I finished this book in around 5/6 days.
Wow. So many great moments and storylines in this book, storylines being resolved even! All great except a few chapters of Elayne in the middle of the book. RJ is back to his old form, with great characterisation and stuff happens for once!?! Unbelievable.
RJ went out with a high!
You can really feel the story torpedoing to Tarmon Gai’don, I can’t wait.
Here are some thoughts on this book:
Nynaeve
Nynaeve loves, trusts, and feels for Lan so much; I can’t help but tear when she rallies for Malkier. Favourite scene of the whole series personally, involving my favourite characters.
“My husband rides from World’s End to Tarwin’s Gap, toward Tarmon Gai’don. Will he ride alone?
CHILLS!!!
Also, give me more Nynaeve, she needs more page time.
Perrin
Great ending to a sometimes lacking storyline (just Faile’s PoV), and it has ended with Perrin being ready for the time ahead with his beloved and the shaido finally disappeared, forever hopefully.
Perrin was so blind to everything but Faile this book. Ignoring the signs of Tarmon Gai’don for the one he loves. This obviously isn’t great, but I understand him; his whole family died and she is the one who filled the gaps in his heart, if she died I doubt Perrin would ever recover from it.
I guess Aram isn’t a darkfriend as I previously speculated, just a man who is very susceptible to being manipulated. An abrupt ending to someone who got introduced in the first book, and later become a reoccurring character. His descent was quite tragic though; died trying to kill the man who helped him get back on his feet many times over just because of one man’s manipulation. Fuck Masema.
Rolan and the other two brotherless’ death was unjustified but I can’t blame Perrin for killing him. Adrenaline pumping through his veins and he sees 3 men standing between him and his wife. It was bound to end in blood. However, while Rolan was a bit of a creep at times he didn’t deserve to die like that after helping Faile. Now that I think about it though, he was sort of trying to steal her from Perrin, Rolan’s death was inevitable.
Tam finally learned that Rand is the dragon reborn, after I think around 3 years. I would have expected he would know by now, but I guess the two rivers is notorious for being secluded.
Perrin and seanchan captain has a quite nice mutual respect for each other, another bridge to seanchan relations has been built.
After all these deaths, failures, and triumphs, Perrin and Faile are finally reunited! I am interested to see where the story goes with them, maybe they will go after Masema?
Mat
Mat is always an enjoyable read, and now he has accepted that he can’t escape his luck and the battlefield, Mat now just tries to work out a way to make as little people die as possible.
I have to talk about Moiraine first of course. She is confirmed to be alive, which I hoped for and expected. However, didn’t expect it to take this many books. I have been waiting to long for this, I missed her so much and I am excited for her to be back hopefully soon.
Mat and Tuon are my second favourite couple so far, after Nynaeve and Lan, they have a great dynamic!
From the start Mat knew that he would marry Tuon, but she was slowly deciphering whether this man was truly who she would marry. She did ask many seemingly random questions which was a big giveaway. The build up was worth it though, she completely confuses Mat by doing it out of the blue and revealing her prophecies from her damane. Hilarious moment!
I feel Tuon growing on me but then I remember that she agrees with slavery and leashing those who can channel. I am conflicted on her, but maybe she will change. We have a love-hate relationship.
Mat, please just go free Moiraine already. Please.
Rand
While he hasn’t had the spotlight for a few books, his chapters are always full of major plot points and revelations which are always great.
Lews Therin is creeping in like a parasite, taking control of the power and Rand even confuses his thoughts with Lews Therin. One lack of control and that could be it for Min or others around him. Disturbing thoughts.
One minute I was watching a lovely wedding between Loial and Erith, the next there is thousands of trollocs outside the window. The juxtaposition is crazy.
The new weaves are really powerful, it can’t be nice for random dead trollocs to appear outside your house though.
Did Semirhage expect to defeat Rand? I think there is some other plot she has. Semirhage went down too easy for that to be her only plan. Potentially trying she is trying manipulate his allies to go to the shadow. Or like many of the forsaken are just arrogant.
Hoping that Rand gets his hand back, I loved Rands swordplay and It will absolutely cause issues. Surely he can use the power to create a fake hand.
Breaks my heart, to see Rand so calm after all he goes through. Poor guy. Cadsuane needs to teach Rand to feel again and quickly!
Seanchan truce incoming. Rand will now see what Mat has been up to while he has been battling the forsaken.
Egwene
Thoroughly enjoyed her political manoeuvrings around the white tower, slowly planting seeds of dissent between the different layers of aes sedai. Egwene is great at scheming and manipulation; she is a genius. Not the best person though.
I have a lot of respect for Egwene. Multiple strappings a day, and she carries on twisting the aes sedai, what a powerhouse!
Egwene is consistently interesting to me, I think she will play a big part over the next few books.
Elayne
Elayne was great late in the book, while lacking a bit at the start.
She was overconfident this book, just because she won’t die any time soon (min’s viewing) doesn’t mean she can’t be captured. It was very reckless to just burst into the BA’s house and expect to live.
I loved Vandene getting her revenge on Careane, what a way to go, her short storyline was amazing. Amazing but tragic.
I found it weird how an aes sedai sent by Elaida just stormed in, said Elayne would regret sending her away and ran off. There had to be something larger going on with her.
Problem after problem kept pilling up, but she dealt with them with resilience and it somewhat worked out. A true queen if I ever saw one.
Other
Rand has caused a whole civilisation to kill themselves. Let’s hope he never finds that out. This was a really horrifying moment, left my mouth open for a while.
Taim is not a forsaken, but just a very high ranking dark friend it seems. He must be very high ranking to know about the lord of chaos. What if he is a newly raised forsaken? Only the forsaken know about the lord of chaos, not regular dark friends. I don’t know how one would raise a darkfriend though, does it come with new abilities or just being closer to the dark one?
RJ is great at the small details however he doesn’t touch upon the slavery stuff, which I find weird. Could just be me though.
Overall
This book ends so many dragging storylines, I can’t wait for the next!
I’m sad this is the last Robert Jordan book, but I’ve heard that Brandon ended it well, I watched a few videos on him and read his eulogy on RJ and he seems very kind and admires RJ a lot. I don’t know how his writing style is though, maybe someone can give me an idea of how it compares to RJ?
It is tragic RJ couldn’t finish his series by himself though, but glad someone was found to finish it.
just don’t mess up Nynaeve Brandon!
I probably missed a lot of plot points but I didn’t want this to be too long, and I want to read the next book already.
Book ranking so far - very susceptible to changing:

1. The Shadow Rising
2. The Fires of Heaven
3. The Lord of Chaos
4. The Dragon Reborn
5. Knife of Dreams
6. The Great Hunt
7. The Eye of the World
8. New Spring
9. A Crown of Swords
10. Winter’s Heart
11. The Path of Daggers
12. Crossroads of Twilight

I've always been able to find movies or books that i couldn't remember many details of by just google searching keywords but i have been trying FOR YEARS to find this random foreign film (spanish w/ subtitles). I saw it in like 2009. I don't even remember if i LIKED the movie.
Ok so PLOT from what i can remember is a girl and boy(social outcasts? teens i think maybe like 14-15yrs old) become friends and they "run away" together and their family is trying to find them and they are actually on the rooftop sleeping in a tent for days. At the end the girl is waiting for the boy somewhere? idk but she got like stabbed in the stomach or something ? and was bleeding and he finds her on a rock? and she's dying and he's dragging her and yelling her name over and over and i think her name was "Maru???? " but i could be misremembering the name. then the movie just ends.
It was on one of those high up channels we had on the cable box like in the thousands where they played like sundance movies and foreign films cause i remember i watched pans labyrinth for the first time on this channel too.
(random scene i remember is the girl was in a school like talent show or something and the curtains open and she's hanging from a rope on the stage and everyone freaks out and they go to get her down but she's actually not really hanging it was like a fake out/prank and the rope was around her waist like in the movie " Heathers". and the teachers get her down and she gets in trouble with the school)
If anyone can find this movie for me i will be so grateful because it's been in the back of my head for years and i don't even remember the full plot or character names or anything:(

Been making Fortnite videos for two years now. Have had some success (3.5 Million Views, 10,000 Subscribers) but was never able to actually enjoy what I was doing.
Long-form tutorial-based content is something that's good for my channel but I never enjoyed it. So I started to plan out and consider switching my content to something that I actually enjoy.
I started playing Minecraft and saw that "100 Days" videos do well on YouTube. Thought that it might work to my advantage if I switch to a content that I enjoy, and also something that's more profitable and could possibly help me grow, making this a full-time thing.
I was wondering if its worth to do so? And will it affect my channel if I switch to Minecraft all of a sudden after posting only Fortnite videos for two years? Should I also make this decision or is it bad for business wise?
Appreciate any response at all!

Contextualization: I'm Brazilian and I remember seeing this game (for computer) in a YouTube video from a channel called TazerCraft, I don't remember the exact year, but I believe it was between 2015 and 2018.
I remember that it was a horror game that took place inside a house, the "villain" was a woman (who I don't remember if she was an entity or someone possessed) who had the objective of chasing and killing the player, I also remember that the The house was divided into corridors by shelves, there was also a kind of safe area (because in one part of the map such an entity could not "enter", as there was a type of salt on the floor), the objective was to cross the corridors until reaching a door, which if I'm not mistaken led to a gray room or a black and blue environment, where a terrifying being appeared giving a kind of jumpscare.

Cash Back is the new Rune that refunds 6% Gold from every Legendary Item Purchase. I've been exclusively using Cash Back (as opposed to Magical Footwear) in most of my Games and it feels really good.
By the End of most Games, depending on your Champion/full Build of course, you end up with up to 1000+ free Gold, which definitely helps when you wanna buy that late Game Zephyr. On Champions like Aphelios, where most of the Items cost a lot of Gold (IE, Collector, Yun Tal, LDR etc.) you end up with a solid Advantage. The Rune is better the higher Cost your Items are.
I was pretty skeptical of this Rune at First but now I love it and can't play the Game without it. I usually combine it with either Cosmic Insight for more frequent Flashes or Biscuit Delivery for extra Mana in Lane. I've heard Triple Tonic could be good too.
Opinions?

Contextualization: I'm Brazilian and I remember seeing this game (for computer) in a YouTube video from a channel called TazerCraft, I don't remember the exact year, but I believe it was between 2015 and 2018.
I remember that it was a horror game that took place inside a house, the "villain" was a woman (who I don't remember if she was an entity or someone possessed) who had the objective of chasing and killing the player, I also remember that the The house was divided into corridors by shelves, there was also a kind of safe area (because in one part of the map such an entity could not "enter", as there was a type of salt on the floor), the objective was to cross the corridors until reaching a door, which if I'm not mistaken led to a gray room or a black and blue environment, where a terrifying being appeared giving a kind of jumpscare.

In the original post I made, I worded some of my claims poorly, so I think I should try again. In case you're curious, I was talking about the domsauce's "Chikn Nuggit Parody Show"(CNPS), & its reception compared to the original "Chikn Nuggit"(OGCN), after that I talked about a senario this reminded me of, that being Sealab 2021's cult following. If you don't know, "Sealab 2021" is a parody of the 1970's environmental cartoon called "Sealab 2020", using original footage from the show, but redubbing it for comedic purposes. The difference between this & the Chikn Nuggit shows (besides CNPS making it's own footage) is the popularity. While I have seen a handful of fans claim that CNPS is better than OGCN, that it jack shit compared to how much Sealab 2021 overshadowed Sealab 2020. Because unlike with the Sealab shows, I can look up "Chikn Nuggit" & get either just results for OGCN, or equal results for both shows, if not slightly less results for CNPS. However, even if I look up "Sealab 2020", & NOT "Sealab 2021", I'd still end up getting more results for Sealab 2021 than Sealab 2020, seriously, it made finding any sort of reviews or information about Sealab 2020 insanely annoying, but from what I could gather, Sealab 2020 is split right down the middle, with some claiming that it's s pretty good & others, like IGN weirdly enough, calling it, abysmol. Meanwhile Sealab 2021 got almost universal appraisal from critics & fans, even IGN (again) put it as #79 on their list of the top 100 greatest cartoons of all time. There are other parody series that gained more recognition than the originals (Harvey Birdman, Space Ghost), but I have never seen a parody so recognizable, so popular, & so critically acclaimed, that it put it's source material near obscurity. And that brings us back to the Chikn Nuggit shows, because as I said at the beginning, there are actually fans who said that they think that CNPS is better than OGCN, it's not to the point of being more recognizable, far from it, just look at the sub count of the original's channel & domsauce's channel, but just think about it, the parody, made by one guy, managed to have fans (even if not that many) that prefer it to it's source material, mady by a team of professionals, & has a company funding them. There's even a person who reviewed both shows, slamming OGCN for its characters, dialogue, & humor, while praising CNPS for its characters, dialogue, & humor.(If you're curious, I'll comment the review link.) That reminds me, there was a term for a parody being more popular or better recieved than the original source material, it's called "Parody Displacement". From what I read, it's where a show is more popular or acclaimed than the original works it's parodying by the masses, I say from what I read, because I can't tell if it's for just being more populaacclaimed in general (even slightly), or being specifically "Sealab 2021" levels of popularity & recognition, to where it makes the original so close to, if not completely, unrecognizable. It can also apparently refer to a show being better received for appealing to a different, or more mature audience. Sounds familiar? Yeah, CNPS, while I believe does have the original's fans in mind, seems to also be targeting a different audience, primarily the fans of domsauce's other works, also unlike OGCN, which is for general audiences, CNPS is primarily for adults, with mild to moderate swearing, some sexual reference & themes (cough, cough, "The Obsession", cough, cough), & probably what's it's most famous for, it's very high levels of intense violence & gore!(It's played for laughs, but still.) Of course, OGCN is still more recognizable, & has more views than CNPS, but I still find it fascinating that there are people who like the parody more. Honestly I don't think, nor want what happened to Sealab 2020 to happen to OGCN (thought, I still want the CNPS to succeed), because I think that both shows deserve the praise they get, & I want OGCN to still have it's fans. Though, I do still wonder what would happen if it repeats Sealab's steps. I don't have an exact preference for either show (thought that may change), they do have their strengths & weaknesses, but you can check out other people's posts to see what those are. So yeah, that's my redo of my post about domsauce's parody & Sealab 2021. Did I do it better? I'm not sure! For all I know, I probably fucked up once again here. But I did at least try to correct what I could, & if you wanna see what I originally said, I'll leave it in the comments here. I... don't know how to sign off soooooo... later, I guess.

Live discussion for ongoing professional tennis tournaments

STREAMS	↑ Streaming in the top bar
CHAT	#reddit-tennis, /tennis Discord
SCORES	Protennislive, Flashscore

​

	Week of May 6
ATP 1000 Rome (Rome, ITA)	Schedule Results Draws
WTA 1000 Rome (Rome, ITA)	Schedule Results Draws

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This is the mod account shared by the whole tennis mod team.

Hello, !
Just launched the demo and already working on the update with new content to it. I'm trying to release a demo update every other week with new content, polish and implementing your suggestions. Please wishlist on Steam!
Steam Page
Trailer
Seekers of Eclipse is a Roguelike Deck/City builder. Your goal is to reach the eclipse in time so every day counts. You will travel through the Dark lands choosing which path to take and how to modify your town deck. When you reach enemy fortifications you will have to build town, gather resources and give offerings to god so that it destroys enemy fortifications and you can continue. During the run you will find all kind of different artifacts that will help you in your journey.
Have fun playing!

I posted recently about a used pc from offer up but, per the responses I got, I decided to just build my own. I have been saving up and researching on how to build a pc, and would like to get a top of the line gpu for my needs within a $1500 budget that can last 3-4 years before needing gpu upgrades (unsure if this is possible/worth it). My needs would mainly be for gaming, mostly RPG’s like Skyrim (heavily modded) and Ghost of Tsushima. I also want to be able to do productivity things as I am a stem grad student (cfd, auto cad) and about to start a YouTube channel pretty soon. I will also use the pc for watching videos and movies so I’d like the highest video/game quality within my price range (I know monitors play a huge role but for gaming I’d like 4k or 1080p). I’ll list the specs I have in mind (should be a link to pc part picker) so I would appreciate any advice or suggestions on any substitutions as I’m not sure which gpu would be best for this build. Sorry if this was incredibly long but I would appreciate any feedback and discussion.
PCPartPicker Part List:
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Ykttfy
Total: $1400.75

Top of one league by 7 points and in my work H2H I’m level on points with 1st going into the last game and playing someone that no longer does their team. I still don’t think I can risk - Points. Do I stick with Pickford (transfer out Ederson) or do I change Gordon for Olise/Eze/Someone else.

Hello, everyone!
First, allow me to introduce myself. I IS CISCO, and I make animations on YT. I want to do long form story time animation content. Over the last 5 months, I have found that this is a very time consuming niche to pursue. I have resorted to making short form memes just to keep my channel alive in between uploads.
With that said, over the past couple of weeks I have seen a few post asking if animation is worth pursuing with monetization in mind. The simple answer in NO. This genre of videos is not worth pursuing for those that expect instant gratification. Anyone who does YT (regardless of genre) will always tell you that monetization should always be an afterthought.
However, the emotional satisfaction is sure as hell worth it. I can't imagine a better feeling than watching your drawings move and tell a story. Even if its just an "animatic", I enjoy watching peoples charming characters play out a scene. Trust me, the satisfaction of people enjoying what you made, makes all the effort and time worth it.
If there is any YT animators reading this, I want to see your channels. Lets keep each other motivated.
P.S: Some useful resources to post WIPs or finished videos since you can't post them here. animation and StorytimeAnimation
TL;DR: Animation channels are not for those trying to make a quick buck, but its one of the most satisfying niches to be a part of.

Various blog sites, social media channels, doctors and other health care providers sometimes give out information that does not play along with scientific data there is. They base of no science or on studies that rather speak out a theory than any proof (For example in MCAS (Molderings): MCAS may play a role in long covid). For health care specialists, this is quite easy to debunk and realize as not authentic -> a GP: "I read halfway through a book of Afrin and did not find his assumptions are validated by his sayings.", but not for laypersons and apparently also not for even some other supposed specialists.
The reason for that may be, that giving people an easy explanation gives them much attention (for their blog sites, social media channels) and also money of pharmacy/brand deals or just them believing in the fake information as it is so wide spread.
Conflict of interest in the healthcare industry
Possibilities and Pitfalls of Social Media for Translational Medicine
.
Mass psychogenic illness

It seems I've spent months avoiding trailers and extended previews for this new season.
It was torture. So glad that's over Finally.
And this first episode that kicked off Season 2--Amazing.
Like, they didn't miss a beat.
I've already watched the episode several times--
and here are some quick thoughts:

Welcome welcome welcome Delainey!
She was soo good.
I am a fan.
"...just one that ain't a damn bastard!!"
Yes ma'am.

1. I know we can't linger.

But I wish we/they had gotten to spend more time with Daciana.
The parallels with her house--the dead/dying/in-between children/corpses scattered and piled around her rooms--
her manic yet drained spirit--the way she throws herself on the fire--
it was obviously very similar to Lestat's nightmarish ordeal with Magnus.
At least I thought so. The big exceptions being Daciana actually talking with them a bit
and giving a little bit of information/background. Claudia and Louis weren't held captive by her either.
Oh--and she didn't leave them a pile of money either. Damn it.
In my private version--I'd like to think Louis and Claudia at least got to spend the night with her--
that they got way more powerful via Daciana giving them the last of her blood.
I know the show had her as sick via the melancholy malaise of the local humans.
But it would have been cool for her to maybe gift them a relic or hidden tome--something magical and dormant maybe--
and also upgrade them before she killed herself at dawn.
It was just so sudden.
Claudia did all that heavy lifting only for her joy to be snuffed right out.
Who knows- Daciana could have gotten well and ended up being a bastard just like the others.
I wonder how old she was.

1. I love Bailey's Claudia. But I'm already in love with Delainey and her version.

I did hear her British accent bleed through a couple of times though.:)
It also kind of makes sense, in a strange way, that it's a different actress playing the role.
We're most likely going to see a lot of the first part recounted, retold, recanted, revised.
It's kind of fitting that we have two Claudia's. I know it wasn't on purpose.
But I think it (inadvertently) adds to this adaption.

1. The back of the truck scene with Louis and Claudia. Incredible.

The editing. The close-ups. The shadows.
Delainey's beautiful face. Jacob's beautiful face.
The monologue. The intensity.
The shot of Lestat turning to Claudia.
The music!!
Absolutely beautiful.
I watched it over and over and over.

1. I should watch the rest of the season with subtitles enabled.

I was watching a recap on youtube and that person had on subtitles
and I realized there was some dialogue that I had missed or not heard correctly.
I won't make that mistake again.
I could say so much more but this post would be 100 pages.
Wow. This was just the first episode.
And you know it's only going to get better.
I cannot fucking wait.
Also real quick--there's a clip on YouTube of Jacob, Delainey, and Sam
watching and commenting on that amazing scene in the truck. It's a must watch.
(It's on the TV Insider channel. Search their names Sam, Delainey, Jacob - TV Insider)
See you guys tomorrow night!

1330 Terran Front Fleet Time
On the Turinika homeworld, the first signs of unrest began to manifest like a wave, The broadcast of the most esteemed Tizikikoonazikiakakiatkata, Taratanti of the roost Kazatalak, openly performing the act of Kavsa had been met with shock. The last Taratanti who had voluntarily performed Kavsa had done so in protest of the treatment of the Kulorn caste, nearly two thousand years prior. It was an ancient rite, one that signified rejection of the greatest shame. Even more shocking than the act itself was the evidence that had followed it. Visuals of species, brought into the Conclave, not as migrant workers as had been believed, but as slaves, was met with an almost immediate attempt at censorship. This attempt failed spectacularly, mostly due to those who had been tasked to censor the information not only refusing to follow the command, but openly declaring that they had been ordered to do so. A situation that was already, as the humans would say, out of hand, spiraled completely out of control. Within only twenty minutes of the ending of Tizikikoonazikiakakiatkata’s broadcast entire cities entered a state of absolute anarchy. Two planetary capitals were stormed and taken by the furious civilian population, demanding the location of those who had been enslaved. The Turinika Armada, which even then was in the middle of a training session meant to prepare the fleet to withstand the Terran Front’s assault, began to cease operations. Within the hour, the entire armada would be recalled to the turnika homeworld. Those who did not take to the streets simply stopped whatever work they were doing and went to their homes to be around their brood. Images of Tizikikoonazikiakakiatkata with his stripped wings spread wide in front of the human fleet commander were on every news fed of the Conclave, as was the sound of his thunderous voice, and the wails of despair from a turinika female that couldn’t be seen. Close ups of the human fleet commander’s face were shown, with analysts remarking on the shock, horror, and sympathy. Since the outbreak of the Seventh Orion War, the female human known as Simmons had been reported to have made several threats towards the turinika, she had quickly become seen as a warmonger, ready to take revenge against the turinika for refusing to go to war and violate their principles of pacifism. Now the images of her lunging forward to stop the violation of Tizikikoonazikiakakiatkata’s plumage, the agonized expression of her face, and the true reason for her threats against the turinika were rapidly reversing her image. On far flung deep core mining stations and agricultural stations, on deep space stations dedicated to material processing, and in other areas hidden from the sight of the normal turinikan population, overseers and taskmasters felt their hearts run cold at the knowledge that very soon, their part to play in the willful enslavement of another species would be known to the wider Conclave. As the data package transmitted alongside the broadcast were fully decompressed and the scale of the Conclave’s government’s involvement was revealed, the entirety of the Conclave itself was teetering on the verge of absolute pandemonium. The image of a member of the kolra species, from the look of it barely a hatchling, quickly was becoming the face of the entire incident. The picture was absolutely damning, and the sight of the image had sent any who saw it instantly into contorting and painful displays of shame. The young kolra was sprawled on it’s stomach, looking to the one taking it’s picture with eyes that had no life in them. It’s shell covered it’s back, and despite the age of the kolra it was already dulled and scuffed. The foot pressing down on the shell was unmistakably familiar to those who saw it, the clawed feet of a turinika. Within the hour, billions of winged figures stood in streets, the normally soft spoken and passive species demanding action, demanding justice, on the hundred worlds of the Turinika Conclave. The bulk of the Taratanti caste, most of whom had been left in the dark of the truth of the situation, quickly went public with their own declaration of outrage, and the eyes of the entire species turned inwards to the mountainous homeworld of their species.
Hakuri Watanabe looked down at his helmet before putting it on his bed, the stylized SEVEN seeming to stare at him. He sat down in his chair and picked up a small cloth from his buffing kit. No one knocked on his door, in fact, mostly he and the rest of his squad were left alone before a major operation. They were just given their time, time to mentally prepare. Some of his squad would go over their mission briefing, some, like him, would spend their time doing something to relax themselves. Hakuri always found that taking care of his suit calmed him considerably. Granted he could simply turn it over to the squads armorers to be tended to and they would do as good of a job as he could, but he preferred it to be done by his own hand. The symbol of a triangle was on his form fitting shirt, the symbol of his special operations command unit. He was known as a Myrmidon, but the official title of his unit was Section Three. He knew this, his superiors knew this, and as far as Hakuri knew, most of the Terran Front was aware of his unit’s existence, but past that, they knew very little about what he actually did. As far as his mother knew, Hakuri was a pencil pusher onboard the TFS Berlin, the troop mothership that all of his letters were sent from. He thought about writing her, but then again, he only liked to do that when he returned from a mission, not when he was expecting to go to one. If he tried to write her when he was waiting, he would just get anxious, and homesick. That wouldn’t do when he was dropping into a combat zone. That wouldn’t do at all. Hakuri instead started to buff his helmet, waiting for the word to come down which meant they were prepared to jump. A glance at the clock made him pause in his circular rotations. The clock said 1330. Operation Naked Sun was about to begin.
Tika was on his side, Kzia standing at the end of the medical bed that had been adjusted for his turinikan physiology. He felt cold in more ways than one. For his people, clothing was more of a decoration than a necessity, but without his protective plumage he felt the cold stabbing him through to his hollow bones. His diplomatic access was already gone, his privilege access revoked. He heard the broadcast for a preparation to jump, but he wasn’t truly listening. There was no question in his mind he had made the right decision. There was no question at all. One of the humans, a nurse, came to his side and gently laid a heavy blanket over him. The human’s hand lingered on his trembling body for a few moments before it was removed, and Tika glanced in their direction. The female was one of the ones who had responded first to the call for medical service for him, had heard what had happened and why. Tika had gotten very used to being glared at on this ship. He was hated, and he knew it. He knew he had deserved it. He was a party to the vral’s enslavement of the humans, the chua, and far too many others. When he had come to Thermopylae station, he had not even given that fact a single thought. He was born into power, being of the Taratanti. He belonged to the most powerful species and government in the entire quadrant of the galaxy. His people, while mighty, did not seek to use it. To him, they had simply been above it all. When the vral had approached him with the offer to sell captured species at first TIka had wanted to reject it out of hand, but a few had told him to go through with the sale. Such was the nature of this galaxy, or so he had believed. The weak were at the whims of the strong, and one’s place in the galaxy was determined only by the power they could wield. The turinika were not nearly the first to have taken a species and used it for slave labor, and while Tika did not approve of the deal, he had not fought it either. As he looked back to the wall, he remembered what the humans had taught him these last days. When he had arrived in Thermopylae he had assumed he would find the chua species to have been at the very least regulated to a subservient role, if not outright enslaved. Finding them sharing power was a curiosity. He had expected to be treated with all the honor and dignity that his station demanded, that the power of his government demanded. Fleet Marshal Simmons had disabused him of that, and had left him humiliated and shamed. As he had laid in the dark as Simmons had declared the Seventh Orion War, covered in his own filth, feeling as if at any moment he was going to be killed he knew true fear and horrific uncertainty for the first time in his life. He had never faced these emotions, these sensations before. He had always been in power. He had stood with the full might of the Turinika Conclave behind him. He had never known anything other than the superior position. Now, as he lay in the hospital bed, staring at the wall, he was ashamed of how arrogant, how blind, and how short sighted he had been. After he had risen from his own filth, he had desperately tried to convince his leadership of the strength of the Terran Front, how it matched or eclipsed their own. The Conclave was not the unchallenged power in the quadrant anymore. The terrans, the human and chua, had somehow defied fate. They had not fallen to the vral after ninety years of near constant conflict, and now if Tika was right they had come out of it nightmarishly stronger than before. Tika had actually begged to be heard by his superiors, and he had never come close to that once in his life. The chua homeworld however, had fully broken him. If he had not been on the Antares, had not been humbled beforehand, he knew that he would have just clapped his hands together and said that it was delightful. As the transmission from the chua homeworld had come in, and the rescue effort had begun, he could only wallow in his own shame. He had profited directly from the chua’s suffering, the human’s suffering. Again he had tried, and failed, to convince his people, and again he had failed. Being on the Antares, for him, was torture. The lights were too dim, every human and chua looked at him with nothing more than loathing and contempt, his entire worldview had been shattered from the way he viewed the galaxy to his own place in it. Every time he closed his eyes he saw the shadow of Simmons standing over him, her voice cold with a lethal rage, hearing her voice echo in his mind, seeing the glint from flashes of light shining in her eyes. ‘We Know.’ echoed in his mind in his sleep, the voice of the terrifying Fleet Marshal transforming into the sound of a vengeful god demanding compliance and promising retribution. Then he had watched the humans and chua, who he knew were preparing to go to war with his people, celebrating the return of the shesvie. Once more he had expected them to be integrated into the Terran Front, but as soon as he learned Simmons offer to them, and what it had entailed, he had been called to his room to answer the latest message from his people. Once again, his people had doubled down, the knowledge of the enslavement of the humans had been suppressed, and once more Tika found himself, and his people, standing against a Terran Front that had every justification to declare war, to right the wrongs that had been done to them. All the while, he knew something else. He knew that, after everything he had seen, that his people would lose. The turinika had not been to war for nearly two thousand years. His people were not ready for what the Terran Front could do, and after seeing what they had done to the vral so far, he knew his people were not ready for what the Terran Front would do. He was afraid of the dark. Tika was absolutely terrified of it now, because now he knew the monsters were real. Simmons had shown him that, but the humans, the chua, they were not the monsters. He was. He had refused to be one any more. He had announced his intentions to his staff, who had squalled in rejection, all but three. Kzia was the first to step to his side, Kikumot and Tziki had stepped forward as well. Never, in his most nightmarish dreams, did he ever think that he would stand in front of Simmons and voluntarily have his plumage stripped from him, performing the act of Kasva. He never thought that his staff would have ever compiled and transmitted the data package they had sent. He had never thought that he would betray his people, if only to save them. Simmons had changed that, the humans had changed that. He knew the terror of the dark, he knew fear for his people’s safety, he understood the horror of war, and for the first time in his long life he could truly look back at every interaction he had had, with every species, that had asked for help in their struggle for survival against the vral and truly understand their fear and desperation. Now he lay, his plumage stripped from him, his station revoked, his status removed, surrounded by a people who despised him. He wouldn’t have it any other way now. He knew that they would listen now, if not to him, then to the civilian masses of the Conclave that would not stand for what they had done. He prayed to the Great Mother often now, shivering in the dim light, hoping that it would be enough. He had been wrong, and in his error he had sullied his own people. He had made them complicit. Even now, he did not know how they would ever be forgiven, because right now he wasn’t quite sure he could ever forgive himself. As he heard the broadcast calling out on the ship, announcing one minute to jump, he felt a hand on his side, and looked up to the human nurse. She was smiling at him. Not a smile born of malice, or anger, but a genuine smile. She patted his side lightly, then turned to walk out of the room. For not even the twentieth time since he had come onboard Thermopylae, he was mystified by these people.
The bridge of the Dhampir was thrumming with music and the vibrations of the reactor and Conrad leaned forward in his chair mount, his eyes almost feral as he looked at the empty space that was the mandeville point. He was positively chomping at the bit. Batz was positively roaring the lyrics to the song that was blaring over the ships speakers. Rev and Dev sat side by side in their mounts, throwing their hands up in time with the pounding bass beat of the sound. Towns was the only one besides Conrad that was quiet, both of them looking towards the mandeville point with complete impatience. Conrad felt like jumping from his skin. Fidget, well, fidgetted, holding his hands over his headset and listening as if he were trying to hear secret messages in the music. They were ready, their pulses were racing. The crew of the Dhampir was positively vibrating. Conrad looked to the shipboard clock, seeing 1330 displayed, and his head snapped to Fidget, waiting for the word. They were going to run, they were going to chase, they were going to hunt.
Vicky sat back, looking towards Jess and Kukat as they slept. Jess was in her chair, Kukat in her medical bed. Vicky glanced back at the block print on the paper and read it for the fifth time. She read the individual lines, one at a time, cursing their existence. After reading through the message printed she let her hand hang again. Kukat would be released from medical tomorrow, and both her and Jess still thought they would be boarding the Thumper to join the Vellacore once more. Jess had talked non-stop about her quarters on the Vellacore the past few days, how she just wanted to be back in her room. Kukat was equally excited. Only Vicky didn’t share their excitement. They didn’t know yet. They didn’t know about their battlefield promotions, they didn’t know about their reassignments, they didn’t know the days of them working together were functionally over. Vicky looked down at her hand holding the paper again, and felt like crumpling it. She had lost her crew. She had lost them not due to negligence, or time, she had lost them to fame. Kukat was to be promoted to ensign, and was to be the sensor officer on the destroyer Hadrian, Jess was getting the same promotion, her station on the cruiser Victorious. Vicky? She was the sparkling new commanding officer of a destroyer that was arriving at Thermopylae in two days, the Quarrel. She never wanted this. She had turned down promotion after promotion that would take her from the cockpit of the Thumper, away from Kukat, away from Jess. She wanted to serve in this war in her own way, as a pilot, with the two who had made her life so enjoyable. Now though, they were to be split up, and there was nothing she could do about it. These promotions hadn’t come from simple seniority, they had come from High Command, as had the orders. Tomorrow, when Kukat was released, they would be ushered into the hanger bay of the Barrowmore. They would all three be awarded the Star of Terra, then they would be reassigned. Tonight was the last night they would all be together. Vicky wanted to wake them up, she wanted to tell them, to give them a chance to process it. As she looked to Kukat and Jess she couldn’t bring herself to do it. She held up the letter again, reading the first few lines, then she felt the sting of tears in the corners of her eyes. She looked away, her heart panging with sadness, and stared at the wall. The clock read 1330.
Corporal Brandy was sitting on the small rack, with Janet Shippen sitting between his legs using his thighs as armrests. They were both dressed for the first time in the last few hours, both of them staring at the clock. This close to the reactors they could feel them beginning to spool up for the trip through hyperspace. When the news of the operation had come down they had elected to spend as much time together as possible, which Brandy had enjoyed to no end, and he had made sure Janet had as well. Brandy had even taken some time to reach out to his sister Victoria, a rarity for them both, as since they were children they were often barely able to speak to each other simply due to schedules. He had even told her about Janet, and although he hadn’t gotten a response from his sister yet he already knew what she would say. Janet nestled back against him, but he could feel her body was stiff. Neither of them knew what the next few months were going to hold. Their time together might be constricted, in fact, this might be the last few moments they were together for quite awhile. Brandy’s Ghouls were specialists, ship boarders. Chances are he was going to be extremely busy, as was she. He didn’t quite know how he felt about Janet, but he did know that beyond a shadow of a doubt he didn’t want to be away from her. Judging from how she was acting, she felt the same as him, conflicted about her relationship with him, but not wanting to be apart. He knew what he needed to tell her, that he had to get up, that he had to leave. The Ghouls were going to be assembled at 1345, ready to board. Her unit was going to be prepared at the same time, to begin taking on salvage. Her hands were like clamps on his legs, and from how tense she was, he wasn’t going to get up until she was good and ready. The clock on the wall switched to 1330. He stared at the clock, feeling like the clock was mocking him, when suddenly Janet leaned up and turned. Her hands took hold of his shoulders and she threw her body against his, her lips finding his own. Her arms wrapped around her frame and he tightened his grasp on her.
Simmons spread her hands over the panel in front of her, looking at the table. Seven points connected the recently reclaimed chua space to what was former Shesvie territory, and beyond that, the heart of the Vral Empire. Her lip curled in a wicked smile, On the digital display of the table the hyperspace lanes, and more importantly, the avenues of attack her fleet was preparing to take. She held out her hand, all five fingers splayed over the lanes, envisioning the war as it stood now. The war to come. Seven hyperspace lanes, seven systems, branching out into sixteen, branching out again to another twenty. The Antares herself was going to link up with the Barraki, and was set to simply plough through the next five systems to do so. Slowly she tightened her hand into a fist as she looked along the hyperspace lanes, seeing task forces lined up and ready to jump. Drones had already been sent through. The vral had forces along the border, but nothing that could withstand what was to come. Her fleet was ready. She was ready. The Seventh Orion War was at the end of it’s first month, and had taken back six systems. The first moves of Operation Naked Sun would double that and exceed it, then double it again. She had already given her speech, her task force commanders were ready. High Command had taken it’s time making this decision, and while she had railed against the delay that didn’t matter now. All along the front, individual task forces were joined into larger fleets, ready to jump into the next system and eliminate any vral defenses, but unlike now, they simply would not wait. Naked Sun was to be a lightning strike to cut off as much of the Vral Empire as possible, to deny them their own space, to imprison them on their own worlds. Task Forces were designed around three types of vessels combinations, Lighthammer Task Forces were comprised of corvettes and fast destroyers, the fastest vessels in the fleet, meant to take systems quickly, to devastate unprotected infrastructure, and to eliminate light resistance. Simply put, they were going to swarm into vral space, determine pockets of resistance, and move on. They were going to rip entire sections of vral space from them, calling in other task groups if needed. Thunder task groups were the primary capital fleets, meant to be sent into those pockets of resistance, and neutralizing them, joining with the Lighthammer groups if needed. The cruisers, carriers, battleships, they all belonged to these task forces. Her own task force was called the Nova task force, and it comprised only the Antares and it’s sizable fleet escort. Simmons glanced up at the clock, the time was 1329. She breathed in slowly, then unbidden the thought came to her head and she looked to the report from the two habitable planets that had been scanned by the drone cutters, the information having been relayed to her almost twenty minutes prior. She was not worried about the ground campaign, in fact a reserve fleet from Thermopylae would be the ones to escort the landing ships from planet to planet that her fleet left behind in it’s wake, isolated and defenseless from the wider Vral Empire. Fleet escorting was no longer her job, protecting ground invasions were no longer her job. Simmons was positively growling now, as her only job was to take her fleet and use it to rip the vral out of the stars. Still, the thought nagged at her. On both of the planets that her fleet was set to overrun, there were Vral ships in orbit. On the first, there was evidence that the Vral had been bombarding a small area of the surface, extremely similar in size to the hole that now existed on Zvitia, the planet that even now was being integrated into the Terran Front. In the second system it showed Vral ships in orbit, but whatever they were doing during the time they had taken the scans, whatever they were covering up, they didn’t seem to have gotten to it yet. On the radiological scan of the planet a massive bloom of electromagnetic energy painted a broad region of the planet blistering white. She had sent the images back to Earth, back to High Command, but no one seemed to know what was happening. The one thing that every analyst agreed on so far that was that whatever the blooms represented, it meant nothing good. She took another long look at the radiological scan, seeing the intensity of the radiation, and her lip curled in a snarl. She couldn’t think about that right now, but orders had already been given to notify her the moment that they had taken a planet that still bore the radiation signal. The vral were being damned fastidious about it though. She pulled her thoughts away from it, looking back to the hyperspace lanes. The slow grin entered her features again. She glanced at the clock. 1330. Her hand took hold of the receiver next to her station and she pressed the transmission stud, knowing that Hazard had already opened a channel to the wider fleet.
“Commence.”

Party: All level 17, using level 16 starting treasure, free level 16 item, 10k bonus gold plus some items to be bought at half price
Myself the Human Nephilim Commander with Undead Master Archetype for 3 feats (about same power level in Commander, chose Ghost to not have free Strides). Ritualist dedication feat for fun at 12th, and multitalented at 13th for Summoner Dedication with Plant Eidolon for Dex and Wis. Used Scythe and had banner attached to it, worshipped Urgathoa to have a vendetta against the Gray Gardeners.
Ally 1, Human Guardian with Bastion archetype and a shortbow, bastion shield feat to use a shield with the bow for shielded taunt, ranged taunt, and the multi-target taunt. first 2 combats bodyguard target was alchemist, final combat was Commander
Ally 2, Orc(?) Fighter with Glaive, lunging stance, and ability to change size. Psychic dedication to use acid splash with ready, aim, fire
Ally 3, Human Chiurgeon Alchemist made as a last hour join before we started.
First fight against the guillotine construct, I used Plant Banner and Piranha Assault tactic which nullified most of the difficulty of the fight. Guardian's intercept foe and intercept strike with 3 reactions brought manueverability and surviveability to the Guardian which when combined with the plant banner temp hp; they felt very strong and useful. Alchemist and Fighter added persistent damage from multiple sources which helped take down the construct, before it went down from persistent damage, it got a hit and two nat20s against the Commander. Guardian blocked the damage but the wording of the ability gave the Commander the fort save to avoid beheading, which were successful.
Second fight against the triple Lesser Deaths, as we were messing with runes, I planted banner since there was nothing stopping me from having it planted in the middle of the room before combat that we saw. I used nearly every round, Ready, Aim, Fire! No one went down during the entire combat but I got close to 8 hp from the LD's using their in game meta knowledge to target my eidolon at -6 AC. Chiurgeon participated in RAF once with Spirit Charge and the LD ignored the damage. My rounds as the commander primarily consisted of using Fortunante Blow with a runeless fist dealing 1d4 +5 + 4 damage with 1-2 successful hits, using RAF, and if the LD next to me tried to teleport to hit an ally I used Reactive Interference to just deny it since their level was not greater than mine. Chiurgeon healed, and their Spirit Charge granted enfeebled 2 which when combined with guardian taunt for 1 round prevented over 150 damage from multiple strikes including a keen 19. Guardian was kinda dancing between 2 party members at any time and taking hits for the rest of us.
Third fight was against a GM anti-party after destroying a final blade, the anti-party was a reach fighter, a water kineticist, and a Guardian. I went first and used Form up to help party march to the enemy faster so we could use reactions since most of the party went before most of the enemies. The kin did very little, and the Guardian's reactions were destroyed by a combo of Piranha Assault reducing their resistance to 2, and Reactive Interference preventing one from happening in the first place every round. Our Guardian made me the body guard target since I was getting hit a lot and the alchemist not at all, and it helped to reduce my near death from being heavily targeted. The GM had bad rolls on this fight so once the fighter went down we all agreed it would just be a number of rounds to victory rather than any question of winning so we ended it there.
Overall, I think the Commander has certain abilities that are too strong, and with so few learned tactics slots there is little reason to pick other abilities.
Plant banner is too weak in the beginning but too strong in late game, 2 until level 5, then it's 4 until 10, 5 until 15, then it becomes 5 + level which is 20 at 15. And given that the temp hp from it is when you plant the banner, and at the start of each of your ally's turns makes it too strong at 15, but not something that worth taking before.
Ready, Aim, Fire! is when combined with a party who optimized for being good at ranged attacks/cantrips, can be frighteningly good, we still had good results with very minor synergy with it.
The Guardian player felt good, with the increased damage resistance, the temp hp, the multiple reactions, and ability to move quickly across the battle field they felt like they did contribute to the fight. The sheer amount of actions from reactions and the free stuff from them plus the action compression from shielded taunt is amazing. But compared to the 5th level play, it felt good here and bad there, which is not something one wants to see since lower level play is much more frequent. The multiple reactions should probably come earlier, and the ability to go later in combat without delaying since that loses your reactions until you come out of delay would be appreciated. Something similar to Swash's After You.
Since this is focused on the playtest I didn't talk about the Fighter or the Alchemist much, but the alchemist's healing came in quite clutch to prevent party members from going down, and the Fighter was the main source of consistent damage with their feat that gives flat damage on a failed attack with the press trait.
The fights took longer IRL and in combat than most of our like 4-5 other run throughs from the home game and the several playtests since then. Kin being the fastest at LD due to TPK in like round 4 thanks to the manipulate and concentrate trait on everything Kin back then.