Recommended watch: XG vs Falcons game 1, G2.iG vs Liquid game 1
Note: No meta section because there were too few games. I included the portraits for G2.iG vs Spirit but I wasn't able to watch the series.

Lower Bracket Quarterfinals

Spirit vs Boom

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Both sides were neck and neck in terms of networth in the early to mid game despite Boom boasting a better kill count. The game turned in Spirit's favor in the 27th minute when the fight for the second Rosh saw Boom use their big ultimates and only got 1 support kill for it while they had 3 casualties including Naga & Enigma. Spirit would get the Aegis and most of the momentum. All 3 cores on Spirit would become huge while only Naga scaled well for Boom. The introduction of hex on Lina meant quick exterminations. The Pango was a recurring victim of Lina's fiery show. The Enigma was never given a chance to have a game-altering Black Hole. Boom on top of being beaten down by Slardar and Lina had an enormous Chrono problem which they don't have an answer for. Once all 3 cores on Spirit had their BKBs the fight went one way. This was an outmatch. Spirit 1-0 Boom.
https://preview.redd.it/jqxs06i19b1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=8f48387a825ae4a290bc5b5d928c9a72666d462b
Boom felt powerless against the onslaught that came their way. Bristleback, Dragon Knight, and Doom kept charging relentlessly. Boom tried to offer some resistance but they got run over. Pakazs' Gyro valiantly participated in the fights but he died in each one. Solar Bind & Corrosive Haze were countered by the upgraded Ink Swell. Yatoro's Bristle was unanswered and he had no problems taking his team to the next round. Spirit 2-0 Boom.

Liquid vs G2.iG

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This was a pretty back-and-forth game but it was Liquid who did most of the initiative. By the 52nd minute, Liquid had brought down 2 lanes of racks and were attempting to get Megas but they got deterred by G2.iG. Liquid still looked like they had the upper hand as their side had the necessary tools to shut down Weaver but all it took was one moment of brilliance in the mid lane where Weaver + Rapier & Disruptor with Aghs caught & killed 3 overzealous players. With no buyback on Monkey King, the Dire were able to demolish Radiant's base and get the dub. This was G2.iG snatching victory from what looked like a game Liquid should have won. G2.iG 1-0 Liquid.
https://preview.redd.it/r1h9pzxa9b1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=151e7862956d4536b61615f88c24136ca6c03642
This time around, the roles were reversed. Liquid were playing from behind and G2.iG were the ones on the front foot. Liquid tried the recipe from the previous game of buying a Divine Rapier on their carry (Luna) and it did deter the opponent momentarily but if you keep letting your opponents take multiple swings at you, one haymaker is bound to hit and knock you out. The Radiant were stuck in their base and the Dire had complete control of the map. G2.iG bided their time, waited for Roshan, and only sieged with an Aegis. With Mega Creeps, 3 obese cores, and only Luna being the real threat to their side, G2.iG waited for the Glyph to go down and simply went all in on the throne. There wasn't much Liquid could do except type gg. G2.iG 2-0 Liquid.

Falcons vs Xtreme Gaming, Upper Bracket Finals

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Things were looking grim for XG. Falcons won every lane. Bristleback was killed 3 times before 10 minutes. Falcons didn't let up. They kept hunting and they kept finding the fights. XG were relegated to responding to what Falcons were doing on the map. But somehow, Ame found his farm and one wrong jump on the Bristleback changed the complexion of the game. A smoke play from FLC at minute 25 ended as a disaster when they jumped Bristleback who was farming in his triangle. FLC were not able to bring anyone down in the chaos. XG took advantage and brought down 4 on the side of FLC. Falcons would learn their lesson and go for Bristle's teammates at the next hunt. FLC would find 3 successive kills on their next smoke play. In a 2v5 scenario, FLC tested the high ground and got a kill on Ame but they overstayed their welcome as the rest of XG respawned before they could take any significant objective. FLC could not exit cleanly and lost 3 lives. XG would then trade out their mid barracks + tier 2 top + their tormentor for an Aegis on Viper. The game became passive and this benefitted XG (Midas on Viper + Bane). Marci eventually got to her BKB and at that point, even Davion didn't want to mess with her. A skirmish in front of Radiant's Tier 3 ended up as a complete annihilation with Marci getting 3 kills. FLC then smoked up, only found Ame, and decided to have a go at him. They couldn't finish him off (déjà vu). Marci once again went for the Enigma to make sure no Black Hole could be used. It was a 4 for nothing and that was it. This is an incredible statement from XG. They lost all their lanes and were getting beat up early on but their resilience and ability to come back was a joy to watch (Having xinQ's Marci helps too). XG 1-0 FLC.
https://preview.redd.it/ozq57czi9b1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=fc98df6a449720bc8926e012c4338f777cce3422
I was hoping for a closer game but XG were just too good. Falcons didn't have as good of a start as game 1 and XG were more than happy to slowly take over. The Bane and Earthshaker were such good picks against the opposition. The Black Hole could be stopped from a distance. The Pango had to be careful with his positioning against the Fiend's Grip. The 3 cores on XG had incredible damage which synergized very well with the control of their supports. Ame had a relatively free game. Once he had his Daedalus, taking objectives and the lives of his enemies became a breeze. Falcons weren't given any openings so XG continued their unbeaten streak to 12 games. They have yet to drop a single game in this tournament. XG 2-0 FLC.

G2.iG vs Spirit, Lower Bracket Semifinals

I wasn't able to watch the games but it looks like Spirit gave them a drubbing.
https://preview.redd.it/q9wcn2en9b1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=0f43f4a050b07f1f1902c871aa61312cd053bd83
https://preview.redd.it/dmp99sxs9b1d1.png?width=500&format=png&auto=webp&s=afca27f88a4d81eaa84cbdc790ad3e4ec54b57c5

People will have opinions, people will be attached to things and be disappointed when there are changes, bit this game is the perfect instance of a live service, because everything is in flux, even the community. It's highly dynamic and if you take a step back for a moment to just appreciate this community being dynamic, then perhaps some people can look on this whole thing a bit more positively.
You know the saying, people criticise what they love. And sometimes people will be emotional and use rhetoric which others feel may go to far.
What people need to realise is that the reason why the Helldivers 2 community loves to complain after the controversy is because so many members of the community have been taught by this a lesson in collective power. Hence people believe that they can complain into making the game better and they will continue to do so.
If you want a case study in social science, this is a great great example to explore, and I bet some researchers have already have their eyes peeling over the Helldivers 2 controversy and the aftermath. I said this in the post I made here before on the last day before Sony conceded to the main demand but not the secondary demand.
People feel emboldened and the honeymoon has officially ended at the same time. The result this has on the community is the illusion is shattered by some of the worst of human instincts, but combated by some of the best.
Because of the secondary demand not being met, many in the community who believed it the more important issue (PSN access in the global south) are being forced to confront their own perceptions and seeing how these tendencies may run deeper than this game's community itself.
I would like to see more community social commentary posts like my own, and I would love to see more people understand the depth of this games social commentary itself. Feel free to insert accusations of me being a bug or robot sympathiser.
Cyberstan was literally minding it's own business, and it got taken over and the cyberstan people were forced to submit to the demands of Super Earth. This is a reference to the banana republics, unequal treaties, and colonialism. Meanwhile the bugs were peaceful until Super Earth took over their worlds and stwrted farming them for oil, I imagine this is more a commentary on the way the west has treated the middle east.
Now let me ask you this... What if you line up the PSN access map with the Human development index, and then line it up with the scramble for Africa map, and also the partition of the Ottoman Empire after WW1. You notice anything interesting? The reason PSN doesn't exist in these countries is an indirect result of what Super Earth did to Cyberstan. Well not exactly it was not Super Earth but the whole point is Cyberstan is a metaphor, so are the bugs.
We can all be annoyed at Sony, and that's totally okay, but the reason Sony doesn't provide PSN access in these countries is due to the historical and infrastructural legacy of colonialism and imperialism. The Automaton's are merely a reaction to the former, like the anti-apartied and anti-colonial movements. Super Earth sanitises it's role much like how the British, French, Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish, and Americans have in the past and do today to a lesser extent. If you don't believe that Super Earth's behaviour would be allowed to happen in our world you are already wrong. See Operation Legacy for instance, a program initiated by the British in order to preserve or secure their legacy as a "progressive" colonial power, this included the mass burning of documents which documented various crimes against humanity such as concentration camps, massacres, and well... It goes on.
It's not an easy subject to approach and the reality of the modern world is already highly confrontational to all of us, it's not pretty and the satire of Helldivers 2 potrays what it's like to live on the beneficiary side of the equation. Should you feel guilty for your role in history? Only if you directly participate in injustice, and that's why the propaganda of our societies does so very much to try and protect these direct contributors because these direct contributors are indeed keeping our global economy the way it is. But we are all involved, and ultimately the direct contributors are fooled into this as well. This is a global problem, and because of years of direct contributors we in the global north indirectly benefit from what happens in the global south. This doesn't mean we should guilt ourselves for this, because after all you are a citizen of this Super Earth, it's not your fault that you didn't know any better, your agency is also impaired by the fact that ethical consumerism is itself propaganda.
The question we should be asking ourselves, is what we should do with our agency with the agency we have to affect the outcomes of this. Ask not what Earth can do for you, ask what you can do for Earth. If you want to see a brighter future for our Earth, what will you do with your agency to help those less fortunate than you?
I am not going to tell you how, because there are thousands of beliefs and thousands of ways you can make the world a better place, you aren't needed in the Congo, you are needed in your community, in your environment, in your country. People in other countries have agency over their actions within the limitations of their circumstances, yoy cannot judge them for being unable to solve a problem which has persisted for centuries, neither should you. But the most important question to ask is... Are you doing your part?
Helldivers, you know that change comes from numbers, not from single actions, but without single actions there would be no masses.
For our own sanity in this increasingly confusing, alienating world with sharpening contradicting social forces... You can either choose to isolate yourself from it, or make the world a better place. I have tried to do this in my own life, and this gives me meaning and has helped me achieve self-actualisation. I ak proud of my effort, even if it's only a small part of a bigger whole.
Cleansing the world of the legacy of colonialism and imperialism... WILL make PSN available everywhere. Direct actions have indirect consequences.
I will show my personal bias in my final sentance but it holds true regardless of time.
Educate, Agitate, Organise. Be the change you wish to see, and you will inspire others to follow.

Overview

1. Kennedy on the state of our union (9 min)
2. 2024 candidate comparison chart
3. Overview of Kennedy (3 min)
4. Fixing huge issues Biden & Trump don't fix (1 min)
5. Policies on Kennedy's website
6. Who is Bobby Kennedy? (30 min)
7. Kennedy's Record vs Biden's Record vs Trump's Record
8. A Hero Of The Planet
9. Kennedy's podcasts
10. Kennedy's books

Countering common smears

1. Kennedy isn't a grifter, or a plant to help Trump or Biden; Kennedy is a legitimate candidate who can win
2. Kennedy isn't anti-vax
3. Kennedy isn't a conspiracy theorist
4. Kennedy fully recovered from the brain worm incident over a decade ago and doesn't have cognitive issues
5. Kennedy isn't a spoiler
6. Kennedy isn't antisemitic and didn't claim covid-19 was an ethnically targeted bioweapon
7. Kennedy didn't claim atrazine causes transgenderism
8. Kennedy respects the 2nd amendment and isn't going to take people's guns away
9. Kennedy isn't authoritarian and didn't say climate change deniers should be jailed
10. Kennedy isn't responsible for the measles outbreak in Samoa
11. Kennedy has a solid stance on abortion that most Americans would agree with
12. Kennedy isn't a drug addict; he has now been clean for over 40 years (he understandably had previously turned to them in his youth in the wake of his father's and uncle's assassinations)
13. Kennedy wants the right kind of environmentalism that both sides can agree on, not authoritarian scams
14. Kennedy cares about both Israelis and Palestinians and wants peace

Evidence supporting counter-narrative claims

1. Science supports Kennedy's claims about Big Pharma corrupting our scientific system
2. Science supports Kennedy's claims on Covid, vaccines, EMFs, glyphosate, microplastics, and more
3. Science supports Kennedy's mercury-related claims
4. Science supports Kennedy's fluoride-related claims
5. Science supports Kennedy's Ivermectin-related claims
6. Science supports Kennedy's frog-related claims
7. Science supports Kennedy's claims about Wifi, 5G, and radiofrequency radiation
8. Science supports Kennedy's claims about syringe-injectable electronics
9. Science supports Kennedy's claims regarding different populations potentially having different levels of susceptibility to Covid
10. Kennedy's claims about NATO and Ukraine are supported by strong evidence
11. Kennedy stands up to the corrupt establishment

Short-form content

1. The truth about Ukraine (3 min)
2. Inflation, war, and banks (2 min)
3. Rising above partisanship and the duopoly (4 min)
4. Making housing affordable (3 min)
5. Not a conspiracy theorist 1 (5 min)
6. Not a conspiracy theorist 2 (3 min)
7. Calling out Fed, MIC, Oil, Pharma, CIA (2 min)
8. Persuasive memes
9. Truth to power and fighting for freedom (3 min)
10. Chronic disease (3 min)
11. Fighting factory farming corruption (3 min)
12. Making our government tell the truth (3 min)
13. Making our farms and food healthy (1 min)
14. The right kind of environmentalism (4 min)
15. Kennedy vs Biden for democracy comparison
16. Kennedy can win 1 (1 min)
17. Kennedy can win 2 (3 min)
18. Draining the swamp (2 min)
19. The truth about Trump's swamp record (2 min)
20. Fighting the great reset (2 min)
21. Mercury in vaccines (15 min)
22. Fighting against totalitarianism (13 min)
23. History lesson on Ukraine (4 min)
24. Vaccines: science vs orthodoxy (10 min)
25. Kennedy's covid record vs the duopoly's (4 min)
26. Kennedy can beat Donald Trump in 2024, Biden can't
27. Kennedy vs Trump on draining the swamp
28. Looking at vaccine science vs trusting Bill Gates (2 min)
29. Pro vaccine safety testing, not anti-vax (13 min)
30. Neither right nor left: what we stand for (2 min)

(Copypasta from the Washington Post that I thought the group might find interesting.)
They called themselves the Wide Awakes. They are a lesson in building a political movement.
Opinion by Jon Grinspan May 14, 2024 at 5:30 a.m. CT Washington Post Jon Grinspan is curator of political history at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and author of “Wide Awake: The Forgotten Force that Elected Lincoln and Spurred the Civil War.”
They called themselves the Wide Awakes: one of America’s largest, weirdest and most consequential political organizations, now nearly forgotten. In Boston, many had escaped slavery. In St. Louis, many were radical German immigrants. In D.C., their rallies mixed Yankee federal clerks with sons of Southern families. In Connecticut, where they got started, they were working-class kids with shady political backstories. And in 1860, this diverse coalition of young Americans drew the line against slavery and help to elect Abraham Lincoln.
Their success can tell us a lot about cobbling together a coalition in a fractured, tribal, distrustful age.Clad in militaristic black capes, marching by torchlight through America’s cities, the Wide Awakes alarmed the Southern aristocracy of enslavers — which was exactly what they hoped to do. The movement drew its mammoth size and unnerving force from the resentment many Americans felt toward “Slave Power”: the wealthy planters who pushed to expand slavery and brutally suppressed opposition.
Started by a few kids barely old enough to vote in February 1860, the Wide Awakes were believed to be half a million strong by August of that year, with companies from Maine to California, Virginia to Kansas.
To understand how shocking this coalition was, we need to rethink the politics of antebellum America.
Instead of a nation split between the absolutes of Slavery and Freedom, most Americans fell somewhere on a spectrum between the two. Just 2 percent of the population in 1860 actually enslaved anyone, and those Americans trapped in slavery made up another 12 percent of the nation’s men, women and children. That left 86 percent of Americans who were neither enslavers nor enslaved. Some enthusiastically supported slavery, while others prayed for the practice to end. But most — especially among the large northern majority — found slavery distasteful while also objecting to what they saw as the radicalism of Abolition.
Caught in the middle, this majority bounced from party to party, explaining much of the tumult of mid-19th-century politics. Enslavers skillfully exploited the unsettled situation and spent the 1850s demanding more slave states, the right to keep enslaved people even in free states, the prohibition of speech and writing against slavery, and a requirement that free states assist in hunting fugitives.
This outsize influence was backed by real and threatened violence, from the plains of Kansas to the halls of Congress. “I have no objection to the liberty of speech,” sneered Alexander Stephens, the future vice president of the Confederacy, so long as “the liberty of the cudgel is free to combat it.”
The moderate majority began to feel as though slavery was at war with democracy, trampling upon their own rights along with the rights of the enslaved. Young people decided they’d had enough.
A gawky 19-year-old textile clerk, Edgar Yergason, started it all. “Fastidious” about his clothes, Eddie prepared for a torch-lit rally of the anti-slavery Republican Party on Feb. 25, 1860, by fashioning a shiny black cape to protect his new coat from dripping torch-oil. Yergason’s fellow clerks made capes, too. This oddly uniformed corps led a march through Hartford that night, while their friends beat back a mob of proslavery Democrats. Proud of their costumes and their fighting skills, Eddie’s friends met in a dingy third-floor apartment to formalize their association. After selecting a brawny 27-year-old leader for their “captain,” they cast about for a name. One fellow shouted: “Why not name it ‘Republican Wide Awakes?’” It was time that they wake up to the threat slavery posed to democracy.Their “army” of young civilians — clerks and farm boys and apprentice blacksmiths — spread from coast to coast. Uniting in “companies” drilled by “captains,” young people joined together, energized by this militaristic sense of awakening. In an age of rowdy, boozy politics, the Wide Awakes stood out for their stoic, silent midnight marches, not exactly fun but stirring and spectacular. In an age of chaos, their discipline sent a political message.
Wide Awake companies fought as bodyguards for Republican anti-slavery speakers, escorting Lincoln and many others. Bloodied young men, still in their signature capes and caps, sat onstage at rallies as proof of the antidemocratic forces aligned against them.
This anger joined strange bedfellows. Before 1860, teetotaling Yankee abolitionists disliked beer-drinking German radicals, who hated Know Nothing gang members, who shunned African American fugitives, who distrusted antislavery Southerners. But a shared enmity toward the Slave Power united them all, what historian Henry Adams later called “the systemic organization of hatreds” at the root of politics. Lewis Hayden, who had escaped slavery in Kentucky, led a company of Black Wide Awakes in Boston in the same movement as the nastily racist Frank Blair Jr. in St. Louis. Some Wide Awakes were truly admirable, others quite distasteful, but all were united under Yergason’s cape design.
The Wide Awakes claimed to have “no warlike intentions,” but Democrats were skeptical. In the North, Democratic newspapers legitimately worried that “politico-military” clubs would mean “our elections will become pitched battles.” Across the South, panicked newspapers spread wild, violent rumors. One ex-governor told Virginians that they would soon be “cut to pieces by the Wide Awakes.”
On Election Day, club members woke up communities with 5 a.m. fireworks, then marched to the polls. Turnout was high: 81 percent. By the end of the day, Lincoln had won an unusual victory, taking nearly 60 percent of the electoral vote but less than 40 percent of the popular vote in a four-way race. This awkward mandate meant that for all the Republicans talk of “majority rule,” no one could really bring unity, or even basic agreement, in such a fractured land. But the Wide Awakes lit Lincoln’s plurality with torchlight, until the movement’s shadow loomed larger than the actual Republican Party.
Many agreed with the New York Tribune’s assessment that the Wide Awakes were “the most imposing, influential and potent political organization, which ever existed in this country.”
As the nation spiraled toward the Civil War, Wide Awake clubs armed as paramilitary forces, who did some of the first fighting in the conflict. And their members enlisted in huge numbers in the Union Army that finally killed slavery.
Today, progressive activists online sometimes name-check the Wide Awakes, styling them as woke heroes from the past. But they were really something more complex — and more thrilling: a genuine coalition of people who couldn’t agree on much but who marched side-by-side against the greatest threat to democracy.

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[FIRST][LAST]
Atlantis Commission
Officer Report - Lieutenant Colonel John Shepard
CLEARANCE LEVEL 5
Well this had definitely been a very interesting couple of hours. This dimension and its people had very odd opinions and ideas. Apparently the prey species of this dimension were all obligate cowards, whose instincts compelled them to be non-violent and run from threats. At least according to themselves. There were apparently some of them who were “predator diseased” as they called it, a disease which often resulted in increased violence, aggression, lack of empathy, and unheard like behavior. It sounded to me like some form of infectious psychopathy, but the venlil assured us it shouldn't affect us since we were predators, which didn’t really ease my fears, but hopefully it was something we could figure out when we got home if it ever became a problem.
Gotta love mandatory quarantine periods woo hoo!
As scary as this odd disease sounded, my main concern at the moment was to try and turn a professed coward into someone who could at the very least defend themselves.
I looked down to the table of gear ahead of me and then over to the mostly naked Venlil to my side, and then even farther to Tiel’c who thought It would be a good idea to help oversee Farva’s rapid fire training course. I fiddled with the bluetooth earpiece which was rigged up to one of our handhelds to run a translation program to speak directly with the captain. A big step up from our unknowingly one sided communications earlier.
I stepped on the other side of the plastic table and placed my hands down upon it and looked on at my new student..
“Welcome Captain Farva to our very impromptu accelerated course on Human arms armor and basic infantry tactics.” I said gesturing to the hodge podge gear we had managed to assemble for the good captain. “Are we ready to begin?”.
She flicked her ears, somewhat nervously by the looks.
“I’d take it that's a yes then?”
“Oh yes sorry”
“Alright then, well given that most of our crew is human and the only other alien struts around naked all the time, the only gear we have on hand is for humans, So you're going to be running size smalls and it's all going to fit all a bit big” I say as I toss her the tactical vest. ”Here try this on, we can try to tighten it up if it's a bit loose anywhere”. The captain wrestles with the buckles a bit, and Teal'c helps her tighten up some of the top straps, as the Venil’s shoulders weren't as broad as humans. Farva gave Teal’c an odd look, but seemed appreciative none the less.Once finished, she grasped the vest in her paws with interest. “This armor seems quite lightweight, which is nice, weight is often an issue that causes us to forgo armor, since heavy armor would hurt our running ability.” Farva remarks. “Also the sheer amount of pockets seems quite excessive, what do you need all these for?”
“Well for starters it's currently missing these '' I hand Farva one of the armor plates which she looks over. “That is a depleted Naquadria ceramic composite plate. It’s designed to stop bullet impacts and dissipate energy weapon blasts. It slots into that chest compartment in the front and back of your armor.”
“This isn't quite what Id imagine for the armor of your kind”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Well judging by your ships I would have imagined you would put more emphasis on defense Your predatory nature would make you less likely to run away from conflict allowing for more encompassing armor to cover more than just your chest, since you have less need to run.”
She would put it like that.
“Well there are a number of reasons for that, a lot to do with those excess pockets you mentioned. For starters you will not be carrying the same amount of gear that the standard infantry unit would normally be carrying, we are preparing you for a quick in and out op. Normally us expedition teams need to be deployed into unknown territory for extended periods of time, we need to carry everything we might need with us from food, bullets, weapons, to comms gear, sensors, repelling equipment etc. The weight from all that gear adds up fast; In order to stay sufficiently mobile and combat effective; we only carry enough armor to protect our vitals, head and torso, anything else can hopefully be patched up by a field medic.”
Tielc gave his piece as well. “It is important to know when to run both towards and aways from one's foes, not every battle can be won through strength alone, but by strategy and cunning. Being able to reposition oneself quickly is therefore highly advantageous”
Farva seemed to freeze at Teal'c's statement, not out of fear I think, she instead had a distant look in her eye. To snap her out of her slump I handed her a standard ballistic helmet.
Seeming to get the idea she looked at it oddly and tried it on. It confirmed to her head shape decently well but depressed her ears to either side of her head, kind of resembling what one might imagine a sad bunny rabbit to look like “I don't think this will be something I can bring with me” she said ” I can't use ear signals and this will muffle my hearing.”
“Why don’t you keep it on for the time being, I think any extra hearing protection might be useful considering what we are about to try next.” I hand Farva some ballistic ear protectors, slightly modified and somewhat ramshackle. “One of the corporals worked closely with Nurse Fila to get an idea for safe decibels levels for your kind, we were also able to get these earbuds molded to fit into your ear canal better”
Farva took them and slipped them in. “These are a bit uncomfortable, what do I need these for?”
“You'll need them for this” I say as I unsnap the clasps on the weapons case revealing its contents.
The content seems to capture Farva’s interest, getting a slight tail wave.
“Okay So this here is a p90, It carries a 50 round top loading magazine of teflon coated armor piercing ordnance. With a cyclical rate of fire of 900 rounds per minute.”
Farvas ears perk up at this. “This seems like an efficient design, I take it these are a flashlight and laser sight for accuracy?” She asked, pointing to the top of the weapon.
“Yes we also have holographic and acog optics which will help line up targets from farther away.” I look on as Farva picks up the weapon and inspects it, testing the weight as I note that it will weigh a fair bit more once loaded. But she doesn't seem to be struggling with the weight. I can't help but notice good firearm safety as well, she keeps her finger well off the trigger and takes care to keep her weapon pointed aways from anyone else.
“This seems like a solid design but I'm not sure how useful those weapon optics would be, as they are not designed for my side facing eyes”
“I'm sure our master at arms can figure something out, why don't we give it a test fire first tho, before we send it off to make adjustments.” I instruct her on how to load the weapon and turn the safety off. I warn her of the sound it makes. And while definitely taken aback by the recoil and sound at first, she quickly gets the hang of it, she has some respectable shot groupings in both single fire and in short bursts. And keeps the rounds reasonably centered while firing in full auto.
She did a whole lot better than I would have initially suspected given her performance in the hanger bay a day before.
“The rate of fire seems useful” Farva spoke “This would be useful for our soldiers, our accuracy falters when we are panicked, and the increased shot count should guarantee some hits based on volume of fire alone” she finished with a dejected expression.
She quickly places the weapon back in its case, as if it burned to touch.” I don't know if I should be armed for this mission, at least not with that weapon, I don't want to miss and hit one of you in the back!”
“What? Nonsense, you are a great shot, and this is just a precaution in case we get separated or flanked and need some covering fire. If our guys are doing their job right you shouldn't need to fire a single round anyways.”
Captain Farva’s breathing started to hasten, earlier I might have thought it was fear, but I was starting to get an idea of what the captain's issues were. I’ve seen this before.
“I.. I can’t be trusted with this responsibility, every time I am left in charge of something, every time people put their lives in my paws I ....”
“Farva, don’t you start with me now you hear.” I said sternly, swiftly capping off her inevitable spiral of self doubt.
“But.. no.. you don’t understand”
Stopping her again I spoke. “But nothing, what happened before on that ship, and back at that colony is in the past. I don’t know your whole situation, but from what I have gathered from the crew It was nothing good. You feel responsible and it's eating away at you, and frankly it doesn’t matter if that's true or not. Accidents happen, people make mistakes, and when that happens we need to learn, take those lessons to heart, and don't let it stop us from helping people in the present. If you let guilt, or fear of mistakes stop you, then bad guys have already won, all without having to have fired a shot”
Farva is quiet for a short time, I was hoping I got through to her, I'm not the best and pep talks and this certainly wasn’t your typical weapons demo, if only everyones could go as smoothly as Ronan’s.
Farva spoke quietly, arms pressed up against her chest, she looked so sad, defeated, and small. Well more than usual anyways. “We can't be strong like you humans, we are too emotional and when we are scared we run away or we lock up and...”
“And that is clearly not the case with you captain Farva” Teal’c finally reentered the conversation having heard enough. “You have shown courage with every action you have taken so far, your actions have saved the lives of many of your crew, every time you have been threatened you acted not just to protect yourself but others as well. You attempted to contend with beings many times your size without even thinking about it, all in the effort to protect others, and this is only in the time we have known you, this speaks nothing of your actions over the colony. You are a warrior of admirable courage Captain Farva, your self doubt is unearned.”
A single tear rolled down Farva’s eyes which she quickly wiped away. “That was very nice of you to say, but I'm not brave like you say, I was terrified out of my mind the whole time.”
Teal’c looked puzzled. “I did not call you brave, I said you were courageous.”
Farva shot back with the little venlil one up one down ear flick I had very quickly learned was confusion.” I'm confused you just said brave twice”
“Hmm it appears your language does not contain the word I am using, I apologize I am not used to speaking through a translator” Teal’c relented “ There are two words I am using admittedly in slightly different forms, bravery and courage. Bravery or to be brave is to lack fear, to not be afraid to begin with. Courage tho, Is a trait far more admirable. Courage is to be afraid, to have fear, to worry about one's own mortality and personal safety. It is to acknowledge risk, danger, to feel fear, but to act in spite of it.”
“Had I not met your kind before I would have thought predators don't feel fear.”
“Everyone fears feel Farva, It is how we overcome it that determines our worth as warriors”
Teal’c picks up the p90 and returns it to Farvas hands.
“Your people need a warrior Farva, a warrior who protects the innocent and guides the lost to safety. You have shown how collected you can be in the heat of battle, You have already proven your worth in our eyes Farva, now you must do the same in your own. The greatest enemy lies not without” Teal’c places his hand firmly on the venlil’s chest “But within”.
After Action Report - Venlil Colonial Defense Force
Subject : Chief Engineer Donu
I fiddled with my holopad, Its small surface area proving to be a consistent source of annoyance in my current endeavor. Gone was the large workspace afforded to me by my holotable back in my office. Instead I had to work with the scaled down portable holotablet I was just fortunate enough to have strapped to my person when I was beamed away from our last ship. I was stuck with its smaller keyboard and slower rendering speeds.
An annoyed smooth skin alien looked over my shoulder at my device, attached to it was a jury rigged fiber optic cable, slotted into a terran silicon to crystal patch cable, which would convert the electrical signals broadcasted by my tablet into a bandwidth that the terrans crystalline based computers; which they used for highly complex tasks like hyperdrive and transporter systems; could use, and then It was patched again in a even stranger connector to patch into the odd asgard computer stones.
All in all it looked like someone tried to plug a regular computer into some crystal construct like you would find in a fantasy holonovel, and again plugged that into a harchen heat rock sauna lounge. Finally branching out from this conglomeration was a simple copper based wire that connects to a computer terminal at which currently sat the late Doctor Rodney Mckay. A title upon initially hearing led me to believe he was a medical doctor, which led to a flurry of medical questions that he had absolutely no means of answering.
While this odd alien nomenclature was interesting, what intrigued me more was his actual area of expertise, theoretical astrophysics, as well as a number of other diverse specialties and fields. Not to mention not only was he a great scientist who had he been raised in the more civilized portion of this galaxy, would have knowledge and aptitude that would put him alongside some of Aafas greatest minds, but he was also an engineer without peer, at least in this galaxy. His interactions with general Samantha Carter hinted at her possibly being his match if not more. For a species that was supposed to glorify violence the decision to have a scientist be arguably the most senior member of what was by their admission a military vessel spoke to their commitment to knowledge and understanding, a very noble prey-like goal.
I looked warily at the lines of code at my screen, the asguard translation program had earlier scanned our ship and was able to parse written languages, but complex files, like images and 3d design schematics were harder to encode and decode from our perspective systems. As is stands we have 3 completely separate computer architectures, the asguard can talk to human computers and the venlil computers can talk to the asguard computers, It sounds like we would have everything we need to get a human C.A.D schematic into a venlil holotablet right? Wrong! And you're stupid for entertaining such a idiotic notion! Parsing text from raw binary is relatively straight forward, you're just looking for patterns, repeating bit combinations that might infer letters and then iterating them over millions of times looking for patterns, letters, words, and then with a bit of help from some undecoded analog audio transmission, spoken language. This is a far cry from actual procedural communication protocols,the ones that allow for file transfers, exactly what we needed if we were to get Rodney's redesigned part schematics into a format and medium that can be plugged into a suitable fabricator. Assuming one still exists, which I can reasonably assume it does.
Speaking of which, I have just made something of a breakthrough. For upon my screen appears a simple geometric hydrogen cube, we’re talking vertices, planes, material data, everything we need for a usable design file.
I let out an excited pent up yip, the culmination of hours of frustrating software integration work. Unfortunately I startled Rodney, who lets out a panicked gasp and clutches his chest pelts with one of his paws.
“Oh god…..” He gasps, pointing at me “Please.. don’t do that”
“Sorry!” I say a bit meekly. I slowly approach him so as to not make him unnecessarily uncomfortable and show him my work.
“I got the file exchange set up, all we need from you is to finish any modifications to your part, upload them to my holopad, and then we can print away at any class 3 or above fabricator we can scrounge up on Brayga colony.”
“Ok.. um.. got it, I'm almost done i’m just you know” He points a lone grasping appendage at his screen,”Running some simulations, making sure everything is up to spec.” keeping his response kurt. “Sorry for freaking out there.”
I nod my head in the human display of affirmation and return to my workstation to further bug check my work, to test potentially problematic edge cases for when he finishes. Tho Rodney's continued odd behavior intruded on my thoughts.
I should have felt empowered, being able to intimidate this ‘massive beast’, but I didn't. I didn't like being feared, his people have been nice to me, Rodney himself courteous to a fault and desperate for positive attention.
I thought I could expect predators to be fearless but that clearly wasn't the case, rodney was fearful, nervous, had I not known better I would say defective, and while it annoyed his crew, they didn't berate him for it, or attempt to assert dominance, they encouraged it even with placating words and tried to help him through it, they encouraged and supported him like a proper herd, even if sometimes it took the form of what the human would call a playful ribbing. I supposed I could help him as well.
I approached him again, careful to make my approach known to him, making sure to approach from within his limited field of vision. He looks up at me with a wide eyed glare, had I not known him I might have assumed it was hunger, but I did and knew it to be concern.
“Uh high Donu.. um whats up?”
“Why are you afraid of us rodney?”
“Wa-What, me afraid?” he gives out a panicked laugh ”uh no no, I'm not afraid, you know just a bit weirded out I'm just getting used to you all, it's not a fear thing it's a a…. Just getting used to new aliens thing, ask Hermirod we went through this whole song and dance right buddy”
Hermirod furrowed his brow and gave an irritated sigh from across the room.
I reached out to take Rodney by the paw.
His whole body flinched at my mere touch, I quickly withdrew my paw.
“Oh.. um.. I didn't…”
“Rodney! It's okay, your crew doesn’t seem to care when you show fear, and neither do I. Why are you afraid of us? You are almost twice our size and surely double our strength, most venlil would scream and run in terror at the mere sight of you. What's wrong?”
Rodney let out a sigh. “Oh its, we don't have to talk about this, I can deal with this, I deal with scary situations all the time, it's fine, I'll be fine.”
“Rodney, my people are a very emotional, empathic people, we are open with our feelings and with our fear, and the fear of the one can affect the herd, please let me help you. I don’t know what to expect from your society but I promise I wont judge you for your fear or emotions, I mean look at many of my crew mates, we are no one to judge”
Rodney shot back “You didn't seem to be so bothered”
“I’m too old to care, I was about to retire, hell I was about to die as far as I knew, Brayga colony was supposed to be a quiet place to lay back, work on some hobbies, plant a garden and pester the young men of my colony until I either dropped dead of boredom or got lucky” I joked.
That seemed to raise Rodney's mood somewhat. He sighed and seemingly relented.
“It’s… a dumb story, I don't even know why it affected me so much, I come from a place on earth called Canada, people don't usually believe me when I say I am from there, us Canadians are notoriously friendly and I guess I haven’t exactly filled that mold for a lot of my life, but hey I'm working on it, people like me, I have lots of friends back at Atlantis” He says the last sentence in a way as if it isn't me he's trying to convince.
“I'm sure you do, Rodney, You seem like quite the charming individual when you're not cowering!”
“Ha ha thanks, maybe you could come and visit sometime. Tell that to doctor Becket, really nice guy, smart man, he would love to meet you, he loves investigating new species. But back on topic, oh boy, so me and my sister Jeannie were on a family trip to rural Vancouver to visit my grandpa's farm, he kept a lot of goats, not for eating or anything, they were essentially pets that he would use for milk”
“Wait hold on? You drink milk from other animals! Do your females not produce enough milk for their young?”
“Oh um no, we just sort of drink it or ferment it into cheese!”
“Ferment? You mean spoil?
“Yeh”
I reeled from this plasma blast of a statement, I like any right minded venlil had a number of nightmares about being an arxur’s cattle before, especially when I first learned about those things in primary school, but never once had it crossed my mind that we could be used for something so weird. What the speh was I supposed to do with that information?
“Maybe you should get back on topic”
“Yeh sorry about that uh.. Anyways the momma goat had just had a litter of babies, and their real cute when their little, so late in the day when my grandpa was asleep we snuck out to the pens so we can play with the little baby goats, our grandpa told us not to but you now how kids are.”
At this I think back to a young Nyan, as I teach him the inner working of the hyperdrive, I tell him he’s not cleared yet to operate in this engine compartment alone, but I could tell from the occasional caught black hairs and dropped writing implements, there had been a number of curious unauthorized expeditions into its inner workings, he didn't really listen either.
“My sister as always was trying to be the voice of reason, wanting to take it slow. If I was paying attention I might have noticed the angry moma goat who didn’t appreciate the strange human messing with her children.”
The color seemed to drain from his face.
“I uh…” He began to stutter again ”I screamed, a lot, it was rather undignified, she ran right at me, thank god it wasn't a male goat, one with horns, I tired to run but I was hit in the back and knocked over and kicked real good in the head, like wake up in the vet clinic a quarter mile down the road kind of bad”
“This goat was a prey animal?”
“That would be what your kind focuses on”
“Oh sorry”
“Anyways It seems dumb but I have just never been good with animals since then, especially ones that look like you; no offense; I'm getting better but when I first saw you guys in the hangar bay, I was just that dumb kid again, getting in way over my head, scared for my life. I guess there is something to be said about childhood trauma. I really should be over this, I'm getting better with it I swear it’s just”
I take his paw again, he doesn't flinch this time.
“I'm a venlil, a prey animal, I know fear, I know what it is to live in fear, It rattles your brain, it turns your paws to wet grains. It takes great strength to overcome it, to push it aside just long enough to protect the herd. Your herd relies on you Rodney and you are doing a great job in spite of your fear, in spite of having to work with those you fear. You have achieved intellectual feats that rival the greatest minds of the federation and all that while struggling with a traumatic experience. Fear isn’t dumb and there is nothing wrong with you for feeling it.”
“Thank you” Rodney says “That means a lot, I won't be like forever I promise, I just need some time.”
“We will laugh about this someday,” I assured. “Nothing as big and intelligent as you should be afraid of anything”
“Are you calling me fat?” Rodney exclaimed with fake offense.
We both chuckled.
My kind words had resulted in a more upright posture, and a more cheerful demeanor from the human, almost like when I congratulated Nyan on his work, and it got me a look at that happy snarl of his, that I was starting to grow quite fond of.
After Action Report - Venlil Colonial Defense Force
Subject : Apprentice Engineer Nyan
Oh wow! I get to write a report for this mission! I never get to write reports, Donu says they're too boring, but there’s so many interesting things going on all the time. Sometimes I sneakily write my own! Just for fun of course, nobody sees them, which is probably for the best as I sometimes get excited and embellish them slightly. One of the reports I wrote was about the time Donu used nothing but a wad of electrical tape, a bottle of high grain venlil alcohol and a pocket knife to repair a venlil medical ship just in time to get out of the way of a big scary space predator, with glowing red eyes and a million tentacles!
Anyways Im not sure If im suppose to write these In present tense first person or past tense. I asked the captain and she said it's whatever so long as I make sure any pertinent dialogues are properly quoted(“”).
“Nobody usually reads these things anyways.” She said, but this one is surely going to be so exciting, who could look away!
I mean who's gonna scoff at a chance to read about friendly predators from another dimension! A dimension of friendly predators who give warm head scratches and hand out yummy strayu not strayu treats called donuts, that are somehow fluffier than strayu, and have a nice moisture to them. I asked for the recipe but Samantha said we wouldn't have the ingredients back on Venili prime to make them, and Teal'c said the recipe is an old family secret. Its weird predators would be so protective of their plant snacks.
There are so many weird things about these predators, they have nurturing instincts that make them find us cute. They stay perfectly balanced even if they don’t have tails, swinging their arms and body all over the place to keep upright like a lopsided gyroscope, it's pretty funny looking!
They also wear artificial pelts all the time, which I thought was weird, I thought maybe the ships temperature was set by the angry gray alien since he’s the only crew member beside the venlil who walks around naked all the time, maybe he had a fit when it was to warm, and the humans obliged him cause they were worried they would make him even angrier, and wore clothes to make up for the cold. I thought this made sense, a lot of their technology does seem to come from the Asguard, maybe he has more say in the goings on of the ship because of that. But apparently humans just like wearing pelts all the time. They feel uncomfortable without them and don’t like it if you try to remove them or look up their upper artificial pelts they call shirts.
The humans are so weird, I don’t even have to embellish my reports to make it more interesting. Like that time with the big tentacled space predator. That may sound real compared to this stuff but it Isn't, Ha! I bet you fell for it at first, hook line and sinker! Like the humans would say. I think I used that saying right, I'm not sure what it means, but Shepard brought it up when he was telling a story about the wraith.
The humans are so nice, instead of exterminating their predators they try to cure them! Their doctors are working to modify the wraith so they don't have to eat humans anymore, so they can be friendly predators too.
Anyways I should probably get to the actual report part of this report. Farva says I should start after I went off with Samantha to work on some special astrophysics equations she said I would be good at. I kind of wanted to go with Donu to help Rodney get the new parts they needed, or Farva to help rescue our people, but the humans and even the angry gray alien got really weird when Farva mentioned taking me on the mission. Samantha seemed to want me to help her really badly so I didn’t mind. Samantha says I have the most important part to our mission. She's teaching me about how humans communicate through subspace, and about stellar drift equations. We are working on what she calls the exit strategy.

Since my youth I've always been curious and when cryptocurrencies emerged I got interested as soon as I heard about it. A way to be decentralised and less regulated something as a vision that I was very aligned too in other sides of my life.
Bitcoin was the first I heard about maybe around 2012 and bought 2 BTC maybe by 2015, what I remember is buying it around 300$ CAD (250 USD at the time) and transferring it to that inovative well reviewed chinese mining project called HaoBtc (near 2016) which was giving daily interest in bitcoin for investing in their mining farm. They were very big and still are as of today but do not offer the same services to foreigners.
Following that I invested my 2 btc in what looked like a promising offer at 100% at a high yield apy website but which ended up being a ponzi scheme. They were promising the withdrawal after the 2 months deposit (kinda like staking bu they were compounding interest). I bet even after that I would not have been able to withdraw anything from that (fake) account because those founds were probably already gone.. No hard feelings and my lesson is learned and yes I do think about it sometimes but I'm humble too... Not the end of the world as well....
Got burned of the whole thing later on because I didn't had much founds having to move countries in between canada and usa. Family matters more and I didn't consecrated as much monetarily for like 3 years
I still learned a lot over the years reading and informing myself, looking at cycles, collecting faucets playing games on the app store like flappy bird which would pay around 0.50 cents/10minutes/day of btc when the price for one was still under 500$ loll and eventually mining alt coins like ravencoin, harmony one, etc...
I eventually dabbled in defi with some very small aave bag more as a test but I quickly stopped after a short while because of the fees. That could have been a good venture circa 2020-2022
It's not necessarily big milestones but i've learned alot along the way and now i'm more confident and understand more than ever the concepts of the world of crypto that seemed shadowy before for me: in between web3, airdrops, defi, dapps, RWA, arbitrage, nodes, Dex's, swap, staking, telegram opportunities, Lp investments, Dao's, mining, dePin, meme coins, coin tracking...
From all that knowledge and having more money this year after fixing other issues I invested a little bit into some cronos on crypto.com for 20% apy and traded ethereum to get some Kendu Inu coins after loosing some on CAW in cronos so didt it via uniswap hopping that they will rise in the future. Got from 65 usd of kendu to 175. Still got scammed/rugpulled lately on a Sol token I was stupid to even consider investing in (around 50usd). What's left ~ 235 usd is the entirety of my portfolio for now so almost nothing at: 60 usd Cro staked for 1 year on CDC and 175 usd in Kendu Inu on Defi.
All in all I learned a lot, lost some and gained some too, understand scams more but I still would like to get some help or to be enlighten on how to be more productive, where to be informed about growing/potential gems, how to produce passive income (even if it is small) so I can increase steadily my portfolio, maybe get some directions in Nft trading even, crypto earn plaforms etc.
Tldr; I just want to steer in the right direction.
I'm a og crypto enthusiast that saw and experienced a lot since 2012 and is ready to be introduced to the more occult/ expert stuff since I have more time and ressources to do so. Any mentorship, learning platforms, reddits, tgs, sites, community, trading methods/bots would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much if you read up to here! Any insights would be so really appreciated.

Since my youth I've always been curious and when cryptocurrencies emerged I got interested as soon as I heard about it. A way to be decentralised and less regulated something as a vision that I was very aligned too in other sides of my life.
Bitcoin was the first I heard about maybe around 2012 and bought 2 BTC maybe by 2015, what I remember is buying it around 300$ CAD (250 USD at the time) and transferring it to that inovative well reviewed chinese mining project called HaoBtc (near 2016) which was giving daily interest in bitcoin for investing in their mining farm. They were very big and still are as of today but do not offer the same services to foreigners.
Following that I invested my 2 btc in what looked like a promising offer at 100% at a high yield apy website but which ended up being a ponzi scheme. They were promising the withdrawal after the 2 months deposit (kinda like staking bu they were compounding interest). I bet even after that I would not have been able to withdraw anything from that (fake) account because those founds were probably already gone.. No hard feelings and my lesson is learned and yes I do think about it sometimes but I'm humble too... Not the end of the world as well....
Got burned of the whole thing later on because I didn't had much founds having to move countries in between canada and usa. Family matters more and I didn't consecrated as much monetarily for like 3 years
I still learned a lot over the years reading and informing myself, looking at cycles, collecting faucets playing games on the app store like flappy bird which would pay around 0.50 cents/10minutes/day of btc when the price for one was still under 500$ loll and eventually mining alt coins like ravencoin, harmony one, etc...
I eventually dabbled in defi with some very small aave bag more as a test but I quickly stopped after a short while because of the fees. That could have been a good venture circa 2020-2022
It's not necessarily big milestones but i've learned alot along the way and now i'm more confident and understand more than ever the concepts of the world of crypto that seemed shadowy before for me: in between web3, airdrops, defi, dapps, RWA, arbitrage, nodes, Dex's, swap, staking, telegram opportunities, Lp investments, Dao's, mining, dePin, meme coins, coin tracking...
From all that knowledge and having more money this year after fixing other issues I invested a little bit into some cronos on crypto.com for 20% apy and traded ethereum to get some Kendu Inu coins after loosing some on CAW in cronos so didt it via uniswap hopping that they will rise in the future. Got from 65 usd of kendu to 175. Still got scammed/rugpulled lately on a Sol token I was stupid to even consider investing in (around 50usd). What's left ~ 235 usd is the entirety of my portfolio for now so almost nothing at: 60 usd Cro staked for 1 year on CDC and 175 usd in Kendu Inu on Defi.
All in all I learned a lot, lost some and gained some too, understand scams more but I still would like to get some help or to be enlighten on how to be more productive, where to be informed about growing/potential gems, how to produce passive income (even if it is small) so I can increase steadily my portfolio, maybe get some directions in Nft trading even, crypto earn plaforms etc.
Tldr; I just want to steer in the right direction.
I'm a og crypto enthusiast that saw and experienced a lot since 2012 and is ready to be introduced to the more occult/ expert stuff since I have more time and ressources to do so. Any mentorship, learning platforms, reddits, tgs, sites, community, trading methods/bots would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you so much if you read up to here! Any insights would be so really appreciated.

My Dad is bringing up a very important word,
"No"
Actually, I think that was his favorite word.
I had a great habit of using it when I was under his roof. What he said is usually what happens first. He was the head of the house and the leader of his own reality. When he was intoxicated or not, what he saw and thought in his mind came to life, even when it never took place in real time.
Why did I give him so much respect when he clearly was showing me toxicity in our relationship at home?
He pretended to be a person of high stature when we are in public. No one would have guessed his bad habits with substances at home and the way he acted behind closed doors. When I reached out for emotional support at school or church, I was mostly shunned by anyone that listened to my story. They taught me that my feelings were wrong and asking for help gets me in trouble. When I told my mom anything, she was busy at work and came home tired. She trusted everything my father would tell her and I got in trouble for speaking out for his behavior. I was kept at home and if anything that could get me out of the house was already planned to be declined if I asked to do anything.
It was hard to please anyone at this point.
I kept my room spotless and vacuumed everyday, just so my dad couldn't say no and tell me to clean my room if I had a friend standing next to me wanting to hang out.
I had one friend in my life that saw my father for who he really is and he scared her pretty bad. He chased me to her car when I was trying to leave my house, he was on oxy at the time. My friend hesitated and kept the car in the driveway and told me to go do what he said. I wanted her to drive as fast as she could away from him, because he took the battery out of my car and I couldn't leave to be with Suz.
Well, after that incident, I lost my friend. She told her parents what happened and she broke all contact with me and stopped talking to me at church. Rumors went around and her mom I sang with on stage started to be disrespectful towards me.
I learned a valuable lesson that day....
When you feel safe enough to speak out and let someone see your true self, you scare people away.
When I trusted someone, I was abandoned when they saw my life for what it is.
The truth was hard to swallow and I had to stay around my father regardless of trying to find help in some form of way I felt heard. I tried to be emancipated, I went to church and sought out resources, I researched about how to prevent suicidal tendencies, I was speaking to a child psychologist. I was working on being more respectful towards my parents, but when my dad got high and made up stories to be angry and attack me. I had no way to protect myself and prove that it was just my father being an addict going through a psychotic episode.
This is why the Lord forced me into psychology.
I didn't want anything to do with it! (Working in a psych ward.... It sucked.)
Suz was the first person to really allow me to learn how to understand it with her version of explaining reality. She is a psychic medium. A very good one! She was very outspoken, rude and funny.... I can take the hard criticism. Nothing amounted to the trauma my father already caused me to feel. I survived high school band.... My director was exactly like my father and I was verbally abused at school by certain individuals.
I kept it all to myself and I planned very strategically my way to "heaven". I kept a journal on purpose for someone to find later. I wrote about everything I was feeling and how I was being treated, my poems, other interesting facts about spirituality, death and dying.
Suz taught me how to have a "book of shadows"..... Well, she is a witch..... It shouldn't be scary when I say that, she was a very proud "light witch". She only worked for the good of humanity. Christianity shuns such practices, but it really is part of the culture before religion became a thing. She taught me so many things that my Dad made me swear I would never get involved in.....
My Dad went into psychology after he decided he wasn't going to be a pastor. His past marriage was a major roadblock for him that he lost faith in God and didn't feel it was right for him to lie on stage to other believers when he wasn't being honest about his own walk in faith anymore.
A divorce would literally kill my soul. I can't imagine what betrayal feels like until you promise your life in vows to someone and it doesn't work out....My Dad made sure to show me that marriage is a special connection and I had to be very cautious who I accept as my spouse. I never forgotten how important it was for him to see me with the right man, but he was so overprotective, he never allowed me to learn how to date or even go to a school dance.
I blame the drugs for interfering in our relationship as a family. My Father was a very smart man, until he took a pill, shot up, or drink... My dad worked in anesthesia, he knew how to mix his own concoction and by pass the system to get his fix. He was forced to retire don't worry, but his knowledge to get drugs was phenomenal all that he knew about medicine.
It really sucked that he knew psychology and ways to manipulate people to get what he wanted. He was a very skilled hypnotherapist on top of that. My family is the result of a head narcissist raising more products of himself.
If you see my family now, we are estranged for good reasons, but they still hurt me personally. I really tried to keep us together after my father passed away, but the rest of my family chose to ignore my advances to keep in contact. I'm not even invited to the family reunions.
It's okay, because we have a lot of family history of incest and "S.A." and I understand why we are not invited.... I know a lot of things about our family after my father passed away. I know why he turned to be a pastor and then went in psychology to help himself and others, but then he lost his way and turned to drugs to mask his pain. The enemy stepped in and my Dad gave into his weaknesses..... He tried and he fought hard. Even when he attacked me my whole life. I still sat there and listened to him and I was forced to listen and not leave the room, but then God showed me to talk back to my Dad.....
So, I started to read more about the Bible and relate to him.
That's why I went to church...
I went to church 4 times a week to get away from the house, but to also just understand why I want to end my life and know that I would go to heaven if I actually tried it.....I was worried about my Mom and how my actions would affect her, she was a big reason why I stalled my plans and then my Dad had this wise idea to get me to work at a mortuary. Told me to walk into one and ask for a job.
Crazy how I jump topics all of a sudden, but this is how my Dad and I got along with each other. Weird and comical. lol
If it wasn't about music, it was about spirituality. I was into a lot of death related shows because I was suicidal. If you remember any of these, they came out around the time I was in high school.
Six Feet Under
Dead Like Me
Dr. G Medical Examiner
1000 Ways to Die
Ghost hunters
Crime Scene Clean Up Crew shows.
I would walk in the dining room while he was chillin in his hospital bed. Watching Finding Big Foot.
"Hey DAD! check this out."
It was a nice distraction to his day. It brought up his own fears with common daily interactions because of my odd obsession with the topic of dying.
My father at this point in his cancer diagnosis, he was on something they call,
Palliative care.
My mom explained to me that it means he was going to die. Lovely how blunt my mother is, but that's how she said it without sugar coating it....
But it was in a way it would be under his terms. My father at this point died once while receiving radiation therapy. His heart stopped and was revived. When he woke up angry and violent towards at the medical team. He yelled at my mom that he was ready to "go". So, after that incident he got the right person to sign him up for his new journey to his death.
That was a weird way of telling you what palliative care is, but that's how I found out and understood that he had a "DNR" to his name after that incident. Sometimes he was in a hospice home for a few months to give us a break at home dealing with his drama.
My Dad was surrounded by death, so it made me really research death and dying very deeply. I was afraid for anyone to see the books I read because they were about taboo topics you shouldn't see a teenager obsessing over. Death and dying, crossing over, letting go of loved ones, suicide survivors, decomposition of human remains, the death process, how a body is embalmed, what medical examiners while cutting open a corpse.
Then I got into the spiritual side of things that involve the devil and crossing over. How to avoid walking back towards hell when you are deceived by dark forces. How to fight your inner hell and not be trapped in that mindset when you are passing away.
I would have the craziest dreams after learning about these topics. But in a weird way, all I wanted to do was sleep to escape my reality. I would talk to my Dad about the stuff I found about those topics and it helped him be closer to me as a father. Something my little brother doesn't understand and ridiculed about me when he criticized my relationship with him. He had his own way to being with Dad, but my way, was with deeper meaning and serious topics. Stuff only Dad and I knew what that meant. It wasn't supposed to make sense to my mom or brother the special talks we had when he was in pain laying in bed.
I showed my Dad the other side to life....
I helped my Dad not be afraid to die, and do it with dignity and strength.
I helped my Dad understand that his addictions didn't ruin our connection as father and daughter and that I wanted to forgive him for his past before he died. He really appreciated my understanding that the drugs turned him into a different person, but inside of him, God was always there. My father told me, because of me, I allowed him to find love for God again and he was closer to his Mom because I showed him to not be afraid of my friend Suz.
That my friend wasn't evil and she taught me so much about angels and spirits, he was learning about them because I had the best mentor in the world. She helped me find my relationship with my Dad, that brought me to be closer to God and because I learned about God in a metaphysical way, I helped myself grow in my own understanding to where I wasn't going to end my life.
I found a reason to live even through the pain of watching the enemy run through my family and take away everyone and everything that means something to me.....
(I would like to post this, but I know it's not ready. I have so much to say and I know my story will help someone else not be afraid.)
I am still writing my story.
This is the book I was supposed to write about....
The one about death and dying.
Not about my background in psychology.
*That is a message for someone else. hint hint... That is your topic to write about. I hope you receive that message with understanding and go forth wisely. You asked me to remind you, so I am, quietly...
I am working with others in a way the Lord leads me.
It takes up my energy from writing and I have to prioritize what is more important. When it comes to someone's transition. I feel led to help someone cross over. I've done this since I was a child. No one taught me to understand how I do this. I also dream about meeting certain individuals and speak to them about life and death, God allows me to remember my dreams and I share them with the people it is about.
Most times, God will send people to talk to me and then I learn about them dying or having a terminal illness that is difficult to get through. That is where I am reminded of my life with my father and my jobs in the medical field and bring up all that I learned about death, dying, spirituality, religion, crossing over, eastern medicine, etc....
Then I become friends, or we have nice conversations that are very engaging and healing in general. I am later told that I have helped them in some way and they are happy to have met me. Then my dad shows up in my presence and shows me how I am doing what I am supposed to and to trust my gut feelings from now on. He promised me when he was alive, he was always going to be by my side and teach me about life.
Now I finally understand what he meant by that and I now that I know how to
"Listen with my HEART"
That is how he spoke to his mom before he crossed over. I taught him how and he was able to go deeper with it since his soul was ascending and leaving the physical body. The dream state plays a big part of crossing over and communicating with loved ones. That is where my gifts come into play. I am sensitive enough to feel him and learn his lessons that he encourages me to write it all down.
I'm not the writer I wish to become yet, but as long as it's getting out there for someone to find, that's all that matters.
Don't forget to realize that we are all dying. Don't allow your diagnosis or reality to have you feel stuck in misery until you die. Don't allow the pain and confusion to stop you from gaining understanding to the karma you're experiencing.Being a medium for me has been traumatizing, because I had to earn my way to understanding. I had to experience hell in order to seek solitude and want to create peace with my sanity and not let the forces around me cause me to go insane. I went "within" so I can heal my trauma and know what triggers me to thinking about the negative side to things.
That is all the enemy fighting with you spiritually.
When we die, we lose our vessel, not our spirit.
We are the spirit having the human experience.
This isn't forever.
Thank God for that!
Pain does end, but learn what the pain wants to teach you about life around you. You will help someone else with your story when you're meant to cross paths.
Everyone in your life is there to teach you something.
Are you ready for the lesson?
Are you ready to understand your lesson?
So, it's crazy how I end up writing these posts, but they are all for a reason that I don't understand right now, but I'm doing as I'm told.
I'm not afraid of death, I'm not afraid of anyone stalking me because I speak of life in a way no one else has, because this is my story.
I don't know why I wrote it this way before I got here.
My destiny, I mean.....
I know my purpose now and of all the things I pushed away in my life, God forced me to go back into it and learn more about myself. The things I didn't want to face and be reminded about my Dad.... I just want to live my life in peace. I didn't want to think about my past love, but I meet people that remind me of my life back home and that person in particular.....
So, it's all hitting at once. It's a slow process, my father has been gone for 11 years now. I'm getting the hang of it now...... Writing this isn't a race for me, the lessons are exciting to finally understand why I went through them, but again.... Time helps me explain things better when I see it in a different perspective. I couldn't have accomplished that goal until I went through the pain and worked on my character to change my outcomes to my problems. I had to change myself first.
I hope those that are part of this journey with me understand that I am only putting out there tools to help them succeed.
I'm not going out of my way to create another trauma bond or narcissistic injury towards anyone. I love them very much and I want them to work on themselves and gain abundance correctly, not with the use of black magic and occult practices.
That's another story for another day. Suz wants them to know that she was in my life to warn me about my lessons in my future, but I can't run from them. I am here to learn lessons and teach others how to learn theirs.
That's all this is about.
Life is a stage, how do you want to play it?
I choose to grow and allow myself to see the positive to where I feel the emotion of bliss, love, joy and acceptance of all things coexisting together.
I be back soon,
I hope you have a nice weekend.
<3,
Tina,

Hello everyone, I was wondering if any younger Hellenists/Polytheists/Pagans here would be willing to share some advice on what I, as a millennial father, could do to really cultivate my nine-year-old daughters growing interest in the gods and spirituality as a whole. What would you have appreciated from your parents during your first steps into a Pagan spiritual practice?
My own path is heavily philosophical and Neoplatonic and I don't think much of what I do will resonate with her, but she's expressed that she "believes in gods" and has even discussed it with kids at school.
So far I've encouraged her with books and comics on mythology. She loves the Olympians graphic novels by George O'Connor; I do my best to explain some of the more gruesome myths and convey the lessons they're trying to teach. She also loves playing Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
It's hard to track down "kid-focused" polytheistic books that would summarize and convey the lessons of myths in age-appropriate ways similar to how Christian groups teach the Bible.
I've tried to get her interested in Artemis and bought her a bracelet with a deer pendant on it and stones symbolic of Her (protectress of young girls seemed appropriate). She seems receptive to her and even asked if she can put the statue I have of Artemis in her room (which of course I allowed).
Basically, what would you all have liked your parents to do when you first got interested in Paganism? I want to be supportive without being overbearing or dogmatic; but I also don't want her to take myth literally and get discouraged by some of the more immoral myths.
Thanks!

So, this whole thing was my first true experience dealing with the charlatans at ticketbastard. I've obviously bought tickets before, but it was more so for small local acts. I saw Roger back when he did his tour two years but all of his shows were announced at the same time, and at least from my experience that was a straight forward process as far as getting the ticket was concerned. Prices were high, but that's how artists make money these days. They don't really make money on the actual music anymore, its the shows and merchandise that pays the bills.
David doesn't tour. He's interviewed several times about how he just wants to stay in his farm in Sussex with his family. Since the Division Bell he's toured only twice (not counting this upcoming one.) That's one tour per decade pretty much. I get that, but DG is also held up there with the likes of Hendrix, SRV as one of the most legendary guitarists that ever lived. He has to know that if he has a show, people want to go see him. Ticketmaster obviously knows this too.
To only advertise the first few shows in the US (4 in total between LA and NYC) and be like "yeah this is it, this probably the last chance you'll get to see David live. Get your presale code and buy your ticket now. " and then a few days later roll out several more shows, one by one "okay guys, this really the last show we are posting. Buy up now." And for what? To pump up demand and let people pay exorbitant prices?
I believed it at face value because I watched and read those interviews David gives, and he's 78 now. Touring is a lot to deal with when you're in your 20s, let alone when you're older. I had to nervously hope I would get my tickets because I'm a fan that's under 30, I never had a chance to see David play. Pink Floyd was pretty much over before I was born, I didn't have the money as a 10 or 19 year old to travel and see him. I had to deal with hoping I get a presale code, getting a high number in the queue and hoping I could just find "a seat".
I could have avoided all of that, if all the shows were announced at the same time. I've read on this sub of people having to fly to other continents thinking that was going to be their only chance to see David (from America) and they could have waited one more week to see his US dates.
It's absurd. I get that artists really only make money these days from concerts and merchandise, but this whole experience has left such a distaste in my mouth. Ticketmaster is the embody of crony capitalism, and is why I hate monopolies. Ticketmaster can do whatever it wants just because.
I also have to say I'm disappointed with David's management that they played along with Ticketmaster's games. I don't think David had any direct role [he definitely has a manager] with how all of this happened, but he is on social media and monitors everything. He saw the advertisements go past him, and he had to have some idea of what was happening. I get you want to make money, but why play all these games with your fans?
Any way, this whole week really has been something. I'm looking forward to see David play in NYC (never been there before) but I learned a few lessons I didn't think I would learn. Thanks for letting me rant, I'll step off my soapbox now.

A horse, a sheep, and a chicken lived together on a farm.
The horse had long dreamed of learning to play the guitar.
So the horse rings a music shop and he says, “Hey, I’d love to learn to play guitar. Is there anyone who can teach me”?
The music shop manager says “That’s not an issue, let’s get you started on some music lessons.”
The horse says “Well there’s one problem, sir, I’m actually a horse.”
The music store manager says “Hey, that’s not a problem! I’m sure I can manage to teach you!”.
The horse says “Awesome!” so he goes in to his lessons and in no time he’s rockin’ the whole farm with his guitar.
One day the sheep comes wandering over. Sheep watches horse play for a bit and then says that he’d really like to learn to play drums, and can horse recommend anyone who can teach him?
Horse gives sheep the number of the music shop, and sheep dials the number.
"Id like to learn the drums if its not any bother"
The music store manager says “Hey, no problem, I’ll teach you to play drums! How about we set up some lessons?”
The sheep says, “Is it going to be a problem if I’m a sheep?”
The manager says “Not a problem! In fact, awhile ago I taught a horse to play guitar, so it shouldn’t be too hard to teach a sheep to play drums!”.
So the sheep goes for his music lessons and soon enough, he’s mastered them and he and horse start jamming together in the stables.
One morning sheep and horse are rocking the farm down when chicken struts past. Chicken is very impressed and tells horse and sheep that he’s always wanted to learn to sing, and could horse or sheep recommend anyone?
They both tell him about the music shop and the chicken decides to call the music shop.
So he gives the shop a call and tells the manager that he’s always longed to learn to sing, and if could anyone help him
The shop manager says "it’s no problem, when are you free to come in for lessons?"
Chicken says, “There’s just one small issue”.
The shop manager asks, “What’s that?.”
The chicken says, "Well...I’m a chicken.”
The manager says “That’s no problem, I’ve taught a horse to play guitar and a sheep to play drums, so I’m sure I can teach a chicken to sing”.
So chicken takes his lessons and in no time at all he’s the best singer you ever heard. He and sheep and horse decide to form a band, and start playing together, and even writing songs.
One day they’re smashing it out out in the stables when they decided to record a video of one of their songs and upload it to YouTube.
The song ends up going viral. It’s so popular they release more videos, and soon they have a massive fan base. They all decide it’s time to embark on a world tour.
At the airport, as the plane is about to board, horse says “Guys, I need to use the bathroom, I’ll catch up with you two before the flight leaves.”
Both the chicken sheep board the plane, but horse takes too long in the bathroom and misses the flight.
As horse is waiting for a new flight, he’s watching TV and a news story tells him that the plane sheep and chicken were on crashed and both chicken and sheep tragically died.
Horse was very upset about losing his two closest friends and decides to go into the bar across the road and get a drink to drown his sorrows.
The horse walks in and the bartender looks at him and asks "Why the long face?"