Capture the flag type

Part 1: https://www.reddit.com/HFY/comments/1cxj7h8/comment/l52vtd5/?context=3
*****

The Palatini of Orias journey took nine grueling days of traveling down the peaks of Torness Mountain Range. But at long last, they reached the Coralus Valley. While the temperature was far below what the half-elf usually enjoyed, it was far better than the mountain peaks.
They traveled through the valley, trying to avoid the multiple hostiles, villages, and anyone else who could tip off their enemies. They had to take every tedious path imaginable to prevent possible contact with the enemy.
Staring at their destination, Fraeya Holiadon could not decide if she should be thrilled or distorted at the sight. "Is this the place?"
"I believe so," Raegel said. "The pattern of the structures matches my drawings and the map. See the remains of the two walls?"
"And the stone rings that direct out," Henness said.
"So, you have read the legends," Raegel said, surprised by the centurion's knowledge of the temple.
"I always prepare before a mission," Henness said. "Those half rings, are they stone or artificial?"
"They look like stone, so I think they used the ground stone and molded them," Raegel said.
Fraeya Holiadon carefully stared at the temple ruins. All she could see was the destruction—fractured stone buildings, walls, weed-infested stone pavement, and so on. While there were still many stone structures, most were destroyed. She could only see death, not the walls her father could see.
She turned to ask her father what he was talking about but saw Centurion Fionntan Henness pointing toward the walls and other details.
Watching the two communicate about the features of the temple, she realized how out of depth she was. Her father spent generations studying ruins like this, while Henness is an experienced soldier. For Fraeya, this was her first mission outside the academy supervision, and she realized how different the world was compared to the classroom.
As the two spoke, her elf ears overheard Henness mention that he saw green webbing. As the two men debated what creatures could create that webbing, she already knew based on the type of webbing. Being an excellent student, she recalled the topic regarding intelligent monsters. While many species produce a web, only one creates a thick green. Goblins.
"Father," Fraeya said. "I think goblins made those webbings."
"How could you possibly know that?" Henness asked, unconvinced by the theory. "It would easily be Rorgo or a Kipt."
Fraeya reached into her backpack and pulled out her notepad. She flipped through the pages and responded, "Kipt is more silk-like, while Rorgo is more for capturing prey. Both are white. Only Goblins make green."
"She is correct," Raegel said. "The green should have been a given."
"Alright," Henness said. "That complicates things."
"How so?" Fraeya asked. "The academy said they are weak. Adventures and local militia kill them constantly, so your men should be able to wipe them out with your weaponry easily."
"Goblins are weak in small numbers, but they are a nightmare in large numbers," Henness said. "And depending on the horde, they adapt to who their enemies are quickly. For all I know, we could be fighting a nest that is as heavily armed as we are."
Fraeya looked back toward the next with much confusion. She knew about the goblin's ability to adapt. However, her teachers never stated how formal they could be. Only treating them as barbarians is a functional civilization. "I would think the academy would mention something like that."
"If you are going to be out here in the world, you must understand that life is very different from the classroom," Henness said. "The difference between someone who lives behind a desk versus someone on the ground. Now, I need to get my forces ready for our attack."
Once the centurion left, Fraeya looked at her father. "I am starting to get the impression that my schooling wasn't as truthful as I once thought."
Raegel chuckled at the statement from his daughter. "That is what I said when I left my academy in Thali'ean," he said with a short chuckle before he spoke. "Henness was correct; there is a large gap between the classroom and out here in the world."
"I see. So, now, what do we do?"
"We wait for the legionaries to form a plan. Because time is not on our side, he will want you to assist with your magic. Do you think you can assist? If you are uncomfortable, tell me now, and you can stay here where it is safe."
Feeling a nervous chill creeping down her spine, she looked back toward the temple and breathed heavily. "I admit, I am scared, but I didn't come here to babysit the camp. I want to help."
She felt her father pat her on the back, feeling a sense of pride from his touch.
"That's my daughter."
After an hour of planning, the Palatini of Orias began their assault on the temple ruins. The plan was for a primary team to assault the temple directly, triggering a response from the goblin. The second team would remain on the high ground and pick off the horde.
Fraeya ended up on the right side of the group team. To her surprise, many soldiers were thrilled that they were finally getting into a fight. She wondered, after two weeks of crawling over the mountains and hiding like rodents, they finally got a chance to be soldiers.
The primary assault group she was attached to advance toward the temple once the signal was given. Passing one of the few remaining wall structures, they entered the temple ground. As they swept through the old temple's front sections, the goblins huddled around a fire pit, noticed them, and prepared for battle.
Three legionaries known as circilmen, from the palatini positioned themselves to engage the incoming enemy. Carrying a ranged projectile weapon known as a circiletum, they hid behind the front shield men and fired upon the incoming enemy. They picked off two of the three goblins as the last one quickly crawled under a piece of rubble for cover. Then, the palatini heard a painful screech from the hiding goblin.
Fraeya couldn't help herself but stand there noticing the two fresh corpses. She then watched as two of the swordsmen rushed to the hiding goblin. They reached in and pulled the little green monster out of its hiding spot.
Two swordsmen grabbed the goblin and dragged it from its cover, it jumped on top of one of the legionaries, stabbing its blade into its armor, unable to break through. With a short struggle, the legionary could slam the goblin onto the ground. The other legionary stomped on the body before thrusting his gladius into the monster.
Hearing another screech, Fraeya looked down the stone path and saw goblins popping out of every crack and corner.
One of the legionary officers ordered the unit to reform. The swordsmen took the front with their large scutum shields, creating a two-line protective shield wall. Behind them were the circilmen, taking cover behind the scutum.
The group of goblins charged forward. As they approached, the legionaries saw the raw, starving rage within their dark green eyes—a thirst for primal instincts of food and lust and nothing else.
"Fraeya, is it?"
Hearing her name, she turned to the commanding offer of this group.
"When I give the order, shake the ground." The lower-ranking Centurian said.
Fraeya acknowledged the order as she understood what he was planning.
Turning back to the incoming horde, she watched the three circilmen open fire. The circiletums cut down the forward group of goblins. The ones behind that row suddenly stopped from the shock but were cut down by a second volley.
"Now. Before they scatter."
Fraeya placed her hands together and chanted. The two tiny mana crystals on her gloves blew green as she felt a raw energy channel through her body. A moment later, that glow expanded to the point that it encompassed her hand.
Channeling the mana needed for the spell, Fraeya placed her left hand on the ground.
The stone ground beneath them shook the stone terra, stunning the goblins. Right down the center, cracks formed, and the terra broke apart. The road slightly uplifted into an elevation, forcing the goblins to focus on what was happening.
With the ground disinformed, it prevented the enemy from scattering in an organized manner, allowing the circilmen to fire another volley.
The front scutum marched forward and started cutting down anything that moved. The other line split into two groups. They were marching down the street in an almost synchronized manner. They held their shields high toward the ruins, protecting the circilmen from any incoming projectile. Arrows and magic.
Fireballs flew and impacted the scutum infantry, protecting the flanks. Some of the shields glowed from the impact. The flames engulfed one of the men's arms, and he started to scream from the pain.
The circilmen returned fire, and a firefight began. The sound of their weapons crackled throughout the surrounding area, amplified by the ruined walls. Above the sound of battle were the voices and cries of the wounded—the circiletum that were deployed on the ridge above rained fire from the suppressive team.
The Palatini of Orias pushed deeper into the temple ground as the battle continued. That was until the town began to be consumed by this thick haze, providing cover for the goblins, and restricting visibility for the Lat forces. While not educated to the standards of civilized races, Goblins were not stupid.
"It is a haze," Fraeya said. "They must have a mage somewhere within the nest."
Centurion Fionntan Henness approached their forces and began to regroup. "Can you counter it?"
"No," Fraeya replied. "I never studied Aeromancy magic."
"Nebulo," Henness said. "Our armor and weapons will be less effective."
Fraeya understood his concern. From what she recalled from her classes; goblins have sharp senses. Based on the density of the haze, it was clear even to her that they were planning to force them to huddle and expose themselves to be surrounded, making their ranged weapons worthless.
"We will just have to work around it," Raegel said.
As Frayea prepared herself, she felt a strange feeling throughout her body, almost like some field affecting her body. She saw a female legionary in light armor and a cloak checking over the wounded. One of the few women in the legionary, she could tell she was the unit healer specializing in Sanamancy magic. The women must have placed a barrier to help protect against any poisonous gasses lying within the haze.
Orias advanced through the haze; this forced the soldiers to clump together for safety. As the assault group progressed, they were hit non-stop by the goblin's arrow fire, spears, and fire shots from sling guns. Most of these projectiles caused minor damage thanks to the heavy armor legionary’s wear. However, this did not remove the damage as it brought discomfort and limited their progression to a crawl.
Barely noticing two figures on top of a rooftop through the haze, who were firing slingshots toward their position, she pointed her hand toward a piece of rubble and, with her magic, lifted the debris and projected it through the haze. The rubble temporarily formed a gap in the haze that increased the line-of-sight.
She then called out to the fire battle mage within the unit. The mage realized what was happening and fired multiple firebolts toward the tower. Five bolts impacted the building from different directions, engulfing the structure in flames. Everyone could hear the faint sound of goblins screaming as the building burnt.
With the tower collapsing suddenly, arrows rained through the thick haze, hitting the legionaries in retaliation. While most arrows bounced off the armor, some found exposed spots. Two more legionaries fell to their knees, with one vomiting blood, forcing the healed to focus on the sick over protecting the group.
It became clear that the goblins changed their tactics and poisoned their arrows. While worthless against armor, they could still puncture the underneath clothing and scrap any exposed part of the skin.
A luperca legionnaire picked up an old broken wagon and used it as a shield to protect. With the cover, the lower ranking commanders directed the circilmen to pick off any goblins that peaked above the surface.
Combined with the haze and change of tactic, this formed a strange stalemate between the two sides. The Orias was forced into a defensive; they were well equipped to deal with any goblins who dared to get within melee range. However, the goblins had surrounded and had the range advance as they could see through the haze, allowing them to snipe any legionary who adventured far from the group.
Fraeya saw a blob of acid impact a swordsmen's scutum. The scutum started being consumed by the spell, slowly falling into pieces. The man screamed as he felt his arm burn, desperately untieing the strappings to ditch the heavy shield.
"We need to kill their shaman before we are picked off," Raegel said.
"I agreed," Henness replied. "As long as this haze is here, my suppressive team is useless."
"If I recall," Fraeya said. "A Shaman should be nearby. Someone close enough to maintain this haze and give commands but not put themselves in danger."
"Then I know where it should be," Henness said. "Let's go half-elf."
She felt her ears perk up once she realized the centurion was talking about her. She looked toward her father and saw the 'it is time to prove yourself' look. Taking a deep breath and preparing herself, she gathered behind Henness and six of his men.
The assault unit left the main one and adventurer deeper into the temple grounds. As they reached what remained of an intersection, goblins stormed out of the stone buildings to ambush the legionaries.
With their disciplined reaction, the legionaries immediately adjusted their formation and sliced down the attackers. Henness stood at the center, holding his sword out as flames wrapped around the blade.
As the goblins attacked the swordsmen, Fraeya broke apart the ground on the right flank, knocking many goblins. The one that fell, she entangled them by summoning vines - which trapped the goblins and pulled them into the ground until their death or burial.
She then turned and lifted parts of the ground on the left flank, blocking some of the goblins. This prevented the legionaries from being encircled.
"Reform," Henness ordered. "We need to advance quickly. Stay close."
Once the path was clear, the unit moved toward the building where the goblins had fortified. Henness moved in front of her to provide protection. He held up his shield, deflecting arrows.
"Stay behind me," Henness said.
While not being a military woman, Fraeya quickly learned to accept the chain of command on this quest. On the battlefield, her father told her to listen to Henness as he was a man of war. She realized that the structure and safety of the city and the academy are vastly different in the countryside. Getting behind him, she followed him close behind as he pushed forward, arrows striking his shield, allowing her to get in range for her spell.
The legionaries stopped engaging the incoming goblins, allowing their centurion and the young mage to get closer. Henness reached around his scutum and pressed the amulet attached to the outer shell's center. Once pressed, the large shield briefly glowed before darkening, returning to the standard red with white lining design.
Up ahead, Fraeya saw in full display of the nest. Spikes, fortification, and green webbing filled the gaps between the ruined structures. Skeletons and decomposing bodies littered the areas of their past victims. The goblins were standing in the bunker sections, preparing for battle. With how heavily guarded it was, she concluded that this must be where the Shaman was.
"Fraeya, now!"
Fraeya moved around the man to cast her spell. With a quick chant, her hands glowed green again. As she channeled her mana, an acid attack impacted Henness' scutum. While the added hardening enchantment from the amulet increased the scutum resistance, the acid slowly ate through the large shield.
Stepping from cover, Fraeya aimed her hands at the nest. The ground trembled a little as the front of the nest collapsed on itself from the summoned sinkhole.
With the front entrance open, Fraeya saw the Shaman in plain view—a female, being one of the few within a goblin nest. The Shama looked scared as she looked around where to hide.
Fraeya did not give it time as she cast a spell that created a spike from the ground below the Shaman and pierced straight through the vicious monster, killing it instantly.
As the Shaman staff hit the ground, the haze started to disappear.
Believing that her work was complete after killing the goblin leader, her ears quickly heard footsteps surrounding them.
Noticing that the goblins were about to swarm their position, she took cover behind Henness to protect his rear. She took a deep breath as she felt exhausted from the battle and cast so many spells quickly.
Starting at five goblins that emerged from the ruins, Fraeya watched as they charged toward them. Before they got close, however, each one was sniped from the ridge-side suppressive team.
With a moment of confusion, she stared toward the cliffside and saw the suppressive team. Now that the haze is disappearing, they could snipe off the remaining goblins from their elevation position.
"Good job, half-elf," Henness said, slowly stepping back with a shield aimed at the flames, guiding Fraeya back.
"Stop calling me half-elf," Fraeya yelled. "I am out here risking my life with the rest of you, and don't give me that war is a male-domain thing! I am willing to see this through. Most of my kind would stay home and let you fight, so why do you keep degrading me?"
"Because ideals get people killed," Fionntan Henness replied. "Out here, you must earn that respect within the brotherhood of warriors, especially if you are used to living inside the city walls. People with a self-protected mindset usually end up as food for the worms or get my soldiers killed because they do not understand what it takes to survive."
The centurion then turned to the destroyed nest. "I will say, though, what you did here. It is a good first step for a half-elf." He then turned to give her an approving smile.
Not understanding the humor from the Lat, Fraeya accepted it. From her experience, Lats always had a strange sense of humor. Insults are sometimes seen as compliments while praising could be considered offensive. Saying one thing but meaning another is a common trait for them.
With the remaining palatini coming after clearing the remaining goblins, Fraeya saw her father. She rushed over and hugged him and teared up.
"You did good, my dear," Raegel said as he patted her.
"Is this really what it is like out here?" Fraeya asked.
"Sadly, it is," Fraeya replied. "That is why I never brought you around on my digs."
"I am sorry to interrupt," Henness said. "We are on borrowed time, so can we get at it?"
Fraeya looked toward the centurion with frustration as she wanted a moment with her father. After taking a deep breath, she realized that he was right.
After finishing her hug, she brushed off the goblin's blood and clothing.
"Then we better begin searching for what we came for," Raegel said as he reached for his bag. She watched as he pulled out a perfectly smoothed, pure black orb. By itself, it didn't look impressive. She had seen hundreds of these orbs at the academy or the many workshops within the city.
Raegel held the orb in one hand and activated it with his mana. The orb glowed light blue and fainted, barely emitting any energy. He then took it against the mountain and began scanning.
Not wanting to miss anything, Fraeya quickly pulled out her journal, skipping past all her notes until she reached a blank page. She then began documenting everything her father did, taking in every world and detail.
The palatini began walking through the ruins, heading toward the mountain wall. Raegel explained in his research that the temple extended inside the mountain, like a dwarf borrian. While others who came before him came up with this theory, they were still looking for a way to detect the hidden door markings and find it.
Raegel moved down the side of the mountain, holding the orb high.
"Why are you not using a door-detecting amulet?" Fraeya asked.
"Because people have been using that for generations and found nothing here," Raegel replied.
After a reasonable amount of time when nothing had happened, Fraeya began to wonder if everything was for nothing. Seeing the lack of progress, Henness inquired if the orb failed to work. As Raegel replied, the orb suddenly blimped orange for a moment.
Witnessing the sudden change, the group backed away as they did not know how to respond to the sudden glow.
Noticing a renewed excitement from her father, she followed him closely as they investigated the mountainside.
As they searched, her father noticed that the faint blue glow from the orb had changed to orange. It then disappeared and slowly appeared, like it was slowly pulsing. When they continued walking forward, the pulsing light increased in speed.
"I think it is directing us, father," Fraeya said.
"Possible," Raegel said. "There must be some type of link."
The palatini followed the direction the orb gave. As the group approached a mountainside wall, the pulse frequency increased until it looked like the orb glowed a solid color.
"I think we found it," Raegel said. He lifted the orb toward the wall.
As the orb drew closer to the mountainside, these blue lines appeared all over the rocky wall. The rough chips of rock melted away and turned smooth as the light traveled through the grooves, slowly creating what looked like a giant door of light.
Once the bright lights finished designing a massive door, Fraeya placed her hand on the wall, shocked at how the natural bulky rocks turned into a marble-like wall.
"I would step aside, Fraeya," Raegel said.
As Fraeya stepped backward, she watched her father open the door with a magical spell. Like most magical doors, the door brightened as she expected it would fold into the mountain. To her surprise, the door didn't fold away but melted into the ground.
"What happened to the door?" Fraeya asked.
Raegal placed his hand on his chin. "It seemed that the wall was not solid but some liquid matter. These people are impressive."
The wall began to shake as dusk from the cracks spread through the area.
A large opening formed as the door walls folded into the mountainside. A passage leading deeper into the mountain. The walls were black and smooth, while the floor had these textiles in perfect order, leading deeper into the mountain.
"This has to be a dwarven design," Fraeya commented. "Only they could do something like this."
"I'm not sure," Raegel said. "This is not a design I have seen from dwarves."
Fraeya understood what her father meant. Dwarven doors into the mountains took a lot of work to find. While there were many designs of such hidden doors and the means to open them, it was doubtful that anyone had ever seen a secret magical door like this before.
Raegel started to walk into the chamber but was suddenly stopped by Henness. Stating that he wanted his men to go first to ensure no trap, three legionaries moved through the large chamber. Once they gave the clear, the rest of the group entered.
While walking, Fraeya stayed close to her father as she took notes. The soldiers ahead of them set up torches to add more light. To her surprise, the walls and floor were smooth. The air was stale, probably trapped within this chamber for centuries.
As they walked inside, the room lit up. Everyone stopped as they looked toward the end of the hall. The chamber was empty, with only a strange-looking platform at the very end. Noticing that the orb was pointing toward the platform, they approached it.
"Is this it?" Henness asked. "It does not look that impressive."
"Not everything is based on size, centurion," Raegel replied, to which his daughter giggled.
Fraeya then analyzed the platform. It was smooth, almost marble-like. However, she doubted whether it was marble. The fundamental details that she noticed were a strange-looking blue crystal at the center of the platform and another in a hole on the side.
"This is interesting," Fraeya commented. The design looked surprisingly simple. This orb must act as some command orb for this device. They must be communicating in some manner."
"Assuming that the legend was true, the orcs were the ones who summoned the lats from Altaerrie," Fraeya said. "Maybe, when this place was lost of that time, it was never turned off. Being left in a state of slumber, waiting to be reawakened."
"Possible. It would explain why the orb directed us here. The orange pulse is now pointing down at a rapid pace."
"I think it goes into that hole, father," Fraeya said. "From what I can tell, the crystal in there connects to the one on top of the platform."
"I see," Raegel said. "The pulse is pointing toward it too. I recommend that everyone step back."
"Be careful, father," Fraeya said.
Stepping back from the platform, Fraeya watched as her father placed the orb into the hole. This was the moment her father had been talking about for decades, and it had finally come true. The Bridge between two worlds had finally been discovered.
As Raegel placed the orb into the platform, it glowed orange in a solid state, no longer pulsing. The blue crystal in the middle of the platform slowly lit up, like it was waking up after a long sleep.
The air suddenly chilled as the air flowed toward the platform. A bright light beamed out of the crystal and slowly faded away, leaving a light as if on standby.
To their dismay, the orb changed to red, dimming and brightening in a slow, tired pattern.
"What is it doing, father?" Fraeya asked.
"I have no idea," Raegel replied. "It must be waiting for something."

Almost everyone is probably aware of the timeline inconsistency in Book 1 of HoC with the Fall of Pale being said to have just happened, and this not matching up with it supposedly being 1159 Burn's Sleep. What most people might not be aware of is that even if the year was 1163 it would still be an inconsistency because it would be the wrong time of the year.
In chapter 2 of GotM Tattersail tells us Pale fell in late winter:

In some military headquarters back in the Empire's capital of Unta, three thousand leagues distant, an anonymous aide would paint a red stroke across the 2nd Army on the active list, and then write in fine script beside it: Pale, late winter, the 1163rd Year of Burn's Sleep. Thus would the death of nine thousand men and women be noted. And then forgotten.

But in chapter 1 of HoC, right after Karsa has started his journey, we are told that it is late spring:

Less than a score days remained in this, the season of spring.

While in chapter 3 Torvald Nom says Pale has just fallen:

‘This is Culvern Crossing,’ the Daru went on, ‘and it’s a storm swirling with the latest news from the south. All right, a small storm, given the size of this latrine pit of a town. The scum of the Nathii, which is saying a lot. The Malazan company’s pretty excited, though. Pale’s just fallen, you see. A big battle, lots of sorcery, and Moon’s Spawn retreated-likely headed to Darujhistan, in fact. Beru take me, I wish I was there right now, watching it crossing the lake, what a sight that’d be. The company, of course, are wishing they’d been there for the battle. Idiots, but that’s soldiers for you-’

It's clear that Pale must have just fallen, and it can't be months old news that have just reached them since Torvald thinks Moon's Spawn is crossing Lake Azur in that very moment. Karsa's journey would have to have taken him nine months for it to be late spring when he set out, but be late winter when he's in Culvern Crossing. Karsa needing nine months to reach Silver Lake seems far too long.
There is also another indication that Karsa travels to Seven Cities around the time of GotM, and that is later in chapter 3 after they have entered the Nascent when the Unbound are on board the Silanda after Karsa has killed Binadas they sense they are hunted by other T'lan Imass:

‘Let us find out. Begin the preparations. Ber’ok, scatter that handful of otataral dust in the cabin-the Tiste Edur sorcerer’s warren remains open and, in this place, it will quickly become a wound… a growing wound. The time has not yet come for such unveilings.’ The speaker then lifted its mangled head and seemed to sniff the air. ‘We must work quickly,’ it announced after a moment. ‘I believe we are being hunted.’ The remaining six turned to face the speaker, who nodded in answer to their silent question. ‘Yes. There are kin upon our trail.’

I think it's a very reasonable to assume that these are the same hunters that Felisin's group encounter in chapter 9 of DG. I also think it would be weird to have these T'lan hunters roaming the Nascent for years without finding the Silanda, but them being there for a handful of months seems relatively reasonable.
Another oddity related to the timeline placement of HoC Book 1 is the age of Karsa's daughters in TtH. If we assume that Harllo is five years old in TtH as the book says, then TtH should be set during late winter 1170, since he was conceived in the middle of 1164 in MoI, and would therefore be born in 1165 and be five in 1170. If HoC book 1 is in 1159 then this would mean that Karsa's daughters should be around 10 years old, which seems far too young.
Karsa's daughters being 10 might in fact be too generous. In tGiNW we learn that Sarlis was pregnant with Rant for 2 years, and if Teblor women have equally long pregnancies then Karsa's daughters wouldn't be born before 1161, and only be 9 in TtH. If we also take the date for HoC Book 1 to be winter of 1163 based on the Fall of Pale reference, then Karsa's daughters would in fact be younger than Harrlo.
Something that many might not know is that when HoC was originally published the year given for Book 1 wasn't 1159, but 1139. I wonder if Erikson might have based the age of Karsa's daughters on the 1139 date, which would mean that they are in their late twenties in TtH, which seems much more reasonable. But this would be a very strange error to make if the 1139 date was simply a typo. Erikson should know that HoC Book 1 isn't decades before the other books, unless that was in fact the original plan and he forgot he had changed it.
I feel the type of timeline errors related to HoC Book 1 indicate that there originally was a time skip in the middle of it that was abandoned relatively late in the writing process. Erikson has said that he doesn't care overmuch about the timeline, but he also prides himself on that he doesn't put anything in a book that he doesn't feel must absolutely be there. I can't really see any purpose to the mention of the Fall of Pale except to give the reader an idea of the timeline, but this would be unnecessary since we have already been given the year and even the season earlier in the book. If there had been a time skip then Erikson feeling the need to clarify when the story is taking place would make perfect sense.
My guess is that Erikson originally planned for HoC Book 1 to start in late spring of 1139, and then have a time skip and end it in late winter of 1163. In chapter 2 Karsa gets captured by the people of Silver Lake and put in a slave pit, but he almost immediately escapes before being recaptured by Malazan soldiers. The natural place for a time skip would have been to have Karsa be a slave for 24 years before his escape attempt.
In addition to the age of Karsa's daughter making more sense in TtH, another neat thing with the part of HoC before Karsa becomes a slave being in 1139 would be that Elade Tharos would be 80 years old in tGiNW just like Karsa was 80 at the beginning of HoC, and I really like the symmetry in that. In HoC Elade Tharos is "no more than forty" when he witnesses Karsa killing his family. tGiNW is set about ten years after MBotF, which would be around 1180, roughly 40 years after 1139.
Elade Tharos's ambitions in tGiNW are exactly the same as Karsa's in chapter 1 of HoC when we learn he is 80:

And I have but just begun on this path. Newly arrived to my eightieth year of life, finally a warrior in truth. I have heard the oldest words, the whispers, of the One, who will unite the Teblor, who will bind the clans one and all and lead them into the lowlands and so begin the War of the People. These whispers, they are the voice of promise, and that voice is mine.

If Erikson in fact planned for Karsa to be enslaved for several years then why did he abandon this idea? It might be that Karsa being a slave for so long became too derivative of the Conan the Barbarian film, or it might be as simple that he felt the story flowed better without Karsa being enslaved for a long time. Or there might never have been a time skip with Karsa being enslaved, and I'm just taking crazy pills.

Heya! Took half of this week from work as a sort of well deserved staycation, so have plenty of time currently. A perfect time to see what new people I can meet and learn about! A bit about myself to get things going:
* Have my bachelor of commerce, majoring in accounting. So it should be no surprise that I currently work as an accountant. Currently living in interior BC, with hopes that one day I can go to Vancouver.
* History is one of my favourite subject interests. Basically I just want to learn it all, regardless of time period or place. So if you have any good recommendations for well researched and sourced books, please let me know! Another lesser one is geology and paleontology, just really like rocks I guess. Still have my childhood collection.
* Speaking of books, I have loved reading since I was young. Love it so much, I can stay up until 2am getting immersed in my book, which doesn't really help too much with work the next day. Recently I have started to read 30 - 45 minutes before bed to help unwind before I attempt to sleep.
* Gaming is one of my main hobbies to fill my time when the weather isn't nice or I have nothing else to do. Personally I think gaming is best done with friends, so always done to play most things with people. For my solo tastes, I do enjoy RPGs and strategy/simulation type games the most. Basically anything with a good story or that gives me the ability to create ones myself.
* When the weather is nice, and not winter, I love to go hiking and for long walks. Hopefully this upcoming spring and summer will be less smoke filled than last year. Would love to get into photography some day so I can capture all the scenic sights I see. Currently trying to get better at working out consistently, have been pretty good in the past but have fallen through a bit since I've moved.
* Music is a big part of my life, and if my ear isn't taken by something I usually have it playing. I would say my preferred genres tend to be alt and indie rock. That being said, if I enjoy a song I will usually add it to my playlist, and check out the artist and similar songs to see if I can find others I will enjoy. Always love hearing about why a person loves a song, and am more than happy to exchange songs!
* Love to cook and bake, and somewhat decent at it too! Always looking for new recipes to try. Usually I get them down after a few tries, well they are edible at least
* I think I am decently humourous, I am able to make my co-workers and friends laugh quite a bit. Really I just want everyone to have a good time in the end and try my best to make it happen.
* Communication is one of the things I value the most. Would love to find someone who is efficient as well, as I truly believe it is key to growing any sort of relationship.
I can be quite an open book and love talking to people, so if this interests you in all feel free to reach out!

Alright well folks keep asking an update and I have been meaning to, things went smoothish for a bit, but then got more fucked up again and then fine and then fucked again just this morning so here I am. Using you all to make sense of it.
Edit: here's the original post, sorry
https://www.reddit.com/relationship_advice/comments/1clivwd/i_36m_surprised_wife_32f_by_coming_home_early/
For the days after we talked a lot, she was adamant she wanted nothing to do with him, has no feelings other than friendship and now that she was aware both (a) the possibility of him trying (it is true I or she still don't *know* his intentions) and (b) my reaction to her behavior (leaving out his presence later with her in text messages to me after carpooling/putting our kid to bed, trickle-truthing me on her view of his possible intentions), she said she "doesn't want anything to do with him. no, just no."
She offered up her phone if I wanted to see their conversations, she did the location sharing thing on her iPhone. Was pretty clear that this was all some bullshit and she hates that this situation ever became a thing. She was losing a friend but was more than willing to.
We set some boundaries.

1. People over late at the house, just let the other person know. Obviously family doesn't count. Just to avoid any possibility of any inference, better to let each other know who is in our house that late, 1 on 1.
2. For people who may we feel even have hints of intentions beyond platonic, we should overshare with each other. (thanks helpful commenter) Not overanalyze every relationship but just things like "Doc X said this today, kinda weird" or "new guy at foraging seemed to like me a lot". Stuff like that.

I don't want to be a controlling person, I'm not that person but maybe because of my history I require more openness and communication about things like that in a relationship. She told me I was being too worried about her feelings/me being controlling and that was more than willing to do anything it took to rebuild any trust that was broken from the situation.
2nd session of marriage counseling and obviously topic came up first. I started to give a brief history but got interrupted by our child upstairs, I gave them some attention and came back down to continue. When I got to the part of coming home, taking a shower and confronting my wife, I can't remember who said what, but it was interrupted, talking happened and then the therapist said "and it sounds like (wife name) recognized what had happened and your past". Wife said she didn't know how close/similar some of the details were and the conversation moved on from there. The omission of his presence in text messages, trickletruthing, none of that was brought up.
But things were looking up, not sure I like the therapist but whatever. Things seem to be good. She seemed fairly contrite though I really was still bothered by the red and orange flags planted in my little mind garden.
Fast forward, a week? Something like that.
I fucked up. I guess I'm glad I did but I did fuck up. I don't sleep much, 5 hours max. Was up early, garden tending, made breakfast for little one and coffee for her, usual. I saw her work bag on the floor and I saw her journal in there. And I fucked up and I read it. I wanted to know if he (the 21M) was in her journal.
For some context, I read the journals of my late partner, who died over a decade ago, and it was a stupid horrible mistake. I read things that I shouldn't have, very raw thoughts and feelings, pros and cons list of me. Shit like that. Then, entries about the other man and her falling in love with him. And her thoughts about her conflicted thoughts about leaving me. Near the end, if I recall, she didn't know, she loved us both but we were so different. I kept the journals, still have them somewhere, but I did burn those last pages about him. I do recall telling myself that I was protecting future me. I'm glad I burned those pages and I'm glad I kept her journals but I don't venture to read them anymore. I will again when I'm older, to keep her alive in me somehow I guess.
Anyways, when I saw her journals in the bags I just grabbed them and I read the latest couple pages. Innocuous stuff until I got to about a month ago.
It said: "Texted all night and hike Monday"
Now that wasn't me she texted with or hiked with on that day, that was with him. When she forgot to get her prescription.
So that meant two things to me:

1. Who writes "texted all night" in their journal with someone they don't have feelings about? I'm not a journaler person, I don't like my thoughts enough to put them to paper, but that doesn't seem right to me. No name but def him, the dates match. I don't know, again, I don't journal so maybe anything can mean anything in there but what the fuck.
2. She had planned on hiking with him. She didn't tell me that. She told me of her plans going hiking after work to pass the time before the pharmacy opens, but never told me that he was going too.

In fairness, she told me after she sent pictures of the hike to me and his dog was in the photos. But she didn't mentioned they had planned it together, seemed spontaneous but I never asked I guess.
So yeah, I stopped reading. Kinda felt like I was shot with an arrow. Pretty horrible feeling because I thought things were going to be okay but I now I read this shit.
It was like 6am at this point, so I went on a run to clear my head and get the adrenaline out. Some tears too. Got home and they were still sleeping, when they woke up and we were alone I asked her again if she ever developed any feeling at all for him. She said no. I told her I read her journal. I apologized but I told her I read something and I needed an explanation.
She wasn't happy. She told me those are personal, her thoughts and not for other people. She was also confused as to what I could have possibly read about him/the situation that need explaining. She asked me to show her the entry, I did.
[context, they work overnights together]
Her response was: "Oh yeah, we texted a lot that night. He wasn't working but I was. You know I wasn't home right? I was working that night."
I asked why it was in her journal? And why were you were planning to hike with him but when you told me about your plans for that day, you never mentioned you were planning it with him?"
She said "Well I didn't know for sure he would come, we were talking bout it but I didn't know for sure" and the texted all night part "didn't mean anything", that journals are fragments, not full thoughts and she was just writing it
I didn't like that answers at all honestly. We had another long discussion where she reassured me it meant nothing, that it shouldn't be interpreted as anything about her having feelings for him. I believe her. I don't know how she journals so maybe this isn't far out of the norm, I don't know.
Have to be honest here, the trust I had in her, a lot of it left. Which is pretty much the basis of a relationship. A lot of people sent me messages after my post with spy cams and shit. If I had to resort to that, I'd just end the relationship I thought. Now here I am snooping on her journals.
Two days later, kid and I go out camping at a park for a couple nights (she's working). Have a blast. During that time away I decide it's important to me to know what conversations took place between them. Yes I snooped, but I think it's reasonable, at this point, to demand to know just what types of things are said between them. She offered earlier, I just never took her up on it because it was really obvious to me, she felt she had nothing to hide.
But after this journal entry thing, yeah I would like to know what 'texted all night' means. I thought if the conversation that night is just bullshit, sure whatever. If it's more, or that night is deleted or something, then I'll know. I honestly expected to read the messages, be reassured of her side of the story and move on.
So we got home yesterday from camping. This morning I asked her if I could read their conversations. Explained why and without hesitation she said yes and went to get her phone. Gave it to me and I sat to start reading.
They had been texting recently, mostly innocuous mushroom stuff, then a one/ a couple attempts by him to come ovego out foraging. I guess he was going to around our area (he lives an hour away) cruising on his motorcycle and her response to him was, as close as I can recall was:
"not today not allowed to have anyone at home. lol"
Alright what the fuck
She saw my face and asked what was wrong. I put the phone down and said I don't want to read anymore.
I asked if she had told him about my view on their relationship, or what happened or anything about him/heI. She said no. I asked again. She said no, he has no clue, she never mentioned anything.
I showed her the text and asked her why she would say that.
Why would she say "no one was allowed" at home? People are allowed in my home, that wasn't any of the boundaries we set together. He's been here, clearly. And why would she say that to him if she never mentioned anything like that to him?
Her response was that she meant she wasn't having people ovewas busy. She then told me "you were home that day...I don't get it". Yeah I didn't read the dates of the text but even so, why the fuck would you word it that way? That's not even close to "no, I'm busy today" or literally any other million ways to say I'm not available today. I'm not allowed to have people at home is entirely different. lol is entirely different.
I cannot see how on earth you get from those words to that meaning she says she was trying to convey. Maybe I'm wrong. She said she didn't mean it that way it's not her mother tongue. To be fair, English is not her first language. She's quite fluent and has learned it from childhood but it's not her primary language. We've spoken exclusively English together for the ~decade I've known her. You wouldn't know it wasn't her primary talking to her unless you had a good ear. But she's right, maybe it just is a mistranslation. She said it was "clumsy" and not meant in any way to convey anything more than "I'm not available today".
We talked all morning until she went to bed. She reassured me she loves me and only me. I walked through every red flag, every opportunity for her to be honest an open. I asked why she didn't tell me about his recent attempts to meet up again?
She said she didn't know she should have told me. She said she didn't know she had to replay every conversation with him to me. I said she didn't, that's not what I was asking. But I was asking for her to be extra open about her relationship with him to me and him asking to come over, twice, definitely would require her letting me know.
I told her she didn't respect me at all. I told her she didn't care enough to tell me. I told her she's not being open and honest with me. That it's not me and her against the world, that this relationship is something else.
She reassured me it meant nothing but now that she sees how that text could be read that way (as if they had discussed him not being allowed in our home, she still denies), that she understands why I would react that way. She was frustrated, she said "it feels like a little fly came into my life and shit all over everything", referring to him and his advances as the cause of what fucked this all up.
I reiterated to her, every step along the way, in which she could have been truthful to me and decide to omit information.
Texting all night and planning the hike.
Staying over late after carpooling together, after our kid went to sleep, texting me and not mentioning he was still over.
Trickle-truthing me on whether she thinks he's interested in her.
His two offers to meet via text/messenger or whatever (that I saw, didn't look more) that she didn't think to tell me about.
And her reply of "not today not allowed to have anyone at home. lol" whatever the fuck that means.
Her position is still the same, that this is all the bad coincidences and misunderstandings, misreading texts or journal entires, etc. But she says she loves me, has only eyes for me and better understands now where I'm coming from.
So.. there's my little hell I've got for myself.
Personal therapy starting soon but I guess reddit therapy will do for now. It's somehow therapeutic to remember this and type it all out. Sorry, looking back this is insanely long, it's too long to proofread if shits garbled. Took me all day to write I guess.
Last post I felt very overwhelmed by the response, sorry I didn't respond to a lot of comments or questions or clarifications. I'll try to do better here, since this is probably the final time I'll use reddit as therapy.
Thanks in advance. I guess I should ask in this field of flags is there some green grass? I trust my wife. I did. When she tells me she loves me and only me, I'm convinced. Or is this all as fucked as the plain reading makes it seem? Because it does seem quite fucked.

For context, me and my bf have been dating for about 4 months and there have been no red flags. Sometimes I wear slightly revealing clothing (nothing crazy, but since it's getting warm I sometimes wear croptops and shorts and I also have a few bikini pics on IG). He has never told me to dress more modestly or take any pictures down so I assumed he didn't care.
A couple weeks ago we were having a conversation (I don't remember how it started) and I was telling him that when I wear something it's because it makes me feel good about myself, and that I don't really care what other people think. He told me that what I was saying was "massive cope". He said that clothes are very social and that when a person says that they wear something because it makes them feel good, it's because subconsciously they think that other people will think they look good. I asked him what he thought about me wearing revealing clothing (I literally had a croptop and shorts on during the conversation lol) and he said that he didn't think I would be the type to cheat on him, but that I was dressing in that way because it gives me an ego boost to feel desired by other men. He also said that he went through the likes on my bikini pictures and most of them were "thirsty men", so he thinks the reason I posted them was because I wanted those men to thirst over me. I asked him if it bothered him and he said that it does, but every woman dresses like that now and that if he refused to date women that dressed revealing, then he would be single.
Since that conversation the topic hasn't come up again, but whenever I decide on what to wear, I worry about him seeing it and judging me. I don't think my boyfriend is right (I literally sometimes wear baggy clothes specifically because I don't want creepy men to harrass me lol) and he's not trying to control me because he never told me not to wear something, but I just feel really shitty that he thinks that way of me. Should I just ignore what he thinks about me, or should I try to dress more modestly to please him? Should I try to change his mind? I really don't know what to do, but I can't get what he said out of my mind.
TLDR: My boyfriend think I wear revealing clothes and post bikini pics because I want other men to thirst over me.

For context, me and my bf have been dating for 4 months and there have been no red flags. Sometimes I wear slightly revealing clothing (nothing crazy, but since it's getting warm I sometimes wear croptops and shorts and I also have a few bikini pics on IG). He has never told me to dress more modestly or take any pictures down so I assumed he didn't care.
A couple weeks ago we were having a conversation (I don't remember how it started) and I was telling him that when I wear something it's because it makes me feel good about myself, and that I don't really care what other people think. He told me that what I was saying was "massive cope". He said that clothes are very social and that when a person says that they wear something because it makes them feel good, it's because subconsciously they think that other people will think they look good. I asked him what he thought about me wearing revealing clothing (I literally had a croptop and shorts on during the conversation lol) and he said that he didn't think I would be the type to cheat on him, but that I was dressing in that way because it gives me an ego boost to feel desired by other men. He also said that he went through the likes on my bikini pictures and most of them were "thirsty men", so he thinks the reason I posted them was because I wanted those men to thirst over me. I asked him if it bothered him and he said that it does, but every woman dresses like that now and that if he refused to date women that dressed revealing, then he would be single.
Since that conversation the topic hasn't come up again, but whenever I decide on what to wear, I worry about him seeing it and judging me. I don't think my boyfriend is right (I literally sometimes wear baggy clothes specifically because I don't want creepy men to harrass me lol) and he's not trying to control me because he never told me not to wear something, but I just feel really shitty that he thinks that way of me. Should I just ignore what he thinks about me, or should I try to dress more modestly to please him? Should I try to change his mind? I really don't know what to do, but I can't get what he said out of my mind.
TLDR: My boyfriend think I wear revealing clothes and post bikini pics because I want other men to thirst over me.

Any tips or tricks? What to expect?
I know about the battlefield and the capture the flag game that basically entails, but there’s not much info on plug ins, what they are, how you get them etc. this is for plants after 100 because I know the game changed.
I would also like to see the heroes or any other major game changes.

Okay so controversial opinion, but I wanna say it since I feel like people are having rosetinted glasses looking back: I recently replayed Medieval 2 sieges and honestly, they kinda suck as well, but for the attacker, while I would argue Warhammer sieges mainly suck for the defender. So Medieval 2 sieges:
The AI is jank: it has serious pathfinding issues. And not just your opponent, but also your units. They might spaghetti-line suddenly, or just refuse to be placed in certain spots. Moving to block the gate is almost guaranteed to make your units do at least one little spin where they face the wrong direction. In addition, the AI is very easy to cheese. They will attack you on one gate and breaches after using its siege artillery against the walls until the ammunition has been spent. Than they will zergrush the openings while sending the units with ladders/towers to climb the wall. After that, they regroup instead and zergrush wall 2/the capture point. It is honestly not great, but just really easily coded to provide a battle. As a defender, the AI will defend the wall and gates and than pull back to the central capture square once these have been breached by troops.
The design is great....mostly: Yes the cities look great. Yes we had multiple layers of walls. But I am pretty sure these were copypastas from the same city, only put in different terrain. So at some point in my campaign, I just knew which towers to shoot, which to breach and how to spass out the AI. Especially cav is still having pathfinding issues through cities, while defending siege weapons are useless.
To attack a city, get cannons or get f*ed. Scaling the walls was very costly if you dont outnumber them/managed to get the AI to leave some parts undefended. So you have to use trebuchets or cannons to destroy the defenses. But than assaulting turns into whack the relevant towers, breach the walls, repeat until victory point.
I dont hate Medieval 2, the sieges were fun mostly. But the main problem is this would never work on Warhammer, considering the vast amount of different types of entities we now have, as well as magic. Applying Medieval 2 solutions to Warhammer would be a bugfest, while mostly not solving the issues people have with sieges. The only difference would be ass-ladders, which would actually be a huge change of dynamics, but also vastly limit the offense options for the attacker, since most siegeequipment tends to be destroyed by the walltowers. (Rome 2 experience of five burning ladders says hi). I honestly feel that Total Wars in general suffer in sieges, which is sad. If the devs can fix them, all the better, but I feel like people have some major blindspots how good some old sieges were.

Hey and hi! I previously posted these Character Chats in order to fill the void when the comic was on involuntary hiatus, and I'm pleased to hear that it was received positively and people were asking for more. I couldn't really commit to it once the hiatus was over, since I've got a job and all. But good news, my whole team got laid off! I've got a lot more time on my hands now, so I think I'll keep this series going for a few weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays or so. If anyone complains about me surfing reddit at work during my notice period... well, what are they gonna do, fire me?
Today my giant novely ouija board has selected Prince Aaronev Tarvek Sturmvoraus. Our first Spark, and first main character, but somehow our third Valois out of five picks.
Tarvek is a member of the large and complicated Valois family tree, descended from our pal Andronicus Valois, the Storm King. He is the son of Prince Aaronev Sturmvoraus VI of Sturmhalten and an unknown mother, and the older brother of Anevka Sturmvoraus. He and Anevka share the same grandmother with the von Bliztengaard siblings and Violetta, making them all cousins. The Selnikovs may also be close family members, as their main residence is in Sturmhalten. Tarvek also calls Zulenna a cousin at one point.
The Storm King conspiracy among the Fifty Families was said to be fizzling out in the time before the comic, but the Mongfish family (i.e. Lucrezia) got involved and whipped them all into shape. Besides making most of the Knights of Jove Lucrezia loyalists, part of this involvment was ensuring there was a suitable male heir to the Storm King using Spark sceince, which ended up producing, at minimum, Tarvek and Martellus von Blitzengaard. The degree to which Tarvek's mother was involved and consenting is unknown. While we don't know how much was done, Tarvek is a powerful Spark, physically fit, and quite intelligent, so mission accomplished I suppose (though Tarvek does wear these tiny pince-nez around, so he may have poor vision - nice going, Lucrezia).
We don't have a family tree or anything, so we need to take the story's word that Tarvek's claim for being a direct heir of Andronicus is one of the most direct, if not the strongest overall. Two of the strongest claimants, Tarvek and Martellus, share a grandmother, so presumably their legitimacy is either through her or her late husband. Grandmama is once referred to with the title "Dowager Princess of Sturmhalten", it's possible Aaronev inherited his title as Prince of Sturmhalten by being her son. On the other hand, Tarvek also says that his descent comes down through his mother, so maybe she's Grandmama's child instead? Or it's wrong to trace back things to this set of grandparents after all? The family tree is thrown for another loop when Orotine declares Martellus a third-place heir rather than the commonly assumed second-place, so now who's in second place and how's that guy related to Tarvek's family tree, and... it's at this point I throw up my hands in exasperation.
Tarvek spent some of his early childhood as a political hostage on Castle Wulfenbach, being raised with other hostages by von Pinn. Tarvek recalls this time fondly, and in particular became good friends with Gil, whose identity was still hidden. When the two of them were hunting for secrets, hoping to discover Gil's lineage, they discover a red-herring left by the Baron. While Tarvek didn't buy it and tried to dig further, he got caught. Along with some snitching from Gil, this got him expelled from the Castle. Of course, everyone was spying abord the Castle, and Tarvek was just the only one kicked out. My assumption is that the Baron wasn't worried about Gil's identity being exposed, but didn't approve of Gil getting close with Tarvek for one reason or another and arranged to destroy the friendship.
He spent his remaining childhood in Sturmhalten, where he was wrapped up in family scheming, including Aaronev's schemes with the Other. Besides Aaronev, he also spent time with Anevka and Violetta during this period, and received some Smoke Knight training. He later goes to Paris for his higher education, where he was a good student and made friendships with influential young people like Colette and Neena. He was also involuntarily dragged into Gil's college adventures, where he became, uh, "acquainted" with disreputable characters like Bangladesh Dupree and Zola. He's called back to Sturmhalten after completing his education.
As a young adult, Tarvek's goals are initially to learn all he can from the Other conspiracy in Sturmhalten, destroy them afterwards, use this knowledge to overthrow the Baron, become Storm King, get the Fifty Families under control, and bring peace and prosperity to his new empire. However, Aaronev is in charge in Sturmhalten, and has different ideas. Tarvek detests his father and the Other conspiracy he's involved with, but cooperates with them to stay in their good graces and learn all he can. Tarvek attempts to act as a moderating influence on Aaronev, but Aaronev is too far gone to pull back. Aaronev ends up capturing nearly all the young female Sparks in Europa beneath the Baron's nose, and destroys them utterly trying to implant copies of Lucrezia into their minds, while Tarvek doesn't do much more than watch.
Aaronev eventually subjects his daughter Anevka to the treatment, nearly killing her. The Circus of Adventure happens to be in town, and as an expert on the Muses, Tarvek recognizes Tinka as a van Rijn original when she performs. Tarvek has his men abduct Tinka, and uses her as the basis for building a masterpiece clank which would connect to Anevka's mind and allow her to move and speak while her body was comatose. For what it's worth, he does try to pay the Circus after the fact, but they naturally ran like hell out of town. Tinka is eventually damaged beyond his ability to repair by Aaronev.
After this, he also conspires (or pretends to conspire) with Anevka to use her clank body's voice box to imitate Lucrezia's ability to command revenants, and use that ability to overthrow Aaronev and the Baron. When the Circus comes back to town with Agatha in tow, she's found out as Lucrezia's daughter at a show, with more beans being spilled later when Agatha's drugged with a truth serum. Aaronev tries to throw her in the Lucrezia-machine, but Anevka launches her coup right then, and finalizes her voice box by studying Agatha's own voice. Tarvek, having fallen for Agatha basically immediately, attempts to smuggle Agatha out of town under Anevka's nose, but the Geisters eventually get Lucrezia in her head anyway.
Tarvek, at this point, wants to integrate Agatha into his plan to use Other technology to usurp the Baron, which means keeping her safely at his side. This means both cooperating with Lucrezia to learn from her to begin with and protect Agatha's body, and also sabotaging Agatha's efforts at surrendering herself to the Baron for the greater good. One his deals with Lucrezia is making a clank head imprinted with a Lucrezia copy, designed to fit onto Avenka's clank body. Tarvek lures in Anevka for Lucrezia, and after some back-and-forth betrayals, eventually deactivates Anevka's head and puts her in storage, essentially killing her for the time being. Juggling Agatha, Lucrezia, and now a second Lucrezia proves too much for Tarvek once the Baron's troops arrive in Sturmhalten, and he ends up slashed in the gut, shot, and abandoned in the ensuing chaos.
Tarvek ends up in the Great Hospital in Mechanicsburg, as one of many of the injured from Sturmhalten. Violetta, who had been assigned to Mechanicsburg by Tarvek to keep her out of the proverbial firing line, manages to get him out of custody in the hospital... but inside of Castle Heterodyne instead, which is something of a lateral move. After connecting up with Agatha, Taevek comes down with Hogfarb's Respelendent Immolation, either due to traipsing about Castle Heterodyne of all places while wounded, or, Tarvek speculates, as a poisoning attempt from his own extended family. Gil is recruited to help with curing him, and after extensive bickering, infections, distractions, complications, and one apotheosis, he's back in good health. Tarvek attempts to help fix the Castle, and aid Agatha however he can, including fighting with Lucrezia and Vole, and attempting to strangle Zola. His bickering with Gil during this time mostly puts him on the defensive and has Tarvek trying to justify his actions, but he eventually does has a quiet epiphany.
He eventually gets grabbed by Other in a case of mistaken identity, and his quick analytical skills wind up placing him in charge of the Wulfenbach fleet's grand strategy temporarily - it's at gunpoint, but Boris assesses that he's really doing what's in the best interest of the Empire. He has to scurry off when Klaus comes onto the scene, placing him in a perfect position to recruit the Empire's Vespiary Squad and their weasels when Klaus turns on them. Notably, he risks life and limb rescuing a squad member, who he needs of course, but also Jorgi, who mostly annoys him. He sends the Vespiary Squad to hiding places abroad. As the battle for Mechanicsburg wraps up, Tarvek ends up stabbed with a poisoned dagger by Martellus just before the time-stop.
Post time-skip, Gil dedicates extensive resources towards getting Tarvek out of the time stop. Tarvek isn't able to do much before being kidnapped by the Immortal Library, and then kidnapped by Mister Obsidian on behalf of Grandmama. He does manage to breathe a bit in Paris, before being kidnapped by Mister Obsidian again on behalf of Seffie, to be sent to England. But en route aboard a pirate vessel, he's (shockingly) interrupted by a kidnapping attempt, this time for Grandmama again. Martellus sent assassins after Tarvek to interrupt the interruption, leading to bloody battle between Seffie's pirates, Grandmama's Smoke Knights, Martellus' Knights of the Hunt, and poor Tarvek. After being rescued by Gil, Tarvek flips the script, and he and Bang kidnap Gil instead, changing course to England.
In England, he can finally, you know, not get kidnapped for a bit. He decides to join Agatha in the Royal Society, and despite nearly getting strangled by Higgs, manages to reach Agatha and help work on curing her of Lucrezia, and curing Gil of Klaus. After interminable delays like a undersea cult, briefly seeing beyond time, punching Tweedle, and a revenant attack, they eventually pull it all off.
Later, in the war against the Polar Lords, Tarvek is essentially given the role of Gil's official treacherous vizier. On paper, helping the Empire helps keep him safe to further his own ambitions, but in practice, Tarvek seems more focused on doing good by his friends than anything to do with becoming Storm King.
Whew! And that's the short synopsis!
As a Spark, Tarvek's specialty is masterwork clanks in the van Rijn mold. His Anevka clank maintains full sentience even after any organic parts it was attached to died off, and continues to be used by Lucrezia to devastating effect. He also has a knack for rapid analysis, such as being able to understand the Wulfenbach fleet's strategy with just a glance. It's possible his political aptitude, scheming skills and ability to anticipate people's actions are a byproduct of his spark, but it may also just be the natural result of his upbringing. He is unusually composed for a Spark, and is very rarely seen in the Madness Place, and never for very long.
Beyond the Spark and his cunning, Tarvek also received some Smoke Knight training, making him skilled in martial arts and sleight of hand. That said, he'd prefer not to get in fights, and his first resort use his Spark or guile to get out safely (his second resort is just shooting them, with a gun). He also has a passion for fashion design, particularly lady's fashion.
Besides his conquer-Europa ambitions, Tarvek seems primarily driven to help and protect the people he loves, but his preferred tactics for doing so are often underhanded, or screw over people that he doesn't particularly love. Tarvek is the kind of guy who has to come to the conclusion that mind-control slavery is bad in general, rather than bad for people I know. He does come to that conclusion on his own, so kudos for that, but for a lot of people it's not even something you have to think about. Tarvek is also quick to use "they'd kill me if I tried, I had no choice" as a defense, but never quite understands that there was always a choice available he didn't consider - die trying. That all said, Tarvek is in generally improving his character over time, and wants to do the right thing, both in the "greater good" sense and doing right by other people individually, and finds himself frustrated at himself that he's often failed. I don't want to discuss Tarvek's ethics too much further here, since there's a great deal to talk about and this is supposed to be a discussion thread! Why do I have to do all the work?
Major Relationships:

• Agatha: Tarvek fell for Agatha pretty damn hard, internally logging her as "future bride", and even at his scummiest times in Sturmhalten was trying to act in her best interest, and just ignoring what she actually wanted and also fucking it up anyway. By the time of the Castle arc, Tarvek has mostly thrown away all of his own ambitions in favor of working for Agatha's, even in moments when he feels pretty hopeless about his actual prospects as a suitor. One major advantage in his court is that he's able to actually articulate his feelings like an adult.
  
• Gil: It's been a true roller coaster for these two, from friends to enemies to rivals to allies to secret lovers. It takes a great deal of bonding for their distrust of one another to fall away, and after the time skip Tarvek lists Agatha and Gil (and, by implication, Violetta) as the only people left he really cares about, and the two of them spend a lot more time hugging than you would have expected.
  
• Violetta: Tarvek spent a good deal of his childhood with Violetta, and earnestly tried to protect her. In natural early-Tarvek style, it was by ignoring her wishes and leaving her in the dark, but points for trying. They have a bickering siblings type of relationship, and Violetta is fine trash talking him despite the power imbalance between them. Tarvek is pretty disappointed that he's rebuffed when trying to sincerely express that he's glad she's alive, since she expects childish taunts out of him.
  
• Aaronev: Tarvek really hates Aaronev for all the horrible things he's done, especially for putting Anevka through the machine, and spends about two seconds mourning after he's killed. Tarvek had been play-acting as a loyal son for years, and it's a bit tragic that Aaronev bought his act wholesale - what little interaction we see suggests that Aaronev, scumbag that he is, did really like Tarvek.
  
• Anevka: Tarvek did not take it well when it seemed Anevka was going to die, and went to extreme measures to save her. But Tarvek doesn't assign the same level of personhood to the Anevka clank after the original Anevka dies (he's generally not the best at the whole "clanks are people too" concept), and eventually "kills" her by turning her off and throwing her head in a box, where she probably still remains if Sturmhalten hasn't been razed to the ground.
  
• Lucrezia: While most people hate the Other on a conceptual level, Tarvek has spent enough time with her to really begin to hate her on a personal level. He's aware of her foibles, such as her susceptibility to flattery, and tries to take advantage when he can. His more personal knowledge also makes him better able to detect when Lucrezia is taking over for Agatha than most.
  
• Higgs: Like many, Tarvek cottons on that Higgs has a secret in Castle Heterodyne. Tarvek does try to keep it under his hat and make excuses on his behalf, but can't resist teasing Higgs despite him being incredibly dangerous. Tarvek openly confronting Higgs about his identity later on nearly gets him strangled to death. Despite that, Tarvek and Higgs have formed a good rapport, and have solid mutual respect. He's even one of the people Tarvek pours his heart out to when he thinks Violetta is dead.
  
• Neena: Neena has a bit of a crush on Tarvek, and Tarvek for his part does some light flirting at the ball but otherwise doesn't think about her much at this point. It's an odd match for someone like Tarvek, since Neena is earnest, enthusiastic, and completely lacking in guile. Maybe that's exactly what someone like him needs - stranger things have happened!
  
• Martellus: As two men aiming for the same throne, Martellus and Tarvek are natural enemies. Tarvek obviously dislikes Martellus - and even gets a good punch in - but doesn't take any moves to stop Martellus' forward momentum, and makes no moves towards legitimizing his claim as Storm King beyond not being dead. His strategy may be to just give Martellus enough rope to hang himself with, but it may also show genuine disinterest in this whole Storm King business.
  

Hi community of loving creatures. Sooo a bit of context, I was a Debian user until I got an itch to try Arch, the thing is, every time I try I fail miserably. Would you help me please?
This is what I did in my last attempt. Thanks n.n
Boot to arch linux -> config.WiFi -> then typed: archinstall Archinstall menu -Language -English -mirrors -worldwide
-disk configuration -manual partitioning -> /dev/mmcblk2: MAC: 128G32

Status. Device. Type. Start.

Existing: /dev/mmcblk2p1. Primary 2048 Existing: /dev/mmcblk2p2. Primary 2099200 Modify: /dev/mmcblk2p3. Primary 44042240

End. Size. Fs Type. Mountp. mount

1. 1GB. Unknown
2. 21GB. Unknown
3. 102GB. Unknown. /boot

Mount option. Flags

 . Boot, ESP. 

. . Boot, ESP
-Disk encryption -None -bootloader -system-boot -unified kernel image -false -swap -true -hostname -archlinux -root password -none -user created -profile -desktop+hyper land+Polk it -audio -no audio -kernels Linux -Additional packages -none - network config -copy ISO network config to installation -Automatic time sync -true -optional repo -multilib
Then when I save it and install I get: All white until... Traceback (most recent call last): File "/uslib/python3.12/site-packages/archinstall/init.py" , line 332, in runas_a_module main() File "/uslib/python3.12/site-packages/archinstall/_init.py" , line 337, in main importlib.importmodule(mod_name) File "/uslib/python3.12/site-packages/archinstall/_init.py" , line 90, in import_module
Return _bootstrap._gcd_import(name[level:1], package, level)
File "", line 1378, in _gcd_import File "", line 1360, in _find_and_load File "", line 1331, in _find_and_load_unlocked File "", line 935, in _load_unlocked File "", line 995, in exec_module File "", line 488, in _call_with_frames_removed
File "/uslib/python3.12/site-packages/archinstall/scripts/guided.py" , line 245, in fs_handler.perform_filesystem_operations() File "/uslib/python3.12/site-packages/archinstall/lib/disk/filesystem.py" , line 54, in perform_filesystem_operations device_handler.partition(mod, partition_table=partition_table) File "/uslib/python3.12/site-packages/archinstall/lib/disk/device_handler.py" , line 521, in partition self._setup_partition(part_mod, modification.device, disk, requires_delete=requires_delete) File "/uslib/python3.12/site-packages/archinstall/lib/disk/device_handler.py" , line 364, in _setup_partition filesystem = FileSystem(type=part_mod.safe_fs_type.value, geometry=geometry)
File "/uslib/python3.12/site-packages/archinstall/lib/disk/device_model.py" , line 699, in safe_fs_type raise ValueError('File System is not set') ValueError: File system is not set

Do you just not leave your house and never speak your mind or show any opinions of your own and follow the crowd like a chameleon? Do you never show any emotions or feelings whatsoever and be robotic mechanic and follow orders all of the time like a obedient soldier or programmed android/robot? I guess you have to be the best actoactress in existence to never be labled. Be the best super spy in existence. Saying suicidal thoughts ideations depressing anxious or homicidal feelings is a red flag in the normie or mental health crowd that’s a red flag to them so they can forcibly drug you “treat” you against your will and lock you up in a psych ward. Never say that to those types of people it’s a trap and self sabotage. It’s dangerous saying that out in public or to strangers only share that personal info of your life feelings and emotions to people you trust and know for some time but if you know they are pro psych don’t get close to them or just be the best actoactress in existence, play your role to perfection. Lie just lie like they lie and you’ll be safe. These people are dangerous individuals if they hear one word out of those thought crimes they switch so fast, their mask falls off and they will try to incarcerate you bully you ostracize you kill you smear you and will try to destroy your life and paint you as the bad guy of society and be the villain of humanity. You will be the problem in their eyes and not them. They play a super dangerous blaming game one wrong move and you are dead to them and your reputation and good social standing is over in a matter of seconds.

So, you have 3 Supes. One is nigh invulnerable and super strong, or alternately can fire off energy blasts (exact strength of blasts uncertain?). Another can get ridiculously small or incredibly large if she has enough food. And the last has an extreme version of blood bending Ala a single episode of Avatar. A type whose exact parameters have very much been undefined. Why did you capture and imprison them rather than kill them, how will you ensure they stay locked up, and how would you handle talking to them as needed while keeping yourself safe.
Firstly containment. Jordan and Marie can both be securely locked in with some kind of super hefty bank vault like they did with Maeve. Lizzie on the other hand might be able to shrink down enough she could potentially escape either that way or through some vent, something like that. Perhaps you could have a permanent electrified area both in the hypothetical vent as well as around the vault door?
Second, interrogation. I like the idea of talking back and forth with them through thick glass but I wouldn’t trust Marie to just need to have a visual lock for doing some bad things. Segue: I mentioned her powers being similar to blood bending from Avatar the Last Air Bender. Do you think there’s a chance in hell she could turn people into puppets? End segue. So the only solution I see here is an intercom and at least one camera. What do you think?
And lastly, why the hell did Vought keep these kids alive?

I really want to get a pride tattoo. I’m not sure about placement because I am plus size and trying to lose weight and I don’t want it to warp. I identify as nonbinary, and am some flavor of like bi or pan or whatever idk I just like people. 🤷🏻 I don’t really want a flag specific to my gender or sexuality given the fluidity of both of them. I just want something all encompassing queer like a pink triangle maybe? I just wanted to know if anyone could give me ideas for different symbols and possibly ideas on how to make it unique and aesthetically appealing? I’m not the type of person to pick an image off of Pinterest and say “Give me this tattoo that 100+ other people probably have.” I’m also not trying to tell the artist how to do their job. I just want a rough idea that they can expand on during the consultation.

I added her on Instagram a few months ago after seeing we had mutual friends. Thought she was insanely gorgeous, we had mutual interests, etc. I messaged her and she responded. Got to know her a bit and her personality was just as great. She's extremely kind, caring and funny. Basically the perfect girl that one could dream of being with.
I would send her good morning and good night messages, compliment her daily and hype her up every day (tell her she's beautiful, a queen, gorgeous, prettiest girl), always check in with her, offered to pay for her flight and full stay to fly out to where I live, told her that if I had a female like her that I would worship her. She always replied and said thank you. She did decline the offer to meet up since she said she didn't know me well but I said it was okay, we could keep getting to know each other. I would always comment and like any selfies she posted on her Instagram stories and told her that I loved when she posted selfies. I noticed an increase in her posting them after. Like she was doing it for me but too shy to send to me directly (she's a really shy girl). She often posts songs on her stories as well and when I'd look up the lyrics for them, they could apply to our relationship.
The other day, she posted a funny video about red flags in men and I asked her about it to which she opened up to me about a situationship she's been in for the last while that she's upset over. She has not once mentioned this guy or posted this guy in the time I've known her. There is no trace of any men on her Instagram at all. I feel like she's strung me along.
I don't get what I did wrong as I thought based on everything I did for her and her responses to me, that she had some interest in me. I feel angry and like she lead me on for reasons unknown. I don't think it was for attention as she really doesn't seem like that type of girl. And the guy she's upset over sounds like a complete jerk based on what she told me at yet she's hung up on him and keeps talking to him. I'm kind of grossed out that she even fooled around with him because she never gave off the impression that she was like that. She comes off as being extremely innocent. I guess my question here is how can I make her forget him and realize that I would be better suited to her? Any advice would be helpful.

I installed linux mint edge a few weeks ago to replace windows and while I enjoy mint and it works quite well, a lot of apps keep crashing somehow.
Blender 4.1 crashes randomly, haven't been able to find the crash log (I tried looking in /tmp and other directories). Also tried removing the one from flatpak and installing from blender.org manually.
Visual Studio Code often crashes when I also run blender OR stable diffusion. When this happens, I often need to open terminal and force kill "node" if I was running a node js server.
It seems it might be a RAM issue. Maybe it's not able to use SWAP or something? Or memory leak?
What's going on here? It's really annoying. Should I go back to windows? :\
Thanks in advance, and also here's my system information:

System: Kernel: 6.5.0-35-generic x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: N/A Desktop: Cinnamon 6.0.4 Distro: Linux Mint 21.3 Virginia base: Ubuntu 22.04 jammy Machine: Type: Laptop System: ASUSTeK product: ASUS TUF Gaming A17 FA707NV_FA707NV v: 1.0 serial:  Mobo: ASUSTeK model: FA707NV v: 1.0 serial:  UEFI: American Megatrends LLC. v: FA707NV.312 date: 08/11/2023 Battery: ID-1: BAT1 charge: 87.3 Wh (100.0%) condition: 87.3/90.2 Wh (96.8%) volts: 17.1 min: 15.9 model: ASUS A32-K55 status: Full CPU: Info: 6-core model: AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS with Radeon Graphics bits: 64 type: MT MCP arch: Zen 3 rev: 1 cache: L1: 384 KiB L2: 3 MiB L3: 16 MiB Speed (MHz): avg: 1215 high: 3625 min/max: 400/4603 cores: 1: 400 2: 400 3: 3625 4: 1979 5: 400 6: 400 7: 2018 8: 400 9: 400 10: 2140 11: 2018 12: 400 bogomips: 79049 Flags: avx avx2 ht lm nx pae sse sse2 sse3 sse4_1 sse4_2 sse4a ssse3 svm Graphics: Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: ASUSTeK driver: nvidia v: 535.171.04 bus-ID: 01:00.0 Device-2: AMD Rembrandt vendor: ASUSTeK driver: amdgpu v: kernel bus-ID: 35:00.0 Device-3: Sonix USB2.0 HD UVC WebCam type: USB driver: uvcvideo bus-ID: 1-4:2 Display: x11 server: X.Org v: 1.21.1.4 driver: X: loaded: amdgpu,ati,nvidia unloaded: fbdev,modesetting,nouveau,vesa gpu: amdgpu resolution: 1920x1080~144Hz OpenGL: renderer: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU/PCIe/SSE2 v: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 535.171.04 direct render: Yes Audio: Device-1: NVIDIA vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 01:00.1 Device-2: AMD driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 35:00.1 Device-3: AMD Raven/Raven2/FireFlight/Renoir Audio Processor vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_pci_acp6x v: kernel bus-ID: 35:00.5 Device-4: AMD Family 17h HD Audio vendor: ASUSTeK driver: snd_hda_intel v: kernel bus-ID: 35:00.6 Sound Server-1: ALSA v: k6.5.0-35-generic running: yes Sound Server-2: PulseAudio v: 15.99.1 running: yes Sound Server-3: PipeWire v: 0.3.48 running: yes Network: Device-1: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet vendor: ASUSTeK driver: r8169 v: kernel port: e000 bus-ID: 02:00.0 IF: eno1 state: down mac:  Device-2: Realtek vendor: AzureWave driver: rtw89_8852be v: kernel port: d000 bus-ID: 03:00.0 IF: wlp3s0 state: up mac:  Bluetooth: Device-1: IMC Networks Bluetooth Radio type: USB driver: btusb v: 0.8 bus-ID: 3-3:3 Report: hciconfig ID: hci0 rfk-id: 0 state: down bt-service: enabled,running rfk-block: hardware: no software: yes address:  RAID: Device-1: bpool type: zfs status: ONLINE level: linear raw: size: 1.88 GiB free: 1.26 GiB zfs-fs: size: 1.75 GiB free: 1.14 GiB Components: Online: N/A Device-2: rpool type: zfs status: ONLINE level: linear raw: size: 472 GiB free: 332 GiB zfs-fs: size: 457.38 GiB free: 316.97 GiB Components: Online: N/A Drives: Local Storage: total: raw: 476.94 GiB usable: 936.06 GiB used: 141.93 GiB (15.2%) ID-1: /dev/nvme0n1 vendor: Micron model: 2400 MTFDKBA512QFM size: 476.94 GiB temp: 34.9 C Partition: ID-1: / size: 327.14 GiB used: 10.18 GiB (3.1%) fs: zfs logical: rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_atzx0y ID-2: /boot size: 1.75 GiB used: 626.8 MiB (35.0%) fs: zfs logical: bpool/BOOT/ubuntu_atzx0y ID-3: /boot/efi size: 511 MiB used: 14.2 MiB (2.8%) fs: vfat dev: /dev/nvme0n1p1 ID-4: /valog size: 317 GiB used: 36.1 MiB (0.0%) fs: zfs logical: rpool/ROOT/ubuntu_atzx0y/valog Swap: ID-1: swap-1 type: partition size: 2 GiB used: 969.7 MiB (47.3%) dev: /dev/nvme0n1p2 Sensors: System Temperatures: cpu: 53.0 C mobo: N/A Fan Speeds (RPM): cpu: 2400 GPU: device: nvidia screen: :0.0 temp: 43 C device: amdgpu temp: 46.0 C Info: Processes: 552 Uptime: 11h 55m Memory: 14.86 GiB used: 12.4 GiB (83.4%) Init: systemd runlevel: 5 Compilers: gcc: 11.4.0 Packages: 2543 Shell: Bash v: 5.1.16 inxi: 3.3.13 

-Disclaimer: This is an examination of Dottore being a complex morally grey villain that wasn't just born 100% evil, it's NOT a case that he's a good boy.-
I'll assume Zandik is Dottore since it's very likely (plus, someone tried to name their Wanderer that but it didn't work.)
Let's start with the oldest piece of lore:
-- Doctor's Pinion reveals a tragic past with unknown reasons for persecution --
When Pierro first tried to recruit Zandik / Dottore, he responded:

"Will you treat me like the Akademiya did? Will you call me a monster, a madman?" "Or will you treat me as my hometown did, and chase me away with pitchforks and clubs...?"

Some people assume the persecution was because of his experiments but it's important to note that the fact is we don't know what happened so there's a chance it wasn't something evil. That he could be chased away by "pitchforks and clubs" indicates he was weak at that point and couldn't do anything to stop it.
He also expresses a desire to merge humans with machines.

"With or without a Vision, and irrespective of their physique or combat skills,"Enhanced humans" would surely display strength far beyond the average."

This shows a desire to give power to the weak (likely including himself), even if they lack visions. Which isn't inherently a bad thing, it's just against the Akademiya's teachings. This applies even to Scaramouche, whose power had been locked by Raiden and he unlocked it.
-- Mysterious moral convictions --
Although a lot of the fandom accuses him of having no ethics or morals at all, there are several hints that this isn't the case.
He got mad at Scaramouche when told: "you only care about your crazy experiments" and told Nahida he has "his own convictions, we just don't share them" which were both conveniently not further explained. There is also the Jeht quest incident but i'll discuss it later on.
-- Eleazar hospital notes --
To briefly summarize the notes, he cured a patient using another dead patient's remains. His treatment was harsh but successful. These notes read like a Dr. House script, Dottore not giving a crap about the patient's religious beliefs included.
Abbas had a terrible ending because he had developed insanity and ran away. Zandik/ Dottore left a note warning not to let him go but it seems the staff didn't listen.
These notes align with how plague doctors were misunderstood and feared in real life. This motif was incorporated into his video game iteration, replacing the joker / clown persona.
Some people interpreted these notes as "Dottore murders and mutilates people that are alive for experiments" but there's no indication of that.
-- Aranara experiment notes --
These are the worst by far. It's unclear if the "subjects" were people with Eleazar or healthy people exposed to the withering for tests. It has to be pointed out that it seems the actions were done by his subordinates since it's likely Dottore reprimanding them at the end:

"This is a waste of resources. It is advisable to watch over the subjects' mental state in the next experiment and avoid exposing them to extreme environments... Lab Lead on duty: ████"

Yes, this sounds bad but it's proof he isn't a sadist that enjoys watching pain.
It also means he is higher in a moral standpoint than characters like Jack Horner. These type of characters don't care or enjoy deaths with the pretext of "we can always get more lackeys."
-- During the Jeht quest --
Froderock (a subordinate of Dottore) wants to capture an eremite. It is stated he is acting on his own and that Dottore gave an order not to kidnap eremites.
A note by another Fatui member states that Froderock is going to get killed for going against the order. We can theorize that the Harbinger himself would kill him. There's also a line about "following military regulations" which means his subordinates operate under a code and can't just kidnap people for experiments for the lols.

Fatui Negotiator: Professor Froderock was looking for live specimens in the desert — he always defied The Doctor's orders... That's just pure jealousy, if you ask me
...I urge you to consider, Captain Zoya, that if we are able to complete this research work in the desert, perhaps our entire expeditionary force may receive the favor of our great Harbinger... (This line has been crossed out using a red pen, and a line in red has been added: "How about you consider military regulations? Or perhaps you would like to consider how long you have left to live?")

A similar thing happened with Arlecchino in the Fortune Slip quest in Inazuma. Subordinates of her were acting on their own by following the previous Knave's teachings to make some orphans for the House.
-- *Time of Insight Artifact * --
It mentions a "mad scientist expelled by the akademia" and the text under it seems to be Dottore speaking.
The last part says:

"Those sellswords (Eremites) once did much for me. I trust they will not disappoint this time, either."

Combining Jeht quest with this makes it seem that eremites helped Dottore in some way and he is fond enough of them to slaughter a subordinate that brings them harm.
The following text seems to be Dottore's reason to want to capture Aranaras:

"The dream had to be captured — along with the inhabitants of the forest who could control dreams, To remind that friend once again of one's own form and the memories that were shared.
If the organ that governs memory has taken too much damage and cannot be healed, Then bring another old friend and dwell in dreams of the past together, Play in a small tree house, and explore the limitless depth of the jungle. Yes, that would be nice as well. For in dreams, everyone has a chance to start over."

I couldn't find more info about this "friend". It seems to be someone who suffered the effects of erosion or death, or an aranara that lost their memory.
-- Al Haitham's SQ --
Alhaitham: (To Siraj / the villain, after praising his intelligence)

"You would never let a test subject escape. Mistakes like that are beneath you, and you also won't leave any mistake without a resolution."

This is relevant because we know Dottore is canonically smarter than Siraj yet he didn't hunt down Collei (Barnabas is the one that traumatized and wanted to kill her), Abbas or Scara. It's a known thing there's a Fatui code that traitors and deserters are executed to avoid spilling secrets. Dottore leaves even Scara alone, you may argue that he was lazy but suspiciously Childe, who during Labyrinth Warriors was chasing Scara, soon appeared in Inazuma in a photo taking event, leaving for Snezhnaya, after Scara lost his gnosis.
It was never explained why Childe was chasing him to take away the Gnosis yet suddenly Scara appeared with Dottore without Childe. This is suspicious because Childe loves to fight, to the point he wanted to fight Arle while recovering on her SQ. He didn't even show up to finish off Scaramouche at the end.
To play Devil's advocate, it could also be Scaramouche is a part of some unknown plan too and nothing to do with mercy.
-- Dottore's speech to Niwa --
Taking into account Nahida's story that says: "the monster found solace in the kitten", the black bird referring to himself as "a monstrosity yet they are too foolish to see it" and Dottore's lines to Pierro:

"Will you call me a monster, a madman?"

Dottore sees himself as an inhuman monster. It puts into question if the following line wasn't just about Scaramouche and is actually a metaphor of Dottore speaking about his past:

"Escher: Even without you, that pure, innocent puppet would only end up being used by someone else instead. What other reason would a human have for befriending one who is not of our kind?"

Although Dottore refers to himself as "human", the two lines I quoted previously contradict this. Mentally he sees himself as not human (to the point of finding solace in a living puppet), even though his words say otherwise. There is also a chance this Dottore was no longer human at all, the Nahida story shows the monster bird had tiny floating birds around, even though he hadn't studied Scaramouche to create the segments.
There is also a stark contrast between Dottore joining the Fatui expresing concern over been rejected again yet he is embracing his monster persona in the Niwa scene.

"Escher: Think of me as a monster or a demon, if you wish... "

It could be a sign of a person with trauma who steered into an evil path. Kept getting called a monster until he accepted it.
There could be many reasons for the change, besides being used, -incoming pure speculation- he could have experimented on himself to have less emotions or taking this quote into account: "everyone has a chance to start over in dreams" he believes he can commit atrocities and it won't matter because he plans to do a reset somehow.

" The Doctor: Jester, I have completed the task you gave me. Creating a gap and infiltrating Inazuma's inner workings... Heh, what fun it was. The Doctor: I'd like to introduce a puppet to you. If he proves useful, let's make him our newest comrade. And if not... let's turn him to dust."

The bold part is more clues of either future Scara related scheming or Dottore's words are an act, mercy was shown when he became useless. It also seems that Pierro stirred him into a darker path.
I wouldn't say it's confirmation that Pierro is pure evil because we barely know anything about him, there's a chance it was for some greater good since that's a trend with the Harbingers.
-- Possible Sohreh murder --
At first glance, it seems way too obvious that Zandik did it, it's like watching a murder mystery movie and the first suspect is a red herring.
Since people frequently incorrectly state: "Dottore murdered a girl while they were having a picnic" like a fact, I'm going to make a deep dive into these notes:
First there is no clear motive for him killing Sohreh. (Niwa had a purpose.)

attack of Rishboland Tigers. In need of first aid..."

The bold part implies she was still alive while Zandik was dealing with the Ruin Guard. The broken bone didn't happen during the picnic while he was alone with her. She was declared dead and buried after the attack, she could have been killed during it while everyone was distracted.
-Does the Akademiya think that Zandik is responsible?-
There is a message board that says he was investigated over her murder.
The lack of motive combined with Zandik only receiving negative consequences from saving the team makes me think he was framed and acted on impulse / emotion when saving them or he turned it on to spook the tigers and it accidentally killed her.
Why? He could have just ran away and let everyone die to not reveal he was hiding ruin guard knowledge. Which he expressed on the notes that he didn't want the rest to know:

"I am going to take them (Ruin guards) apart, and record the size and shape one by one...
...But first of all, this secret must not be revealed to the other team members..."
...Thank goodness, Zandik reacted quickly. Otherwise, the whole team would be in serious trouble..."

-Some people argue that "running away and letting everyone die would have been too suspicious so he saved them."
It's more likely he was just a weak regular human at that point in his life so it wouldn't have been too suspicious to run away / he actually risked his life to shut it down.-
The 2 burned notes both state: "Someone seems to have burnt the contents in a hurry" it could have been the person trying to frame him. One of them is a note about the Ruin Guards and has Zandik's signature, they may have wanted to steal credit of his research.
-Regarding who framed Dottore, u/Sandflow_23 commented an excellent theory
lt seems Zandik didn't care much about Sohreh's death since he proceeded to ask the team to take back the Ruinguard while she was bleeding but the Eleazar hospital notes come after this incident. Was this his first instance of curing people?
Did being unable to save someone influence him in some way? It may just be coincidental but it's worth taking note. I'm trying to look at all possibilities.
People usually see Sohreh's note as "she learned Dottore's secret so he murdered her" But something I haven't seen discussed is how there is also a chance he trusted her and decided to open up to people more. Previously he said studying Ruinguards could get him kicked out but after the following note by Sohreh, he decided to try to convince his team to take back the ruin guard:

"...Zandik was attracted by the ancient machines left behind by some civilization here...
We had a great time and decided to go on a picnic tonight..."

Finally, to play Devil's Advocate: it seems he also had another secret mission that was never explained.

"...It's a shame that documents regarding its (the giant golem's) energy supply systems have been lost, and I have far too important a mission to accomplish to afford to start from scratch. If not..."

He could have killed her because she learned that secret but it's still weird that he'd go and choke her with people focused on him speaking about Ruinguard studies.
-- Arle SQ --
Lyney said "he proposed the direction of the research " for the bottled flames. That he wants to give people "a chance to start over" was also hinted in Time of Insight artifact. I won't be surprised if it turns out most of the injured kids he took from Crucabena are actually fine. The Eremites, which he didn't want his subordinates to kidnap, were also healthy, so this is another instance of him seeking to work with weak people to give them power. I'm NOT denying there's a chance he wants to use it for some other plan like burning the tree like other Redditors have proposed
Finally, there remains the question of which Dottore would be playable. I predict the original or Omega. (Knocking off the angelic new segment theory)
We don't know if the original is alive, since Raiden destroyed her physical body (and the segments were based on Scaramouche) he could be dead BUT giving a kill switch to Omega may have a deeper meaning. Like those fragments of his mind from dead segments will re-materialize in an empty segment or object his soul is bound to or go back to Omega and change his personality, the former sounds like FullMetal Alchemist but a Remuria quest confirms this is a thing in Genshin.
Finally done, sorry if this is ridiculously long but I wanted to provide quotes to sustain the arguments, especially since some people hate him so much based on mostly misinformation.

Ok so this is really going to be a throwaway type post - I don’t know if I need advice, insight is appreciated but also….I may just need this off my chest?
I (26F) have been seeing a guy (28M) for about…threeish months, although I’d say realistically it’s only been amping up in the last month with more consistent hang outs, more time spent together just doing nothing, more consistent communication when we’re not together, etc.
Basically we had a conversation about politics/what we want in the future/moving forward and we’re just not fully aligned. He's not like a radical trump supporter, and we’re aligned on the important social stuff (which I think is the norm for our generation) but there are other flags about our potential longterm compatibility, which we both brought up. I’m more interested in social issues, he’s more interested in money. I’m not exactly what he’s looking for, and he isn’t for me either, but there’s this crazy chemistry and insane comfort with him for me.
The other thing is he is just kind of a classic finance guy…dick. The ego is insane, and honestly I didn’t even think we’d make it to three dates after we hooked up on our first date. His hobby is nfts and he gets pedicures more regularly than me. But there’s been this…softening, between the both of us. He’s slowly become not just the guy I’m sleeping with, but my friend. It’s really strange. I still totally think my friends would hate him and his would hate me and sometimes I feel like we even sort of hate each other but the last few times we’ve had sex has felt different…the way I can sleep next to him is different…I’ve sort of just…softened to him. He’s also definitely softened a little bit to me…I think?
Basically the last time I felt the tenderness towards someone that I’m starting to feel towards him was towards my ex boyfriend who I absolutely adored and it took a LOT to get over him when we broke up. The last time I felt…anything resembling an emotional attachment during sex was over a year ago, pre breakup until recently…with him. He FaceTimed me the other night while he was on vacation with his friends just to say hi before hanging up with (to my, and my friends shock) “love you, bye.” I know he was drunk…but I do sorta feel like he meant it. I do sorta feel like in a few weeks or a month I could also mean it too.
Is it worth it to try even if it’s likely not going to work out? Or am I just setting myself up to be hurt? Is it cruel to keep dating when we know we have feelings for each other, but it likely won’t work out?