Bargain barn long prairie minnesota

Name: Kef K. "Rings" Moebius
Race: Hyena Faunus
Age: 19 as of volume 8
Reference: Sonic.exe, the infamous creepypasta.
Kef is named Kef K. Moebius because of Kefka, a character from Final Fantasy VI. Kefka's laugh is used frequently in MY5TCrimson's Sonic.exe game.
As well, the K stands for Krimson.
He is a Hyena faunus because of JC-The-Hyena, the original writer of the Sonic.exe creepypasta.
Physical details: Kef is light skinned, with a haircut similar to Jaune's Atlas haircut, but cobalt blue and brushed backwards, with a short red stripe brushing up from his fringe. He also, of course, has a pair of blue hyena ears that give him excellent hearing. Kef often wears a pair of silver aviator sunglasses with mirrored red lenses, only removing them for combat.
Kef's most notable article of clothing is a long blue scarf with winding sharp red patterning, outlined in white. Kef also wears a cobalt blue jacket which has Vale's symbol printed in white with red axes on the back. His jacket is unbuttoned, and reveals a grey bullet proof vest underneath. Kef's trousers are a darker shade of blue than his jacket, with a pair of short red stripes coming up diagonally from his ankles. Kef also wears a pair of white sneakers with a red stripe horizontally across them.
Kef's most striking physical feature are his eyes, which he rarely opens. His sclera are pitch black, and his irises are crimson, and his pupils appear to "spread" out in an X pattern. Keeping his eyes open for even a short duration causes them to bleed, mimicking Sonic.exe's...ahem "HYPER REALISTIC EYES BLEEDING HYPER REALISTIC BLOOD!"
Weapons: Clawblades Kef's Clawblades are essentially a pair of red full-arm metal gauntlets with sharp claws, and long blades up the sides of the arms. The fingers of the gauntlets fade into black starting at the hands.
The claw tips are actually replaceable, and similar to Raven's Omen, can be replaced with dust infused claws. Despite being a close range fighter, the claws can be detached mid-swing, giving Kef a ranged option.
Semblance/How Kef became blind: "Hide and Seek" When Kef was young, the small farm town he lived in was full of kids that little else to do all day than play hide and seek. And Kef was no different. Except for the fact that he was really good at it. If he was seeking, it did not matter where anyone hid, he'd find them quickly. If he was hiding, it'd take half an hour of the other kids yelling "WE GIVE UP!" for him to leave his perfect hiding spot. Then, one day, Kef awoke his semblance. A set of 5 red rings followed him constantly, and gave him a sixth sense of his surroundings. Suddenly, he just knew things. Thanks to the the rings, he knew when people were near him. He knew his surroundings. He knew if something was hot, and he knew if something was cold.
Good eyesight, excellent hearing, and a sixth sense of worldly conditions as a whole.
Kef became a village nightmare, and many of his friends at the time became incredibly jealous, as he was pretty much unbeatable in a good 'ol game of Hide and Seek.
Then one day, his small farm town was raided by bandits. Kef ran, and did what he did best: hid. As the bandits ransacked and burned his home, Kef hid in his favourite spot; the rafters of his family's barn. But then, the bandits set the barn aflame. As the flames drew closer, Kef only wished to hide away from the flames.
And his rings fulfilled his wish. Kef's rings all came together and formed into one larger red ring. A portal. With no other options, Kef crawled through, and found himself in a dimension that could not be described with typical words. He was safe, but lost. The incomprehensible dimension spanned out infinitely around him, looping, spinning, folding in upon itself but still somehow resembling the real world.
It didn't take Kef long to realise his biggest problem, however: He couldn't leave. His red rings were there with him, but he couldn't figure out how to form a portal with them so that he could leave.
Kef was found months later, malnourished, blood-stained and crying in a forest path. When his new adoptive parents pulled his hands away from his eyes, they found where the blood was coming from. His eyes. Which were now pitch black, with red irises and X-shaped pupils.
And Kef realised that he could no longer see. Only his rings allowed him to perceive the world through the shape of objects, geometry of areas, energy and heat.
BehaviouHabits: Despite his backstory, inspiration and general appearance, Kef is a rather pleasant person. Kef mostly keeps to himself, often listening to music and gently moving to the beat. Kef is always open to conversation, however, and is very vocal about his many passions, chief among then being music.
Kef is highly jovial, and always enjoys a good laugh. He'll laugh at anything, from faunus jokes, jokes about his eyes, typical huntsman gallows humour, and he will gladly make all these jokes himself.
He has a bit of an ego, though it only shows through during competition/combat. Kef is extremely competitive, and his obsession with winning can even be seen as sadism, especially in sparring with other students. Kef's signature howling laughter makes this image even worse, as, for whatever reason, Kef's rings sometimes echo what he says, and they always echo whenever he laughs, creating a rather intimidating image. Kef is never one to pass up a bet or a challenge, and he is not one to enjoy losing either.
Capabilities: Kef is positively brutal in close combat. His rings mean that as long as a target stands within 5 meters of him, he can read and process their every move with extreme speed and react accordingly. Kef makes full use of his Clawblades during combat making him a total menace to fight in close combat. He is nowhere near strong as Yang or Nora, but he is capable of giving either of them a run for their money. Kef's greatest skill is his Semblance's secondary ability to transport him to his pocket dimension or "Special Zone" which allows him to manoeuvre safely and launch a devastating surprise attack. The only issue is that he cannot perceive any living thing in his pocket dimension, he can only hear them.
Weaknesses: Kef's Red Rings' detection radius is not at all very large. He has no way of finding opponents at range, save for his hearing.
As well, given that Kef can detect everything around him, he can be overwhelmed by too many moving objects/people around him, forcing him to disengage.
Perhaps Kef's greatest flaw is his inability to perceive any reasoning or deeper meaning behind actions and words. He sees almost everything as a game, and as such his inability to take anything seriously is a detriment to himself and those around him.

I'm trying to navigate the best way to replace old jewelry with something new. What I currently have:
https://i.imgur.com/kyy1vDL.jpg
Necklace 1- 20" 2.4mm 14k diamond cut solid rope necklace. 11.5 grams
Necklace 2- 17" 1.75mm 14k hollow rope necklace. 4.6 grams.
Pendant- 14k roughly 2.0 grams.
Total weight was 18.09 grams and the best cash offer I got was $525. One store offered up to $700 in trade-in depending on what I bought. All 3 stores tested the gold and confirmed 14k purity. Both necklaces have Italy stamps but the colors are quite different. The bigger necklace has maybe a slight orange to it. Hard to describe, but none of the jewelers seemed concerned about it. Now I understand the price I'm being offered is basically scrap price, but I feel like the bigger necklace has a lot of life left and could maybe be resold? I've owned it a long time but hardly worn it. Or is it not even worth messing with?
What I would like to end up with is a 22" solid rope chain 3.0- 3.5mm. Leaning toward diamond cut. I tried on a few 24" necklaces and am torn but I feel it's a bit longer than what I'd like. One of the places had a 3mm solid rope in stock for $1097 but it only weighed 14.5 grams which seemed light compared to my thinner and much shorter necklace.
I was expecting more bargaining with prices based on the trade-in (probably used to cars) but the price seems to mostly be the price, which is actually great. It's also funny how they never mention weight on the new necklaces, I had to ask each time.
I'm leaning toward just taking the highest price and then shopping around for a reputable on-line seller that has something that meets my specs and has the highest weight I can budget. Anything else I should consider, or any advice. Appreciate any help.

In June of 2021, a new company, Texas Sigma Partners LLC, moved into the little town of Winnsboro bringing opportunity for growth both physically and financially, as well as high paying jobs for the citizens of Winnsboro and it's surrounding residents. Most positions were filled fairly quickly and production started up.
TSP is a sister plant, subsid if you will, of the south Tx Sigma Agriculture that brings in well over 6+ million in revenue each year while researching , manufacturing and producing the most up to date, highest quality organic fertilizer that's available in North America. At this plant specifically, its comprised of chicken litter (poop) , natural molasses, and a binder ingredient that consists of things like bacteria, carbon, etc. All organic according to their website.
Very shortly after production started, about 27 older, long time citizens of the town started complaining of an "odor" emitting from the building, and having a hard time breathing and or enjoying their homes. Around this time, unfortunately one of the portions of the plant caught fire and caused one of the scrubbers to go out. During the fire, no one including WFD was worried due to their not being any major chemicals in the building that would explode, unlike many other plants located in Winnsboro. The group of boomers though, didn't let the opportunity slide. They managed to call and complain to TCEQ, the environmental QC of Tx, so much so that they were forced to run air , water and other tests. A few of them flooded the City Council meetings with lack luster tantrums filled with misleading or even half truthful information stating that the plant is in so many violations and a nuisance to the town, and even shutting business down. They continued to demand that the City Council shut the plant down or remove it, which is something they have no control over.
TCEQ ran every test they could think of and found that TSP was in fact in violation of a few codes and things but nothing worth an immediate shut down. Stuff like a few extra parts per million over allowed standards. Sigma immediately began the process to remedy those mistakes so that production could continue and no one would lose their jobs. Part of that of course, was getting the equipment replaced that "happened" to catch fire, ironically, the same equipment used to decrease the output of stench associated with the chicken litter. This is where it starts to get wildly interesting.
At this point, the boomers refused to let it go. They ended up hiring an "outside party" to come in and tests ALL SORTS of stuff. Run off water, air quality, you name it. And wouldn't ya know it, the results came back that TSP was in massive amounts of violations. Shortly after, the ring leader of the "sick " boomers, and a few other people, hired a Tyler law firm and proceeded to sue Sigma with the ultimate goal of a complete shut down and financial restitution for their "troubles" and "injuries". They went to court and the judge (Wood County) ordered that TSP operations be temporarily suspended until the remedies were complete and or further testing could be done with clean results.
TSP did just that. Spent well over a million on new equipment, new scrubbers, filters and even went as far as to raise the steam stacks (during processing, the mixture is heated to help combine ingredients. Not burned, just heated which emits mild steam that then leaves the stacks) so that it was high enough not to cause odor for the city. Now , in order to have the final stack test done, the plant has to be operational for 45 days. The judge granted them to do so for that. And the complaints started pouring in again.
I am going to list some facts real quick to help paint a picture.
-TSP is located in the designated industrial complex of Winnsboro in the furthest building from town.
-They are neighbors to multiple fowl smelling plants including a milk/cheese/dairy plant called Keller's Creamery (which sprays rotten/spoiled milk onto its surrounding fields), a twice weekly active Sale Barn that sees thousands of farm animals a week, a stone manufacturer , a feed mill that houses Ammonium Nitrate , the Cities Rodeo Arena and so many other things.
-Winnsboro and its surrounding counties have over 100+ dairy and chicken farms that residents of the area have described smelling for over 20+ years.
- The area is also known for its vast expansion of hay fields that are regularly sprayed with potent manure through the year (fertilizer) to promote growth.
From what I have been able to read on public forums, it seems the complaining group continued to complain about it way past the plants operational hours, and even during the time when they were completely shut down by the injunction. Recently , now that the plant is operating in prep for the test, someone was observed ranting about it on a Sunday morning. The boomers were still convinced that the plant was operating and continuously tried to convince others with zero proof. A resident posted the open/close hours and expressed that it couldn't possibly be the plant because they didn't operate on weekends, and the boomers continued to ignore the facts and attacked the resident. One of them, the above mentioned ring leader, has just recently said she is having to have "major heart surgery because of the fumes from the plant". When questioned by what I believe to be the same resident of the area , they became defensive and argumentative. Over the last few weeks, I have seen several new commenters that are for the plant and its workers show up to discuss it on the forums.
Get this though, the suit was filed on 04/25/2022 claiming Injury/Damages. That was over a year ago and if I have my time line correct, they were barely operational if at all. And no one has complained about it , other than the boomers about the smell. I have TONS of questions.

1. How can you file a suit for injury/damages when no one had been injured at the time, just "annoyed"?
2. If the plant and its fumes are truly that toxic, why hasn't any of the staff been affected or sick yet? Should they be questioned or had physical's done for their own safety? Some of the contributors to the forums have worked their for over 6+ months. They are perfectly healthy.
3. Winnsboro is made up of over 3000 active residents, so why only 27 plaintiff's if its causing quality of life to be essentially non-existent?
4. Why is this an injury/damage suit instead of TCEQ violations/environmental havoc/EPA suit?
5. Where even is the Environmental Agencies if this is a toxic plant harming people?
6. Why would the residents complain about the smell of a chicken litter plant when surrounded by countless chicken and dairy farms already? I have noticed several citizens have mentioned its not worse than those and most hardly even know the difference.
7. Is it legal to claim that the plant is causing you to have heart surgery without substantial proof of that? To add to that, wouldn't you assume that your medical records would be subpoenaed during an injury trial? What's the consequence for lying?
8. Has there been an investigation into the where-a-bouts of the complaining citizens the day of the fire? Could they have caused it on purpose?
9. Why in the world would residents try to run a business out of town that offers growth and financial gain?
10. Wouldn't you want and welcome outsiders to your town to generate revenue and what not? Do they not know that attacking whoever they don't like with lies and excuses causes the town to have a bad rep? Aside from the fact that there are more churches than stores in the whole town which proves they are set in their ways.

With all this , even as little information that is here, I believe it's safe to say that something isn't adding up here and it needs to catch widespread attention. From the info I have gathered, the plant has not purposely done anything to anyone and they have made overwhelming efforts to fix what little mistakes were made and be in total compliance. Additionally, considering the geographical and agricultural area the town sits in, its possible the "bad odor" residents keep complaining about may not in fact be from that specific plant.
​
You can find the only (very biased) article on it here : https://www.kltv.com/2022/05/12/winnsboro-fertilizer-plant-agrees-temporarily-cease-operations-over-residents-pollution-concerns/
You can find the case and list of events in the case at the Wood County Records website.
Case# 2022-187.
Unfortunately , nothing but the case parties and list is available on their website. Still actively researching for the case materials. I'm a very intrigued outsider and plan to look into this further and follow it.

William counted eight lesser demons. Not the most intelligent bunch, nor the hardest to see in the dim light of his blade, but William had never fought this many demons at once before, and it had been a long time since he’d felt this winded this quickly.
He breathed deep, filling his lungs with misty subterranean air as he readied himself. The serfs charged at him in a disorganized mob of muscles, wing, fang, and claw, and he raced to meet them.
Out of habit, he called a skill. “Divine Arc!” The skill did not come as called, nor would it again, but he did not dismay. His arms did not move on their own, nor was the effort lessened, nor did he feel the light of the divine power him forward.
But Gram sang all the same.
He weaved under the fumbling blow of the first wretch, throwing his might into the legendary blade that glowed with conviction, and tore through the monster’s torso like paper, following through into the hapless demon behind him. The third reached for him with both arms, which he sidestepped, throwing a lethal slash at the creature’s neck.
The skill hadn’t activated, but as William had learned, that was only an inconvenience. It gave him an attack, but how many times had he used it? Five thousand times? Ten? Twenty? He had known the skill, performed its movements so many times, that it had become ingrained in his very being.
The Tri System had taught him, honed him, even somewhat enhanced him. It wasn’t with him anymore, but he had learned its forms all the time.
He weaved through the demons, powering through the motions with his body alone, bringing Gram down upon the demon serfs one after another, until only one was left.
He held his sword to the final one’s throat. “If you can talk, I might be able to spare you,” he said.
The demon spat at him. Just then, William heard whirring and clanging. He turned toward the noise, only to see a glint of metal shoot out of the mist. It collided with his sword, knocking it away, but causing it to slit the demon’s throat. The large object collided with the wall, ricocheting twice before sailing back to where it came from.
Tap-taptap. Tap-taptap.
Footsteps in the dark. The paladin leveled his blade at the noise. “You missed. Identify yourself.”
“Apologies for the subpar welcome, little hero,” a deep voice answered warmly. “And on the contrary, I hit precisely what I was always going to hit. I do wish we could put our best foot forward instead of such… vermin.”
He emerged from the mist, but William could hardly make him out. He could only see the silhouette of a tall, winged humanoid, crimson eyes peering at him through the darkness; two dignified horns protruded from his skull. He wore a pearly smile of shark-like, razor sharp teeth and carried a cane in one hand and a bloodstained chakram in the other.
This was no lesser monster. This was a greater demon of the underworld.
“You would kill your own kind? Why?”
The demon kept smiling and approached no further. “You slew a boar on your way here. You butchered it and kept parts of its carcass in your pack. As a creature born of flesh, is that not your own kind? Do the nations of the surface world live united in comradery and friendship?”
A chill ran down William’s spine. He’d expect a Wolven to be able to smell that on him, but not a demon. How did he know? Had he been followed? “That is not the same.”
“Isn’t it? Those below the rank of Baron are of no more intelligent or of worth than an animal. You war unabashedly against other mortals. Is it so strange that one demon should strike down another, Sir William?”
“You’re awfully chatty for a demon,” William observed. “You have me at a disadvantage.”
“In more ways than one,” the monster chuckled. He placed a hand on his chest. “Allow me to introduce myself: I am Marquis Laplace.”
William leapt to retreat in a heartbeat, and in another the demon’s chakram whizzed past him, forcing him to veer to the side as it ricocheted off the wall. He had to run from this fight: system or no, this was no lesser demon, this was the Devil of Fate himself! What was he doing in De Sade’s territory?!
The human tried to make a break for it once more, starting back the way he came, only for the flying blade to cut across his path once more, forcing him to leap up. Clang clang! Once again, the weapon found itself headed straight for him. He blocked it with his shield, the spinning chakram scarring its face with a hideous metallic shriek before being deflected to the ceiling. It bounced off and soared straight back to Laplace, who raised his cane and caught it in the center.
William kicked off the wall, jumping away once more, but with the flick of his wrist the lesser god sent his weapon right back in, closing the path as it ricocheted madly along the exit route.
The hero’s mind whirled. How was he doing that? It was like the weapon had a mind of his own, cutting off every attempt at escape. Was he controlling it?
Regardless, if he couldn’t retreat, he’d have to fight. Laplace had disarmed himself. He leapt at the demon, Gram raised high. The deadly discus was still behind him, and he was closing the distance fast, but something wasn’t right. It wasn’t until he was upon him that he heard it over the: the demon was humming.
“Ecliptic Path!” he called, only to hear Laplace say the same, their voices matching in perfect harmonic resonance.
He brought Gram down in a brutal horizontal arc, its magical light trailing behind it, only to miss his mark entirely. The demon hadn’t darted out of the way, he’d only ducked the blow. William brought up his sword, aiming a thrust at the demon’s heart, only for him to pivot back on his right foot, dodging it completely. A transition to a horizontal cut did no better, as the demon leaned back, and the weapon swished a hair short of his neck.
A whirring sound came from behind, and William ducked the speeding chakram. Laplace caught it with his cane, and with the other hand he grabbed Gram by the blade. “That is a fine sword, but I fear you’ve mistaken us for our reptilian cousins,” he said. He tossed the sword aside, throwing the human off balance. “It’s rude to leave without a word, you know. If I wanted you dead, you would be.” His tone remained jovial, friendly even.
William shifted into a low guard, gritting his teeth. That entire fight was a game to the Demon Marquis. He’d been toying with him the entire time. “What do you want then?”
“Why, to give you what you came here for: information.”
“How would you know what I’m looking for?”
Laplace laughed. “Come now, Sir William, I don’t need my powers to know that. Nearly every person on, above, and beneath the Earth is wondering the same thing: what happened to the system?”
William relaxed his guard, but only slightly. “And you wouldn’t be one of them.”
He replied with a toothy grin. “The God of Fire has recently failed a campaign to the surface world, but he did take certain spoils of war. In turn, he traded a number them to the God of Cruelty. The goods in question are in transit in a nullstone carriage at the front of a caravan. You’ll be interested in the contents. Waylay it, and you’ll have your answers. Eventually.”
The paladin scoffed. “Goods, huh?” he sneered at the euphemism.
Greater demons traded like any other intelligent species. They had a penchant for using magic contracts due to their violent proclivities necessitating them, but even for them most of their transactions were mundane. Stone, metal, wood, labor, food, water, and the like. Nothing William would be interested in. No, there’s only one thing he’d be interested in that they would need a nullstone carriage for.
Laplace chuckled. “Sentients. There’s no telling what they’ll be used for in De Sade’s domain, but they will be helpful in leading you to the answers you seek.”
“And what do you get out of this?” Sir William demanded. “I take it you’re not the culprits then, but why tell me this and not simply tell me what happened to the system? If you’re trying to move against your rivals, why not do so yourself?”
The Devil shook his head. “Ah, you humans. So clever and yet so short-sighted. Always seeing the world with the notion of free will,” the demon mused. He stepped forward, towering over the mortal before leaning down to speak. “You think me a puppet master holding the controller, but we are all fate’s marionettes. I simply see its strings.
“I tell you this because I was always meant to tell you this. I never had any choice in the matter to begin with. That is fate, and those who can defy it are few and far between. And with that, I bid you farewell.”
With that, he straightened back to his full height, turned around, and walked away, disappearing into the mist. His parting words echoed through the cavern.
“Twenty-seven hours and three minutes! Back the way you came. Thirty-seventh left, eighteenth right, up one floor, forward, and the sixteenth intersection!”
And then, silence.
William stood in a relaxed guard, wrestling with his intuition for a time. It took him a day to get here. He didn’t have time to get back and relay this to the Captain General.
Was he really going to do this? Just do what a Devil told him to do, and move against two more, without any orders? The very notion left a vile taste in his mouth.
But if he didn’t, he’d be going against orders to find information on the end of the system. Not only that, but he’d be leaving captives in the hands of the demons, not out of ignorance or inability, but out of petty spite. That was inexcusable.
He grit his teeth. “God damn him!” he cursed.
Vile or not, he had a job to do.
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Nature of Predators is created by u/SpacePaladin15, whom was willing to let his horde of fans write fanfiction.
I'd like to give my thanks to u/SavingsSyllabub7788, the creator of Death of a Monster, and one of my favorite birbs. for giving me an odd bit of inspiration, and the discord at large for shaping this story with theories and random discussions. This one shot didn't even conceptually exist last week.
Also referenced u/Acceptable_Egg5560's Nature of a Giant in this one.
Tell me how you feel about this story. I'm content with where it ends, but others' insight always helps me figure out my flaws.
.*~*.
Memory Transcription Subject: Barkim, forsaken krakotl veteran.
Date: December 20, 2136
.~*~.
I came before Captain Sovlin and Captain Kalsim. I remember watching Kalsim train. I doubt he remembers me. My career made me into a captain pretty fast. Faster than most. I had repelled five Arxur raids while in control of the bridge. My crew were brave enough to trust me and my insane methods. Letting a colony world fall was unacceptable in my eyes. We were the vigilant, always ready to warp in ten minutes or less. The federation as whole didn't seem to understand how much value a few extra minutes bought for the settlers meant. Even if I had to order a retreat, tens of thousands would survive because they managed to find a place to weather the raid while the Arxur were distracted.
I was a hero.
Rumbling laughter and howls make my slow trod falter, and I look though a window into the recreational room. There's several humans at a table holding scraps of paper and barking in a jovial mood. They're not masked, and my feathers ruffle looking at them. A flicker of movement on the table catches my eye, and I finally spot the Dossur in their midst, almost completely hidden in a bunker of coins.
A Dossur beating an entire group of pack predators by himself. I never would've believed it, but I'm still not surprised it would be Alvin of all people.
That little runt was the only reason I've managed to hold onto my sanity for so long. He was braver than I, and he brought me back even when I was at my worst, again and again and again. He was the first to run to our predatory saviors back at the facility. And he was the last to leave, running back into the fighting and leading a human doctor to me to stop the stray bullet from taking me into Inatala's grace.
I left him to his card game, faintly overhearing one of the humans complain about being a several years running Texas Holdem champion. Alvin's response sounded very much like him, asking if he wanted to bet the actual crown next to add to his growing wealth.
Eventually I found myself in front of a door. Inside was a small room. One wall contained a wooden desk carved with enough craftsmanship to rival old Krakotl wood carvers. The desk was cluttered with cylinders and writing apparatuses, and a primitive writing board resting on the wall above it displayed several print outs of various people. Relatives. Descendants. People that had enough empathy in them to take back the few lucky souls that still had people they could trust. The computer underneath it was not active, but if it where I'd imagine there would be encrypted communication logs trying to reconnect with those few love ones. Plans to reunite them. Promises to protect them under this faction's umbrella.
It was strange, that this group of humans wasn't desired by the rest of their kind. They take more direct, brutal action than their leaders, but they act to save lives.
On the opposite wall was a locker. Inside were several firearms of Human make, and multiple emergency atmospheric suits. Many were for human use, but some were Federation standard. A pair of boots and engineering equipment rested on the floor before it, scuffed and well worn. There's a strange logo of an orange planet on the back of a jacket hanging from a hook nearby, and an even stranger article of cloth called an 'arm band.' The arm band has a large tree sewn into it, flanked by two prey animals and a river. The human I'm visiting was part of that arm band group, named after a tree of all things.
You couldn't get me to harbor a guess as to why they'd name themselves after a tree.
The far wall was rather simple. A faded green paint coat, covered in various anti-predator posters. One was of a human in a blue space suit, the visor open and revealing an endless pit of teeth. Another depicting a feral, over-proportioned human salivating over a dressed, screaming krakotl on a dinner plate. A third poster depicted some venlil collared and chained in place, stuck in some multi-colored wrapping that went up its legs halfway.
There was a mirror beside the posters, and I winced at the terrible shape I was in. I'd abused myself too much after I was freed. Even after stopping, I was still recovering. Looking past the mirror, there is a large banner of a green Terran letter. A few paper photos are plastered around it of smiling humans in strange places, and my eye always lingers over those photos despite the many times I've seen them. Earth looked lovely. I wished Kalsim had called off his mission.
Feeling like an intruder, I turned my attention to the last part of the wall. A set of black out curtains were flush with it, concealing a human roost built into the structure itself. If I was lucky, she would be there.
"Hope?"
Come on, you're better than a chicken.
Carefully, I lifted the curtain. "Hope?"
There she was. The one human I wasn't bothered by on this station. I can hear the music playing now that the curtain is out of the way, and the thick visor over her eyes tells me she's watching a video or simulation of some kind. I hesitate, watching her in her own world. What fur she does have is short and remarkably dense, and she has such a unique coloration that I would swear she was one of a kind if she hadn't mentioned having family. A tan complexion, painted over by splotches and stripes of white and violets that humans can't see with their own eyes. Her face is relaxed, mouth slightly open in wonder.
The human that helped staunch my bleeding, and gently broke the news to me of everything that had happened while I was locked up. The same one that kept me from pulling myself apart immediately after, and tried to find a way to keep me busy as my whole world went up in flames. A stern, capable person that could make decisions under pressure and wanted to save lives. While not a leader, I could see it in her. She had mettle.
She was completely exposed. Had I been the old me and not the one that woke up in a PD cell after a Sillis conference, I might've followed Kalsim's path. A talon in the right spot, and humans die fast.
"Hope?" Even raising my voice, she didn't hear me right in front of her. "Hope!"
As much as I respected her, coming this far in my state was exhausting. I, being a former fleet captain, hero, and outstanding Federation officer, decidedly acted like a child in that moment and pecked her.
"AAAAAAAH!"
"AIIIIIIIIIEEEEE"
I let out the most undignified shriek in my life and fell over backwards, landing on my tail feathers and sending a jolt up my spine. I forgot that since Hope was human, by extension she could be loud. Really, really, unfathomably loud.
There was a blur of limbs and Hope was sitting up, visor wielded as a bludgeon. She made eye contact with me, and I realized all my remaining feathers had poofed up.
"Blu!" She scolded, face curling in frustration. "What in the matter is- Blu?! You're not in your room?"
Shock, this time. I felt some shame in how low my standards had fallen, and smoothed down my feathers properly. My poor heart was already recovering and I stood, puffing out my chest.
"I... I wanted to go for a walk. See what you humans could do with a dated station like this."
"You're in my room."
"That appears to be the case." I pushed a ball of dust across the floor with a talon and regarded it absently, turning my head and keeping an eye on Hope. "It needs cleaning."
With speed I was anticipating, she hurled a pillow at me. I caught the assault and rerouted it, catching her in the face. She leaned back and laughed, a noise that calmed what was left of my quaking heart as I hopped forward. She offered a hand that I accepted, and she helped pull me onto the edge of the bed.
"You offered to show me your skies." I began, feeling uncertain. "Is that possible?"
"Yeah," she said. "Here-"
Grace put a hand on my chest and pushed down. A profound sense of horror washed over me as my back hit the soft bedding. She wouldn't- no. She can't- is it even- when have I last- Inatala please-
I realized with a start that Hope leaned past me, grabbing her pad. She plugged an odd attachment into it and fastened it to the wall by her head, and flopped over beside me. My immediate terror faded into embarrassment, and my face warmed at my own stupidity as she pulled the curtain closed. It became dark, and I felt her shift slightly until the ceiling above us started to slowly glow. Her pad booted up and began to project an image up there, and I felt my initial problems fade as a blue sky opened up before us.
"Oh wow." I breathed, realizing it was a video as a plane flew overhead. I forgot myself for a moment, looking up into an alien sky as clouds blew by at a lazy pace. The jet stream slowly lost its uniformity and stretched out, facing away as other clouds replaced it. I could hear wind and alien birds chirping, and for a long moment I was there. I was really there.
Storm clouds, massive weather fronts, all began drifting by. There was a dull rumble of thunder. I started as a bird flew very close overhead.
"What was that?"
"Woodpecker. Some can get pretty big back home. Not as big as you, Blu."
"Is it really this serene? Where was this taken?"
"My backyard. There was a massive hill out back. I used to lay there for hours when I was younger. Lived at the edge of a village. The only noise back there was the odd combustion engine or farming drone. Sometimes someone firing off a gun or listening to music loudly."
"You lived in the countryside? You're a pilot!"
Hope chuckled softly. "Surprise! There's some pretty sharp people that don't live in the cities, Blu. Especially us humans. My father could repair any farm equipment you threw at him going back a hundred years. Of course, I also have an uncle that thinks the Queen of England doesn't exist, so it probably levels out." She finished, sighing and reaching up. She swiped her finger across the ceiling and suddenly the skies changed.
They were orange now. More clouds. I felt a familiar pang in my chest thinking of a Nishtal sunset, but I kept quiet as the skies gradually changed. I was surprised to see such a vibrant shade of orange, then a sharp streak of violet bleed into it. There was red as well. A lot of red.
"Why red?"
"Oh, that. Massive forest fire in Canada. That's a country above mine. The smoke changed the colors for a little while. It made for a nice view."
That it did. I got lost in the footage, and started losing track of time. Only the occasional creak of the bedding kept me from forgetting where I really was. Hope seemed content watching the skies, and it dawned on me how close I was to her.
I'm acclimating well. Maybe I'll be like Alvin in no time.
When the skies slowly turned to night I was amazed at the stars that came out. Constellations I was unfamiliar with, patterns and swirls of light that could never be seen from a Federation city. I heard Hope inhale and reach out, changing the scene before it could linger anymore. "How about a time lapse. I've got some good ones."
"I don't know what that is."
"Really? Someone sets up a camera in a nice spot and records hours or days of footage. They take everything they've documented and then speed it up to a couple minutes." Hope starts a new video. I'm taken back by it, how a cloud bank flows around a mountain pass like water. It looks like a stream, where the clouds shift with each wind current change, flowing back and forth as minutes are turned into seconds.
It's stunning. Hope switches to another one, and another. I'm struck dumb with wonder, baffled at how not one other creature out of the hundreds of species thought to do anything similar over the course of the Federation. Massive mountain tops, where humans blur through trails like plasma. Prairies with storm cells moving in, lighting and rain sweeping through and giving it new light as the terrain is rapidly drenched. A large road where thousands of human vehicles streak by and leave brief paint trails in their wake.
"Thank you, Hope."
She nods, an odd gesture of acknowledgement, before changing the video back to a more slow paced skyline. After several minutes of silence, I feel a weight forming in my chest. Slowly, my wonder begins to crumble.
"How many confidants were you able to find? For the others?"
Hope shifted to look at me, turning her head and making my feathers tingle slightly at how close her face was to me. She looked back up at the sky. "Seven."
"There were forty that wanted to leave as quickly as they could. What happens to them?"
"We're letting them go. Even if they don't want anything to do with predators, they're going to find out avoiding my species is pretty hard. We're going to give them access to the network anyways, in case they want our help down the road."
"And the rest of us?"
"I'm helping the ones that want to go back to a somewhat normal life find that. There's several planets they can go to, and countless colonies. They'll be placed close to the support network in case there's trouble and they need to come back, or need financial assistance or help integrating."
Hope had mentioned something about 'shelters being a safe place' for us break outs, but had never elaborated on that.
"And what about the others that want to stay?" I noticed Hope scowl at the skies, her face forlorn.
"The ones that want to stay and help us fight are welcome to. It's not all dangerous- being part of the network isn't as risky. Helping the ones that wanted to go back to living, or finding others that got lost or fell through the cracks. It... it feels wrong asking anyone we rescued to fight and die for us. We don't want clouded judgement and people thinking they owe us that. But, there are a lot wanting to join our ranks in more aggressive operations. We're making them combat ready, teaching them how we wage wars so that they don't turn into their overseers."
I lay there for a long moment, staring at the open skies above us. "What about me?" I asked quietly.
"You're not excluded from those choices, Blu."
"You read my file. You know who I was. What I would've done if I didn't end up in that place. You'd really just let me go?"
"If you wanted to go, then yes."
The simple way in which she states it confused me. Like such a choice wouldn't cause issues or risks.
"But, we've been thinking about a better choice for you."
Oh?
"The Mazics are turning into the next Paltan Combine. Their newest influx of refugees were the released Krakotl."
My chest tightens. Nishtal is no more, razed to the bedrock and dead. We had been abandoned by our neighbors, our home slaughtered well before our true nature was revealed. And in the same year, the Federation deploys over forty thousand ships to take back a world that left behind their rule. Billions of loyal citizens captured and destined for a bloody fate were worth less than billions that seceded peacefully.
And then the humans brokered a deal with the Arxur and saved their souls. This was yet another time they did the impossible.
"We were thinking they could use a strong anchor to roost against. Someone that they might remember. A leader that they can trust."
I turned my head to directly face Hope, but she was still looking at the skies.
"I... they hate you humans."
"They do."
"I can't try and lead them, and sell out anyone that still doesn't believe in the UN's cause. I can't betray them." I chirped, dread worming into my gut.
"We wouldn't expect you too. We don't want you too. Blu-" Hope turned her gaze on me, her voice sincere. "We want them to find the right path. They deserve peace and security. They don't deserve to live in fear and rot with hatred. We don't... my group does not want yours to suffer over what your government did, even if the masses supported it at the time. We think you can lead them to a better future, where this hell can have a chance to heal and fade."
She looked back up at the artificial sky above us. "You don't even have to talk to us again if you choose this. If you do your best to ensure your species can coexist with mine, that would be more than we could ever hope to see happen."
"You think that's possible? That I could get that far? It seems so far away."
Hope bared her teeth in a smile. "You're more than capable. You love your people with everything you have, Blu. They'll see that. They'll believe in you. When you stand firm for your people, they'll follow you, too. We'll help where we can- peacefully. This can happen, I know it."
I found myself looking up at Earth's sky once again, apprehensive above this new burden. There was no way I would turn this down. If the Wolverines thought it was possible, then it was possible. A future where my people were both free in body and spirit was one I would fight for until my weary body gave out.
"How do we start?"

Note to self 92,
I was researching the foundation of Arhada city-states, just to get a general sense of what they looked like, and I found a very informative and fascinating read. The name is "A Tale of Two Cities: the development of early Arhada city states (0-500 AD)" and it's supposed to be the early work of some important professor at the Horean International University. Unfortunately, I'm still banned from borrowing at the Uni's library because I've held that book on Early Ibandr for a bit too long – I'll just copy the abstract and some passages for future reference.

This essay analyses the emergence of the first large-scale polities within the Arhadan cultural sphere, putting together the writings of notable scholars and the archaelogical record at our disposal. The title, "A Tale of Two Cities” was chosen in reference to the sites of Kamābarha and Amadahai, two settlements which would continue to act as major actors in the region throughout the following centuries. Because of their prominence, these two cities have been chosen as case studies through which we will examine the political, cultural and social characteristics of Arhada city states in the formative period. Those first few post-dawn centuries see the emergence of other important centres, but these two examples prove to be the earliest, the most consistently documented and the only ones who maintained their preeminence in post-formative eras.
The text is divided into three main sections: the first detailing the general characteristics of urban, social and political developments within the region, the second and third delving into the specific nuances that these developments acquire in Kamābarha and Amadahai, respectively.
I thank the department of Tritonean studies at the Horean International University for their help in procuring material for this research, and Dr. Amaha Geherun for her invaluable guidance and insight.

[...]

2.a Palaces, urban settlements and their spatial characters.
Scholars of late Tritonean prehistory usually divide the development of Arhadan settlements in three main phases; the Stilt House Period (SHP), which lasted roughly until 750 BD, the courtyard house period (CHP), which covers the millenium between 750 BD and 250 AD and the palatial house period (PHP), emerging from 250 onwards, with the development of the first palatial complexes and the first signs of wide-reaching palace economies, large scale political networks of reciprocal exchange, and true suzerain-client relationships. These three periods are named after their defining building types: the main characteristic of the SHP, unsurprisigly the one for which we have less documentation, were the small, square wooden constructions built on stilts along the lake shores and wetlands, next to the paddies. This period is the longest, stretching from the early development of zizania, cattail and sagittaria cultivation; with the construction of more specialised agricultural works and the consequent emergence of a higher level of inequality within Arhada settlements, we shift to the CHP, wherein successful family units migrated away from the lakeshores into dry land and extablished a new building typology, the multifamily courtyard house, acting as a higher status dwelling. The palace is nothing more than the natural evolution of the Courtyard-house type: it is merely larger and with cellular buildings constructed within the confines of the courtyard. The general layout consists of three outbuildings: a shrine, where the clans held religious functions both for the families and for the community at large, a granary, where the harvest would be stockpiled for distribution in lean years, and a treasury, where specialised group of artisans, usually the women of the clan, created and gathered family hierlooms, which obtained a near-sacred value and acted as further insurance against difficult harvests (See chapter 4a).
The palatial typology is fairly standardised: the frame, the courtyard building, is usually two or three stories high, with the ground floor being dedicated to common rooms, the middle floor containing the apartments of the clanmen and women and the last floor, built under a steep thatch roof, hosting lower-status inhabitants: servants, guards, favourites. What is more variable, however, was the disposition of buildings inside; shrines especially assumed different typologies: the constant is in their verticality and consistent central-plan type. From pictographic and sculptural sources, we can also note that canopies, usually defined by square-plans with four columns at the four corners, were important places of gathering, where tobacco ceremonies and clan meetings were held in the hot summers of southern Tritonea.

[...]

While it's interesting to consider the palace as a singular architectural and typological phenomenon, no discussion about the palatial type is complete without a mention about its relationship with the city at large. Built atop a hill (the term Nabaradjân, 'house of the hill', is, in fact, synonymous with palace), it acted as a centripetal force for the expansion of villages and cities, with important buildings being constructed radially from the central point of the palace and all other houses, small scale orchards and other structures being built in between. As architectural types specialised and key public buildings began to be built outside of the confines of the palace – granaries first, then shrines and storehouses – the radial composition of cities began to be even more clearly visible – in later periods those secondary "nodes" would create other radial sprawling points. "Radial cities, early settlement patterns in Arhadaland", by Dr. Amaha Geherun, provides an in-depth study of the spatiality of early, late and imperial Arhada cities.

Reminder to get that book as soon as I get paid this week – couldn't find it at the library.
This chapter had a very nice drawing (It looked better in the book) that showed an estimate of the plans of Kamābarha (A) and Amadahai (B). Amadahai was smaller, but it had quite an impressive quay leading straight into the city. The Mound of Kamābarha, on the other hand, was perhaps the most interesting thing about the city: it's one of the few ancient sites that the author had studied with an asymmetrical mound layout. Overall, I found the differences in Tritonean urban planning and that of Early Ibandr quite fascinating.

4.a Political Networks, the first states and the "Bead Bracelet" Structure.
With the growth of palaces, we can truly see the evolution of Arhada settlements change from villages, to cities, to city-states: each palace acted as a key driver for a city’s local economy; from within the various clans of the palace, the men of the clan oversaw and organised works in the paddies, allocating human resources and ensuring the harvest was safely stored in the granary. The women, on the other hand, handled the production of specialised crafts - pottery, textiles, painting and dye production being the most common ones - which would form the bulk of the treasury. This setup, which contributed to a general labour specialisation even outside the confines of the palace, greatly contributed to the growing influence of palaces in the surrounding sub-urban territory.
Archeological and archaeo-anthropological studies show that the early Zizania aquatica strains cultivated by Tritonean farmers were prone to failures, with some estimates indicating a one in six chance of failure. This insecurity was the main driver for the construction of granaries, and, later, the use of the palaces treasure as a sort of insurance against bad harvests. There is ample tangible evidence of extra-urban exchanges of luxury trade goods between palaces around the southern lakes - with them, came birchbark contracts (and, more rarely clay tablets), documenting the exchange agreements between villages. Sadly, we have very few documents of this kind, but just enough to get a clear picture of what these signified.
What looked like simple exchanges based on favours and giftgiving - which basically amounted to “I owe yous” with a precious gifts attached - quickly developed into more deliberate agreements. We find pictographic contracts detailing the exchange of zizania for corvée labour or zizania in exchange for a larger repayment over a period of several years. Often villages would repay their benefactor by providing labour until they were able to return the same quantity of zizania – other times, contracts operated over a fixed period of time. The maturation of these systems culminated in semi-permanent ties between villages and a construction of hierarchical client-patron relations. The short term contracts between polities, exchanging part of the harvest for corvées, valuable goods or interest on the repayment, became more and more drawn out, until finally long term relationships were established.
The term "Bead Bracelet network", introduced by Dr Lagor Daham in her seminal work "Early Political Relationships along the Southern Tritonean lakes: new models of political unity", is used to refer to these long strings of villages sharing some form political affiliation, each village being the client or suzerain of another one within the chain. The water-based agricultural tradition of Tritonea conditioned the developments of their urban centres as lines running paralel to the lakeshore, each with some influence over their adjoining woodland and wetlands: the creation of these ties would then follow these lines, creating complexes of neighbouring villages with varying degrees of freedoms and duties towards one other. these ties and contracts, which would be overseen by clan matriarchs, would connect all villages within a single network to the highest one.

I had to copy the map in the book, because I was having a hard time visualising it. There was also a more schematic version of it. Apparently, villages owed "fealty" (though I'm sure that's the wrong word) to bigger villages wich in turn owed "fealty" to bigger ones. It wasn't really a feudalistic setup, though. Land belonged to the single villages, who cultivated it directly – but they were essentially client cities, providing labour or artisanal goods to their suzerain, provided they would keep their granaries full in lean years. Another quote on this, and some interesting notes on the contracts between polities:

In truth, most of these ties would not be very long lasting, and could break immediately if either of the parties was unable to maintain the foundational promises of the agreement. This usually resulted in small scale warfare in which the suzerain's victory would result in an even more restrictive contract and the clients victory would signify temporary freedom from the expansion of its neighbour's political influence. Kamābarha and Amadahai were the first to estabish stable and well-maintained networks of this kind, mostly due to the fact that their prosperous positions – Kamābarha in fertile and rich land, Amadahai straddled between two lakes, controlling trade and expanding at a fast pace along two lakesides – allowed them to maintain control over nearby polities thanks to the consistency with which they were able to provide their side of the bargain and distribute parts of their abundant harvest to their clients.

[...]

The terms of the contracts themselves were extremely heterogeneous – and could be easily changed and misinterpreted. Being pictographic in nature, with imagery tied to Arhada proverb glyphs, they served more as visual aids to help the matriarchs remember the exact terms of a contract. It's a widely held belief that it's a need for specificity in birchbark contracts that led Arhada women to the development of true logographic writing in the following centuries.

This note I found particularly interesting! I'll have to read more on that.

7. Trade and external relations
One final point to be made, before we delve into the specific configurations and internal histories of our two cities, has to do with trade systems within the Arhada cultural sphere. Arhadanists and scholars of Tritonean history speak of the Formative "Northern pottery", "Middle pottery" and "Southern pottery" schools: the Arhada territory fell squarely between the Middle and Southern areas, with Kamābarha being connected to the Kemithātsan polities along the southern shore of the Sihodjivôdjo (Middle school), and thus having an closer relationship to northern and western cultures into Xanthean territories, and Amadahai being connected instead to southern cultures such as the Zonowōdjon, beyond the lake, with whom they entertained relationships in a network that extended south, beyond Tritonea proper, in the territories of the Aluwa. As such, our two case studies present very different cultural traits and influences – it must be noted, however, that the deep interrelation of Arhadan cities through the connective tissue of the lakes serves as an avenue for the exchange and merger of these two very different cultural impulses.
The Arhada themselves were great exporters of finished products. Indigo dyes, pottery, hemp-cattail blend textiles and pecan oil, used both in cuisine and cosmetics, were ubiquitous items throughout Arhada territories; preserved fruits were common southern commodities; brass products from the zinc-abundant copper ores along the Green River, were Kamābarha's most valuable export. It's interesting, however, to analyse what was imported into their territories during this period, so that we can better track the changes in material culture throughout the early formative. Contact with the nearby Kemithātsan is evident in the spread of glazes in Middle Pottery school sites. Even in Souther Pottery sites we can begin to observe more Middle style artefacts, and we have evidence of kilns being built – many scholars believe these kilns were actually built by Kemithātsan artisans who relocated in the south. From the Kemithātsan they also obtained picked goods and wines, whose production was more specialised. Maple – a prised product in the south – was also obtained through northern trade routes.
Southern trade relationships were more tenuous at that time – Arhada groups migrated into Zonowōdjon lands around 500 AD, and while intermingling did occur at an early stage, we have evidence of a rather fraught relationship, with several Arhadan led attacks into the southern regions, certainly with the aim of clearing coastal land for more intensive agricultural production. Sanaboborôn, another formative site which would develop in the later quarter of the 1st millenium AD, emerged in the wake of these attacks, following different dynamics when compared the other early Arhada cities. This development, which lies outside the themes of this research, is brilliantly explored in another seminal work by Dr Lagor Daham, published in the collection of essays "Dawn of War: Martial history in formative Horea". While tensions and distrust with neighbouring Tritonean peoples slowed trade between the eastern and western southern lakes, polities such as Amadahai and Sanaboborôn found fertile ground with trade further down the continent. Crossing the Gorgonean-Tritonean mountain range they would encounter the Aluwa people – corals were an especially prised trade item, but spices such as peppers and citrus peel were also brought north, where they would enter the diets of elite Arhadans.

One last bad drawing for today. I saw this map and I was truly impressed with how developed trade networks were at that time, especially for people who did not have horses or chariots. I'm afraid I'll have to read through second half of the book tomorrow, the library's closing now – end of note.

https://fortune.com/2023/06/05/alt-right-economy-is-failing-real-performance-of-anti-woke-entrepreneurs-business-politics-sonnenfeld/
In commenting on Bob Iger’s defense of Disney’s values and brand in the face of threats from Florida Governor DeSantis, Nike CEO John Donahoe said, “I think Bob’s doing a great job at this. If it’s core to who you are and your values, then you stand up for your values.”
That spirit has been rewarded by the free market. Across many fronts, we have shown in quantitative analysis of business performance that doing good for society is not at the expense of doing well for shareholders, with clear examples ranging from Russian business exits to public engagement on voting rights.
Yet still, grandstanding political ideologues are using opportunistic attacks on iconic U.S. enterprises to showcase their own nascent anti-ESG businesses, and reportedly build a “parallel economy” catering to conservative constituencies. But far from flourishing, an objective review of the facts suggests these anti-wokester jokesters are financially foundering.
One little-known index fund provider, the American Conservative Values ETF (ACVF), recently received a flurry of media attention for boycotting Target over what they described as its “pandering to the woke agenda,” confidently declaring that their boycott of Target will ensure “Target stock’s long-term performance will suffer.”
Target stock is down, but in reality, the fund’s total holdings of Target amount to just $100,000–equivalent to the revenue that Target nets every 20 seconds. In fact, ACVF’s total assets under management are a rather measly $40 million–and many of their other “boycotted” companies–including iconic All-American enterprises such as Apple, Microsoft, Delta Airlines, American Airlines, Disney, Walmart, Coca-Cola, Salesforce, and JPMorgan–have performed quite well since being targeted by ACVF. Delta is up 10% this year, American is up 15% this year, Microsoft and Apple are both up over 40% this year and Salesforce is up 60%. Thanks in part to missing out on these top-performing stocks, ACVF is underperforming the S&P 500 by over 2% this year through June 1. No wonder even politically conservative investors stay away from these anti-woke ETFs.
ACVF’s struggles rather pale in comparison to those of its much larger and better-known rival, presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy’s Strive Asset Management. We have contacted both firms about our findings by phone and email, but their representatives directed us to figures published on their respective websites, which we checked–and double-checked.
The business models of both Strive and ACVF are similar: They construct exchange-traded funds, or ETFs, for mom-and-pop retail investors to passively track a basket of stocks, matching rather than trying to beat the broader market. Unlike hedge funds, these ETF providers do not care if the stocks go up, down, or sideways–rather, they get their money from fees charged on anyone who has their money in a Strive ETF. Most ETFs are very low-fee products–but the anti-woke ETFs come at a premium. BlackRock ETFs, for example, usually charge around 0.03% fees. Strive’s fees are comparatively higher at up to 0.41%–but nothing compared to ACVF’s 0.75% fee.
To survive over the long run, these nascent ETF providers need to continually attract new money from mom-and-pop investors. And that is exactly what it appears they are struggling to do. All the evidence, out in the open, shows that Strive has had a hard time attracting additional investor inflows beyond its original anchor investors after the launch of its ETFs last year. Its assets under management appear to have stagnated despite Ramaswamy’s loud media presence.
For example, its largest flagship ETF, the Strive US Energy ETF (DRLL), has almost exactly the same amount of assets under management (AUM) as of June 1, $320 million, that it did when it was launched in August/September 2022, and its AUM is down nearly 25% from the start of this year.
Fully half of Strive’s eight current ETF products–including the Strive 1000 Growth ETF, the Strive 1000 Value ETF, the Strive 1000 Dividend Growth ETF, and the Strive Small-Cap ETF–have less than $12 million assets under management each, which is microscopic relative to the industry standard–and less than the average compensation of a single major CEO at most companies.
Thus it is hardly surprising that some of the most admired CEOs are flippantly swatting away Strive’s attempts at “activism.” Ramaswamy has become the court jester of corporate governance. The mere mention of his name brings anything from smirks to outright gales of laughter amongst some corporate audiences.
One hopes that Strive is not on a path to fail as badly as some of Ramaswamy’s previous ventures, such as Axovant, a Ramaswamy-founded company whose stock price plunged from $200 to 40 cents, or Campus Venture Networks, Ramaswamy’s much-hyped undergraduate startup which, despite his self-aggrandizement, he apparently sold for just a few thousand dollars, if his tax returns are correct. Even one of Strive’s biggest financial backers, Bill Ackman, is apparently embarrassed and rushing to disavow Ramaswamy. Meanwhile, Strive is reduced to seeking “consulting contract” handouts from friendly politicos. Perhaps this helps explain why Ramaswamy is running his longshot Presidential campaign: Nothing turns around sagging business fortunes quite like a new burst of free publicity!
It is not only in high finance that these “parallel economy” startups are flailing. Attempts to build a new alt-right media ecosystem are similarly landing with a thud.
Perhaps most infamously, Donald Trump’s much-hyped Truth Social alt-platform has imploded in value, with its SPAC packaging (ticker DWAC) shares falling from $95 to $13 even as the former president flails away on this otherwise quiet platform. Alt-right social media rivals such as Gab and GabPay are struggling to gain traction, begging for donations through crowdsourced funding, while provocateur Alex Jones and his Infowars declared bankruptcy after a record $1 billion verdict for the Sandy Hook families. More prominently, One America News has now been dropped by every major cable operator, partially driven by low audiences, while its behemoth rival Fox’s struggles are just beginning after the record $787.5 million Dominion settlement–with its board reportedly becoming weary of deviating too far from the mainstream.
Efforts to expand the alt-right parallel economy across digital services and even physical goods are running straight into the ground as well. Virtually all major retailers from Bed Bath & Beyond to Walmart to Kohl’s to Costco have cut ties with Mike Lindell’s MyPillow, which just months ago closed its last in-person retail mall store while losing $100 million, according to Lindell himself. Former Trump personnel director Johnny McEntee’s project–an alt-right dating site, “The Right Stuff”–has been lambasted even by its core constituency, with its mostly men frustrated by the lack of women users, and its seed funding from Peter Thiel is reportedly scheduled to run out in the next few months.
To a hammer, everything looks like a nail; and the exertions of some anti-woke activists in extrapolating politicized rhetoric into the economy can stretch into caricature. Strangely, the struggles of the nation’s regional banks, such as SVB, Signature, and First Republic, were superstitiously blamed on “wokeism” and the facts–that these less diversified banks were unprepared for the Fed’s interest rate hikes and that larger, equally “woke” banks were better insulated from these interest rate swings–were ignored. This month, even the conservative New York Post was bewildered by the sudden ire this month of anti-wokesters targeting the privately owned, very spiritual, Christian values-guided restaurant chain Chick-fil-A because, years ago, they promoted a longstanding internal HR executive to oversee diversity and equal opportunity.
Despite positioning themselves as reverent guardians of free markets against government and social overreach, many anti-wokester jokesters seem to have forgotten the most basic requirement of capitalism: to make a profit. Ironically, the free market delivers the most condemning verdict of all. The favorite “woke” targets of anti-ESG activists continue to soar to record economic heights, effortlessly shrugging off anti-woke attacks.
Clearly, despite all the hype and drama, there is little financial threat to mainstream business posed by the anti-woke economy. It’s not a genuine parallel economy–these are scattered cases of ideological grifters and struggling entrepreneurs. Their real talent seems to lie in fast-talking media platforms into giving them an undeserved platform to unfairly target iconic pillars of U.S. enterprise. But as these anti-wokester jokesters struggle to gain financial traction, the numbers will continue to disprove their claims.

I am an abdl and have been for a long time. However the struggle has always been finding someone interested who understands it is not sexual for me. Even the past couple years I was able to put the title “asexual” to myself which put a lot of things into perspective.
It’s great to talk to folks from afar sometimes but not many in my Minnesota neck of the woods.

My buddy has had his 04 STI for a long time, and I’ve always wanted an STI myself. I fell in love with the 2016 hyperblue edition and it became my dream car. This past year for me has been quite challenging. I lost my mom to cancer last July and my wife filed for divorce in February. Needless to say, it’s been a tough go. My therapist told me that I should do something for myself. Something that brings me joy. So I did it! I flew out to Minnesota to get my dream car and I drove it 1,600 miles home to Washington. I couldn’t be happier with it and I can now be parking buddies with my best friends 04. ❤️

King of the Boars: Dinraal, King of the Owls: Naydra, King of the Dragons: Farosh. Boars/Owls/Dragons : PoweWisdom/Courage. The Zonai are meant to be analogs of the Golden Goddessess for the new Hyrulean kingdom (assuming post SS, post OOT, converged fallen timeline, legacy structures are real) ie their appearance in the series is a heavenly intervention following the loss of knowledge concerning the golden goddesses and the triforce in the fallen line. The triforce has either been alchemically split into the 7/10 stones (+3 including ancient zonai king stones, or these 3 stones are of a higher order and directly represent the triforce). Fittingly the Zonai also have a royal family associated with Wisdom ie Owls/blue.
Hyruleans devolved in the fallen timeline from kingdom to tribe, triforce meaning is loss but the symbol remains syncretized. Honestly I’m just ignoring all the 2D games and am considering Botw/totk a reboot of the fallen line. Botw/Totk occurs so far in the future that the circumstances of the last fallen line games can be safely ignored when considering the development of the hyruleans and Zonai.
Hylia worship and the order of legacy structures vs Zonai structures are the biggest complication concerning timeline placement. A statue of hylia appears in the zonai temple of time, indicating post SS, Zonai temple appears to be built in the same location of OOT temple of time indicating pre-OOT. However, Zonai structure at the back of Sealed temple indicates pre-SS. Possible solutions include Zonai built from the depths up under SS temple, or Hylia statue was added to Zonai ToT post-Rauru. Neither are very satisfying.
The depths may determine a answer when examining the order of mirroring, does the surface determine the Depths or vice versa? Springs are mirrored by wellsprings, so the Depths has existed atleast as long as the surface. Shrines appear to purify gloom from the depths, the technology for which utilizes it as light for the depths via their “light root”; that and the appearance of shrines in memories, and the Zonai structures in the depths suggest that the surface and the depths were developed simultaneously by the Zonai. Though how they lit the depths pre-gloom is confusing, perhaps the shrines don’t need to purify anything to produce light? Light/“power to seal darkness” appear to have been made synonymous in this game which seems to support this idea. The bargainer statues are curious, are they even older than the Zonai? Did the exist in the depths prior to the Zonais heavenly incursion or are they Zonai religious figures. Their architecture is so alien I’m inclined to believe they’re even older. However the Zonai have appeared to enshrine atleast one of them (and locked another one up I’m told? I’ll get there eventually). So they clearly had knowledge of one another.

This league there have been a lot of different opinions about the profitability of The Feared Invitation. While Empyriangaming´s small sample size certainly showed a volatility in short term profit margins, bigger sample sizes by u/ToiletOfGold and u/ixmike88 showed that it is still profitable. So here I am with another big sample size that I am going to compare with my findings from last league.
Here is the data from 500 max investment 100%+ IIQ Feared Runs (including Uber Uber Elder, Uber Atziri, Uber Cortex and Flawless Chayula). I´ve been doing 5 x 100 Runs with 3 Quad Stashes of Loot I had to sort out after each 100 Runs. One full run takes me 10-12 minutes, so I was able to do 5 runs per hour.
For each encounter, I am going to give a little advice, followed by a breakdown of cost & profit/loss, a conclusion and a comparison. These lists only contain the profitable and very rare drops. Values are average market prices.
My build: Cold Flicker Strike Slayer (15 Frenzy / 15 Endurance Charges) PoB: LINK (Uber DPS Config)
Atlas Tree: Uber notables, Wandering Path with all Synth nodes
Uber Atziri Make sure you can burst her down fast enough so she can only ever enter her Split Phase (the Add Phase takes far too long). Reflect immunity required. Cost: 0.25 div per Set; 125 div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Atziri´s Reflection (1.6 div)	5	8 div
Atziri´s Disfavour (4 div)	0	-
The Price of Devotion (26 div)	0	-
Triumvirate Authority (-)	6	-
Atziri's Acuity (-)	6	-

The Ultimatum Aspect Fragment and the Sacrifical Garb Base Armour seem to drop every 3rd or 4th encounter. Since they dont really sell, I didnt bother picking them up after a while. Total loss (Uber Atziri): - 117 div Conclusion & Comparison: Uber Atziri is still just entry cost for doing The Feared. Atziri needs some additional high tier drops. No changes compared to 3.20.
Uber Cortex (Replica/Default) Boss rush. Make sure you can run any mod combination, have a second character set up that can do it or in the worst case, buy a carry service. The Replica version is a little cheaper, has more global map modifiers, can be a lot more difficult and has the identical drop pool. In very rare cases, you get Synth map modifiers that make it worth full clearing the map (e.g.: %ChanceToDropDivCards and %IncRarityDroppedBy). Cost: 1.5 div per Map; 750 Div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Rational Doctrine (8 div)	9	72 div
Bottled Faith (1.5 div)	46	69 div (medium variance)
Garb of the Ephemeral (30c)	57	7.8 div
Forgotten Reliquary Key (4 div)	7	28 div
Nebulis (10c)	147	6.7 div

Notable Synth Item drops: +1FrenzyShieldSTR (50 div), +1PowerShieldINT (50 div), ExplodeWand (40 div), %IntRing (30 div), DexStackBow (15 div), ExplodeStaff (8 div), +1PowerShieldSTR (2x 8 div), GraceAuraEffRing (5 div), AuraEffHelmet (2x 5 div), FlammabilityOnHitRing (5 div), IntStackingWand (3 div), IgniteSceptre (3 div), CritMultiRing (3 div), %DexBoots (2 div) and around 15 items that have sold for up to 1 div. Total loss (Uber Cortex): - 567 div (without Synth items), - 310 div (with Synth items) Conclusion & Comparison: Pretty disappointing but to be expected, Cortex profit heavily relies on amazing Synth drops. The unique drops are worth less in 3.21 but with Crucible around, the Nebulis easily sell in bulk.
Uber Uber Elder Personally, I found this to be the most difficult of fights (Flicker Strike is not a great skill for it). Just run circles around the bosses and try to burst down the shaper as fast as possible after every Add Phase so he doesn´t use his Bullet Hell. Good luck dodging if Maven decides to clone the bosses in the arena. Cost: 1.5 div per Set; 750 Div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Watcher´s Eye iLvL 87 (4,5 div)	185	832.5 div
Orb of Dominance (1 div)	55	55 div
Sublime Vision (8 div)	8	64 div
Decaying Reliquary Key (4 div)	5	20 div
Double Impresence (-)	12	Sold two (22 Div, 4 Div)
The Shieldbearer (2,5 div)	5	12.5 div
Eternity Shroud (45c)	5	1 div
Voidforge (8 div)	1	8 div
The Gulf (20c)	5	0.9 div
Indigon (30c)	56	7.6 div
Soul Ascension (-)	7	-
Voidfletcher (-)	66	-

Total profit (Uber Uber Elder): + 277 div Conclusion & Comparison: The Watcher´s Eyes themselves easily pay for the Uber Uber Elder Runs. Very profitable by itself. Voidforge actually exists as drop. No changes compared to 3.20.
Flawless Chayula [BREACH REWORK] Breachstones also roll random modifiers, so they can be a little tricky. If you dont use CastOnDeath+Portal, make sure to place a portal halfway through the Breach. Flawless Breachstones are 45 seconds faster than the normal version. Chayula can be permafrozen so that one was the easiest encounter for me. Chaos resistance helps a lot. You can level Gems in your Offhands. As of 3.21 you can use It That Fled´s Breachstone Bargains to increase the rewards of the Breachstones. They unfortunately do not speed up the encounter itself. Cost: 1.5 div per Stone; 750 Div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Fractured GlobalDef Grasping Mail (50 div)	11	550 div
Uul-Netol´s Vow (8 div)	9	72 div (high variance!)
United in Dream (40c)	169	30.7 div
Red Nightmare (150c)	18	12.3 div
Green Nightmare (1.5 div)	25	37.5 div
Blue Nightmare (40c)	26	4.7 div
Skin of the Lords (-)	19	250 div (Details below)

I´ve dropped 63 fractured Grasping Mails (71 in 3.20), so you can still expect one to drop every 7-8 runs. The mods are weighted (1 in 4.25 chance to hit Global Defense), so you can expect to drop one FracGlobalDef every 32 runs. I´ve dropped 19 Skins of the Lords. These have a really high variance because of socket colors and the Notable. The most valuable ones had at least 3 blue sockets and a good notable: GhostDance (50 div), Iron Will (39 div), GlancingBlows (30 div), SupremeEgo (25 div), Acrobatics (18 div), AvatarOfFire (20 div), Magebane (15 div) Total loss/profit: - 40 div (without Skins), + 210 div (with Skins) Conclusion & Comparison: I was quite unlucky considering the FracGlobalDefense droprate (11 instead of avg. 15), otherwise the Breachstones would have easily payed for themselves. While there was absolutely no reason to run normal Breachstones in 3.20, I can´t say the same for this league since I dont know the droprates of Blessings and Skin of the Loyals.
The Feared Invitation [ATLAS CHANGES] Make sure you can run any mod combination or have counter measures available (e.g. I used an Enduring Mana flask on "no leech" invitations). I prefer to kill Cortex and Atziri first if possible. Invitations were rolled to 8 mod 100+IIQ, you can vendor 5 failed corruptions for a new one. You also drop a lot of invitations from the bosses. Cost: ~45c per 8-mod Invitation, 100 div total

Drop (Avg. Value per)	Amount	Total Value
Maven´s Writ (1.4 div)	632.2	885 div
Uber Elder Red Fragment (0.5 div)	173	86.5 div
Uber Elder Black Fragment (0.2 div)	165	33 div
Bottled Faith (1.5 div)	28	42 div (medium variance)
Watcher´s Eye iLvL 85 (1 div)	93	93 div
Blessings of Chayula (1.2 div)	4	4.8 div
Orb of Conflict (0.25 div)	110	27.5 div
Dying Sun (20c)	39	3.5 div
Garb of the Ephemeral (30c)	28	3.8 div
Atziri´s Reflection (1.6 div)	1	1.6 div
Nebulis (10c)	118	5.3 div
Triumvirate Authority (-)	15	-
Atziri's Acuity (-)	12	-
Skin of the Loyal (-)	29	90.5 div (Details below)

I also dropped 86 Awakened Gems, the most expensive ones being several EleDmgWithAtks and VoidManipulations. Profit from Gems is around 16 div total. Two double corrupted uniques sold for 1 div each. Notable Synth item drops: SpellDDBow (25 div), SpellDDNebulis (20 div), ExplodiWand (25 div), EleWeaknessOnHitRing (5 div) I´ve dropped 29 Skin of the Loyal, the most valuable ones with 3B2R1G (20 div), 4B2G (12 div), 4B1R1G (5 div) Total profit/loss (Feared): + 1102 div (without Skins/Synth), +1267 div (with Skins/Synth) Conclusion & Comparison: Even tho they removed the small Maven Crucible IIQ nodes on the Atlas, the higher Maven´s Writs price as a result make up for it. The removal of Flawless Chayula Breachstone drops in The Feared put a huge dent into the profit that can not get fully covered by Skin of the Loyal drops.
Notable Drops: While I dropped 2 Mirrors of Kalandra in 3.20, I did not drop a single one in 3.21. I might just go for another 500 runs until I drop one.
Profit from 500 Full Runs: +653 Div (Default Drops) // +332 Div (Synth) // + 338 Div (Skins) Profit per Full Run: 1,3 Div per Run (Default), 2,6 Div per Run (Default/Synth/Skins) Profit per Hour (5 Runs/hour): 7-13 Div* *doesnt include the time to sell/buy/sort
Final conclusion: The Feared is still very profitable, even tho not as good as it was in 3.20. Most uniques are worth less, we lost the IIQ on the Atlas and Skin of the Lords/Loyals add another layer of drop RNG.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/06/lgbtq-rights-trans-gay-texas-florida-north-carolina?utm_term=Autofeed&CMP=twt_gu&utm_medium&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1686061144
‘Do we need to flee the United States?’
In Maryland, Camille Rey’s son’s health has improved, while in Oregon, one year on from their move, Karen says her family is much happier. She has noticed a trend, though, among her new blue state neighbors, of talking about anti-LGBTQ+ laws as an “over there” problem.
The reality is that anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment is not limited geographically. Pride parades continue to be attacked. Shootings like that in Colorado Springs show that LGBTQ+ lives are at risk everywhere. Factions of the Republican party are pushing for a national “don’t say gay” bill. In the wake of Ron DeSantis’s 2024 presidential run announcement, campaigners worry that even blue states may not provide safety or shelter for queer people for long.
“The 14th amendment has been gutted with the overtaking of Roe v Wade. If the 14th amendment goes, our right to marriage and our freedom from sodomy laws, all that could go on a national level,” says McCranie. “So if we flee the state, but our rights go on a national level, the question becomes: do we need to flee the United States? I’m asking people I know: do you have a parent or grandparent from another country? You should go get that passport now.”
Mitchell and her wife are aiming to move to Minnesota due to its proximity to Canada, just in case. (Justin Trudeau has shown support for trans communities.) Rodriguez explains that she chose to leave the country, rather than Texas, so that she only has to move once. “My fear with the safe states is, what if the US passes federal anti-LGBTQ+ laws?” she says. “I had one house to sell, I had to do it to fund to go anywhere, so I should go where I don’t have to worry about what happens at the next election.”

Recently I explored this crazy hidden site which is a bunch of barns that have been left out of the elements in Nottinghamshire. The site contains a crazy hidden car collection that has been long forgotten and hides over 100 amazing classic cars that stretch all the way back to the 1940s and older. Personally, I have never seen anything like this and the condition of the cars is amazing which you don't expect at all. I have included here a list of some of the cars however loads of classic cars I either don't know the name of or have an idea what they are so if you spot something let me know. Some of the cars are Jowett Javelin Produced between 1947 - 1953, Morris Minor, and Morris Miner Travellers produced between 1948 - 1971, Humber Super Snipe produced between 1938 - 1967, Triumph 2000 produced between 1963 - 1977, Jaguar MK 2 3.4 produced between 1959 -1967, Triumph Spitfire Sports Car produced between 1962 - 1980, Hillman Hunter produced between 1966 - 1979, Mercedes-Benz 600 ultra-luxury car produced between 1963 - 1981, Riley RM produced between 1945 - 1955, MGB GT Sports Car produced between 1965 -1980, Dennis RS Firetruck produced between 1978 - 1990s, Wolseley Super Six produced 1937, Saab 900 SE produced 1990, Morris Marina 1300 produced between 1971 - 1980 ,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPuqM8luJao

The front office decision makers now get to re-set the roster after the KD and Kyrie debacle is fully over. From now onwards they have control and therefore they are responsible for our future results and path to title contention. When we win they deserve the praise. If we fail to progress it's fair the decision makers should be held accountable and depending on performance they might be dismissed.
Sean Marks and ownership made two terrible mistakes around trade deadline/all-star break. The first mistake was unenforced. They gave a long term extension to HC Jacque Vaughn keeping him with the Nets through 2027.
Whatever you think of JV it was the wrong decision to extend him when Vaughn already had a contract through the end of 2024. A wiser GM would play out the rest of the season and consider how JV coached the reshaped roster. It didn't look promising from my point of view.
JV has been swept in successive first rounds of the play-offs.
JV used 11 different players in the 1Q! vs. Knicks on 2nd March, 2023. Many NBA coaches will go their entire coaching careers never playing 11 different players in the same game.
To give 11 players minutes in the first quarter alone tells me you don't know what you're doing strategically as a head coach. How can you learn anything about your roster doing that?
The second mistake the Nets brain-trust was a major misjudgement in the middle of the season. I can understand those people that don't blame them heavily. I imagine this came from ownership.
But the front office knew without KD and Ky and a very limited Ben Simmons that the Nets were not title contenders. They knew Houston was on course for a top 4 pick and therefore the threat of the pick swap was extinguished.
Yet they went all-in on making the play-offs. And we know how that turned out - swept by a not-fully healthy 76ers team and we struggled to score and through the series and there were barely any adjustments to improve our scoring. That's on the head coach.
I'm not saying we should have tanked but we could have got the 10th pick instead of the 22nd and still have played hard but given more minutes to Day'Ron and Cam Thomas. The way young players get better is to play through their mistakes and get reps with on court minutes.
You can add a quality player to the roster with the 10th pick. A player picked 22 if far less likely to have a major impact on the NBA.
Our roster going forward shows us to be in no-mans land. This is the worst place a team can be in the NBA. Too good to get high lottery picks yet never good enough to go beyond the first round of the play-offs. Ownership might be satisfied with that especially after all the superstar drama. Plus we can't tank because of the Harden trade.
We won't know how Ben Simmons will perform until we see him back on court. Will he be an anchor with his contract for two more seasons? Or can he be a productive member of the team with his point of attack D and outlet passing. I hope to see the return of agile Ben Simmons.
Spencer Dinwiddie is perhaps the biggest choice the Nets have to make and I would personally like to see him moved to a contender who could use him. If we could get back a mid-first round pick in this upcoming draft I make that trade instantly.
Sean Marks had the opportunity to give Dinwiddie an extension three years ago and instead let him walk to the Wizards, we helped him by doing a S&T. But Dinwiddie is 30 now and I can't see Marks giving him a lucrative, long term extension especially when he didn't do that for a young SD.
Royce O'Neil and DFS are both 30. Valuable wings on contending teams but far less important on rebuilding/reloading teams. Again first round pick offers should be accepted. There will be demand for them.
The Nets have a potential superstar on the roster in Cam Thomas. I know there is a huge number of fans that don't want to hear that but it's the truth. N.B - I said potential - I didn't say certain.
There is a video online called: The Brooklyn Nets NEED To Unleash Cam Thomas - watch it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xNryqxo1CU
It's a reminder of the promise Cam T has and his star level ability to score. Of course he needs to improve other aspects of his game, be a more willing passer, commit to D and learn the rotations but we do have a really young player who has the most important skill in the NBA at an elite level already.
I can't wait to see what Cam has worked on in off-season and how much better he will be in his third season. He improved his efficiency and made a jump as a sophomore. There are a lot of false narratives about Cam. Watch the video linked above.
Nic Claxton is coming into another contract year. He made a jump last year. If he continues to improve it will be essential to retain him on a long term contract. We need him to be able to score away from the basket for him to become a true two-way player. A mid-range J would be awesome.
Mikal Bridges is the face of the franchise and now valued so highly by the Nets organisation because he is essentially what fans see most in what we got in exchange for KD.
He's on a bargain on a contract for another few years. We all love him but he's not a number one on a championship team, we don't yet know if he could be a number two on a title winning team. It definitely seems he has levels to go until he reaches his peak.
Mikal is in demand and apparently the first choice of Dame's to team up with in Portland. If the godfather offer of Shaedon Sharpe and the number 3 pick are offered we have to consider it. You might have two franchise cornerstones in that one transaction.
Cam Johnson - the other twin. He's a restricted free agent. I'm not hugely comfortable about him getting a $20 million plus per season contract, he's a good player for sure. But considering we also have to pay Claxton in a year we could have a high payroll with several good players earning $20m+ each but no-one considered a true star. You don't win play-off series with rosters like that.
With Monty Williams taking over as HC in Detroit perhaps he'll be after Cam in free agency. Houston seems interested in CJ too. If a package can be put together to get the 4th or 5th pick in the draft then we should break up the twins to do it. Otherwise match any offer as CJ is a restricted FA.
If Mikal is traded then of course you trade CJ too. And you hope to make a deal with Houston for them to return at least some of our own picks and swaps.
I don't think the Nets ownership want to rebuild from scratch so I expect us to hold onto Mikal at the very least.
Draft 2023
We need a point guard for the future and the player we should target is Anthony Black, a young Texan. He has a lot of Jason Kidd about him. Awesome court vision, can make any pass including the razzle dazzle highlight assist which gets the fans excited. He's an excellent defender at 6ft 7in and his deep shooting will continue to improve.
More importantly Black's personality is the best fit for this new younger team, he appears thoughtful and mature for such a young athlete.
We would have to trade into the top 10 to get AB but this guy could be our floor general for more than a decade and as we build an identity around D (Mikal runner up DPOY, Simmons runner up DPOY, Claxton coming for that DPOY trophy) Black can fit seamlessly into this team and be our point going forward.
Future Draft Picks
We have a ton of future first rounders. Suns in 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029 and the pick swap in 2028. Philly's top 7 protected 2027 first rounder, Dallas unprotected pick in 2029. While we don't control our own draft we have enough picks to make a bid for any superstar that becomes available.
I hope Sean Marks and Joe Tsai don't go superstar shopping so soon again after KD/Kyrie/Harden debacle. We know players like KAT and Trae Young could become available we really shouldn't want to be adding either of them. KAT's a fine shooting big man who doesn't have that Alpha in him. We know what Trae's ceiling is already.
We definitely should not trade for Dame, he's too old for our timeline and we don't want to pay him $60 million per season in a few years. His body appears to be breaking down now, it will likely lead to him missing more time.
The only two players I use all the draft capital on are two players not yet (and potentially never) available but in the NBA you never know what will happen and it is a players league and superstars get to move when they want.
Luka. We know he must be pissed at missing the play-offs. Dallas have not put a good enough team around him. They've made multiple personnel mistakes. His patience is running low if they don't have a successful upcoming season then he'll at least consider asking out. I reckon he'll be gone in 12-24 months from Dallas, just not sure whether it will be the Nets that get him.
Ant-Man. He's on his rookie contract but the Wolves are in a very tricky position because they're paying Gobert huge money and KAT has already signed a super-max topping out at over $60 million per year. When you consider they'll have to max-out Ant they'll have spent so much of their cap on just three players and they don't control their own draft to be able to add young talent on rookie contracts. The Wolves will have to be looking for bargains.
Ant might be looking at the bright lights of Brooklyn and sign his Q/O making him an unrestricted free agent at the end of his rookie deal. He'll make so much from endorsements in a big market. At that point you offer the motherlode of first rounders for him.
It's only Luka/Ant who are worth all our draft picks.
What moves need to be made in your opinion?
Who would you target in the draft?
Would you extend Dinwiddie?
Would you keep DFS? Royce?
What would you do with all our draft picks?

I want to incorporate the horned bargaining statue from Breath of the Wild into my game to act as a one time encounter for the party potentially down the road. My thought was to somehow allow the characters to spend gold so they could swap a couple of stat points around. (ie -1 STR, DEX, CON for a +1 INT WIS DEX or vice versa). Players would have the option to undo the swap anytime as long as they are near the statue. The undo would be for free, no refunds, but each player only gets one chance to swap and one to undo.
How would you say the statue works? The statue is sentient, how would you roleplay the statue? Where in your world would you put such a statue?