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Since Ultimate's launch, I've been trying to play every character's game of origin. Here's what I've enjoyed the most

2023.05.28 22:35 FronkZoppa Since Ultimate's launch, I've been trying to play every character's game of origin. Here's what I've enjoyed the most

Mods please delete if this is really appropriate for the sub. I just thought it'd be fun to write up my thoughts on the experience so far.
I've been playing Smash all my life - Melee might've been the first game I truly fell in love with - and the series has always served as exposure to other franchises. For over four years I've been slowly, methodically playing the source games for the entire Smash Ultimate roster. Most of them I wanted to play anyway, and this was just a neat excuse to try them out. And I do mean slowly, I really spread them out to avoid burnout. I also never forced myself to finish a game if I wasn't having fun; sometimes I just played the first section/level to get a feel for it, then dropped it. Overall it's been a fun way to expose myself to new genres and gain appreciation for gaming history. I'd already played quite a bit of Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, Metal Gear, and Sonic, but the rest was all pretty new for me. I won't mention the games I played before this challenge.
For each character I picked the game I thought was most relevant, or most similar to their depiction in Smash. If you want, you can look at the checklist here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rOlk8dXwEL6wd2Lw4zouBiAce8UJabHOIgIP8bKL_7c/edit?usp=sharing
It's worth noting that this wouldn't be feasible without emulation. A lot of these games aren't available on modern platforms, and some aren't even localized into English. I'm not a collector and I'm not willing to track down old consoles on ebay.
Games are roughly ordered within their tiers, based on how much I enjoyed them. I'll try to be brief for each one.
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'It's old and I can't help being a zoomer' tier - Games I played just long enough to understand them, then dipped. I would not have chosen to play them for fun.
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'Not very good' tier - Reserved exclusively for Pac-Man World 2.
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'Just not for me' tier - Games I struggled to connect with or I'm not a fan of the genre. Maybe I'd like them if I played longer, but I don't plan to pick them up again.
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'It was alright' tier - Games that were pretty enjoyable. I'm glad I tried them and likely won't play them again.
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'Hey, this is pretty good' tier - Games I liked quite a lot and would recommend.
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'This is the shit' tier - Games I thoroughly loved and would rank among my favorites.
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Here's what's left on the list. Looking forward to some of them more than others. I might get around to them this year, or over three years, or never. Who knows.
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Did I learn anything by doing this? I think so. I definitely have a greater appreciation for a wider variety of genres and franchises. This got me to try certain games I never would have considered otherwise. And in turn, I gained a greater appreciation for the crossover aspect of Smash; every time I look at the character select screen, I have exponentially more memories attached to each icon. I can spot all the references in the movesets and stages. It's just... cool, I guess.
Thanks for reading. Hope you're having a good day. Please don't hate me for dismissing your favorite game.
submitted by FronkZoppa to smashbros [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 22:25 not_wingren Dev Diary 52: Baashidi Lore Dev Diary

Dev Diary 52: Baashidi Lore Dev Diary
“We are the people of Baashi, he who led us from the deserts, he who made treaty with the dwellers of the ocean, he who slew the great chiefs of the Nikhuva and took from them their pearls and cowrie shells. It is in this year, which all civilized peoples know as the year of the star Dulasmag, that I write to you of the situation of our people. Of the wisdom of Qasri Aqoon, where scrolls are stacked like coins in a vault. Of the wealth of Qasri Maroodiqya, whose markets never want for the ivory of whale nor elephant. Of the honor of Qasri Abeesooyinka, who feeds many mouths and guards yet many more from the lizard demons. Of the nobility of Qasri Ubakhiyo, where the civilization of the Jasiir Jadid meets the savagery of the Tanizu barbarians. Of the cunning of Qasri Bariga, whose navigators and traders bring the far off knowledge of Haless to the shores of the Jasiir Jadid. And finally of the queen of cities. Qasri Baashi, the city of glory and death where no man save the noblest or bravest dare dwell. It is with these actors that our tale begins. May fortune and the divine laws of the world smile upon our people, for it is the age of our glory.”
- Dayakh Baare in the foreword of Lessons of the Peace, a treatise on rule.
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A culture map of the Baashidi. There’s also [REDACTED], which isn’t on screen at the moment.
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A religion map. You can ignore that little blue province. It’s nothing important.
Who Are the Baashidi?
The Baashidi are a group of humans living in southern Sarhal bound by a shared language and historical ties to the hero Baashi as well as the ancient Jinnakah and Ardimya sultanates. Their culture group also includes the Guryadagga (People Who Stayed at Home), an umbrella term used for the people living in the lands that the Baashidi migrated out of long ago.The Baashidi call their home the Jasiir Jadid (New Peninsula) and term the lands of the Guryadagga the Jasiir Doog (Homeland Peninsula). Their culture is split into three groups: The Suhratbi, who live in the Suhratba plain. The Dhebiji, who dwell in the thin peninsular land of the Dhebij, and the Ashamadi, who occupy the eastern portion of the Ashamadiat plain.
There are five kingdoms among the Baashidi: Qabiika Baddabi, Qabiika Beeragga, Qabiika Weggabiga, Qabiika Dadubakha, and Kabilu Gawakhiza. Qabiika roughly translates as royal tribe, with Kabilu being a corruption of the word used in some parts of the Ashamadiat.
The Dhebiji and the Suhratbi are the original Baashidi, formed as cultures a millenia ago out of migrants from the lands of the Ardimyan sultanate as it was destroyed during an event known as the Great Death, a consequence of the Day of Ashen Skies. The distinction between them is partially geographic and political, but also references how much of their ancestry they trace to the Nikhuva people, whose tribes occupied much of the Dhebij in ancient times.
The Asahamadi were incorporated into the Baashidi world centuries ago, made up of a mix of Dhebiji settler and Baashified Tanizu. They still maintain some traditions from Tanizu, and some of them even practice the rites of the Beast Memory over Baashidi religion.
The Baashidi have an ancient pact with the merfolk, who inhabit the seas around them. Baashidi cities are built with sunken areas and canals to accommodate merfolk swimming through them, and the great friendship between the two peoples is a source of Baashidi pride and their success as seafarers.
The Baashidi are well known for their poetry, with the skill highly prized among all levels of Baashidi society due to their belief in its magical power. Formal court poetry follows specific forms that draw upon mathematical formulations and sacred geometries, while its more folk practice is often as long form sung tales of an individual’s glory or dishonor. Those who master either form are respected for the power they wield, and it is not unknown for even the highest to be struck down by a curse poem from an offended poet.
The Ardimya Sultanate and the Great Death
Ardimya was a Jinn, a being of magic and elemental power whose kind ruled over Sarhal and Bulwar at various points in ancient history. Her history prior to appearing in East Sarhal is unknown, but she came from somewhere west, fleeing other Jinn, and led a great caravan of her servants through East Sarhal in an event known as The Great Procession. She gave many gifts to the people of the lands she passed through, something that we’ll cover in more detail in a dev diary on the [redacted] system. Eventually, she arrived in the lands of the Jasiir Doog, where she brought the local tribes under her influence through both gifts and force, chief among them the tribe of the Nasmaneen, who served as her priests.Ardimya’s sultanate was a powerful but isolated state. The strongholds of most of her kind were in West Sarhal, and Ardimya had little interest in those of her kind who were not her servants, not even those who fled from the Jinn-Binders in Bulwar. At the Lizardfolk Kingdoms dominated southern Sarhal, which they considered to belong entirely to them. Ardimya spent a great deal of effort staving off lizardfolk conquest of her sultanate, a losing war that saw her resources stretched. This all changed in 7700 BAS, when the precursor elves defeated Ardimya in a war, forcing her to pay tribute, while at the same time they ravaged the lands of the lizardfolk.
While the precursors eventually left due to their civil war, Ardimya’s image in the eyes of her people was forever tarnished, eventually leading to an assassination attempt by one of her sons and the Jinn’s descent into madness. Matters were made worse when Ardimya was ravaged by the attacks of the Deep Devils, an event which afflicted all of coastal Sarhal. The weakness of their mother and her clear loss of sanity prompted her remaining sons to rebel against her, launching the sultanate into a civil war.
Though Ardimya won the son civil war, her victory would be a bitter and short lived one. The Day of Ashen Skies occurred only 40 years later, banishing all of the remaining Jinn, including Ardimya. Though this was a catastrophic event for most of the world, it was near apocalyptic in the Ardimyan sultanate.
Enchantments became unbound as magical storms which scoured and warped the land, killing millions. Additionally, the civil war had been a long and bitter struggle between family, a conflict where horrific magic and monsters had been unleashed. Without their masters and with the rules of magic changing, these creatures were free to wreak havoc as they wished. None will ever truly know what befell most of the sultanate’s cities, but the survivors who were not simply killed in this initial wave of devastation found themselves locked in battle with the Qeyikul, anthropotrophic humanoid monsters of unknown origin who devoured entire cities of survivors.
Most of those who survived became nomads, engaged in a constant desperate struggle to survive the hostile environment that their home had become while their heels were dogged by monsters. From among these fragmented bands arose a hero known as Baashi. A young warrior who fought with legendary skill and valor, he rallied groups of survivors into an army that would eventually slaughter the main mass of Qeyikul alongside help from the Nasmaneen, who had managed to hold the capital city of Ardim Qarast against the tide of death. Baashi was offered a place of honor among those in Ardim Qarast but refused it along the line that his followers had come from the tribes oppressed by Ardimya and the royal tribes. He and his followers went west, while the royal tribes founded the sultanate of Jinnakah, which would eventually collapse in 789 AA, leaving the Guryadagga as nomads dwelling in the lands of the empire they had once ruled.
The Guryadagga
The Guryadagga, as mentioned above, is the name applied to those who remained in the Jasiir Doog after the events of the Great Death and Baashi’s march to the west. They are split into four royal clans: The Nasmaneen, the Qayneen, the Muudeyneen, and the Samaaneen. All of these are descended from the original royal tribes of the Ardimyan sultanate, though now split into many disorganized subtribes. They call their land “Ardimya’s Land” from which Cannorians call it simply Ardimya.
The Nasmaneen managed to hold onto some power after the Great Death, using the magic of Ardimya’s city to keep their lands fertile and maintain the lifestyle of luxuries they had been accustomed to during the days of the Ardimyan sultanate. However, the magic of the city was damaged by the events of the Great Death and the desperate Jinnakans would send expeditions into the lands visited by Ardimya’s procession in search of a way to restore. This would lead to the creation of Bwa Dakinshi as a Jinnakah puppet state, though this was the only notable result. The sultanate would collapse by 789 AA, and the Nasmaneen dispersed as nomads, attacked by other Guryadagga tribes who had long been envious of their rule over Ardim Qarast.
In 1444 the Guryadagga exist entirely as nomads, sustained through trading precious materials found in the desert or by offering their services as mercenaries to fight off Qeyikul attacks in the eastern lands of Qabiika Baddabi.
They and the lands of Ardimya will see a great change and the birth of something new in the time period of the game. But I’ll leave that to a future dev diary.
The Merfolk
Baashi first met the merfolk in 60 AA, when he and his followers attempted to escape a horde of Qeyikul via hastily constructed rafts. The merfolk, recent arrivals to the region, took pity upon the humans and saved them, guiding their vessels to a safe island, where Baashi swore a pact with the merfolk chiefs and founded the city of Qasri Baashi above the nascent merfolk villages there. From this point, the merfolk and the Baashidi were joined in cause, and the two people helped each other prosper, both refugees from lost homelands.
Merfolk do not know their own origins, but know that their ancestors felt a great sense of loss for an unknown homeland. Whether they were once land-dwelling people or refugees from the deep sea is unclear, but they arrived in Sarhal a few decades after the day of Ashen Skies, leading some Cannorians to believe that they are Ruinborn. The Baashidi themselves believe their friends to be exiles from the realm of water, fleeing the collapse of a cruel Jinn’s realm in the same way that they did.
They are a generally xenophobic people who prefer to deal with the above seas world through their Baashidi partners, trusting in their ancient friendship and the respect that the Baashidi have for them to ensure they get a fair deal. Many Sarhali peoples have mistaken isolated merfolk sightings for the presence of water spirits or godlings, and the people of Fangaula and Fahvanosy both have a reverence for the creatures, even if the merfolk themselves avoid contacting them.
Merfolk can breathe air, but must skin their skin wet in a similar fashion to marine mammals. They and the Baashidi have invented forms of magic and crude devices which allow them to sustain themselves on land for prolonged periods, but these are expensive and don’t make up for their lack of legs, meaning only magically adept or wealthy merfolk can spend any real time away from water. For the most part, their existence is confined to the seas and to areas near the coast.Those merfolk living close to or within Baashidi settlements often consider themselves to be citizens of the above the seas world, and enjoy full equality within it.
The merfolk are not the only denizens of the deep but they are the only ones that are friendly. The Baashidi have heard tales from their friends of monsters and vile creatures beneath the waves, and are sometimes requested to send aid when the merfolk kingdom finds themselves engaged in war with those below.
The merfolk themselves will be in game, though their culture won’t exist on the map. You’ll learn more about the merfolk estate and how you can interact with the Baashidi’s underwater allies in a future dev diary.
The History of the Jasiir Jadid
The Baashidi themselves settled in various small villages near the coasts and their merfolk allies. Over time, these settlements grew into city states which would find themselves as tributaries of the Jinnakah sultanate, who saw themselves as the premier power in southern Sarhal and ruled over many south Sarhali humans in addition to the Baashidi. In 480 AA, the expanding lizardfolk kingdom of Karassk would go to war with Jinnakah over the lands of the Jasiir Jadid, making most of the Baashidi their tributaries. The era of lizardfolk rule would allow the Baashidi to grow and develop their powerbases under the mostly distant lizardfolk, and when Karassk’s power began to decline in the 7th century, the Baashidi were able to become independent. For the first time in history, they were no longer under the shadow of an ancient empire and were free to choose their own direction as a people.
The immediate centuries after the independence of the Baashidi were an age of warfare and strife, as the various Baashidi polities attempted to consolidate their power and gain advantage over their rivals. Perhaps the most important conflict fought in this time is the Dagafita, which marked the end of the period of warfare. The Dagafita was a series of wars that began in 1151, fought as a struggle for dominance of the Ashamadiat between Qabiika Beeragga and an alliance of the northern powers consisting of Qabiika Weggabiga, Qabiika Dadubakha, and Kabilu Gawakhiza. The conflict engulfed the entire Baashidi world until 1208, when Sadealdhahk the Wise assassinated his father and brought peace between his kingdom and its rivals. He renounced his claims to the former Beeraggan colonies in the Ashamadiat and sent gifts to the north to make restitution for the wrongs committed by his kingdom in the past. The Treaty of the Dagafita would become symbolic of a new era of peace and cooperation in the Baashidi world, remaining still unbroken in 1444.
Sadealdhahk and his peers were influenced by a new religious movement sweeping through the Jasiir Jadid. A codification of the various folkloric beliefs from previous ages, it also taught a philosophy of dedicating oneself to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding of the divine nature of creation. This new religion and era of peace would be the seed of a Baashidi golden age, known as the Dasr Sharaf.
Rinta Seekers
Rinta Seekers (Truth Seekers), is a religion developed by the 12th century philosopher Kabil Hadni, who sought truth in the many hundreds of beliefs that fell under the umbrella of the Habab Zar (Old Exorcism or Old Spirits). Hadni’s religion taught that the gates to heaven were guarded by mortals, who had rebelled against the lesser gods the True Creator had stationed to guide the world and watch over heaven. These gods became corrupted by the power they wielded over the material world, and so the enslaved souls of heaven slew them and spread their remains across the sky, where the dead gods can only weakly inflict their evil upon the world. He believed that the mortals in heaven sought to avoid becoming corrupted by the gods, and would only allow those who achieved enlightenment to pass through the gates. Hadni taught that no mortal could achieve enlightenment in life, but that seeking an understanding of the divine law which undergirds the world would help protect one from the evils the dead gods sought to inflict upon them. The religion is part philosophy of life and part collection of protective rituals, officiated in equal part by learned scholars in formal settings as it is by itinerant ascetic holy men.
Rinta Seekers is the great pillar of Baashidi and merfolk life. Its philosophy shapes the way that they relate to each other, and its exhortion to seek knowledge motivates Baashidi scholar-adventurers to learn the secrets of the entire world.
Baashidi magic:
There are two types of mages among the Baashidi, Mwalim and Darwiiz.
Mwalim are studious scholar mages who practice a magical tradition based on reason and logic. Their magic utilizes mystical alignments of numbers and alchemical formulas and they also derive power from knowledge of astrology and interpreting the movement of the heavens, making them quasi holy men who are trusted to conduct auguries and ward from evil influence households and courts that hire them. Before casting all but the most basic of spells, they imbibe strange elixirs and do ritual dances mapping out mystic geometry in order to enter a higher state of consciousness. This trance is described as an intellectual ecstaticness that is believed to partially connect them to the realm of paradise. Many are also scholars of renown, writing treatises on history; philosophy; and mathematics, as well as studying natural laws in order to improve their own magic and alchemy, and practicing formal court poetry.
Darwiiz are wandering mystics who practice a mixture of witchdoctory and spirit binding alongside ritual trances similar to that of the Mwalim. According to tradition, Darwiiz cannot cut their hair, drink the milk of an animal, carry salt, nor carry any tools for the making of or extinguishing of fire. Peasants and lords alike are obligated to provide a Dwariiz with hospitality and food, which a Darwiiz is obliged to repay with a performance of story, music, and dancing, alongside any needed magical aid. Mwalim enjoy the same privileges as Darwiiz, being entitled to hospitality, but see these and the other traditions of the Darwiiz as relics of a past era and the behavior of misguided folk magic practitioners.
Mwalim are more trusted by nobility, being highly influential within courts and scholarly circles. Darwiiz, due to their wandering nature, rarely enter the courts of kings or other nobles but are often the only source of magical aid that rural villages and the rougher adventurers will be able to gain aid from.
Darwiiz are far more common among the tribal and rural peoples, but no noble would ever turn one of them away or disrespect them. Influential Darwiiz have made their ways into the courts of kings before, and been trusted spiritual and practical advisors.
1444 and the Dasr Sharaf
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The Baashidi word in 1444
In 1444, the Baashidi are in the throes of their golden age, experiencing the benefits of age of peace and cooperation. When you jump into the game, the Dasr Sharaf is ongoing event that has the potential to springboard you into success. This is the age of the Baashidi’s height as a civilization, and you as a player will be able to determine how high they ascend.
Open warfare between the Baashidi kingdoms themselves is unthinkable, and their rising power has led to them looking outwards for expansion.
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https://preview.redd.it/lj1sm4nuqm2b1.jpg?width=1920&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8af655d784ab8668b1c4ef6a0794c63cf3b966a
The island of Zyumaklai is the first step of this expansion, captured from Butuguzi by Kabilu Gawakhiza in 1420. It is the first of possibly many Baashidi possessions in seas far from their home.
The other notable expression of Baashidi expansionism is the tiny state of Hisraad. A group of scholar-adventurers granted control of a mountain-fortress by the queen of Qabiika Dadubakha, they use their base to conduct expeditions into lizardfolk lands hunting for ancient knowledge, and have ambitions of conquering their own state there. Only time and you the player will tell if they succeed, and whether they are the precursor to more such expeditions.
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The Scholar-Adventurers of Hisraad. Note the gfx is not final.
Hisraad is an interesting tag that is focused around the Baashidi expedition mechanics, which are relevant for all of the Baashidi countries, not just Hisraad and Qabiika Dadubakha. We’ll talk more about them in a future dev diary.
Trade in Sarhal
It would feel remiss to have a dev diary about Sarhal’s greatest seafarers without also including some information about trade in the greater continent of Sarhal.
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The trade mapmode.
As you can see from the trade map, Sarhal pulls trade from Haless and Rahen towards Cannor. In 1444 this route functionally doesn’t exist, but as the Baashidi, Cannorians, and other trade focused powers in Sarhal, you’ll have the opportunity to bring the riches of Haless to and through Sarhal. Eagle eyed viewers might also see some changes in Rahen and southern Haless. The West Rahen Gulf has been split to accommodate the intended flow of trade with Sarhal, and several trade nodes have been adjusted to account for this. The gulf and the Ringlet Sea are going to be very lively areas in the Sarhal update, with pirates, colonizers, and trading kingdoms all trying to get their piece of the pie. You’ll also note that Eastern Haless flows directly towards Sarhal. As a Cannorian colonizer, you’ll want to establish a presence in Ardimya to control Halessi trade without needing to conquer huge amounts of land (You’ll also want a colony there for…other reasons)If you look at Sarhal for a bit, you’ll see the traditional trade routes through the interior of the continent that have existed for most of the history of settled states there. Gnollish traders carry slaves, salt, spices, and ivory across the breadth of the sahel and sudan of Sarhal, bridging the human civilizations of East and West Sarhal through this distant trade. The movement of West Sarhali slaves into East Sarhali is of great importance to the civilizations of East Sarhal, as is the flow of East Sarhali gold and finished goods to West Sarhal. Control of this trade is vital for a gnollish power, and the effect of greater sea trade on this ancient highway will play a part in the stories of the states of the interior.There’s one more notable thing about trade in Sarhal (or rather something with trade in its name), but I’ll leave that for a future dev diary about a particular people of no small import.
WE NEED YOU
I’d like to end this dev diary by reminding people that Anbennar is a product of the community that supports it, not a distant dev studio. That means you can contribute to Anbennar and make content for it. We have plenty of passionate and talented people working on making content for Sarhal and other parts of the mod, but we always need more.If you’re interested in helping out with Sarhal or any other region, hop on to the discord and ask around. You’ll even get your name in the credits of the release.
https://discord.gg/anbennar
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A new challenger to Anbenncost's title has appeared. The city of Qasri Baashi is split over two provinces, representing its nature as a huge sprawling slum.
Trade good mapmode. Those ivory provinces are from herds of pygmy elephants formerly bred by Ardimya as pets.
I wonder why I included this image? Must be a mistake, but I'll leave it here.
submitted by not_wingren to Anbennar [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 22:20 FronkZoppa Since Ultimate's launch, I've been trying to play every character's game of origin. Here's what I've enjoyed the most

I don't know if this is really appropriate for the sub, but I thought it'd be fun to write up my thoughts on the experience so far.
I've been playing Smash all my life - Melee might've been the first game I truly fell in love with - and the series has always served as exposure to other franchises. For over four years I've been slowly, methodically playing the source games for the entire Smash Ultimate roster. Most of them I wanted to play anyway, and this was just a neat excuse to try them out. And I do mean slowly, I really spread them out to avoid burnout. I also never forced myself to finish a game if I wasn't having fun; sometimes I just played the first section/level to get a feel for it, then dropped it. Overall it's been a fun way to expose myself to new genres and gain appreciation for gaming history. I'd already played quite a bit of Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, Metal Gear, and Sonic, but the rest was all pretty new for me. I won't mention the games I played before this challenge.
For each character I picked the game I thought was most relevant, or most similar to their depiction in Smash. If you want, you can look at the checklist here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rOlk8dXwEL6wd2Lw4zouBiAce8UJabHOIgIP8bKL_7c/edit?usp=sharing
It's worth noting that this wouldn't be feasible without emulation. A lot of these games aren't available on modern platforms, and some aren't even localized into English. I'm not a collector and I'm not willing to track down old consoles on ebay.
Games are roughly ordered within their tiers, based on how much I enjoyed them. I'll try to be brief for each one.
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'It's old and I can't help being a zoomer' tier - Games I played just long enough to understand them, then dipped. I would not have chosen to play them for fun.
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'Not very good' tier - Reserved exclusively for Pac-Man World 2.
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'Just not for me' tier - Games I struggled to connect with or I'm not a fan of the genre. Maybe I'd like them if I played longer, but I don't plan to pick them up again.
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'It was alright' tier - Games that were pretty enjoyable. I'm glad I tried them and likely won't play them again.
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'Hey, this is pretty good' tier - Games I liked quite a lot and would recommend.
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'This is the shit' tier - Games I thoroughly loved and would rank among my favorites.
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Here's what's left on the list. Looking forward to some of them more than others. I might get around to them this year, or over three years, or never. Who knows.
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Did I learn anything by doing this? I think so. I definitely have a greater appreciation for a wider variety of genres and franchises. This got me to try certain games I never would have considered otherwise. And in turn, I gained a greater appreciation for the crossover aspect of Smash; every time I look at the character select screen, I have exponentially more memories attached to each icon. I can spot all the references in the movesets and stages. It's just... cool, I guess.
Thanks for reading. Hope you're having a good day. Please don't hate me for dismissing your favorite game.
submitted by FronkZoppa to SmashBrosUltimate [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 22:04 totalredditn00b Simi's wasteland cooking class level 2: Intermediate (Herbivore)

Hi bowhunters, in my last post I went over 3 core food buffs I always run that are easy to manage and make, this time we will dive a little bit deeper adding agility max ap and xp buffs.
To maximize these foods I run herbivore and strange in numbers, if your food states a lower buff it is either because you are not herbivore or none of your teammates are mutated.
Let's start with my favorite, steeped melon blossom chai for +5 AGI lasting 1 hour!: agility is your bread and butter as a bowhunter, more agility gives: more max ap and better stealth. We craft melon blossom chai with: boiled water, melon blossom, mutated fern flower and spices. - I hope by now you are camping near a body of water - melon blossoms are rare but I only visit 2 locations: the generals steakhouse has 6 aaronhold homestead has 3 (walk straigt from spawn point theyre in between the junk pile and the shack in the field hard to see, one of them is weirdly called something else but if it looks like a melon blossom pick it up it will give melon blossom) we will visit aaronhold for another buff on this list - spices cannot be farmed or crafted like salt and pepper it is something you find while looting if you are following since last post you have saved up some, there is also a great list going around our discord and reddit where alot of you guys have already contributed locations. - mutated ferns grow in a lot of places and I dont actively seek them out, there is ferns at: queen fight near trees, westtek, the general steakhouse and alot more places I already commonly visit if you do want a one stop shop for your mutated ferns over 100 can be gathered between grafton steel yard and the location of a swarm of suitors to the west.
Even though the steeped melon blossom chai boosts our max ap by increasing our ap it doesnt overwrite a foodbuff that only gives max ap so we can add another tea boosting our max ap. For the best buff we make infused soot flower tea giving +50 to our max ap for 1 hour. To craft it we need: boiled water, soot flower, starlight berries and pepper. - I pray your water situation is okay by now - soot flowers grow everywhere in the forest especially around the vault. - we already have a good starlight berry location in the deep but if you want more there is a ton between the slocums joe near wayward the 3 houses on to the south and then follow the railway back north past slocums to gauley mine exit. For another batch of starlight berries. - pepper like spices cant be crafted however they are usually found near spices or instead of spices, a good chef always has ample amounts of salt, pepper and spices on hand.
Wow so now we have a buff increasing our ap regen our max ap and our agility! This means for a lot of us that we either completely remove the action boy perk or use it only at level one leaving us with more room in our build for those sweet food perks I mentioned in level one of the guide, all we need is to grind some levels to buy the perks luckily the next 2 buffs will massively increase our xp gains.
Let's start with the easy one, cranberry relish gives +25% xp for 1 hour! That's like a fifth lunchbox?! And you can craft them??!! All we need is: boiled water, cranberries, gourds and sugar. - do a rain dance and pray for some boiled water if you still don't have a spot near water - cranberries can be found at aaronhold homestead only guarded by some insects or in sunrise field in the cranberry bog if you like mirelurk queens (correct me if im wrong on the spot I dont like mirelurks haha I still go to the noob spot) or the sparse sundew grove which is a very beautiful location in the cranberry bog with almost no enemies. - gourd can be planted at your camp do a quick search on YouTube for the single wild gourd spawn and replant it at your camp - unlike spices salt and pepper sugar can just be crafted dont forget! Run along your favorite river.
Plant some gourds at your camp keep your sugar up occasionally grab cranberries and never run out again.
But wait there's more we can increase our xp gains even more with brain bombs boosting intelligence by 7,5 for 90 minutes, to craft it we need: brain fungus, mothman eggs, !purified! water and irradiated sugar bombs
Having foods you cant farm yourself or ingredients you can't bulk farm might seem annoying but I can assure you that if you are actively playing and exploring the map has plenty of salt pepper spices and irradiated sugar bombs and I never run out of it, another thing I do is check every vendor bot their food section for any ingredients or colas. I can also argue that its not stupid but incredibly fun to be exploring a random place seeing a house and raiding the kitchen cabinets, the dopamine spike is massive everytime I randomly run across spices or sugar bombs and it keeps the game interesting for me.
Another fun one to keep an eye out for is melon bloom sounds a lot like melon blossom but sadly cant be found anywhere except for randomly in small blue coolers, with it you can craft a tea just as strong as the infused soot flower tea but they cant be stacked. Checking every blue cooler is advised because they can also contain sugar bombs and colas.
Another big tip is you can respawn all world spawns such as the 5 sugar bombs in the bath or the wild plants by using the world respawn method which is really easy. I advise you to look it up but the short version is. The game remembers the last 250 ish things you grabbed and respawns the other stuff after you server hop so grab desired stuff then grab 300 books in the weird book house in summerville server hop grab your desired thing again, to make a full loop you can grab a bunch of carrot flowers at palace of the winding path with green thumb then server hop and both the books and desired items are back. (Hot take this is the easier company tea farm)
It is important to never forget to equip super duper for 30% chance at doubling your crafted foods.
If you run out of wood because you are crafting so much food remember caps are worth nothing to a smart forager and wood is sold in bulk for cheap by robots. If you find yourself in need of caps make mentats from carrot flower, brain fungus and firecap and craft berry mentats with mentat firecracker berry and starlight berry. Use chemist to make 2 mentats and those into 4 berry mentats also use super duper for 30% bonus. They sell fast at 50 medium at 60 slow at 70 caps and you make 300 of them in like 15 minutes if you know the route. This is not a mentat guide but if you combine all your knowledge with the resources on discord you can figure it out.
Next time we are looking at even more buffs most of which are more situational like defensive buffs and a +5 strength for the carry weight or the melee sidearm. We will also have a brief overview of the chems I recommend.
My tip for next week is that almost every other plant can be used in some way so keep a mental note of any firecaps, silt beans, aster, gourd blossom and ofcourse all of the already stated ingredients.
And ofcourse I want to know from you! What is your go to location for one of the above stated ingredients or what recipe is absolutely missing from this list or required for the next one let me know. What perks are you no longer using because a food buff took over its role and what is your tip for juggling all these buffs for an apprentice chef?
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2023.05.28 22:04 Honest-Credit-1297 Melinda and the Little Green Men

Melinda and the Little Green Men
by Andrew Roller
Melinda and the Little Green Men
Table of Contents
Chapter One - A Sad End
Chapter Two - A Castle for a Queen
Chapter Three - Incommodious
Chapter Four - The Sewer Room
Chapter Five - The Teleport Threat
Chapter Six - Neverwhere
Chapter Seven - Permanent Perigee
Chapter Eight - Losers Welcome ( Especially )
Chapter Nine - Buried Alive
Chapter Ten - Gone Away
Chapter Eleven - Dead Broke
Chapter Twelve - Grave’s End
Chapter Thirteen - Audition
Chapter Fourteen - Heavenly Flush
Chapter Fifteen - Coffined
Chapter Sixteen - The Big Bang
Chapter Seventeen - A Sucky Day
Chapter Eighteen - Examination
Chapter Nineteen - Expelled
Chapter Twenty - Enslaved
Chapter Twenty-One - The Bugler
Chapter Twenty-Two - The Gates of Salvation
Chapter Twenty-Three - The Amateur Genius
Chapter Twenty-Four - Pooper’s Paradise
Chapter Twenty-Five - Eisegesis
Melinda and the Little Green Men
by Andrew Roller
Chapter One - A Sad End
It was their last day on earth. The two girls, playing in the field in their suburban neighborhood, didn’t know this. If Melinda and Emily were ever to return to earth, it wouldn’t be for a very long time.
Melinda was ten years old. I could say that she looked “striking”. Or I could use some other politically correct term. In fact, she was very lovely. Her lank, flaxen hair fell to her slim waist. A white string bikini clung to her svelte figure.
Emily was seven years old. Her short red hair fell to her shoulders. Stout, she resembled a girl version of Winnie-the-Pooh. Emily wore a one-piece floral print swimsuit. Both girls had on rubber flip-flops.
Emily was clever. Though she was only seven years old, she wore a red fireman’s hat with the number “21” printed on it. Emily hoped that her hat would fool people into believing that she was older, or even that she was a fireman.
On this bright sunny day, something flashed in the sky. Both girls saw the silvery disc as it caught the sunlight. Emily was quick to figure out what it was.
“It’s a flying saucer!” Emily said. Melinda, who was taller than Emily, watched it with her friend. The saucer sailed over the neighborhood. As it approached, the girls saw it clearly. It had a flat circular base, and a domed top. A line of porthole-like windows encircled the lower part of the dome. There was a front-facing windshield.
The saucer, and its shadow, skimmed over the field. The saucer’s shadow briefly engulfed the girls. Then the saucer passed over a treeline. It settled into tree-dotted scrubland. From that place came a sound of snapping tree limbs, and of brush being crushed. Silence followed.
“Let’s go!” Emily urged. Both girls wanted a closer look at the flying saucer. It was unimaginable that such an object could land in their neighborhood! The girls had no idea that they would soon be swept up in an ongoing galactic war. They rushed into the treeline. Then Melinda and Emily crept into the shady brush beyond.
The saucer was there. It stood on metal legs, hulking amid the surrounding trees. An electrical hum, like that put out by high tension wires, came softly from the saucer’s smooth hull.
An airlock opened in the side of the saucer. A stair-equipped gangplank descended. Then, as Melinda and Emily watched, a line of little green men came down the gangplank. The men were about as tall as the girls. They were carrying a pink worm. It was a big worm, as big as a little green man.
The men laid their worm down on the grass. The last men in the group had brought shovels. The shortest of the little green men was in charge of the men. Named Chirpley, he set several men to work digging a hole.
Emily crept forward. Melinda tried to stop her, but decided to accompany her. The little green men saw the girls. There was a mutual cry of surprise from both parties. The men stopped their digging. Emily asked what they were doing.
“We’re digging a grave,” Chirpley answered. He and the other men stood with solemn faces. Emily, who sometimes went fishing, said that it was odd to bury a worm. She only dug worms out of the earth.
Chirpley stood straighter. He, like his fellows, had a round head. Two green antennae stuck out of the top of his head. He was without clothing, except for a white loincloth that, being puffy and full, resembled diapers. Chirpley wore white gloves. On his small feet were big, rhinestone-studded cowboy boots.
“This is no ordinary worm!” Chirpley told the girls. “It’s our queen!”
“Except she’s dead now,” a second little green man said. He looked much like Chirpley, with a round head and antennae. He wore a loincloth, gloves, and cowboy boots.
“She was a very old queen,” a third little green man said.
“So, since she’s dead, we must bury her,” a fourth little green man said. There were, in all, a dozen of them.
“Stand aside!” Chirpley told the girls. It didn’t matter that the girls were already at a distance from the dead worm. Chirpley rarely missed a chance to look important. Even in front of little Earth girls.
The little green men dug their grave. Or, rather, a few of them did, while the others watched this with Melinda and Emily. Chirpley supervised.
The dead queen was buried. The little green men had just filled in her grave when someone, off in the trees, yelled,
“Attack!” Stones and handfuls of dirt flew from the treeline. Several little green men were hit by the stones. A stone banged off of Emily’s Fire hat. She and Melinda screamed. So did the little green men. The men ran back aboard their flying saucer and, as neighborhood boys whooped and hollered, and threw more dirt and stones, Melinda and Emily followed the men.
No sooner had the green men and the girls rushed into the saucer, than something came out of it. Two somethings, in fact. They were grotesque. Ghosts, they resembled white sheets torn by the wind from a clothesline.
The boys charged from the trees. They were attacking through the shady brush when the ghosts set upon them.
“OOOOOO!” the ghosts howled. The boys screamed in terror. They fled back into the trees, and into the field.
The saucer hummed more loudly. Its gangplank retracted. Just before the ship buttoned itself up, the ghosts zipped back inside of it. The saucer whisked into the sky. It disappeared beyond the clouds.
Within the saucer, Melinda and Emily cringed before the ghosts. These hung over them, looking horrid. The ghosts had blank, bulging eyes, and gaping mouths with fangs. They had scared the boys, and were now scaring the girls. To the little green men, they were damn annoying.
“Our spaceship’s haunted,” Gauss apologized. He was one of the men. He and several of his crewmates, though dressed like the others, also wore utility belts.
“But we got it at a discount,” a fellow crewman said. The green men stood with the girls on the saucer’s bridge. To one side was the closed airlock. To the right, and to the rear, the bridge opened onto other rooms.
The saucer was named “Regoob”. Compared to a military cruiser, it was a little ship. Yet Regoob was plenty roomy. Its many spaces held a number of unwanted passengers. But these occupants were mostly small, and furtive, unlike the two hovering ghosts.
One occupant was big. He was a worm, like the men’s dead queen. He slithered about in the saucer’s recesses. Except now. Curious about the girls, this worm peered from a shadowed corridor. Then, he did the one thing that he was known for, and named for. He farted.
“Farrrrrrrrt!” It was a big, smelly fart. Both girls clutched their little noses. The little green men did the same. The ghosts, who had been so hideously maleficent, fled. An embarrassed Fartley slipped away into the ship.
“Peeyou!” Emily cried. Melinda echoed her. The girls made for the airlock. That’s when they realized that Regoob was airborne. In fact, the little saucer was far beyond the Earth.
“We’d better go home,” Melinda said. Emily wasn’t so sure. The saucer’s pilot’s seat, before its dashboard and its windshield, struck her as inviting.
“Can I drive?” she asked. Since no one was, at the moment, controlling where the saucer went, she figured she might try.
That’s when Gauss saw the Moon approaching. It was approaching fast. He gave a cry of alarm. The other men, now seeing what he saw, gave panicked yells.
Emily jumped into the pilot’s chair. Grabbing the saucer’s yoke, she steered the ship clear of the Moon.
“Hooray!” the little green men yelled, with Melinda. Emily continued to fly the speeding saucer. Gauss gave her driving tips.
Soon, the ship was approaching Jupiter. As anyone who’s watched the film “2001: A Space Odyssey” knows, or even the film, “Starship Poopers”, Jupiter is no ordinary planet. It’s a gateway to other parts of the galaxy.
Emily couldn’t resist flying through a galactic gateway. Regoob sped toward Jupiter. The planet soon filled Regoob’s windshield.
Within Jupiter’s clouds was a bright oval. This wasn’t Jupiter’s red spot, but a metal doughnut. This doughnut, however, was slender. It was dotted by circular lights.
“Head for the center!” Gauss said to Emily. She did. Regoob shot through the slim doughnut and into hyperspace.
A kaleidoscope of colors streaked past Regoob. They were very pretty. The girls remarked upon them as Regoob tunneled through our galaxy.
The little saucer popped from hyperspace. It sailed among the ordinary stars again. Ahead was a ringed planet.
“That’s Quigley!” Zolna, one of the little green men, told the girls.
“We live there, in a castle.” Gauss said.
“A castle!” Melinda was impressed.
“Does your castle have a fireman?” Emily asked. The answer was “no”. So Emily, who was now Regoob’s pilot, asked to be the men’s fireman as well. The men agreed.
This left Melinda wondering what she could be. Before dinner, of course, since she still hoped to get home soon.
“You can be our queen!” Zolna told her.
“I’ll be the princess!” Emily said. She was still intent, too, on being the men’s fireman and pilot.
“I’m the king!” Chirpley said. This brought Fartley-like noises from the other men. So Chirpley settled on being what he already was, the men’s captain.
Somewhere in the ship, Fartley ensured his place in this little world, by farting.
Quigley loomed. Space traffic was flowing toward the purple planet. Quigley was belted by shimmering rings. But their colors clashed. Melinda remarked on this.
“It’s better than having no rings at all, like Earth,” Chirpley riposted. He did not mention that planet Quigley lacked a moon.
Emily followed the space traffic into Quigley’s atmosphere. There, the ships scattered to their destinations. Emily, directed by Gauss, flew over a city. Its buildings, compared to those on Earth, were outlandishly shaped. Beyond the city lay a beach community. And then, shining to the sunlit horizon, was a lavender sea.
“Land there,” Gauss told Emily. He meant the far side of the beach community, near the seashore. Emily put the saucer down in a patch of sand.
Regoob stood upon its metal legs amid other parked spaceships. Makeshift buildings were also neighbors to to Regoob. No castle was in sight. The sea lay near.
Chapter Two - A Castle for a Queen
Zolna opened the airlock. Its gangplank lowered, and the men and the girls disembarked. The hour was noon. It was hot. There was a salt tang in the air and, in the distance, the waves could be heard as they broke along the shore.
Chirpley led the party along a sandy trail. It wound between the spaceships and the homes. Hofsted, the fattest of the little green men, waddled at the file’s rear. He complained about leaving the ship.
“We’ll be at our castle soon,” Chirpley said.
The beach community slumbered in the seaside air. There were odd odors. These smells, of cooking food, caused Hofsted to say he was hungry. The men ignored him. A seagull sailed overhead.
Creatures gazed here and there from the spaceships and from the homes. Their alien faces startled Melinda and Emily. It was as if they’d wandered into a back lot on Star Wars, full of extras in outlandish costumes! Some of the aliens were surprised to see the girls.
“What are Earthlings doing here?!” an alien asked.
“There goes the neighborhood,” an alien, observing the girls, lamented.
Chirpley heard this.
“Commoners!” he riposted, to his alien neighbors. “Show some respect for royalty!” Melinda realized that Chirpley meant her, and Emily. She blushed. As for Emily, she trotted along with a self-confident look. She’d piloted a flying saucer, and now she was the inheritor of Luke Skywalker’s realm. Plus she was a fireman, and a princess. This was a fine day!
The trail led onto the beach. It was mostly vacant on this weekday, with a few bathers and seagulls. Chirpley indicated a large sculpted heap of sand on the shore. It stood just above where the inrolling sea boiled.
“There it is!” he said. He and his crewmates beamed at Melinda and Emily.
The men had built a big sand castle. It had some attractive towers, a wall and a moat. Several small flags, in various colors, decorated the edifice. An old door lay across the moat. It gave access to a hole in the ground, that the castle enclosed.
Emily was entranced. When the men invited her to come inside, meaning down into the hole, she agreed. Melinda cautiously accompanied them. As she did, she seemed to hear her name on the wind. But she saw nothing unusual, besides the bathing aliens and the seagulls.
Zolna led the group into the hole. He did so with a flashlight. Several other men lit flashlights too, as the group entered the hole.
The hole had a stone staircase. It had been carved by time, and by an intelligent hand. Sand dusted or clung to some of the steps. So did seaweed and seashells. These also cluttered the floor of the cave that the stairs led down into. An old stove sat in the cave.
“This is Mr. Lehman’s cave,” Zolna told Melinda and Emily.
“We used to be his gardeners,” Hofsted said proudly.
“Gardners?” Melinda asked. She saw only stone, and the oceans’s detritus.
“It was an easy job,” Hofsted admitted.
“He’s a sailor,” Chirpley said.
“But he’s disappeared,” Gauss added. “We don’t see him anymore.”
“That’s too bad,” Melinda said.
An apparition appeared on the stairs, near the lowest step. Melinda yelped. Emily gave a gasp of surprise, and the men gave startled cries.
“Melinda,” the ghostly figure said. It resolved itself as a tall, slender boy.
“You’re human!” Emily gasped. The boy’s image remained streaked with transmission lines, as if it were being beamed into the cave from far away.
“Quiet!” the boy snapped at Emily. She gasped anew. So did Melinda, and the others
“You’re my bride,” the boy told Melinda. The bikini-clad girl shrieked.
“I’m King Kleigowski,” the boy said. “From Earth, of course. My galactic fleet will arrive in a moment. Stay here as it attacks. Then, I will land, and we’ll be married,” the boy said to Melinda.
Seawater spilled down the stairs. The boy’s image vanished.
“My God!” Melinda gasped.
“She’s not marrying you!” Emily, finding her courage, told the place on the stairs where the boy’s image had been.
More seawater came down the stairs.
“We’d better go,” Zolna said. “The cave floods at high tide.”
Emily scrambled up the stairs with Melinda. The men followed. The tide was boiling about the castle. In the clear sky above, thunder sounded. Then sirens began to wail in the distance. Kevin Kleigowski, who had been terrorizing the galaxy’s far side for some time, was now attacking Planet Quigley!
Melinda and Emily ran with the men from the beach. They headed back to Regoob. All about them, the beach community was coming alive to the danger that thundered above. A battle was underway in the sky.
Melinda and Emily ran up the gangplank into Regoob. As the crew came in after them, a seagull flew into the ship. Emily reclaimed her place in the pilot’s seat.
Regoob took off. Other spaceships were beginning to rise from the land too. Suddenly, a transmission forced itself onto a television screen on Regoob’s dashboard. A man in a military uniform issued a warning. His insignia showed that he was a Quiglian general.
“Attention all civilians!” the general warned. “We’re under attack! Do not leave Planet Quigley! All civilian spaceships are grounded!”
“We’d better land,” Hofsted said.
“Ignore that!” Chirpley shouted.
“But—“ Melinda gasped. Emily flew stolidly higher.
“We’re soldiers!” Chirpley said.
“We’re volunteer lifeguards,” Zolna said.
“Good enough!” Chirpley retorted.
The saucer was now climbing at an eye-popping speed. It cleared the clouds, and the sunlit sky. The starry cosmos opened before it. The ship sped toward the nearest ship in the Quiglian fleet. The Quiglians were locked in a battle with King Kleigowski’s ships.
As Regoob closed on the big Quiglian cruiser, the general reappeared on the saucer’s dashboard T.V.
“Stop!” the general ordered.
Chirpley drew himself up to his full, diminutive height.
“Sir!” he told the general, with an irked look. “I am Chirpley Superlapee.” To Emily, Chirpley said, “Full speed ahead!” Then, for effect, he added, “Don’t shoot ‘till you see the whites of the their eyes.” Since he was sounding very important, Chirpley added, “Your money or your life!”
The saucer rushed at the cruiser. As it loomed, Emily began to think that going full speed ahead might not be a good idea.
Then she realized that they were too close to the cruiser to stop! As a collision became obvious, she leapt from the pilot’s seat.
“Duck!” Emily called to Melinda. Samuel, the seagull who’d flown into the ship, drew himself up to his full, diminutive height. He did so on the floor, where he’d settled by Melinda’s feet.
“I, Miss, am not a duck! I’m a sea-“ Samuel began.
Melinda felt a sudden tingling wash over her. She was standing somewhere else, if still beside Samuel, as the bird finished giving his species.
“-gull,” Samuel said.
They were all someplace else. That is, the girls, the men, and whatever else that had been on the saucer’s bridge, was now in a jail cell. The jail’s front wall and it’s door consisted of iron bars. A heavy white mist clung to the jail’s ceiling.
The saucer was nowhere to be seen. But there was a low hum, that is common to spaceships.
A tall boy came to the cell’s door. Melinda gasped. So did Emily, as cries came from the men.
“It’s that boy!” Melinda yelped, alarmed, to cries of alarm from her cellmates. She cringed. So did Emily, and the others.
“Call me Kevin,” the boy said. He grinned at Melinda. “You’re lucky I’m around. Your little friend ( he meant Emily ) crashed your saucer into a Quiglian cruiser.”
“I’m not marrying you!” Melinda said.
“Me neither!” Emily said.
“Me neither!” Hofsted said.
Kevin laughed.
“You’d better let me do the thinking,” he told Melinda. “My teleport ray couldn’t reach you on planet Quigley. You were too far away. So I told you to stay. And what did you do?” He grinned, and not pleasantly. “You fled, of course, directly toward me!”
As Kevin spoke, the mist coalesced. Suddenly, it was no longer a mist, but a pair of fanged, bulging-eyed ghosts!
“OOOOOO!” the ghosts howled, at Kevin. The boy ran shrieking out of the jail cell. A moment later, tingling engulfed Melinda. Everyone else in the cell was caught in the same sensation. Then, as suddenly as they’d arrived, the captives all disappeared from the jail cell.
Chapter Three - Incommodious
Melinda sat on the floor. Her head rested against a tiled wall. A sink was above it. Around her, in disorder, lay a number of little green men. Emily sat nearby. Samuel, lying near Emily, righted himself. He flew up and about in a mist that floated along the bathroom ceiling.
They’d been teleported again.
“Where are we now?!” Emily asked.
“I’m in a toilet!” Chirpley shouted, from a bathroom stall. “Help!”
The men and the girls gathered themselves. Some of the men, being teleported to the bathroom, had landed in toilet stalls. Chirpley hadn’t just wound up in a stall. He’d been planted with such force into a toilet that his bottom was stuck in the hole at its base. Toilet water surrounded his semi-submerged figure. He gazed helplessly from the commode.
“Don’t flush it!” Chirpley cried, of his toilet, as the girls and some crewmen piled into his stall. The group couldn’t help laughing. Chirpley, however, didn’t laugh. Being stuck in a toilet was not his idea of a good time,
Emily and the crew pulled Chirpley out of the toilet. He was unhurt. His body was wet in places. His diaper-like loincloth was soaked.
A woman screamed. Shouts came from the men who hadn’t crammed themselves into Chirpley’s stall.
Kevin had teleported his captives from his spaceship to a Quiglian one. Specifically, he’d teleported his captives into a ladies’ bathroom aboard the Quiglian ship.
“Eeeeek!” the woman visitor screamed. “There are men in the bathroom! In the ladies’ bathroom!” Soldiers arrived. When they learned that the men in the women’s bathroom had also crashed their saucer into the Quiglian ship, they arrested them. Chirpley and his crew were brought before General Grouchley. They were accompanied by Melinda and Emily.
General Grouchley commanded the Quiglian fleet. His flagship was called The Drut. It was this that Regoob had crashed into.
George Grouchley was big, fat and green. His uniform strained to contain him. It was he who had grounded all of Quigley’s civilian ships, and who’d ordered Regoob to stop. It was he whom Chirpley had disobeyed.
Chirpley stood to attention before General Grouchley. He did so with wet pants, from the toilet. Gathered behind Chirpley was his crew, and the girls. The volunteer lifeguard saluted the general. This did not improve George’s mood.
“I understand you were in the ladies’ bathroom,” George said to Chirpley.
“Yes, sir,” Chirpley answered. “I was stuck in a toilet.”
“Your saucer crashed into my ship!” George told Chirpley.
“Yes, Sir,” the volunteer lifeguard replied. Emily slipped partly behind Melinda, to escape the general’s eyes.
“We’ll need a new ship,” Chirpley told George. “To continue our noble fight against King Kleigowski.”
“Kleigowski’s fleet is in full retreat!” George told Chirpley. “I’m not sure what happened. One minute they were attacking, the next — they were fleeing!”
“I may know why - “ Chirpley said.
“Obviously, I’m an even better general than I knew,” George concluded. He eyed Chirpley. “Get your stinky saucer out of my ship! And stay out of the ladies’ bathroom!”
“Yes, Sir,” Chirpley replied.
Several women came screaming into the general’s presence.
“Help!” the women shouted. “Our bathroom is haunted!”
Chapter Four - The Sewer Room
Regoob had smashed through a large glass panel in the hull of The Drut, near its stern. Doing so, Regoob had plunged itself into a big cesspool. Much of the cesspool’s contents had emptied into outer space. This left the saucer at the bottom of the big cesspool, in such sludge as remained. The cesspool stank.
Repair ships had plugged the hole in The Drut’s hull. The big, open cesspool was in The Drut’s sewer room. This was a big, high-ceilinged room, with a crane. As Regoob’s crew arrived, along with the girls, the crane lifted Regoob out of the cesspool. It plopped the saucer, with a clang, onto the sewer room’s floor. A work crew gathered about the stinky craft.
Chirpley strode up to the work crew.
“I am the captain of this august ship,” he said, in a tone that he hoped sounded important. Chirpley had a high voice. But now, his voice was mouse-squeaky, for he was holding his nose. So was his whole crew, and the girls.
The work crew was wearing disposable masks. One of them regarded Chirpley, who remained in wet pants.
“You own this piece of shit?” the workman asked Chirpley. “It’s going to need a lot of cleaning.”
“We’ll wait until you’re done with it,” Chirpley said.
“You’ll clean it now,” a workman told Chirpley. “General Grouchley wants you, and your saucer, off of his ship!”
“Oh!” Chirpley said. “We must have important duties awaiting us.”
“The general just wants you to go!” a workman said.
Meanwhile, back at the ladies’ bathroom, a priest had been called. He was exorcising the bathroom of its two ghosts. Ladies waited with rising anxiety as this holy procedure proceeded.
“Hurry up!” a woman complained.
“I have to go!” another woman said.
The priest paused in his incantations. He assured the ladies that they wouldn’t have to wait long. There was no need to go elsewhere. The priest was a speedy priest. But, if he were to rush, in an unholy way, the ghosts might not be exorcised. So the priest proceeded with due reverence for the divine. And the ladies waited. With rising anxiety.
Chapter Five - The Teleport Threat
Regoob left The Drut. That ship, and its fleet, were now returning to planet Quigley. Emily was piloting Regoob. She was doing so with the purpose of learning to fly it better.
Melinda was aboard Regoob. So was everyone in Regoob’s crew. Samuel, the seagull, had again invited himself aboard. The ghosts, exorcised from the ladies’ bathroom, were aboard Regoob too.
On the saucer’s bridge, teleportation was being discussed.
“People teleport all the time on Star Trek,” Emily said. Chirpley had seen the show.
“We call it ‘Apes in Space’”, he said. Emily scowled at him.
“Who knew an ape - I mean, a human - would invent teleportation?” Gauss asked. Melinda asked what he meant.
“No one in the galaxy can teleport,” Gauss said. “Except, now, Kevin Kleigowski can.” Everyone on the bridge considered this.
“We need to stop him,” Melinda said.
“Yes!” Emily agreed. “He could attack Earth!”
Chirpley saw a chance to be important. Standing straight, though he was still short, he said,
“Men! We must go after King Kleigowski! We must climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow, and go where only apes in space have gone before!”
Gauss hastened to a computer.
“I’ll see if I can find the king’s fleet,” he said.
“Maybe we should ask for help from General Grouchley,” Melinda said. Chirpley bristled.
“I’ll be in command of this mission,” he said. “Since it was my idea!”
“General Grouchley didn’t do anything to defeat the king,” Zolna said. “It was our ghosts who scared him off.”
“I found him!” Gauss said. He meant the king’s fleet. Gauss told Emily what direction to fly in. She did so. Chirpley, pleased, began to practice a victory speech.
“I came,” he intoned. “I saw - “
“And I got stuck in the toilet,” a crewman said.
Chapter Six - Neverwhere
Kevin Kleigowski was angry. The panicked retreat of his fleet had put his ships into disarray. The fault was his own. His fleet was crewed by robots. Their purpose was to obey.
Kevin stood on the bridge of his flagship, Teliot. He spoke with his robot admiral, Dolt 0001.
“Take the fleet through a hypergate,” Kevin ordered his admiral. “We’ll reorganize ourselves on its far side.”
“Yes, Sir,” Admiral Dolt answered. Kevin’s fleet was soon flying toward a distant gas giant. There, it would pass through the planet’s hypergate.
Unknown to Kevin, a little saucer, flown by a seven-year-old girl, was hot on his trail.
Kevin’s fleet neared the gas giant. As Regoob closed on the fleet, Gauss told Emily,
“Hurry! They might go anywhere in hyperspace!”
Regoob snaked among the disordered vessels.
“Land on Teliot,” Gauss told Emily. “That’s the king’s flagship.”
Teliot was a big cruiser. Emily zipped above it. She put the small saucer down amid the outbuildings that topped Teliot’s hull.
The cruiser, and its accompanying fleet, passed into the gas giant’s hypergate.
Emily yawned. She was in a flying saucer in hyperspace, atop a galactic cruiser, but she was also a sleepy seven-year-old. Melinda shared her sense of exhaustion. She said so.
“And I need a bath,” Melinda said.
“I don’t need a bath!” Emily said.
“Emily Fortley, we will both take a bath!” Melinda said. The little green men escorted the girls to a bathroom. The area included a laundry room. When the girls were bathing, they found that they weren’t alone.
“Hey! Quit looking!” Emily said, spying the ghosts in their bathroom.
“Shoo!” Melinda scolded.
The ghosts, sniggering, slipped away.
Melinda and Emily bedded down in a bedroom aboard Regoob.
“Good night, Emily,” Melinda said.
“Good night, Melinda,” Emily said. Neither girl could guess what the hour was back on earth. Then both got a rude reminder of where they were. Fartley trumpeted a loud goodnight in the near distance. The girls escaped the ensuing smell by falling asleep.
As for the little green men, they were concluding their day. They soon bedded down in the room with the sleeping girls. The saucer, atop Teliot, was still passing through hyperspace.
“I don’t know where the king is going, but he’s going a long way,” Gauss said.
“He could be going in circles,” a crewman said. “To throw off pursuers.”
“We’ll board Teliot tomorrow,” Zolna said.
“We can’t do that until we’re out of hyperspace,” Gauss said.
“When we are, I’ll lead the way,” Chirpley said. “Hofsted?”
“Yes, Sir?”
“Bring a trumpet. I’ll need you to blow it.”
“Sir?” Hofsted asked.
“Huh?” Zolna asked.
“It will be a great heroic deed to capture King Kleigowski,” Chirpley said. “When we charge him, Hofsted can blow the trumpet.”
“What about all of his robots?” a crewman asked.
“We’ll charge them too,” Chirpley said. “Zolna!”
“Yes?”
“You bring a trumpet too.”
“Maybe we should just bring Fartley along,” someone said.
“Yes!” Chirpley said. “We’ll have loud farts, and loud trumpeting, and then I’ll say ‘Charge!’. Very loudly.”
“After we leave hyperspace,” Gauss said.
With this, the little green men went to sleep.
“Melinda.”
The 10-year-old sat upright. She’d gone to bed wrapped in a dry bath towel, but now she was in her bikini again.
She wasn’t aboard Regoob. She sat in a field of pale mushrooms. These grew suddenly taller, on long stalks. They became a forest of mushrooms. The mushrooms shaded Melinda from the high sun. Through sprouted undergrowth, a path trailed off into the tall mushrooms.
Then an old man appeared. Using a gnarled branch for a cane, he followed the path. He saw Melinda and spoke.
“Melinda.” He said this at a distance. However, Melinda heard it as if he were beside her. She even smelled his breath. It had an odor of onions.
Melinda stood.
Suddenly, the man was before her. His stooped figure was tall and commanding.
“I want you,” he rasped to Melinda.
The blonde frowned. At least, she told herself, she was face-to-face with the person they’d been pursuing. She did not call him king.
“Kevin. You look awful,” Melinda said.
The man scowled.
“I’m done with Kevin,” he said. “Kevin’s attack on Planet Quigley failed. I don’t like failure.”
The man smiled at Melinda.
“Kevin bores me,” he said. “You don’t.” The man took Melinda’s arm. She found herself walking with him, despite not wanting to.
“We’ll rule the universe,” the man told her.
Due to Reddit’s character limit, I can only post part of my book here.
A free copy of “Melinda and the Little Green Men” is at:
http://andrewroller.com
Copyright 2023 by Andrew L. Roller. Melinda and the Little Green Men is a trademark of Andrew L. Roller.
submitted by Honest-Credit-1297 to sciencefiction [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 21:27 naturtok FYI - EA's Fiscal Year is 4/1-3/31, not 7/1-6/30 as many posts are claiming

Though most entities do fiscal years 7/1-6/30 or 1/1-12/31, not all do, and based on the earnings report that ironically many of the people posting about the 7/1-6/30 FY are referencing, they explicitly say what their fiscal year is. https://ir.ea.com/press-releases/press-release-details/2023/Electronic-Arts-Reports-Q4-and-FY23-Results/default.aspx
Their 4th Quarter ends on March 31, their FY ends on March 31.
This doesn't really change the doomer evidence, but we might as well be accurate with our dooming.
submitted by naturtok to battlefield2042 [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 21:24 ArtVandalayInc Sourcing spark ignition coil for circuit repair

Sourcing spark ignition coil for circuit repair
Hi all Any suggestions to source a hard to identify spark coil on this 2-way RV Fridge control board? I need to replace this ignition coil and I would like to just repair the board without spending 2-400$ on an entirely new board. The coil is the only failed component. I've done a lot of googling but so far I have:
1) A part number for a similar coil that might work (originally a lennox furnace ignition coil 982-090010-71-R P23-51AH). This seems to be not available anymore
2) A manufacturer of these types of coils. https://www.sparkindustriesonline.com/transformers
I have confirmed that they manufacture the proper replacement coil for an aftermarket board for my exact situation. I'm not sure however if they've customized the part for that board. Also they don't sell to the public
​
Here is the original board:
OEM Board Norcold 621267
Here is a picture of the original part bearing the markings "IGN. COIL SPEC CASA GRANDE AZ."
​
Original Part
​
Original Part
Questions:
1) Does anyone know any sources for this part or types of parts? it seems to not be available for retail, only on a large scale manufacturing basis.
2)Does anyone have experience ordering samples from a manufacturer? When I was in highschool electronics we used to do this for projects and some of our components. Don't know if this is still an avenue I can persue to get one
Thanks
submitted by ArtVandalayInc to AskElectronics [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 21:06 YNG_SKNHDXVX Only A Fool Would Cling To This World As It Is

Look at it.
​
O, how it snarls and growls,
Stamping, stomping, flailing,
Leveling flat all that is
As its temper is allowed
A kind of free reign.
​
Its masters, who once had the
Idea of trying to, how shall we say,
Keep it on a leash, I suppose?
They gave that idea up ages ago.
​
Recognizing the futility in such a folly,
Unable to control the growth
Of the savage beast they placated
For so long that, they too,
Shall be doomed by it
Going horrifically insane…
​
...it would be seem that they opted to sit back.
​
And just, well, watch.
​
This once was a beautiful land, you know.
​
Miles and miles of boundless fields.
​
Trees as far as the eye could see,
Stretching forever, endlessly,
Until the line of sight was,
By its finitude, made to yield.
​
Shrubbery, springing up in both
Plains and hills alike,
Grass and flowers rooted in the soil,
A place for all to go enjoy a bit of respite.
​
Fauna of all kinds, occupying land, sky, and sea,
Harmonious in their relationship with…Her, yes, Her; I forget
Her name, although we all seem to refer to her as “Mother”, or sometimes…”Nature”; any who,
Yes, all kinds, many, innumerable, unique in every way, beautiful, indescribably precious.
​
…I wonder where they went…
​
Where are they…?
​
Back then, if you can believe it,
There was water to drink, and air to breathe.
​
Here, we were given
Everything we could
Ever want, ever need.
​
Children will look into their little books.
​
Read tales of wondrous lands.
​
See depictions of colorful sights.
​
Marvelous creatures, plants, animals, filling their pages.
​
Quite adorable, its; they wish to know more.
​
How they cannot stop turning the papers with their hands.
​
Eyes wide with wonder, they’ll eagerly look outside.
​
“I, too, wish to see this world, so clear and bright!”
​
Outside doesn’t look like the pages, does it?
​
Yet, when these were written, these old tales
That they so adore, inspiration came from
Out there, no? Those authors…didn’t they draw from the
Eternal source, that beauty beyond the edges of town?
​
Surely, that is the case, young one…
​
But…that was in the past.
​
Bother not, in some desperate plea to see what they saw.
​
Those parts are unhallowed ground.
​
All of that…
​
It is gone…
​
“O, what could’ve caused such a cruel injustice?”
​
I’ll merely point out of the window,
At the rampaging creature
That spews forth muck
Into the dirt
And kills off all the evergreens,
Grass, bushes, young petals,
Claws raking the crust,
Kicking up thick clouds of angry dust,
As it, that thing,
Doesn’t like challengers; doesn’t like rebels,
Nor does it favor and joy…instead, only punishment and hurt.
​
Starving and stampeding
Many numbers of
Shocked, frightened beings,
Causing them to tremble and quake
(Flee or fight, they’ll try both
As it succeeds in getting what it wishes to take),
It does with pride; homes annihilated,
Leaving them to wander aimlessly
Into the yards of
Those taught to hate,
Beat, eat, greet
With hostility and rage.
​
Unless, usefulness is proved
(Only by the decree of so many,
As is the usual decider),
At which point
They can be worthy of
“Love” and “care” again,
Relegated to long hours alone
In a cage.
​
“Weren’t these green and non-bipedal things here first?”
​
I nod, affirming their suspicions.
​
“And we’re tearing up their home?”
​
Again, another sad, despairing nod.
​
“Sad.” “I agree.”
​
Indignant, a mother storms forward, taking the child away in a huff.
​
“Do not let them poison you with their filthy lies.” She said in a biting, scathing tone.
​
“You’ll be ruined…
​
…just like them.”
​
“You don’t want the masters to come for you, no?”
​
“They will, you know that.”
​
“And what did I tell you of this world, this one in your books?
In those old pictures you look through so often?”
​
“Remember what they said; it was uncouth and unclean.”
​
“Primitive boulder dash, they said; worst of the worst things to be seen.”
​
“Now, here we are. Satisfied, happy, and free.”
​
“Please, do not dare try to flee.”
​
“There’s nothing for you out there.”
​
“Accept the love, and the care.”
​
“Another thing; stop trying to get a hold of the Mother.”
​
“You and your desire to be close to Her, how foolish;
You’ll just be distracted
From your sisters and brothers.”
​
I scowl for a bit, but carry on nonetheless.
​
A chuckle can’t help but always escape my lips at that word. Masters.
​
Please, they have no control over this anymore.
​
Did they ever? No. For you see, that drive, that lust, that…narcotic (let us
Be honest as to what it is), well, it is not containable; it even breaks out
Upon the skin, the eyes, the face, the teeth, the breath, and renders
Whoever possessed by it, a boiling sore.
​
Quite clear, it is, that all that merely takes place, is the bidding is done
Through flesh puppets who’s dark minds are enraptured by mad poltergeists
From two millennia ago and a country stormed some centennials that have passed
Us by, threatened by everything that wasn’t them, longing to make them all pay the price,
Engaging in audacious heists,
Souls pitch black,
Illuminated no longer
By the light of the sun.
​
I never saw them ever again.
​
Unbeknownst to me, the whole family was eaten.
​
Swallowed, gulped down, forced into its gullet.
​
Could I have known? Unlikely. I was busy trying to
Avoid the wrath.
​
A difficult feat, in these troubling times.
​
Into the stomach they went.
​
Hell is where they were sent.
​
Forcibly melded with others.
​
Made, by another will, their sisters and brothers.
​
Grey, amorphous, moldable, indistinguishable.
​
Just one giant mesh; differentiation? Inconceivable.
​
Leveled flat, mixed around until all dissolved into all.
​
Keeping a herd in line is hard work; it’s better
If their traits and whatnot are irreparably mauled.
​
Stirred by the lining and walls,
Deep inside, no one can hear
The pained, pleading calls,
Badly burned and seared,
Soon they shall be flushed down the halls.
​
Years and years and years ago,
Those….masters…they would sometimes,
Silver-tongued smooth talkers they are,
Go the route of playing nice.
​
When this didn’t work as well as they had hoped,
Away went all of the politeness and rhetoric,
Thinly-veiled smugness, a superiority complex to rival their long dead God
(Intelligent among us will know this as
The true father of this monster,
Evidence that even ghosts
Can give birth)
Set forth was this living storm; indulge, they did, in the great vice.
​
Has it an abode?
​
I think not.
​
Mindlessly, it just consumes and roams.
​
Gas of a most foul kind has overtaken the air.
​
I want to choke it, make it unable to inhale.
​
Liquids vital to life have never been so worse for wear.
​
Bleed it dry, dismember it; it’s my only wish, until it is empty and pale.
​
Loud, noisy, its innards turn as it grinds its meals
Into steaming batches of sameness, literal shit
Eaten by future meals in their lairs (to which they’re permanently confined).
​
What little is left here, is what little we’ve got.
​
Dying everyday, she’s already in the coffin.
​
Within Her breast, Her many children go,
A safe place to escape all that is rotten.
​
I’ve considered joining Her myself.
submitted by YNG_SKNHDXVX to Poem [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 21:01 Marvynwillames [Multiple Excerpts] An Analysis on Tau FTL

It’s no secret that lots of fans, in fact I believe the majority, think that GW removing the FTL for the Tau sometime after the 3rd edition was a dumb move, since, to be simple, you aint making a multi system empire without FTL travel, as well it makes things like the Damocles Crusade have a huge plot hole in that the Tau somehow win through reinforcements coming from their entire empire, despite lacking FTL.
The user Connor McLeod on Spacebattles made a detailed analysis on how the Tau FTL worked through editions, this is a simplified version, for the quotes he used are too big for a single reddit post.
The original theory (what may or may not be the ether drive, or also known as 'warp dives') came from Battelfleet Gothic - originally in BFG Magazines (I took mine from bFG Magazine 19) but got reiterated in BFG Armada:
BFG magazine 19 said:
The Tau were able to duplicate the warp drive of the alien ship but the initial test flights were disastrous. Achieving transition to the Warp required more than technology, it required psychically attuned minds and the Tau race boasted no psykers. Without them to guide the transition no amount of power could breach the dimensional barriers. The best the Tau could do was make a partial translation, forcing themselves into the void that separated Warpspace and realspace before they were hurled out again like a ball held under water then released.
..
The Water caste scientists made the observation that the boundary between real space and warp space was not a neat line. It was closer to being a turbulent ocean fomented by the tempestuous warp tides below. By carefully angling their descent toward the Warp and extending the field generated by the gravitic drive into a wing shaped to hold the vessel down, a Tau vessel could extend the duration of the dive considerably. The speeds achieved in the ascent back to real space were staggering and coupled with the effect of the Warp on time and space ensured that the real distance covered by the dive was immense. Early tests lost several drone ships because they inadvertently passed far beyond the sensor range of the recovery vessels.
...
There was still a major constraint, only the most powerful (and bulky) drives could sustain the gravitic wing throughout the dive and the power drain meant that considerable recharge time was needed between dives. Also by comparison to actually navigating the warp the pace was still very slow. Taking typical Imperial Warp speeds the Tau drive was slower by a factor of five. The speed was consistent though, did not expose the Tau to the perils of the Warp and enabled the Tau to expand beyond their home star for the first time.
This should be well established by know, and it's pretty self explanatory. But its worth revisiting for tying everything together because in many ways the FTL system incorporates multiple parts. One part was the Tau gravity drive. Another part was the ability to 'partially' enter the warp for the dive and maintaining that dive as long as possible. And its a process they kept improving on. On the surface of this the implication is that around or even before First Sphere they had FTL, whereas the earliest you could plausibly argue they MIGHT achieve warp diving in current fluff is by third sphere. At least, in widespread usage. You could certainly have the Tau experimenting with FTL (they experimented with Imperium warp drives in Crisis of Faith after all) and that goes back to previous spheres. We could in that respect view Tau propulsion advances to be incremental steps along that path to achieving true Warp drive (or something close to it - which may be what Fourth Sphere's slipstream is/was.) I'll touch more on that 'incremental' development' later.
BFG Magazine 19 said:
Waystations are distributed throughout the Tau Empire. They mark out the main routes between Tau septs and are used to speed communications between outposts.
This has nothing directly to do with FTL travel, except to mark/identify routes they use (and maybe facilitate those routes somehow) but it does mention that they have a role in communication. I'll touch on that after the FTL stuff, although it centers almost entirely around the Shadowsun novella.
BFG Magazine 19 said:
Unlike the Tau the Kroot are capable of true Warp travel but the exact method has been kept secret from their employers. To the Kroot, warp travel is almost migratory and they seem incapable of navigating anywhere other than systems with habitable worlds. It appears they are drawn to functioning ecosystems.
In alot of ways its belief-shaped (mass belief) and not unlike Orks and the way space hulks operated. It might explain why the Tau never found the Kroot's use of warp travel all that useful, since it seems like it would be potentially erratic or less precise than warp dives. Still, it makes no fucking sense for Kroot, Demiurg or other warp sensitive allies of the Tau to have FTL but the Tau don't, especially since many factions (including Kroot and Demiurg) contribute ships to Tau fleets!
Other later sources like Deathwatch Achius Assault carried that FTL over, and even suggested it was route based (or may have had an even longer rnaged, route based variation on the 'warp dive' that allowed Vellk'han sept to reach Jericho Reach:
Deathwatch Achilus Assault said:
The humans are not the only ones to explore the Black Reef and the Tau too have been sending scouts into its gravity ravaged depths. Less willing to needlessly sacrifice their warriors, the Tau have employed those aliens from their empire with an affinity for the void and a skill at space faring, such as the ethereal Ji'atrix and the void-dwelling Nicassar. More successfully than the Imperium, the Tau have mapped
a number of routes through the edges of the Reef, at least on their side of the anomaly, allowing their ships more tactical flexibility than those of their enemies and also allowing them to lay deadly ambushes within the edge of the Stygian Break.
The Tau also enjoy a rare speed advantage over the Imperium within the Black Reef as their unusual method of near-Warp travel works more effectively than completely entering the Warp and is less prone to disruption by the gravity storm.
I mentioned the White Dwarf's circa 6th edition which alluded to it, but you also had Storm of Damocles which also seems to reference Warp dives:
Storm of Damocles said:
LOCATION: CANNIS GAS CLOUD,
DAMOCLES GULF, 999.M41
Without psykers, the tau could not make translations into the warp, but they had learnt to make short hops through the edge of the immaterial and real space, sticking to pre-ordained 'stepping stones'. This particular transit point, deep in the Cannis gas cloud, was known to connect to the Sexton Sector. It was what the tau thought was a safe transit route, but its location had been known to the Deathwatch for some time.
...
As he spoke, the first of the tau ships seemed to pulse as it skimmed into the immaterium. In ten minutes they were all gone, and the space before them was empty once more, except for the light of distant stars.
This meant that -at least in certain incarnations - warp dives relied on certain routes/paths/points to travel along (adding a certain degree of predictability, not unlike the warp routes between star systems in BFG) - it can be thought that BFG might have applied those same limitations to other factions and their FTL (Necron inertialess drive, Tau Warp Dive/Ether drives) so this was always an 'intended' trait. It also makes it clear its far from instantaneous - it takes minutes to achieve the 'skip' and unlike 'true' warp translation there is no rift. Presumably the rift only occurs if you actually punch the hole through into the Warp - the 'interstitial' medium the Tau travel through might simply be thought of as temporal/spatial distortions (we know warp rifts can be temporal/spatial distortions too - one reason that translations to/from warp space can be so highly distorted by gravity and one reason why translations in-system close to planetary bodies are so hazardous)
Storm of Damocles said:
It was a week's journey back through the warp to Picket's Watch. A team of servitors re-established power for the databanks, repairing broken cables and then coaxing out the reams of tau information.
The Space Marines had little need for sleep. They worked constantly, comparing Imperial star charts to those of the tau, finding known points of reference, and slowly piecing together a picture of tau movements to and from the Agrellan Warzone.
..
When they had inputted it all, the holo-charts glowed with criss-crossing web-lines of xenos activity. Its scale and sophistication repelled them all. Supply hubs, refuelling stations, convoy protection teams, automated drone sentries, human worlds secretly compliant, all enabling the massive movement of the invasion fleet that had smashed through to Agrellan. Konrad located two new routes that had appeared only a Terran week before the appearance of the Stormsurges.
'This is how they are transporting their new battlesuits,' he said with grim conviction.
Again note that the use of routes and mapping is important for Tau Warp Dives circa 3rd sphere (Agrellan) and they are clearly covering many tens of light years in months at most. Indeed some 'routes' seem to involve a bare week difference implying transit speeds of many hundreds of c at a bare minimum. There's literally no way third sphere could play out as it did without FTL, so this is beyond dispute.
All the same, some materials try to dispute it. While the Codexes since 6th haven't explicitly forbidden FTL, the rulebooks were something of another matter. At least in 8th edition:
8th Edition Rulebook said:
Being a non-psychic race, the T'au have no understanding of the warp, so their star fleets travel at sub-light speeds. New technological innovations have steadily increased their range, allowing them to press ever further into the galaxy. Their Second and Third Spheres of Expansion were halted only due to the barrier of the Damocles Gulf and increased resistance from the Imperium of Mankind.
Making it a bit of a headache to tie together, but not impossible since there's no real context or detail attached to the comment.
Codex tau 8th said:
In order to reach those more distant systems earmarked as desirable by advanced scouts, the vast armadas of T'au spacecraft had been outfitted with the latest Earth caste modifications. The ships' propulsion systems were upgraded so that when magnified by impulse reactors, the engines could obtain faster speeds, propelling ships forwards at hitherto unthinkable velocities. To further lessen the burden on those space-faring craft with the longest journeys, the Earth caste had outfitted transport vessels with large stasis chambers, allowing Hunter Cadres or whole commands to shift to far distant battle zones months or years away without actually aging a day in the process.
This quote cropped up in 6th too, and it was hilarious then. The 'third' iteration with the impulse reactors boosting previous drive advances (namely, the horizon drive) sound hilarious. Impulse reactors push ships to 'unthinkable velocities' yet we already knew the supposedly 'sublight' Tau already achieved near-lightspeed. Getting nearer to lightspeed might provide some more relativistic effects to protect the crew a bit from the duration, but its not going to add jack shit to speed... unless you exceed the speed of light.
In keeping with that hilarious inconsistency, the Tau in fact do this multiple times since 6th. To wit:
Tyranid 6th said:
FLIGHT TO KE'LSHAN
Though the Tau fleet was pursued by dozens of bio-ships, only a handful of cadre vessels were boarded and destroyed before the Tau successfully punched through the Tyranid blockade. Unaffected by the Shadow in the Warp, the Tau's ZFR Horizon drives propelled their ships at near light speed through realspace, and arrived safely at Ke'lshan. It took the Tyranids many days to traverse the same span of space, and for the first time in months, the Tau hoped to have a chance to catch their breath and recuperate.
Yes. Their magical horizon drives actually allowed the Tau to [i[Outrun the Tyranids[/i] Now remember that while the Tyranids having warp drive post 5th was up for debate, they still had Narvahls so its baffling that the 'sublight' Tau could outrace an explicitly FTL race. Compoudning that hilarity is the timeframe - Hive Fleet
Warzone Damocles said:
Propelled at ever greater speeds by the latest Earth Caste impulse reactors, the vast armada of Aun'Va's Tau Coalition powered across the Damocles Gulf and into Imperial Space. The expeditionary force met little in the way of significant opposition, even from the Imperial worlds that rejected the offers of the Water caste's ambassadors.
This repeats the codex bits on impulse reactors, and as I said for Third Sphere and War Zone Damocles you pretty much need to be crossing tens or hundreds of light years in weeks or months... there's no way around it being FTL. The only speeds greater than near-c are going to be many time greater than c.
Given that we can speculate on a Tau drive (and FTL) progression that follows this pattern:
Tau FTL model
First sphere has them evolving the gravity drive as per BFG. This may or may not also result in the modifications that allow (retroactively) to swiftly colonize their immediate surroundings for the First sphere expansion due to weird properties (time/space dilation) and closely placed star systems
Gravity drive (first sphere). This could still result in the discovery of a crashed alien ship and its warp drive (and experiments into that technology) but nothing definite or widespread yet.
Second Sphere is where things start to get interesting. They expand further by charting routes through dangerous parts of their space (including the Damocles gulf) through trial and error. This could be the point where we actually get navigation into and out of warp rifts in some cases, and with others you simply have warped distances/pathways to travel along. This still allows them to be 'sublight' but achieve travel that doesn't take years or decades like it should.
Second sphere, however is where they start meeting the Orks and eventually the Imperium. They learn more about FTL drives (from Ork and Imperial vessels) and they perhaps begin to study the routes that permitted their swift journeys as well. Second sphere stretches out for some time and even the end is some distance into the future, so there is lots of time for additional advances. The Horizon drive would maximize their travel speeds - travelling as close to the speed of lgiht as efficiently possible means making the most out of not only navigating warp rifts but the routes as well. Other examples of this in action would be the Black Reef/Hadex anomaly from Deathwatch
Eventually they start tinkering with their drive system in other ways to achieve other effects. We can presume the grav drive is a factor in protecting them from the effects of the warp minus a gellar field (in conjunction with their low/nearly nonexistent warp souls) but the grav drive configurations may enable them to more effectively harness and shape the routes they take, and we get into the first steps of warp dives. They start out slow and less efficient at first, but over time they continue refining the process and making improvements (being able to maintain the dive for longer (Velk'Han and Deathwatch come in here.)
Eventually, they learn to artificially replicate the Warp Dive without being confined to routes - they still can't enter the warp and it may be slower than 'in-route' travel, but this allows them much more flexibility in expanding than they had. This may or may not be the 'impulse reactors' of third sphere - we might surmise these are sort of a weaker version of slipstream drive that only achieves the 'partial' translations. We might consider this the ether drive - the logical conclusion of their pre-Warp drive travel. Speeds may get closer to equalling 'average' warp travel (non Navigator) but its still potentially much slower than true warp drive even if they could maintain the dive indefinitely (which at that point, they might on at least some ships or in some locations) Smaller ships like the Manta can also be equipped with FTL drives now.
Third sphere ends with the conflagration fo the Damocles Gulf and the Tau can no longer bypass it effectively (We could surmise that any 'artificial' dives are too short ranged or slow to make this practical over reasonable timescales for the Tau to wage war. The fastest longest-ranged routes for warp-diving would be through the Gulf, much as travelling to Jericho Reach meant the Hadex anomaly and black Reef. The Tau cannot continue their progress until the creation of slipstream drive (the final evolution of the impulse reactors to emulate Warp drive without psykers or navigators) and that brings us to 8th and eventually 9th with the fifth sphere and the Startide Nexus.
And 9th edition brings us the promise of a sixth sphere expansion... courtesy of the slipstream drive:
Codex Tau 9th said:
"Or do we exercise our new-found reach to once again push beyond what the Gue'la call the Damocles Gulf, to reclaim the septs that were lost and drive deeper than ever into the western galactic reaches? Understand my guests,this is not some mere dream. Fio'vre Ka'buto and his scientists assure me that the modifications they have made to their original designs render the Slipstream module safer and more stable than ever before when deployed en masse. With such a device at our disposal, the stars are closer than ever, and oru duty to reach them clearer.'
El'Umeh couldn't believe what she was hearing.
The Sixth Sphere Expansion, she thought, light-headed with amazement. The Ethereal Supreme is considering the commencement of the Sixth Sphere Expansion, and he is asking for my Commander's thoughts on where it should occur.
Such a thing was unheard of. The battles of the Fith Sphere Expansion still raged beyond the Zone of Silence. O'Shaserra herself led the push to colonise new worlds and raise new septs beyond the fabled wormhole. El'Umeh was hardly in possession of all the data, yet she had the impression that the empire had expended vast resources already on gathering and launching that fleet. To think that it could muster a sixth expansion even while the fifth was still underway... had the scope and scale of T'au space truly grown so vast?
Setting aside the implication that the Tau are vast enough in terms of territory and industry to sustain two Spheres of expansion so closely together, we're told that they can now safely engage in large scale use of slipstream and derive the benefits of its speed in their expansion. No more limits to warp dives or ether drive. They could achieve something that matches at least some kinds of Warp travel.
This also makes clear that the Tau not only didn't lose slipstream travel with fourth sphere. It was simply limited in its scale of application. Single ships (or small numbers) might be able to harness it effectively and without danger - but large fleets (scores or hundreds) were dangerous. Now, that may no longer be so true, and that is a HUGE game changer for the Tau.
Another thing to consider is - as I said before - in many ways the 'Ether drive/warp dive' feature is describing the same essential capability, it just evolves incrementally with each step or including a new wrinkle. First you have the grav drive - which plays a role in maintaining the warp dive once they develop that technology and presumably protecting the craft and permitting some degree of navigating the charted routes in their domain. Then as per 6th you have the 'Horizon' drive which allows for rapid and effective near-lightspeed travel. If the routes allow for the warp to amplify sublight speeds into translight speeds, then maximizing your realspace speed would be the best way to optimize travel time.
Eventually late second/early third you're getting into the true Ether Drive/Warp Dives as outlined in BFG and the impulse reactor upgrade allows for that push for 'artificially' created routes/dives (and possibly leads to the truly long-distance travel like allowing Kel'Shan to reach Jericho Reach sector despite being potentially hundreds of light years away) - the grav drive helps to maintain the dive, the Horizon engines keep speed maximized during that dive. Despite being from different, unconnected sources, you can clearly treat each iteration as being an improvement of each technology, allowing the Tau to move that much faster until they reach the presumable endpoint (currently) with a fully fledged and potentially workable slipstream drive that can be utilized for large fleets - leading to Sixth Sphere.
****
Now we get to FTL comms courtesy of Shadowsun, last of Kiru's line:
Shadowsun last of Kiru's Line said:
'It is agreeable to see you, Shas'la,' she said. 'What is the status of our communications?'
Sabu'ro glanced at Kou'to before answering. The veteran's nod told him that it was all right to address Shadowsun directly.
'Commander,' he said proudly, 'we are fully capable. Local tightbeam and interplanetary tachyon arrays are both at one hundred per cent.'
'Are you able to contact the rest of the fleet?'
'It has already been done. All ships are holding at station-keeping eight light-minutes beyond il'Wolaho's moon, as per your previous instructions. Command of the armada has passed to Kor'el Kenhi'ta, who relayed the news of what transpired today to T'au via graviton data packet.' He smiled. 'After you last spoke to me, I made all vessels aware of your survival.'
'Was that news also relayed to T'au?'
Young Sabu'ro seemed confused by the question. 'Why would it not be?'
Shadowsun nodded, imagining what the reaction must have been back on the home world. First, news that a powerful warship had been destroyed with all hands lost. Then, later on, a second bulletin informing everyone that she and a handful of others were alive, but for the moment, non-recoverable. Shock, followed by sadness, followed by joy, followed by concern. The halls of the Aun't'au'retha, the supreme council of Ethereals who presided over the Empire, must have been uncharacteristically lively this day. Once again, she blamed herself.
...
'Commander, there's an incoming data packet addressed to you.' He passed the flex-screen to Shadowsun. 'A pre-recorded message of some kind, relayed through the fleet position.'
Il'Walaho was nearly one hundred and fifty light-years away from the heart of the Empire. Real-time communication over such distances was impossible, even for a race as technologically advanced as the tau. Shadowsun took note of the time stamp as the bundle of words and decompiled themselves; whatever the nature of this message, it had been sent while her fleet was in translation from T'au.
'It says here that this was made and received some time ago. Why am I only seeing it now?'
Sabu'ro shook his head as the recording began.
'O'Shaserra,' it said slowly and clearly, 'This is Aun'va speaking. As leader of the Aun't'au'retha, may I say that it brings great relief to all to hear that you have survived the destruction of your command vessel.'
We get reference to 'tachyon' communications (presumably the short-range/in system stuff) and the 'grav-wave' data packets. There are two distinct kinds of communication and calcs here but I'll indulge in a little speculation relating to Eye of Terror. A numbe rof sources (Eye of Terror website back in 3rd edition, the Deathwatch RPG) mention tachyonic bullshit, and its often tied to Warp phenomena (as is 'subspace' bullshit in the Hoare novels.) We also know that gravity and spatial distortions are closely related to warp phenomena as well. And as mentioned before, Eye of Terror indicated that in a warp-realspace interface 'lightspeed' signals (like photons/light) could be effectively translight. In that sense, we might consider 'tachyons' to be matter subjected to the translight properties of the warp, wheras grav packets might be some sort of weird modulated grave pulses that create a sort of warp 'dive' signal to relay data back to the destination (unless of course its a physical vessel. That's not clear.) It may even be that its a tachyonic signal that is manipulated the same way the grav drive helps maintain a warp dive.
Anyhow, bullshit speculatin over nature done, we go to the calcs. The first is for the ship-to ground communications which are almost or effectively instantaneous over an eight light minute distance (this will get reiterated later) and that plays out to around at least FTL communications speed of tens of c (call it 50c or so.)
The grav-packet takes longer, but it occurs well within the space of a day (twelve hours) and possibly as little as four to six hours (remember it started during morning, and now its afternoon to evening here.) so its clearly a matter of hours top, and less than a day at worst. For the message to cover 150 LY in one day (12 hours to 24) you get between 54,000-109,000c roughly. In 4-6 hours it would be more like 220,000-330,000c. That's slow compared to some and not suitable for FTL travel (even commercial astrotelepathy can cross 10-20 LY in around 11 minutes as per Eisenhorn, whereas others have realtime communication between two nearby systems and multiple light years. 1st edition has Astrotelepathy crossing 50,000 LY in seconds or minutes even, albeit with ten words or less.) But for the Tau? That's quite fast, esp considering their FTL (such as it is) would be orders of magnitude slower. Many times throughout her career, she had pictured the memorial they would erect of her on T'au following her death. It would be placed before the Mont'yr Battle Dome, of course, where it would stand among the other heroes of her people, immortalised in six-metre-high white marble. Along the base would read her accolades – Shadowsun, daughter of Kiru, hero of the K'resh Expansion War, scourge of the greenskin barbarians, bulwark against the hive fleets.
The K'Resh Expansion War was part of the Great War of Confederation which took place in 975.M41 and lasted a dozen years, meaning this is between the end of that (12 years later, or in 987.M41) and the start of 3rd sphere in 997.M41 - no more than a decade difference. Given that Third Sphere involved Aun'Va accompanying Shadowsun personally (As 6th edition outlines) from the Tau homeworld, that means Shadowsun made a round trip from the edge of the empire and back to pick up the Supreme leader (5 years both ways).
​
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2023.05.28 21:00 ultradip Beware of Opportunists!

In times of disaster, it's not uncommon for many good people to try to fundraise for relief efforts, supplies and reconstruction costs. But you should be aware that unless it's someone you personally know and trust, it's also not uncommon for bad people to use the opportunity to make money for themselves.
Before you give, you should ask:
  1. Is the donation link directly to a relief agency or is it to a middleman? There's no easy transparency when it comes to the spending of funds in a crisis, which makes it easier for funds to not reach the people it's intended to help, so by avoiding middlemen, you can reduce this possibility.
  2. Have you checked the background of the relief agency or organization you're considering? Some spend money more effectively than others meaning that less overhead makes for more money being spent on victims vs administration costs.
  3. Is the agency or organization a registered non-profit or NGO? These kinds of entities have strict reporting rules to follow to show how their funds are being spent.
  4. Is the agency or organization providing a receipt? If so, you can often use it for a deduction on taxes for the current year. If not, the agency or organization is likely not a registered non profit.
GoFundMe will show that a campaign is benefiting a non-profit charity organization if it is created using their IRS EIN or charity registration number.
Even Paypal donation accounts will show they're owned by a non-profit charity organization, and generate a receipt.
While not every individual doing fundraising is attempting to defraud you of your money, you can give with more confidence by giving directly to a relief charity of your own choosing via their own web pages.
submitted by ultradip to Charity [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 21:00 ultradip Beware of Opportunists!

In times of disaster, it's not uncommon for many good people to try to fundraise for relief efforts, supplies and reconstruction costs. But you should be aware that unless it's someone you personally know and trust, it's also not uncommon for bad people to use the opportunity to make money for themselves.
Before you give, you should ask:
  1. Is the donation link directly to a relief agency or is it to a middleman? There's no easy transparency when it comes to the spending of funds in a crisis, which makes it easier for funds to not reach the people it's intended to help, so by avoiding middlemen, you can reduce this possibility.
  2. Have you checked the background of the relief agency or organization you're considering? Some spend money more effectively than others meaning that less overhead makes for more money being spent on victims vs administration costs.
  3. Is the agency or organization a registered non-profit or NGO? These kinds of entities have strict reporting rules to follow to show how their funds are being spent.
  4. Is the agency or organization providing a receipt? If so, you can often use it for a deduction on taxes for the current year. If not, the agency or organization is likely not a registered non profit.
GoFundMe will show that a campaign is benefiting a non-profit charity organization if it is created using their IRS EIN or charity registration number.
Even Paypal donation accounts will show they're owned by a non-profit charity organization, and generate a receipt.
While not every individual doing fundraising is attempting to defraud you of your money, you can give with more confidence by giving directly to a relief charity of your own choosing via their own web pages.
submitted by ultradip to gofundme [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 20:56 The_Alloquist [A Lord of Death] - Chapter 47 (Efrain)

[←Chapter 46] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 48→]
Efrain was left, more or less, with two things left to teach. First was the more complex magical motion, how to draw flows and glide things along them. The second was how that applied to the wondrous black metal, and then to shape it into whatever she had seen.
Efrain, not for the first time, wished that he’d seen the knife, that way he wouldn’t have to rely on the girl’s amateur talents. There was a good chance that she would not be able to construct it soundly or missed crucial details that were essential. It was a risk, giving her this greatly expedited tutelage, then making her build a magic tool with nothing but educated guesswork. Practically like explaining pulleys and counterweights, and then asking a student to design an elevator.
He didn’t let his mind rest on it for too long - he had enough horrors today without contemplating what lay beyond the stone. Still, it weighed on him, as even moving the water around was noticeably more difficult than it would’ve been in the free air. He set out another filled bucket and an empty one, provided gratis by the workers.
“Are you having fun yet?” he said aloud, drawing the attention and a few nervous chuckles.
“It might be good for you to listen in,” he continued, “magic is here, has been here, and will continue to be here long after any of us are gone. One of these principles might save your life one day?”
After a few moments, a younger member hesitantly spoke.
“Are there any schools? To teach magic,” he said, before immediately trying to shrink back into the crowd.
Efrain regarded him as he considered the question.
“Why? Do you have an interest?”
The men around him laughed, and the boy’s face flushed as he locked eyes with what must’ve been a very attractive bench.
“Yes. There are, and were, schools. The greatest was the Angorrah Academy in the capital, but it has long been ransacked and converted to other uses. Centuries ago, now.”
The men were listening with interest now. Efrain wasn’t surprised, given the way the church stepped on the toes of history when writing its edicts.
“Yes. Angorrah used to be a heart of learning of all kinds,” he said, gesturing off to the western mountains, “magic, science, the arts, craftsmanship. The academy was beautiful, in its way. Still… what happened happened.”
“The night of the burning tree?” one of the older men ventured.
“Indeed,” Efrain said, “the night of the burning tree. A bunch of hotblooded youths getting involved in open rebellion. Anyone care to take a guess at what the seniors were doing?”
No one responded, all were looking on with bated breath.
“Nothing. Sitting in their towers, sipping their wine. All the while a bunch of idiots painted a target on all of our backs, and they did nothing to stop them.”
He was conscious of the potential hypocrisy he was engaged in. It was only a couple of years after the night of the burning tree when he had awoken in his new body. For all he knew, he could’ve been one of the idiots involved. He would like to think that he was not so stupid as to burn the most holy symbol of the church. But there was no way to know for certain.
“Then the purges began,” he said, “I had left the city before. I saw the writing on the wall.”
“But that would mean you’re hundreds of years old,” protested one of the men.
Efrain looked at him, the other men looked at him, and the man faded back with a quiet ‘oh’.
“Yes, I’ve lived for a very, very long time,” he said, stretching as he did, “there’s several different ways you can go about it, but… well, the results speak for themselves.”
Now that caught their attention, as tales of immortality often did.
“Before you ask, there’s a steep price for extended life, regardless of which way you do it. Not to mention, it’ll most likely take decades upon decades of study, and help from others besides. Even with all that, it’s still a very risky business. One mistake, and you’ll be greeting death early.”
That seemed to quell most of the curiosity, though not extinguish it completely.
“Well,” he said, “back to the original question. As for the remaining schools of magic, you’re not likely to find anything west of the mountains. The church’s hold is too strong for any sort of formal study to flourish there. The best one would be…”
Efrain tapped his mask as he ran through the locations, hoping that two centuries hadn’t wiped them away.
“Karkos, to the south east,” he said, “though I haven’t been there for many years. I recall… well, there was the idea of a school once. If you’re really interested, that would be the place to try.”
Some of the men nodded thoughtfully, though Efrain doubted any of them were actually vying to go.
“What can magic do?” said one of the younger ones again, “can it make swords sharp, or on fire or…”
He stuttered out as he reached the limits of his creativity. Efrain didn’t mind - it was nice to have queries to take his minds off of recent events.
“Magic weapons?” he said, mentally thumbing through his collection of knowledge on the topic, “yes, you could. Most ordinary weapons can be infused with magic, with appropriate skill. As for things custom made for the purposes of handling magic, well…”
He thought back to his vault in his holdfast, missing home, as cold and isolated as it might’ve been. There were a handful of weapons in his collections, usually cursed, but little that he would actually use. They were mostly there for preservation and study, rather than actual warfare. His armoury on the other hand had enchanted items, but they tended to be more along alchemical lines rather than physical ones.
“They are rare, quite rare. Some of you are steel workers, I would think?” he said, witnessing a few nods, “well then, how many years would it take to become a good one, usually?”
There was a smattering of guesses, until a big, keg-chested man offered “five or tener’ years, depends.”
“Then I’m sure you can imagine, my friend,” Efrain said nodding, “combine learning magic and smithing, then learning how to weave the latter into the former. Many, many years. True master enchanters and magesmiths are not something seen since Angorrah’s golden years, and that was centuries ago.”
He remembered the site of the great forge works under the academy, situated near the cistern so that they had a constant supply of water to fuel engines and quenching pools. The smell of hot metal and burning wood barely eclipse the stench of sewage. There had been several doddering craftsmen by the time he’d left, though the days of their magnum opuses were long past.
“Even in my time, they were dying out, and when the Academy was ‘decommissioned’, well, most of their works and knowledge was destroyed. I only knew barely beyond the basics. In any case, most magic weapons are too expensive to be practical. However you could ‘enhance’ in the way you’re thinking’ - holding edges for longer and so on.”
He paused, trying to recall the few examples he’d witnessed first-hand.
“Why, they even used to pre-enchant metal at the academy, so you could temper them faster at higher temperatures, without risking warping or weakening.”
The men began to nod more fervently - this was a subject they were more familiar with.
“But nothing dramatic. To be sure, there are tales. Weapons of light, tools to replant forests and cure illness,” he said, reaching over for the cube.
Watching the streams and rivers of metal form and reform in his hands, he began to recite.
“Long lost, long lost, across the waves,
Past brothers’ tombs and fathers’ graves.
Long lost, long lost, across the sea.
Lands old and rich and everfree.
The first lands where we long to be,
Long lost, long lost, across the sea.
Where all are found, where all is saved.
Long lost, long lost, across the waves.”
“I know that!” one of the men said, “it’s in one of the church books the priest used to sing.”
“Aieadda. It’s an old poem, one of the oldest. It’s one of the few surviving writings from the times of Eblem.”
The name of Angorrah’s founding king turned the last of the bowed heads.
“You’ve been?” said a number of astonished labourers, drawing a mental grin from Efrain. The ‘first lands’ must’ve been a legend to them, something spoken about in terms of gods and myths.
“No, no I’ve not,” he said, “they do exist, far to the south west. Several weeks by ship, if the wind is in your favour. It’s a hazardous crossing. But, if the verses are to be believed, ‘anything’ can be found there. Magic runs strong in that country.”
He lifted up the now solid cube as an example.
“For instance,” he said, “and if this is the metalwork they could do, who knows what else they could create?”
The men were enchanted now, transfixed by stories they’d never heard. But it’d have to wait for later, he thought, as he saw Sorore led by Lillian cut around the corner.
“Right then, back to work. Though you are welcome to listen in as you wish,” he said, as Sorore sat down in front of him, frowning at the two buckets.
“You ready?” he said, and she nodded, “very well, let’s begin.”
“The second lesson of magical motion is as follows…”
For the next half-hour he taught her about the process of drawing flows. How to imagine an invisible line, like carving a channel for the water to follow. How to start from before the mass, and move magic through it, simultaneously pushing the magic through it, and pushing the mass on the magic.
“And to practise that, I’ve brought back your favourite teaching aid,” he said, gesturing to the pair of buckets in front of them.
He thought he detected the hint of a scowl on the girl’s face.
“Quite simple, really, just draw an arc between the two points. We’ll stop when you’ve filled the empty bucket to the best of your ability.”
The hour after that was relatively simple, Sorore imagined a line, drew magic across it, then drew the water across that. A few false starts and water explosions later, she had a steady stream falling into the bucket.
“That’d be useful,” said one of the men, “wouldn’t have to move around the smithy too much.”
“Solid objects get a little more tricky,” said Efrain, “if I taught you how, you’d spend just as much time learning how to dodge wayward tools.”
There was genuine, not nervous laughter this time. Sorore was sitting there, quite focused on the stream, though not particularly tense, watching as the water slowly filtered from one to the other.
“A fun minor lesson,” he said, “try to make a flow with right angles only.”
The girl’s concentration lapsed, spilling water on the cobbles to her annoyance. But regardless, she tried, and largely succeeded in the first part. When she attempted to push water up, it sprayed off past one of the men, leading to it being quickly dropped.
“Any object has mass, and thus momentum. Think of running and rapidly turning around. Takes a lot more effort, doesn’t it? Curves are almost always more efficient. Now, back to it.”
Within another twenty minutes or so, she had filled up the second bucket. The last of the drops were drawn over the arc, and vanished under the surface.
“Well done,” he said, “you now know the basics of moving liquids like water, and even gas like the air around us. Solids get a little more tricky, so there’s really no time to teach you that. When we get to forging the knife, let me handle that part.”
She nodded, beaming at the bucket that was empty less than an hour ago.
“You’re ready,” he said, “now for one little note about this material. This has no resistance to magic. You’ll have to create your own, for reasons that we can discuss later. Two forces, equal, pushing against one another. Are you ready?”
She nodded, fingers twitching in excitement as he handed her the cube.
“Merely make them equal as you can,” he said, “don’t try and-”
The partially liquid cube shot out to the left, which Efrain caught and circled around into the main mass. The girl’s magic was still quite chaotic, and it was potent.
“Try again, two opposite forces at the same time. Like pressing your finger tips against each other. You’re holding it under tension.”
She did so, and a couple of tries later, the cube collapsed into fluid.
“Well done,” he said, despite the gasp she made as she attempted to grab at the fluid, “now comes the hard part. You need to maintain that tension as you guide it along the flow.”
He demonstrated, letting the material pool and coalesce into a streamer that floated into the air.
“This will be tricky. We’ll work at it,” he said, letting it spatter back onto the pavement.
The girl tried, and tried, and tried, and tried. For hours and hours as her face grew pale and sweat once more dripped from her chin. They were well past midday before she managed to get a decent grip on the technique, even though it still vibrated violently.
Efrain was completely unsurprised by the imperfection. Working with material like this was a challenge even for senior students. She had managed it in an afternoon. On its own, she would be considered exceptional, even if she had years worth of theory to catch up on. Efrain seized control and moulded it back into a cube, letting it solidify once more.
“Well,” he said, “you’ve gotten the gist of it. Not so easy, hm?”
She nodded, brushing her hair back and rubbing at her eyes.
“Now comes the really hard part,” he said, with less sadistic, teacherly mirth than he might want to, “You need to create a flow that is the shape of the blade.”
Sorore’s eyes widened at the proposition, and she audibly gulped.
“How?” she said.
“Imagine the shape of the blade in space, and divide it up into flows that you can guide the metal to. Simple in theory. But far, far from easy. This is the challenge we’ve been leading up to. You need not worry about making it solid, just let me handle that. You need only to work on the shape.”
Sorore was eager to try, if a little daunted perhaps by the complexity of the task. First Efrain managed to make a concept wire piece of the blade with her. They discussed features, the chisel tip, the furled blades, the tang of the blade. The small rivulets and channels she’d seen in her ‘visions’ of it.
Then came the actual ‘forging’ of it, and by the Lost, was it difficult. Attempt after attempt after attempt fell apart, the girl growing grey by the exhaustion. As the light around them began to darken, they stopped, adjusted and retired. All to no avail.
“I just can’t…” she said, face red with effort after the latest attempt, “there’s too much to keep track of.”
Efrain had watched, with occasionally gentle prodding, as the girl attempted to fill in the gaps. The actual flow wasn’t particularly difficult, but forming the total structure of the blade, while maintaining cardinal paths for the metal to follow was clearly beyond her level. Efrain sighed - at least now, he had an idea of what the shape was and could make a good approximation of what was needed.
It was unfortunate that the young girl didn't manage to fully develop the skill over the afternoon’s course, but it was hardly unexpected. He had been pushing her far too hard, and at this point it was probably going to be more economical to just simply create the blade himself. It wouldn't be perfect, but he had to hope that it would be enough for the door.
"Well,” he said, “ it would appear that we’ve run out of time. Good progress despite. I think I'll try to finish the rest of it.”
As he’d expected, the dismissal made the young woman's shoulders slump further. He was almost tempted to reach out to her, but the ever-present glare of Lillian dissuaded him. She would get over it, assuming they all survived, and for that, he needed the knife. Soroe was led away into the afternoon, and Efrain was left to find a solution he wasn’t entirely sure existed.
Within a few minutes he had managed to get the basic shape, the details, however, were an entirely different story. Try after try after try, he spent what hours he had attempting to get every single detail he could. Night was oncoming before he had something he thought might work. The actual utilisation and technique he hoped weren’t as important as the structure. Efrain was not looking forward to the most likely outcome - the first usage of magic would immediately revert the solid metal to fluid.
Sighing, he finally rose, bizarre blade in his hand. With a nod to the rest of the labourers, well at work repairing blades and mending armour, he departed to the church. The remainder of the townsfolk were littered about, preparing for the siege. If they were lucky, they had a few more hours before the attacks began, but that did not still the fear obvious in their eyes.
Efrain crossed into the main hold of the church, and made his way to the stair door. Innie picked herself up off the stones and walked beside him.
“The child?” Efrain said, looking back towards the medic bay.
“Leave her,” said the cat, “she’s needed, and the happiest I’ve ever seen her. Did you have any luck?”
“She came close. Somewhat,” Efrain said, letting the black blade catch the light, “I finished it.”
“Oh that’s comforting,” said Innie, “using a tool you finished.”
“If you have a better suggestion,” Efrain responded with a snort, “we can’t get much more desperate than we are now. Is this or roof.”
“I'd rather fight them here on, at least that way I can burn the church down while I die,” she said.
The catacombs greeted them - dark, cold, and smothering. The duo came before the black stone wall, Efrain glancing over to check if there was nothing he’d missed. Finding that his powers of observation were sound, he raised the blade tip to the smooth black stone.
“Here we go,” he said.
[←Chapter 46] [Cover Art] [My Links] [Index] [Discord] [Subreddit] [Chapter 48→]
submitted by The_Alloquist to redditserials [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 20:52 jMilton13 Can you safely use PostreSQL as a backend?

Daniel Pineault warns that Access databases are "only meant to be run through wired LANs." He goes on to say:
The true solution, IMHO, is that if you need a WAN enabled database, thus a proper Web Database, then you need to switch technologies altogether and use something along the lines of MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQL Server, … in combination with PHP, .NET, and the likes. These technologies (and others like them) were made to work over WAN and with large numbers of simultaneous users.
My question is, does a relatively inexperienced programmer like me have to learn PHP on top of PostreSQL, or would WAN-access to a PostreSQL database via Access using ODBC as described here allow many users (let's say 5-10) to connect to and edit the database via Access without worries of database corruption or performance issues?
Thanks for any advice!
submitted by jMilton13 to MSAccess [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 20:41 Random_Trinidadian When the Humans Speak.....

I can remember it like it was yesterday....
I had been a ambassador and representative of my people to the Galatic Confederation for many cycles up to that point. In my time there,I had been lucky enough to witness many a historic occasion, which had taken place in that time.
The Castilla Accords, the peace treaty between the Yavins and as Assurians, the Collapse and absorbtions of the Genotian Freehold by the Yambi Empire.... Too many to recall them all.
But I will never forget this day in particular, considering how it initially began. An emergency assembly had been called, which in itself was nothing too unusual. A week would not go by without one being called, usually by two representatives who were in disagreement over something minor and wanted a "third party" to mediate. But on this day, it was not the usual ambassadors who called for such a meeting. I could remember the surprise I and many of my other fellow diplomats felt when we discovered in was the Human Ambassador he did so.
I don't think I need to tell you just hoe much of a big deal this was at the time. Since becoming apart of the Confederation, the Terran Union had more or less been one of the more quiet members of the Confederation. Although they had taken part in several debates in the past, the Humans and their government seemed quite content with staying out of most Galatic affairs.
"If it doesn't affect us, then it doesn't concern us." I remember one of their ambassadors telling me once. During one of the yearly functions the Assembly held. According to her, he people had no desire to get involved with Galatic politics and would rather build healthy relations between themselves and the other races. To be honest, I could not fault them for wanting to take such a stance. The Humans had only developed their own FTL ships less than two centuries ago and were generally seen as one of the neweweaker races in the Galaxy. Not a position anyone would want to be in, if they wanted to become a major power in their region of space.
But for some reason, they had used their right to call assembly with the other ambassadors. I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious as to why they had done so.... But I would soon find out once I had arrived and the other Ambassadors were seated.
Eventually the Human Ambassador, a male by the name of Jackson Rice, came into the center of the chamber and began to speak.
"My fellow diplomats, I am sorry that I had to call for an assemble at this late an hour, but I am afraid that recent events has forced my government to finally speak up." Ambassador Rice said, as the holo-pojector began to show a map of the known Galaxy with one area highlighted.
The image then zoomed into said highlighted area as Rice continued to speak. "As we all know, their has been a serious piracy problem within the O'gren sector over the last couple decades." Sure enough, the image then changed to display images of several cargo vessels which had been victims of such attacks.
"Seeing that the system is a major stopping point for vessels using the Hyper Lane routes, several criminal factions have taken up residency within the sector to attack vessels which used it to cool down their engines, before continuing on to their destinations.
"Much like the rest of you, my government voted to create a task force to not only patrol the sector, but also respond to vessels in destress. We even sent a number of our own warships to take part in this initiative."
Once again, the image changed to show one of the Human warships along side a Kildrath Destroyer and Vol'pine Missile Corvette. As they intercepted a Pirate vessel near a red dwarf.
"But in the six months since the creation of the, my government have begun to notice a number of.... inconsistencies."
"How so?" Ambassador Mar'tek of the Shin Fe co-Opperative asked, as he and many others were did not know where Rice was going.
The human just sighed as the image changed again to show the entire O'gren sector, this time with numberous icons which represented the different ships that had taken part in the Anti-Piracy operation. "As you can see here, the Anti-Piracy Task Force has been split up and vessels focused the designated areas where merchant vessels exit hyper space to recharge their engines. But as you can see..." The image shifted again. "The vessels from my government have been assigned time and again to areas of the sector where no attacks have taken place. In fact, they have been positioned in such a way that they would not be able to react to any destress calls they may receive."
"As a result, 8 more cargo vessels were either captured or destroyed before help could arrive. This included 3 ships which were owned a d operated by by my government."
"Well I am very certain that the Task Force commanders had a very good reason for positioning your vessels in those areas." The Kildrath Ambassador replied, a hint of annoyance in his voice as he spoke. It was no secret that the Kildrath had a bit of a rivally with the Human Government, though no one outside of their government knew why.
But Rice remained cool as he replied, "That is what we thought too, but it seems that the only reason they placed our vessels in these areas, was to make them as ineffective as possible."
This caused murmers around the chamber, as I and everyone else were surprised by this claim.
"Are you sure that it's is not because your vessels are just to slow to be useful in such an important operation." The Ta'lan ambassador quipped, his insectoid like face showing some kind of joy in his remark.
Again, the Human remain clam, as the image switch again.... This time showing three human warships approaching some kind of space station which was crudely built into an asteroid.
"Two days ago, my people undertook an operation of our own, independent from the task force and actively began to track down a pair of pirate vessels which had attacked another one of our Merchant ships."
"What?" The Cal'yan ambassador spoke up. "That's in violation with what was agreed upon!"
Rice just ignored him, as the images began to play out. It showed the three human Destroyers approach the station. Suddenly, the lead ship fired a volley of missiles at the pirate base and destroyed three of the vessels which were still docked. Obviously, the station fought back with it's defenses, but once again, the human ships returned fire and destroyed the gun ports. Before what looked like breaching pods were launched and headed towards the station.
The video then changed again to show the point if view of a Human Marine as he moved through the station with his team. Only stopping when they encountered resistance from the station's occupants. But what it showed nexted, shocked everyone.
As the team entered what looked like a shuttle bay, they soon saw at least a dozen fighter craft lined up within.... But these were not the normal models which once would usually expect Pirates to have access too.
"Kildrath Sun Dancers?" Another ambassador gasped out in surprise as they saw the advanced fighters. Just as the Kildrath Ambassador slowly began to sink back into his seat.
Again, the human remained quiet, as the video continued to play and revealed four Naridi Troop shuttles with Naridi military markings. But the real surprise came when it was shown that there were a number Nardiri wearing military personnel who were being taken in by the human soldiers.
Then the images changed again, this time going back to one of the destroyers. Which had now taken position near the station. Though this time a Transport Frigate Kildrath could be seen drifting among the debris.
Eventually the holoprijector was switched off and a thunderous silence filled the chamber. Everyone was at a complete loss for words, as the videos clearly showe several Confederation Confederation species not only working with the Pirates, but actively supplying then with state of the art weapons. The Human spoke again..
"So... Do your governments care to explain just what the hell they are doing?"
Of course, what followed next was a absolute storm. As it turned out, there were a number of Confederation Government who were actively supporting the many criminal factions within the O'Gren Sector. As not only the the sector a important to commerce, but was home to several star systems which were rich in mineral deposits. The races which took part in this Enterprise, hoped to cause enough confusion that eventually, one of them would "annex" the sector do as to ensure "security" and safely for the ships that passes through.
What came next was what you and I know as the O'Gren war....
The governments who were involved in the plot were either expelled or left the Confederation. Then they attempted to attack the human home world as some form of revenge for what had happened. But the fleet would never get that far, as the humans used powerful nuclear weapons to literally burn their ships in hellfire.
Those that had survived, we're soon destroyed as they tried to escape. But the humans followed them back to their home worlds. Blockading them and forcing the governments to surrender. In total, the war laster six of the human months and saw many of these banished nations losing their territory to the Terran Union. The humans also eventually annexed the O'Gren Sector and began mining operations of their own and to this day, that sector is the most militarized region in human space.
The banished governments, like the Kildrath and the Ta'lan never really recovered from this loss. Though they were not annexed by the humans, the loss was enough to destablize their governments, eventually deading to civil war. Which destroyed their civilizations even more and even resulted in the Ta'lan's extinction.
The Naridi..... They got of rather easy, though they were not allowed to operate warships no bigger than a simple gun Corvette. They would eventually be allowed back into the Confederation, but only as a observer nation.
You know, it's kinda funny when you think about it. The one race which no one took seriously, had managed to change the face of the Galaxy forever. Which id probably why you are asking me if you think attacking them in the O'Gren sector is a good idea.
Do yourself a favor and listen to me very carefully.... Don't.
I know for a fact, the humans talked to you and your government already. When a human speaks, you better listen, cause the consiquences if you don't, will be dire indeed.
submitted by Random_Trinidadian to HFY [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 20:25 mnbluff Anyone drive and ride BDRs?

I haven’t ridden in a number of years, but I would like to get back into it.
I have a wife and two young kids. Going fast as hell on a Sportbike isn’t appealing to me, but the BDR adventure touring in the back country seems great.
I’m in the Midwest so would need to eat up a lot of highway miles to get to these routes so I’d prefer to load the bike into the truck bed and drive, then ride the routes and the go home.
My thought is to limit the amount of time with other drivers on the road on the bike and to be able to chew up the highway miles while sitting in comfort in the truck.
Anyone else do this? Any tips?
Do you stage two trucks one at either side of the route if you have a friend along, or do you ride there and back on dirt, or do you perhaps create a loop partially on a BDR route and partially on pavement?
submitted by mnbluff to advrider [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 20:18 embraceyourself2023 came out to wife

I feel like I needed to come here and THANK everyone for writing about bisexual issues and coming out. I have been one of those people who just lurk around and read posts and finally realized it is time for me to write a post myself.
I have been battling this sexual orientation identity since I was 15 (now 35) and finally decided it was time to come out to my wife (of 10 years) I recently was talking with my therapist about the issues and he told me he thought it would be a good idea to write some sort of letter and read it to my wife. I was going to go that route but I got so tide up at work that night that I told myself on the ride home that I was just going to come out.
I got home and sat down while my wife sat down on the other couch and we were watching some TV. She could tell I was quiet and kept asking me what was wrong and I finally just had a melt down and told her we need to talk. So she asked what was up and we finally chatted. A little back story -- I have told her I was bi prior via text and what not but I had a feeling she didn't really truly understand what I mean't. It was always like ok or kind of brushed off - so it was time to actually have a face to face talk about the issues that have been bothering me my whole life.
So we did chat and what not and I told her about how my therapist wanted me to write a letter to read to her but I told her I went this route instead. So she finally just asked what is really bothering me and I said - Hey I love you and our kids and want NOTHING to change what so ever but my main issue for all of my anger, resentment and lying was because of my sexual orientation. I couldn't actually say it - she kept saying that it made no sense and she wasn't understanding - and I finally said well I am bisexual and she kind of took it and held back for a moment. She eventually followed it up with - what does that mean exactly - and she asked does that mean you are into guys? like you are interested in sex with men? I broke down and said YES (that is what that means) - It was definitely awkward but it felt truly good to get it off my chest (literally like a weight was lifted off of my chest) I told her about the gay porn (she knows I watch porn and I have told her about gay/bi porn) but I was just explaining how that is the porn I enjoy (and I don't know if it's truly because I can't have it or if that is what just gets me off more) but I was honest. Our sex life is absolutely fine, she is pretty adventurous for the most part. She is really big into anal, which is amazing but I just told her that this part of me does not change you or our marriage one bit. I tried to keep reassuring her that. I do believe she understood. I explained this does not make me gay (or on a path to being gay) ... I have always believed in bisexuality, I just think throughout my life I didn't understand it. I kind of thought I had to choose between one sex and that is what truly messed me up, because I was interested in both sexes. I did tell her I have never been with a guy (she asked if that was something I would like) of course I said yes but she said she is not open to that (or at least not ready) which I completely understand. I know this is ALL way to new for her. We talked a little more about pegging and bringing anal sex toys into the bedroom for me and she was open to that. She did say she wants the emotional aspect of our life to change since I have been a complete dick for the past 10 years. I told her I was a dick because of this burden (or so I thought) I know it's not a burden but it was weighing so heavy on my heart that I truly believe my actions were associated with that. I do not know if that is true or not but I can completely say that the last two days I have felt so much better. I feel like myself. I know it's only two days in but I feel more compassionate and loving when I wasn't before. I told her that I felt feminine when I actually cared or wanted to love and express my emotions. I know that it is no excuse by any means but it feels like that is how my brain is wired. I feel like I was hiding my true self by not coming out and not that I came out to her I do feel so much better.
I hope that by me coming out to her will change our marriage for the better. I hope I can continue to work on myself and my marriage. I will not pressure her to bring a man into the relationship, that is something I believe is on her time. I am grateful for this community and am happy to share what has been going on. I feel relieved to share my story and hope that things keep getting better for not only my mental health but my physical health too. I do whole heartily believe she believes me and supports me as she says and will make sure to keep an open line of communication open at all times.
Thank You for listening! Cheers!
submitted by embraceyourself2023 to BisexualMen [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 20:05 embraceyourself2023 came out to wife

I feel like I needed to come here and THANK everyone for writing about bisexual issues and coming out. I have been one of those people who just lurk around and read posts and finally realized it is time for me to write a post myself.
I have been battling this sexual orientation identity since I was 15 (now 35) and finally decided it was time to come out to my wife (of 10 years) I recently was talking with my therapist about the issues and he told me he thought it would be a good idea to write some sort of letter and read it to my wife. I was going to go that route but I got so tide up at work that night that I told myself on the ride home that I was just going to come out.
I got home and sat down while my wife sat down on the other couch and we were watching some TV. She could tell I was quiet and kept asking me what was wrong and I finally just had a melt down and told her we need to talk. So she asked what was up and we finally chatted. A little back story -- I have told her I was bi prior via text and what not but I had a feeling she didn't really truly understand what I mean't. It was always like ok or kind of brushed off - so it was time to actually have a face to face talk about the issues that have been bothering me my whole life.
So we did chat and what not and I told her about how my therapist wanted me to write a letter to read to her but I told her I went this route instead. So she finally just asked what is really bothering me and I said - Hey I love you and our kids and want NOTHING to change what so ever but my main issue for all of my anger, resentment and lying was because of my sexual orientation. I couldn't actually say it - she kept saying that it made no sense and she wasn't understanding - and I finally said well I am bisexual and she kind of took it and held back for a moment. She eventually followed it up with - what does that mean exactly - and she asked does that mean you are into guys? like you are interested in sex with men? I broke down and said YES (that is what that means) - It was definitely awkward but it felt truly good to get it off my chest (literally like a weight was lifted off of my chest) I told her about the gay porn (she knows I watch porn and I have told her about gay/bi porn) but I was just explaining how that is the porn I enjoy (and I don't know if it's truly because I can't have it or if that is what just gets me off more) but I was honest. Our sex life is absolutely fine, she is pretty adventurous for the most part. She is really big into anal, which is amazing but I just told her that this part of me does not change you or our marriage one bit. I tried to keep reassuring her that. I do believe she understood. I explained this does not make me gay (or on a path to being gay) ... I have always believed in bisexuality, I just think throughout my life I didn't understand it. I kind of thought I had to choose between one sex and that is what truly messed me up, because I was interested in both sexes. I did tell her I have never been with a guy (she asked if that was something I would like) of course I said yes but she said she is not open to that (or at least not ready) which I completely understand. I know this is ALL way to new for her. We talked a little more about pegging and bringing anal sex toys into the bedroom for me and she was open to that. She did say she wants the emotional aspect of our life to change since I have been a complete dick for the past 10 years. I told her I was a dick because of this burden (or so I thought) I know it's not a burden but it was weighing so heavy on my heart that I truly believe my actions were associated with that. I do not know if that is true or not but I can completely say that the last two days I have felt so much better. I feel like myself. I know it's only two days in but I feel more compassionate and loving when I wasn't before. I told her that I felt feminine when I actually cared or wanted to love and express my emotions. I know that it is no excuse by any means but it feels like that is how my brain is wired. I feel like I was hiding my true self by not coming out and not that I came out to her I do feel so much better.
I hope that by me coming out to her will change our marriage for the better. I hope I can continue to work on myself and my marriage. I will not pressure her to bring a man into the relationship, that is something I believe is on her time. I am grateful for this community and am happy to share what has been going on. I feel relieved to share my story and hope that things keep getting better for not only my mental health but my physical health too. I do whole heartily believe she believes me and supports me as she says and will make sure to keep an open line of communication open at all times.
​
Thank You for listening! Cheers!
submitted by embraceyourself2023 to bisexual [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 19:54 hitmewiththeknowlege [Question] Are Active Pickups universal?

I have an ibanez SR405EQM. It comes with active pickups. If I wanted to swap them for some emg 5 string bass pickups, will I need to install all of tge emg electronic components (the board and wires) or are they plug and play?
submitted by hitmewiththeknowlege to Guitar [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 19:29 thrushwolf25 Does dividend investing make sense for an older high earner with tons of student debt?

I am a 40 year old recent dental grad. Still in my first year of employment, on target to make $150k my first year, will likely average around $200k/year for most of my career (though this is highly variable depending on location, opening my own practice, etc.). Owe around $400k in student loans at around 6.8%. Funded my ROTH fully last year for the first time, so basically only have around $6k in retirement so far. Just finished saving 3 months of living expenses and trying to figure out the best way to invest with my specific circumstances.
As enticing as growth dividends are, I am concerned about how to be most tax efficient. I don't have access to an IRA or 401k because those are not typically offered or available to dental associates (W2 employee). I am planning on doing an income-based repayment plan for student loans (10% of my income) as I can't afford both my living expenses and paying $4.5k monthly. If I have too much coming in through dividends (assuming I am aggressively investing), it could increase my income-based repayment. Keep in mind that with income-based repayment, there is a tax bomb in 20 years when the balance is forgiven and I will owe something like $100k-$200k (I think)... which means I need to have something saved up or something I can sell to make that payment to the IRS.
I am curious if anyone has run the numbers and calculated the best way to go in terms of being tax efficient in retirement planning while also having to pay student loans. I am currently thinking 80%-90% in growth stocks/ETFs (VOO or VTI) may be the best move until the tax bomb in 20 years, then shift to dividend growth stocks/ETFs after that.
Any thoughts?
submitted by thrushwolf25 to dividends [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 19:29 AwexCrypto How to safely pay with cryptocurrency

How to safely pay with cryptocurrency
​
https://preview.redd.it/s8jd04iven2b1.png?width=1440&format=png&auto=webp&s=bed2d2111d299ac3a6bbab6e93457cae8472ba81

History of the emergence of cryptocurrency payment

More recently, the cryptocurrency community celebrated an anniversary, 10 years ago, programmer Laszlo Heinitz paid 10 thousand BTC for two Papa Johns pizzas. At the time, that amount was $25.
In 2013, it was already possible to pay for a product or service using cryptocurrency. To make the transaction, the two crypto-enthusiasts exchanged their cryptocurrency wallet addresses, as well as agreed on the method of transportation and receipt of the goods. Thus, the history of using cryptocurrency as a means of payment began.
History knows of other big purchases and sales:
  • multimillionaire Oliver Janssens ordered a plane ticket from Brussels to Nice and paid in bitcoins;
  • an anonymous buyer bought a Porsche Cayman S from a Texas family for 300 bitcoins;
  • a Dutch miner, sold his own house with all his possessions for 85 bitcoins in the fall of 2017.
However, in conservative circles, the prejudice that cryptocurrency has no value and that platforms that provide transactions with digital assets are fraudulent is still strong. This opinion was formed after exchanges like Mt. Gox and FTX left their clients without assets.
To be fair, it may be noted that in the financial sector there are as many fraudsters, just think of Sergei Mavrodi's MMM, which was revived 4 times in Russia, each crash left millions of people without savings.
In all these crashes, the culprits were people who were overcome by greed and stupidity, rather than advanced technology and tools. But still, how to make cryptocurrency payments as safe and convenient as possible?
​
Photo:freepik

When it's not suitable to pay by card or in cash

Payment through the bank is accompanied by the risk of blocking the transaction, if the amount exceeds 50100 thousand rubles. The bank may suspect you of fraudulent activity if you suddenly decide to buy an iPhone off hand and pay by transfer from your card. You may need to call the support service or go to the office. And what to do if the office is far away, and today is a day off?
Cash in this case is a great option, but with large amounts of payment, the process, transportation, recalculation, payment causes difficulties, especially if you need to pay in another country. By the way, transfers to other countries are now also complicated by bank restrictions and sanctions.
You have to remember that when you pay with bank cards, the money is often stolen. A bag with money can simply be snatched and run away in an unknown direction.

Why use cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency is a new generation of world money. Unlike fiat currencies, cryptocurrencies are electronic and decentralized, not controlled by the government or private entities. They provide the ability to make payments for goods and services without intermediaries such as banks.
​
Photo:freepik
Due to their global accessibility, low fees and anonymity, cryptocurrencies are used in various fields of activity. One of the main advantages of using cryptocurrencies is the ability to make purchases directly for digital assets. Here are some examples of goods and services that can be purchased with cryptocurrencies:
  • Apps, games and digital subscriptions, such as those from Microsoft;
  • Mobile communications in Canada and the United States;
  • Fast-food restaurants, such as McDonald's;
  • Tax payments;
  • Tourist trips;
  • Real estate in various countries such as Thailand, Turkey, Montenegro, Georgia and the UAE;
  • Remuneration for remote workers;
  • Buying goods and services in hyperinflationary countries such as Venezuela and Argentina.
There are already crypto-accounting services for businesses that can be used to make payments on completed contracts, such as MFPay.

What can happen when making a payment

However, there are some risks to be aware of when using cryptocurrency:
  • Mistakes when sending funds, wrong wallet address, which can lead to loss of funds.
  • The possibility of getting into fake sites or hacked accounts, where scammers can get your money.
  • The risk of receiving "dirty" cryptocurrencies or transferring funds from unscrupulous senders when buying from unverified sites.
  • Poor e-wallet services that can make transactions difficult.

What should be done to secure payment

​
Photo:freepik
To be safe when paying with cryptocurrency, you should take precautions:
  • Carefully check all details and choose the right blockchain network at every step of the transaction;
  • When using cryptocurrency for the first time, it is recommended to make a test payment or split a large amount into several payments;
  • Use complex passwords and store them in safe places, such as an encrypted file or password manager;
  • Verify counterparties through multiple sources of communication, such as email, Telegram, or a profile on an official website;
  • Be aware of the reviews of the services and platforms where you plan to conduct cryptocurrency transactions;
  • Pay attention to the level of commissions and limits on the selected services, and make sure you have enough money in your wallet;
  • Use antivirus software and update it regularly.
If you have difficulties or don't have enough time to figure out the process of paying with cryptocurrency, there is no need to worry. There are specialized services that ensure payment security and transparency, as well as provide support. For example, the AWEX service enforces AML / KYC policies, protecting customers from risks. Experienced operators can help to understand the application process, payment and receipt methods. All you need to do is register, read the instructions, or contact support via live chat.

Сonclusion

Cryptocurrencies represent a new generation of money that has a number of advantages, such as global availability, low fees and anonymity. They can be used for direct payments for goods and services, bypassing intermediaries in the form of banks.
The development of cryptocurrency payment infrastructure continues to gain momentum. Some countries already have multifunctional wallet applications that act as banks, debit cards and exchangers. Cryptocurrency ATMs, which allow exchanging cryptocurrency for cash, are also emerging.
It is important to understand that there are always doubts and uncertainties at the beginning of the introduction of new technologies. However, history shows that over time people overcome their fears and adopt new forms of payments and technology. Cars, cell phones, and bank cards were once feared and misunderstood, but now they have become an integral part of our daily lives.
Therefore, with the advances in technology and the benefits that cryptocurrencies offer, today you need to get familiar with digital money and create your first cryptocurrency wallet.
submitted by AwexCrypto to u/AwexCrypto [link] [comments]

2023.05.28 19:18 AmericanClassic7 51 [M4F] #Lakeland, Florida - HONEST AD: Attractive, right wing, dominant man seeks younger, fit, conservative woman for traditional relationship and marriage

Hi
How are you?
You know how you want to be bowled over and think, whoa, I think I've found my exact match who just fits me so well, it's like we're made for each other?
Yeah, let's find out.
We're not talking perfection or anything, just a really great match that makes our lives seem like our own little Heaven on earth. At least we try and make it that way every day.
With that in mind, here's who I am and what I'm looking for.
Here's what I want in you:
Now, a quick note: I like a woman who shares her ideas and opinions and sees if something holds water when I say what I want done. Not in a sarcastic tone or questioning way, but tactfully and politely. If there's something you wrestle with, let me know. Ask if I've considered this or that, or give me a different perspective to consider. Or just as good, offer an alternative. Say I want to obey you and I will, but would be ok if I... (fill in the blank with your alternative idea) to try and get that same result for you?
Something like that. And if you're the quiet type and just want to obey without much input, I can work with that.
Note: Be willing to talk about sex and answer any number of questions. Ask any you have. Sex is essential in a great marriage, and we need to know if we're compatible with our desires and preferences and what we expect or are looking for. If you're less experienced or a virgin, no worries. There are still things to talk about.
This is getting long and you're not reading fast enough.
You should already be thinking of what you're going to say to me and stand out from the other women.
Hints: I love honesty. It's essential to me. I love longer replies (not just the first ones, but any). Not every one has to be some mini-novel but you get what I'm saying. I love details. I mean, I don't need the "I had this sandwich at 12:32 and it didn't sit well with me, and my boss has this habit where he walks the hall and I keep my door partially open so..."
More like you just fill me in who you are, what you believe, what you like or love, what you want in relationships, anything. "I love swimming, I try to go 2-3 times a week and mountain biking is almost my thing. I went on this trail the other day and it was..."
Or "OMG you described me to a T. You mentioned being obedient and loving to serve my man and I'm like, hey, if he only knew! I'm throwing up a hand here and making my way to the front of the line so you notice me because (fill in the blank with things you love to do)
OR the super honest route:
"You know what, there are prettier girls (I'm doing ok in that area, though ;) and I don't have all of what you're looking for but I do have (list the things you have) and most would probably win if you compared us in some of the things you listed, but I can say that no one will outwork me, no other woman will be as committed to you, or do her best to make your life better in whatever way I can, or love you like crazy (we'll get there) or not let myself go and try and look good. Those things I can control. So if you're looking for an "average" girl but who can offer extraordinary in some ways, and treat you like a king, you may want to write me back. We could have the best relationship!"
You get the idea.
I work odd hours sometimes.
So if you write me (and you should), don't disappear if you don't hear from me right away, or even in a few hours. I will find you. I will write and we'll begin our first chapter in what is hopefully, a wonderful romance that fills us with joy, love, happiness and a peace because we've found that right match for us.
Message or chat. Hit that button and tell me about you. Age and location and anything you want to share. Be willing to trade pics very soon.
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2023.05.28 19:05 Jcb112 Wearing Power Armor to a Magic School (32/?)

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Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Thacea and Emma’s Bedroom. The Tent. Local Time: 0500 Hours.
Emma Booker
I fucked up.
Big time.
And I had no one else but myself to blame.
You know that feeling when you dive head-first into a project that you had zero doubts would somehow work itself out in the end?
The sudden surge of confidence that comes when you let the indomitable human spirit take the wheel?
Well that was me at 0300 hours when my eyes landed upon the hygiene module, and pictured the inevitable outcome of a steaming hot shower after an entire day of nonstop grinding.
I couldn’t help myself but to fall into the same trap as every other would-be DIY-er. I couldn’t stop the excitement, the sudden surge of energy, and the absolute hyperfixation that came with completing a project that promised nothing but endless positives, at the expense of some time and effort that would prove minimal in the grand scheme of things.
And just like every would-be DIY-er, I was this close to completing the task at hand, before finally reaching a roadblock that inevitably brought everything to a screeching halt.
FINAL STEP: REFER TO [UNDESIGNATED WATER SOURCE] FOR ATTACHMENT OF INTAKE PIPE [EIP23] TO EXTERNAL PUMPING MODULE [EPM-1].
That one, final instruction, decimated me.
Especially as I got to that final step at just shy of 0500 hours, when I finally had the entire damn module set up, only to realize that I had missed out on a vital pre-procedure checklist that I’d purposefully skipped because I’d assumed it would be a non-issue.
ENVIRONMENTAL PREREQUISITE: LOCATE, EVALUATE, AND SECURE A RELIABLE WATER SOURCE.
And that’s why I only had myself to blame for this fiasco.
Because I’d assumed that the availability of a water-source in the dorms would’ve been an open and shut case. It only made sense for me to make that assumption though, as I saw that Thacea had clearly used the dorm’s en-suite to shower just the night before.
It was because of this that I didn’t even bother checking the bathroom to begin with. I thought that whatever was in there could’ve easily fit the hyper-modular fittings of the source-intake pipe.
Things couldn’t have been further from the truth however, as what I saw within that bathroom made me question the very fabric of my own reality.
As within those four marble walls, was nothing.
Nothing, but a series of dull flat marble surfaces, and some strange wall-fittings that looked like something out of a 21st century ‘modern’ art exhibit.
There was nothing here that resembled a tap, or even hinted at the fact that there were even any pipes carrying running water behind those four bare walls.
The only other thing of note here was an unseen light source keeping the bathroom lit.
Aside from that, there was literally nothing else here.
This meant I had only one option available to me.
The most logical and straightforward option, of simply nudging the avinor princess awake just so I could ask where I could find a fucking tap.
Whilst it was the most straightforward thing to do, I just couldn’t get myself to do it.
I’d thought about going up those stairs to nudge the avian awake, to then apologize profusely for disturbing her sleep… but given everything Thacea had done for me thus far, and considering the fact that I was responsible for almost all of the headaches we were currently experiencing, it just felt wrong for me to disturb here at that hour.
So I was left with the inconvenient truth of my circumstances, and decided to just embrace the suck, toughing out the folly of my hubris…
At least, until morning came around.
At that point, I could rest easy in actually asking the princess for pointers on the enigmatic machinations of the bathroom.
Until then, I would sleep.
And hopefully, my shortsighted adventure would bear some fruit when morning rears its ugly head around.

Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Thacea and Emma’s Bedroom. Local Time: 1000 Hours.
Emma Booker
Good news: Half of my hard work actually paid off.
Bad news: Only half of my hard work actually paid off.
Upon waking up three hours later, forcing my carcass up and back into the suit, I’d managed to flag down Thacea just as she was getting out of bed.
The princess’ reactions to my questions were nothing short of the politeness I’d expected from her.
Which managed to put me at ease as I was getting worried I was starting to get on her nerves with my constant flurry of questions.
The bathroom turned out to be yet another demonstration of the Nexus’ completely unhinged philosophies. As it relied entirely on a mana user’s manipulation of the room to operate. Apparently, whoever designed this place took the whole concept of a modular, personalized room, and just ran with it. Making it so that every aspect of the room relied solely on the mana user to work, as they had to shape, form, and structure the otherwise blank slate before use. This was supposedly done so that the room could be made to fit the precise criterion of a person’s liking. To me however, it just felt like another bizarre concept pulled straight out of the Nexus’ seemingly endless idea-pool of zany, overkill, and mana-addled solutions to problems that sort of existed.
Thankfully, the bathroom didn’t require constant intervention from a mana-user to operate, as certain elements could be permanently turned on.
This included the water mains, which I immediately hooked up the pipes to, as the mana-contaminated water was quickly siphoned into a series of filtration units, all with the express purpose of extracting and removing every ounce of mana present within the water.
This process took about two hours to do.
But by the end of it, I was rewarded for all my troubles by one of the best showers I’ve ever had.
All of the stress, even the constant ticking of the bomb which constantly gnawed at the back of my mind, seemed to fade away for a few short minutes as the warm water washed everything away.
But that about wrapped up the good news.
The bad news however, came in the form of the little MREDD experiment from the previous night.
As I opened the triple-airlocked compartment on my side of the tent, I was met with what could only be described as ‘food’ in name and aesthetics alone.
The soft, white, fluffy loaf of bread had literally become a baton. Whilst the pancakes were now more reminiscent of a mini-frisbee that cracked and crumbled the moment I laid my fingers on them.
My immeasurable disappointment grew the longer I stood there next to the MREDD, and the longer I stared at the small stack of dust that was once a perfectly cooked stack of pancakes.
Beyond this however, I could feel a bit of anxiety seeping in, as the results of the experiment did make me a bit anxious as to the long-term food security of this mission.
Then again, I should’ve expected this result.
It was the first calibration test after all.
“I should’ve expected this, shouldn’t I?” I spoke to no one in particular, but quickly garnered the attention of the EVI who remained within the power armor that currently stood imposingly just a few feet away from me.
“That is correct, Cadet Booker. As you are already aware, the MREDD is designed with multiple calibration protocols in-effect, each which correspond to the type and densities of the foodstuffs to be desaturated. In addition to this, the systems are designed to test the maximal extraction threshold against the subjective palatability gradient with the food safety variable as an integral aspect of these tests. Thus, the first-round extraction procedures dictate that the MREDD will attempt maximal extraction settings, in order to both stress-test the components and systems, as well as to garner data on the mana-extraction process at the maximal setting.”
I blinked rapidly upon hearing the EVI’s explanation being blasted from my suit’s speakers. It felt somewhat jarring turning around to face my armor talking to me. But then again, I should’ve expected it, as I’d yet to set up any other speaker systems within the tent for it to speak through.
“I know, EVI. They already ran everything by me during the briefings. Though I would be lying if I didn’t say I sort of hoped that putting the food under full blast for 7 hours would’ve somehow miraculously resulted in something edible.” I managed out with a sigh.
“Cadet Booker, it is logical to assume that since the extraction of mana from both food and water is indeed viable, that the only point of contention is now the palatability of the foodstuffs rendered through the MREDD.”
“Yeah, well…” I trailed off as I began tapping on the loaf of bread that sounded like styrofoam when I hit it against the armor. “I think you and I have different definitions of palatable.”
“I am confident that the mana-extraction process can be optimized, Cadet Booker. It is at this point that I must ask that you assess the palatability of the designated foodstuff marked CONSUMABLE GROUP A, ITEM 1, for the purposes of data-gathering and analysis.” The AI spoke in a no-nonsense fashion, as I turned around, giving it a look of utter incredulity.
“You want me to try to eat this?” I shot back, tapping on the styrofoam bread for added effect.
“I require data on the palatability of foodstuff A-1 [BREAD] as it is a subjective dataset relying entirely on the input of the human subject.” The AI continued.
I couldn’t help but to shudder at that last line, especially with how it was delivered.
Popular media back home was currently going through another AI-apocalypse phase, with a lot of movies, both immersive and traditional, diving deep into the uncomfortable topics of human-AI relations post AI-takeover.
Being stuck in a bare, white tent, with a monotone, somewhat disgruntled-sounding VI talking to me through a suit of armor several heads taller than me all the while suddenly referring to me as subject really wasn’t doing my movie-binging gremlin brain any favors.
I hesitated for a few seconds, tentatively staring at the bread, then the armor, then back to the bread again, before finally just going for it...
CRUNCH
It did not end well.
“Cadet Booker, I did not require that you actively consume a foodstuff you consider inedible or are uncomfortable eating. I merely needed a dataset for the purposes of this experiment, even if that data-set is a refusal to consume the foodstuff in question.”
I stared back at the VI with unamused eyes and a mouthful of hard-tack currently turning my mouth into the Greater Sahara.
“Damnghit Aeevi.” I managed out with a mouth full of bland, stale bread, before reaching for the water dispenser which thankfully still had some mana-free water inside of it.
“Shall I log A-1 down as unpalatable then, Cadet?” The AI spoke with a hint of disappointment in its voice.
Though I was probably just imagining the actual tone of its voice.
Projection was a heck of a thing after all.
“Yes. And make sure you clarify your intent next time.” I snapped back, as I finished up what limited bits of housekeeping I needed to for now. Which included punting the balled-up undersuit into the washer, getting the wash and dry cycle started, before grabbing a fresh undersuit from the cargo airlock and quickly putting it on.
“I guess the next test with the MREDD includes extracting mana at a slow, sustained rate?” I spoke as I began recalibrating the different electronic components within the undersuit.
“Correct, Cadet Booker. Provided of course, that the foodstuffs are of a similar type, and contain similar properties to GROUP A.”
“Acknowledged.” I responded promptly, shuddering a bit as the haptic feedback finished its calibration cycles. “Alright then, we got a lot of work ahead of us, so let’s get going. System status, SRR?” I asked as per protocol, steadying my hand on the suit’s ‘backpack’.
“Diagnostics running… pending… All systems nominal, Cadet Booker. Status: Ready for standard operations.”
“Operator acknowledges system status after pre-mission diagnostics.” I replied dryly, and with a few final breaths I pulled myself back into the armor. “Current objectives? Preferably the ones I listed before dozing off last night?” I continued, as my eyes quickly readjusted to the constant assault on the senses that was the HUD.
“Priority Objective: Locate and Secure Container 10. Current time remaining until activation of the Denial of Sensitive Assets to Unauthorized Parties Protocols… 36 hours, 34 minutes, and 47 seconds.”
“Alright then, let’s pay a visit to our dear old friend… hopefully she’s alive and lucid enough to get us to the bottom of this little predicament.”

Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Thacea and Emma’s Bedroom. Local Time: 1020 Hours.
Emma Booker
Transitioning from the tent to the marble and cobblestone world of the Academy was always jarring. Opening those external protective flaps to reveal something that wasn’t more bare white paneling and drab gray composalite would probably be something I’d need to get used to.
I got into the swing of things quick enough, as I was met with the likes of Thacea who was busy reading on one of the many ornate seats that formed the mini-living room within our loft.
“Was the water to your liking, Emma?” Thacea asked with a clack of her beak.
“I managed to squeeze in a couple minutes worth of a shower, so that’s a win in my book!” I beamed out. “But with a constant stream of filtered water filling up my reservoirs now, I should be able to get something more substantial later tonight.”
The princess nodded slowly at that. “The lengths to which you need to go, just to attain what we take for granted on a daily basis, is quite remarkable Emma.”
“It is what it is, Thacea.” I shrugged in response. “The very air I breathe needs to be filtered. This whole world, or heck, even your worlds are actively hostile to human life. These measures are something that are cumbersome, and seriously draining to deal with, but it’s necessary. Besides, it’s not as if these measures are something new where I come from. My people have had a history of intrepid explorers, brave pioneers, and foolish thrillseekers who all surge forward into inhospitable domains just so they can crest the next wave, or see what’s over the next hill.” I paused for a moment, as I was tempted to strike a pose, but quickly decided against it. “I’m just furthering a legacy that’s already been established. Or at least, I hope I’m doing that. Heck if I know if I’m actually doing things right. Nine times out of ten, I feel like I’m just making the best of my situation.”
“I can’t say I can understand the appeal of this legacy of actively seeking hostile-domains.” Thacea responded with an equal mix of curiosity and genuine concern. “And I do not know what manner of civilization would result from such a culture, though I do harbor a morbid curiosity to inquire further… However, I can most certainly resonate with your latter statements, Emma. Half of the court politics I contend with simply amounts to making do with the hand you’ve been dealt, of making best of one’s situation, and doing whatever it is in your limited scope and power to maintain life, security, and perhaps some waning semblance of your own personal liberty. It’s a great game, where doubt comes naturally as a result of being a player and not the host.”
There was a small pause that followed Thacea’s response as one point in particular caught my attention more than any other.
It was unfortunate that it was so topical as well, given how if things had turned out any differently, this conversation would’ve moved right on into an hours-long exchange of life and culture.
Thacea mentioning the concept of a great game, immediately brought me back to the conversation with Ilunor the previous night.
“Thacea… would you mind if I consulted you on something?” I began, as the gears in my head began turning now at the first major issue of the day.
The princess seemed to catch on as she leaned forward in her seat intently, and nodded. “By all means.”
“Something happened last night at the workshop, and it wasn’t anything to do with the armorer… though, we can talk about that later.” I took a deep breath as I shelved that topic for another time. “Did you happen to pay any attention to Ilunor’s whereabouts after I left for the workshop?”
“Not particularly, no. Lord Rul-, erm, Ilunor had seemingly remained in his room until Thalmin and I retired to our respective rooms. After that, I simply have no recollection of anything beyond my own domicile.”
“Well, Ilunor followed me to the workshop.” I stated plainly, pausing for a moment to gauge Thacea’s reaction. Of which there really was none as she managed to keep that signature poker-face that was probably second nature to her by now.
“And I’m assuming since you managed to uncover this, that his meddling had failed in some way shape or form?” Thacea shot back coolly.
“Correct. However, here’s where things get complicated. I’ll save the bulk of the events for later, but long story short, that discount kobold decided to use some sort of a projection spell to spook me just as I was in the middle of the weapons inspection with the armorer, and the projection used wasn’t just something a random monster or anything… he purposefully chose to bring out a carbon-copy version of the null.”
Thacea’s face shifted at this, which given how difficult it was to phase her, probably meant her mind was going through the full implications of this revelation.
I pressed on as Thacea urged me to continue with a single nod. “Well, I shot it. And, no, nobody was hurt. Fast forward a chase sequence later, and the armorer eventually managed to corner and capture Ilunor. However, when we pressed him for answers about why he was there to begin with? Well… I think it’ll be better for you to see for yourself.”
It was with this that I brought out my data-pad, and began replaying the relevant scenes for Thacea to see.
Starting from the brief spats between Ilunor and the armorer, all the way to my confrontation with the diminutive lizard, Thacea’s gaze remained completely transfixed. She did flinch a bit when the footage finally went over my dealings with the lizard, and Ilunor’s sudden shift in persona as I pulled out the library card and began talking his language.
Yet despite being inundated with this sudden flood of information, with a completely unexpected tangent, she soon responded cooly and without much in the way of a delay. “This complicates matters.” She began slowly. “This entire situation calls for a complete reevaluation of the dynamics of this peer group, and how we need to approach Lord Rul-, Ilunor.” Thacea promptly corrected herself before continuing. “There’s a great number of layers to this unexpected development, each of which hints at a greater game being played here, and points at the fact that there are a great number of interested parties beyond just Ilunor.” The princess took a moment to let out an exasperated coo, her eyes finally moving away from the tablet and back to me. “You must understand as well as I, that Ilunor’s actions do not constitute a scheme of his own making, correct?”
“That I do.” I nodded simply. “The fact that he’s even bothering to do this in the first place is outside of his whole I’m above you persona. I’m not sure if the same rings true here, but where I come from, becoming a spook is not something that most people in high and mighty positions would ever stoop down to. Besides, I think we have a lead. I don’t think a student would actively defer a bit of punishment from a lower level administrator, in order to fast-track it to the highest authorities if they weren’t in cahoots with them.”
“This coincides with my observations of these developments as well, Emma.” Thacea responded with a resonant chirp. “To add to this, his knowledge of the null is most certainly not circumstantial, and considering he was absent from our adventures the previous day, his knowledge of this creature would hint to either the feeding of information via a higher benefactor, or a direct observation of our activities from afar. Either way, this does not bode well.”
“This leads me to what I wanted to consult you on, Thacea. If Ilunor’s out there waiting for us right now, would it be best if we confronted him outright in front of Thalmin or-”
“No.” Thacea interjected sharply, and with a certainty that was almost uncharacteristic of her. “Confronting Ilunor out in the open, in front of others not privy to you and the Vunerian’s current game, would be outright suicide to the dialogue you’ve managed to broker with him the previous night. You’ve managed to prove yourself as not just another pawn, but a player in the game, at least in Ilunor’s eyes. It would be wise to maintain that momentum, Emma. By continuing this line of dialogue with him in private, there is a higher likelihood the Vunerian will divulge more information as he speaks to you frankly, beyond what his current facade will allow. This is now a matter between you and the Vunerian, as Thalmin and I are not privy to these political transactions.”
I couldn’t help but to mimic the princess by gripping my forehead as well, letting out a sigh as the dread of complex court politics had begun seeping in faster than I expected. “That shouldn’t be too hard to do. I’ll just let that situation slide for now, making sure not to mention my dealings with Ilunor when he’s around, and focus instead on our other problems. It’s not like we have a shortage of other things to worry about after all.” I sighed sharply.
“That is an acceptable plan. ” Thacea responded promptly as she stood up and began straightening out her uniform. “Right then, shall we proceed?”

Dragon’s Heart Tower, Level 23, Residence 30. Living Room. Local Time: 1025 Hours.
Emma Booker
As we exited the bedroom, we were once more met with a similar sight reminiscent of the previous day’s. As there, on the couch, were the bickering pair that had seemed to have carried over their arguments from the previous night.
Except this time, the context seemed to have thankfully shifted to something new.
“Every minute I waste in this room for the sake of that Earthrealmer is another minute that I grow increasingly more famished. It is unbecoming of a noble to sit in waiting for a commoner. In fact, it should be the other way around. Or perhaps this is yet another one of your Havenbrockian reforms that test the Nexus’ patience, Prince Thalmin?” I could hear Ilunor snapping at Thalmin just as we made our way into the living room proper.
Thalmin, amazingly, resisted responding in kind as he got up as soon as we made our way towards the pair.
“We were waiting for the both of you, but it should be fine. Should we miss the breakfast, there is always an a la carte menu we can-”
“I have met the criterion for your unlawful detainment, mercenary. Thus, I shall take my leave.” Ilunor promptly jumped off from the couch and began trotting his way over to the door, his little legs were clearly attempting to generate some sort of a forceful series of thumps as he did so, but only resulted in a light series of taps given his diminutive size.
“Hold on a minute there! That wasn’t our agreement! You agreed to-”
“I agreed to wait for the Earthrealmer and the tainted one. I have no other reason to be here. Now, I must resume my extracurriculars. You lot can do whatever it is you get up to. I will be having none of it.” Ilunor turned to face the Lupinor one final time, before slamming the front door shut, and skittering off.
This made things so much simpler as it meant we were in the clear for now.
“I’m sorry princess.” Thalmin turned to face Thacea. “I thought we might be able to squeeze something out of him yet, but the Vunerian continues to be as squirmy as a prairie rodent.”
“It’s quite alright, Thalmin.” Thacea began, as she turned towards me as if to confirm whether or not I wanted her to proceed on my behalf. To which I did. “There are a few matters we must address regarding Ilunor, which I suggest we do over a short breakfast, as we have even more pressing matters following this.”
After a reluctant pause, the lupinor prince nodded in agreement, leading to both of us sitting down-
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 275% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
-and a privacy screen being brought down soon after.
“So, shall we talk about this over a brunch platter?”

The Transgracian Academy for the Magical Arts, En Route to the Healing Wing. Local Time: 1050 Hours.
Thalmin’s reactions were nothing short of what I’d expected.
There was absolute outrage, followed by an unrepentant series of growls, capped off with barks of seething anger at the same clips I’d played for Thacea earlier.
The mercenary prince was perhaps even more uncomfortable than I was at my entry into this game, as it was clear Thalmin despite his noble heritage, wasn’t really one to dabble in it at all.
“I’m telling you Emma, this is a dangerous path forward. Are you certain you are making the wisest choice?” He spoke once again, continuing the conversation from earlier, underneath yet another privacy screen Thacea was maintaining as we approached the medical wing.
“I don’t like it either, Thalmin. There’s nothing more I hate than playing politics, but it’s unfortunately a pill I have to swallow if we’re going to get to the bottom of the issues surrounding Ilunor. I mean, I overheard you guys arguing late into the night. I really don’t think confronting him normally is going to get us anywhere.”
The lupinor let out a sigh of defeat at that, as he lowered his head in my general direction. “I can’t fault that logic, Emma. Perhaps… speaking his language, as you put it, would bring us some resolution to this frankly irritating problem. However…” The Lupinor’s voice lowered, just as we were about to reach the doors to the healing wing proper. “I know how these games work, Emma. It’s dangerous, so make sure you tread lightly, and just know that I, as part of your peer group, am here to support you should the need arise.” The prince reassured me with a smirk, as we pushed past the double doors and into the medical wing proper.
Or at least, that’s what I thought, as we entered what looked to be a massive circular room with multiple branching hallways connected to it like spokes on a wheel. In typical Academy-fashion however, the room really wasn’t at all modest with its size. As it went up a solid twenty or so stories, with high pillars piercing straight up into a marble-lined rotunda with moving murals painted on it like some grand cathedral. Between these pillars were little outcroppings where several gargoyles were perched.
Gargoyles which I could swear were looking straight at us.
ALERT: LOCALIZED SURGE OF MANA-RADIATION DETECTED, 425% ABOVE BACKGROUND RADIATION LEVELS
My gut was proven right again, as it only took a few seconds after our entry for these stony beasts to come to life, with multiple bursts of mana-radiation accompanying what could only be described as the sounds of cracking concrete.
Soon enough, several large gargoyles made harsh, heavy landings right in front of us. The two closest to us held out their arms, before zapping two stony spears into existence, crossing them in a clear display to stop us from going any further.
“Halt!” A voice commanded from above, as a shadowy figure landed right in front of the two gargoyles blocking our path. The figure’s face was hidden underneath an unnatural shadow casted by his hood, revealing just two trapezoidal lights where his eyes should be. “The healing wing is currently off-limits to visitors. So state your ailment, or leave where you came from.” The voice boomed, echoing throughout the large open space, as all eyes within the room now landed squarely on us.
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(Author’s Note: Hey guys! We see more glimpses of Emma's quality of life getting set up here, and we're now making our way over to the apprentice! I hope you guys enjoy! :D The next Chapter is already up on Patreon if you guys are interested in getting early access to future chapters!)
[If you guys want to help support me and these stories, here's my ko-fi ! And my Patreon for early chapter releases (Chapter 33 of this story is already out on there!)]
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