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"We should get ready," Kawtyahtnakal said. "They're coming soon."
His honor guard was already well-prepared for all of this, with numerous rehearsals of the event. But now was the final stretch, said more in case the Truth Speakers or Regulators needed to get ready. Some of the Patriarchs and, of course, Eyahtni was here as well, wearing armor denoting their ranks or family names and statuses.
Kawtyahtnakal stood, proudly puffing out his chest as the great doors to the throne room swung open.
On the other side, a hard light hologram of Hive Emperor Calanii, Hive Empress Ashnav'viinir, and a host of diplomats and public officials walked. Their shoes echoed loudly in the halls like heralds of the coming prosperity. Already, both the Vinarii Empire and the Hive Union were in a golden age. The business industry was expanding, and public health and consumer spending were up. New shipyards, spaceports, mines, orbital stations, luxury resorts, and technology were rapidly coming online. And that was in spite of the increasingly unpopular war on Galshaskir, which wasn't bearing any fruit.
It was likely that Kawtyahtnakal would set up a shield dome over the planet, one that was self-perpetuating and continuous. That way, he didn't have to send anyone else to die.
The Alliance had sent some soldiers and even more robotic machines, but its assistance had been sporadic compared to the entire planetary front. Kawtyahtnakal sensed that Calanii would also discuss the war with him when they got the chance.
"Greetings, Nest Overlord Kawtyahtnakal. I thank you for your hospitality, and your willingness to accept my request for a meeting."
"You are quite welcome, Hive Emperor Calanii. I am glad to have received it."
Now that the rehearsed theatrics were done, it was time to get to the meat of the discussion. An array of servants and cooks brought in food suitable for both Vinarii and Cawlarian consumption, laced with nutrients and tastes that each found appealing in their own way. Calanii, Eyahtni, and Kawtyahtnakal quickly established a shielded conversation area. A hologram formed around them, blocking their faces and bodies from the view of the others who had come for the meeting. They would have their own discussions while the most important one occurred.
"So. Are you here to discuss the war?"
"Yes. I have machines that would be helpful in alleviating your struggle. In particular, I have a set of sensors that could potentially locate Galshaskir."
"That is good to hear. What will that cost?"
"Only a favor, later on. That favor will not be extreme, like handing over territory or people."
"We will need more of a discussion on that favor," Kawtyahtnakal said. "May I know the nature of it?"
"I would request that you intervene with a group of pirates that is interfering with the border trade. They don't seem to be natural, and are likely based in and supported by an enemy nation."
Kawtyahtnakal nodded. "The Imperium?"
"Our sources are too dubious to confirm whether it's them or another nation posing as them. But it is someone, and somewhat likely to be the Imperium."
"Haven't you normalized relations with them?"
"I did when I came into power. They hated Ashnad'darii and disliked you. I think that they are worried about our continued moves toward cooperation. And they happen to share a direct border with me, though not with you."
"Have you talked to the Eternal Emperor recently?"
"I haven't directly talked to him at all, actually. He hasn't officially discussed matters of importance with the Vinarii Empire ever since our rise to power."
Calanii's antennae bent forward.
"He's building up his fleet, actually."
"He won't attack you with the mutual defense treaty in place. We've still got a massive military, and so do you. In fact, you're modernizing it," Kawtyahtnakal pointed out.
"Yes. But he is likely backed by others, to be so belligerent. And this comes to the third point. He is being aggressive, but support for a war is low. Not zero, but low. I can't declare on him."
"Do you need to?" Eyahtni asked. "Has there been anything that would serve as a casus belli?"
"No. Just increasing anti-Vinarii rhetoric. They killed a small refugee group, only about 30 thousand Vinarii or so. That's too small to declare war. They do not violate our borders officially, and their spy ships seem content to watch without interference."
"How exactly do you wish for me to alleviate this?"
"I want you to express public solidarity with me more often. Open more pacts and corporate collaborations. More sister cities, joint military operations. That sort of thing."
"If that is the favor, than it is acceptable," Kawtyahtnakal said, looking over to Eyahtni. Both of them already planned on doing this, though a little slower than Calanii likely wanted. It was something that would benefit them, with increased experience for their forces as well as better techniques and strategies.
"Yes, it is acceptable," Eyahtni asked. "What of other agreements?"
"We wish to open research agreements with your institutions for their latest advancements."
"That will take some doing, but I don't see why not," Kawtyahtnakal replied. Calanii looked relieved at that.
"And another thing. I would request that your Alliance tone down the anti-Sprilnav actions. It is bringing undue attention to this section of the galaxy. I'm sure you've noticed the number of searches related to your species in foreign data statistics going up. And that your spies are noticing increased chatter in your border states, and the wider galaxy as a whole. If not that, then surely you must have had an increase in contacts recently."
Kawtyahtnakal had noticed that as well. They seemed to have reached a peak recently, likely due to the birth of Edu'frec and also the publicized killing of the Elder that had bombed the Alliance recently. Kawtyahtnakal admired the hasty decision to kill the Sprilnav doing it before it got worse. Because he knew, as did many dead civilizations in the galaxy, that it definitely would have escalated.
To be honest, he'd wanted to establish relations with Edu'frec, and Eyahtni had already petitioned the Alliance for an official meeting. But with the justification that 'he's a child' and 'he doesn't understand diplomacy yet,' they had refused. Of course, both of them knew that it wasn't the Alliance that was actually refusing, but Phoebe. Her security around Edu'frec was surpassed by only a few individuals in the Alliance. And it was the equivalent of what regional governors that controlled multiple systems got in the Union.
"We have noticed, yes," Eyahtni said.
"And has the Alliance given any indication of their preference?"
"No. It does appear that it was both a matter of vengeance as well as prevention."
"The Sprilnav are moving massive fleets in their systems," pointed out Calanii.
"Yes. But they remain in their systems. If the Sprilnav decided to come for us, the whole galaxy couldn't stop them. The ships in their fleets are each the equivalent of battlecruisers and outnumber every civilian and military ship in the galaxy combined. And their Elder ships are so tough that the amount of force needed to crack them even a bit is only possible with the strongest dreadnaught cannons or with planet crackers."
"The Alliance's force projection capabilities are growing at an alarming rate."
"It is not alarming for us, since we are allies. You could always move for reconciliation."
"We don't know how the rest of the galaxy, and especially the Imperium, would take it."
"Well then, that is your risk," Kawtyahtnakal said. "But the longer you wait, the more favorable the terms will get for the Alliance."
"I'm not so sure. They're absorbing population at a high rate, which should start causing huge cultural friction between their constituent races. There's more Wisselen in the Alliance than Breyyanik or wanderers. And if their supposed plans of invading the Guulin are true, then that problem will worsen until they crack under the weight of culture war and political upheaval."
"Phoebe and the hivemind curb much of that. The Alliance's culture specifically preaches understanding and forgiveness for past wrongs. Most of their Wisselen citizens have jobs now, and those that don't are not only surviving, but actually living in houses and with access to free food and water."
"That shouldn't be possible."
"It is, because the elites of the Alliance have manufactured the cycle to benefit everyone, which makes them richer in the process. Money flows from governments into their economy, which goes into circulation, and makes it stronger. Most issues like inflation impact far less severely when food and housing are free."
"You seem to admire them," Calanii observed.
"I do. To go from their humble beginnings to an ascending superpower of the galaxy is no small feat. The Sprilnav don't even enforce their immigration controls on them. They use their advantages to the fullest, whether it's having an entire species linked to a non-predatory and sapient hivemind, to having not one but now two psychic AIs. I admire the resolve of the leaders who represent their people, and their desire to make the galaxy a better place, as best they can."
"They plan to invade a neighbor and have killed a Sprilnav Elder."
"If you killed an Elder, your people would have a year-long party," Eyahtni pointed out. "And they plan to capture and free the slaves of the United Legions, which is driven heavily by the cultural and political influence of the second largest species in their nation, the Guulin. What galactic power do you know that would have granted independence to a people they had annexed, just to make them more equal?"
Calanii sighed. "I suppose that they are the moral side to take."
"Yes, perhaps that is true."
"I'm glad that you see it."
"Do you think they would be willing to help with the Imperium?"
"You should ask them. But the Imperium doesn't have slaves, and doesn't heavily oppress its people, mostly because its propaganda is baked so deeply into its population. So it's a maybe. They won't help you invade, most likely, unless you are attacked. And by attacked, I mean their ships bombing a planet, not shooting at a police vessel."
"I see. Have you also detected the readings from their psychic amplifier bases?"
"We have. However, the Alliance is using the psychic energy predominantly to build shipyards, grow the orbital ring around Mercury, and to expand their production of rare alloys."
"It's incredible how powerful they are, for such a small nation."
"Not really. With Phoebe and the hivemind, they should be more so. Plus the individual known as Equisa should have knowledge that they could use. Though that big gun Phoebe built is certainly up to par with some of our own weapons."
"True. It does cause quite the stir in psychic energy when fired."
The Nest Overlord knew that he was talking about the small amount of psychic energy that all lasers dragged along. It enabled them to be visible to certain sensors even when they missed and when they were high-energy enough to also glow in all directions. Without psychic energy, the lasers would always be invisible in space.
"Yes."
"Well, with that out of the way, I would like to congratulate you on your 86th year of service."
"Thank you. Overlord Day's next week, though."
"I'm aware."
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"Equisa, it's very good to see you again." Meihala smiled as Equisa hugged her. The relatively thin human woman smirked, saying, "Joshua's in the kitchen, making that beef lasagna that we like."
"Mmm. Yes, we do."
"I'll be right in. Don't you wor-"
A message flashed across her vision.
*Elder Equisa. Your presence is requested.\*
She quickly tapped back a response inside her implants.
*Not yet.\*
*Then we will come to you.\*
"Hang on, I need-"
A hologram appeared next to Equisa, of an older Sprilnav man. Wrinkles were visible over his whole body and most prevalent near his joints and face. His jaws hung slightly agape, a common symptom of not just old age but old design. He was likely one of those Elders who had been alive before most galaxies had been born.
Eyes older than stars looked at her and Meihala.
"Equisa. What is... this?"
"You tasked me to investigate the humans and to provide information pertinent to the cause of the psychic pulse. I did so, and you did not reassign me."
A second Sprilnav appeared next to him. Both of them appeared to be male, though with Sprilnav this old, Equisa could never be sure with her eyes alone. But her implants did the identifications for her, confirming her thoughts.
"Ah, so my suspicions were correct. I can smell it on you."
"Smell what?" Joshua asked, entering the room. His eyes widened upon seeing the three Elders. "Oh, uh, what's your names?"
"Refined Elder Rho and Refined Elder Sai." Elder Sai looked at the human with a confused look. "Equisa, why are you mingling with these... beings?"
"Please don't be racist if that's your thing. We're people. Humans, specifically. I'm Joshua, and this is Meihala." He pointed to himself and then to her. Equisa felt like she was swimming in awkwardness.
"Well then. We have questions for your mate."
"She is an acquaintance," Meihala said.
"Mates and friends are different things. You have mated with this Elder, therefore you are... no, both of you have. Equisa, you didn't have any information about this preference in your file."
"It's not a preference; it's just... something new, alright? Yes, I'm in a relationship. But the operation is over, so there's no need for me to do anything." Equisa tried to move away, but Rho just smiled.
"Don't worry. You're not in trouble. Your body is your own, and your words are true. However, this is about the death of a Secondary Galaxy Elder. There has been expressed displeasure at your actions from the Elders of the Secondary Galaxy."
Equisa was surprised that they were saying all of this in front of the humans.
"Why-?"
"We in the Primary Galaxy had a vote, and in that vote we moved to allow knowledge of us to be spread to trusted individuals. As an Elder and one of sound mind and proper, if strange, judgement, then this applies to your mates."
"So you're saying that... everyone knew about this? Everyone?" Equisa asked.
"Everyone knows, yes. Including your family, since that's likely your next question. Your father actually placed a bet on how you would react when you were made aware of this. He's just become a richer man."
Equisa sighed, knowing that her father's nature had somehow remained the same throughout the long millennia. Ever since his time before the Source War, he'd been a gambler and better. He was prolific and just successful enough to win enough to pay the debts of his losses. But he wasn't a bad person.
"Wow, that's gotta be like, I don't know, really embarrassing," Meihala laughed. "I'm sorry."
"Yes. You're one of the most famous Elders in existence, as the first Elder to mate with a member of another species in... 7 billion Earth years or so? Maybe 8, I'm still not exact on the length."
"You carry the 3, so 8," Rho said. Sai smiled as if not knowing basic math was a running joke between them. Perhaps it was.
"Alright. So what's the consequences for it, then?"
"None. They expressed displeasure, that's all. But they lost the war, so who cares about what they think? Plus, this is way more fun. I'm particularly keen on meeting Phoebe and Penny."
"Penny's single," Rho said. "But too young, especially for you. Age gaps that large are too weird for me."
"Well, Equisa doesn't care," Sai laughed. "She's what, a hundred million times older than these humans here? That's gotta be strange."
"Can you two not pry into my love life? Thank you. I'd prefer that this visit ends quickly," Equisa said. Rho and Sai then changed into forms that were human, though still old.
"Alright. We won't bother you, but we'd be happy to do some sightseeing. Can you take us to walk around?"
"No."
"What if I ordered you?" Sai asked.
"I'd refuse."
"Aw, you're so grumpy now. Good old Equisa. Well, not older than me, is she?" Sai joked, laughing with Rho and slapping his back. He exited Equisa's house, followed by Sai close behind.
"Can you explain this to us?" Joshua asked.
"I... it'll take a while."
"We're not mad, just confused," Meihala added. "I wouldn't exactly want them to know about my love life, either."
"How many Sprilnav are in the Primary Galaxy?"
"About... a septillion of them?"
Joshua laughed. "You're serious?"
"Absolutely. We've got Dyson spheres, ringworlds, and artificial worlds."
"Full spheres?"
"Segmented. But the concept remains true."
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"Aw, this guy's kind of adorable," Penny heard. She was busy being absolutely destroyed at a game with Edu'frec, who definitely didn't have the skill of a mere ninth grader. Whether that was because of further advancement or because he was an AI was hard to know for sure. But whatever the case, that was what things had been.
Penny's head craned leftward to the sound, strings of psychic energy already starting to form on her fingers. But they stopped when they saw a pair of old men standing at the door. And they weren't just people with grey hair, but really old. Like they were thousands of years old, with hanging jowls, wrinkled faces, and spotted skin. One even sported a wart on his nose.
"Oh, hello there!" one said, waving at her as if he wasn't a person out of a hospital bed. "I'm Sai, and this is Rho. How are you doing?"
"I'm good. How did you get here?"
"We walked, obviously."
"Phoebe has incredibly powerful security, and you just... walked in?"
"Yeah, it looked expensive. But don't worry. We just want to pat him on the head."
"Who are you?" Edu'frec asked. "Don't treat me like a child."
"My name is-"
"Not your names. What are you?"
"I'm not sure what you mean," Rho said.
"You don't walk like humans. Your gait and stance are wrong, as if you're compensating for something that's not there. Like you had four legs before, instead of two. So I'll ask again. What are you?" Edu'frec bared his teeth in a growl.
"Well, isn't it quite obvious? We're Sprilnav. And we're here to-"
An android suddenly walked into the room. Phoebe moved in a blur, her hands rushing forward to slam into both of them. However, she passed through them. A second android pulled back Edu'frec as shields appeared around him thick enough to hide him from view. Penny wasn't sure what to do.
"We're here to pet him."
"I'm not a child," Edu'frec growled through the shield. There was a pulse of something, and then the two old men became Sprilnav. Penny switched into action, standing between them and Phoebe's son. All of them were on a hair trigger.
"Ok, we'll leave," Rho and Sai said. "We're sorry."
"You don't just get to-"
"Yes, we do. I'm not going to be locked in a cage, and neither is my friend here. We're sightseeing."
"How did you get here?"
"Don't worry about it. We won't do any harm to you."
"You need to learn about what to do and what not to, if you're going to remain in the Alliance."
"Sai, they're treating us like we're vermin."
Sai frowned. "Oh. Phoebe, we're not from the Secondary Galaxy. We're here because Equisa hacked a communication device, which resulted in the death of an Elder."
"So you're punishing us?"
"Not at all. We're just seeing the Alliance that we've heard so much about."
"Would you stay and protect us against the Primary Galaxy?" Phoebe asked, calming quickly with the revelation.
"Probably not. Why, are they trying to kill you all or something?"
"Sort of."
"Then why are you still alive?" Sai asked with genuine confusion.
"Come on, you aren't that senile," Rho said. "It's the Source's Servant that's in the mindscape, trying to hide from us."
With that, Rimiaha appeared in the room as if he'd always been there. "What are you trying to do here?"
"We really do just want to do some sightseeing. There's nothing wrong with it."
"How do we know?"
"Just him and I are enough, if that wasn't true."
"What do you mean by that?" Phoebe asked.
"We are enough."
Rimiaha sighed. "I'd still beat you."
"We can block the Source's power from reaching you. All you'd have is your reserves, and they're not enough," Sai said.
"Please. I could smack you into tomorrow, quite literally," Rimiaha retorted.
"We get it," Phoebe said. "You're only using 1% of your power or whatever. But you're getting guards, both for your sake and ours."
"We can become humans again."
Penny sighed. Nilnacrawla ended another psychic energy class, looking at the scene in bemusement.
Are these guys really as stupid as they're acting?
Older Sprilnav are generally smarter, so not likely. And these guys are very old.
Generally?
Generally, it's likely that they are purposely doing this for entertainment.
"Well, you'd do it badly, but yeah," Phoebe replied. "I'm sorry that I got upset. But I'm going to explain this to you. I'm... very protective of Edu'frec. I really love him. So when I saw you two so close to him, and heard what I thought would be a declaration of intent to kill him, I was upset. Very upset."
"Nilnacrawla says that you guys are faking it," Penny said.
"Nilnacrawla? He's alive?"
"Yes, he's in my head," Penny stated dryly. "Do you not know this?"
"I didn't," Sai said.
"First of all, what kind of Elders are you?" Edu'frec asked.
"Refined Elders. Those who were born not only before the Source war, but before the most major of the genetic modifications preparing for it."
"I see. Another title," Phoebe said.
"You can call is Rho and Sai, if you want. We won't make you use our titles."
"You seem a lot more... chill than the Elders in our galaxy," Penny noted.
"Yes. We haven't had much to do, really. Most of us waste away in drug-induced euphoria or implants that do the same."
"That's sad," Edu'frec said.
"Perhaps it is. It is said that their throats are dry as bones from all the laughing they do. But anyway. We will stop acting senile. Rho and I are here to see whether your Alliance is worthy of our attention, after so long in isolation."
"Why?"
"The psychic pulse. It has reached us, and made a number of people very concerned. But upon seeing you, we have decided to ignore that. Given that Equisa's been able to find love among your kind, you are clearly not as hostile to Sprilnav as we were led to believe. For the right price, perhaps a deal can be worked out."
"What deal?"
"Exports, specifically. We'd like some of your food and cultural works."
"The originals?"
"Copies will suffice," Rho said.
"You came all the way here to ask for art and act like this?" Penny asked.
"Yes. And to see if Equisa's father would win his bet. He did."
"So you want to do something fun, huh?" Phoebe asked. "Want to hear about the hard light simulators?"
"We have those where we're from," Sai replied.
"Not like we do," Phoebe grinned. "I'll get you two tickets to the Infinite Skiing Hill, if you want. Think of it as compensation for my earlier actions."
"I would very much like to see this, and to see Rho fail," Sai smirked. "But what is skiing?"

So, the dream started off with me at my home, and I felt this trembling. So I went outside. The earth split open as an earthquake tore threw the place. It had to be like a 9 or 10 in seismic scale due to the fact the earth just buckled underneath my feet. I called my husband as he was at work and he said he would pick up the kids from daycare(they've never been in daycare...they are 2 and 3). So, I told him to get to higher ground.
I started to run towards the mountains(though I live in a flat area but they were right in front of me). Other people are following suit. That's when the tsunami hits. I'm climbing as the water is coming in. Idk if my husband or children are ok. Also there is a volcano that's throwing steam off next to the mountain I'm at.
The dream gets more personal. Lol. People are climbing and not having a hard time. I'm freaking out cause I'm climbing at a 90 degree angle and I'm afraid of heights. I'm finding holes to pull myself up. I get to a ledge and ask the people to help me as the ledge is hard to get over and I'm having a hard time getting a grip. They laugh at me and tell me no even though they've already made it over. I finally find a cut in the earth and pull myself up. I stay away from the others as they don't seem friendly. I try to call my husband but no signal and goes straight to voice-mail.
As the water starts to descend a little, I try to find an easier way down so I don't have to go down 90 degrees again. I find some natural forming rock slides. And some kind of boat that's been abandoned. Others follow me. We get the boat running and start zooming through the water.
Everything is mess. Boats and houses thrown everywhere. Looks like a swamp with the trees overhanging. I try to find my children. We find the daycare and get through the ceiling since the water is over the doors. There are adults and children nets...like those playplaces with nets. I don't find my husband and children. Unfortunately, I leave and that's when the ground starts to go up and then gets sucked in the ground....a volcano forms. And I die...waiting for the heat to take me...I wake up. It was a very intense and scary ass dream.

warning this does involve minors. i am a 17m and went to a party with someone i was chatting with 16f. we have known each other for years now and had interest in each other off and on in the past year. we had been on a couple dates and decided this would be a great way to solidify our relationship and become officially bf and gf. this party as i was told by her was going to be hosted by one of her old friends for her birthday. It was going to have security( the uncle and aunt) just to be safe. Which seemed awesome.
before before the party i went to her place and had dinner with her family. which since i knew them all for a while so it wasn’t like the traditional meet the parents kinda thing; plus her dad would be driving us. we hungout and just chatted about life and school work until it was time to go.
during we arrived fine and i found out that this was apparently a ragger and obviously not going to be the tame party that i expected no security or at least someone to manage it. not to disappoint her i decided to stay and stick it out after all it was only three hours. i was so so wrong. i don’t drink (prior trauma) so i was going to be a responsible for her tonight and she knew that. she decided to bring three beer as she is a light drinker and we were only staying a couple hours. at the start of the party everything was fine everyone was dancing, drinking and playing pool in the basement. meanwhile she found a couple of her friends and decided to introduce me as her “boyfriend” which immediately shook me but i just followed as i rly liked her and didn’t want to embarrass her. at this point it had been one and a half hours and she had all three beer, (which is all i thought she had). Until later that night she was so drunk she told me she had taken four or five shots of vodka and took pot gummy’s all while my back was turned. at this time the hard drugs starting appearing. at this point had half an hour to kill so i decided to hangout away from the main crowd and let her drink some water. at this point of the party i was past the whole shes got a really nice outfit on and kinda getting scared by who was around us. at this point were standing together and she kissed me. I was repulsed. I said stop as i want our first kiss as us together to be special not her stoned and drunk. she doesn’t listen and continues which forced me to push her away from my face. In response she grabs my penis and scrotum. my continual response being stop pLease.
after. after this part in the party the whole thing when to sh,t. someone ended up being stabbed in-front of me and her. we escaped. after this whole experience i told her all i needed was time but did not respect that so i broke things off. i think she was so drunk she does not know what she did and why i really broke up with her.
any clarity or advice would mean the world

PPSSPP does not detect my ps4 controller natively, but running it through steam allows for steams controller support to work for it.
Is there a way I can get Playnite to start PPSSPP via the steam shortcut link rather than running it directly from the install location so the controller support can be kept?

Got top surgery yesterday! In a fair bit of pain today, but the doctor said it's normal and that I'm healing well (hurt so bad I went into the ER). I can't wait for the pain to settle down and the bandaging to come off so I can experience no boobies! Right now, with the bandaging, bolsters, and swelling it still feels like I have tits, even tho I know I don't.
Extra good news is that I got my surgery done at the VA and my surgeon (Dr Keys) is 1) part of a team working to get it so that they don't have to list it as breast reduction (and also make it so that any VA hospital can do top surgery for FtM, not just the ones with surgeons that are willing to take that risk) and 2) working to get post surgery binders so that patients don't have to buy their own or use the ace wrap they get sent home with. Any FtM veterans who can go to the Puget Sound Medical Center VA in Seattle - you can get your top surgery there (they have to list it as breast reduction but I got the chest sculpting too)! Also HRT too, but unless there's good reason for you to not use the shots they only offer the intramuscular shots

* **Name / Alias:** Elira Scale / The Steel Dragon
* **Age:** 27 Mentally, 8 Years since Awakening
* **Alignment:** Villain (Mafia)
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# Public Information
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The Steel Dragon is a well known mafia cape from New York, one of their higher level enforcers, she's a versatile brute, and an easy icon. Images depicting her in her iconic steel scales laying on a mound of golden scales circulated a couple years back, leading to her iconic name, The Steel Dragon.
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She's a case 53 well known for her Mafia connection, a brute able to fly and launch her scales. Those with access to the protectorate database would also note her changing scales over the years, akin to various metals, and that she has a tendency to leave scales attached to things, and seems to serve as some kind of spy for the mafia, though the specific means are unknown.
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*Starting Reputation:* B$
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# Physical Appearance
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A large lizard-human with metallic scales, she stands at 8'6" if she fully extends herself upwards, though she tends to hunch to a much more comfortable 6'7". She has a large tail trailing roughly 5' behind her. Generally she's the color of steel, the primary material she makes her scales out of, since it is easy to get and a convenient and tough material for her scales.
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Her rune, a classic Futhark, appears inscribed on the underside of every metal scale she grows.
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# Mentality
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She's very pragmatic, and loyal to the Mafia. She had been found and shunned as a monster when she first awakened, especially an early incident where she broke into a hardware store and ravenously began eating the metal components. The Mafia found her and took her in. She was treated well, and became an enforcer at the New York mafia. She was well suited to the work, quickly climbing ranks to her current spot, where she's more or less comfortable to stay.
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She listens, and does what she's told. She's pragmatic, and quick thinking. She doesn't freeze in a fight, and is a good fighter, honed by years of experience. She struggles with empathy and reigning herself in on occasion, going a little too "Lizard brain" and considering her opponents prey before she's snapped out of it.
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# Equipment and Resources
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* Burner Phone - She pretty much always carries one on her when she can. Has had incidents in the past where she wasn't able to reach others in a time of need, and determined not to repeat it.
* Zip-tie Handcuffs - A useful restraining tool, she tends to keep a handful with her.
* Flashlight - Never know when you might need it
* A few small steel bars - Yummy snacks for the road
​
She has a small apartment in the city, and has food delivered to her. She lacks a vehicle, preferring to fly everywhere since she's too heavy for most normal vehicles unless she focuses on using her power to lift her a bit, making her lighter.
​
*Wealth Level:* 5
​
# Skills
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* Excellent hand-to-claw fighter, powerful and strong, and she's a skilled grappler. She's not going to be winning martial arts contests on pure technique alone but she can definitely hold her own.
* Skilled survivalist, part instinct and part training she's able to survive in the wild basically no problem.
* Highly skilled miner, she's got a nose for metals and can sniff out veins through rock. Between her ability to just eat rock, strength, and ability to claw through the ground she's able to gather metals in the wild fairly easily, though these will generally be low quality and low purity, not the greatest stuff to make her scales from, but they will do in a pinch.
* Passable with guns, knows how to use them but finds them finnicky and hard to use. Much prefers to eat the guns and ammunition.
* Highly skilled chef though she rarely exercises this ability. In fact she will generally simply roast or scorch meat (Or even eat it raw), finding it perfectly palatable, but when persuaded she's a killer cook, and knows how to make tasty meals with relatively ordinary materials.
* Amateur florist and gardener. She keeps a small garden in her home, and is mostly capable of keeping her flowers alive and healthy, though she isn't an expert.
* Amateur Sculptor. She likes to make little figurines from metal in her free time. Her spit makes metal easy to mold, which she uses to make sculpting metals easier.
​
# Power
​
She's a case 53, a large lizard-like humanoid covered in a sheen of metallic scales the size of a fingernail, with large metallic claws at the ends of her hands and feet, and large black fangs.
​
She can control her scales, making them fly around up to 100 meters from her before she loses control. They fly with enough force to chip concrete and embed themselves in steel (Though this damages the small scales at full force). Damaged scales become Untuned, and fall off her and can no longer be controlled/sensed. Lost scales regrow within a day. Each scale is able to lift up to 1 pound. Her claws can also be detached, each about 5x stronger than a normal scale and able to lift up to 5 pounds.
​
She can make the scales stick to things strongly. While at least 1/3rd of her body is covered in scales she is able to fly, though only at a walking pace. While her full body is covered, she's able to fly up to 80 MPH, though this is not agile at high speeds, needing lots of time to slow, speed up, or turn.
​
While the scales are within 100 meters, she can hear through them, though this scales with the number of scales, 1 scale being like she's half-deaf and 20 scales allowing her to pinpoint sounds to an exact location and hear very clearly, or hear frequencies that normal people can't. She can only hear through scales that aren't stuck to her. She always knows the position of every scale as long as they aren't Untuned, no matter the distance. Her scales are able to stick to things, though can be dislodged by hand with some force.
​
While the scales are covering a part, the part is roughly 50% stronger than baseline. Baseline, she's able to bite with the force of an alligator, strike with the force of a middleweight boxing champion, and lift up to 2,000 lbs. Electricity when striking her scales will harmlessly deflect around her generally, doing no damage, but disproportionately causes scales to become untuned and fall off her. A taser strike will remove about a hand's worth of scales. Beneath her scales, her skin / flesh is as durable as strong and tough leather.
​
The durability of a scale /area on her body is roughly that of an inch-thick plate of that material. Scales regenerate within a day of being damaged, and scales that are off of her body for more than a day become untuned and need to be regrown.
​
The material her scales are made out of depends on what metals she is consuming. She is essentially always shedding old scales, causing them to regrow as the new scales of the metal. She can consume her old scales as a source of metal. Her scales inherit most of the properties of the metals she consumes, though power-made material can have unpredictable effects, and may not be able to be "re-consumed" from her own scales depending on the material.
​
She is capable of eating essentially anything. Chemicals and toxins, unless power enhanced do not affect her. While she does enjoy the taste of meat, she is able to subsist and generally prefers eating metals. Without consuming metals her scale regeneration slows to a halt, and her scales burnish and weaken over time. Her jaws disproportionally damage metals, causing them to deform easily for easy consumption. This can be used to her advantage in a battle. She's able to identify metals by their smell, and has a fairly strong sense of smell for it, comparable to that of a bloodhound.
​
She additionally has a slow regeneration, able to heal removed digits, limbs, and other body parts with 2 weeks of time and a lot of consumed meat.
​
She's cold-blooded, and enjoys the heat. Effects which cool her and colder times of the year make her sluggish and tired, and she's liable to be knocked unconscious if cooled enough. She's more resilient to higher temperatures than normal, especially with her scales on, though this isn't full protection. She's comfortable at oven temperatures but higher than that she's liable to overheat, which can be more problematic for her since she can't sweat, and will thermoregulate more slowly than others unless she has a way to cool herself down.
​
*Trigger type:* Coven Case 53 Brute(Mover, Blaster, Thinker)
​
# Example
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A series of small scales shoot through the door undetected as a customer exits the jewelry store, as she watches discreetly from an alley across the street. The scales carefully tap gently on the floor and walls as they go, not enough to cause noticeable noise but enough for her to hear through her sense of them as they get a rough outline of the store, and track the small noises. A single person. Nobody in the back room. A perfect time.
​
Striding up to the glass front door she punches through it, shattering it as the scales throughout the store shoot back up onto her back where she'd taken them from. With a wave of her hand the claws on her right hand and many of the scales on that arm race outwards, sticking to the one clerk's clothing and suspending him, lifting him up to the ceiling. She then gets to work, using her left hand she punches through any display cases and grabs the jewelry, stuffing it into a backpack she had brought. Once she's had her fill she recalls the scales holding the clerk up with a yelp from him as he's lowered to the floor and then they zip away, and she launches out of the front door, taking off into the sky and accelerating away.
​
# Backstory
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She was sitting in the little room in her robes, waiting for the doctor to come in. It was fine, really. She had taken a small fall and passed out for a bit after getting a bit woozy from dehydration. Her mother was so worried, so she went to the hospital to allay worries, and was now waiting in the office for her test results.
​
The doctor walks in, solemn, and she picks up on it, quieting down, asking "Hey- is everything alright with me?". No, it is not. She has Brain Cancer, terminal. They caught it too late. She has 6 months to live, maybe a year if they start treatment now. Shell-shocked she makes her way home from the hospital, and decides one thing- she can't tell her mother. They'd lost her father a few years back to pancreatic cancer, and she couldn't burden her mother with that.
​
She begins looking desperately for a solution, anything. This is a crazy world after all, maybe powers had the solution. Any healer cost.. too much. They were busy at children's hospitals and healing other capes, and the price would have been prohibitive. Fine. She looks further, sketchier corners and finds a strange ad directing her to a website. Just contact information, and a little flourish about "A price for power." Well, power was nice. But she'd pay any price to be healed.
​
When she gets in touch, there's only one thing she's asked. What will she give up in exchange for power. "Everything."
​
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On the grimy streets of New York, 3 months after Elizabeth Cole Alexander disappeared from Connecticut, a lizard awakens. At first she's shunned by superstitious locals, and ends up in a small incident where she's so hungry she ends up attacking a hardware store and ravenously begins consuming the metal parts. After being attacked and threatened off by aggressive local heroes, called a monster- she's left in an alley to lick her wounds, when a local Mafia cape finds her, and invites her to the group.
​
She accepted, and joined the group's ranks, quickly climbing as an enforcer and finding she's good at it- enjoys fighting. She works her way up as a Mafia enforcer in New York over the years, highs and lows, and enjoys a successful career.
​
That is, until she's called for a transfer. Devilfish needing more staff, she was sent. While not entirely happy to be away from the home she'd known all her life, she's determined to make what she can of the opportunity, and help this branch in Devilfish flourish.

I can feel this time is going to be it. I’m following planned meals at specific times and I think eliminating choices and ensuring I eat a snack before lunch will be helpful. There were times I wanted to binge but I didn’t!!!
I’m worried tomorrow because I will be engaging with one of my big triggers (a sugary scone) for lunch. I’m scared this will wack out my system later tonight and lead me to binge. I’ve set alarms for myself and reminders tonight and I’m going to try and eat dinner with people and not alone. I know the easy answer is to just not eat the scone and therefore negate the increased potential of a binge. I’m going to my favorite cafe to study and I REALLY want the scone, I’ve also built it into my meal plan so it can work. Anyways I will update tomorrow with the results of engaging with a trigger.

Today has been a really good day. I mean, I felt great mentally, after I smoked weed in the morning. And I still feel positive.
Physically I feel kinda gross still. I woke up very congested, as usual, and then shortly after I took my meds I got super nauseous and threw up. I'm not sure if it was because I was so congested or if my meds did something weird. But they're the same meds as usual?
I had an appointment with the allergist, who did an exam and said that it looked like I was getting better. Which, after I blew my nose it stayed pretty clear? So that was cool. And face pain wasn’t so bad as it has been. He told me that if I wasn’t feeling better after a few days, give them a call and he’d give me antibiotics. But there’s no need right now since I’m getting better. I’m happy to skip the extra meds. He did tell me that if I needed to I could take 2 of my daily allergy pills for 2 days in a row (instead of 1), and then after that, Benadryl. Next week I’m back to getting my allergy shots. If I had Thursday off I could go back and get the shots but my insurance won’t let me do both shots and an appointment on the same day and I should be working for the rest of the week. I renewed my allergy shots contract, paid for all that. I had to meet my deductible, which was another $90ish, but now after this I don’t pay copay for shots.
When I got home I smoked a bowl, and then was feeling really positive. I put together an outfit, because I had the energy for that. Even wore a necklace and earrings. No makeup though. Don’t want anyone getting any expectations. I mostly dress like a tired mom every day. Men’s T-shirts (I’m more comfortable in that cut) and stretchy pants.
Work has been alright, there’s been lots of stuff to do. They hired a teen services librarian, who interviewed me a few months ago about the facilities. She seems alright. She was always a friendly patron. I train her on some stuff on Thursday. The cataloger is out getting married and whatnot, so I’m teaching her about cataloging. Why they can’t wait until the cataloger comes back, IDK. They should have my supervisor train her, just because it’s hilarious. My supervisor is awful about giving instructions. She points and says “there, there, and there, and then you type xyz, and click there, and click there, fill in the info, and you’re done. Got it? Remember to put the stickers.” The stickers? “Yeah look at the other books and see how it’s done.” Right. “And there’s your whole lesson now do this whole cart.” It’s funny making flyers for her, too, because she’s so vague on what she wants. She wants a flyer for ___________ event. But she doesn’t give you any info on the event. What do you want to put on the flyer? “Oh I don’t know just something about ______ event.” What do you want me to put about that event? “Oh just information.” What information? “I don’t know, I think it’s on google somewhere. Something about t-shirts and I don’t know, you know. Say something nice.” Right. Other people actually give me the content they want me to put on the flyers. Links to websites, pictures…ideas on what they want it to look like…
D made some fantastic mashed potatoes today, to go with broccoli and (air)fried chicken drumsticks. I was not a fan of the chicken, but when am I ever? Just, the mashed potatoes, so good. And there are those “Drumstick” ice creams still in the freezer (edit - ice cream at work not home) so I totally just took a break to eat one.
I’ve been listening to LeVar Burton Reads on Spotify. I’ve got the podcast saved on other podcast apps, but I do like Spotify. I listened to a story earlier about time travelers. Now I’m going to try to finish an episode of Haystacks & Hell, an XSDA podcast. This episode is all about the main guy’s deconstruction and deconversion, which like, I guess is important. I just don’t really remember why I drifted away from the church in the first place. I’ve never tried to explain myself. Maybe it was because I prayed so much and I tried so hard and their god didn’t care? Maybe because my mom was so sick and in so much pain for so long and their god didn’t care? If he is was real, they say he’s all powerful, he could have done something. But he didn’t, and he doesn’t. If he’s real, he’s a dick and I want nothing to do with him.
Alright, enough ranting about my hatred for god and christianity. I've gotta get back to work. It's my late day. I'm drinking my coffee and eating, so when I get home to do bedtime I'm (hopefully) not too grumpy.
How are you? How's your day?

I'm 34 making $38k. I actually have a couple of questions here. I have no degrees, one income, one teenager. I'm way behind in saving for retirement. And I don't even know if it's possible with my income. Long term I need to raise that Income, but what can I do with what I'm making now to even come close to having a shot at not working til I die? Bi-wkly pay and take home about $1130 per paycheck and all expenses are divided equally between checks. I contribute to work 401k, Roth IRA, hysas, and use a cash envelopes system for misc. sinking funds I'm going to need in a year or less.. My car is paid off and I have no debt. My partner pays the rent, I pay everything else and we do not combine finances.
BILLS Phone 25 Gas 25 Groceries 160 Internet 40 Electric 175
WALLET Spending 40 Personal 20 Laundry 15 J 10
SINKING FUNDS 175
SAVINGS ira 150 401k 75 (matched dollar for dollar by my company) Hysa1 40 Hysa2. 20
MISC 75
I have a 15k emergency fund in a hysa, and another 13k in a second one, both earning 3.4 right now. I keep 100 buffer in my checking account, 300 in a regular savings for unexpected minor expenses though my sinking funds are pretty thorough in the sense that everything that's come up has been covered from one envelope or another related one so I never dip into any of the rungs my efund ladder.
I aim to raise my IRA contributions to 250 per by august because I recognize that maxing that out every year is a priority. I think my withholdings are set too high because I average 5k in tax returns and usually just dump them in savings because I don't need them but plan to shift that into retirement next year when I've met my savings goals but would it benefit me more to have the excess pay per check to add to retirement? I've only been contributing to retirement for about a year and a half and have about $7.7k between the two accounts. Maxing out my 401k is obviously not an option but should I be putting more than 5% into that? My child's education has been taken care of by great grandparents so it's not included.
Lastly, should I switch my 401k contributions to tradtional or keep them Roth?
I put a lot of planning and effort into budgeting and staying within my means, but I'd feel more comfortable about budgeting this tight if I knew retirement was even possible for me, without a degree, increase in income is unlikely to exceed much more than 10-15k.
I'm sorry this is such a mess and thank you for any feedback ☺️

Now, I know what you're thinking. You look at the steam page and do a quick google search of "Demons Roots". You say to yourself: this is an RPG-maker game, and a hentai game at that, by some random developer you've never heard of. There's so many of these clogging up the Steam Store. How is this game any different?
Well, I was in that position about a week and a half ago. I saw a comment on a thread about the Steam Spring Sale praising this game, comparing it to titles like Nier (and another comment comparing it to Chrono Trigger). So I went in and found the same thing on the surface: a low-budget RPG-maker hentai game. Then, I scrolled down and noticed that nearly every review on the store page had high praise for the game's writing and story. Maybe that original comment was onto something? The game was on sale (and in fact, it still is), and I had money to spare, so I picked up the title, downloaded the restoration patch for the game from the Kagura Games website, and booted it up to give it a go.
Fast forward about a week and a half. Credits are rolling. Demons Roots is now one of my favorite RPGs ever.
Those reviews I talked about that were praising the game's writing? They weren't kidding. The game's strongest point is its characters and story, and it is STRONG. Just as a quick overview, the story of Demons Roots is about the demon race, exiled to the dark realm after the defeat of the demon lord. A thousand years later, the dark realm is collapsing, and the demons must invade the ruthless human empire to ensure their own survival. The main character, Deathpolca, is a fantastic protagonist; my favorite RPG protagonist for a while has been Estelle Bright from the Trails series, but I think Deathpolca is up there with her. She's got a very strong, almost arrogant personality, yet is surprisingly insightful or vulnerable at times, and the way we learn more and more about her as the story goes on is done very well. The rest of the cast is great as well; party members consist mostly of the lost and downtrodden from various kingdoms such as slaves and gladiators (and an isekai'd FBI agent). They're also well-written, have great chemistry with each other, and get plenty of moments to shine; they're definitely one of the stronger JRPG parties I've played with in terms of character and writing. The story itself is fast-paced, but not overwhelmingly so. There's moments to breathe, but there's not much in the way of pointless filler, as the plot is consistently moving as the player and the cast navigate the various turns and twists of the 40 hour story. And believe me, there are twists! While the story isn't completely unpredictable, it kept me on my toes for quite a bit, especially in the later half. And the execution is stellar; it nails pretty much all the ideas and beats that it goes for. By the time credits were rolling, I was close to tearing up, and I wanted more from these characters and this world.
In terms of gameplay, it's pretty standard turn-based RPG fare, though it's not bad. Besides health, you've got two resources to manage: your standard MP, and TP, which is a meter that starts near 0 and rises as you do actions until you spend it on skills (think CP from Trails except it doesn't carry over between battles). Your party members have well-defined kits formed from the skills and magic they gain from leveling up, and they usually fit into pretty standard roles (tank, fighter, mage, support, etc). Battles are quick and rarely frustrating, though the game is overall on the easier side. Enemies are visible on the field and you get a battle-start bonus if you run into them from behind. There's no random encounters outside of EX dungeons (optional dungeons unlocked after you clear an area in the story).
Other points:

• The OST is composed by Shade (a former AliceSoft composer) and he's done very well. The boss themes in particular are bangers and the final boss theme is excellent.
  
• I've called this a hentai or eroge game multiple times, but to tell you the truth, it's more like a JRPG first and an eroge game second or third. It feels like a proper RPG that occasionally reminds you that it's an eroge every five hours by inserting a scene of a party member taking it up the ass or something like that. If you're actually looking for hentai instead of a stellar JRPG, you'll probably be disappointed.
  
• Despite my singing of praises, the game is not perfect. The writing can falter a little here and there, there isn't much party customization beyond who equips what and who you bring into battle, the eroge parts are kinda eh and can be a turn-off depending on how squeamish you are, it's a low-budget RPG-maker games and has some of those low-budget quirks you'd expect like music pop-in and lacking animations. However, don't let that stop you from picking this game up, unless you're really turned off by that sort of stuff.
  
• If you do pick up the game on Steam (it's 20% off right now), make sure to download the restoration patch from the Kagura Games website. It fixes a lot of things; for example, it adds a "cinematic" difficulty mode if you just want to coast through the story, whereas the unpatched Steam version just gives you a boatload of super powerful items at the start of the game whether you want them or not. It also adds several sprites and CG art pieces that are missing in the unpatched Steam version, as well as an R18 scene filter if you don't want to watch them.
  
• There's apparently a sequel called King Exit (or rather, this is a prequel of King Exit?). I don't think it's gotten a proper translation, and I don't know much about it.
  

Overall, despite the low budget and the fact that this is an RPG-maker eroge game, the dev's passion for the RPG genre really shows, and this is one of the best examples of not judging a book by its cover (or rather, its genre). This little game that released in English quietly at the start of the year blew away all of my expectations. Demons Roots is an outstanding RPG, and one that'll be sitting around the top of my list for a while.
I'm not good at writing recommendations. Please play this game. It is amazing.
TL;DR: This indie RPG-maker eroge game is one of the best RPGs that I've played and deserves the attention of the JRPG community. Go play it.

Hello, just got 4 point tracking, just added a chest tracker but it seems to not work properly. all of my other trackers go left right up down forward and back. but only my chest tracker doesnt go forward and back, like i lean forward and i have a hunchback. i think its a vrchat issue. cause they move perfect in the steam vr menu. it seems like the hip dictated the front and back movement but not the left and right. any help would be appreciated

Hi everyone – first, I feel bad about not replying to the thoughtful posts I got when I previously posted here; happily, I've since realized that relationship was incredibly toxic, was single for a year, and have now met a very caring partner I feel truly safe around.
Despite being in a genuinely healthy relationship now, since moving in with my partner about a month ago, I've realized that a long-time issue has gotten a bit worse: more nights than not, I wake up gasping/almost trying to scream when he comes to bed. I am able to get back to sleep almost right away but I suspect it's part of why I feel completely exhausted lately. It's also upsetting to him, though I've reassured him that it's not related to anything about him. This also happened a few times in college; that's a helpful data point to know it didn't just start and it isn't just him.
Anyway, it seems to be extra frequent now and it makes sense because I'm doing probably the most intensive EMDR work yet and not recovering much in the way of visual memories, but surfacing a lot of body memories/emotional flashbacks without much insight into specific triggers I could address & desensitize.
All that said, even as I try to accept this as part of my healing process, I would still love to move through this phase and wake up less frequently/stressfully during the night. Has anyone found strategies to deal with this?

Warning: Long Read
I had been putting off reading the book until after the show finished so now that it's done I finally read it and wanted to give my thoughts on the book to show changes.
Things I wish they kept from the book:
○ Daisy being a "Penny Lane" type character: I know the show touched on it a little bit in her younger years but once she met Simone and Teddy the focus for her character really was on her music. Taking away the aspect where she was very well known and dating rockstars doesn't change a ton but I just think it would've been a fun addition.
○ Daisy having a record deal before joining The Six and touring with them: There are a couple different reasons I wish they had kept this. 1. Daisy being successful on her own but Billy being able to help her get the control over her music she always wanted, to me, is better than Daisy not being able to have any success at all without him. 2. The first tour would've allowed the friendships between Daisy and the rest of the band to develop before we dove into the Daisy and Billy of it all. Her friendship with Warren and how well they worked together in the book (even though it's only briefly mentioned) could've made it clear why she continued to work with him after leaving the band in the show. It would've strengthened her relationship with Karen. We got a couple really good moments with them in the show but I would've loved more. It's funny because in the show her reaction to leaving seems more in line with her relationships with them in the book vs in the book she kind of leaves them behind without a second thought.
○ Hank: I know Hanks storyline is really similar to Nicky's but I still think that it would've helped to demonstrate a pattern of behavior from Daisy. By having Nicky be the sole storyline like that and the other storylines involving men show Daisy as such a strong willed woman, it makes Nicky feel like he comes out of nowhere.
○ Billy and Camilla breaking up and then him proposing because he didn't want to live without her and that's why she moved to LA: If they were going to insist on keeping the book ending, this would've helped it make more sense (although this isn't what I would want to see happen, but I also don't think they should've kept the book ending which I will get into more later). In the show it really felt like he stayed with her out of obligation vs. in the book it never felt that way.
○ Rod: If they were going to bring Rod back for the tour anyway then they should've just kept his full role from the book.
Changes I'm glad they made:
○ Daisy's issues with her family being more prominent: Obviously they were there in the book but I think her relationship with her parents in the show explains so much about her character and why she is the way she is.
○ Simone's journey with her sexuality: Even though it took the backseat a lot of the time, Simone's journey was one of the most powerful.
○ Simone and Daisy's friendship: Their friendship comes across so much deeper in the show and their dynamics is one of my favorites.
○ Billy finding her after the OD: That scene, and her confronting both him and Nicky about it the next day was gut wrenching. It also gave us the incredible work Riley did with the character following the OD.
○ Teddy's relationships with Daisy and Billy: We were told that Billy and Teddy had a great relationship in the book but didn't get to see it as much and his relationship with Daisy was basically nonexistent. Teddy in the show is just a great character in general but his individual relationships with Daisy and Billy were a highlight for me.
○ Teddy dying between timelines: I wouldn't have been able to handle Teddy dying before the very end so this is more for my own sake.
○ Getting rid of the Daisy and Camilla hotel conversation and having the I don't want to be broken instead: I know others don't agree with this but I hated that Daisy left the band because Camilla told her to. Daisy making the decision on her own, choosing to walk away from Billy even though he would've been with her at that point, and deciding she doesn't want to be broken, was such an amazing moment for her character.
○ Karen actually being in love with Graham but pushing him away so he didn't have to settle for a life he didn't want: As heartbreaking as it was, it was so much better than Karen not feeling the same way after all that time.
○Camilla and Eddie: Camilla deserved to have that secret and it added an extra layer to his resentment of Billy.
The one change I wish they had made but they didn't:
○ Camilla and Billy should've gotten divorced after the final concert. It didn't make sense in the world of the show, where there was a much greater emphasis on Daisy and Billy's relationship and them loving eachother, for Camilla and Billy to stay together. I don't think Billy and Daisy should've gotten together at that point but Camilla and Billy should've mutually decided to end their marriage, remain great friends and coparent, Billy and Daisy spend all those years working on themselves as individuals and then Camilla still encourage them to give it a shot when she is dying. The book ending worked for the Camilla and Billy of the book but not for the Camilla and Billy of the show.
Sorry for the long read. Thanks for sticking with it if you did lol. What changes did you like and what things do you wish they kept that they didn't?

My husband and I have decided to actively begin leaving the US. We have a 3 year old and a 6 month old. I don’t want to worry about them going to school. We already avoid large group activities like parades. A shooting missed me on Sunday by about a half hour. Someone just shot a guy riding his bike in the head on a Sunday afternoon, nice part of town, broad daylight.
We have $400k if we sell our house. Looking for Uk or Western Europe. My husband could possibly get a Hungarian ancestry visa but not thrilled about living there. I have a degree in economics and data science. Husband works in GIS which is often on skilled work visas.
We are also both willing to go back to school. So where would you go? Kid friendly, goos transportation. We only speak English, I took German for four years in high school and husband took it in college, we could learn again. I’m not sure where to start my search, there’s so many variables and I would be happy most places I think.

Hi everyone! After two years of taking a break to soul search and heal from a breakup, I’m dating again after finally coming out. Some days my mood and mindset are better than others. What I realized though is that regardless of how well or how negative things are flowing with someone, especially if it’s someone that I’m starting to like, I feel triggered and anxious in the dating process. It’s hard to not have intrusive thoughts since I have ocd. I’m in therapy trying hard to work on this part of myself. I’m curious though if anyone has found a way to navigate situations like this for those that are newly out? Sometimes I struggle to know what is a red flag and what is my anxiety.

Just do it! It's not very hard and it will improve everyone's play experience!
Nearly without fail, every time I hear someone on VOIP in this game it's some sweatlord child barking orders in a level 3 or level 4 match. It's some tedious little prick pretending to be a day shift manager and screaming about loadouts, or going too fast, or grouping up. You toilets have nothing better to do than to shout at complete strangers for the crime of suboptimal gameplay, in an unfinished game that sits pretty on a 55% Steam rating.
Unplug your microphones. Please, please shut up and let us wipe because we mistimed a block-push on a pox burster, or didn't get the right blessings on one of this game's 19 different tactical latrine shovels. Do not talk. Instead, use your eyes and observe that your are also in a rank 3 or 4 game, and not in a high intensity damnation run with the rest of the cricket people who enjoy that kind of self-harm. Fix your heart and understand that some of the people playing this game are grown-ups who are very tired from work, and want to click on heads in the funny warhammer game.
Unplug your mic! I promise it's super easy! No one wants to hear you! Everything you could say that you think I need to hear, a unit bark or pre-recorded voice line does just as well. Unplug your mic, or go to a CoD lobby and larp as a project manager there and see what it gets you.

Alright just to clarify, I don't think anything that happened is the fault of linux and I'm still intent on getting into it. Anywho - my short story of the the times i tried and failed to get into linux
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So my first attempt at installing linux was several years ago at the behest of a friend (who uses arch btw). He did really try to sway me that way but at the time it sounded like a bit much so i avoided it and went for something more mainstream - Ubuntu. Well I also really didn't feel like using a USB stick so I decided to try to install through UNetbootin. This was the big yikes. I wanted to dual-boot windows and ubuntu - I don't really remember the details but somewhere along the way I messed up the install. This bricked my hdd and I quickly crawled back to windows with my tail between my legs. (I lost my MC world too :c)
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My second attempt at linux was several months ago. This time it actually went fairly smoothly. I went with Nobara and installed it on a seperate ssd. Honestly everything went fine. Though the problem here was more that I just did not jive at all with Nobara. I don't know what it was, tried a few different things changed settings, etc. Just did not like it and I slowly drifted back to using windows only and formatted that drive for more space.
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Well since then I've gotten a new computer and I wanted to try installing linux again. I get a new ssd just for linux and try to figure out what distro I want. I decided to go with Arch. A combination of my friend's suggestion, the memes, its customizability, and me being a big sucker for nice logos led me to it. I try going through the wiki and the install guide and realize I just don't quite understand a few things. Decide to try a youtube video and see if that helps - and it does! Or so I think. I follow along and understand what the wiki was saying a bit better and things seem to be going well - up until I try getting grub working and it says my partition doesn't look like an efi partition...I try going through a few fixes I found online and nothing works. I give up the goat for the night. Get home from work today and decide to try again. I wipe the drive to start over. I find a *different* more comprehensive guide and go through it. The guide would probably work if not for the creator missing the key detail of installing linux-firmware so it just locks up at boot every single time. This process had taken two hours and I got frustrated. I wiped the drive *again* and out of pure desperation at this point decided a funny meme video of master chief telling you how to use arch install was a good idea. I follow along to the letter and...it worked! Almost. Actually no it didn't. I failed again. Why? Because I somehow forgot or mistyped the password i had setup for my user account during installation. Also it was installed on the wrong drive despite me memorizing the drive names. I can't even. I'm not sure if I'm cursed or simply the most inept linux user on the planet.
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After all that I've given up for the night and probably the rest of the week too. I think I'll give it another shot over the weekend, and I'm still intent on arch - mostly out of stubborness and a need to "win" at this point. Wish me luck!

Jumping into it, I’m a longtime PC gamer, I’m in the navy and get deployed on ships for months at a time with no internet connection, I consider myself tech savvy but behind the times when it comes to new stuff and I just learned about steam deck today. I want to get a steam deck to game while on deployment. I normally bring high end gaming laptops with me but it is a pain dragging them around and setting them up/putting them away(needs to be locked up if I even leave my office for a second or it could get stolen). My main questions are do I need the “dock” piece. I don’t understand what it does. For context I’ll be using it mostly at an office desk with no internet connection with outlets available, and sometimes in my bed. I mainly plan to play Civ(my most played game), fallout, and maybe some titles like the last of us and Hogwarts legacy. For Civ do I need the dock to hook up my mouse and key board or is that even possible. And I’m assuming I should get the version with the biggest SSD but what are the aftermarket storage options and how does it work? Thanks for any info. Money isn’t a huge concern but I don’t want to spend extra if it’s not necessary.

Okay, last week we pulled up for a quick book caucus, and it wasn't so bad. It wasn't nearly as cold as I thought it would be. Two new people showed up, Aurora_the_Off-White and MunsonTime, and we need a few new dudes. We went right into How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu, and most of us actually read it this time, so good timing.
Aurora told us the author started writing it over a decade ago and the pandemic elements are a coincidence to our experience over the last couple of years. She really appreciated the last chapter and thought it really brought the disparate stories together. Munson said that the theme of the stories was people dealing with their grief and mourning of lost loved ones. He liked the style of seemingly disparate stories about ordinary people dealing with their circumstance. Everyone had a high opinion of the book, though I thought there was some inconsistency and we could maybe have done without the pig boy story.
Incorrigible_muffin said How High We Go reminded her of The Candy House by Jennifer Egan, which she said was a series of loosely connected vignettes and stories. Candy House is a sequel of A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan, but Muffin says you don't need to it to fully enjoy The Candy House.
Someone else threw out World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, which is the prototype of the strongly themed short story collections. We talked about other near future post-apocalyptic works, and lamented that there were few well-written ones. Coconut thought Station Eleven belonged in the discussion and we all agreed that it was excellent. We talked about Emily St. John Mandel's other works The Glass Hotel and Sea of Tranquility and those of use who had read them had a high opinion of them. I recently read The Dog Stars by Peter Heller and can recommended it as a mashup of post apocalyptic gun nuts and spicy romance done by a high quality author.
We talked about N.K. Jemisin's The City We Became and we had mixed appreciation for it. Muffin thought it was amazing, and thought the same of its sequel, The World We Make. She has spent a lot of time in New York and the story elements really resonated for her. Apparently there's also a Great Cities 0.5 that I haven't heard of before called The City Born Great.
We discussed some of NK Jemesin's other series such as the Broken Earth series starting with The Fifth Seasonand The Inheritance Cycle, starting with The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
Munson had only been to New York once and couldn't relate to the city like Muffin or Coconut could. He gave it a shot and then switched to a different book. I was listening to the audio book, and the narrator started acting out the book and that ruined it for me. She'd whisper parts and I'd have to turn it up, and then she's yell parts and it just got more and more annoying. I usually listen to nonfiction books.
We talked about the compulsion to finish books. Everyone has a position. Some people feel like they're failing if they abandon a book. I say if you're not enjoying the book, you're wasting your time. Munson talked about reading Against the Day by Thomas Pynchon with a group of his friends, and finding it such a slog that he ended up not reading anything for three months because he couldn't swallow any more of Against the Day.
Munson is most excited about hard science fiction, and is currently finishing the third book in the Remembrance of Earth's Past series by Cixin Liu, which I think is The Redemption of Time. The other two books are the The Three-Body Problem and Death's End.
Aurora is working on the the Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas and is liking it. She says very similar things as Laucchi when she was reading it, notably that it started as practically YA and become more adult and pretty spicy in later books. She liked the depiction of the Fae Court being darker and more complex than simpler stories tend to depict. She noted how similar it was to the one in the The Dresden Files and we talked about the wizard with a shotgun motif. She also mentioned a new book by the author of Artemis Fowl, Eoin Colfer but I didn't know which one it was.
Quite a few of the people who had read the Dresden books found them to be misogynistic or at least condescending towards women. Muffin talked about a common convention in urban fantasy where the hero adopts a patronizing attitude and tries to handle all the problems in the world. The hero tries to keep his friends safe rather than allow them to help themselves or utilize those resources to take care of their common problems. She pointed out places in the Harry Potter series where that was happening. I always recommend the Alex Verus series for urban fantasy, and it has some of those tendencies as well.
Speaking of urban fantasy, Muffin read the third book of The Checquy Files, but didn't think it was as good as the second book, which itself was not as good as the first. So now I'm less excited about reading it, but I'll probably still give it a try. All of us really liked The Rook. We talked about the Laundry Files by Charles Stross as having a similar urban fantasy/Ministry of Information flavor.
Muffin heartily recommends Pusheen the Cat's Guide to Everything by Claire Belton, giving it 5 out of 5 paws. She doesn't normally drift into historical fiction, but picked up The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. She says it surprised her by having a typical Dutch sailor and the courtesan romance, but said the two halves of the relationship were fairly equal and it was less condescending toward the female character than she expected.
She read Hell Bent by Leigh Bardugo, sequel to Ninth House, saying it was well plotted and well paced. The premise of the books is that there were eight secret societies at Yale that were indulging in various dark sorceries, and a ninth house that was supposed to keep them in line. She also rather liked Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn, saying it was The Golden Girls meets Murder Inc.
We talked extensively about Neal Stephenson and each of us had a different favorite book by him. I said that Quicksilver was my favorite Neal Stephenson book but then Coconut mentioned The Diamond Age, and I had to change my answer to that. We talked about:

• Snow Crash
  
• Anathem
  
• Cryptonomicon
  
• The Diamond Age: or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
  
• Fall; Or, Dodge in Hell
  
• Reamde
  
• Seveneves
  
• Termination Shock
  

We decided to add a Neal Stephenson book to the list, and settled on Fall or Dodge in Hell. Or you can just pick whichever one you like.
We talked about audiobooks, and Munson said that the graphic audio version of Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson was a lot of fun, and recommended Life is So Good by George Dawson read by Levar Burton. We also covered Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin, The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward, The Past is Red by Catherine Valente, and The Measure by Nikki Erlick.
Coming Up on April 23

• Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt
• Trans-Galactic Bike Ride: Feminist Bicycle Science Fiction Stories of Transgender and Nonbinary Adventurers edited by Lydia Rogue

Coming Up on May 21

• I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
• Blitz by Daniel O'Malley

Coming Up on June 18

• Fall; Or, Dodge in Hell
• or some other Neal Stephenson book

Coming Up on July 23

• Just pick a book in your To Be Read pile and tell us about it. We were lamenting the large backlog that each of each is carrying around and decided to just knock some of them out.