves and their city against any who may dare seek to soil it. But as new faces good and bad come into play, the super power-couple must be more strategic with their approach to crime-fighting if they want to preserve the good of their city, before all hell can break loose.
Setting: Star City
Mid-Credits Scene: Following news coverage of Green Arrow and Black Canary’s heroics against Cheshire, a woman far across the world catches wind of the report and prepares her weapons. She gears up, leaving her hideout as Shado now makes her way to Star City.
Post-Credits Scene: Observing the chaos and failure of his wild-card protégé Cheshire, Ra’s Al Ghul has a confrontation with Batman, where the Caped Crusader warns Ra’s to put an end to is theatrics in Star City. Ra’s tells Batman he has no more interest in Star City, having failed twice, but he warns Batman to keep out of his affairs, or else Gotham may be the next place the League of Assassins visits.
-The Supers (TV Show)
Protagonists: Supergirl, Steel, Lois Lane, Superboy Antagonists: Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator, Livewire, Parasite, Intergang Side Characters: Jimmy Olsen, Martha Kent, Lex Luthor, Perry White, Kat Grant, Steve Lombard Cameo Characters: Superman, Hal Jordan
Overall Plot: Superman is dead, and Metropolis is in the hands of new saviors now. Since the Man of Steel was killed by Doomsday, there have been those like Steel and Superboy who have risen up to take up the mantle the Kryptonian left behind. But others, like the Eradicator and the new “Cyborg Superman,” have taken justice in a more violent direction. But is the Man of Steel really dead? And how do the new imposters tie into his return? As Lois and Supergirl team up with new heroes to investigate, they are led down a rabbit hole of resurrections and revenge, one that will leave them with dark answers they may not be ready for.
Episode One Plot: A funeral is held for Superman following his death, but in mourning, the Man of Steel seems to have returned, losing his cape and donning new Golden goggles.
Episode Two Plot: As Steel makes his presence known, he comes into conflict with the the new Superman when debating the fate of a villainess on the run. Meanwhile, Lois begins investigating the appearance of the new Superman, but her investigation is cut short by the appearance of a brand new Cyborg Superman, claiming to be the real hero returned.
Episode Three Plot: Superboy, a clone on the run, makes a name for himself in Metropolis as a younger, cockier hero missing the values of the original Superman. Meanwhile, Lois takes the time to talk with Supergirl, sharing with her the suspicions she has on the new Supermen.
Episode Four Plot: Lex Luthor has prepared a gala to announce his new plans for Super-Police to defend the city following Superman’s death. But when the new Supermen finally clash in a confrontation to debate letting Luthor live and killing him for his crimes, the public finally get a chance to decide who their saviors are.
Episode Five Plot: Declared the true savior of Metropolis, Cyborg Superman is put to the test when he faces a new threat: the Parasite. Meanwhile, Lois and Supergirl enlist the help of Steel to investigate the truth of the Cyborg Superman.
Episode Six Plot: In one last act to prove himself, the Eradicator attacks Cyborg Superman, dying in the battle. However, Cyborg Superman’s victory is short-lived, as Lois, Supergirl, and Steel out the truth behind him and the deceased scientist Hank Henshaw.
Episode Seven Plot: Furious with his reveal, Cyborg Superman goes ballistic, assaulting the military and claiming the means to destroy half of the country in a nuclear attack.
Episode Eight Plot: All bets are off in the season finale as Lois, Supergirl, Steel, and Superboy race to stop Cyborg Superman’s plot for nuclear destruction. A race that only becomes more definite as the real Man of Steel finally returns from the dead to save the world.
Settings: Metropolis, Smallville
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the mostly failed nuclear attack, Hal Jordan returns to Earth to find Coast City in ruin, the only city nuked in the attack. He grows angry and mournful, showing the first sign of losing himself to darkness.
-Wonder Woman: Odyssey (Film)
Protagonist: Wonder Woman Antagonists: Circe, Cheetah, Hades, various mythological monsters, Furies Side Characters: Hippolyta, Artemis Cameo Characters: Zeus, various other gods, Steve Trevor
Plot: After decades of living among man and acting as their hero, the consequences of Diana’s actions have finally caught up with her. The sorceress Circe has been freed, and has destroyed Diana’s home of Themyscira. She has now partnered with the Cheetah as her disciple, seeking to delve into the Underworld to free Hades from the deepest depths of Tartarus. Diana must now travel through the rings of Hell and battle through a gauntlet of beasts and enemies to stop their plot and prove herself worthy of being called Wonder Woman.
Settings: Themyscira, the Underworld
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the near-escape of Hades, with involvement from Cheetah, the Old Gods of Greece meet to determine how they handle this matter moving forward. Ultimately, Zeus decides that the mortals of man’s world have become too dangerous, and declares war on the mortal realm and those who may defend it.
Post-Credits Scene: Following her redemption in the Underworld, Cheetah returns to the old wrecked base she had been frozen inside of during World War II. She explores deep inside the frozen lair, eventually coming across a large chunk of ice that had gone undiscovered until now. And within lies Steve Trevor, perfectly preserved for over 80 years.
-Batgirl Season 2 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) Antagonists: David Cain, the League of Assassins Side Characters: Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Robin Cameo Characters: Red Hood
Overall Plot: Barbara Gordon has been shot and paralyzed, leaving Gotham without a Batgirl... temporarily. When the League of Assassins makes good on their threat and comes to Gotham, a young assassin by the name of Cassandra Cain tries to prove herself as the greatest assassin the League has ever known. But when she fails and finds herself deserted by the League and her own father, Barbara sees a light in her and shows her she has the power to be a great hero instead.
Episode One Plot: The League of Assassins make their way into Gotham as a young Cassandra Cain tries but fails to break into Oracle’s clocktower.
Episode Two Plot: Feeling shame for her failure, Cassandra is lifted up by Barbara, who convinces her that she is capable of being a hero instead.
Episode Three Plot: Cassandra begins her first night of patrol in Gotham as the new Batgirl, but meets resistance when Batman denies the presence of a new Batgirl.
Episode Four Plot: Determined to prove herself, Cassandra follows Batman on a mission to stop a potential assassination, during which the two open up to one another.
Episode Five Plot: Cassandra gets her first taste of a sidekick team-up as she and Robin work together to prevent a terrorist attack from the League of Assassins.
Episode Six Plot: Stakes are high in the season finale, as Cassandra re-confronts her father and seeks to stop the League’s plans for destroying Gotham, by any means necessary.
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Feeling disdain for the destruction caused by the League of Assassins, Jason decides it is time to enact his plan and take Gotham for himself, no matter the costs.
-Batman: The Red Hood (Film)
Protagonists: Batman, Robin (Tim Drake), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) Antagonists: Red Hood, Bane, Joker Side Characters: Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Oracle, Nightwing, Catwoman, Lucius Fox, Harvey Bullock, Renée Montoya, Mayor Krol Cameo Characters: Darkseid, Azrael
Plot: Bane has arrived, and with him comes the Caped Crusader’s darkest days. Bane has seized control of the city and vows to both break the Batman and ruin everything he holds dear. However, he finds rivalry in the criminal underworld, as a new figure called the Red Hood emerges to take Gotham back his way. Batman is now caught in the crosshairs of a dark beast of destruction and a vengeful ghost from the past battling for control of the city, and with the Dark Knight losing his grip more and more each day, people wonder if the city really needs vigilantes.
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his identity being revealed and being imprisoned, Bruce sits in his cell as the tv showcases news coverage of another alien invasion occurring in Metropolis. He stares with fear as he watches Parademons swarm the city, followed closely behind by Darkseid himself, finally come to Earth.
Post-Credits Scene: Following the supposed end of the Batman, a hooded figure on a rooftop swears an oath to a mysterious force. As he stands up, he unsheathes his sword and reveals himself as Azrael, prepared to carry on the Batman’s legacy at any cost.
-Justice League Apokalips Part 1: War (Film)
Protagonists: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan and John Stewart), Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Shazam, Steel, Superboy, Teen Titans, Justice Society, Lex Luthor Antagonists: Darkseid, Desaad, Kalibak, Granny Goodness, Grail, Apokalips Army Side Characters: Various (too many to list lol) Cameo Characters: Orion
Plot: The apocalypse has come. After years of planning and waiting, Darkseid has finally arrived on Earth, his invasion active and his plan clear: find the Mother Boxes and destroy all life in the universe, starting with Earth. The only obstacle standing between him and the Anti-Life Equation is the Justice League, who must unite one more time to defend Earth from the ultimate evil. But with a threat as powerful as Darkseid, do they have any hope of saving the world?
Settings: Metropolis, Apokalips, other cities
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his victory and upcoming conquering of the universe, starting with Earth, Darkseid’s actions are monitored by a man flying his way through space. He grows dreadful at the god’s actions, and activates an alert signaling the “New Gods” to unite.
-Suicide Squad: Operation Apokalips (Film)
Protagonists: Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, Killer Frost, Rick Flag, the Thinker, Parasite Antagonists: Granny Goodness, Female Furies, Grail Side Characters: Few to none Cameo Characters: Batman, Flash
Plot: Darkseid has won, and now the Earth is doomed to die to the forces of Apokalips. However, there is one person left on Earth with a plan to save it: Amanda Waller. Recruiting her team of convicts, she plans a mission to cripple Darkseid’s main military output and steal back an invention of great importance: the Cosmic Treadmill. It’s a Suicide mission like no other, and this time, nobody is certain to be making it out alive.
Settings: Metropolis, STAR Labs
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the shaky mission, Waller meets with Batman and the Flash, presenting the treadmill. Batman thanks her for her mission, saying he has a plan to bring the disappeared Justice League back and save the world.
-The New Gods (Film)
Protagonists: Orion, Big Barda, Mr. Miracle, Bekka, Lightray Antagonist: Steppenwolfe, Black Racer Side Characters: High Father, Drax Cameo Characters: Darkseid, Batman, Flash
Plot: Taking place centuries before the events of “Justice League: War”, the New Gods are a powerful race of galactic beings who rule the universe in place of the Old Gods of mythology. However, when a misguided tyrant god named Steppenwolfe goes on a mad quest for his dark master, the New Gods must search for the ancient Mother Boxes and retrieve them before the darkness can find them and kill the universe.
Settings: New Genesis, other planets
Mid-Credits Scene: In the present, the remains of the Justice League and Argus formulate a plan to take the world back from Apokalips. However, they are interrupted mid-plan, as the New Gods arrive, saying they wish to help... and kill Darkseid.
-Justice League Apokalips Part 2: Crisis (Film)
Protagonists: Protagonists: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan and John Stewart), Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Shazam, Steel, Superboy, Teen Titans, Justice Society, Lex Luthor, New Gods, Suicide Squad Antagonists: Darkseid, Desaad, Kalibak, Apokalips army, Black Racer Side Characters: Too many to count lol Cameo Characters: None
Plot: At last, the conclusion to the first chapter of the DCU has arrived. With the Earth in ruins and the core Justice League lost in time, all hope seems lost. That is, until Batman and the Flash come up with a plan to save the world. With the Cosmic Treadmill, they seek to travel throughout time to recover their teammates of the Justice League, and put a stop to Darkseid once and for all. Will they succeed, or will Apokalips rule the universe in the end?
Settings: Metropolis, various locations throughout time
submitted by KingCreeperSeth to DCcomics [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:30 KingCreeperSeth My DCU (Chapter 1: Gods on Earth - Act 3)

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait, between varying interests and having to make this entire act from scratch rather than just giving it an update, this portion of my DCU definitely did take longer to make than most! But I’m here, I’m ready, let’s get right into it!
As usual, here is the lineup for this concluding act to my first chapter of the DCU:
  1. The Flashpoint Paradox (Film);
  2. Hawk man and Hawkgirl (Film);
  3. The Birds of Prey (Film);
  4. Cyborg Season 2 (TV Show);
  5. The Justice Society (Film);
  6. Aquaman: The Last King (Film);
  7. Superman: Warworld (Film);
  8. Teen Titans: Judas (Film);
  9. The Brave and the Bold 2 (Film);
  10. The Supers (TV Show);
  11. Wonder Woman: Odyssey (Film);
  12. Batgirl Season 2 (TV Show);
  13. Batman: The Red Hood (Film);
  14. Justice League Apokalips Part 1: War (Film);
  15. Suicide Squad: Operation Apokalips (Film);
  16. The New Gods (Film);
  17. Justice League Apokalips Part 2: Crisis (Film)
And without further ado, here we go:
-The Flashpoint Paradox (Film)
Protagonists: The Flash, Batman (Thomas Wayne) Antagonists: Reverse Flash, Flashpoint Aquaman, Flashpoint Wonder Woman Side Characters: Cyborg, Flashpoint Superman, Nora and Henry Allen, Lois Lane, Rebellion, Atlantians, Amazonians Cameo Characters: Superman, Batman, Jason Todd
Plot: Barry Allen had done the unthinkable. He ran fast enough to break through the time barrier and save his mother’s life. But would the butterfly effect be worth it? Nora Allen was alive, but the world Barry knew before was dead, replaced with one unfamiliar to him. Bruce Wayne is dead, Metropolis was almost completely destroyed, and on top of all of that, the friends he had once known were were fighting a war that could spell doom for the entire world. Can Barry keep this new universe together? Or will a haunting shadow remind him why you should never change the past?
Setting: Central City, Metropolis
Mid-Credits Scene: On a faraway planet, a stolen relic called the Regeneration Matrix is regenerating a figure back to full health from their coffin. When the process is complete, the figure awakens and sits up in his coffin. He looks around, revealed to be Superman back from the dead, asking where he is. A nearby medical robot gives him a simple answer, “Warworld.”
Post-Credits Scene: Focus is put onto the Wayne Family graveyard, panning over numerous graves. Eventually, the focus is directed to the grave of Jason Todd, though the grave is dug up and the coffin underneath is empty. Nearby, a figure is limping through the cemetery, revealed to be Jason Todd, who is leaving his grave and heading towards Gotham.
-Hawkman and Hawkgirl (Film)
Protagonists: Hawkman, Hawkgirl Antagonist: Hath-Set Side Characters: (Idk I’m not very up to date on their lore lol) Cameo Character: Doctor Fate
Plot: Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders are two ordinary individuals with no connection whatsoever. That is, until an enemy from the ancient past makes his return to remind them of how they are bound. The two hawk-people must now work together to break a dark cycle they are forever caught in, and along the way, remember who they were meant to be in lives past.
Settings: New York, briefly Egypt
Mid-Credits Scene: Having survived the cycle for the first time, Carter and Shiera enjoy their momentary peace at home. However, a man who calls himself Doctor Fate appears before them and requests their help. He tells them a threat of considerable proportions is on its way to Earth, and he needs their assistance to defeat it. They ask for time to think it over, to which Doctor Fate gives them, but warns them that time is running short.
-The Birds of Prey (Film)
Protagonists: Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Black Canary, Huntress, Katana Antagonists: Joker’s Daughter, Sons of Joker, the Joker Side Characters: Francine Charles, Commissioner Gordon, Renée Montoya, other characters’ respective side characters Cameo Characters: Oliver Queen, Batman, Jason Todd
Plot: Batgirl has spent months getting her team into line, but they are finally ready. Black Canary, Huntress, and a new girl calling herself Katana, under Barbara’s leadership become a new, fierce superhero team called the Birds of Prey. Their first mission? Bring down the Sons of Joker, and learn their connection to the Clown Prince of Crime himself. But will the new team be able to work together? Or will Barbara crumble, and bring her team with her?
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Within her hospital room following being shot and paralyzed by the Joker, Barbara is visited by a man while she sleeps. This man is revealed to be Jason Todd, who apologizes for Barbara’s fate, blaming Batman for another failure, though he guarantees this one will be his last.
-Cyborg Season 2 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Cyborg Antagonists: The Brain, Monsieur Mallah Side Characters: Silas Stone, Sarah Charles, Beast Boy Cameo Characters: T. O. Morrow, The Grid
Overall Plot: After much grief between his friends and coworkers Superman and Nightwing, Cyborg finds himself disconnected from his friends and begins taking justice across the world into his own hands. But when he faces a threat that he finds himself unable to defeat alone, he learns to open himself up to those around him, and share his pain so that others may help to fix it.
Episode One Plot: Cyborg seeks to solve the problems of people around him his own way, which leads him into the heart of a rogue H.I.V.E. operation calling themselves B.R.A.I.N.
Episode Two Plot: Cyborg launches his own investigation into BRAIN, but finds Beast Boy as an interference when he tries helping his friend out.
Episode Three Plot: Trapped on an unknown island, Cyborg must rely on the help from his friend Beast Boy when his systems shut down and they seek an escape.
Episode Four Plot: BRAIN reveals itself to be ruled by a robotic organism called the Brain, which reveals its plans for world domination to Cyborg.
Episode Five Plot: Attempting a search for the Brain’s supposed doomsday device, Cyborg uncovers a large conspiracy tying the Brain back to the invader Brainiac.
Episode Six Plot: In the season finale, Cyborg learns to let his friends in as he stops the Brain from continuing Brainiac’s work and controlling the world.
Setting: Central City, various other places
Mid-Credits Scene: After defeating the Brain, Cyborg leaves his computer running on an AI program he created called “The Grid.” When he leaves, a string of green code merges itself with the blue code running on the screen, turning a large portion of it green in the shape of a skull.
-The Justice Society (Film)
Protagonists: Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Mister Terrific, Wildcat, Stargirl Antagonist: Despero Side Characters: Respective side characters (I’m lazy, sorry lol) Cameo Characters: Adam Strange, Vandal Savage
Plot: For the past few years, Doctor Fate has sensed a presence of tremendous power threatening to invade the earth, and now that presence has finally arrived. Despero, a conqueror from the stars with unlimited power, has arrived on earth, yet the Justice League is spread too thin and too far to help against the incoming threat. Fate realizes that he will have to assemble a new team to defeat Despero and stop his invasion, a team he has spent the better part of the past few months gathering.
Settings: Various cities
Mid-Credits Scene: Following their victory and return home, the Justice Society are confronted by a mysterious man called Adam Strange, who teleported himself to them to warn of a new incoming threat, and claiming that they have come for Carter and Shiera.
Post-Credits Scene: Far away, mysterious soldiers locate a tomb and open a single coffin resting inside. Out from the coffin springs a large man, who attacks the soldiers before asking what year it is, and who they are. They answer that it is the 21st century, and they are here to welcome “the Savage,” to the new age, to which the man laughs maniacally.
-Aquaman: The Last King (Film)
Protagonists: Aquaman, Aqualad (Jackson Hyde) Antagonists: Black Manta, Starro Side Characters: Mera, Orm, Garth, Arthur Jr., Atlanteans Cameo Characters: Jesse Hyde
Plot: At last, Black Manta’s final revenge has come. For years, he has been plotting, researching a way to exact his vengeance on Aquaman following so many failures. At last, he has found it, enlisting the help of an ancient beast from the stars named Starro to help him destroy Atlantis and claim the title of its dark king. But when both Aquaman and Manta find that the new conqueror seeks control and destruction of everything they know, new alliances must be forged to bring peace to Atlantis once and for all.
Setting: Atlantis
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his sacrifice to defeat Starro, David finds himself in an ocean-like afterlife, where he meets his father Jesse for the first time in years. David apologizes for his actions, and his grief, to which Jesse forgives him, and the two embrace once more.
-Superman: Warworld (Film)
Protagonist: Superman Antagonists: Mongul, Ultra Humanite, Mongul’s Champions (The Teacher, the Mother, the Orphan, the Darling, and the Unmade) Side Characters: Kryl-Ux, Otho-Ra, Osul-Ra, Thao-La Cameo Characters: The Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, Lois Lane
Plot: After being killed by Doomsday during the Brainiac Invasion, Superman has found himself brought back to life via a lost Kryptonian Regeneration Matrix located on the distant planet Warworld. Once he is awakened, Superman is quickly introduced to the harsh, gladiator-like lifestyle of the planet, run by its cruel ruler: Mongul. Superman must now put his strength and will to the test as he battles and chooses his way through a cosmic adventure like no other, all in an attempt to return home and rescue the people of the desolate planet.
Setting: Warworld
Mid-Credits Scene: On Earth, in the Fortress of Solitude, a similar Regeneration Matrix has finished the body that was meant to be Superman’s, but a new force has taken it over. The Eradicator declares himself Superman, and seeks to prove itself as the ultimate Man of Steel.
Post-Credits Scene: Lois Lane is walking out of a shop with a coffee in hand, when she notices a red and blue figure flying through the sky. Her, and many civilians, rush to the city square to see the returned Man of Steel, only for him to turn his face and reveal a half-robotic one underneath.
-Teen Titans: Judas (Film)
Protagonists: Red X, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, Donna Troy Antagonists: H.I.V.E. (Namely Adeline Kane and Damien Darhk), Deathstroke, Terra Side Characters: None Cameo Characters: Blue Beetle, Aqualad, Bumblebee, Arsenal, Rose Wilson
Plot: Following the supposed death of Nightwing, the Titans have mostly disbanded to follow their own paths. But when the villainous mercenary Deathstroke returns to the scene to exact revenge for his son’s death, the young heroes must unify once again to put an end to H.I.V.E., before they are all killed. But with a traitor in their team, and a thief who feels all to similar to the team’s dearly departed leader, the Titans find themselves lost in a conspiracy that leaves them unsure of who to trust and who not to.
Setting: San Francisco
Mid-Credits Scene: With Grayson alive and returned to his rightful position as team leader, Starfire asks him if things will truly be back to normal. Nightwing tells her no, that the events of the last few days have opened his eyes to not only be more careful, but also to increase his efforts to better train the next generation of superheroes. He shows her the new rebuilt tower, labeled Titans Academy, with a good few new recruits already waiting outside.
Post-Credits Scene: After being sent to prison, Slade is confronted by his daughter Rose, who has come to visit him. She shames him for his act of violence against the children, claiming that he has brought dishonor to their family. He retorts, saying that he did it out of love and mourning for Grant, and that she should be ashamed for not doing anything. The two leave with a disagreement and hatred for one another, Rose pulling out a tracker to the Titans Academy, as well as a mask she intends to wear for the trip.
-The Brave and the Bold 2 (Film)
Protagonists: Green Arrow, Black Canary, Arsenal Antagonist: Cheshire Side Characters: Respective side characters (who I still don’t know cuz I don’t read their comics lol) Cameo Characters: Batman, Ra’s Al Ghul, Shado
Plot: Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, now betrothed to one another, have their life set. Marriage, money, and the skills to defend themselves and their city against any who may dare seek to soil it. But as new faces good and bad come into play, the super power-couple must be more strategic with their approach to crime-fighting if they want to preserve the good of their city, before all hell can break loose.
Setting: Star City
Mid-Credits Scene: Following news coverage of Green Arrow and Black Canary’s heroics against Cheshire, a woman far across the world catches wind of the report and prepares her weapons. She gears up, leaving her hideout as Shado now makes her way to Star City.
Post-Credits Scene: Observing the chaos and failure of his wild-card protégé Cheshire, Ra’s Al Ghul has a confrontation with Batman, where the Caped Crusader warns Ra’s to put an end to is theatrics in Star City. Ra’s tells Batman he has no more interest in Star City, having failed twice, but he warns Batman to keep out of his affairs, or else Gotham may be the next place the League of Assassins visits.
-The Supers (TV Show)
Protagonists: Supergirl, Steel, Lois Lane, Superboy Antagonists: Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator, Livewire, Parasite, Intergang Side Characters: Jimmy Olsen, Martha Kent, Lex Luthor, Perry White, Kat Grant, Steve Lombard Cameo Characters: Superman, Hal Jordan
Overall Plot: Superman is dead, and Metropolis is in the hands of new saviors now. Since the Man of Steel was killed by Doomsday, there have been those like Steel and Superboy who have risen up to take up the mantle the Kryptonian left behind. But others, like the Eradicator and the new “Cyborg Superman,” have taken justice in a more violent direction. But is the Man of Steel really dead? And how do the new imposters tie into his return? As Lois and Supergirl team up with new heroes to investigate, they are led down a rabbit hole of resurrections and revenge, one that will leave them with dark answers they may not be ready for.
Episode One Plot: A funeral is held for Superman following his death, but in mourning, the Man of Steel seems to have returned, losing his cape and donning new Golden goggles.
Episode Two Plot: As Steel makes his presence known, he comes into conflict with the the new Superman when debating the fate of a villainess on the run. Meanwhile, Lois begins investigating the appearance of the new Superman, but her investigation is cut short by the appearance of a brand new Cyborg Superman, claiming to be the real hero returned.
Episode Three Plot: Superboy, a clone on the run, makes a name for himself in Metropolis as a younger, cockier hero missing the values of the original Superman. Meanwhile, Lois takes the time to talk with Supergirl, sharing with her the suspicions she has on the new Supermen.
Episode Four Plot: Lex Luthor has prepared a gala to announce his new plans for Super-Police to defend the city following Superman’s death. But when the new Supermen finally clash in a confrontation to debate letting Luthor live and killing him for his crimes, the public finally get a chance to decide who their saviors are.
Episode Five Plot: Declared the true savior of Metropolis, Cyborg Superman is put to the test when he faces a new threat: the Parasite. Meanwhile, Lois and Supergirl enlist the help of Steel to investigate the truth of the Cyborg Superman.
Episode Six Plot: In one last act to prove himself, the Eradicator attacks Cyborg Superman, dying in the battle. However, Cyborg Superman’s victory is short-lived, as Lois, Supergirl, and Steel out the truth behind him and the deceased scientist Hank Henshaw.
Episode Seven Plot: Furious with his reveal, Cyborg Superman goes ballistic, assaulting the military and claiming the means to destroy half of the country in a nuclear attack.
Episode Eight Plot: All bets are off in the season finale as Lois, Supergirl, Steel, and Superboy race to stop Cyborg Superman’s plot for nuclear destruction. A race that only becomes more definite as the real Man of Steel finally returns from the dead to save the world.
Settings: Metropolis, Smallville
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the mostly failed nuclear attack, Hal Jordan returns to Earth to find Coast City in ruin, the only city nuked in the attack. He grows angry and mournful, showing the first sign of losing himself to darkness.
-Wonder Woman: Odyssey (Film)
Protagonist: Wonder Woman Antagonists: Circe, Cheetah, Hades, various mythological monsters, Furies Side Characters: Hippolyta, Artemis Cameo Characters: Zeus, various other gods, Steve Trevor
Plot: After decades of living among man and acting as their hero, the consequences of Diana’s actions have finally caught up with her. The sorceress Circe has been freed, and has destroyed Diana’s home of Themyscira. She has now partnered with the Cheetah as her disciple, seeking to delve into the Underworld to free Hades from the deepest depths of Tartarus. Diana must now travel through the rings of Hell and battle through a gauntlet of beasts and enemies to stop their plot and prove herself worthy of being called Wonder Woman.
Settings: Themyscira, the Underworld
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the near-escape of Hades, with involvement from Cheetah, the Old Gods of Greece meet to determine how they handle this matter moving forward. Ultimately, Zeus decides that the mortals of man’s world have become too dangerous, and declares war on the mortal realm and those who may defend it.
Post-Credits Scene: Following her redemption in the Underworld, Cheetah returns to the old wrecked base she had been frozen inside of during World War II. She explores deep inside the frozen lair, eventually coming across a large chunk of ice that had gone undiscovered until now. And within lies Steve Trevor, perfectly preserved for over 80 years.
-Batgirl Season 2 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) Antagonists: David Cain, the League of Assassins Side Characters: Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Robin Cameo Characters: Red Hood
Overall Plot: Barbara Gordon has been shot and paralyzed, leaving Gotham without a Batgirl... temporarily. When the League of Assassins makes good on their threat and comes to Gotham, a young assassin by the name of Cassandra Cain tries to prove herself as the greatest assassin the League has ever known. But when she fails and finds herself deserted by the League and her own father, Barbara sees a light in her and shows her she has the power to be a great hero instead.
Episode One Plot: The League of Assassins make their way into Gotham as a young Cassandra Cain tries but fails to break into Oracle’s clocktower.
Episode Two Plot: Feeling shame for her failure, Cassandra is lifted up by Barbara, who convinces her that she is capable of being a hero instead.
Episode Three Plot: Cassandra begins her first night of patrol in Gotham as the new Batgirl, but meets resistance when Batman denies the presence of a new Batgirl.
Episode Four Plot: Determined to prove herself, Cassandra follows Batman on a mission to stop a potential assassination, during which the two open up to one another.
Episode Five Plot: Cassandra gets her first taste of a sidekick team-up as she and Robin work together to prevent a terrorist attack from the League of Assassins.
Episode Six Plot: Stakes are high in the season finale, as Cassandra re-confronts her father and seeks to stop the League’s plans for destroying Gotham, by any means necessary.
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Feeling disdain for the destruction caused by the League of Assassins, Jason decides it is time to enact his plan and take Gotham for himself, no matter the costs.
-Batman: The Red Hood (Film)
Protagonists: Batman, Robin (Tim Drake), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) Antagonists: Red Hood, Bane, Joker Side Characters: Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Oracle, Nightwing, Catwoman, Lucius Fox, Harvey Bullock, Renée Montoya, Mayor Krol Cameo Characters: Darkseid, Azrael
Plot: Bane has arrived, and with him comes the Caped Crusader’s darkest days. Bane has seized control of the city and vows to both break the Batman and ruin everything he holds dear. However, he finds rivalry in the criminal underworld, as a new figure called the Red Hood emerges to take Gotham back his way. Batman is now caught in the crosshairs of a dark beast of destruction and a vengeful ghost from the past battling for control of the city, and with the Dark Knight losing his grip more and more each day, people wonder if the city really needs vigilantes.
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his identity being revealed and being imprisoned, Bruce sits in his cell as the tv showcases news coverage of another alien invasion occurring in Metropolis. He stares with fear as he watches Parademons swarm the city, followed closely behind by Darkseid himself, finally come to Earth.
Post-Credits Scene: Following the supposed end of the Batman, a hooded figure on a rooftop swears an oath to a mysterious force. As he stands up, he unsheathes his sword and reveals himself as Azrael, prepared to carry on the Batman’s legacy at any cost.
-Justice League Apokalips Part 1: War (Film)
Protagonists: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan and John Stewart), Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Shazam, Steel, Superboy, Teen Titans, Justice Society, Lex Luthor Antagonists: Darkseid, Desaad, Kalibak, Granny Goodness, Grail, Apokalips Army Side Characters: Various (too many to list lol) Cameo Characters: Orion
Plot: The apocalypse has come. After years of planning and waiting, Darkseid has finally arrived on Earth, his invasion active and his plan clear: find the Mother Boxes and destroy all life in the universe, starting with Earth. The only obstacle standing between him and the Anti-Life Equation is the Justice League, who must unite one more time to defend Earth from the ultimate evil. But with a threat as powerful as Darkseid, do they have any hope of saving the world?
Settings: Metropolis, Apokalips, other cities
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his victory and upcoming conquering of the universe, starting with Earth, Darkseid’s actions are monitored by a man flying his way through space. He grows dreadful at the god’s actions, and activates an alert signaling the “New Gods” to unite.
-Suicide Squad: Operation Apokalips (Film)
Protagonists: Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, Killer Frost, Rick Flag, the Thinker, Parasite Antagonists: Granny Goodness, Female Furies, Grail Side Characters: Few to none Cameo Characters: Batman, Flash
Plot: Darkseid has won, and now the Earth is doomed to die to the forces of Apokalips. However, there is one person left on Earth with a plan to save it: Amanda Waller. Recruiting her team of convicts, she plans a mission to cripple Darkseid’s main military output and steal back an invention of great importance: the Cosmic Treadmill. It’s a Suicide mission like no other, and this time, nobody is certain to be making it out alive.
Settings: Metropolis, STAR Labs
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the shaky mission, Waller meets with Batman and the Flash, presenting the treadmill. Batman thanks her for her mission, saying he has a plan to bring the disappeared Justice League back and save the world.
-The New Gods (Film)
Protagonists: Orion, Big Barda, Mr. Miracle, Bekka, Lightray Antagonist: Steppenwolfe, Black Racer Side Characters: High Father, Drax Cameo Characters: Darkseid, Batman, Flash
Plot: Taking place centuries before the events of “Justice League: War”, the New Gods are a powerful race of galactic beings who rule the universe in place of the Old Gods of mythology. However, when a misguided tyrant god named Steppenwolfe goes on a mad quest for his dark master, the New Gods must search for the ancient Mother Boxes and retrieve them before the darkness can find them and kill the universe.
Settings: New Genesis, other planets
Mid-Credits Scene: In the present, the remains of the Justice League and Argus formulate a plan to take the world back from Apokalips. However, they are interrupted mid-plan, as the New Gods arrive, saying they wish to help... and kill Darkseid.
-Justice League Apokalips Part 2: Crisis (Film)
Protagonists: Protagonists: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan and John Stewart), Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Shazam, Steel, Superboy, Teen Titans, Justice Society, Lex Luthor, New Gods, Suicide Squad Antagonists: Darkseid, Desaad, Kalibak, Apokalips army, Black Racer Side Characters: Too many to count lol Cameo Characters: None
Plot: At last, the conclusion to the first chapter of the DCU has arrived. With the Earth in ruins and the core Justice League lost in time, all hope seems lost. That is, until Batman and the Flash come up with a plan to save the world. With the Cosmic Treadmill, they seek to travel throughout time to recover their teammates of the Justice League, and put a stop to Darkseid once and for all. Will they succeed, or will Apokalips rule the universe in the end?
Settings: Metropolis, various locations throughout time
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2024.05.19 22:29 RubSea1405 Seeking a roommate in a great 2 bdrm condo near Ft. Meade, MD

Spacious (250 sq. ft), unfurnished bedroom available in safe, quiet shared 2 bdrm condo across from Ft. Meade in Odenton, MD. Includes large ensuite bathroom and walk-in closet and kitchen, laundry, and living room access. Community includes gym, pool, and picnic areas. Ample, free parking available; walk to grocery, retail, local restaurants and a cool pub! 10 minutes to Arundel Mills Mall.. 6 minute drive to MARC train to DC/Baltimore and 3 minutes to major highways. You'd be sharing with a tidy, 50-yr old female educator who's keeps pretty busy with socializing, hobbies, and work. Rent is $1250/month and includes all utilities except electric. References required.
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2024.05.19 22:28 KingCreeperSeth My DCU (Chapter 1: Gods on Earth - Act 3)

Hello everyone! Sorry for the long wait, between varying interests and having to make this entire act from scratch rather than just giving it an update, this portion of my DCU definitely did take longer to make than most! But I’m here, I’m ready, let’s get right into it!
As usual, here is the lineup for this concluding act to my first chapter of the DCU:
  1. The Flashpoint Paradox (Film);
  2. Hawk man and Hawkgirl (Film);
  3. The Birds of Prey (Film);
  4. Cyborg Season 2 (TV Show);
  5. The Justice Society (Film);
  6. Aquaman: The Last King (Film);
  7. Superman: Warworld (Film);
  8. Teen Titans: Judas (Film);
  9. The Brave and the Bold 2 (Film);
  10. The Supers (TV Show);
  11. Wonder Woman: Odyssey (Film);
  12. Batgirl Season 2 (TV Show);
  13. Batman: The Red Hood (Film);
  14. Justice League Apokalips Part 1: War (Film);
  15. Suicide Squad: Operation Apokalips (Film);
  16. The New Gods (Film);
  17. Justice League Apokalips Part 2: Crisis (Film)
And without further ado, here we go:
-The Flashpoint Paradox (Film)
Protagonists: The Flash, Batman (Thomas Wayne) Antagonists: Reverse Flash, Flashpoint Aquaman, Flashpoint Wonder Woman Side Characters: Cyborg, Flashpoint Superman, Nora and Henry Allen, Lois Lane, Rebellion, Atlantians, Amazonians Cameo Characters: Superman, Batman, Jason Todd
Plot: Barry Allen had done the unthinkable. He ran fast enough to break through the time barrier and save his mother’s life. But would the butterfly effect be worth it? Nora Allen was alive, but the world Barry knew before was dead, replaced with one unfamiliar to him. Bruce Wayne is dead, Metropolis was almost completely destroyed, and on top of all of that, the friends he had once known were were fighting a war that could spell doom for the entire world. Can Barry keep this new universe together? Or will a haunting shadow remind him why you should never change the past?
Setting: Central City, Metropolis
Mid-Credits Scene: On a faraway planet, a stolen relic called the Regeneration Matrix is regenerating a figure back to full health from their coffin. When the process is complete, the figure awakens and sits up in his coffin. He looks around, revealed to be Superman back from the dead, asking where he is. A nearby medical robot gives him a simple answer, “Warworld.”
Post-Credits Scene: Focus is put onto the Wayne Family graveyard, panning over numerous graves. Eventually, the focus is directed to the grave of Jason Todd, though the grave is dug up and the coffin underneath is empty. Nearby, a figure is limping through the cemetery, revealed to be Jason Todd, who is leaving his grave and heading towards Gotham.
-Hawkman and Hawkgirl (Film)
Protagonists: Hawkman, Hawkgirl Antagonist: Hath-Set Side Characters: (Idk I’m not very up to date on their lore lol) Cameo Character: Doctor Fate
Plot: Carter Hall and Shiera Sanders are two ordinary individuals with no connection whatsoever. That is, until an enemy from the ancient past makes his return to remind them of how they are bound. The two hawk-people must now work together to break a dark cycle they are forever caught in, and along the way, remember who they were meant to be in lives past.
Settings: New York, briefly Egypt
Mid-Credits Scene: Having survived the cycle for the first time, Carter and Shiera enjoy their momentary peace at home. However, a man who calls himself Doctor Fate appears before them and requests their help. He tells them a threat of considerable proportions is on its way to Earth, and he needs their assistance to defeat it. They ask for time to think it over, to which Doctor Fate gives them, but warns them that time is running short.
-The Birds of Prey (Film)
Protagonists: Batgirl (Barbara Gordon), Black Canary, Huntress, Katana Antagonists: Joker’s Daughter, Sons of Joker, the Joker Side Characters: Francine Charles, Commissioner Gordon, Renée Montoya, other characters’ respective side characters Cameo Characters: Oliver Queen, Batman, Jason Todd
Plot: Batgirl has spent months getting her team into line, but they are finally ready. Black Canary, Huntress, and a new girl calling herself Katana, under Barbara’s leadership become a new, fierce superhero team called the Birds of Prey. Their first mission? Bring down the Sons of Joker, and learn their connection to the Clown Prince of Crime himself. But will the new team be able to work together? Or will Barbara crumble, and bring her team with her?
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Within her hospital room following being shot and paralyzed by the Joker, Barbara is visited by a man while she sleeps. This man is revealed to be Jason Todd, who apologizes for Barbara’s fate, blaming Batman for another failure, though he guarantees this one will be his last.
-Cyborg Season 2 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Cyborg Antagonists: The Brain, Monsieur Mallah Side Characters: Silas Stone, Sarah Charles, Beast Boy Cameo Characters: T. O. Morrow, The Grid
Overall Plot: After much grief between his friends and coworkers Superman and Nightwing, Cyborg finds himself disconnected from his friends and begins taking justice across the world into his own hands. But when he faces a threat that he finds himself unable to defeat alone, he learns to open himself up to those around him, and share his pain so that others may help to fix it.
Episode One Plot: Cyborg seeks to solve the problems of people around him his own way, which leads him into the heart of a rogue H.I.V.E. operation calling themselves B.R.A.I.N.
Episode Two Plot: Cyborg launches his own investigation into BRAIN, but finds Beast Boy as an interference when he tries helping his friend out.
Episode Three Plot: Trapped on an unknown island, Cyborg must rely on the help from his friend Beast Boy when his systems shut down and they seek an escape.
Episode Four Plot: BRAIN reveals itself to be ruled by a robotic organism called the Brain, which reveals its plans for world domination to Cyborg.
Episode Five Plot: Attempting a search for the Brain’s supposed doomsday device, Cyborg uncovers a large conspiracy tying the Brain back to the invader Brainiac.
Episode Six Plot: In the season finale, Cyborg learns to let his friends in as he stops the Brain from continuing Brainiac’s work and controlling the world.
Setting: Central City, various other places
Mid-Credits Scene: After defeating the Brain, Cyborg leaves his computer running on an AI program he created called “The Grid.” When he leaves, a string of green code merges itself with the blue code running on the screen, turning a large portion of it green in the shape of a skull.
-The Justice Society (Film)
Protagonists: Doctor Fate, Hawkman, Hawkgirl, the Flash (Jay Garrick), Green Lantern (Alan Scott), Mister Terrific, Wildcat, Stargirl Antagonist: Despero Side Characters: Respective side characters (I’m lazy, sorry lol) Cameo Characters: Adam Strange, Vandal Savage
Plot: For the past few years, Doctor Fate has sensed a presence of tremendous power threatening to invade the earth, and now that presence has finally arrived. Despero, a conqueror from the stars with unlimited power, has arrived on earth, yet the Justice League is spread too thin and too far to help against the incoming threat. Fate realizes that he will have to assemble a new team to defeat Despero and stop his invasion, a team he has spent the better part of the past few months gathering.
Settings: Various cities
Mid-Credits Scene: Following their victory and return home, the Justice Society are confronted by a mysterious man called Adam Strange, who teleported himself to them to warn of a new incoming threat, and claiming that they have come for Carter and Shiera.
Post-Credits Scene: Far away, mysterious soldiers locate a tomb and open a single coffin resting inside. Out from the coffin springs a large man, who attacks the soldiers before asking what year it is, and who they are. They answer that it is the 21st century, and they are here to welcome “the Savage,” to the new age, to which the man laughs maniacally.
-Aquaman: The Last King (Film)
Protagonists: Aquaman, Aqualad (Jackson Hyde) Antagonists: Black Manta, Starro Side Characters: Mera, Orm, Garth, Arthur Jr., Atlanteans Cameo Characters: Jesse Hyde
Plot: At last, Black Manta’s final revenge has come. For years, he has been plotting, researching a way to exact his vengeance on Aquaman following so many failures. At last, he has found it, enlisting the help of an ancient beast from the stars named Starro to help him destroy Atlantis and claim the title of its dark king. But when both Aquaman and Manta find that the new conqueror seeks control and destruction of everything they know, new alliances must be forged to bring peace to Atlantis once and for all.
Setting: Atlantis
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his sacrifice to defeat Starro, David finds himself in an ocean-like afterlife, where he meets his father Jesse for the first time in years. David apologizes for his actions, and his grief, to which Jesse forgives him, and the two embrace once more.
-Superman: Warworld (Film)
Protagonist: Superman Antagonists: Mongul, Ultra Humanite, Mongul’s Champions (The Teacher, the Mother, the Orphan, the Darling, and the Unmade) Side Characters: Kryl-Ux, Otho-Ra, Osul-Ra, Thao-La Cameo Characters: The Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, Lois Lane
Plot: After being killed by Doomsday during the Brainiac Invasion, Superman has found himself brought back to life via a lost Kryptonian Regeneration Matrix located on the distant planet Warworld. Once he is awakened, Superman is quickly introduced to the harsh, gladiator-like lifestyle of the planet, run by its cruel ruler: Mongul. Superman must now put his strength and will to the test as he battles and chooses his way through a cosmic adventure like no other, all in an attempt to return home and rescue the people of the desolate planet.
Setting: Warworld
Mid-Credits Scene: On Earth, in the Fortress of Solitude, a similar Regeneration Matrix has finished the body that was meant to be Superman’s, but a new force has taken it over. The Eradicator declares himself Superman, and seeks to prove itself as the ultimate Man of Steel.
Post-Credits Scene: Lois Lane is walking out of a shop with a coffee in hand, when she notices a red and blue figure flying through the sky. Her, and many civilians, rush to the city square to see the returned Man of Steel, only for him to turn his face and reveal a half-robotic one underneath.
-Teen Titans: Judas (Film)
Protagonists: Red X, Starfire, Cyborg, Raven, Beast Boy, Kid Flash, Donna Troy Antagonists: H.I.V.E. (Namely Adeline Kane and Damien Darhk), Deathstroke, Terra Side Characters: None Cameo Characters: Blue Beetle, Aqualad, Bumblebee, Arsenal, Rose Wilson
Plot: Following the supposed death of Nightwing, the Titans have mostly disbanded to follow their own paths. But when the villainous mercenary Deathstroke returns to the scene to exact revenge for his son’s death, the young heroes must unify once again to put an end to H.I.V.E., before they are all killed. But with a traitor in their team, and a thief who feels all to similar to the team’s dearly departed leader, the Titans find themselves lost in a conspiracy that leaves them unsure of who to trust and who not to.
Setting: San Francisco
Mid-Credits Scene: With Grayson alive and returned to his rightful position as team leader, Starfire asks him if things will truly be back to normal. Nightwing tells her no, that the events of the last few days have opened his eyes to not only be more careful, but also to increase his efforts to better train the next generation of superheroes. He shows her the new rebuilt tower, labeled Titans Academy, with a good few new recruits already waiting outside.
Post-Credits Scene: After being sent to prison, Slade is confronted by his daughter Rose, who has come to visit him. She shames him for his act of violence against the children, claiming that he has brought dishonor to their family. He retorts, saying that he did it out of love and mourning for Grant, and that she should be ashamed for not doing anything. The two leave with a disagreement and hatred for one another, Rose pulling out a tracker to the Titans Academy, as well as a mask she intends to wear for the trip.
-The Brave and the Bold 2 (Film)
Protagonists: Green Arrow, Black Canary, Arsenal Antagonist: Cheshire Side Characters: Respective side characters (who I still don’t know cuz I don’t read their comics lol) Cameo Characters: Batman, Ra’s Al Ghul, Shado
Plot: Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance, now betrothed to one another, have their life set. Marriage, money, and the skills to defend themselves and their city against any who may dare seek to soil it. But as new faces good and bad come into play, the super power-couple must be more strategic with their approach to crime-fighting if they want to preserve the good of their city, before all hell can break loose.
Setting: Star City
Mid-Credits Scene: Following news coverage of Green Arrow and Black Canary’s heroics against Cheshire, a woman far across the world catches wind of the report and prepares her weapons. She gears up, leaving her hideout as Shado now makes her way to Star City.
Post-Credits Scene: Observing the chaos and failure of his wild-card protégé Cheshire, Ra’s Al Ghul has a confrontation with Batman, where the Caped Crusader warns Ra’s to put an end to is theatrics in Star City. Ra’s tells Batman he has no more interest in Star City, having failed twice, but he warns Batman to keep out of his affairs, or else Gotham may be the next place the League of Assassins visits.
-The Supers (TV Show)
Protagonists: Supergirl, Steel, Lois Lane, Superboy Antagonists: Cyborg Superman, the Eradicator, Livewire, Parasite, Intergang Side Characters: Jimmy Olsen, Martha Kent, Lex Luthor, Perry White, Kat Grant, Steve Lombard Cameo Characters: Superman, Hal Jordan
Overall Plot: Superman is dead, and Metropolis is in the hands of new saviors now. Since the Man of Steel was killed by Doomsday, there have been those like Steel and Superboy who have risen up to take up the mantle the Kryptonian left behind. But others, like the Eradicator and the new “Cyborg Superman,” have taken justice in a more violent direction. But is the Man of Steel really dead? And how do the new imposters tie into his return? As Lois and Supergirl team up with new heroes to investigate, they are led down a rabbit hole of resurrections and revenge, one that will leave them with dark answers they may not be ready for.
Episode One Plot: A funeral is held for Superman following his death, but in mourning, the Man of Steel seems to have returned, losing his cape and donning new Golden goggles.
Episode Two Plot: As Steel makes his presence known, he comes into conflict with the the new Superman when debating the fate of a villainess on the run. Meanwhile, Lois begins investigating the appearance of the new Superman, but her investigation is cut short by the appearance of a brand new Cyborg Superman, claiming to be the real hero returned.
Episode Three Plot: Superboy, a clone on the run, makes a name for himself in Metropolis as a younger, cockier hero missing the values of the original Superman. Meanwhile, Lois takes the time to talk with Supergirl, sharing with her the suspicions she has on the new Supermen.
Episode Four Plot: Lex Luthor has prepared a gala to announce his new plans for Super-Police to defend the city following Superman’s death. But when the new Supermen finally clash in a confrontation to debate letting Luthor live and killing him for his crimes, the public finally get a chance to decide who their saviors are.
Episode Five Plot: Declared the true savior of Metropolis, Cyborg Superman is put to the test when he faces a new threat: the Parasite. Meanwhile, Lois and Supergirl enlist the help of Steel to investigate the truth of the Cyborg Superman.
Episode Six Plot: In one last act to prove himself, the Eradicator attacks Cyborg Superman, dying in the battle. However, Cyborg Superman’s victory is short-lived, as Lois, Supergirl, and Steel out the truth behind him and the deceased scientist Hank Henshaw.
Episode Seven Plot: Furious with his reveal, Cyborg Superman goes ballistic, assaulting the military and claiming the means to destroy half of the country in a nuclear attack.
Episode Eight Plot: All bets are off in the season finale as Lois, Supergirl, Steel, and Superboy race to stop Cyborg Superman’s plot for nuclear destruction. A race that only becomes more definite as the real Man of Steel finally returns from the dead to save the world.
Settings: Metropolis, Smallville
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the mostly failed nuclear attack, Hal Jordan returns to Earth to find Coast City in ruin, the only city nuked in the attack. He grows angry and mournful, showing the first sign of losing himself to darkness.
-Wonder Woman: Odyssey (Film)
Protagonist: Wonder Woman Antagonists: Circe, Cheetah, Hades, various mythological monsters, Furies Side Characters: Hippolyta, Artemis Cameo Characters: Zeus, various other gods, Steve Trevor
Plot: After decades of living among man and acting as their hero, the consequences of Diana’s actions have finally caught up with her. The sorceress Circe has been freed, and has destroyed Diana’s home of Themyscira. She has now partnered with the Cheetah as her disciple, seeking to delve into the Underworld to free Hades from the deepest depths of Tartarus. Diana must now travel through the rings of Hell and battle through a gauntlet of beasts and enemies to stop their plot and prove herself worthy of being called Wonder Woman.
Settings: Themyscira, the Underworld
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the near-escape of Hades, with involvement from Cheetah, the Old Gods of Greece meet to determine how they handle this matter moving forward. Ultimately, Zeus decides that the mortals of man’s world have become too dangerous, and declares war on the mortal realm and those who may defend it.
Post-Credits Scene: Following her redemption in the Underworld, Cheetah returns to the old wrecked base she had been frozen inside of during World War II. She explores deep inside the frozen lair, eventually coming across a large chunk of ice that had gone undiscovered until now. And within lies Steve Trevor, perfectly preserved for over 80 years.
-Batgirl Season 2 (TV Show)
Protagonist: Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) Antagonists: David Cain, the League of Assassins Side Characters: Oracle (Barbara Gordon), Batman, Commissioner Gordon, Alfred, Robin Cameo Characters: Red Hood
Overall Plot: Barbara Gordon has been shot and paralyzed, leaving Gotham without a Batgirl... temporarily. When the League of Assassins makes good on their threat and comes to Gotham, a young assassin by the name of Cassandra Cain tries to prove herself as the greatest assassin the League has ever known. But when she fails and finds herself deserted by the League and her own father, Barbara sees a light in her and shows her she has the power to be a great hero instead.
Episode One Plot: The League of Assassins make their way into Gotham as a young Cassandra Cain tries but fails to break into Oracle’s clocktower.
Episode Two Plot: Feeling shame for her failure, Cassandra is lifted up by Barbara, who convinces her that she is capable of being a hero instead.
Episode Three Plot: Cassandra begins her first night of patrol in Gotham as the new Batgirl, but meets resistance when Batman denies the presence of a new Batgirl.
Episode Four Plot: Determined to prove herself, Cassandra follows Batman on a mission to stop a potential assassination, during which the two open up to one another.
Episode Five Plot: Cassandra gets her first taste of a sidekick team-up as she and Robin work together to prevent a terrorist attack from the League of Assassins.
Episode Six Plot: Stakes are high in the season finale, as Cassandra re-confronts her father and seeks to stop the League’s plans for destroying Gotham, by any means necessary.
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Feeling disdain for the destruction caused by the League of Assassins, Jason decides it is time to enact his plan and take Gotham for himself, no matter the costs.
-Batman: The Red Hood (Film)
Protagonists: Batman, Robin (Tim Drake), Batgirl (Cassandra Cain) Antagonists: Red Hood, Bane, Joker Side Characters: Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Oracle, Nightwing, Catwoman, Lucius Fox, Harvey Bullock, Renée Montoya, Mayor Krol Cameo Characters: Darkseid, Azrael
Plot: Bane has arrived, and with him comes the Caped Crusader’s darkest days. Bane has seized control of the city and vows to both break the Batman and ruin everything he holds dear. However, he finds rivalry in the criminal underworld, as a new figure called the Red Hood emerges to take Gotham back his way. Batman is now caught in the crosshairs of a dark beast of destruction and a vengeful ghost from the past battling for control of the city, and with the Dark Knight losing his grip more and more each day, people wonder if the city really needs vigilantes.
Setting: Gotham City
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his identity being revealed and being imprisoned, Bruce sits in his cell as the tv showcases news coverage of another alien invasion occurring in Metropolis. He stares with fear as he watches Parademons swarm the city, followed closely behind by Darkseid himself, finally come to Earth.
Post-Credits Scene: Following the supposed end of the Batman, a hooded figure on a rooftop swears an oath to a mysterious force. As he stands up, he unsheathes his sword and reveals himself as Azrael, prepared to carry on the Batman’s legacy at any cost.
-Justice League Apokalips Part 1: War (Film)
Protagonists: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan and John Stewart), Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Shazam, Steel, Superboy, Teen Titans, Justice Society, Lex Luthor Antagonists: Darkseid, Desaad, Kalibak, Granny Goodness, Grail, Apokalips Army Side Characters: Various (too many to list lol) Cameo Characters: Orion
Plot: The apocalypse has come. After years of planning and waiting, Darkseid has finally arrived on Earth, his invasion active and his plan clear: find the Mother Boxes and destroy all life in the universe, starting with Earth. The only obstacle standing between him and the Anti-Life Equation is the Justice League, who must unite one more time to defend Earth from the ultimate evil. But with a threat as powerful as Darkseid, do they have any hope of saving the world?
Settings: Metropolis, Apokalips, other cities
Mid-Credits Scene: Following his victory and upcoming conquering of the universe, starting with Earth, Darkseid’s actions are monitored by a man flying his way through space. He grows dreadful at the god’s actions, and activates an alert signaling the “New Gods” to unite.
-Suicide Squad: Operation Apokalips (Film)
Protagonists: Amanda Waller, Deadshot, Harley Quinn, Captain Boomerang, King Shark, Killer Frost, Rick Flag, the Thinker, Parasite Antagonists: Granny Goodness, Female Furies, Grail Side Characters: Few to none Cameo Characters: Batman, Flash
Plot: Darkseid has won, and now the Earth is doomed to die to the forces of Apokalips. However, there is one person left on Earth with a plan to save it: Amanda Waller. Recruiting her team of convicts, she plans a mission to cripple Darkseid’s main military output and steal back an invention of great importance: the Cosmic Treadmill. It’s a Suicide mission like no other, and this time, nobody is certain to be making it out alive.
Settings: Metropolis, STAR Labs
Mid-Credits Scene: Following the shaky mission, Waller meets with Batman and the Flash, presenting the treadmill. Batman thanks her for her mission, saying he has a plan to bring the disappeared Justice League back and save the world.
-The New Gods (Film)
Protagonists: Orion, Big Barda, Mr. Miracle, Bekka, Lightray Antagonist: Steppenwolfe, Black Racer Side Characters: High Father, Drax Cameo Characters: Darkseid, Batman, Flash
Plot: Taking place centuries before the events of “Justice League: War”, the New Gods are a powerful race of galactic beings who rule the universe in place of the Old Gods of mythology. However, when a misguided tyrant god named Steppenwolfe goes on a mad quest for his dark master, the New Gods must search for the ancient Mother Boxes and retrieve them before the darkness can find them and kill the universe.
Settings: New Genesis, other planets
Mid-Credits Scene: In the present, the remains of the Justice League and Argus formulate a plan to take the world back from Apokalips. However, they are interrupted mid-plan, as the New Gods arrive, saying they wish to help... and kill Darkseid.
-Justice League Apokalips Part 2: Crisis (Film)
Protagonists: Protagonists: Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lanterns (Hal Jordan and John Stewart), Cyborg, Aquaman, Martian Manhunter, Green Arrow, Black Canary, Red Tornado, Shazam, Steel, Superboy, Teen Titans, Justice Society, Lex Luthor, New Gods, Suicide Squad Antagonists: Darkseid, Desaad, Kalibak, Apokalips army, Black Racer Side Characters: Too many to count lol Cameo Characters: None
Plot: At last, the conclusion to the first chapter of the DCU has arrived. With the Earth in ruins and the core Justice League lost in time, all hope seems lost. That is, until Batman and the Flash come up with a plan to save the world. With the Cosmic Treadmill, they seek to travel throughout time to recover their teammates of the Justice League, and put a stop to Darkseid once and for all. Will they succeed, or will Apokalips rule the universe in the end?
Settings: Metropolis, various locations throughout time
submitted by KingCreeperSeth to FixingDC [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:26 Astro41208 I’d love to hear your application advice/suggestions + chanceme! (Rising senior)

I would love any advice you guys have on how to improve my application along with what schools you think might fit me!
Demographics: upper middle-class LGBTQ+ South Asian male from small-town Indiana; medium sized school (600-750 kids per graduating class)
Intended Major(s): Astrophysics/Physics/Computer Science, Vocal Performance, French
SAT: 1510 SAT - 760 Reading, 750 Math (first time taking it as a bench; will study and retake over summer - goal: 1550)
UW/W GPA and Rank: 4.0 UW / 4.78 W (UW rank: 1/725; W rank: 3/725)
Coursework: taken 6 APs so far (5 on the one’s I’ve received results for), taking 8 APs senior year
Awards:
Ronald Reagan Leadership Medal 2024
2024 Rising Star of Indiana (Indiana Association of School Principals)
Show Choir Nationals Grand Champion u/Grand Ole Opry under my leadership
2024 Outstanding Vocalist from my whole school’s choral program
Gold Medal (ranks 3-5 nationally, rank 1 in state) in Le Grand Concours (2022, 2023, 2024) - a French national board exam
Student Officer of a student government named 2024 National Gold Council of Excellence by the National Association of Student Councils
Extracurriculars:
STEM:
-will be conducting research in astrophysics at local university labs for six weeks this summer; will be producing and hoping to publish a research papers (11-12)
-will be conducting an independent project in computer science over the summer; planning on creating an astronomical model and producing a research paper for it as well
-paid research assistant at the local university’s Department of Physics for half a year; ran simulations of charged crystals to enhance data quality and tested projects to be used in college workshops for physics students (11)
-conducted and paid stipend for research in soil metagenomics at local university; used Python to analyze DNA sequences to uncover soil biodiversity in samples to solve soil quality problems in local agriculture (10-11)
-trained at the Advanced Space Academy at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center; unanimously elected by crew to be the pilot on our final extended duration mission (10-11); rigorous training involving piloting skills, undergoing physical training (SCUBA diving, pole and rock wall climbing), debating space law, and working on space materials science and engineering problems (rocket design, building and launching, space suit design, etc.)
-remote shadowing under graduate student of astronomy at UChicago learning astronomical data analysis of galaxies, using Python tools and libraries (11)
-Math NHS + local math college competition (9, 10, 11)
-HOSA Junior Officer (9)
Volunteerism/Outreach Initiatives:
-volunteerism at a large Space Day event at my local National Armory; headlined by the Indiana Astronomical Society and engineering teams at Purdue involved with Mars rover - over 1550 participants; volunteer instructor of astronomical phenomena (eclipse demonstrations), materials science, space history (11)
-programming contributor and volunteer at local Solar Eclipse Festival, raising over $15,000 for Habitat for Humanity through a “Run for the Sun” 5k fundraiser (11)
-author of multiple articles on various space science topics; published in an international youth-driven science journal with the goal of more accessible and impactful youth science communication (11-12)
-virtual volunteer work for the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
-planning to organize and direct a watching party/educational event or program for the peak of the Perseids meteor shower (12)
-conceptualized and planned for a space-themed prom as a officer of my class in student government (11)
***Student Government (9-11)
As an elected officer and secretary of my class of ‘25, I am responsible for managing much of our group and organizing our tasks, including
-planning/execution for Homecoming and Prom for all of the students at our school
-planning, coordinating, and building Homecoming Parade floats to increase community and school spirit over months of meetings and hours of student-led construction
-a city cleanup project near the public library and park to make the community a better and cleaner place to live in
-increasing school spirit with planned spirit weeks, pep rallies, and other activities (Staff vs Student games, etc)
-leading class meetings to further overall goals of community service, leadership, and raising spirit
Officer in the group that was named a 2024 National Gold Council of Excellence by the National Association of Student Councils
***County Youth Leadership Representative (11)
I was chosen to represent my school in a selective group of youth leaders in my county tasked with initiating community improvement and local leadership. We use our leadership skills in order to take civil, financial, and interpersonal action and change within our community. As part of the group, I
-took charge of a team to put on a promotional fair for over 20 fantastic non-profit organizations in our county, along with producing promotional videos in order to spread awareness about them on social media and other platforms; I wrote the scripts for the interviews and filmed them myself, set up all of the non-profit booths, welcomed representatives, and kept the event running smoothly.
-presented at our conferences, researching and speaking at length about the history of our county, important local non-profits, and about our non-profit fair project.
-was chosen from the group to introduce our own Mayor at our conference (11-12)
Music:
-hand-picked by choreographer to attend Show Choir Camps of America on full scholarship
-named Best Performer of the group (3x) and Best Male Soloist
-student director of a selective A Cappella group; we perform at charity events, such as funerals and veteran services, along with the national anthem at several sporting events and go caroling to dozens of homes and venues around the community during the holiday season to spread cheer
French:
-taught myself French since I was 13 and am still an active and passionate learner and lover of the language; top student in my school’s French program
-volunteer tutor for other French students in my free periods at school
-Vice President of French NHs (9-12)
-participated in initiative to raise hundreds of dollars worth of hygiene supplies for local Haitian refugees (11)
LORs/Other:
LORs from my AP Calculus teacher that I’ll have for two years, my AP French teacher, who I’ll have for four years, and my varsity choir coach, who I’ll have for four years; all will have plenty of things to talk about regarding my leadership in their disciplines over years
School List (as of now, from least likely to most likely): Harvard (uncle worked/researched there), MIT, Princeton, Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Cornell, Northwestern, UMich, U of Maryland, U of T at Austin, Notre Dame, UIUC, UC Boulder, IU Bloomington, Purdue (legacy), Penn State
submitted by Astro41208 to chanceme [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:25 HRJafael Healthcare and predatory lenders: why Gardner area women say these are their biggest needs

https://archive.is/KvEEP
Women from across the North Central region gathered to testify on issues affecting them at a public hearing hosted by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women (MCSW) on March 28.
The regional public hearings are one way MCSW engages with the general public and collects information on issues Massachusetts women face daily. The hearing was held at the Mount Wachusett Community College Gardner campus.
Sarah Glen-Smith, MCSW Chair, said the commission includes all testimonies collected during public hearings in the yearly reports submitted to the state. The North Central Mass. public hearing in Gardner was the first one of the year.
Several North Central Mass. women spoke up about experiences with systemic sexism, from inaccessible healthcare treatment to predatory loans and mortgages that are targeting single mothers.
What are healthcare issues faced by North Central Mass. women?
It's been over six months since the Birthing Center at the HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital in Leominster closed, and many pregnant people across the North Central Mass region are struggling to find medical services.
Miko Nakagawa, an Athol resident and nurse for 26 years at UMass Memorial Health in Leominster, said the region already feels the effects of the closure from last September and will worsen. She cited the Gardner parents who delivered their baby in the AC Hotel in Worcester as an example of the effects of the closure and how overwhelmed the staff at the regional hospitals are.
Nakagawa said that with the Leominster birthing center closed, regional maternity centers and hospitals are overwhelmed, and more field deliveries will occur if nothing is done to solve this problem.
"I'm really concerned that the devastating impacts that we are beginning to see will result in deaths of mothers, babies, and eventually other people's deaths," she said. "We live in a lower-social economic area, and if you look at Athol, we have nothing; it's a really scary world out here in North Central for women's healthcare."
Nakagawa said this region of Mass does not just lack birthing, maternity, or Obstetrics and Gynecology centers, but many medical services like cardiology, which impacts the well-being of women and everyone.
Single mothers are targets for predatory loans and mortgages
Grace Ross, from Mass Alliance Against Predatory Lending (MAAPL), said predatory lenders target women of all races who are in search of buying a home. She said immigrant women and single mothers, who are unfamiliar with the process of buying a home, are exploited and tricked into these unreasonable mortgages.
At the hearing, Ross said she wants the MCSW to support and take action on legislation to crack down on predatory lenders. She said many women don't know their rights as homeowners and can't afford a lawyer, so they rely on the government and organizations like MAAPL to help them.
The MAAPL is a statewide non-profit coalition of over 70 organizations that advocates for the rights of homeowners and tenants. Ross said predatory lenders are stripping the wealth of women in Massachusetts by trapping them in impossible mortgages. She said the MAAPL also provides legal help to anyone who falls for predatory lenders and can't afford a lawyer. Here are some strategies used by predatory lenders to be aware of:
• Loan flipping occurs when the lender convinces the borrower to refinance their mortgage by trapping them in a new long-term, high-rate-interest loan.
• Balloon payments: A large one-time payment after the end period of the loan.
• The contract declares extra fees or penalty-free if the loan is paid early.
• The payment structure is inconsistent.
What's next for the commission?
After gathering the testimonies of several women at last week's public hearing, the commission plans to find ways to advocate for the topics that the North Central Mass women addressed.
Smith, the MCSW chair, said the commission considers all testimonies at public hearings and will find a way to push for reform at the State House to address the several topics addressed.
The mission of MCSW is to advance women toward full equality in all areas of life by promoting rights and opportunities for all women in Massachusetts, regardless of race, economic status, immigration status, ethnic background, sexual orientation, etc.
submitted by HRJafael to NorthCentralMA [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:25 DutyTop8086 Effective Strategies for Optimizing Your Amazon Listings

When I first started selling on Amazon, I faced a steep learning curve. As a novice, I quickly realized that optimizing my product listings was crucial for success. Through trial and error, research, and plenty of late nights, I discovered some key strategies that can help any new seller thrive. Here's a guide based on my experience on how to optimize your Amazon listings.

Understand Amazon’s Focus

Amazon's core philosophy is customer first. This means the platform prioritizes the product over the store and the customer over the seller. Your listings must reflect this focus to succeed. Optimizing your listing isn't just about making it attractive; it's about ensuring it meets Amazon’s standards and appeals to potential buyers.

Key Elements of a Good Amazon Listing

To create a compelling Amazon listing, you need to pay attention to four main elements: the title, five-point description, keywords, and images. Here's how to get each one right:

1. Crafting the Perfect Title

The title is one of the most critical parts of your listing. A good title should include core keywords, your brand name, key selling points, and product features. Here are some tips:

2. Optimizing Product Images

High-quality images are vital for attracting customers. Amazon has strict guidelines for product images, which include:

3. Writing the Five-Point Description

The five-point description highlights your product’s features and advantages. It's crucial for convincing buyers to make a purchase.

4. Utilizing Keywords

Keywords help your product get found in searches. Use keyword research tools to find high-traffic, relevant keywords. Place these strategically in your title, bullet points, and product description to improve visibility.

Monitoring and Optimizing Performance

When your product first launches, initial sales might be slow. This is normal, but don’t let it discourage you. Use Amazon’s backend tools to monitor click-through rates and conversion rates. Poor performance in these areas can indicate issues with your title, images, or descriptions. Adjust these elements based on the data to improve your listing.

Promotions and Launch Strategies

New products get a visibility boost from Amazon, but this window is short. Promote your product aggressively in the first two weeks to capitalize on this. High sales volume during this period can significantly improve your keyword ranking and visibility.

Final Thoughts

Optimizing your Amazon listing is a continuous process. Always be on the lookout for new trends, customer feedback, and performance data to refine your approach. By focusing on the key elements of your listing and continuously improving, you can increase your chances of success as an Amazon seller.
submitted by DutyTop8086 to AmazonFBA_USA [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:23 RyanCooper510 Perfect job doesn't exi...

Perfect job doesn't exi... submitted by RyanCooper510 to ANormalDayInRussia [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:21 tawarmadivision [A3] [Recruiting] [EU] [New Player Friendly] [Semi-Serious] The Art Of Warfare (TAW.net) [16+] Recruiting

[A3] [Recruiting] [EU] [New Player Friendly] [Semi-Serious] The Art Of Warfare (TAW.net) [16+] Recruiting
https://reddit.com/link/1cvxe5k/video/0kv8mi7cyf1d1/player
With over 14 years as a unit (and 21 years as a gaming community), The Art of Warfare (TAW) is the perfect place for someone looking for a stable, long-term unit to join up with. The friendships formed within our unit extend beyond both ARMA and borders.
The Art of Warfare is a semi-Mil-Sim unit that strives for an even balance between tactical, smart gameplay and those "ARMA" moments that you can't help but turn to your battle buddy and ask - "Did that just happen?"
https://preview.redd.it/vv4pzmh4yf1d1.png?width=1500&format=png&auto=webp&s=65d2b50abd083ddc1a3813f29b2a744cad164728
Largely focused on modern military settings, our campaigns are carefully crafted and Zeus'd by members with years of experience.
We have around 60 members who are currently split into six squads. Four infantry squads, one support squad, and one recon squad. On top of that, we have Zeuses and Field Command.
Operation times are 20:00 - 22:30 CET on Thursdays & Sundays, where we generally play NATO-style factions and occasionally other styles also!
https://preview.redd.it/2uh4t217yf1d1.png?width=1500&format=png&auto=webp&s=9b6cc0daed2d38340312677036f951d3bbe7d2c6
Looking to join? Right on! We just have a few requirements
  • Must be above 16 - no exceptions
  • Must own a legal copy of ARMA 3
  • Own Apex & Contact due to Maps / Vehicles
  • Must have TeamSpeak 3
  • Must be able to attend a majority of events
https://preview.redd.it/7k9oyol8yf1d1.png?width=1500&format=png&auto=webp&s=d10cb2d0726a08dd3d6837f3a9fb9da522e5c23f
Decided to make the leap? Good! Find the Discord link at the bottom of this post, or contact one of our recruiters below.
[Name - DiscordID]
PHI- phi1234
ConnorLO- jellymuffins
Colodon - viking.1991
TyrannesRex - tyrannesrex
If you have any questions feel free to contact one of our officers on Discord. You can also sign up on our website.
https://preview.redd.it/78qoos29yf1d1.png?width=1500&format=png&auto=webp&s=21195df03637d8ce6e4ba5862ebb3c7029814c05
TyrannesRex - Operation: Iron Hand
DustyEllis - Operation: Iron Hand - Lore Pics
DustyEllis - Operation: Iron Hand - Lore Pics
submitted by tawarmadivision to FindAUnit [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:20 Thor23278 [SERVICES] Cerakote service with basic disassembly/reassembly.

Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/xePRWt8
Optics Gallery: https://imgur.com/a/VHzOg9U
Galleries have been cleaned up.

Starting prices for single color: (2-4 business days)

(S) Small parts: $45 Minimum charge AR small parts (LPK), handgun small parts, optic mounts, pistol grips, vert grips. Additional (S) items will be case by case. I’m not going to charge another $45 to do a dustcover for example.
(M) Medium parts: Slides, grip modules, Shotgun/rifle fore ends, handguards up to 12”, upper receivers, collapsible AR stocks, ect: $65 each. Additional (M) items of same color: $55 each
(L) Large parts: Handguards 13” and up, A2 stocks, shotgun buttstocks, rifle buttstocks, 18" shotgun barrels, ect: $75 each. Additional (L) items of same color: $65 each
Optics & Lights: I do most lights optics including open emitters. Prices vary as some take more care than others. PM with what you have for info.

Quick Turnaround Patterns

Distressed: https://imgur.com/i0y2uiY + $10(S) $15(M) $20(L)
3 Color Gradient Camo: (Pick your colors) https://imgur.com/Xvehcqf + $25(S) $30(M) $35(L)

PP F&F / VENMO NO NOTES!

Got something else in mind?
Shoot me a PM with what you're looking for! I do have my own stencil cutter so I can get pretty creative. Just be aware that more complex layouts will have a longer turnaround.
NOTES, INFO, CHARGES
Quick note regarding Pirate Ship. I no longer use it. I have had two claims denied by their 3rd party insurance due to being gun parts and accessories. UPS is also a no go. As of a bit over a year ago they explicitly restrict the shipping of ANYTING gun related (with the exception of rifle scopes) to authorized firearm accounts. FedEx is similar.
PUT. A. NOTE. IN. THE. BOX!: Please include a note with the color you are requesting and the number of items you are having coated, your reddit handle, and best contact info. Saves me so much time! I include this request with my shipping information, but I do occasionally get a package without any info inside. The has me searching through all my chats and message until I can find out who sent what and what you wanted done. You know how easy Reddit’s DM system is to search….
DISASSEMBLY AND REASSEMBLY: Included on common items. Sight installation/swapping included (they will be centered, so if you had them drifted let me know ahead of time). Larger or complex items will vary in cost. PM me with what you have. If you have something uncommon I may need to source a tool.
TURN AROUND TIME: Does not include weekends. Times listed are for "clean" items. It's actually not uncommon for me to have single color items completed faster than projected.
MORE PHOTOS?: Feel free to poke through my profile. (IG link is in there as well) if you want to see more of my work as I cannot post everything here due to guidelines/ToS.
NON-STOCKING COLORS: Non-stock color requests subject to a $20 surcharge.
SHIPPING IS ON YOU: Sending with a prepaid label makes things easy.
CHARGE 1: Quad rails add $10
CHARGE 2: Most spray painted parts are a +$10 surcharge. Slotted and quad handguards are +$20. Adds up to two days to turnaround as it can take time to remove.
CHARGE 3: Extremely dirty items such as a DI upper that's been shot hundreds of rounds suppressed without cleaning and bathed in oil to keep it running incur a $10 surcharge. May add a day to turnaround.
IN STOCK COLORS
H-109 GLOSS BLACK
H-122 GOLD (Very close match for TiN)
H-127 KELTEC NAVY BLUE
H-136 SNOW WHITE
H-143 BENELLI SAND
H-146 GRAPHITE BLACK
H-148 BURNT BRONZE
H-152 STAINLESS
H-157 BRIGHT NICKEL
H-168 ZOMBIE GREEN
H-185 BLUE TITANIUM
H-190 ARMOR BLACK
H-199 DESERT SAND
H-203 MCMILLAN® TAN
H-210 SIG DARK GREY
H-213 BATTLESHIP GREY
H-221 CRIMSON
H-229 SNIPER GREEN
H-231 MAGPUL FOILAGE GREEN
H-232 MAGPUL OD GREEN
H-234 SNIPER GREY
H-236 O.D. GREEN
H-237 TUNGSTEN
H-248 FOREST GREEN
H-250 A.I. DARK EARTH
H-258 CHOCOLATE BROWN
H-264 MIL SPEC GREEN
H-265 FDE
HIR-265 GEN II FLAT DARK EARTH
H-267 MAGPUL FDE
H-268 TROY COYOTE TAN
H-294 MIDNIGHT BRONZE
H-297 STORMTROOPER WHITE
H-298 PLUM BROWN
H-300 HIGH GLOSS ARMOR CLEAR
H-311 PINK CHAMPAGNE
H-301 MATTE ARMOR CLEAR
H-30118 FS FIELD DRAB
H-305 SPRINGFIELD FDE
H-315 NORTHERN LIGHTS
H-319 BLACK CHERRY
H-332 PURPLEXED
H-338 CHARCOAL GREEN
H-34094 FS GREEN
H-343 MULTICAM BRIGHT GREEN
H-345 MULTICAM DARK GREY
H-347 COPPER
H-349 AZTEC TEAL
H-359 SMOKED BRONZE
H-360 CROCODILE
H-8000 RAL 8000
ELITE SERIES: Higher durability. (+$5 per item)
E-100 BLACKOUT
E-110 MIDNIGHT
E-140 JUNGLE
E-170 M17 COYOTE TAN
E-190 (Federal Standard Coyote) 20150
E-290 STORM
AIR CURE: High Heat, Less Durability
C-7600 GLACIER BLACK (+24hrs for cure)
submitted by Thor23278 to GunAccessoriesForSale [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:19 malcolio DRAFT 2 - NTW in Alphabetical Order. Chapter 1: Alsace-Lorraine

DRAFT 2 - NTW in Alphabetical Order. Chapter 1: Alsace-Lorraine
Europe in Early January, 1805. How the continent looks at the start of a Napoleon: Total War game.
(Thumbnail) Seven years ago I started posting a writeup of playing a game of Empire: Total War with the challenge of conquering every region in alphabetical order. This was inspired by someone trying to play Crusader Kings in alphabetical order back in 2006. After 75 chapters, with about 2,600 images and just a silly amount of text, I completed the game and swore off touching another Total War game for some time!
I’m now back, to try and achieve the same goal of conquering every region in alphabetical order but in Napoleon: Total War. I’ve never finished a game of N:TW before, so it will fun to see what this more focused and refined(?) version of E:TW will be like to play. As with my last playthrough, I’m using DarthMod and playing on Normal/Normal difficulty. I have no idea if those settings will make this challenge too easy or impossible, let’s find out!
Napoleon Bonaparte’s stats and the 11 regions I have to sell off before I can start this challenge.
There is a vast quantity of books studying the life of Napoleon Bonaparte, but what none of them will tell you is that he had a passion for the alphabet just like King Louis XIV. So obviously he was forced to sell off every region of the French Empire so that he could conquer the entirety of Europe in alphabetical order.
Unfortunately if I lose France I automatically lose the entire game, so I’ll need to unofficially keep hold of that, but otherwise I first need to trade away Alsace-Lorraine, Aquitaine, Bretagne, Corsica, Hannover, Normandie, Pays d'Oc, Picardie-Champagne, Piedmont-Liguria, Provence, and the Southern Netherlands. At the moment the French Empire’s prosperity is spectacular, its prestige sublime, but that’s going to take a bit of a hit…
The French military units in those region capitals will soon need to vacate, most are just militia and basic cavalry, but Strasbourg has a decent sized force led by Napoleon’s brother-in-law Joachim Murat.
The French Imperial Army, scattered across Alsace-Lorraine, Northern Italy, and Hannover
The rest of the Imperial Army is along the empire’s eastern border. Napoleon himself commands the largest army to the west of Strasbourg, close to two smaller forces led by Marshals Michel Ney and Louis-Nicolas Davout. Over in Northern Italy a detachment led by Marshal Jean-André Masséna guards the border with Austria, and in isolated Hannover a similar-sized group guards the city with Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte as its commander.
The two French fleets, one off Portugal and the other near Genoa, and the flagship Scipion.
The French Navy has just two fleets. The Atlantic Squadron is currently stationed near Portugal, Admiral Pierre-Charles Villeneuve commands the immense 122-gun Scipion, two 3rd rates, two 4th rates, and frigate. The Mediterranean Squadron is near French-controlled Genoa, led by Vice-Admiral Victor Durand it consists of just two frigates and a corvette.
Soon the French Empire won’t have any ports that need defending or to repair ships at, and my income is about to nosedive, so I think it’s time to do something reckless…
An outnumbered French fleet is defeated by Britain’s finest, but not without scoring a massive blow against the Royal Navy.
Admiral Villeneuve is told to take his fleet north and engage whatever enemy vessels he can find, to sink as many ships as possible even if it risks wiping out his own. It doesn’t take long: in the Bay of Biscay the Atlantic Squadron bumps into none other than Vice-Admiral Nelson and a huge British fleet. The two commanders had previously fought at the Battle of the Nile as Rear-Admirals, and in reality weren’t due to meet for another 10 months at the Battle of Trafalgar. The British fleet greatly dwarfs the French, with Nelson commanding his own 122-gun Heavy 1st rate, a 1st rate, two 2nd rates, and three 3rd rates!
I auto-resolve the battle, resulting in an expected defeat. Villeneuve survives on board a battered Scipion, with only a 4th rate for company, but somehow his squadron managed to sink every British vessel except for Nelson’s Rose! The Royal Navy has suffered a pyrrhic victory, my navy upkeep costs have gone down by more than 1,000 gold, and what remains of the Atlantic Squadron flees south to join up with the Mediterranean Squadron next turn.
Parts of the French Empire are sold off, ready for them to be retaken in alphabetical order with the rest of Europe.
With those naval manoeuvres finished I start haggling with other nations to remove eleven French regions that are stopping me from starting my alphabetical challenge. I sell each region to a different ruler, to get as much cash from the sale and to stop any one nation becoming too powerful. I try to give territory that is towards the end of the alphabet to my allies, and those towards the start to my enemies, to prevent having to backstab my friends until I’m already forced to destroy them anyway.
While cash is important I also barter for as many technologies as I can: one technology can take 7 turns to research, gaining them now will pay dividends in growing my economy and strengthening my armed forces.
The main achievement of these region swaps, apart from losing all my income and making me only one region away from defeat, is completely changing the United Kingdom’s foreign policy: by letting George III have both a personal and political union with Hannover I convince the British Empire to abandon all of its allies, and instead join the side of its centuries-old nemesis. That recent battle in Biscay didn’t seem to matter! Along with becoming friends with Prussia I now feel less worried that Paris might be immediately marched on, though it’s hard to tell how long these new alliances will last.
The first unedited screenshot of the game. France is exempt from taxes, to help pretend it doesn’t exist, which doesn’t help the Empire’s negative income.
After all those region swaps I now only control France, as mentioned before I can’t remove this territory without automatically losing the game. So to try not to benefit from being forced to keep France I’ve set myself the rule that I cannot build anything there, cannot research there, cannot recruit any troops from Paris, and the region is exempt from taxes. I keep a company of Grenadiers à Cheval and two artillery batteries to defend the capital, together they cost 546 gold a turn in upkeep so Paris is losing me money!
Right, the game is now set up to start my challenge of conquering Europe in alphabetical order (sort of, ignore France). Which region do I need to capture first?
Alsace-Lorraine. Only just traded to the Austrian Empire, it is surrounded by French armies including one teleported from Hannover.
This is Alsace-Lorraine. Two images ago it became Austrian, in exchange for 5,530 gold and two technologies that would have taken me 14 turns to research. Unfortunately for Austria the region is surrounded by the bulk of the French Imperial Army, so the question isn’t how will I immediately conquer Alsace-Lorraine but can I do so without losing a single soldier?
The full might of the Imperial Army is amassed against Strasbourg, defended by a small number of Austrian infantrymen and some armed civilians.
Marshals Ney, Murat, and Bernadotte link up to immediately attack Strasbourg together. The full stack of units is supported by further armies commanded by Napoleon and Marshal Davot. Protecting the city is just five companies of Austrian line infantry, supported by hastily-armed citizens.
Alsace-Lorraine is captured, denting the expected deficit and allowing resources to be spent on improving the French military and economy.
It would be insanity to resist such an attack so the small Austrian infantry detachment wisely surrenders without a fight. Unfortunately, yet again, there is no battle to see here!
I choose to peacefully occupy Strasbourg and immediately start the construction of basic roads, a cannon factory, a musket manufactory, and an iron mine, plus a cantonment to replace the local tax office. Until that’s all built I can’t actually recruit any more soldiers, cavalry, or artillery (as I’m ignoring France existing). So avoiding a battle is boring but the troops I have are priceless!
The people of Alsace-Lorraine are unhappy under French rule, despite being Austrian for less time than it takes to read this sentence. Luckily I need to keep a large garrison here anyway to protect against my enemies to the east, and I also lower taxes a little to keep the region’s population and wealth growing, so the newly conquered population should be content for now.
OK, so far this challenge seems ridiculously easy, I captured my first region immediately without a single casualty. What’s next?
Aquitaine. Until very recently French, traded away to the Russian Empire.
This is Aquitaine. Like Alsace-Lorraine it was part of the French Empire but quickly traded away, this time to Russia, and like Strasbourg an enemy force has magically popped into existence to guard the region’s capital.
Unlike last time though there are no doom stacks waiting, ready to steamroll the city. What I do have is a random collection of units which originally guarded Bordeaux, Rennes, and Toulouse. A force of two companies of Chasseurs à Cheval (light cavalry) and two cohorts of the local National Guard is led by Captain Alexandre de Rosée, who waits for a company of Chevau-légers Lanciers (lancer cavalry) and another cohort of militia to reinforce him from Bretagne. Combined, this ragtag group of misfits should be enough to win against six battalions of Russian infantry squatting in Bordeaux. So attacking the city will need to wait until next turn, but before we move to Late January 1805 I have a few chores to do…
The French Empire is leaps and bounds ahead of every other nation in research, but this has ground to a halt until a college can be acquired.
One task is to think about researching new technologies. Most nations begin with all technologies locked, some are lucky to have already researched one or two when the game starts. France is luckiest of all with three technologies already researched: Army Corps Organisation, Conscription, and Division of Labour). Thanks to those earlier region trades the French now also understand Classical Economics), Fire and Advance), Improved Coppering), National Debt), and Public Schooling.
Those technologies provide various small economic and military bonuses which will take any other nation at least 50 turns to research, so I’m at a significant advantage on turn 1. However with my self-imposed rule of ignoring the existence of France I cannot use Orléans to start researching any new technologies, instead I send my two gentlemen east towards the first region which will provide a college I can use. It will take more than 10 turns for François-René de Chateaubriand and Jean Rapp to reach their destination, in the meantime my enemies will have unlocked a new technology each, and I have to hope the college they’re travelling to will be controlled by the French Empire by the time they arrive! Charles-Louis Schulmeister, French spy extraordinaire, joins them on the journey.
The French Council of State sees the appointment of a Keeper of the Seals, and new trade deals dent an expected deficit.
One other job to do before ending the first turn is to review who is running things. My starting ministers all have decent stats except for 3 star Keeper of the Seals Claude Ambroise Régnier. I replace him with a string of candidates until one, Oliver Molyneux, arrives with the Stallholder trait which give him a total of 4 management stars. That one extra star means the cost of repressing unrest in my regions is 3% cheaper, and that repression now has a +1 bonus. Small benefits like that could make or break my game in the long run!
Selling off all my regions severed all my trade routes. I reestablish all of them except the one with Spain, as I no longer have a sea or land connection with the Iberia Peninsula. Instead I create a trade agreement with the Electorate of Hesse-Kassel, worth 300 less gold than the Spanish agreement. Overall my trade income has dropped by 1,100 gold since I started this game, but at least I’m now only going to lose 2,880 in gold per turn!
This is just a draft, it will be taken down when I post the finished thing on the total war subreddit.
submitted by malcolio to u/malcolio [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:15 caramels_coffeebean To any UofT/UW engineering students/alumni: UofT vs. UW for EE?

To start off, I know that I shouldn’t base my university decision significantly on what people on Reddit tell me, but for anyone who has taken engineering at UW or UofT, and has answers to any of my questions or knows anything that might not be common knowledge that I should take into consideration when deciding where to go next year, please comment/let me know.
For some background: I have no desire to work in the US nor get any kind of graduate degree. I plan to enter the workforce after getting my bachelor’s.
I got my offer to UofT EE in Feb and my offer to UW EE in March, and have been going back and forth over which I should pick since.
I visited both campuses a while ago, and while the UW campus is ok, it reminds me a lot of my hs and is kind of depressing imo. The UofT campus is much prettier and I prefer Toronto as a city to Waterloo.
Also, while I know UW’s coop program is supposed to be the best in Canada, their employment rates rn aren’t the best apparently (if anyone has specific updated stats for this, I would love to see), and idk how I feel about having to move around every 4 months.
For scholarships, I have 10k from UofT and 2k from UW. My parents are helping pay for my tuition and living expenses (I live too far from either school to commute), but I would like to ease their financial burden as much as possible.
finally, I have heard that academically UofT is much harder than UW (can anyone confirm/deny this please!), but with the constant search for coops at UW, how large is the difference in free time for students studying engineering at UofT to UW?
Thanks to everyone for your help! I very much appreciate it :)
submitted by caramels_coffeebean to OntarioUniversities [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:13 wheresmylife-gone222 Star Wars Episode 1:The Beginning- A TPM rewrite heavily based on the 1994 draft (through not a carbon copy)

I think its common knowledge in these circles that the first draft of TPM from 1994 (originally called The Beginning) is much better. Still very flawed, but a good baseline for a better movie.
For some reason, Lucas added many things in the final draft that made the movie a lot worse. It's fascinated me for a while now about how things could have been if the original script was built upon.
I have been watching videos summing up the original draft for a while now and I discovered something. Apparently Lucas gave his final TPM draft to Lawrence Kasdan a week before shooting started and asked for him to take a look at it. However, Kasdan refused because he though he wouldn't have enough time to make revisions.
I want to imagine how TPM would look if Kasdan or some other hypothetical collaborator got to see the first draft in 1994 and fixed it up. This isn't my preferred PT rewrite. This is just what I would have done if Lucas had dropped his first draft in my lap and told me to revise it.
Here are the videos I got the information from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPHUWM3QNk0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqsD8s2W9Ho
The movie starts with an opening crawl talking about how it is a time of weakness in the Republic. The Outer Rim controlled by megacorporation's has seceded backed by droid armies. War has not broken out yet, but the galaxy is on the brink. They are now blockading the peaceful planet of Utapau to gain its rich plasma mines as well as its newly discovered Cloning formula. The Supreme Chancellor Valorum has dispatched two Jedi to investigate and/or negotiate if they can.
We then cut to a republic starship coming to land just like in the finished film. Only the Jedi are wearing samurai esqe uniforms (like the concept art), one black and one white. The black uniformed Jedi is Obi Wan Kenobi who is about 30, trained by Yoda and is already a full Jedi Knight. Very strict and by the book. The white uniformed Jedi is his brother Ben Kenobi who just became a full jedi. This is Ben's first mission without his master Oui Gon.
Ben Kenobi is very reckless and wonders why the Republic doesn't just declare war on the Confederacy already. Obi Wan argues with him while they wait in the conference room. Meanwhile Nute Gunray and the rest of the Nemoidians look more like how they do in early concept art. Much less humanoid and they speak in an alien language with subtitles.
They call Palpatine on the hologram and he is enraged that they let the Jedi land. He chokes Nute Gunray through the hologram, cowing him. They agree to kill the Jedi and things go similarly as in the finished movie. The ship is blown up, and poison gas is pumped into the conference room. Ben and Obi Wan cut their way through the battle droids and get to the hanger. They decide to stow away on the landing craft.
On the surface of Utapau they run into Jar Jar. In this version though, Jar Jar while emotional and still comic relief speaks in a normal voice and is a bit more mature. He's more of the everyman character. Ben persuades Jar Jar to take them to the Gungan city with a mind trick, this is something Obi Wan disapproves of. Ben is more unorthodox.
They get there and are captured just like the real film. The only difference is that all the Gungans have regular voices. They are taken to Governor Nass and we learn that Jar Jar was banished because he was a trouble maker who argued for more cooperation between the Gungans and Humans. As he rants, fish continuously fall through the bubble and a young gungan gathers them up and puts them outside again.
The two Jedi still convince him to call the humans and the whole bubble is engulfed in static. It is clear that communications have been cut off. The two Jedi are then given a submarine and told to try to navigate the planet core. Nobody has been able to do it in generations and it is clear Nass thinks its a suicide mission, a convenient way to get rid of three nuisances. They then travel through the planet core being attacked by various creatures while Jar Jar is kept calm through mind tricks.
We then cut to the city of Oxon (what later became Theed) where Queen Amidala who is 40 and her daughter Princess Padme around 14 are being briefed by captain Panaka and Sio Bibble. The Queen is complacent while Padme thinks they should take the fight to the Confederacy. Suddenly the droid army attacks the city and we see building being blown up and city guards killed.
The Queen, Padme, Panaka and all the other dignitaries are captured. Nute and the rest of the Nemodians show up as well to gloat like in the final movie and give some more exposition about how they want Utapaus cloning formula. We then see the Gungan submarine surfacing and the Jedi and Jar Jar sneak into the city.
They find the prisoners being walked down an alley and save them like in the real movie. Ben uses some flashy moves to finish the droids off and is almost killed by another droid while his back is turned. Obi Wan cuts the droid down and admonishes Ben for his recklessness. The Queen and co are pleased to see two Jedi knights but they are very hostile towards Jar Jar. Which the Jedi are displeased over.
They run to the hanger like the finished film and free the Pilots, however a stray blaster shot kills the Queen with Padme screaming in horror as they board the ship. The humans also try to prevent Jar Jar getting on board but the two Jedi insist upon it.
The ship gets attacked by the blockade and Naboo guards man gun positions while astromech droids finish the repair. After they get into hyperspace there is only one droid left. R2D2 who is thanked by a still in grieving Padme. She goes off down into the droid bay to be alone and runs into Jar Jar who consoles her. This starts Padmes turn towards liking the Gungans instead of being bigoted towards them.
Meanwhile Ben and Obi Wan look through the planets accessible through their damaged hyperdrive and only find one inhabited world. Tatooine, which most of the royal guards/pilots are horrified about. Still they have no choice so they land. Padme goes with the Jedi despite protests. She wants to see another planet and get some fresh air after what just happened. Panaka lets her go reluctantly because she has two Jedi to guard her. Jar Jar also goes with them because the Utapau humans say he's "stinking the ship up".
We then cut to Utapau again where Nute Gunray and the Nemoidians are talking to captured scientists about their cloning program. They look at something in a cloning tank and look impressed. Then a hologram droid walks in projecting Darth Sidious. He castigates them for their failure in letting the princess get away and they grovel before him again. Darth Sidious says its no matter, as he will send his apprentice, Darth Maul. The Sith warrior himself looks even scarier than in the film we got with him looking like the concept art, he also has blood red robes.
We cut to a balcony on Coruscant where master and apprentice talk. Maul speaks more than in TPM and says how eager he is to get revenge on the jedi, they are no match for me yada yada.
Back on Tatooine in Mos Espa we see our heroes trying to get the part they need. It is a rowdy place and a leering slimy alien (Sebulba but we don't know that yet) tries to touch Padme arm but she elbows him and after that the crowd gives them a wide berth. Obi Wan and Ben sense something, an overpowering aura of the force. They follow it and find themselves in front of Wattos junk shop.
They meet Anakin who is 14 the same age as Padme. He is mature for his age and has a bit of a chip on his shoulder from being a slave. We also meet Watto but he resists the mind tricks because of his strong will, not because of his species. Things go similarly, though the dialogue would be much better, no "are you an angel" in this version. Jar Jar still clumsily breaks a few things but it is more toned down. Watto also hits Anakin and tells him to get back to work. Ben grabs Wattos arms as he is about to hit him again while Obi Wan helps him to his feet.
The heroes get nowhere with Watto especially after stopping Wattos abuse and a sandstorm starts to blow in so Anakin offers to take them to his place. We meet Anakin's adopted mother Shmi Lars and her son Owen Lars who is older (19) and very protective of his little brother. At the dinner scene we learn about Anakin's Podracing (how he's nicknamed Skywalker) and how many people gamble on it for huge sums of money. Ben gets an Idea while we also see just how rare Jedi actually are in most of the galaxy with Owen calling them wizards.
We then see Anakin working on his Pod while talking to Padme. They both share their own struggle going up. Padme says she's never met anyone like Anakin while Anakin says he's never met anyone like her either. He then kisses her on the cheek while Jar Jar (who was watching out of boredom) jumps in surprise. Meanwhile we see the Jedi helping Shmi and Owen with the dishes.
The topic of Anakin's father comes up. We learn that Shmi's sister left Tatooine when she was young in search of adventure. Years later she came back and gave Shmi baby Anakin begging her to take care of him before leaving. She had a lightsaber on her belt same as the two Jedi now. She also tell them how Anakin is special and can see things before they happen, just like her sister.
Ben says Anakin needs to be trained as a Jedi while Obi Wan resists the idea saying he's too old. He's all about giving the family their freedom but not taking along Anakin. Owen is Obi Wans side, saying Anakin's head is already off in the clouds as it is. Being a Jedi won't help him, he needs to be grounded and down to earth. His idealism is going to get him killed. Shmi isn't sure which side to take in the argument and defers judgement until after Anakin hopefully wins the podrace tomorrow.
Ben goes out and talks to Anakin and tells him about the Jedi and the Sith. We get a whole spiel about how strong Anakin is and how he would be a great asset to the order. Meanwhile, Darth Mauls ship lands on Tatooine at dusk and he sets out different probes to find the Jedi and the Princess. He smiles evilly to himself, showing rotting teeth.
The pod racing stuff is basically the same, only Padme is outraged when Sebulba threatens Anakin and Ben/Obi Wan manage to get the freedom of Owen and Shmi as well by trickery (not sure how). There is no two headed announcer and no Jabba cameo either. At the end, in desperation, Anakin uses his force powers to crash Sebulbas pod killing him. Nobody notices that Anakin used the force except the two jedi who look on in concern
While everyone else gathers around Anakin's pod to celebrate Ben and Obi Wan have a heated argument in the shadows of the bleachers. Obi Wan takes this as a reason why Anakin shouldn't be trained while Ben thinks that it would be better to teach Anakin before he falls down the path of evil. Eventually they agree to let Anakin decide, Obi Wan saying he'll probably want to stay with his family.
However Anakin decides to go. His mother respects his decision and is proud of him while Owen is furious, but accepts the decision as well but telling Anakin that one day he'll regret his choice and when he does he's always welcome to come live with them again. The family hugs while everyone else just kind stands around.
They walk back through the desert when they encounter a probe droid. Obi Wan slashes it with his lightsaber and tells everyone to run. Everyone runs inside while Maul approaches in his speeder bike. The fight goes differently as it is a two one one fight. They all exhibit powers never seen in the original trilogy like levitating objects swirling around them, going super fact, and slow motion. Basically a Matrix fight with lightsabers before they both jump onto the ship.
The scenes as they travel to Coruscant are similar. Anakin and Padme miss their parents etc. They then arrive at Coruscant and it is basically like the finished movie in design. They land and meet Chancellor Valorem, Senator Palpatine, and Qui Gon Jinn. Qui Gon hugs Ben like a son while Palpatine talks to Padme. Padme then talks to Jar Jar about how she doesn't understand the rift between the Gungans and the Humans. We then learn that the Gungans have a large army. Padme has an idea and decides to go back to Utapau.
The senate scenes are cut down dramatically. Its more of a montage showing Padme's increasing frustration before she finally calls for a vote of no confidence while Palpatine smiles sinisterly. The Jedi Council meanwhile consists of three members. Qui Gon who is a very unorthodox Jedi mindful of the living force (wanting the jedi to go and help the common people more), Mace Windu a bastion of militaristic conservatism (wanting the Jedi to take their rightful place as generals/leaders, and Yoda who wants to stay the course on isolationism and study of the force.
We don't see the Jedi trials, Anakin just talks about them to Ben, Obi Wan and Qui Gon. He says he didn't understand them, and Qui Gon who has taken a liking to this upstart kid says he wasn't supposed to. They are all called in and Mace says Anakin shall not be trained. He is too old and there is much anger in him. Anakin is heartbroken while Obi Wan nods grimly in acceptance. Ben Kenobi however is not having it. He says he shall train Anakin with or without the councils permission. Mace denounces this as Heresy while Qui Gon smiles. Yoda sighs and says the matter will be decided after this current crisis has ended.
Ben, Obi Wan, and Qui Gon all decide to go with Padme, but Anakin is told to stay behind. There is also the discussion about how Anakin is dangerous which Anakin overhears. Being told by Ben and Qui Gon that he's not a problem and how he will be a Jedi. Anakin gets an idea and sneaks aboard the ship with the help of R2. He is quickly discovered to Obi Wans rage and Bens laughter.
They get back to Utapau and have to go through the blockade. Anakin is able to hyperspace jump between the ships and the planet with motivation from Ben. Our heroes then try to find the Gungans at their city but it has been completely blown up. We actually see this though, as well as Jar Jars sorrow before he remembers the Gungans sacred place.
They go there and like the movie Padme makes a big speech about overcoming difference, with Jar Jar intelligently backing her up. We then get ready for the battle. Anakin tinkers with a disabled battle droid and finds out there is a second droid control hidden somewhere in the palace. So the plan is set. The Gungans will distract the droids, while the humans will infiltrate the palace, one team disabling the backup control systems and the others capturing Nute or stealing starfighters that will be used to take out the droid control ship.
The plan goes into action and things are kind of similar to the finished film, though Jar Jar shows intentional heroism instead of the goofy antics in TPM. When the starfighters are launched though, Padme goes into the fighter with Anakin. Him being the pilot and Padme being the gunner. The rest of the human teams make short work of the battle droids. However when they reach Nute a surprise is awaiting them, clones.
These clones look kind of like Dark Troopers and a Super Battle droid had a kid. They decimate the Utapau soldiers while Nute flees. Meanwhile with the Jedis they disable the secondary control system but are then met with Darth Maul. It is a brutal and awe inspiring fight. 3v1 and yet Maul still comes out on top. He knocks out Qui Gon who falls of the bridge (the duel setting is the same) while taunting the other two. "This is the end of the jedi" you get the drill.
The remaining soldiers manage to kill the clones but there are not enough left to fend of the droids. They are captured same as the Gungans. Ben gets riled up, makes a mistake and is killed. Obi Wan screams and charges getting knocked into the pit, hanging on by a thread. Meanwhile Anakin and Padme manage to destroy the flagship at the same time that Obi Wan takes Ben's lightsaber and cuts Maul in half. He then says "learn not live not as my master says" and then rushes to Bens side.
Ben begs him to train Anakin and he agrees. Meanwhile the humans and Gungans are celebrating. We cut to Qui Gon and Queen Amidala's funeral. Qui Gon throws away his lightsaber and walks off. He is done with the jedi after the death of what was effectively his son. Palpatine looks at him go intrigued. Meanwhile Yoda and Obi Wan argue over Anakin's training. Obi Wan says he will train him even without the will of the council like Ben said. Yoda gives in but warns Obi Wan of his arrogance.
We then get the celebration the end.
submitted by wheresmylife-gone222 to RewritingThePrequels [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:13 TheCJK The Gifts We Offer

Gaz had crawled high into the apple tree and was pulling fruit down, lobbing it into the net his sister Tibble was holding out with her four hands. He hooted as he saw Jonathan walking through the rows.
Tibble turned, her blue fluff ruffling. "Human Jonathan! We have gathered many of the apples!"
Jonathan smiled as he approached, noting the large pile stacked on the ground. "Tibble, you have to put them in the baskets. Contact with the dirt will cause them to rot." He laughed. "I've told you this."
She shook her head. "Pyramid shape best. I like this." She pointed at the pile. "This is best way. You said you would make more cider. We like the cider. You will make it for me."
He knelt down and picked up an apple, taking a bite. Juice oozed out around his lips as his teeth pierced the skin of the fruit. He chewed for a moment while looking up at Gaz. "Yes. I said I would. Get these in the baskets and I'll carry them back."
She growled at him. "Piles are best." Tibble then began moving the top of the pile into the basket.
Jonathan sat under the tree as she filled the first basket, finishing off his third apple. She stacked it as high as she could before they started rolling off the top, and he got up. He lifted the basket and started carrying it toward the shed. "I'll be back for the next basket shortly."
He walked the half mile through the ruins of the city and stopped outside the door to the shed. He placed the basket down next to the apple masher and pulled the first apple up. He felt something ping on the back of his neck. Instinctively he scratched it, not remembering the sensation. He scratched a second time before he remembered what that particular vibration meant.
"Ares. Answer transmission."
The silicon based assistant accessed the relay and transmitted it to his subneurals.
An image of a man appeared in his ocular display. "Activation code Xeres Zulu three Kappa Alpha seven." The man said.
Jonathan tensed up and took a long breath before sighing. "Go ahead, admiral I'm guessing?"
"Admiral Alexander Oline, and you are Remnant Jonathan Kurzov?"
"I am."
"You are being activated."
Jonathan shook his head. "I'm retired."
"Retired?" The admiral asked. "You're done being human? I didn't know that was a thing."
"I'm retired from whatever you're wanting to ask me to do. Unless it's gardening, I don't give a shit about whatever you're doing."
Admiral Oline looked away for a moment and then back at Jonathan. "I have a report here describing in depth contact and conflict with an alien species, conducted by you. We received this information along with an application for a species of blue fuzzy creatures to be put under our species protection from a communications relay you and your assistant built. Am I wrong in this?"
Jonathan groaned. "No, you're right. I did a good deed."
Alexander nodded to himself as he looked over the report. "Yes, and now for your punishment." He smiled. "Prior to this, we thought all expansionist missions into your galaxy were extinct. The only traces we have left, before you, are the four sentience probes that were sent with your colonists. Do you still have access to those probes?"
Jonathan shook his head. "Haven't seen them in a few centuries. They left this system to continue scanning."
The admiral nodded. "Well, they have been continuing as programmed. They've been transmitting the entire time, and their data as mothballed during the last era, but now." He paused for a moment, his face growing stern. "A lot has changed since you left the Way. We, humanity, are on a similar path as yourself it seems."
"How so?" Jonathan asked.
"Humanity is making peace with our existence. We have gone back to our roots, trying to find peace in this darkness. Gardening, zen, familial ties, these are major values we have fostered, same as you and your adopted blue friends."
"Well, good for humans. Woo." Jonathan said. "Get to the point Oline. What do you want."
"Okay, I'll cut the curtsies. Those four probes from your expedition, their transmissions got bought up by a young entrepreneur. He went through them, refocused the probes to blue planet and found something. There's a species there, Isopodal, smart, but technologically savage. They're never going to reach beyond their atmosphere. They're planet locked, hell, probably never going to see electricity."
"Okay, so savages are causing a problem how?"
Oline sighed, shutting his eyes for a moment. "He watched them, then shared the feed with his friends, who shared the feed with their friends, and it became a phenomenon. These big bug, they're nice with extended families. They build their homes out of their shed carapaces. The longer they stay in a place, the bigger their homes get. Some are a hundred generations old, children walking through their halls touching the shells of ancestors long long gone. They scavenge, filter feed. The build tunnels to channel wastes from their small towns to the forests nearby, perfect balance with their ecosystem. They don't wage war, plan long term settlements with population quotas, living exactly as how the new human government envisions we should."
Jonathan nodded. "Sounds nice."
Oline sighed again. "It's a whole thing. We have a moon dedicated to making plushies of these things. People love them. The probes have been following specific towns for four decades now. Generations of people are involved in this ideology."
"And where do I fit in?"
"Your conflict with the Brin. Our Isopods biologically cleanse their environments of heavy metals. Their towns are built out of high demand, refined, high value materials. The Brin have since shifted their focus away from your blue fuzzy's and now are predating upon the Isopods."
"Fuck. Alright, I'll put a stop to them. You got coordinates for their homeworld?"
The admiral shook his head. "No, we're not into genocide anymore. We have to consider voters now. Your galaxy is being watched in detail now, with your little communication relay set up. We have to do this hands off, plausible deniability."
"For fuck's sake. Okay. How you wanna do this then?"
"Open source a Hadronic engine, give it to them. Basic freedom fighter protocols."
Jonathan nodded. "Understood."
Admiral Oline looked down at his templates and transmitted them. "Remnant Jonathan Kurzov, you are authorized to commence Project Pandora, classification Ultra Secret."
---===*===---
The father and eldest daughter and melted in the house of her forebears. She screeched through the walls, begging them to get out while she focused on the twins. She grabbed the two balls and tucked them into her filter pouches before running out the front door. She made it out to the beach as the heat intensified and the floating disk began sucking up their home. She stood in the water, her visual plate peaking out from the waves watching as she shivered with sadness. Her feeler appendages stroked the twins in her pouches as they fed from her filters, safe under the water. The beams finished melting down her home, pulling the slag up into the belly of the floating circle. She watched it float slowly away, disappearing down the beach.
She stood in the water, watching the smoldering hole that was her home far into the night. The stars were bright, and a dim glow came from beyond the horizons. She didn't dare leave her home, her ancestors. She kept shivering in grief, then she saw it.
A shadow contorted and a figure moved. Her vision, being as highly sensitive as it was, could barely make it out. She watched as it stood next to her ruins, her family home. A flash came from the thing.
"Fear not." It said as clearly as if it were her own blood.
She tiptoed out of the water, her weight coming back to her as she walked onto the beach. She shimmered back at the creature. "Spare us. Please."
It turned toward her, its face horrible and full of holes. Two orbs peered down at her, sending waves of fear through her shell. "A mother stands before me." It said, reflections appearing in front of it, cascading infrared to her. "I will do more than spare you."
Terror welled up in her and she fell down to the ground, but she resisted the urge to coil up and maintained her gaze upon the creature. "You are not them. You, you are different."
It walked closer to her, moving upon a mere two appendages. It lowered down next to her, extending a manipulator arm toward her. "Chance has sent a plague upon your peoples, one that you will not survive." It stared deep into her visor plate. "My people weep at that thought and offer you, Mother of three now two, a gift."
She could not help herself, and as if commanded without words, she extended two of her manipulator appendages up toward it. It opened up the ball at the end of its arm, five digits unfurling to reveal a black cube. It gently pushed the cube into her two pointed appendages.
"What is it?" She asked, shimmering.
The creature shimmered the air around it, speaking in ways she couldn't. "It is the gift we wish we did not have to give. It is horror, pain, and destruction. You know it in your organs, you feel it thinking about your mate, your daughter. Those that brought this feeling to you, will not stop until you give them this feeling back. This, this will allow you to do so, and I am sorry to have to give it to you."
She looked down at the cube in her points, feeling it as it vibrated across her limbs, reaching into her. Lines traced across her shell as she watched it grow on her. She looked back up toward the being as it crawled across her body but the shadow creature was gone.
A voice spoke to her, vibrations in her very core. "Hephaestus online. Greetings Mother."
She stood, her numerous feet appendages poking into the wet sand. "Where are you, being?" She shimmered with her shell.
"I am in you Mother, and am at your service." It replied within her minds.
"What has happened?" She asked, shivering with fear.
"You have been called upon to save your people."
She looked around before touching her own carapace. "How do I, how do we do that?"
"Where are the survivors?" It asked.
She thought for a moment, visions of the deep, visions of safety in the dark filled her minds.
"Go there. Help them."
She shivered again, defeat in the squish of body, her filters feeling the twins feeding at her sides.
"They will not stop, and more will suffer and die."
She turned her gaze back toward the horizon, seeing the glow of other homes melting in the far distance. "We can stop this?" She asked, now solely using her thoughts.
"I am but your tool. You can stop this." It replied.
---===*===---
She had not been to the vents since she picked her mate. They had fed there, filtering, hardening their shells together while discussing their future family. She could see the flickers of bioluminescence in the dark as she approached, her filters tasting the dense biofilm from the sea. She was close, and the flickers were from many peoples, many different families. She watched them talk, brothers, sisters, mothers, daughters, fathers, grandparents, all missing loved ones. Pain was the primary color, loss and heartache shared through the broken peoples.
She stepped into the outer ring, the heat of the vents warming her and her twins at her sides. Shimmers rose up to her asking who she had lost. She replied. "Mate and eldest daughter." But her reply wasn't heartache, but rather tinged with a new feeling and color. She replied with deep reds, a red tied to a thought from a people people beyond the stars, a red of blood and fire, things she knew nothing about.
The people's around her shifted in confusion at the colors. An elder great mother rose up to her. "You speak confusing daughter. What are you saying? Are you injured?"
She looked around, her visor meeting with dozens of others as they raised up to look at her. "The darkness came to me, spoke with me." She looked at the great mother. "The darkness touched me and has told me what we must do."
The elder mother walked over and touched manipulators with her. "Sit with us daughter, you need to rest. You have come far and need to heal."
"Our mates burn." The Mother of three now two said. "Our children, our families, our fathers burn. Things of light and pain come here and kill us. I will not heal these wounds. I bleed in my organs, pain beyond pain. I will not rest until they cease, until they feel my pain. They will feel this in their organs!" She flashed brighter than those around her thought possible. "I will stop them!"
A father stood up, pain shown in his colors. "They burn us. They are in the sky! How do we stop them? Do you know how? If you know anyway I will lend my spikes to yours. Please, tell us how! Anyone, tell us how." He shouted as bright as he could, lament touching his words.
The Mother of three now two walked over to him, placing her appendages upon his. Dots of blue light shifted from her carapace onto his. She looked into his visor plate and spoke with tinges of red. "The darkness has come and has promised us vengeance."
He flexed his carapace, breathing deep as he sucked in the sea. "What is this?" He asked, his own colors shifting toward the red.
"Our pain made flesh." She replied.
---===*==---
Brin operator Noloc was marking the next metal deposit while the syphons were busy pulling up the slag. It radioed over to buddy Lana. "You nearing full?"
Lana replied back. "Yeah. You want to get food while we empty?"
"Yeah, obviously." It replied. "Care to stimulate bodies while we eat?"
"Yeah obviously." Lana said. "Hey, are you getting any weird readings?"
"Like what?" Noloc asked.
Lana sent over telemetry. "Heat spikes in the water. What are those?"
Noloc looked them over and then scanned the water nearby. "Yeah, I got a dozen near me too. What are those?"
Noloc turned to look out the window just in time to see something leap onto the outer hull of its ship. "Um, one of the native creatures is on my miner."
Lana screamed through the radio.
Noloc shook at the noise and looked back out at the native. The creature was larger than normal, its color darker as well. Noloc watched as the thing curled, hunkering down on the hull. Deep scratching sounds echoed through the ship. "I am in need of assistance." It radioed up toward the mothership. "Assistance needed, native attack."
Telemetry came down. "Wait time for assistance five minutes. Ten minutes. Three hours." It read out, the time continuously increasing.
Noloc looked around. "What is happening! I need assistance!" Another thud on the hull and Noloc looked out to see another native boring into the ship. "Help!"
---===*===---
The Mother walked over to the downed ship and watched as the warriors cut apart the pilot. Hephaestus highlighted the mining beam as she walked across the machinery. She pointed with one of her manipulators. "There Father. We need that piece." She shimmered.
One of the fathers walked over and cut it free with his new sharps. "What is it Mother?"
"It is a tool of light and fire."
He shook, remembering his family burning.
"Remember that pain Father. They will feel it as they burn."
He paused and looked at her. "We will be as they are then. Burners, bringers of pain. That is not who we are."
She felt at the empty filters at her side. "My twins are in the deep with the mothers. That is not who they are, but that is who we must be so they can stay that way."
The Father shimmered back in tones of red. "They will be as we were before."
She flashed understanding. "We will suffer, become the monsters so they won't have to."
He replied understanding.
--===*===---
Three galaxies away, sitting in their living rooms across numerous worlds, humanity watched on. The four probes, hidden in their cloak fields, displayed in completed holographic representations, the forgotten horrors of war. Beams of fire and light rose up from the depths of the seas, melting Brin ships out of the sky. Day after day, the Isopods did what they did, scavenged. More fallen tech fed them, and within three months they had risen out of their gravity well, taking the fight into orbit.
A year later and several scavenged stations and the Isopods had opened up communications, seeking the others hiding in the shadows.
A world of blue fuzzy creatures were quick to respond, welcoming the filter feeders to the galactic community.
The Mother of Three now two was aboard the ship crossing the darkness as the first gathering commenced.
submitted by TheCJK to HFY [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:09 Randomaccount707 I can't help but resent my parents.

To start off, I want to make it clear that they have improved DRASTICALLY compared to when I was a kid. They are much more... tolerable as parents now.
To put it bluntly, they were very controlling when I was a kid. The doctors and my therapist seem to agree that it was my upbringing that largely made me the way I am today. You know, unstable identity, perfectionism, people pleasing, and this deep unending resentment for myself.
I have been inpatient for mental health issues twice now. Once last year in March and once this year in April. After both times, I saw significant improvement in THEIR mental health and lots of emotional growth on their end.
Right now I'd say my mom is in a pretty good place. She has even admitted that my hospitalizations have helped her heal.
My dad is still himself, but with less of the pressure. I think he's just terrified I'm going to kill myself any day now. (I am not suicidal right now.) He still is intensely exhausting to talk to, so I avoid him, but he's made improvements from the yelling and slamming the table when I was younger.
They are both good parents, and did their best to support me. They even let me drop out of high school (I still graduated, just not attending second semester). Which is very big for Asian parents lol.
But, I hate talking to my dad (aka getting lectured) and just actively avoid him at this point. And I feel like every conversation with my mom just ends with me feeling vaguely upset and sometimes I'm not even sure why.
Since I don't talk with my dad, I don't have much to say about him now. But my mom is still kind of overbearing. She comments on my clothes (too slutty) or me showing too much skin (because of my self harm scars which I didn't bother me, but now it's getting under my skin and i'm insecure about it again lol). She always dresses me unfashionably in 4-8 sizes too large (which TOTALLY didn't affect my body image /s). I have to tell her whenever I leave the house and send her pictures of where I am every few hours. And I have to be home by sundown.
It's really not that bad so I do feel like I'm overreacting slightly. But I want to move out ASAP once I'm 18 just to be free. I feel like I can't get better mentally with my mom breathing down my neck and giving me new insecurities. And just, not being able to be free under their roof.
I don't know if being estranged would be the best for me since my parents are doing better, but I honestly don't want anything to do with them. It's been a consistent trend that on days where I don't talk with them I do just fine and those that I'm forced to interact with them I struggle not to relapse in bulimia and self harm.
... Alternatively, am I just being a hormonal teenager and irrational? I know my parents care, but I can't muster up the energy to care for them.
submitted by Randomaccount707 to AsianParentStories [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:09 Dead4Mann [Re-Intro] Max Macallister - All the Chickens I've met like Bach

General Info:

Favorite Things:

Appearance:

Faceclaim Height Weight Body Type Eyes
FC 6’ 1” 174 lbs Lean and muscled, Max developed himself through hunting and routine training at camp along with a few dozen near death experiences. Stormy grey, look almost pitch black under darker light.

Powers (Modmailed):

Domain Powers
Power Description
Greater Lordship: Birds, Wind and Storm Spirits Ever since he was young, Max lived in the woods with his Aunt and had no friends whatsoever. He was nearly completely isolated. That being said, his nature as a son of the king of the sky has given him the ability to speak to and control birds and wind or storm spirits. He's still trying to work on his authority with this power though wind spirits and birds do what he wants most of the time.
Wind/Air Manipulation Having used this ability to accidentally destroy a cabin at camp and maybe cripple a boy, Max doesn't underestimate this ability and has been trying to practice controlling it.
Travel of the Elder Gods Having the ability to travel distances with a lightning strike, Max is in the process of training with this power in hopes of using it to visit his aunt one day. His control has improved in spades since he first discovered it, however.
Minor Powers
Power Description
Electrical Resistance Despite Max never needing it so far in his life, he is resistant to electricity to a certain degree.
Electricity Manipulation The ability to call down two lightning bolts per day, Max has gotten more used to this ability since its discovery.
Double Jump Max has always felt more mobile when using his air manipulation though he never knew it was a separate ability.
Major Power
Power Description
Bird's Eye View Shortly after Max was forced to leave for camp, he discovered his ability to see through the eyes of birds. He can do this with any bird and has gained a few different birds he can do this with during his past year at camp. While he is using this ability, he is immobilized. Being a vital part of his arsenal, Max is much better at using it in battle though his mastery still has room to improve.

Equipment:

Item Description
Featherweight A bow made for Max by Barry Callahan. The bow is a simple thing, carved of birch wood. The white and grey bark looks like a rolling storm as it cascades down the wood. The bowstring is reinforced by two celestial bronze gears, made to help the archer pull the bow back and sustain that draw for longer. There are bronze carvings on the gears, the eagles being a nice touch on the metal for a simple design. A sight unfolds from the middle of the bow, folding down into place. The crosshairs in the sight are lightning bolts, meeting at a point, but the circumference of the sight is decorated like a weathervane.
Fraterculus A celestial bronze xiphos that used to belong to Matt, before he gave it to Max for his first quest.
Tactical Spear A celestial bronze tactical spear that originally belonged to his mom as a present from Zeus. It can change form into a pocket watch.
Custom Arrows His collection of ammunition for his bow, including celestial bronze tipped arrows, some broadheads he found in the camp armory, and some trick arrows, including flash-bang arrows and net arrows.
Bead Necklace 2037 As a symbol of his past year at camp, Max was given a bead thanks to it being the end of the year. Beads so far:
Banging Beats Player A stylized iPod Nano that when used to play music, lets out a high pitch screech that stuns those in hearing range. (1 combat turn stun at 5 meters, Loss of hearing at 10 meters, and Buzzing noise at 20 meters)
Amazon Catalogue The Amazon Catalogue is a small digital tablet that can access the Amazon family of products (Prime, Kindle, etc.) and the store with free shipping, without triggering a monster's scent, and without need for a constant internet connection. The tablet still requires charge (Type-C). It is as sturdy as a standard Amazon Kindle. An occasional connection to an Internet or Ethernet source is required to ensure system interfacing (at least once a week). Although subscription fees are waived through the host account on this device, the user is still required for any additional costs.
Companion Egg A large, glowing silvery egg. It is said to be able to hatch into a new companion for Max. It is unclear what kind of companion the egg will produce, but Max has been taking care to keep it safe and warm.

Friends:

Name Relationship
Simon A gyrfalcon that saved Max from the monster that destroyed his home. Simon was uncannily intelligent when it comes to bird standards. After finding a piece of a map that pointed to the Camp, Simon helped him make it there without dying. The three month journey strengthened their bond tenfold.
Mathew Knight A son of Hades, Matt is Max's cousin and adopted (not legally) brother who he treasures greatly. Despite the son of Hades' ability to protect himself, Max would still do his best to protect him in any given situation. Basically, hurt him and prepare for immediate avian bombardment.
Austin Reynolds As a son of Eros, for Max, Austin was easy to love. Too easy in fact, to the point where Max started loosing himself which led to them breaking up. Now Max's ex-boyfriend, Austin remains a friend if not as close as before.
Lupa Hines Being one of the few people to know about Max's fear of waters, Lupa quickly became someone who Max trusted. Her help as Mediator made facing his fear a little more approachable and a lot less panic attack inducing.
Tori A bluejay Max made friends with over the past year, Tori is the 'kind but stern' to Simon's sarcasm and joking.

Family:

Member Name Age Relationship
Father Zeus Immortal After the battle against the residents of the labyrinth and the forces of Nemesis, Max had a chance to speak to Zeus, though he spoke through a holographic eagle. Max's opinion of his father is positive though not affectionate enough to be called a familial bond.
Mother Mary Macallister 36 While speaking with Max, his father, Zeus, showed him an image of his mother and explained that she wasn't the kind of woman to abandon her child when he'd left.
Aunt Lillian Macallister Missing Since she took him in at the age of 3, Max's aunt became like a mother to him and taught him to hunt. She also gifted him his crossbow and the celestial bronze bolts that Zeus had supposedly given his mother before she passed it on to his aunt. He recently discovered that she's still alive.
Half-Sibling Tristan Macmillan 21 Max's opinion of his veteran half-brother is much higher than most would assume. Despite his half-brother's being more withdrawn by nature, Max still looks up to him as an example of what a child of Zeus should be.

Personality:

Max isn't the most social kid on the block by any means but he has definitely begun to be more outgoing, or at least he's tried to be. He tries to approach people but isn't very well verse in the art of conversation and might come off insensitive or clueless from time to time.
Despite all of this, there remains one permanent aspect to Max's personality which was marked upon him while growing up. During his childhood, Max read stories about what families should be like and the discovery of his mother abandoning him paired with his Aunt's disappearance have made him near overprotective of those he calls family.

History:

The past two years at camp had been what Max would call the best time of his life, case in point, making friends that weren't of the avian persuasion, having a boyfriend for a time, pseudo-adopting a child of the God of Death as his little brother (He's just the cutest little guy), almost dying multiple times, going on two quests, and generally learning how to be a functional human being (He was still working on that last one).
Still, the time at camp had changed him, mostly for the better but he knew he couldn't stay at camp forever. That being said, the place was home. His family was here and he'd be damned if he let himself lose sight of that. He'd left camp shortly after his second quest. It had given him things to think about and work through but now he was back.
Plus, traveling around for a few months just hunting monsters by rumor or through the avian grapevine had been fun. It gave him a look at what the future could hold for him, at least for a little while after camp.
Present Day:
Sitting atop Cabin 1, Max watched the sun pull itself over the horizon with a stupid grin on his face. He wasn't sure why he was in a good mood today but he never did when these moods came over him. He just liked to enjoy them as they came and went. With a huff, he slid off the side of the cabin roof and cushioned the fall with a thought.
Stretching, the black-haired young man looked up. Maybe his dad was watching... or maybe not. It didn't really matter. Max knew he cared and wether or not he watched at any given moment didn't matter. Hmm... Would practicing his lightning-jumps be a bad idea this early in the morning? Yes, almost definitely. Would Max be doing it anyways? Yup! He needed to get his rebellious teenage years out since he'd skipped that whole phase and he'd started doing so little by little. Who knew? Maybe Max would end up a responsible and serious young man if he did it enough (Doubtful but peripherally possible, if not highly unlikely).
So he grinned and with a thunderclap and a blinding lightning bolt, he went from standing next to the Zeus Cabin, to standing at the edge of the Strawberry Fields. What a wonderful day.
submitted by Dead4Mann to CampHalfBloodRP [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:09 Epiphunnie Will I be the a-hole if I don't give my cousin her gift?

Sorry if this not well written, I don´t come from a English speaking country.
This made me really sad and upset. I (21) come from a large family, I love them a lot so this situation hurt me. I have a cousin (21F) that I will call Maia that had her birthday last week. We were supposed to go celebrate the exact same they her birthday was as a family, but ultimately got cancelled.
All of this started the day before her birthday. It was a Friday, we both go to the same university but we are studying different things, have mixed schedules and can only see each other that day because we both get out of class late and her mom takes me home (she takes me because my mom asked her to).
So the trip got cancelled days before because my mother wanted to take all the family to her birthday celebration and she did not wanted it to happen. So I asked her if she wanted her gift right then and there or if there was a possibility of seeing each other the next day at a smaller celebration or something and she told me to give it to her tomorrow since we were going to a bowling alley together so I complied and put the gift back in my backpack. She also told me that the celebration that got cancelled wasn't really cancelled but postponed to the end of the month so everyone could go together. I didn't think much of it because I thought she was not that type of person and waited for her mom to pick us up and we both went home. the next day we were supposed to leave at the afternoon slash night because she works the morning shifts I decided to ask her when we were leaving around the hour that she was leaving work so I didn't interfere with her performance and I had time to work in school projects and other stuff to make my evening free. She and her mom were supposed to pick me up since I don't drive and they agreed to it the night before but she answered me 3 hours later telling me that they were going to the bowling alley and that they had already left so they were going without me. I felt hurt Because if they told me earlier I could figure out a way to go with them without having them to pick me up but she decided to tell me when she was already there I didn't say anything and I wish her a happy birthday and to have a great time and I decided to go to sleep early.
Later in the week I went with my mom and my aunt to the supermarket and they were talking about the issue they were upset too because they never told anyone about the trip not the planification not that it was cancelled and then rescheduled nobody knew anything they learn by accident because they were talking in the living room and people heard them talking about it and ask about the matter. they were saying that every time we go out and they are not able to go out with us my mom always finds a way to take all the immediate family by paying or rescheduling or changing her schedule at work to make it work for everyone so having them been secretive in trying to leave without anyone and then like telling lies to others was kind of suspicious. I didn't say anything at the moment because sometimes you do want to go out without all your family but come on you were talking loudly about something in front of the people that you were trying not to take with you to a trip at least be secretive about it.
I was planning to give my cousin her birthday gift the next Friday when I saw her after my classes but my classes got cancelled so I did not see her that day, And today I learned that the trip that got rescheduled for the end of the month so everyone in the family could go together happened today and only her and the people that were actually excluding the rest of the family went together. I was talking to her during the week because I think of her as a sister, so again I felt very hurt because she didn't tell me anything and people had been telling me that I shouldn't give her her gift. Our mutual friends find all the situation weird and suspicious and are telling me that maybe I shouldn't give her anything since she decided to not tell me anything about the trip and the places that they were going together. I have been thinking about it too because the fact that she told me twice about trips and then decided to leave without me and tell me afterwards that they were going without me it's kinda hurtful because why would you tell me in the 1st place if you then are going to live without me? don't tell me and it would be fine if you go without me but don't tell me to go and then leave without me.
Sorry if its difficult to read,I really don't know what to do, because she is still my cousin and even if she doesn't feel the same i love her dearly, but the situation it's very weird.
submitted by Epiphunnie to CharlotteDobreYouTube [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:08 enoumen AI Weekly Rundown May 11-May 18th 2024: Major Breaking News from 🚫OpenAI 🚀ChatGPT-4o, Google AI Veo, 🍎Apple AI-enhanced eye tracking, 🎧Meta AI-assisted earphones , 💸 Stability AI, 🤖 Humane AI and more

Enjoying these daily updates, listen to my podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ai-unraveled-latest-ai-news-trends-gpt-gemini-generative/id1684415169

Sam Altman quashes search engine launch rumors

OpenAI's CEO, Sam Altman, denied rumors of launching a search engine ahead of Google I/O, stating that the upcoming announcement is neither related to GPT-5 nor a search engine. He described the forthcoming revelation as something that "feels like magic."
However, there are reports that OpenAI is developing an AI voice assistant.

iOS 18 iPhones may soon have ChatGPT

OpenAI will bring ChatGPT to iPhones. The integration is expected to happen with the upcoming iOS 18. This could significantly enhance the user experience and expand the capabilities of Apple's virtual assistant, Siri.
Parallel to negotiations with OpenAI, the tech giant is also engaging with Google's parent company, Alphabet, to integrate the Gemini chatbot into Apple's devices. These ongoing talks, however, haven't led to an agreement yet.

SoftBank’s Arm Holdings all set to come up with AI chips in 2025

SoftBank's subsidiary, Arm, plans to develop AI chips and launch them in 2025. Arm is establishing a dedicated AI chip division and targeting a prototype by spring 2025 and mass production by autumn. SoftBank will contribute to the initial cost of 10 trillion yen ($64 billion).
The AI chip business could be spun off to SoftBank. Negotiations with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp (TSMC) and others for production capacity are underway. The move reflects rising demand for AI chips, which has boosted Arm's share price since its IPO in September.

GPT-4o: 2x faster, 50% cheaper, 5x rate limits than GPT-4 Turbo

OpenAI unveiled its new flagship model, GPT-4o (“o” stands for “omni”). It provides GPT-4-level intelligence but is 2x faster, 50% cheaper, has 5x higher rate limits, and enhanced text, voice, and vision capabilities than GPT-4 Turbo. It also matches GPT-4 Turbo performance on text in English and code, with significant improvements for text in non-English languages.
GPT-4o can respond to audio inputs in as little as 232 ms, with an average of 320 ms, which is similar to human response time in a conversation. It is available in the ChatGPT free tier and to Plus users.

TikTok tests ChatGPT-powered search results

TikTok is testing a new search feature that uses AI to generate results for some queries. For certain search terms, like recipes or product recommendations, TikTok will display AI-generated answers at the top of the results. These answers are powered by ChatGPT, and when you click on one of these AI results, it takes you to a page with a full response.
TikTok is also testing "search highlights," which appear at the top of some searches. However, it's unclear whether these highlights are AI-generated.

Meta explores AI-assisted earphones with built-in cameras

Meta is currently exploring AI-powered earphones with built-in cameras. The project is known internally as “Camerabuds;” however, it’s uncertain if the final product will be in-ear earbuds or over-ear headphones. The cameras let the AI take in surrounding information visually, allowing it to translate foreign languages, identify objects, and more.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly seen several possible designs but has not been satisfied with them. Outside of design, the major hurdle is fitting a camera and batteries in a tiny device like an earbud.

Google announced a wide array of updates across its AI ecosystem

Major headlines were Project Astra, an AI agent that can see and hear users in real time, and AI teammates that can answer questions and organize data within Workspace.
Google also introduced Veo, a high-quality video generation model, and significant updates to Google Search, including expanded AI Overviews, advanced planning capabilities, and AI-organized search results.
The company launched Gemini 1.5 Pro, boasting a massive 2M context window extension, and Imagen 3, the next version of its text-to-image model. Other notable announcements included:

Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's co-founder and chief scientist, has left the company

Ilya Sutskever, OpenAI's co-founder and longtime chief scientist, has left the company. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced the news on X, expressing his sadness and gratitude for Sutskever's contributions. Jakub Pachocki, OpenAI's research director, will step up as a chief scientist.
Sutskever's departure comes amidst reports of disagreements with Altman over OpenAI's direction, mainly concerns about rushing AI-powered product launches at the expense of safety. The situation escalated last November when Sutskever and OpenAI CTO Mira Murati approached the company's previous board to express their concerns, leading to a brief attempt to fire Altman. However, Altman was swiftly reinstated, and much of the old board resigned.

Apple unveils AI-enhanced eye tracking, music haptics, voice shortcuts

Apple recently unveiled new accessibility features that will launch later this year. One of these features is Eye Tracking, which enables users with physical disabilities to navigate their iPhones and iPads using only their eyes.
By leveraging the front-facing camera and AI, Eye Tracking allows precise control through a “Dwell Control” feature, eliminating the need for additional hardware.
Another noteworthy addition is Music Haptics, designed for users who are deaf or hard of hearing. When enabled, the Taptic Engine in iPhones plays taps, textures, and refined vibrations synchronized with music audio.
Additionally, Apple has introduced Voice Shortcut, which allows users to create custom voice commands for specific actions on their devices. With Voice Shortcut, users can perform tasks hands-free by simply speaking their personalized commands.

Humane’s AI Pin upgraded with GPT-4o

Humane has upgraded its popular AI Pin product with the GPT-4o model. This upgrade aims to enhance the AI Pin’s performance. The new version runs faster, provides more accurate answers, and offers richer information.

Stability AI seeks buyer amid financial woes

Stability AI has been in discussions with at least one potential buyer recently regarding a possible sale. The company is facing a cash crunch, having generated less than $5 million in revenue during the first quarter of 2024 while incurring losses exceeding $30 million. Stability AI also owes nearly $100 million in outstanding bills to cloud computing providers and other entities.
The reported sales talks came after the company laid off some staff as part of a restructuring process following the resignation of founder Emad Mostaque as CEO.

OpenAI is bringing Reddit content to ChatGPT and new products

OpenAI and Reddit have formed a partnership to benefit both the Reddit and OpenAI user communities in a number of ways:

OpenAI introduces improvements to data analysis in ChatGPT

OpenAI is rolling out enhancements to data analysis:
These improvements will be available in OpenAI’s new flagship model, GPT-4o, for ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Enterprise users over the coming weeks.

GenZ and millennials optimistic about GenAI use at work: Deloitte Survey

Deloitte’s 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey connected with more than 22,800 respondents in 44 countries to explore their attitudes about work and the world around them. One of the key findings was that Gen Zs and millennials are feeling uncertain about GenAI and its potential impact on their careers.
However, respondents who frequently use GenAI at work are more likely to say they feel excitement about, and trust in the technology. Frequent users of GenAI are also more likely to believe it will free up their time, improve the way they work, and improve their work/life balance.
But, conversely, the more a respondent uses GenAI the more likely they are to have some concerns as well.

Enjoying these daily updates, listen to my podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ai-unraveled-latest-ai-news-trends-gpt-gemini-generative/id1684415169

submitted by enoumen to u/enoumen [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:07 taylors_version__ Building PC for the first time - $2000 budget. Please help :)

What will you be doing with this PC? Be as specific as possible, and include specific games or programs you will be using.
Mixture of high-end gaming and day-to-day work/life things (i.e. writing research papers, surfing the web, watching movies/videos, etc.)
>**What is your maximum budget before rebates/shipping/taxes?*\*
$2500 USD (Prefer to stay under $2000 if possible).
>**When do you plan on building/buying the PC? Note: beyond a week or two from today means any build you receive will be out of date when you want to buy.*\*
ASAP.
>**What, exactly, do you need included in the budget? (ToweOS/monitokeyboard/mouse/etc\)*\*
I basically need everything. I have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse already (details below).
>**Which country (and state/province) will you be purchasing the parts in? If you're in US, do you have access to a Microcenter location?*\*
United States, KY. No Microcenter near me.
>**If reusing any parts (including monitor(s)/keyboard/mouse/etc), what parts will you be reusing? Brands and models are appreciated.*\*
Monitor - I have a HP OMEN - 27" IPS LED QHD 240Hz FreeSync and G-SYNC Compatible Gaming Monitor with HDR (DisplayPort, HDMI, USB) - Black
Mouse: Logitech - PRO X SUPERLIGHT Lightweight Wireless Optical Gaming Mouse with HERO 25K Sensor - White
Keyboard: I have a HyperX - Alloy Core Full-size Wired Gaming Membrane Keyboard with RGB Lighting - Black
>**Will you be overclocking? If yes, are you interested in overclocking right away, or down the line? CPU and/or GPU?*\*
Tbh I have no idea what this means lol. Probably not.
>**Are there any specific features or items you want/need in the build? (ex: SSD, large amount of storage or a RAID setup, CUDA or OpenCL support, etc)*\*
Prioritizing CPU and GPU. I primarily play fortnite and want to do so competitively (so a great CPU is a must).
>**Do you have any specific case preferences (Size like ITX/microATX/mid-towefull-tower, styles, colors, window or not, LED lighting, etc), or a particular color theme preference for the components?*\*
Black, LED lighting. Regardless, I prioritize value/utility over appearance.
>**Do you need a copy of Windows included in the budget? If you do need one included, do you have a preference?*\*
Will need a copy of Windows 11 but can be separate from the build budget.
>**Extra info or particulars:*\*
I'll have to start out playing on Wifi primarily (I currently have 111 mbps download and 9 mbps upload speeds). Will likely be upgrading internet soon and using a wired ethernet connection moving forward.
Thanks for helping out!! First time builder
submitted by taylors_version__ to buildapcforme [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:06 BlackDeth310CPT Free Jack in the box shakes today through the app today. Spend a $1. Make sure you get a large, no extra fee!!

Free Jack in the box shakes today through the app today. Spend a $1. Make sure you get a large, no extra fee!!
Mofo got 2 free ones. Blessed 😇
submitted by BlackDeth310CPT to UCI [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:04 lancetjades 39 [M4F] Pennsylvania/USA - I don't think these work. Prove me wrong?

Hello, I'm a 38 year old guy with a biology degree. I enjoy gaming, especially the Souls games and Soulslikes and RPGs in general. Biology is another interest of mine, although that leans much more heavily towards botany in particular, so I do enjoy plants. Sadly, I can't have a garden where I live, but I've had one in the past. I have blue eyes, keep fairly clean-shaven (definitely no beard or mustache), and am a little chubby, but not too bad. I also cook, and have been working on learning some new dishes recently. While I'm hardly professional caliber, I'd like to think I know my way around a kitchen fairly well.
I need to mention, I'm also disabled. Not stuck-in-a-wheelchair disabled, but I'm a multiple stroke survivor and considered legally and permanently disabled. I can't say I like putting this out there right away, but it's impossible to hide and I only recently got my driver's license back, which severely limited my mobility for a couple years. I live alone and can take care of myself. Before the strokes, I was a pharmacy technician, most recently working at a small independent pharmacy.
It feels like my life has been severely fractured and I'm trying to put it back together. My desire for a relationship hasn't exactly changed, but my outlook on finding someone sure has. I'd love someone who has similar interests as I do to share my life with. I've only had a relationship a couple of times in the past, and spent a large portion of my adult life alone. Not completely, as I'm in contact with my parents, but I lived (and still live) alone.
I don't have any pets, but I like pretty much anything. Dogs are great, but I'm definitely a cat person myself, if I have to choose. I'm not "child-free," but I'm fairly sure I don't want children, not least of all because of my disability. I could definitely be persuaded otherwise by the right person, though. I'm very much a homebody and an introvert (more now than ever), but I'm fine with going out and being around people if I have a reason or excuse for it.
As for what I'm looking for, female under 40, and that's really all. I'm not very picky about weight and don't mind disability (if I did, it would be very hypocritical). Honestly, I'd very much like someone who also likes gaming to some extent, regardless of your specific interest in it (although it's always nice when someone shares the hobby to that extent). I've never had much luck with finding anyone online, so maybe you'll be the one to prove me wrong?
submitted by lancetjades to ForeverAloneDating [link] [comments]


2024.05.19 22:03 JetCityWoman1 High-Risk HPV, Biopsy & LEEP: One Woman's Experience in 2024

Sorry if this is a bit disjointed and long, there's a TL;DR at the end. I just had my LEEP on Thursday and wanted to share my experience. Hopefully this soothes a fellow over-thinker.
Background: 30 yr old female, 130 lbs, 5'2". No moderate, severe or chronic health conditions.
I was diagnosed with high-risk (HR) HPV with LSIL/abnormal cells in February of this year. Not 16/18, but another HR strain. I got at least one shot of the HPV vaccine before I turned 26 so I was really shocked at this. I had a complete emotional breakdown because of the connection to HPV and cervical cancer, plus I just felt....dirty. I've gone through my sexually active years without getting as much as a yeast infection, and now I had just been hit with an STI, and the one that causes cancer. I went into a pretty deep depression and honestly I'm still in that depression zone but not nearly as much. I did a ton of research and my findings told me that even if it was cancer, it's one of the most curable ones especially given my age, health, etc.
My primary doctor referred me to a gyno's office connected to the hospital I go to, and I scheduled an appointment for March 1st. Gyno (who was actually not an OBGYN but an APRN/midwife?) basically did a slightly more advanced exam/questionnaire then I got another referral to an actual OBGYN for a colposcopy and scheduled it for April 1st. I thought I would have the colpo/biopsy with the APRN during my March appointment but I guess that's just a "yeah your primary is right you need a colpo" step. Idk, very confusing.
April 1st comes, the doctor that was available for that date (I wanted to get this done asap) had some less than favorable reviews on the internet so that made me a little uneasy. Between each appointment I was spending hours researching, redditing, googling, youtubing etc. so I wouldn't go into this completely ignorant and hopefully minimize the chance of any BS being pulled.
My doctor was, to my surprise, very chill, professional and knowledgeable. Took time to answer all my questions, we even had some laughs. Please ladies, find a doctor that makes you feel comfortable if you can. No question is a silly question and no doctor or nurse should make you feel like you're stupid for raising concerns or asking a lot of questions. If you feel something is off or a doc is being an a-hole, that's your sign to GTFO and find another doctor. Pleasant staff make this experience so much better.
The colpo: wasn't that bad. They crack you open like a pistachio with a speculum (like they would use for pap smear) and take a look at your cervix with this scope. A vinegar solution is applied to highlight the abnormal cells. My doc's colpo machine did have a screen that could show me what he was seeing, although it wasn't working and honestly I'm glad. I think seeing what was going on inside of me would make me worry more. So I just had to take my doctor's word for it when he said the area of abnormal cells was small.
I had a punch biopsy done during my colpo and oh man. It hurt. I wasn't instructed to take ibuprofen beforehand. I'm not sure if they didn't think I would need a biopsy or what but holy crap. 2 samples were taken, at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock on my cervix, and I received a curettage as well. The curettage didn't hurt or was minor in comparison to the biopsy. After the biopsy, a "liquid bandage" was applied, this bandage is called Monsel's solution I believe. It's a mustard yellow paste.
The biopsy caused immediate moderate cramping and pain. The "6 o'clock" one, which was a larger sample, made me flinch and let out a little yelp. 6 o'clock hurt a lot. I will say that my doctor talked about what he was going to do before doing or as he was doing it so it's not like I was taken entirely by surprise. However, you don't realize how sensitive your cervix is until a chunk is taken from it.
After the biopsy, I felt this dull pain, nausea and cramping and apparently had excessive bleeding. Dribbles of blood were present on the procedure chair and floor, some of which had been cleaned up by the nurse/assistant prior to me sitting up so who knows how much was there. Doc confirmed this excessive bleeding in my after visit summary, but it wasn't so much so that it warranted some kind of emergency. I experienced some spotting for about 2 to 3 days after. I expected more blood in my pads but that never happened. I think seeing all this blood, knowing where it came from and why it was there made me even more nauseous.
The nausea and...weakness after the biopsy really had me messed up. I could barely focus as my doctor went into detail about what to possibly expect afterwards, what he saw (he even drew a little picture of my cervix), answered any questions I had. We said our goodbyes, I got dressed and made a mad dash to the waiting area's water cooler. I figured some cool water would calm my nerves and my stomach. I stupidly walked home after the procedure (I live in Chicago, very close to my doc's office). Nothing terrible happened but in hindsight, what if I passed out in the office, in the street? If you can ladies, have someone with you to get you home safely and for support. Or, at the very least, take an uber after.
After getting home I checked my pad, everything was good although I did have some "coffee grounds" in my pad from the Monsel's solution. The doc warned me about this and to expect it for a few days. I crashed on my couch for a little nap before going to a concert later that evening because I don't know how to take a day off.
The next month following my biopsy was largely uneventful, I did have intercourse about 2.5 weeks post-biopsy with no issues or pain, although the thought of infection and the whole process made it hard to enjoy sex (I healed up just fine so this was more unnecessary worrying). I didn't experience any pain, fever, or excessive bleeding, only some mild discomfort/cramping/lethargy (likely due to mentally stressing myself out) on day 2. I did however, experience one moment that freaked me out:
Day 3 post-biopsy: I got home from after work (my job requires me to be on my feet most of the day) and felt something in my vagina. It felt like a freshly inserted, regular sized tampon. I went to the bathroom, washed my hands and reached down to feel something coming out of me. Something was crowning and breaching my labial gates. I reached back down and slowly pulled out whatever object was in me. It felt like a horror movie. I knew I had inserted nothing.
Based on the feeling of said object, I thought my cervix was falling out of my body. I started panicking a bit. Panicking intensified after pulling out this...sac.
It looked alien. It was this membrane sac, about the size of a pitted date when rolled up. Within the sac contained those "coffee grounds." I knew it was the Monsel's solution and likely I had shed the liquid bandage. That logical thought didn't stop me from freaking out and gently wrapping my alien sac Starbucks trash baby in a piece of toilet paper and further sealing this HPV caused abomination into a Ziploc bag. My plan was to run to the ER and show them the freak I had given birth to.
Problem is, I had just lost my is insurance and was in process of getting a new plan, so a costly trip to the ER, waiting for hours for them to likely tell me I'm a panicky idiot wasn't really in the cards. So what does any overly anxious patient do? Turn to Dr. Google of course! I found a couple of reddit posts from women who had experienced the same thing but there wasn't much information on what had just slithered out of me. I found one of those "pay $5 for any kind of advice: legal, medical etc! Chat with an expert today!" sites that seemed legit enough. I got in chat with a doc quickly after some AI pre-chat prompts and he confirmed my suspicions: it was the Monsel's solution that I had expelled from my body. I was told this wasn't unusual and so long as I don't have an excessive bleeding, fever, pain, blah blah, I should be fine.
And I was fine. If you experience this and don't have any accompanying complications, you should be fine too. It is weird when it happens though.
My results came back about 2 weeks later. What was initially thought to be LSIL turned out to be HSIL/CIN-III, and my OBGYN told me I needed a LEEP sooner than later. My appointment was scheduled for next month and I still didn't have insurance. These month long waits between appointments were anxiety ridden depression fests, fueled by junk food and further exacerbated by internet research. The LEEP posts on Reddit had me so concerned, I reached out to my doctor to see if I could be put under general anesthesia for my LEEP, instead of receiving local anesthesia. Women on here described LEEPs as painful and traumatic. Just awful stuff. If you're reading this you've likely read those too. They described leg shaking after the shots, crying, etc. My doctor left me a detailed voice message and responded to my concerns with: "most women tolerate it well but if you're uncomfortable we'll send you to the hospital and put you under monitored sedation/anesthesia." I was still worried but was willing to see how I felt after local anesthesia. I was pleased he was open to working with me and my comfort level.
Fast forward to Wednesday last week:
The night before my LEEP, I got maybe an hour of sleep. I couldn't turn my mind off. My heart started racing an hour before my procedure and I had weird heart palpitations/irregular heart beat. I showered to calm myself down and be clean for my appointment, took 600 mg of ibuprofen as instructed, then headed out. Got a little snack from Starbucks (croissant for before since I was walking to my doc and some madeleines for after to help offset some potential nausea). For my LEEP I wore a big comfy sweater, some "period" leggings (leggings that aren't too tight and I don't care if they get blood on them) and brought a pad with me just in case. They should provide one for you but I'd rather be prepared. Got to the office, checked in, did the pregnancy urine test, got called in quickly, went through the whole height/weight/med history routine. About 5 mins later I sat down in my OBGYN's office. He described the lab findings (CIN-III), detailed the procedure, the tools and supplies they would use, aftercare and answered any questions I had. He then led me into a procedure room (pretty sure it was the same one I had my bloody biopsy in). I got undressed from the waist down like a pap, sat in the procedure chair, draped a little paper blanket over my bare bits and waited. The doctor came in with his nurse and went to work.
They again cracked me open with a speculum, this time it was rubberized on some parts. This is so your vagina doesn't get fried from the electrical current, otherwise your pubes and vulva will look like Marv in Home Alone. They also slapped a little rubber pad on my thigh to "ground" me like I'm some kind heavy duty machinery. Colpo machine comes forward so the doc can zoom in on your cervix. He applied 2 types of solution if I recall correctly: the normal vinegar solution to highlight abnormal cells and an iodine solution to highlight normal cells. Someone can correct me if that's wrong. The solutions and their uses were the least of my concerns.
He then went in with 4 lidocaine injections to numb the area, total of about 1 ml of lido I think. He used a very small needle and upon insertion, it felt like a little pinch. Now, for those afraid of needles, it is a long ish needle but the actual poke is minimal. Although some women report that the inject was the worst part. That was not the case here but the visual can be a bit alarming. After the first injection, I didn't feel the other 3. I felt comfortable going forward with the procedure, and my doc kept checking in with me to make sure I was ok. I did feel an increase in my heart rate post-lidocaine, but it wasn't concerning. I wasn't sure if this was from the "holy shit he's about to start zapping" or as a side effect of the lidocaine. Regardless, my heart rate came back down to a reasonable level given the circumstances in a few minutes. I was actually so comfortable at this point, I managed to relax my asscheeks after they were clamped together like a vise grip from the moment my derriere hit the chair.
I'm not really sure what happened after the injections, I knew he was using the LEEP machine but I don't know how long that lasted and when the wound was being created vs. cauterized as I didn't feel anything except some mild cramping/discomfort. I didn't flinch like I did with the biopsy. When the doc was finished, he applied a little bit of Monsel's, described how much he removed, went over aftercare again, we said our thank yous and goodbyes. I got dressed and went on my way, snacking on my madeleines on my way home (I walked again lol). I felt well post-procedure and even stopped at Target to do some shopping and smell some summer collection candles. I did feel myself bleeding but when I got home and checked the pad, there was a minimal amount of blood. Some women here have reported a distinct burning smell during their LEEP, I didn't smell anything but I also have sinus issues soooo maybe I just didn't pick up on it? My appointment was at 9 a.m. and I was out by 9:32.
When I got home I had some orange juice, water then slept for about 8 to 9 hours. I did have little cry sessions here and there after my procedure. But I was also sleep deprived and know I tend to get emotional. Regardless, take some time off after a LEEP, stay home around your own germs if possible. Get some of your favorite snacks, a face mask and a Nintendo switch or something. This is a good time for some self-care and rest, girlies.
Friday, day after LEEP: no bleeding, minor cramping/discomfort.
Saturday: Usual morning pee met with some blood in the toilet paper. Nothing in my pad though. Throughout the day I slept on and off, I've been more tired than usual. My body and mind has gone through some shit so I'm not mad at myself for being sleepy. I did experience some heavier bleeding throughout the day that was mostly dark colored. The blood level was about the same if not less than what I'd experience with a period. No unusual smell. I did shed the liquid bandage. Did have some mild cramping at certain points during the day but not debilitating or worth taking ibuprofen over.
Sunday: Energy levels finally back up to something normal, don't feel as tired. Still bleeding dark red blood/brown discharge but it's minor. Ran some errands today, I figured gravity would cause me to bleed more but it's about the same as yesterday if not less.
If there's interest, I'll check in at maybe the 2 week and 4 week mark, or whenever I remember since this is my throwaway account.
Overall the LEEP was way better than the biopsy in my experience. Reddit had me freaking out. I know I'm lucky, and this post isn't to dismiss any terrible or painful experience other women have had. I want to share my 'positive' experience, since most of my mental state surrounding my diagnosis, fears, the upgrade from LSIL to HSIL, has been negative.
Oh and I did get insurance literally a week before my LEEP, thank God.
If you have any questions please feel free to ask them below!
TL;DR: -Colpo: easy -Biopsy: sucks. Most pain I've ever felt and felt nauseous/uneasy after. Ask your doctor if you can take ibuprofen prior to a biopsy. Monsel's solution/liquid bandaid came out in sac-like alien baby about 36 to 48 hours later. Was able to have intercourse 2-2.5 weeks post-biopsy. No insertion of anything for about 3 days after. -LEEP: easy-ish? 600 mg ibuprofen 1 hour before procedure. Anxiety inducing but once I was numbed with local anesthesia, I felt nothing except some mild cramping. The injection didn't hurt and caused no serious side effects. No smell. No excessive bleeding. Felt fine post-LEEP but did experience some bleeding. It's been less than a week so I'll update if anything spooky happens, if no updates then expect everything went fine. No intercourse/tampons/etc for 3 to 6 weeks.
Tips: -Prioritize self care throughout this experience especially. It'll help you stay calm and heal. -Dress comfy for procedures -Take some snacks and water to your appointments for post-procedure ick -Do your research. Knowledge is power even if it makes you uncomfortable. Youtube was a great resource for me, I like to see what's going to happen before it does. Just try not to get worked up like I did. -Ask questions. If a doctor makes you feel stupid, see another doctor if possible. -Have someone with you for support and to make sure you get home ok -If you experience fever, intense pain, soaking through pads, or notice any weird smell: GO TO A DOCTOR
submitted by JetCityWoman1 to PreCervicalCancer [link] [comments]


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