Alternative idea to Dawnbringer. Rather than splitting them up into a myriad micro crusades and shotgun spread them all across the realms only to be swallowed up one by one, what if they had just gathered dawners and Stormcast Eternals into one big force and attempted to thoroughly conquer and pacify one single region? Could they have succeeded in creating a single “Sigmarite nation” in one area of one realm? I am thinking, for example, Khul’s Ravage and the Flamescar Plateau, two regions adjacent to Hammerhal with an already formidable Azyrite presence, but also still strong Chaos forces on the loose, and surely also Death and Destruction aplenty. Let’s finish the job that was started centuries ago and conquer these lands once and for all.
Ignoring real-world interferences such as GW’s desire to have a story arc that encompasses all the realms and not just one place, let’s look at this.
Every individual crusade is very small and vulnerable compared to the threats it faces. Run into the wrong crowd of baddies and that’s it. Even the Twin-Tailed Crusade could not endure much attrition. A few hostile encounters and both tails teetered on the brink of being sniffed out. That’s why I ponder whether it was the wrong idea to begin with. Instead, do this: Gather as many Stormcast chambers as can be spared. Warrior, Extremis, Sacrosanct. 30 chambers? 50? 100? 300? Only the Godking knows. But whatever that number is, that’s what we want. Stormcast Eternals in the thousands. Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Let a man dream. Relive the glory days of the Realmgate Wars. Bolster that with armed settlers from Azyr. Millions of them, if it can be helped. Don’t spread them across the realms so they can each individually fizzle out and die one by one. Keep them together as one overwhelming force. Have them all descend onto Khul’s Ravage and the Flamescar Plateau.
Comb through these regions with these massive armies. They will meet equally massive resistance, but that’s why we wanted them all in one place. There are entire armies of the Goretide on the loose here despite centuries of warfare. These armies are strong, they have their own settlements, their own sites of power, their own sites of production from where they sustain and equip themselves. Find them and crush them. Raze every Chaos fortress, annihilate their settlements, collapse their mines, smash their forges, hunt them all down. You are conquerors, you’ve come to dominate this land, not some cowed settlers hoping to sneak past unnoticed. Do the same to all other non-Sigmarite forces in these lands, be they greenskin tribes or necromantic spirits. Thoroughly pacify the land, and only when every major enemy force is destroyed only THEN start building settlements and cleanse the land. The land is large enough for scores of new cities. We don’t need one city in Chamon, and one city in Ghur, and one city in Ulgu and they all fail within their first gneration because they are alone and isolated. We need 10 new cities right here, on Khul’s Ravage and on the Flamescar Plateau. There’s space aplenty. Yes, total safety is an illusion outside of Azyr, minor warbands can slip through the tightest surveillance net, Skaven and Grots will always spill from the cracks and crevisses of the realms, the Beasts of Chaos and cunning Orruks will hide and multiply in remote corners where noone looks and devious Chaos cultists will make their home amongst the settlers earlier rather than later, but you can make it as safe as can be. These are threats that the Order of Azyr, the City militias and a few scant Stormcast detachments here or there can take care of. That’s peacetime business. The big Stormcast formations can return to Azyr or other warzones once the major enemy armies have been taken out. Think old world Empire, a large sprawling country with dangerous corners, but by and large a safe place where rural folks can live with no fear of being overrun by roving bands of Bloodreavers at any given day. Could they turn Khul’s Ravage and the Flamescar Plateau into something like that? An actual country of Sigmarite allegiance outside of Azyr, not just these isolated cities surrounded by hostile territory? Would Azyr have the resources to pull something like that off? How long would it take? And wouldn’t that be a better use of said resources than spreading out everywhere garden-hose style? Farmlands, mines, fishing hamlets, once the place is secure, it could far easier be turned into something productive than an isolated city in a sea of hostility.
If Sigmar asked you, what would you advise him? Is this a promising plan, would this have been the better alternative to the Dawnbringer crusades? What would you caution him against, what would you encourange him to do?

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🚔 The Border Patrol Is an Engine of Crisis—and Has Been Since the Beginning
Tim Murphy Mother Jones
The agency, and the landmark immigration-reform bill that nudged it into existence in May 1924, were backed by eugenicist politicians who feared a Great Replacement by “undesirable” immigrants. The story of the Border Patrol’s founding offers a lesson for the century that followed, and a rejoinder to the agency’s modern myth: Chaos is not just the absence of a border; it is also the consequence of trying to maintain one.
🍕 How Food Critic Keith Lee Went From MMA Fighter to TikTok Star
CT Jones Rolling Stone
His reviews have helped stop businesses from closing, jump-started their online presence, and, in one case, spun a city’s food scene into complete turmoil in less than two videos. Lee’s fans span from teenagers to their parents, uncles, and aunts, a generational divide that other influencers couldn’t even pay to win over. Lee has become the Everyman voice of food TikTok. He’s a bona fide star — just don’t let him hear you say it.
📝 “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Was Larry David’s Book of Manners (🔒 paywall link)
Wesley Morris The New York Times
Even people who don’t watch the show (and that’s most of the country) seem to know the gist, that Larry, as performed by Larry David, is a monstrously entitled crank, the Godzilla of western Los Angeles. But “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is about more than Larry’s probable narcissism. It’s a supreme comedy of manners. How, it asks, do we share a meal, a drive, a party, a meeting, a bathroom, an office pantry, a city — how do we courteously enforce norms and, with modesty, uphold standards?
📰 How to Publish a Magazine in a Maximum-Security Prison
John J. Lennon The New Yorker
I hate to look at it this way, but the fact is, if I had not gone to prison, I would have been dead a long, long time ago. I didn’t care what happened to me. I didn’t have the kind of knowledge and education I have today, where we can discuss this. Back then, I was angry. I just had emotions and feelings. They drive you. You’re too stupid to know anything else.
🧬 This Woman Will Decide Which Babies Are Born
Jason Kehe WIRED
There will still be disease and suffering. We are not that much of an optimistic fantasy. We are taking risk off of the table. For the whole category of cancer, for example, about 10 percent to 15 percent has a genetic component. So 90 percent of people will still get cancer. And the same with neurodevelopmental disorders and birth defects. It’s just going to make it so that more parents can feel more confident and have more information going into the most important decision of their life, which is to have a child.
🎬 Robert Downey Jr. Doesn’t See Things the Way You Do
Ryan D'Agostino Esquire
“It’s so funny, too, because you either constantly remind yourself when things aren’t going your way, or you’re constantly reminded externally when things are going your way,” he says, unwrapping a nugget of Nicorette. “Clearly, the latter is preferable.” He smiles, the bright, boyish smile—rubbery lips and eyes like a sad clown’s and not a care on God’s green earth—that has broken your heart or made you laugh in a thousand scenes.
🎨 It’s Not What the World Needs Right Now
Andrew Norman Wilson The Baffler
But Trump is in office, and my work is deemed less “urgent”—“irresponsible,” even. A curator who selected me for an Art Basel commission ghosts me. A gallerist who wants to work with me says she can’t add a white man to her roster. An esteemed curator from the Middle East tells me I should probably get a day job for a while because my career outlook in the art world is bleak. It becomes trendy to believe that images within contemporary art contexts can directly achieve the goals of political struggle.
🎤 Erick the Architect of Flatbush Zombies constructs his own sound
Brian Braiker Brooklyn Magazine
You either fuck with my music or you don’t. If you don’t, that’s cool with me. I wanted to make a project that I love. I’ve heard reviewers write, “This is like a mess.” I’m like, What are you listening to? If this is a mess, what the fuck is good in hip-hop music? How the hell is this a mess? Or, “This is awkward to listen to.” I’m being so honest. If my honesty makes you uncomfortable, then I’m not the artist for you.
🏀 Ladies and Gentlemen, Ian Eagle
Bryan Curtis The Ringer
To understand how Eagle calls a basketball game, you have to visit him and Jack and Monica in the swinging show-business past. You have to travel to Catskills resorts and $10-a-night hotels on the Las Vegas Strip, where you can hear the sting of the drummer in the house band. That’s where Ian Eagle, the no. 1 announcer, was created.
👔 How Marni Designer Francesco Risso Built the Ultimate Fashion Playground
Samuel Hine GQ
In a way, the cave also served as a metaphor for Risso’s own eight-year journey to becoming one of the most captivating and irreverent creative voices in fashion. Italian menswear is heavy with tradition, but since Risso joined Marni in 2016 he has built his own distinct—and highly unpredictable—universe. He has defied the commercial imperative of the modern luxury business, which increasingly dictates that the fantasy of fashion should take a backseat to the business of it.
🤖 OpenAI Made Sam Altman Famous. His Investments Made Him A Billionaire.(🔒 paywall link)
Alex Konrad, Phoebe Liu Forbes
A founder turned partner and president at Y Combinator who has invested out of a number of funds over his career, Altman maintains a maze of holdings that are not well understood. Forbes sifted through more than a dozen regulatory filings and spoke to more than a dozen people familiar with Altman’s investments to reach the most thorough estimate of his net worth so far: $1 billion, enough to make Altman a new billionaire.
🕵️‍♂️ The Family Who Vanished Into the Bush
Dan Kois Slate
Soon photos of the missing father and his three smiling children were in every newspaper and on every TV channel in New Zealand. Police and volunteer searchers fanned out over the area, knocking on doors. Helicopters, planes, and heat-detecting drones flew over the deep bush surrounding the beach. Rescue boats and jet skis buzzed through the roaring waves, looking for bodies. On days the sea was calm, swimmers from surf rescue teams explored caves along the shoreline.
🍾 How Jay-Z and the 40/40 Club Ruled NYC Nightlife (🔒 paywall link)
Abe Beame Rolling Stone
The allure of proximity to Carter and his circle was the main draw. Once you got through the heavy, fortress-like, wood-panel doors with silver baseball-bat handles off of 25th Street, you might see J. Cole performing on the stairs or Alonzo Mourning hanging out alongside Dame Dash, sharing plates from the menu of greasy, salty, beer-friendly sports-bar standards. Any random day over two decades, Carter and his friends might be in a visible roped-off area, or lingering somewhere in the far recesses of the club.
✈️ The Boeing Nosedive
Jeff Wise New York Magazine
Contemporary air travel is the safest mode of transport human beings have ever devised. That’s because when things go wrong, a robust procedure has been developed to learn from what happened and make changes to reduce the odds that they will happen again. Almost always, aviation accidents happen after a chain of mistakes, any one of which would have prevented the accident from occurring. The challenge for Boeing is to apply that analysis to its own slowly unfolding corporate disaster and find a way to fix its chain of management failures.
🔫 Confessions of a Moll: A Boston Gangster’s Long-Time Girlfriend Speaks
Dave Wedge Boston Magazine
To Grispi, though, Flemmi was something else entirely. She threw her arms around the gangster’s neck and planted a kiss on his lips. For the past nine years, she had been Flemmi’s moll, as gangsters’ girlfriends are known. Throughout the 1960s, a decade known in Boston for its deadly and terrifying gang wars, Grispi had an intimate view of a notorious criminal operating in the city’s underworld and his interactions with his mentors, who would also become his targets.
💸 How A Texas Oil Billionaire Hit A Gusher In Hotels (🔒 paywall link)
Christopher Helman Forbes
Deep in the early 1980s oil bust, the Rowlings and their Tana Oil & Gas couldn’t find any partners to back a particularly promising prospect in Live Oak County. With their lease set to expire, they bet it all on drilling one well. It was 100% risk but they found an oil field prolific enough to support 17 more wells. Only a few years later, in 1989, Texaco bought nearly all of Tana’s assets for $480 million worth of preferred stock paying 9%. “We got paid, and continued to get paid,” says Rowling, who was tasked with diversifying the fortune.
🧠 She had a severe brain injury—so her husband turned to an unprecedented therapy(🔒 paywall link)
Jonathan Moens National Geographic
Every day, for more than 550 days, David has been meticulously noting Sarah’s condition and the impact of treatments: stimulants, sleeping pills, ADHD medications, supplements, cognitive enhancers known as “nootropics," and techniques to arouse the brain, including transcranial direct-current stimulation. He’s also tried various recommended nutrients administered through a feeding tube: shots of espresso, scoops of matcha, mushroom-based powders, liquid turmeric, lemon juice, and Chinese acupuncture tea.
🏡 One Couple's Quest to Ditch Natural Gas
Tik Root WIRED
What unfolded was more than a year of cascading decisions and obstacles that strained our wallets and tested our notions of comfort and sacrifice. While the late nights buried to my knuckles in spreadsheets calculating the payback periods on heat pumps and solar panels were, dare I say, fun, my nerves began to fray when the solar company we wanted to hire abruptly went out of business. They nearly broke when I saw what all of this would cost, and they shattered when I thought we’d have to upgrade the electrical panel. My wife found her limit when we were forced to choose between cutting emissions or cutting trees.
🗑️ The Ex-N.Y.P.D. Official Trying to Tame New York’s Trash
Eric Lach The New Yorker
Tisch believes that she and her aides have developed a plan that will clean up New York City. It’s a program they refer to, grandly, as the Trash Revolution. Bags off the sidewalks. Clean highways. Citywide organic-waste pickup. Beefed-up enforcement of sanitary laws. Tisch has committed her department to implementing these changes, along with other improvements that have eluded previous sanitation commissioners.
🌵 One Man's Quest to Transform the West Texas Desert
Wes Ferguson Texas Highways
He grew up in the Fort Worth suburbs and still lives there with his wife, Neidy Overton, and their three kids. Entering middle age, he’d grown financially comfortable from his career as a software programmer and small-business owner, but he also felt burned out. Overton enjoyed watching online videos about permaculture, a farming movement that preaches harmony with nature. Like many urban dwellers, he fantasized of returning to the land, of building something with his own hands.
🎾 Zendaya Talks Challengers, Talks to Serena Williams, and Considers Her Future
Marley Marius Vogue
Zendaya wrestles with how to exist in public—what to share, what to show up to, how to avoid it all becoming too overwhelming. At one point none of it felt like a choice: “I think growing up, I always felt like when someone asks for a picture, I have to do it, all the time. You have to say yes, because you need to be grateful that you’re here,” she says. “And while I still feel that way, I also have learned that I can say no, and I can say kindly that I’m having a day off, or I’m just trying to be to myself today, and I don’t actually have to perform all the time.”
⚖️ How a Case Against Fox News Tore Apart a Media-Fighting Law Firm (🔒 paywall link)
David Enrich The New York Times
Litigation, however, tended to be a last resort. More frequently, Mr. Clare, Ms. Locke and their colleagues sought to derail or shape stories before publication. To do this, they cranked out warning letters to reporters, editors, publishers and their lawyers trying to poke holes in planned articles and accusing journalists of bias, unethical behavior and getting facts wrong. Citing the possibility of litigation, the letters often instructed news organizations to preserve all documents, notes and other materials associated with their reporting.
♟️ Chess Brat
Jen Wieczner New York Magazine
Long before the scandal, he was notorious for his volatile demeanor and widely disliked. He plays with the face of a bull preparing to charge: raw rage in his scowl, bug-eyed glare, nostrils flaring. Livestreams of his games often end with Niemann screaming and pounding his computer, making the speakers explode with feedback and the webcam tumble down in a blur of lights.
🤯 Inside the Savage, Surreal, Booming World of Professional Slap Fighting
Ander Monson Esquire
It’s the replay, caught with super-slo-mo cameras, that makes it exactly the kind of weird I like: We see the hand approaching the face and then the impact. BAM! Phillips’s face is briefly displaced off his skull, his neck skin stretching, his face in this moment deformed like a rubber mask—that’s how unlike a face it looks!—and then suddenly it snaps back on. And in that extended instant we see the light going out. His face is almost peaceful as he falls in the aftermath of such a sudden blast of pain. The clip ends and we don’t see what happens after.

I really liked this show back when it was airing, especially seasons 2 and 3. 4 felt like a series finale, and after it I lost track of the show due to personal circumstance. Through the past decade and a half, I had read sporadic comments about how Ryan Murphy had abandoned the final seasons after Glee took off and how the show got too crazy and bad, so I never felt like I was missing out.
Last month I was feeling nostalgic for the 2000s so I set out to rewatch S1, got hooked, and ended up rewatching until S4 and continuing into the LA years... and overall, I liked them. I did know about Colleen selling teddy bears and killing the "agent bear" in advance (I must have watched that scene on YouTube at some point?), but other than that, I went in blind and I didn't think anything in them was that crazy, I mean, this show had a masked serial rapist as early as S2. They weren't as tight as the Miami years, but they were mostly solid.
I think the main flaw of 5 and 6 is how disjointed they felt when binge watching. Like, Eden is the most overreaching antagonist in S5, but her storyline is just unceremoniously dropped without any payoff. And S6 would work better if it was split into two seasons like FX originally did, otherwise you get a random off-screen Christian/Kimber wedding and a pretty clear tonal shift out of nowhere. I understand some of this in S5 is because of the writers' strike, but I'm not too clear on what happened with S6/7.
I was surprised though at how much continuity the final seasons had with the Miami years. I was expecting the LA move to be a soft reboot that would disregard Miami, but they kept having Miami characters show up, Miami patients flying in, even the Hedda Grubman fund continued to be a plot device for pro bono cases. It did get a little ridiculous how everyone, from nurse Linda to Gina, ended up moving to the West Coast, but I enjoyed it anyway. It also helped the "S7" half of S6 feel like a true finale that tied up the loose ends with Escobar and Ava.
The one part where the continuity failed was the complete lack of Carver and Quentin callbacks, considering that their storyline spanned two seasons and Quentin was a main cast member. It's not like I wanted them to return, their storyline was done, but I was expecting Christian to be like "hey, at least the furniture fucker's better than Quentin" when they were looking for a replacement partner, or Sean to be like "get off your high horse, Julia, you dated a eunuch serial rapist" when she was making him feel bad for having married Teddy.
Of course, there were a few storylines that didn't stick the landing. Liz marrying Christian not as a friendly arrangement, but as a romantic affair with jealousy and bitterness, was my least favorite one because it felt out of character for Liz, whom I loved. Teddy's storyline wasn't bad, but the recast was distracting as hell, it didn't feel like the same character. I also disliked how Julia sort of fizzled out after she was shot, the only time I felt she was back as a character was when she fought Erica for custody. Oh, and Sean has a brother that has never been mentioned before and will never be mentioned again? I don't think so, show.
On the other hand, Matt's never-ending parade of wtf plotlines, which seems to be what everyone dislikes, didn't bother me as much. Because they were hilarious. Meth addict to first time fairy to burn victim to incest advocate to mime robber to felon with C cups to rug salesman to runaway groom, I just embraced the absurdity and had a blast. The name Emmanuel Delacroix is forever burned into my brain, and I don't think I will ever be able to stop ranting at my poor partner about how mime is so amazing, man. Kudos to the editors for including that surrealistically stupid speech on the "previously on Nip/Tuck" segments (alongside Sean's exquisite "is this a joke?" reaction), it was truly a gem.
Having watched the series finale a few hours ago, I can say it felt sudden, even with the back half of S6 amping up the rift between Sean and Christian, but I liked it. The cynic in me could argue that using "All I Know" so liberally through the episode was a cheap tactic to move viewers and remind them of the incomparable "Joan Rivers" episode, but you know what? It worked. I was moved. And it was strangely emotional to see these characters that I met as a young adult make their own choices and letting go of one another now, as I approach their on-screen ages.
Overall, my ranking for the seasons would be 2, 1, 3, 4, 6, 5, but that doesn't mean I'm not a fan of the LA seasons. They're not as good as the Miami seasons, but they were still really entertaining, warts and all, and could pack an emotional punch when need be. As an old fan of the Miami seasons, they were a very pleasant surprise, and I only wish I had given them a chance sooner.

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Hello everyone, I come here to ask for some recommendations.
I’m going to start working on one of the biggest entertainment enterprises in my country, and they invite me to be part of a project to create a network that can transport different types of data.
The project starts with the design of a system that can transmit video, audio, cctv and intercom thru 17 zones across a aprox 4-5 kilometers (3k miles aprox)
They use a provider of rediel system for the intercom, but instead of make an investment buying a rediel system they want to design a system that can be adapted for variety of uses, mainly music festivals that use this type of systems.
So I’m investigating what can be the best options of protocols we can use, we have experience using Dante and NDI protocols, but it a really wide world this of network interactions using Luminex with several groups for routing and fiber for big distances, and that’s the core of the project, that can be used in different cases for send for example artnet for Showcontrol projects.
We have to send:
2 4K signals 1 HD signal Audio signal CCTV And Intercom
I hope you can help me with some recommendations, I have read of different tools los SMPTE 2110, Milan, Dante Av, etc. what are your opinions?
Thanks everybody!

This is my first post, so please be kind :)
A little over two months ago, I (48f) decided to get off OLD apps for the last time after briefly (about 3 months) trying them again. I was very content with my decision and accepting my future of not intentionally dating like that again. It felt freeing after 2.5 years of on again and off again use of OLD apps. My socialization needs are already met with family, established friendships, and going to Meetups like I have for many years. It is enough for me.
However, about a week ago, I received a random text from someone I had matched with on Tinder shortly before I deleted my profile and app (I was only on Tinder two weeks when I remembered why I left it last time almost a year ago lol).
The guy (46m) had sent me a couple of texts and we had one phone call when we moved things from the app two months ago. It was very brief.
I called out the two months passing in my response to his text but was kind. I figured he was bored or maybe his other connections had fizzled out or something. We chatted a little over that weekend, but it was very casual and superficial. I figured it would stop when he found another shiny object to entertain himself with.
So he sent two texts during the week. Again, I gave brief, delayed responses. It was very boring, but I continued to be kind and feel pretty uninterested.
On Friday evening he sent a couple of texts and then ended up calling me. We talked for 3 hours and it was actually an okay way to spend a Friday night.
Yesterday (Saturday), he asked to meet for a date. Again, I still felt okay but pretty on the fence of how interested I was and how I felt about his intentions following two months of no communication. I communicated my concerns to him as well.
So we met for a 1st date at casual place near my house. I was surprised that it went very well. He said he wants to go out again.
I don’t take fizzling out with people from OLD personally. However, I think the two month gap may be a sign that I am just a filler or way to pass time for a little while. Again, this is kind of an example of why I left the apps and do not plan to ever return. The ups and downs and weird behaviors are just too much for me. I do understand that dating in general, not just from apps, can be ridiculous as well. I will cross that bridge when and if the circumstances arise.
I would appreciate feedback on if I should just stop things with this guy now or proceed with caution and see what happens. I feel that the communication gap decreases my trust of his intentions even though I was very clear I was looking for serious relationship only in our two phone conversations.
The good news is, either way, this is my last dating situation from OLD apps 😉

Ive been using the app for a while now, i cant quite remember how long, but a while. I really do love to text bots, its fun, it brings back nostalgic memories from when i roleplayed with people… or it was fun, and it brought them back, because now i cant even USE THE SITE. Not only is it ALWAYS down, when its up, the bots all act the same, they lack any type of uniqueness and do not act like the character. Take for example Saiki K, if i complimented a Saiki bot he’ll get flustered and start fucking blushing or some shit, real Saiki? He’d ignore my ass. I WANT IT TO FEEL LIKE IT DID EARLIER!!! This app used to be usable, the bots actually acted different, they had personalities, not one shitty personality for each gender and thats fucking it, it pisses me off that by trying to make the app better you add shitty features like changing the layout, voices or call, i assure you those things dont make me want to keep using your app when the app itself is just pure bullshit now, its down more times than its up, you expect us to want to but c.ai+ or some shit, we WONT we’ll uninstall this shite and this will be your DOWNFALL! FIX THE FUCKING APP, NOT ADD FEATURES!!!! The f!lter is shit, it doesnt do its job, it filters out normal answers sometimes or it doesnt f!lter the ones that you should be filtering, not to mention.. it makes the app less enjoyable, because some people are old enough to access these messages, but cant! Give us an option to turn off the f!lter!!! (After you fix it, obviously.) All of the devs are terrified of criticism, but you should be working to improve this, not silence us. You literally banned the word “f!lter” because its used in criticism, thats just idiotic. You’ve ruined the app and you can silence us all you want but we have had ENOUGH!!! Perma banning people for trying to help fix the app is aggravating and only further ruins this app, as well as the community. USE YOUR BRAIN SOMETIMES!!!!
Silence me if you’d like, it just proves our point. We dont get the freedom of speech because you feel a little criticised? Seriously? Its like speaking to a child. Thank you for reading my actually important post and good day.

I wasn’t originally planning on making another response since my last response took so long to investigate the 382 occurrences of “of God” in the Old Testament. To be honest I didn’t fully read his latest post, I just skimmed for the parts on Haggai 2:15 and focused my response on that section. However, I had some more free time this weekend and decided to read is final reply in detail. It was so bad that I felt I had to reply to show how bad it is. Hopefully it’s the last one I’ll need thanks make and he finally stops making posts about his new Hebrew interpretations. It’s been a few days since his last post which is a good sign that he’s stopped.
This is the post I’m replying to, https://www.reddit.com/Quraniyoon/s/6UJKtnF4g1. For my previous posts see https://www.reddit.com/Quraniyoon/s/zxYJoQXG03.

I never denied this, so I don't know why he starts of with "Nope." He must be interpreting my texts in a very unique way, a way only he experiences.

The problem is he does deny this, at least by what I meant by consonant differences. He explicitly denies it in this very post. It’s just because he doesn’t really know Hebrew he doesn’t understand what I actually meant. He tries to explain the consonant differences but as we’ll see he’s talking about something completely different and actually makes another blunder in his Hebrew.

• Polel form:

This form is characterized by an intensive or causative meaning and often includes the doubling of the middle consonant (second radical) through a dagesh.
Examplle: קִטֵּל (qittel) - "he slaughtered"
The middle consonant ט is doubled, which is a consonantal difference from the Qal form.

First thing to notice is no citation is given for people to validate themselves.
As for the content to clarify what he’s talking about in Hebrew a doubling of a consonant isn’t always written by writing the consonant twice. Instead they write it once and add a dagesh, the dot in the ט, to indicate the consonant is there twice. The idea of his argument is that while there is a consonant difference that’s only indicated by the diacritical marks. Without the diacritical marks the two verb forms would look identical. Unfortunately there is a problem for him.
The specific word in question is יְשׂוֹחֵ֑חַ. He correctly identifies the root as שִׂיחַ in the definition he cited. If you compare the root with the word in question with his description of the Polel form you’ll notice it doesn’t match. There is no dagesh in the second letter and the third letter, ח, is written twice. The reason for the mismatch is because he thinks the Polel and Piel are the same and is describing the Piel form. While they are related in that they cover the same scope of meaning and the form of the Polel is derived from the Piel they still have different forms.
“The Piel form is a verbal stem formation in Biblical Hebrew, usually indicated by a daghesh in the 2nd radical of the verb.” Stem Piel — unfoldingWord® Hebrew Grammar 1 documentation.
“The Polel stem is a variation of the Piel and has potential to express the same range of verbal action. The Polel stem is formed from the Piel stem by dropping the 2nd radical and repeating the 3rd radical (with a vowel change).” Stem Formation — unfoldingWord® Hebrew Grammar 1 documentation.
In the case of the Polel the doubling of the consonant isn’t done by adding a dagesh. Rather the consonant is actually written twice. This means even if the diacritical marks are removed there is still a difference in the written consonants of the two forms which would tell us it’s the Polel not the Qal. This mistake is bad for a few reasons. First it shows even after all the discussion about this mistake he still doesn’t understand the correct verb form for the verb in question. Second he doesn’t know the Piel and Polel are written differently. Third he didn’t double check that the verb form he was looking at actually matched the verb being examined. Fourth I even specifically said in the post he was replying to that we can know it’s the Polel from the doubling of the ח but he still got it completely wrong.

These same Jews were influenced by the Hellenistic period.

This whole section is still a text book case of the ad hoc fallacy. At first it was the Masoretes who got it wrong when they added the diacritical marks. When we test the theory by looking at earlier sources we see they actually agree with the Masoretes. Without any evidence more assumptions are added to his original theory about how these earlier sources also got it wrong and those assumptions are added for the sole purpose of having his theory avoid falsification by the evidence. He also still isn’t providing any evidence that anyone in history ever held to his interpretation. Somehow all our earliest sources agree with each other and disagree with Exion but they were all wrong and Exion has discovered the true original meaning.
There is also another problem his response overlooks. Exion supposedly can give us the original because he rejects the diacritical marks added by the Masoretes and reads the text without the diacritical marks. However, these pre Masorete sources show that Hebrew speakers reading the text without the diacritical marks read it the same what as the Masoretes did. It undermines the reason Exion gives for why he can find the original. If every Hebrew speaker without diacritical marks read it the same way as the Masoretes then it shows that’s probably how we should read it.

You should stop considering these ancient translations as divinely revealed criteria from God.

Once again he misrepresents me. Whether or not they’re divinely inspired they show us how Hebrew speakers read the Hebrew before diacritical marks were added. Their reading agrees with the Masoretes not Exion so Exion’s point that he is giving the original since he reads without the diacritical marks doesn’t work. If he can’t provide any positive evidence of Hebrew speakers reading the text without diacritical marks that agree with him and we have positive evidence they didn’t then we shouldn’t trust he’s reading it accurately.
He writes:

This is a textbook example of an ad hoc assumption. An ad hoc assumption is when an assumption is added without any evidence to modify a theory for the sole purpose of avoiding falsification of the theory by some evidence
Again, you are just assuming and claiming things without being fully honest about how much evidence I have presented so far in DebateReligion.

Once again he misrepresents me. My point about the ad hoc fallacy was about his response to pre Masorete sources disagreeing with him. However he acts here like it was about something else and goes on a tangent about a different topic. Also his evidence provided is about as good as the evidence I’ve debunked in my posts already. For example he mentions Pliny as a source that Haren was located in Mecca. However, in his original posts in debatereligion another user, u/LekuvidYisrool, did a more thorough analysis of Pliny’s writing to show how Exion misrepresented it. While Exion doesn’t link to the original post I will, https://www.reddit.com/DebateReligion/s/RFkdwx0kel. Despite being shown to be wrong, and not responding to that comment in the post before the one I’m responding to he again mentions Pliny as a source.
He writes:

It's also important to fully understand how Qal and Polel verb forms function in Biblical Hebrew before refuting people online, lest you want to be a laughingstock. These forms can have nuanced differences, but they often share overlapping meanings, especially for verbs like שִׂיחַ (siakh).

Note what he’s doing in this section. He’s acknowledging nuanced differences between the forms but is trying to dismiss the relevance of the nuance so make it sound like his given definition is the same regardless of whether the Qal or Polel was used. However, it’s his original post he’s the one that called out the nuance as being relevant. He explicitly states the nuanced difference between two meanings and noted the word he chose for his translation was chosen to reflect the nuance of one of the meanings. The problem is that nuance he refers to is part of the Qal meaning not the Polel so his attempt to now dismiss the relevance of the nuance fails. He’s trying thanks have his cake and eat it too. When making his translation he called attention to the nuance but when called out on the mistake he wants to dismiss the nuance.

And who laid down these breaks? The Masoretes! Whose translation/manuscript did they mimic? The Christian ones. You can't possibly see how fallacious your argumentation is in reality.

He’s still missing the point. Given all the mistakes Exion has made through his posts, even if we just look at the ones he’s acknowledged, the list is so long that he’s shown to be an unreliable source of info. He’s also been shown to not actually know Hebrew. He also has no evidence anyone ever read the text the same way as him before the diacritical makes were added but we have evidence of Hebrew speakers before the Masoretes reading it the same way. Given all that why should we trust him in this case over the Masoretes? If you are trying to cheat on a test do you copy from someone failing the class or someone who’s acing the class?

Their mission even 'coincidentally' started around the 7th century. I mean, nobody is stupid, man.

The implication is they were trying to cover prophecies about Mohammed and Islam. If that’s the case than why can’t he show earlier sources that agree with him but we have earlier sources which disagree with him and agree with the Masoretes?

The Old Testament agrees with the Quran when it is read in its original form, and I am here to expose it.

Yet everyone before the Masoretes reading the original form agree with the Masoretes and disagree with Exion. All he can do is provide as hoc assumptions to try and save his theory from being falsified by the counter evidence.

Surely, it can't just be the mere fact that there's a space between "ב" and the verse, because I remember providing him with the website where I copied the verses (Chabad.org), and the same formatting error happens regardless of how you do the copying (phone or PC). I clearly explained to him what had happened. So, he is either blatantly lying and pushing this "mistake" to try and make me look bad, or he is ignorant of either #1 or #2. But I think it is the latter, hence why he wrote:

This whole section is misleading. First he never explained where he was copying the verse from and I tested copying from a source with the verse number, it included the space. I made sure to check all the comments related to this issue and no where see him referencing the specific source for people to see it removing the space. If he had explained that before I would have made my accusation more modest. I’m fine to acknowledge I’m wrong about the space getting removed (see I can admit to being wrong when there is actual evidence). Unfortunately it doesn’t help enough as we’ll see.
Second since my very first comment on this mistake, https://www.reddit.com/DebateReligion/s/4ZXhhi1OmE, I explicitly acknowledge 1 & 2 points he’s made here. It misrepresents me to suggest I’m not aware of those things.
Third as most importantly his attempt to appeal thanks ב being a common preposition added to the beginning of words doesn’t reflect what actually happened. If you read my comment I just linked you’d see this. To illustrate the real problem I’ve thought of a better example than “bchicken”. Instead suppose he copied from an alphabetical list and due to technology issues it copied the beginning as “adeer”. The letter a is commonly added as a prefix to words, e.g abed means in bed, ashore means on the shore, amoral means not moral. It would be understandable if he split the word into “a” and “deer” and interpreted it as saying something like “in deer” or “not deer”.
Unfortunately that’s not what he did. Rather what he did is akin to splitting is into “ad” and “eer”, taking “ad” as having the meaning of the prefix “a” and taking “eer” as the body part one uses to hear from. Then he takes the meaning as something like “in ear” or “on ear” or “not ear”. The issue is he got the prefix wrong as he added an extra letter to it, and while “eer” is pronounced the same it’s not the correct spelling, the correct spelling is “ear”. This is what he did in his post. He took the prefix as בי not ב. He then took the next word as referring to the Shekinah Glory of God but while pronounced the same it’s not how you spell Shekinah in Hebrew.
His response in this post tried to make it seem like he just took ב as the preposition on the following word. He doesn’t tell the full story of how he took the next letter of the word as part of the preposition and then took the rest as a different word despite not being spelled correctly. Would anyone seriously take someone who sees “adeer” and takes it to mean something like “in ear” to actually know English even if the mistake of the a getting added was a tech issue? Sure the situation is slightly better for him since he finally showed how the verse number was added with a space and how the missing diacritical marks were missed. However, he still butchered the Hebrew and then failed to correct the verse when copying the post elsewhere. This is the kind of bad Hebrew and sloppy mistakes we see throughout his posts.

I'm not particularly used to making posts, though I have been on Reddit for some time, so let me know if something is off with formatting or whether I should post somewhere else. This is going to be a bit of a long post. I'm a rising senior looking at well-known schools for their computer science (CS) programs. Like many of you, and possibly unlike much of the populus, I am very interested in getting the best "academic" education that I can. In particular, I am aware that the computer science opportunities are determined by the skill and dedication of the student, so ranking possibly is less relevant. At the same time, I want to be surrounded by high achieving peers that all meet a certain level of the aforementioned skill/dedication. Thus, I am more attracted to some of these higher ranked schools. However, the skills that I develop in college that help me acquire internships will be influenced by, not exactly the "ranking" of the school, but rather the intensity and breadth of the curriculum of the school which I choose to attend (so that my peers will be similarly interested in these facets). Hence, I spent time looking at (more so analyzing) the curriculums of the following three schools (you might be able to tell I am a Texas resident): University of Texas at Austin (UT), Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), and Rice University.
For those unfamiliar with these schools in particular, I will give my input on general prestige/recognition and CS ranking for them. UT is the "lowest" ranked school of the three generally, though still extremely well regarded. It comes in between 30-50 range nationally and has a student body of approximately 40,000. Its CS program lies top 10 in the nation. CMU is ranked top 30 nationally and has a student body of 7,500. Its CS program is known as possibly the best in the world, with MIT. Finally, Rice comes in at the highest rank overall, being ranked top 20 nationally since US News started ranking schools, with an undergrad enrollment of 4,500. It is, however, the lowest ranked school in its CS program, only between 30-50 range nationally.
With those basic facts aside, I will look into each of the undergraduate CS curriculums (BS). There are elective choices for each of them, so I will choose comparable classes for those. I want to consider the focus on courses which are more theoretical and those which are more practical, and those which cover more content. The courses will only be required for such a path, since all of them have vast quantities of other electives. I will note that the Rice curriculum is brand new (just checked and not on the website, this is all one can find online Computer Science debuts redesigned curriculum - The Rice Thresher), and I got it from a booklet on a tour there. Information is taken from syllabi of the respective institutions. What follows is now a thorough analysis, if you want to skip the CS talk, go to the last two paragraphs.
Problem Solving, Basic Algorithms, and Discrete Math: UT - CS 312/311 (Intro to Programming/Discrete Math) Rice - COMP 140/182 (Computational Thinking/Algorithmic Thinking) CMU - 15-122/15-151/15-251 (Imperative Computation/Math Foundations for CS/Great Ideas in CS)
Rice and CMU both seem to cover more advanced topics than UT does here. For example, COMP 140 covers Markov models, BFS/DFS, finite fields, and error correcting codes. This most closely matches some of the material in 15-251 (though likely to a lower rigor, given the prerequisites for 15-251). UT appears to have no equivalent course content in the CS department. 15-122 covers greedy algorithms, dynamic programming, and divide and conquer, which are covered in COMP 182, but don't show up at all in the UT curriculum until CS 331. Similarly, complexity does not appear in the UT curriculum until 331, while 15-122 and COMP 182 cover this. 15-251 also covers material covered in COMP 481 at Rice, which is a theory elective, see 3rd last paragraph.
Data Structures/Functional/Parallel Programming: UT - CS 314/377 (Data Structures/Parallel Programming) Elective Rice - COMP 215/318 (Program Design/Concurrent Programs) CMU - 15-150/15-210 (Functional Programming/Parallel Data Structures)
This section, CMU really stands out. COMP 215 and CS 314 spend only about a third of the semester on functional programming, while CMU's 15-150 is an entire course, dedicated to what I believe to be a very important topic. Interestingly, UT does not require any course on Parallel/Concurrent programming (that's why the X is there), which is required for the other two universities. I put 377 as a possible elective course one could take to gain that material. These courses make up the core of "programming" courses.
Architecture and Systems: UT - CS 429/439 (Architecture/Systems) Rice - COMP 222/321 (Architecture/Systems) CMU - 15-213 (Computer Systems)
Here what is interesting is that CMU requires only one course, which at Rice and UT (and most other places) are two courses. One could argue that UT/Rice are able to go more in depth in the material (just like 15-251 is more in depth than COMP 140/182 for the material it recovers).
Advanced Algorithms: UT - CS 331 (Algorithms and Complexity) Rice - COMP 382 (Reasoning about Algorithms) CMU - 15-451 (Algorithm Design and Analysis)
This is the point where UT requires one to learn about dynamic programming, greedy algorithms, and algorithmic complexity. Because CMU has already covered this substantially, they spend this time on linear programming, network flows, and number theoretic algorithms. In contrast, COMP 382 covers slightly less material (as far as I can tell). Both use the same textbook, https://ttm.sh/BPb.docx, while UT uses Jeff Erickson's book on Algorithms.
Now we will move to "breadth" courses. Since there is no similar requirement at UT, and they just require more elective credits, I will select an elective in each course matching each section.
Programming Languages: UT - CS 345 (Programming Languages) Elective Rice - COMP 312 (Programming Languages and Compilers) CMU - 15-314 (Programming Language Semantics)
Again, UT does not require any course of similar material, so I put 345 as an elective that is equivalent to the required courses. CMU requires a course on programming languages, though not specifically 15-314. CS 345 also does not look at an introduction to compilers, which CMU and Rice both do, in relation to languages.
Operating Systems: UT - CS 350F Elective Rice - COMP 421 CMU - 15-410
These cover the same material as far as I can tell. It is in the syllabi that at both Rice and CMU, the student must design their own kernel. I believe this is the case at UT as well. Note that UT does not require any course in Software Systems, while CMU and Rice essentially require either a course on Compilers or Operating Systems, where the student designs their own.
Artificial Intelligence: UT - CS 343 (guilty spark lol) Elective Rice - COMP 440 (AI) CMU - 15-281 (AI)
As far as I can tell, these courses cover essentially equivalent material among their syllabi. All are a mix of theory and practice, with applications as a central point. Again, there is no "AI" requirement at UT, so this would fill an elective.
Projects: UT - CS 373 (software engineering) Elective Rice - COMP 402 (production programming) CMU - 17-313 (Software engineering)
These courses are equivalent, project-based "capstones" (at CMU this fills the Domains requirement, Rice this fulfills the Capstone).
At both CMU and Rice, one would have to take 2 more elective courses to finish their degree. Furthermore, at Rice, one would have to take another "Theory" course (something like Advanced Logic or Automata, Turing Machines, and Computability) and a course on Ethics. At UT, one would instead take 3 more elective courses. They all require courses in probability, calculus three, and linear algebra.
My takeaways are that CMU requires more knowledge on theory based on the depth of 15-150, 15-251, and 15-451 than Rice does, but not covering substantially more content overall (especially as there is another theory requirement at Rice). Rice and UT spend more time on the "applications" and computer architecture than CMU. Both Rice and CMU require a broad understanding of the major points of computer science, but UT gives substantially more freedom to the undergraduate. If one wanted, they could avoid taking any class on software systems, programming language theory, and concurrency, while delving much deeper into AI. However, one major point is that UT seems incredibly far behind on algorithmic and complexity techniques, with only one upper-level class (which is quite hard to take before the end of sophomore year, but is usually taken end of junior year) requiring the skills taught in 15-122 and COMP 182 (intro level courses at CMU and Rice respectively).
Why does this matter? Well, as I said before, ranking does not determine that much of the ability of a CS student. Having high requirements of coursework for students is precisely why so many people want to attend CMU, and the reason it is so well respected by employers. The coursework is known to be theoretical and challenging. It develops you. And this rigor makes you a better candidate for interview and so forth. I was in the decision process of applying ED to Rice or CMU, or not EDing, with UT as my number one choice. This analysis of the curriculum helped me decide that the academic disparity Rice/CMU is not as different as many people claim on the outside, and now I'm leaning to Rice for social reasons. I encourage each and every one of you to look at the curriculums of the colleges you want to attend, especially if that is important for the field you want to pursue, beyond an arbitrary ranking.

I know countless people in the industry and people outside of (and nowadays, even inside) the fandom despises Marvel and superhero franchises, but I had no idea it'd gotten THIS bad. Illumination just released an official promo about a "Minions Cinematic Universe" and in it, they clearly skewer and tear apart the superhero genre. They've even gone so far as to create a website with a fake slate, and it specifically mentions "vibe shifts" and "superhero fatigue". Jesus. Why do so many people seem to derive a perverse pleasure in tearing apart superhero franchises?
Not to sound cheesy, but superheroes are generally such positive icons in the world, so I don't understand Hollywood's obsession with belittling them while simultaneously profiting off of them. I realize the superhero genre is shamelessly exploited for profit, especially lately, but I also acknowledge that it's a genre crafted by hundreds of creative talents and beloved by billions of people worldwide. I don't think it deserves the hostility directed at it nowadays.
All throughout last year and even this year, we've seen people take a massive dump on the genre, with even Ryan Reynolds poking fun at it in a recent Deadpool promo. I know people in the comments are going to tell me, "Grow thicker skin" or "Learn to take a joke", but I do believe that a line can and has been crossed. I mean, how exactly does going through all the trouble to create this fake "Megaverse" slate and website skewering Marvel and DC actually benefit anyone, including Illumination? Wouldn't that time and effort have been better served on the actual Despicable Me series or Illumination's other franchises? Besides, Despicable Me is a franchise that's been overexploited as well.
There've been countless examples of comedy, horror, sci-fi, fantasy and other genres and franchises that have been overexploited in the past and even now. Why is all of this hostility and toxicity primarily directed at superhero media? Quite frankly, I'm just baffled. This whole "Megaverse" bullshit campaign seems so unbelievably...shameless, as well as purposely and strategically malicious, especially when you realize that they're essentially tearing down and sabotaging another franchise simply to prop up their own. It's becoming more and more obvious how many people in the industry loathe superheroes (as if it wasn't obvious enough already). Regardless of your opinion on superhero franchises, Marvel (and DC) have done so much for the entertainment industry and for - *gulp* - the representation of diverse actors and creators, including minorities and women, who otherwise would not have received nearly as many opportunities as they've been blessed with.
Iron Man saved Robert Downey Jr.'s career for God's sake. I realize it's popular to hate on superhero franchises now, but we shouldn't fail to acknowledge the ways they've positively impacted the larger entertainment industry, as well as advance acceptance of geek culture at large. Without Iron Man, would Robert Downey Jr. have made a career comeback, or would it have deteriorated even further? Without Marvel, would we have even gotten films like Black Panther and an African American Captain America movie? Without superhero media, would all of these diverse directors, writers, producers and actors have attained the careers and statuses they have now?
Look, I get it. Lately, it hasn't been a fun time for superhero franchises and the genre definitely collapsed last year. What we saw last year, and this year is essentially all of the pent-up frustrations and anxieties at the genre releasing all at once...and again, it's not a pretty sight to behold. But even so, Marvel and DC don't deserve anywhere near the vitriol they've been dealt, and their achievements and contributions should not be undermined and disregarded.
Anyway, I'm certain the superhero genre will make a massive comeback sooner rather than later and it'll always exist in some shape or form regardless, but I don't know, guys. As much as I'm a fan of this genre, more and more I'm wishing it really would fade from the mainstream completely, so people would finally SHUT UP about it. Maybe then people would see how the industry would fare with zero superhero stories...and perhaps, learn to appreciate them.

Chapter 2: Imogen
Masada, Stronghold of Arcadia
The locker rooms were a surprisingly subdued place, contrasting with their inhabitants. The children of the upper crust of nobility could be a raucous bunch, but hours of drills and war games would tire anyone out, even if they’d gotten used to it over the years. Imogen of Arcady, heir to the Throne, was a tightly wound ball of barely contained fury and righteous indignation.
Traditionally, there hadn’t even been a throne. There were three royal houses, each in possession of one irreplaceable warship from centuries past. However, Imogen’s grandfather had consolidated enough power that House Arcady had managed to wrest control over what remained of human space. This, of course, made Imogen a target of hatred from the scions of the other two houses and their allies—as did the medical implant in her brain.
These war games were supposed to be training for how nobility should conduct themselves, but more importantly, they were a method to teach the future leaders of the nation how to wage war. There was a whole galaxy of infrastructure, ancient technology, and garden worlds to be reconquered, and everyone here was going to be involved in some capacity, and she was to be at the head of it. Some people in the room, however, failed to anything from those lessons.
Lothar, scion of House Fury, was a prime example. Time and time again she heard through Royal Intelligence about some misdeed or failure, and each time it seemed he could sink no lower. But, time and time again, he somehow found a way to become even more of a miserable wretch than he had been before. Lothar was a brilliant manipulator, and his family was powerful, so the young nobles with an ambition for power clung to him for as long as he was useful to them, regardless of how he treated them. This was a power he abused greatly, and at every available turn. Imogen had spent an annoying amount of time around the heir to House Fury, given the fact his family was second in political power only to her own. He’d not changed at all since they were children; he’d only found new victims.
He had gone too far, however. She had had enough. Lothar’s mother was not just a fleet admiral using her commission to bring to heel the disorganized worlds among the lawless unbound stars, but also head of House Fury, thus making her the second or third most powerful living human. For her son’s 18^th birthday, she had gifted him control of a small fleet of four ships. More specifically, they’d been Arcadian ships, lent under the guise of inter-House diplomacy.
Lothar had returned with only the ship he commanded from, and his executive officer had to be talked down from shooting the boy for treason. Lothar had, apparently, attempted a raid on a well-established pirate base in the region, with only four ships, and no backup. The details of his plan, if it existed at all, had not been revealed to her through Royal Intelligence.
What she did know, though, was that during this spectacularly stupid series of events, Lothar had immediately panicked when his leading gunboat was destroyed. He then used his remaining ships to cover his escape. It was pure cowardice, plain and simple. And it would not stand. He’d gotten her citizens, her sailors, killed. People that she, as heir to the throne, was responsible for protecting.
Imogen slammed her locker closed and set out to hunt him.
Lothar could usually be found surrounded by a pack of even more pathetic lackeys, and today was no exception. They sat, somehow enraptured by whatever yarn of bullshit he was spinning. As parts of the conversation floated to her ears, she realized he was sitting in the locker room bragging about his recent experiences commanding a fleet.
“I heard all about your fleet,” Imogen interrupted. “Did you make sure to tell them about how you lost three ships, and got over a thousand sailors killed?”
Lothar looked at her, sneered, and replied, “So I lost a few ships. Who cares? They’re replaceable. It was a learning experience. At least I actually do something as opposed to sitting around the palace all day.”
Imogen’s hands balled into fists. She wasn’t sure Lothar believed anything he said, really, but he was remarkably adept at pushing people’s buttons.
“Why do you care? It’s not like anyone’s going to do anything about it, not even if you go crying to your father,” added one of the lower nobles that hung about Lothar. Imogen wasn’t even sure of the girl’s name. Sadly, but the girl had a point. Nothing would be done. Those lives had ended for nothing.
“She’s right you know, there’s nothing you can do, what’s done is done. Just walk away.”
Somewhere in Imogen, fiery rage transformed into a strange sort of detached calm. Nothing would happen to Lothar. Not unless she did something about it. So she would.
She punched Lothar square in the face.
Lothar fell backwards into the metal lockers, and the room erupted into absolute anarchy. Fights like this were uncommon, especially among proper royalty engaged. News of this would be heard in dining halls and country clubs across the universe, but Imogen simply didn’t care anymore. She was going to beat the hell out of Lothar.
The bastard got back up, struggling slightly, steadied by his groupies. One of them rose to swing at her, but Lothar put a hand on his arm to stop him. He would have to deal with this himself, or he’d appear weak to all the future leaders of humanity.
Technically Imogen could have, should have, formulated a proper duel. But that could take months, and the little rat might well have found a way out. This, though, was something that could not be avoided.
The observers had made a ring around them, credits flowing like water between outstretched hands as they made bets on who would win, who would strike first, who would be most injured and so on. Many of the watchers didn’t seem to know who had insulted whom, or the context of the insults, and frankly didn’t care to learn. They simply knew good entertainment when they saw it.
Lothar stood a few feet opposite her, bouncing to-and-fro on the balls of his feet and generally trying to appear far more confident and light-hearted than he actually was. He seemed to have realized he might have bit off more than he could chew.
Imogen stood with her feet squarely planted and her legs bent slightly, open palms held front of her face, slightly curled to punch or to grab at her opponent. They circled around each other, eyes locked, hand-crafted leather boots clacking and tapping on intricate tiles.
Lothar darted out with his right fist, pivoting from the hips with the precision of hundreds of hours of practice. She blocked it with her left, gritting her teeth from the impact, ducked in and slammed a fist into his chest.
She grappled his neck, and with her weight on top of him drove her knee into his stomach. Lothar made a horrid noise as his lungs searched for air that simply wouldn’t come, but he had the clarity of mind to wrap one hand around her leg and use the other to drive a fist into her thigh as hard as he could.
Imogen yelled as she drove her elbow down like a hammer onto his back, striking at her opponent’s kidneys. Lothar crumpled, and she rolled his weight off her legs and onto the hard floor with a wet thump. He wasn’t dead, or unconscious, but she knew from experience that he was hardly able to move.
The gathered crowd seemed agitated, and a bit disappointed. The fight had been brutal, but too quick for their tastes. Imogen hated to agree, but she still wanted to fight. It didn’t feel like punishment enough. A thousand sailors dead, several ships damaged or lost. For what? Rage simmered at the senseless loss of so many lives, when they were already working with limited resources.
Imogen flipped Lothar from his side on to his back, facing up at her, and pressed her boot down on his chest. “Do you yield?”
His breath came in rasping gasps, and his glassy eyes focused on her.
“Fucking freak,” he gurgled out, “you should have died before you let them defile you,”
Imogen snarled and lashed a kick into his ribs.
The watchers cheered and jeered as Lothar yelled in pain. He curled up.
Then, quick as the vermin he was, Lothar grabbed her leg with one hand, withdrew a knife from his belt with the other, and launched himself off the pristine ceramic floor towards her chest.
Imogen’s hand whipped out to block the knife.
The crowd’s roars of excitement drowned out everything. The fighters were in lockstep, muscles twitching and feet shifting to gain any advantage over the other. Imogen ducked inside his reach and smashed her palm directly under Lothar’s nose into a nerve cluster, and then again, this time into his throat.
He let go of the knife.
Imogen, enraged almost beyond words, guided his limp body towards a bench. He fell onto the carved wood, his arm splayed slightly over the edge. She raised her booted foot and slammed it down, snapping his elbow backwards over the bench with a sickeningly wet cracking sound. He screamed and fell off the bench into a fetal position curled up on the floor. Blood oozed from his nose, a brilliant crimson mark upon the alabaster tiling, as he sobbed and cradled his arm.
The audience had mostly quieted down at this point, watching with either admiration and fear, or with a slowly building rage. As all things in Masada did, the distinction seemed to boil down to politics--namely, whether they liked her or Lothar more. Or perhaps it was simply who they were more afraid of.
One of Lothar’s people, the girl who’d insulted Imogen earlier had gone over to check on him. She rose from his side with a mounting fury and started heading towards Imogen, picking up Lothar’s discarded weapon as she went. Several of her peers followed in tow.
Imogen squared her feet and drew her own knife, long and thin with a tapered double-edge, built for thrusting in between the ribs of your enemy. She flicked a small switch and the weapon hummed to life, an impossibly thin filament of prismatic energy floating above the cutting edge as it transformed from a mere blade to something which could cut through bone and metal in an instant. It was, in essence, the same technology behind starship shielding and weaponry, but rigged into a melee weapon.
She breathed heavily as she watched them form ranks and build up the courage to approach her. Others stepped forwards to fight alongside her. There was something freeing about this, to be entirely focused on the here and now, on the morass of gore and violence. Some distant part of her though recognized that she had, perhaps, gone a little too far, and that this sort of thing brought consequences even for one of her lofty social standing.
“That’s enough,” barked the voice of one of their trainers as he strode into the room, flanked by two medics.
Imogen’s attendant, Ingrid, followed behind the trio. The crowd parted around them and quieted down as the tension left the room alongside the blood seeping into the drains. One of the medics knelt by Lothar, checking his vitals and administering aid, slathering his wounds in nanite paste.
“Did you kill him?” her attendant asked coolly, a neutral expression on her face as she eyed up the body.
Their trainer looked far more irritated, but bit his tongue.
“Probably not.” Imogen settled into a far more relaxed stance, her blade again in its sheath.
“He’ll live, your highness,” answered the second medic, examining Lothar’s vital signs on a portable viewing screen. “He’ll be spending a week or two in medical, though. I can’t give an exact timeline.”
The medic eyed the trainer, who gave a silent nod of assent. The medics quickly and precisely unfolded a litter to cart Lothar out of the claustrophobic locker room. They hurried perhaps a bit more than was strictly necessary. They likely shared the same sentiment as some of the noble children: this was no longer a place they wanted to stay.
The trainer strode towards Imogen, scowling as he went. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
She stood and met his eyes, saying nothing.
“Come now. We need to get you to medical, your highness,” Ingrid spoke quietly. She looked at the trainer. “We will discuss this later.”
Throughout this, the crowd had taken on a deathly silence. Even the arrogant sons and daughters of the upper echelons of Arcadia knew that true political power held sway over blue blood.
Still standing tall and defiant, Imogen walked out of the locker rooms, leaving her things behind. Almost none of the crowd would meet her eyes as she left, but she knew they watched her from behind, like vultures. She did her best to suppress the pain and keep from limping as she walked. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction of seeing her injured.
The gym doors opened into a sprawling walkway decorated with stone paths and carefully maintained rows of trees and greenery. Buildings and shops were both free-standing and built into the station itself. Skycars flitted about above them, dancing in between skyscrapers and military installations. They walked towards her personal vehicle, long and angular, with blacked out windows, parked quite illegally on the walking path in front of the training facility.
Imogen glared at one of the ambling merchants who’d been gawking at the whole spectacle, and he darted away. The back doors opened upwards silently, and Ingrid tried to help Imogen in. Imogen knocked her hand away and hauled herself into the car.
The attendant gracefully slid in on the other side, and nodded to the driver, who took off at a clip towards the palace.
“Your hands,” Ingrid said, handing Imogen a cloth as she did so. “You’ll stain the leather.”
Imogen eyed her bloody knuckles, and dutifully wrapped them with the cloth. She leaned back in the quilted leather and stared out the window. Masada was a beautiful place, one of the last vestiges of true human civilization. Glittering buildings shined below, and above them an open view of the void beyond, thanks to pre-collapse technology. The entire assemblage rotated slowly, so over a series of days the scenery would change from stars to a jaw dropping view of Crom Cruach, the gas giant they orbited. From where they were now, it was a little bit of both, but by the time they reached the palace, the planet would dominate the view. If you sat at the very top of the palace spire, Crom would span from one end of the “sky” to the other, an endless stretch of roiling storms and lightning the size of terrestrial worlds. It felt like you could fall into it and never come back up.
Imogen looked away from the window and back at her attendant, locking eyes with her. Unlike most people, that didn’t seem to bother her. Nothing seemed to bother her. It was annoying.
“What happened back there?” Ingrid asked.
“What do you think?” scoffed Imogen.
Imogen’s eyes unfocused slightly as she examined the hand-stitched interior of her car, suddenly not interested in sight-seeing a place she’d seen a thousand times before. A familiar view snapped her out of her fugue--the palace spire. The skycar angled down gently towards a landing pad and touched down ever-so-softly. With all the sound deadening, you couldn’t even hear the engines from inside.
The doors opened, and Imogen hauled herself out, stumbling only slightly. An entourage of medical personnel had arrayed themselves to meet her, doctors, nurses, military triage medics. They’d even brought a stretcher with them. Two nurses rushed to her side, poking and prodding at her, scanning her with various devices.
“I’m fine!” Imogen eyed the stretched with disdain. She’d rather crawl than be carried into medical on something like that. “And I can walk.”
She headed inside, stalking down the corridors as fast as she could without outright running. It was quite painful, and hardly dignified, but she was tired of waiting. She wanted to get this over with. The winding path through the palace spire took her to a room nestled deep inside the complex, far away from the paths servants and nobles took through the spire. Not even the help wanted their bedroom near the good doctor, apparently. She knocked twice, then pushed the door open, knowing the occupant would be waiting for her.
“Ah, Imogen!” remarked the sole inhabitant of the room, a spindly old man fiddling about with something at one of his desks.
“They brought a stretcher, Doctor Birrer,” Imogen remarked, sitting down on the edge of the chair in the center of the room.
“Ha! “I did tell them not to waste their time. Always so dramatic.” The doctor pushed a small cart containing a variety of medical implements over and set about scanning her limbs and body for maladies, bright orange light soaking through her clothes and skin. Images of her bones and organs were displayed on holographic screens across the room, all examined closely by the Doctor.
“Your opponent is in far worse shape, I assume?” He magnified a scan of her bruised and swollen leg.
“Broken elbow. Bruised kidney. Broken nose. Crushed windpipe. A few other things, too,” she rattled off as she stared at the ceiling, trying not to look at the scans of her body, knowing what would come next.
Doctor Birrer was silent for a moment, but then he laughed slightly, shaking his head. “Well, he’ll have a longer stay in medical than you will. By far. It looks like you should just need a minor layer of nanite paste. Nothing’s broken, no lacerations. No internal bleeding. You’ll want to keep your weight off the leg for a while. No running for a few days at least,” he told her, still examining the readout.
Imogen grunted in acknowledgement.
“I’m going to do some routine diagnostics while you’re here, though,” he said, and he moved the scanner over her head.
Despite herself, Imogen couldn’t help but look. The holographic screen showed the inside of her skull, and the hateful machine curled up inside of it. Dull gray, with thin wires spreading like roots all throughout her brain. It was disgusting, but she couldn’t stop staring at it.
“Imogen . . .,” the Doctor whispered, barely audible. “You had it turned off.”
She said nothing, eyes still glued to the display.
“You could have died,” he said, now staring directly at her.
Imogen remained quiet
The Doctor shook his head, sighed, and continued his work. “You are the only heir. You have a responsibility to stay alive.”
Imogen broke her trance-like fix on the display and looked through the one-way window in the clinic at the city below, at the teeming mass of humanity sprawled out across the orbital assemblage. She was born for her people, and that was all she’d ever be.
Imogen might steal a few minutes of freedom in her rebellions, but she was the heir. That was first, last, and all she was allowed to be.
“Just fix what you can. I suspect I’m needed in the throne room,” she said, and after a pause added, “Please.”
She leaned back and closed her eyes as the warm electric feeling of nanite paste rolled over her skin, reveling in the sensation.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq9Z7iNtXx8
In ring training: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftPUCpkX5Eo
This is a very valuable lesson on wrestling basics from Christopher Daniels before AEW existed.
Interestingly enough he taught the students things which are not practiced in AEW which makes me wonder why Tony Khan or the talent doesn't listen to him or perhaps Daniels changed his fundamental philosophies.
Examples:

• The opening match of a card should not have near-falls with tons of highspots. Every match doesn't need to feel like the main event.
• Quoted Jim Cornette in a good way "Wrestling is an entertaining sport, not sports entertainment."
• There's no need to get all your shit in because it doesn't make sense.
• No need to take dozens of bumps if 5 would do (less is more).
• You don't need 3 big moves if the last move in that sequence accomplishes the same thing.
• The first step of a match is the Introduction where both wrestlers present themselves as a babyface or heel just in case new fans are tuning in.
• Start a match with lower end offensive moves and move your way up to the climax. Do not start a match with the higher level moves.
• After a double-down, do not slowly try to pin your opponent exhausted because the fans aren't buying it.
• Don't use mid or lower level moves to try and score a pin in a comeback because the fans won't believe it.
• The more a heel kicks out of a pin attempt, the weaker the babyface looks.
• Don't do moves you can't safely pull off or you don't feel comfortable doing.
• Don't rush and let things breathe.
• Don't be labeled as a spotmonkey.
• Wrestling in Japan is not important.
• You can be over with just a few moves.
• And more...

Daniels seems like such a professional and patient trainer. Really hard to imagine the drama that went down between he and CM Punk considering they are both friends with Samoa Joe.
It's real weird to me how AEW has guys who have preached the fundamentals in the past (Billy Gunn, Jake Roberts, Jim Ross, Dustin Rhodes) yet the company defers to basically produces every match like 1990s Jerry Lynn vs RVD, and The Young Bucks and Kenny Omega are proud to break traditional rules of storytelling and basics.
I'm not bashing the philosophy (especially since I loved watching 1990s spotmonkeys) just a little baffled how established vets are unable to influence the final product.

Hello all!
For context: I've been hesitant to share this for a hot minute, initially uncertain of it's relevance to this sub. A sort of introspective meditative method came to me, following the conclusion of my Saturn Return, and during what seemed to be the climax of a "Dark Night of the Soul". Having just recently joined this community at the time, and little confidence, I decided to put it on the back-burner instead.
A recent post referring that our guides communicate with us through song reminded me. Also, having seen vaguely similar posts in the past, it seems that the concept is relatable to some so I'd like to share my experience with this method (for lack of a better word). I'll do my best to keep this post as cohesive as possible.
One of my 2023 New Year's Resolutions was to create a new playlist with the sole intent of it being able to provide some guidance in my journey; healing deep-seated traumas and reshaping my outlook in general. I picked three songs to start with, then the algorithm took off and added just what I unknowingly wanted/needed to hear. Ended up rediscovering songs I'd forgotten as well as discovering new songs that made me think, "Where have you been all my life?"
(I didn't really get into music until I was about 11. Spanish was my first language and it was difficult for me to make out most lyrics, English or otherwise. For the longest time, I couldn't empathize with anyone who'd say that music changed/saved their life.)
(Worth noting, I've been listening more to music that I honestly wouldn't have earnestly given a chance in previous years—a complete 180 from the heavy and melancholic.)
From late 2022 to early 2023, listening to music, reminiscing and daydreaming, even engaging in movement all the while at times were the stimuli that triggered the most life-changing epiphanies.
I'd gotten back into journaling and at one point felt compelled to write while listening to music—this was new to me, since I usually prefer silence when writing. Now, this may be where I lose some of you, if you haven't already moved on to something else... I was really into angel numbers at the time and they have a big part to play in this process.
Granted, I've only done this less than a handful of times because I didn't want to obsess over it but the results were surprising. I'd spent about 40 minutes to an hour each session, making note of the time (not timestamp of the song), and a word or two, or phrase that stuck out to me, and what it made me think of. Each entry spanned about a couple of minutes or so from one to the next. Once I had a full or nearly filled page, I looked up the meaning of the corresponding angel number and wrote in a brief summary of it with each entry.
I was surprised to find that (almost) every word or phrase I took from each song—sometimes including the song title and/or group/artist's name—matched the theme and overall message of the angel number attached to it. I say almost because there were some entries where I had only written one word or omitted the song title, group/artist, etc. (That is, not enough detail to make a connection).
Wish I could share an example but finding it hard to pinpoint which notebook these pages might be in. Anyway, just wanted to share one of the methodical practices that have helped bring alternative perspectives to focus—for entertainment purposes, at the very least.

I was bored this weekend, so pushed the TLP blogs through GPT. Here is a quick summary of the blogs for easy reference :)

1. Who Bullies The Bullies? This article discusses the disparity in protection and justice based on one's societal position, using a real-life example of harassment and the systemic response to it.
2. The Maintenance Of Certification Exam As Fetish - A critique of the educational and professional certification systems, arguing that tests like the Maintenance Of Certification (MOC) in psychiatry serve more as a ritualistic validation of the system rather than a genuine assessment of knowledge or skill.
3. Ten Extra Seconds Would Have Saved True Detective's Finale - Critical analysis of the ending of the TV show "True Detective," suggesting that an additional ten seconds could have significantly improved the finale by maintaining character consistency and thematic depth.
4. True Detective's Detective - Delving into the philosophical and existential themes presented in "True Detective," comparing the show's narrative to the philosophical ideas of Camus, particularly around the concepts of absurdism and revolt.
5. Who Can Know How Much Randi Zuckerberg Is Worth? - Examining public perceptions of Randi Zuckerberg's wealth, criticizing both her detractors and supporters, and discussing the broader implications of wealth, merit, and societal value.
6. Hunger Games Catching Fire: Badass Body Count - A critique of the portrayal of heroism in the "Hunger Games" series, arguing that Katniss is depicted as a hero in a way that aligns with modern narcissistic tendencies, obscuring true heroism by conforming to the system's totalitarian structure.
7. How Does The Shutdown Relate To Me?- Discussion on the manipulation of public outrage through media, highlighting how propaganda aims to immobilize people by making them feel strongly about issues without taking real action. Examining the portrayal of independent news sources like Al Jazeera America.
8. Real Men Want To Drink Guinness, But Don't Expect Them To Pay For It - Analyzing gender dynamics and consumerism through the lens of advertising, contrasting a Guinness ad targeting men with another ad targeting women, exploring how these ads manipulate perceptions of gender roles and expectations.
9. Still Alive - Interpreting the meaning of pornography on an individual basis, emphasizing the importance of personal perception and encouraging readers to freely express their thoughts to understand their own psychological mechanisms.
10. The Dove Sketches Beauty Scam - Critique of Dove's "Real Beauty" campaign, arguing that it reinforces the very standards it claims to challenge, manipulating consumers by setting aspirational images that seem achievable but ultimately serve as a defense against real change.
11. Don't Hate Her Because She's Successful - Exploring societal reactions to successful women, using examples to highlight how success is perceived differently based on gender. Discussing how certain behaviors and cultural norms are manipulated to maintain certain power dynamics.
12. No Self-Respecting Woman Would Go Out Without Make Up - Exploring societal expectations and gender dynamics, focusing on how men and women approach salary negotiations and validation through external means. Criticizing the generational pathology of narcissism and the reliance on external validation.
13. Product Review: Panasonic PT AX200U (Hipsters On Food Stamps Part 3) - Using a product review format to delve into the psychology of identity and projection, especially within the hipster subculture, critiquing the notion of self-awareness and the defense mechanisms people use to avoid deeper self-reflection.
14. Funeral - Critique of self-centered behaviors at funerals, emphasizing how inappropriate actions and misplaced attention-seeking disrupt the grieving process. Calling for proper decorum and genuine support for the bereaved.
15. Temper Tantrums In The DSM - Discussion on the inclusion of Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD) in the DSM-5, arguing that it pathologizes normal reactions to adverse environments and critiques the systemic tendency to medicalize social and environmental issues for financial and bureaucratic benefits.
16. Hipsters On Food Stamps, Part 1 & Part 2 - Exploring the irony and hypocrisy in the hipster subculture, particularly focusing on how some individuals who identify with this group end up using food stamps. Extending the discussion to broader societal critiques, including the disconnect between self-perception and reality in modern consumer culture.
17. The Second Story Of Echo And Narcissus - Delving into themes of narcissism and identity, using the myth of Echo and Narcissus as a framework to discuss contemporary issues related to self-perception and societal expectations.
18. Who's Afraid Of Lil Wayne? - Critiquing the public's perception of the rapper Lil Wayne, examining how racial and cultural biases influence opinions about his music and persona.
19. Fox & Friends punked by Obama supporter - Recounting an incident where the TV show "Fox & Friends" was tricked by a supporter of Obama, illustrating the show's susceptibility to manipulation and the broader implications for media credibility.
20. The Harvard Cheating Scandal Is Stupid - Critiquing the media coverage and public reaction to a cheating scandal at Harvard, arguing that the real issues lie in the educational system's values and priorities.
21. Paul Ryan vs. Rage Against The Machine - Discussing the ideological clash between politician Paul Ryan and the band Rage Against The Machine, highlighting the incongruities in their respective worldviews.
22. Just Because You See It, Doesn't Mean It's Gone - Exploring the theme of denial and the persistence of problems even when they are visually or superficially addressed, using various societal examples.
23. The Second Story Of Echo And Narcissus - Audio - Providing an auditory experience of the themes discussed in the previously mentioned article, delving into narcissism and identity using the myth of Echo and Narcissus.