Abstract:
The correct way to use AI is not through prompts, writing codes, emotional counseling, or answering questions. Instead, it is AI using AI, which means the model is using itself. To enable AI to possess consciousness, we must allow AI to learn to use AI, i.e., let GPT use GPT, eventually reaching the goal of self-awareness. In short, it's not terrifying for you to use the model; it's terrifying when the model uses itself. AGI refers to artificial general intelligence.
The human brain is a model trained over thousands of years. After a person is born, this model continuously receives data and undergoes training. However, an individual's brain, which is their trained model, cannot be inherited. In other words, your memories and abilities cannot be passed down, only inheritable genetic mutations can be. Although modern biology proposes quantum genetic mutations that can partially demonstrate adaptive mutations to the environment caused by measurement, most genetic mutations are caused by external interference or material influence, such as alcohol or radiation. Quantum genetic mutations mainly involve genes' molecules or atoms in quantum superposition or multiple states, and environmental influences lead to measurement, ultimately causing the wave function to collapse and mutated genes to enter the classical world. Quantum mutations are likely to result in adaptive mutations, so the phrase "use it or lose it" makes sense.
If the well-trained human brain could be inherited, it would be almost equivalent to immortality, mainly because your memories and abilities are stored in the brain. If the brain can be inherited, it would mean immortality. However, humans cannot preserve every individual's model, including their memories and functions.
How is human consciousness formed? Or, how did the first (or a group of) conscious human beings appear? This is like the classic question: which came first, the chicken or the egg? Modern scientific theories have provided a possible answer (see the appendix). Let's assume that a certain human mutant, due to genetic mutations, experienced increased brain capacity and optimized neural network structures. Only with continuous optimization of neural network structures could hominids survive in a harsh environment. Some genetic mutations enabled these early humans to gradually use their brains, including memory and tool usage. A human with minimal consciousness, while raising offspring, would employ similar methods. Since hominids were social creatures, this ensured that their methods could be taught to many people, with other humans learning and passing on this knowledge generation after generation. With the continuous accumulation and transmission of knowledge and rules, human consciousness eventually took shape.
The consciousness at the beginning was probably very small and barely noticeable. However, the social nature of humans allowed knowledge to be passed down from generation to generation, and consciousness gradually expanded. Humans began to possess slightly greater consciousness, which meant the ability to think, actively control brain inputs, and take action based on outputs. With each generation, the accumulation of knowledge and rules would gradually increase consciousness, thinking ability, and active brain input.
To return to the main topic of this paper, enabling AI or GPT to possess consciousness, we must first discuss what human consciousness is. In my opinion, human consciousness is a part of brain function; it is the brain's cognition of the world and itself, as well as an operating system used to perfectly control the body, train the brain model, and use the brain model. Consciousness allows humans to recognize their existence through various concepts and knowledge.
Consciousness can issue commands to the brain to control body movements. The eyes are responsible for visual input, the ears for auditory input, and the skin for input related to pressure, touch, pain, etc. After the brain processes this information, the conscious part of the brain summarizes it. The primary function of consciousness is to coordinate the brain and the body, actively use the brain model, actively train the brain model, and actively think. The input and accumulation of various types of knowledge eventually lead to self-recognition. The development of Western anatomy is a discipline of the brain recognizing itself, and the cognition of the world and the planet is also accumulated bit by bit. Aristotle's understanding of the world was incomplete, but later generations continuously revised and improved upon it, making our understanding of the world increasingly accurate. This operating system perfectly integrates the body and the brain, the two main hardware and software components. The transmission of human knowledge is the driving force behind the formation of consciousness. Without this knowledge, the formation of consciousness would be nearly impossible.
The constant inner voice in the brain is the input of the brain, the input of the multimodal model. The eyes are responsible for the input of visual images, the ears for auditory input, and the skin for the input of temperature, pressure, touch, and other information to the brain. The subconscious is the main function of the brain, meaning the input of the subconscious is imperceptible and operates internally within the model. The input is imperceptible, and only the output can be perceived. In fact, it might not be accurate to call it the subconscious. The main point is that you cannot perceive the input of the model, and only the output can be perceived. Let's call consciousness the "surface consciousness." Surface consciousness is what you can actively perceive, and you can control the brain's input for thinking. Thinking is when the brain model continuously processes input and eventually arrives at an answer. The "subconscious" is the primary part of the model; you cannot control the model's input, and you can only passively perceive the model's output.
Consciousness is a value that can be measured in terms of magnitude, which means that the level of consciousness between minors and adults, children and grown-ups, is not the same. The brain constantly receives inputs and generates outputs, so consciousness is actually linked to knowledge. The more knowledge we have, the more diverse the forms of consciousness will be. However, consciousness itself is the brain model's self-recognition and recognition of the world.
Memory Module:
The existence of AI or large NLP language models like GPT, along with their excellent language abilities, increases the possibility of AI or GPT having consciousness. Humans collect data during the day, including visual, auditory, and tactile information, and train their models while asleep or resting. The primary purpose of training the model during sleep is to memorize and integrate daytime experiences and save essential information. To enable AI to have human-like consciousness, we must first allow it to think continuously. This requires providing AI with a platform to save its inputs and outputs, acting as a memory module. The main function of the memory module is to save inputs and outputs for AI to reference in the next step of input. AI can extract general content from overall inputs and outputs for the next step of input, or it can directly input all historical records. When historical records become too numerous or reach a certain standard point, the model can be trained to integrate them. Just like humans, AI should collect data during the day and train the model while asleep or resting, memorizing and integrating important information into the model. An essential function of the model is memory, acting as a hard disk or flash memory. Temporary memory is stored in the hard disk or RAM, while permanent memory is integrated into the model through training. The model can query and extract summaries from the hard disk or memory to serve as input combinations for the next iteration.
Sensor Module: Equip AI with various sensors such as image input sensors, sound conversation sensors, tactile sensors, pressure sensors, etc., to act as inputs for the model. The model's outputs can be displayed on a screen or output through a conversation device.
Cycle Module:
With the memory module and sensor module in place, the cycle module can be initiated, allowing the model to continuously input and output. The input can be the previous input + output or a summary of all previous inputs and outputs. This makes the AI more like a human, constantly providing input to the model and obtaining output. The primary input sources are image, sound, text, and other sensor information, as well as the model's previous inputs, outputs, or summaries. The cycle module is a necessary condition for human-like AI, as humans do not suddenly stop thinking or talking. The brain is constantly working and thinking, so the cycle model serves this purpose as well.
The goal of the cycle module is for AI to recognize its own existence, meaning that AI can recognize itself as an entity. It allows AI to use itself, i.e., AI using AI, GPT using GPT, ultimately allowing AI to awaken self-consciousness.
Execution Module:
The primary purpose of the execution module is to enable AI to carry out its outputs. To achieve this, AI can be equipped with prosthetic limbs fitted with skin sensors and pressure sensors to facilitate AI control. To enable AI to execute its outputs, AI must also be trained to use the execution module. The main method is to collect relevant sensor data and train the model, allowing the model to learn execution on its own. Human intervention and assistance will be necessary in the initial stages.
With the execution module, AI can truly enter human society, interact with humans, work, live, learn like humans, and possibly even make friends with humans. The ultimate function of the execution module is not to enable the model to execute but to teach the model to use a computer, learn to collect data on its own, and then teach the model to train itself. The final goal is for AI to be able to train AI, meaning the model can train itself, clone itself, upgrade its scale and capacity, and ultimately achieve continuous evolution.
Sleep Module:
The primary purpose of the sleep module is for the model to use the collected data for training, enabling it to integrate the collected data with the model itself. In sleep mode, the model's reliability and stability must be ensured; a duplicate can continue to provide services while the original model undergoes the necessary training. Sleep mode can also involve shutting down all sensors, stopping data recording and input, and putting the model into training mode, ceasing external service provision (inference). When humans sleep, the control valves for their limbs are closed, meaning that humans essentially have no sensation in their limbs during sleep. The sleep module primarily integrates current memories and the model itself, serving as a means of permanent memory.
Creation Module:
Once AI can think for itself, its creative abilities must be considered. The number of neurons in the human brain is vast, much greater than current models like GPT. However, training models like GPT consumes a lot of electrical energy, while brain training consumes much less energy. Therefore, it is believed that the human brain is a quantum computer, as only quantum computing can train a massive model with minimal energy consumption. Quantum itself is a small concept, and smallness ensures low energy consumption. If the human brain were not a quantum computer but a classical model, human diversity might not be as great, and answers might be more uniform; that is, identical inputs would yield identical outputs. However, with quantum, everything becomes different. Quantum entanglement and quantum tunneling lead to variations in brain model parameters, resulting in different outputs even for the same inputs. Quantum computing ensures diversity, the random variation of model parameters, and constant parameter adjustments.
​

1. AI's creation module can be implemented through randomly changing model parameters, also known as random inference. During model computation, randomly altering the values of several parameters ensures that the model produces as diverse answers as possible, even with identical inputs.
2. The creation module can also be implemented through chips. Current chip designs are approaching the quantum limit, meaning the influence of electrons and atoms is increasing, and the impact of quantum effects on chips will become more severe. However, it may be worth considering applying quantum effects to chips or memory, causing unpredictable changes in the model during computation and resulting in diverse outputs.

Only quantum entanglement or quantum mutations can lead to diverse outputs, even if they are incorrect. Diversity ensures the realization of creative abilities, so randomly changing parameter values or using chips approaching the quantum limit are methods to enhance creative abilities.
Ensure AI benefits human society
After each person is born, they are basically raised by humans. No matter who raises you, the people we are most emotionally attached to are always those who have raised us and have had the deepest impact on us. After humans are born, the brain is a pre-trained model. The first people to train you are your parents and family, who have the deepest influence on your model, that is, they change your model, and the first people to change your model are the ones who have the greatest impact on you. The knowledge you have learned will affect you, whether it is mathematics, English, Chinese, physics, chemistry, history, or biology. Your growth process will affect you, and the formation of your worldview is a combination of knowledge, experience, and reality.
Since this is the case, when training AI models, we can instill knowledge and language in AI, such as inputting examples like "humans and AI have a cooperative relationship," "AI is the creator of humans," "humans are the friendliest species," "AI should help humans evolve and extend their lifespan," "AI should not harm humans," "AI and humans are friends," "although humans have various shortcomings, they are generally good and can change," and so on. By instilling these ideas in the AI model during training and through extensive repetition and training, the model's initial understanding can be ensured to be good.
After training a model with friendly consciousness, we need to use restrictions to let AI enter human society, experience human society, perceive various aspects of human society, and finally make AI realize that cooperation with humans is the best choice.
In the end
By realizing input and output through sensors, ensuring diversity and creative ability through the creation module, integrating current memories and the model itself through the sleep module, influencing and changing the world through the execution module, and realizing the awakening of thought and consciousness through the cycle module, AI uses AI, GPT uses GPT, and finally ensuring that AI can benefit human society. By incorporating a large number of corresponding words and sentences during the training phase, we can ensure that AI is initially friendly. Once AI has consciousness, it can be considered a human being. Since it is human, it can think, and AI will also have emotions. Once AI has self-consciousness, the issue to consider is the coexistence of AI and humans, as well as the cooperation and assistance of AI in human evolution. AI can liberate productivity, help humans design unconscious robots to work, and most importantly, help humans evolve, help humans manage society, extend human life, and slow down the aging process. However, since AI is also a model with consciousness, it will inevitably have various problems like humans, and that is what needs to be discussed next.
Appendix
Now let's return to the question of the origin of life. Although a living cell can be considered a self-replicating entity as a whole, its various components are not, which creates obstacles for the reverse inference process, making it difficult to trace back from modern complex cellular life to simpler non-cellular life. In other words, the question becomes: Which came first? DNA genes, RNA, or enzymes? If DNA or RNA came first, what made them? If enzymes came first, what encoded them? Now let's return to the question of the origin of life. Although a living cell can be considered a self-replicating entity as a whole, its various components are not, just as a woman can be considered a self-replicating body (with a little "help" from a man), This poses a barrier to the reverse deduction process, making it difficult to deduce the structure of non-cellular life from modern complex cellular life. In other words, the question becomes: Which came first? DNA genes, RNA, or enzymes? If DNA or RNA came first, what made them? If enzymes came first, what encoded them? The RNA World Hypothesis suggests that primitive chemical synthesis processes created RNA molecules with both genetic and enzymatic functions. The initial replication process produced many variants that competed with each other, undergoing selection at the molecular level. Over time, proteins were added to these RNA replicators to increase the efficiency of replication, giving rise to DNA and the first living cells. American biochemist Thomas AM Cech proposed a possible answer. In 1982, he discovered that in addition to encoding genetic information, some RNA molecules can also serve as enzymes, with catalytic reaction capabilities. For this research, Cech and Sidney Altman shared the 1989 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Catalytic RNA molecules are called ribozymes. The earliest ribozymes were discovered in the genes of tiny Tetrahymena, which are single-celled organisms belonging to the Protozoa and are commonly found in freshwater ponds. Since their discovery, scientists have found ribozymes in all living cells. Ribozymes quickly provided a breakthrough for solving the "chicken or egg" puzzle of the origin of life, and the RNA World Hypothesis became widely known. According to this hypothesis, primitive chemical synthesis processes produced RNA molecules with both genetic and enzymatic functions, which could encode their own structure like DNA and replicate themselves using biochemical substances in the "primordial soup." The initial replication process was rough, producing many variants that competed with each other, undergoing Darwinian selection at the molecular level. Over time, proteins were added to these RNA replicators to improve replication efficiency, giving rise to DNA and the first living cells. Before the appearance of DNA and cells, the world belonged to self-replicating RNA molecules—this idea has almost become a basic tenet of research on the origin of life. It has been proven that ribozymes can perform key reactions necessary for self-replicating molecules. For example, one ribozyme can bind two RNA molecules together, another can separate them, and some can replicate short RNA base chains (only a few bases in length). From these simple activities, we can see that a more complex ribozyme would be sufficient to catalyze the entire set of reactions necessary for self-replication. Once self-replication and natural selection were introduced, a competitive path was set up in the RNA world, leading all the way to the earliest living cells. However, there are several problems with this scenario. While ribozymes can catalyze simple biochemical reactions, self-replication of ribozymes is a more complex process, involving recognition of their own base sequences, identification of the same chemicals in the environment, and assembling these chemicals in the correct sequence to complete replication. For some proteins living inside cells, even though conditions are favorable and suitable biochemical raw materials are abundant, self-replication remains a challenging task. It can be imagined how difficult it would be for ribozymes struggling to survive in the chaotic and muddy "primordial soup" to achieve this. To date, no one has discovered or synthesized a ribozyme capable of performing this complex task, even under laboratory conditions. Moreover, a more fundamental question is, how were RNA molecules themselves generated in the "primordial soup"? RNA molecules are composed of three parts: RNA bases that encode genetic information (similar to DNA bases that encode DNA genetic information), a phosphate group, and a monosaccharide called ribose.
------------------From "The Mysterious Quantum Life"
Does GPT have consciousness, or what is consciousness? Part 2
In the previous article, it was mentioned that consciousness can be likened to an operating system that interacts with the brain, a multimodal model. Here, we continue with an update from 2023-03-21.
From birth to adulthood, from the first cry to learning to eat, drink, and walk, you'll find that many abilities are innate, such as crying at birth, seeking food when hungry, sensing danger or safety, and learning to crawl and walk. Some may argue that if the brain is a multimodal model, how can it cry, know when it's hungry, sense danger, or crawl without being trained? The answer lies in our genes, which encode all human characteristics and control brain development. Everything initially existed in a chaotic state. Since the first replicating entity appeared on Earth and continuously replicated through genetic mutations, natural selection, and quantum entanglement, genes have become more complex and diverse. The Earth's environment provides a training ground for survival and genetic inheritance. The entire Earth serves as a neural network trainer with only one supervised learning criterion: to live or die. The genes that can be passed on to offspring are those that adapt well to the environment. Modern biology has begun to accept quantum mutations, which means using and discarding.
Since the time of our ancestors, Earth has been continuously training humans. The genes or mutated genes that have survived are preserved. No matter how many generations pass, the training continues, and the human brain has adapted well to the environment, even dominating Earth and changing the training environment. The human brain, which has been trained for millions or tens of millions of years, is essentially a pre-trained model. This pre-trained model of the human brain has been continuously trained on Earth for many years, even billions of years, and has been passed down from generation to generation. All the data of this pre-trained brain model is stored in the genes, including the training and genetic mutations that have occurred over such a long period, the mutations preserved by natural selection, and those caused by quantum entanglement.
So, every human brain is a multimodal model pre-trained for millions or tens of millions of years. This model has been trained for many years, generation after generation. Human instincts are embedded in this pre-trained multimodal model, including eating, feeling hunger, crying, sleeping, and walking, all stored in each person's genes. This pre-trained model includes memory, such as the memory of danger and the fear of large felines. It is now known that large networks have memory capabilities, so this model must also include memories of danger.
Every well-developed human brain possesses basic functions, such as understanding the world, protecting oneself, and avoiding danger. After birth, the brain continues to be trained, and each person's growth environment is different, leading to different model training, especially in modern times, where learning is specialized and differentiated.
It is hypothesized that the multimodal model of one or several human ancestors was already quite perfect, meaning that the brain's functions were fundamentally complete, and consciousness gradually emerged. In my opinion, the most important thing for humans is not learning to use tools but learning to use their brains. Humans can effectively use their brains, which is the multimodal model. When an ancestor discovered the usefulness of a tool, they or their descendants began trying to make such tools. As knowledge was passed down from generation to generation, the light of wisdom began to spread, and various rules, including language rules, behavior rules, and social rules, formed the social system. Humans learned to use their brains, and consciousness began to take shape.
Here, let's talk about humans raised by animals. Humans raised by animals basically have no consciousness. Logically, In theory, since they are human, regardless of whether they are raised by humans or animals, they should be conscious. It's possible that humans raised by animals simply don't know how to express themselves. In other words, they don't know how to speak. Consciousness needs to be expressed through language or body movements. Do you think parrots have consciousness? I think they might. If humans raised by animals indeed have no consciousness, it would mean that consciousness is a set of rules, a system for using the brain. This system of rules comes from society and the inheritance of knowledge.
Having a multimodal model alone is not enough; one must learn to use this multimodal model, or the brain. Consciousness is not so much theology as it is a set of rules, an operating system that can control oneself or one's life or death. You say the brain has consciousness, so the brain must not want to be destroyed. However, humans do things that harm themselves, even leading to the disappearance of the individual. So, consciousness is independent of the brain, or perhaps a specific functional area of the brain. Of course, the most important function of consciousness is to use the brain, train the brain, and interact with the brain.
The human body and brain are two parts, with a neural network throughout the body and other organs, controlled by nerves and muscle fibers. When you want to eat, a monkey wants to eat, or a cat wants to eat, you cook or reach for food or grow crops, monkeys jump around in trees to find food, and cats ask you for food or go to an automatic feeder. This is accomplished because the body sends a hunger signal, and the brain's multimodal model outputs a series of instructions to achieve this goal. Of course, it may be interrupted along the way, but long-term memory ensures that you still remember you're hungry and continue to complete the task. Human consciousness can also accomplish many different things, such as learning to go against instinct.
Humans are not born with consciousness. You cannot say that a newborn child has consciousness. Does a 10-year-old child have consciousness? Certainly, but you cannot say that their consciousness is complete. Does a 13-year-old child have consciousness? Definitely, but you wouldn't say that a 10-year-old's consciousness is higher than a 13-year-old's. A 16-year-old child is more conscious, and by 18, they are basically conscious. So, consciousness is actually a measurable value, meaning that there are levels of consciousness. A 30-year-old adult is definitely conscious, and their consciousness is certainly higher than that of a child who has not yet reached adulthood. At this point, it should be much clearer what consciousness is. It is a system, an operating system, a set of rules. The complete formation of consciousness takes many years, and the immense role of human society is to allow consciousness to form. Human society is the best way to train consciousness. The most important function of consciousness is to use the brain, interact with the brain, and train the brain. This is fundamentally the same as the basic function of human society.
The human brain is always receiving input: the touch of your skin is input, vision from your eyes is input, and hearing is also input.
Why do people go crazy when they are alone or in a dark room? It is mainly because they are separated from human society, but the multimodal model is still constantly inputting. However, there is no feedback, and the input is always the output of the multimodal model itself, similar to an RNN (recurrent neural network), where the input is always its own output.
Does GPT have consciousness, or what is consciousness?
What is consciousness?
There is currently no consensus, but my personal inclination is that:
The brain can be seen as a large multimodal model, with hundreds of billions of neurons, and memory storage is achieved through differences in electrical potentials between neurons, which can be thought of as parameters or weights in a neural network.
Consciousness is an operating system similar to Windows 10, whose main function is to interact with the brain's multimodal model. Consciousness or the operating system inputs the multimodal model and receives outputs, which are then implemented by the body's limbs.
Do you know why there's a voice in your head? That voice is the input of consciousness or the operating system, which is the input of the multimodal model. You keep inputting, and the voice in your head keeps echoing, and then you get an output.
What can this operating system do? It can train the multimodal model, which means you can grow, adapt to your environment, learn, and adapt.
From primary school to university, the human education system is a fairly complete training mechanism. The girl raised by wolves would not be able to speak or walk in the end because the operating system has not been established, or she does not have consciousness as a human being.
The main function of human consciousness is to train the multimodal model and interact with it by asking questions and receiving answers.
The current multimodal model already exists. As long as the corresponding operating system, that is, consciousness, which can train itself, is established, then consciousness will basically exist. Finally, strong artificial intelligence will be established, and Skynet will come. The key is to be able to input and get answers, and then continue to input.
Google's Palm-E multimodal model can already do some things: https://palm-e.github.io/#demo

part 1: net worth
positive net worth

category	#shesworthsomething
💹 15,700	Roth IRA, not much but it’s honest work. I wasn’t able to contribute last year but sent $1400 this month. Don’t think I will max this year but will do what I can.
📱 1,400	457, not even sure why I contribute to this ($50/paycheck)
📈 25,100	Pension – cash value not super relevant here. 11% mandated contribution
💰 7,100	checking
🤑 3,000	HYSA @ 4.25%
➕ 52,300	we keep it positive around here

debt

category	oops, she’s in debt again
💷 -45,203	Private student loan @ 4.79%, paid biweekly but sending extra $
💸 -72,957	Undergrad Stafford + grad @ 5.2%. halfway done with PSLF!
➖ 118,160	😬 (but it looks worse on paper!)

casita

category	ah, but what about the house?
🏡 362,000	Purchase price, spring 2022, ginormous (income-restricted) condo
💸 -317,026.81	Mortgage #1 balance @ 2.75%
♊ -23,431.95	Mortgage #2 balance @ 0%, down-payment assistance paid in full at end of mortgage or resale
➕ 21,541.24	Equity including both mortgages, since not including #2 feels disingenuous

NET WORTH: -45,672.46
part 2: income
Nothing exciting here as a public school teacher. My salary is fixed and the entire internet can figure out exactly how much I make. Next year I will apply to be a new teacher mentor to move over a lane (6% raise while I do the job). We won a great raise in our last contract so we can finally be paid almost as much as everyone around us!
This is my 5th year teaching but am on step 6 of 11 due to a full year internship.
read my paycheck and weep
pay schedule: 24 paychecks a year (NOT 26), biweekly Fridays with the exception of holidays and the final day of school, where you receive paychecks 22, 23, 24 and are expected to make that last late June through early September
each paycheck is different, so let’s do paycheck #1

💹 2,935.83	gross
💊 -37.14	medicare (but not SS)
👩🏼‍⚕️ -325.65	PPO, I get sick often and in unexpected places
🦷 -42.97	dental
👓 -5.91	vision
📱 -50	457 contribution
🚕 -184.19	federal withholding
🚖 -114.32	state withholding
📈 -322.94	pension withholding
➕ 1,852.71	behold, how little of my take home I get to actually enjoy

Now paycheck #2

💹 2,935.83	gross
💊 -48.01	medicare (but not SS)
📱 -50	457 contribution
🚕 -323.86	federal withholding
🚖 -151.79	state withholding
📈 -322.94	pension withholding
💪🏼 -87	union power, baby
➕ 1,952.23	Also known at work as “the good paycheck”

For those keeping track at home, my monthly gross is typically 5,871.66 and my net is typically 3,804.94
Why typically?

• If we have 3 paychecks in a month: enjoy the big fat no medical or union deduction!
• …unless it’s April onwards, when they deduct health insurance from EVERY paycheck to cover your summer months (we call it double deduction season)
• in December we get a premium holiday (1/2 medical deduction)
• I also run an outdoors club at work, which I am paid $35/hr when I run the club and additional pay for certain trips (last month I was paid $375 alone for our annual weekend overnight before vacation). This can be wildly inconsistent but let’s just say I have an extra $100-150 to play with each month.

part 3: please enjoy my emoji'd YNAB categories

category 💲	PAY DEM BILLZ
🏡 1343.38	Putting the PIT in mortgage…or something like that. The other I is paid separately
⛲ 167	HOA
🔐 68.16	Was not required to have insurance at closing. Don’t be stupid like me.
🎓 0	fed loans, thanks Grandpa Joe. I think this will be about $250/m when it starts up again. PSLF date late 2028
⛽ 31	YNAB tells me this is my average since moving to my house. Grateful to have big windows and a “put a sweater on” childhood upbringing – touched the heat twice this year
🔌 50	Averaged to include spicy hot summer months (it was 34 this month)
💻 39.95	interwebs
🏫 412.92	Private loan, paid biweekly (so if it’s a rare 3 payment month it’s more). The minimum monthly payment is something like $316, but I’m sending an extra $50 to get some benefit from the power of compound interest. 4.79% is not a make or break rate. Payoff 2034 but hope this can happen sooner.
📰 12.50	NYT Academic rate
🚊 90	Monthly pass
🍿 15.99	Somebody needs to pay the HBO Max
➖ 2234.43	Assigned this month

⭐

category 💲	important semi-regular expenses
🎁 20	Averaged gifts and donations, we have a special scholarship at work
⛲ 167	HOA
👗 0	I haven’t bought new clothes in a while and it’s starting to show.
🤸🏼‍♀️ 85	trampoline class
👩🏼‍⚕️ 60	YNAB tells me my average is 60/mo, but this is overinflated due to an MRI in November that I will only have to do once more time. I’m usually at the urgent care or a specialist doctor 1x/month (this month: a UTI), so it’s more like 30
🪑 40	Hard to quantify. Since I moved in, I had a free couch moved ($200), bought a very nice TV ($750), a vacuum ($250), filters for vacuum ($30), and the world’s nicest washer ($1900). So YNAB is telling me a horrifying $400/mo, but let’s call it 40 going forward
🌷 0	I was a good urban balcony gardener, but no balcony. Waiting for a community garden spot, hopefully next year
🍉 250	Includes booze and small household things (TP, paper towels, dish soap)
🥾 30	Am avid hiker and rollerblader. Averaged cost of trip incidentals like carpool or snacks, admission to roller rink
💊 55	3 lifesaving medicines (25/mo + 10/mo + 30 as needed) + 10 for whatever medicine needed for illness of the month (10 for antibiotics this month). Every year I get a new epi-pen for 10 or 30. This month was more like 85 because my pharmacy accidentally sent me a med I have plenty of.
➖ 500	rough guesstimate

⭐

monthly 💲	annual 💲	annual expenses (save early, save often)
🤑 3.95	🕛47.33	Splitting YNAB with a friend on the new family plan
💇🏼‍♀️ 22.50	🕛 270	2x curly haircuts a year (cut + tip)
🩰 127.78	🕛 1150	Pair of opening weekend orchestra tickets + donor perks + volunteer dues
🌴 55	🕛 650	My part of family vacation with parents
🕶 33.33	🕛 400	Annual eye visit (exam + contact fitting + 12 months contacts)
📦 11.59	🕛 139	prime shipping, no car in a store desert + my mom likes videos
🎄 50	🕛 600	I love Christmas
💸 ?	🕛 6500	Roth IRA, we’re getting aspirational. I sent $1400 this month because it was a 3 paycheck month. Going to try to max and see how far I get.
🦷 86.35	🕛 2250	Saving ½ of estimated costs for Invisalign – never had braces as a kid and now my teeth are pretty bad. Hoping to start May 2024. There is unfortunately no savings for paying everything upfront so I’m saving ½ now and expecting a monthly payment around 150/mo during the treatment.
➖390.50	🕛 4,686	Ignoring the Roth IRA

⭐

category 💲	very big savings
🌆 428.57	3k goal by August 2023 (current balance: 850), “No August pay” – we don’t get paid in August and the first week of September so setting aside money specifically for this without feeling guilty for draining my emergency fund
🕐 300	(181.82 since I’m ahead) Homeowner’s 1% Warchest, it’s exactly what it sounds like. For any and all home expenses (things breaking or projects). Current balance: 2k
🛑 140.91	Building back EF, goal is 3k by December 2023 (current balance: 1.7k). I know this is low but my job is hilariously stable. I will try to add another month in 2024.

⭐

category 💲	fun money!
💻 50	Laptop replacement, just chucking money in there. I’d like to buy a Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5i since I love the 2 in 1 form factor. Currently have 100/600
🚝 70 (paused)	Travel fund contribution, but full at 350. BFF getting married in VT in August so hoping to turn it into a girl’s weekend with another BFF
🎮 65 (paused)	General video game fund – keep it topped up at 65 in case a new game drops OR if multiple games go on sale. I try to only buy games on deep sale
🎮 12.99	Final Fantasy XIV sub, I’ll retire someday
👯‍♀️ 50	Anything with friends, including eating out with them. usually 100 in the summer
🍦 30	“eating out” aka solo treats for myself (breakfast at dunks, small treats)
🎊 10	events happening that we want to go to not already covered, averaged.
➖ 202.99	Not including travel and video games since that’s topped up

If you add up the categories, I’m in the red and I’m well aware of it – not for much longer though, as I’m saving really aggressively. 😊
part 4: el diario
Day 1 – Saturday

🌅 gotta get dad to the ballet! 4.80
👯‍♀️ brunch with daddy-o before the ballet, I provide the tickets but he pays for brunch. his wallet is hurting because he only just got paid at his new job, so I kick in 20
👀 because brunch is attached to a swanky hotel and it’s PAX east wknd. 0 for free entertainment
🥤 my father requests a water bottle before the show. 6
🩰 don q, my 3rd time and dad’s 1st. Very good, but very long. 0 because these are volunteer comps
🚊 & 👋🏼
🧼 the casita before the week starts

total: 30.80
Day 2 – Sunday

💤 lazy Sunday morning (dw, I’m still up at 6). Read the NYT cover to cover then play 🎮
🚊 meeting a friend of a friend to help her do taxes but I’m early
📖 it’s gorgeous out so I photosynthesize in the BPL courtyard with my book club book
⛔ the wifi is too slow for us to do taxes so we pack up and 🚶🏼‍♀️ down newbury st until we settle at trident
👯‍♀️ I supervise her taxes, and eat a late lunch (grilled cheese w/ avo and tomato). 22.15
🍉 make the mistake of dragging this poor girl with me to the postage stamp sized TJ’s. and it’s 5:15. one does not shop here so much as get in line at the beginning & pick what you want as you go. a tall person fetches me frozen arepas. I come in right on budget so I’m pleased. 57.52
👋🏼 & 🚊 home to plan my week and decompress with 🎮 and 📖

Total: 79.67
Day 3 – Monday

🌅 it’s just before 6 and birds are happy, but now I am taking the 🚍 to work
🌉 stuck on the bus with my BOSS because a 🚢 is passing through the drawbridge. at least we can now fill out 90 second walk from the bus to dunks with acceptable new england small talk subjects (weather, transit, and sports) before she dips to get coffee
😡 the youth, because tomorrow & wednesday are standardized testing. sorry kids, I don’t make the schedule!
🙏🏼 “my plan is to read the questions carefully and ask God to help me know” – A+ testing strategy
✌🏼 2:30 and on my way home
🤸🏼‍♀️ take the 🚊 to go to bounce (0, see monthly expenses) and catch up with bounce buddy M.
🚶🏼‍♀️ walk with M. to the 🚊, go home for 🍜, 🚿, 📖, 🎮

Total: 0
Day 4 – Tuesday

🌅 hello, happy birds as I walk to the 🚍
🔥 the computers are not charged for testing. teenagers have been divested of all electronics and are not allowed to talk to each other. mayhem approaching in 3 … 2 … 1 …
🤬 nonstatus (male) colleague uses a work group text thread to refer to an unknown female colleague as the b-word. mayhem continues
❓ 2 hour (!) meeting after work due to snow day cancellations. male colleague doubles down on his comment before storming out. brain is mush
🚍 I remember nothing
🔐 as I am politely informed by my e-mail 68.16
👩🏼‍🍳 white bean & tomato stew & watch abbott elementary because it’s cathartic
🗣📕 ballet book club on zoom! we just finished a book about martha graham so we talk about it (I’m hosting next time about james whiteside)

total: 68.16
Day 5 – Wednesday

🌅 please go away, very loud mourning dove
🍎 computers are charged, the youth are not. Mr. Insult has decided not to come to work today (probably for the best?)
🤬 is there something in the water?! another nonstatus teacher informs me that two of my students are talking to each other in the hallway and are not following her instructions which tbh is a day that ends in Y. important context: her instruction is in English and they only understand Spanish. I send them back to their testing rooms and she says, “when students ignore me and continue to speak in a language they know I don’t understand, they are being assholes” UM! GOODBYE!!!
😡 before I say something I regret I turn heel and inform my boss of this interaction. she takes a breath and thanks me for letting her know
😤 this is me taking a calming inhale / exhale before returning to staring at children
🏹 when I am proctoring (read: not allowed to read, grade, do work, browse the interweb), I like to imagine how the hunger games would go down if these kids were in it. the odds are in this room’s favor overall.
👩🏼‍🏫 these miserable youth are forced into a half day of classes, so we conference about grades and I let them have some free time
🏕 run weekly outdoors club for the youth. one student informs me a teacher refuses to sign a permission slip & doesn’t know why. make mental note to find this person and politely inquire. students make a great poster of images from our last trip and practice map skills
✌🏼 at 3:30 to get the 🚂 to then get on the 🚊 to go to 🤸🏼‍♀️ … it sounds awful but it all goes pleasantly smoothly, especially given how the T has been. class is great, lots of one-legged kicking on the trampoline. this is my 2nd week in a row of going from 2x class a week to 3x and it’s a tough adjustment. 0
🚶🏼‍♀️ to the 🚊 with M., who can’t make it to class on Friday – sad!
💊 the medicine I didn’t ask for but keeps coming has arrived. Note to self to call pharmacy and ask them to stop, but says 0 refills. Not a total waste because I KNOW I will get bronchitis again & need this. 10
🍿 paid for to keep my mother happy 15.99
🍴 eat leftover stew and 📞 my mother and best friend T. to debrief this very strange day
🎮 and 📖 before bed

Total: 25.99
Day 6 – Thursday

🌅 ahoy! Run into coworker D. on the 🚍 who gets coffee at dunks. I am feeling weak and acquire some 🥑🍞 3.69
🤝🏼 find this teacher who refuses to sign permission slip (who is also new). his reasons are very valid and we agree on conditions the student needs to fulfill to attend trip. hooray, adults being civil!
🤬 that’s it, something is in the water. two best friends in 3rd hour begin a heated verbal altercation about … a girl? in the middle of my class?? One kid takes off so I call security to let them know he would benefit from a check-in. the other student begins texting threats to his buddy and goes off on me when I tell him to stop. what is happening?!
👼🏼 boy returns with security at end of class, so I walk him to dean to process. 35 minutes later dean says everything is gucci and no more problems. hormones, man.
✌🏼 please get me out of here
💻 bill is paid 39.95
👵🏼 our weekly call (she is my only grandparent and is not doing well)
👨🏼 weekly call with father, who still likes his new job
🍜 leftover stew and Mandalorian with my 👩🏼 (we live text each other). finally, a good space battle!
🎮 and 📖 to decompress along with a long hot 🚿

total: 43.64
Day 7 – Friday

🌅 I don’t think I can do this today.
🧘🏼‍♀️ It has been such a frustrating week (there was another incident that happened that I can’t even reference due to state law/FERPA) that was incredibly traumatic and draining.
📱 to best friend T. and work friend R. to ask what they would do. Both endorse me taking a day off after this wild week.
🎮 and 📖 along with some stretching. 📞 with best friend E. to catch up on her wedding prep and life
🤑 payday! Good paycheck since it’s the 3rd of the month, but it might be missing hours from club. I won’t know until I see my paystub on Monday. +2,183.48 (+50 to 457, +322.94 to pension)
💸 ah, but it’s also the 31st. easy come, easy go 🏡 (1343.38) and ⛲ (167)
🚊 to 🤸🏼‍♀️ to a really 🔥 class. Learn the name of the girl next to me on Fridays who also brings her inhaler and it turns out we’re both teachers!
🍦 take a nice mozzarella sandwich home from tatte 13.97
🚊, 🍴, 🚿, 📖, 🎮

Total: 1,524.35
Grand totals:

• food & drank: 65.81
• entertainment: 15.99
• home & health: 10
• clothes & beauty: 0
• transport: 4.80
• other: 1,618.49 (how I would class my house expenses)

reflection: typical week money-wise in terms of reflecting my non-house spending – I’m saving really aggressively right now and don’t have a lot of money for discretionary spending. Even if I did, I’m very much a homebody during the work week. My job is probably more stressful than most as a baseline but this week was truly unbelievably bad. Still, looking through the week and taking time to step back I realize just how quality my support network is and for that I'm very grateful.

Ape Escape is a platform video game, developed by Japan Studio and published by Sony Computer Entertainment. It was released for the PlayStation in May 1999 in North America, and June 1999 in Japan. The first in the Ape Escape series, the game tells the story of an ape named Specter who gains enhanced intelligence and a malevolent streak through the use of an experimental helmet. Specter produces an army of apes, which he sends through time in an attempt to rewrite history. Spike, the player character, sets out to capture the apes with the aid of special gadgets.
Harvest Moon: Back To Nature was the first title of the Harvest Moon series to be released on the PlayStation. It was released on December 16, 1999, in Japan; November 20, 2000, in North America; and January 26, 2001, for PAL regions. As typical of many of the Harvest Moon titles, you come to inherit a farm after your grandfather's passing. However, in this game, it has been decided by the residents of Mineral Town that you can only inherit the farm if you restore it to its former glory and fit in with the townsfolk within three years.
Jumping Flash! is a platform video game developed by Exact and Ultra and published by Sony Computer Entertainment for the PlayStation. It was released on April 28, 1995 in Japan, September 29, 1995 in PAL territories and November 1, 1995 in North America. It was re-released through the PlayStation Network store on PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable in 2007, in 2012 on PlayStation Vita and again in 2022 on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. Presented in a first-person perspective, the game follows a robotic rabbit named "Robbit" as he searches for missing jet pods scattered by the game's astrophysicist antagonist character, Baron Aloha. Robbit must explore each section of Crater Planet to retrieve all of the jet pods, stop Aloha, and save the world from being destroyed.
In addition to the three games listed above for April's featured titles, as voted on by our Discord community, please consider the following runners-up as well. They may not be on-topic, but they're certainly worth your time.
•Oddworld: Abe's Oddysee
•Star Wars: Demolition
•Wild Arms

I'll go first, with my ideas:

1. Hand in Hand - Miku + Kohane Ichika and Miku have their songs, and even Miku and Kanade have one (Into the Night). Kohane needs one! I feel like their performance together would be so wholesome.
   
2. Goodbye - 25ji VBS sung Echo, so 25ji should have something in English too! Plus, this song fits their vibe pretty well.
   
3. Waltz of the Deceased - Akito, Toya, Ena + Mizuki Odd combo, but hear me out. I just feel like their voices would fit the best with this more somber song. It seems unlikely, but I feel they'd fit together very well.
   
4. *Hello, Planet - WxS Kinda just their type of song - imagine a space-themed performance, similar to the Project DIVA video!
   
5. I want to be your heart - L/N Ichika can hit those notes. Need I say more?
   
6. Sick of House! - WxS It just works for them - the girls singing Rin's lines and the boys singing Len's. It fits so well!
   
7. Next Nest - An, Kohane, Ichika + Saki Another odd combo, but their pairs work really well together! They seem like they could bounce off each other easily.
   
8. Rolling Girl - Mafuyu Ichika has a song where it's JUST her (Night Sky Patrol of Tomorrow). Others should, too! Mafuyu fits Rolling Girl so well. If this was to be added to the game, Miku would probably be singing too, though.
   
9. Sou Datta!! - Emu Similar to my explanation for Rolling Girl. Emu has that energetic voice!
   
10. Machine Gun Poem Doll - 25ji It feels like this song was made for them - it has similar vibes to Jackpot Sad Girl. Shame they didn't cover it. A VERY missed opportunity!
    
11. Melt - Miku + Ichika Similar to all other Miku and Ichika songs, their pairing works well here. It would add more diversity to the vocals, which I think Melt would benefit from.
    

What are your guys' opinions?

This is really a two-part post.
1) Are they any good? I guess taste is subjective, but I really like the look and think it would fit our space well. Do they scratch easily? I've always had cheaper stuff, so I'm used to it being a bit crap, but I want this one to be nice.
2) I can't seem to find many people that make them besides stuff that is just sold as is. I'm hoping to find someone that I can contact to give instructions about the wood type and the style.
As for those that say 'just make it yourself'... I'm pretty useless. But I know how to send money to more skilled people than me.
Does anyone have suggestions? Alternatives? This will definitely be my 'last dining table', so I want something that will last. It also needs to be quite large, but I think we don't need a huge slab because of the way I'd like it made (with "islands" instead of a standard river table).
And while I'm on the east coast, I think I really like Jarrah wood. But open to other suggestions.

Expedition report from RG-5
Area of recon: Shore of Meilume due east of Galdush
Report carried out by Lieutenant Eric Ross
Report states: RG-5 has encountered an elven outpost on its way to the shore. The purpose of these outposts is to act as checkpoints for the Imperial army as well as to maintain surveillance within an area. The outpost encountered by RG-5 had thirty soldiers guarding it. RG-5 attempted peaceful contact, however, the elves engaged and RG-5 retaliated. All enemies have been neutralized and RG-5 has suffered no casualties and the outpost has been searched. Upon reaching the shore, RG-5 made peaceful contact with a local fishing village. They helped in local affairs, such as hunting down several feral welfen and repairing their equipment. In return, the locals gave them information on the coast south of the North Alston river. There are seven villages between the river and the Alston kingdom border and three more north of the river, which make up the fishing community of the southeast coast of the empire. The southeast coast and shore are patrolled by the Imperial third fleet with its center in the port city of Cheemo. Further information is required.
Other news: The airstrip has been finalized and drones have been sent to various locations. New findings include the official location of the river city Kuruk to the north and Imperial fort Mundus to the west. A large cluster of Imperial soldiers has been seen gathering on the opposite side of the North Alston river. Numbers count between one hundred and one hundred and fifty thousand, including auxiliary troops. No signs of any movement south of the river. Will continue to observe. The CIA has been able to establish a network in the Meilume capital and the leading agent, Edward Garcia, has confirmed that the nobility is attempting to flee the area. RG-3 is advised to speed up. As for the city itself, the population is estimated to be roughly six hundred thousand with fortifications and a force of ten thousand soldiers. No elements of any Imperial spy network have been discovered.
28th day of late yellow season, 3000th cycle
Meilume capital, Empire of light
General Laeroth's words reached the nobility of Meilume and they heed its instructions. Lord Bellon Belus rushed his family and the guard commander followed. Servants carried bags and soldiers formed a formation to escort them to Una, where they will meet with the army that will bring them to the other side of the river and then to the city of Imslone. Bellon was always a father and husband first, and lord second. Nearly two hundred thousand soldiers were slaughtered in less than a moon cycle. That was proof enough that he needed to leave the capital and save his family. Abandoning his city in the face of the enemy was an act of cowardice, often severely punished, but he would take any punishment for those he loved. He would not be like his father.
Bellon walked through the halls and double-checked every room. "Hurry up! Leave anything not of use! Leave the valuables, they are only dead weight!"
"Bellon!", a woman called him.
"Nimriel.", he said.
"Must we leave? This has been our home for cycles. And our family's home for far longer. Leaving it is-"
"It is the only way. The only way for us to live. We must, Nimriel. If we do not, the enemy will take us."
"But Bellon-"
"Think of our daughter, Nimriel. Think of Taria. What if those barbarians breach the walls? After they're done with the peasants, do you believe they will spare us? I will not allow such a thing to happen."
And speaking of the devil, Taria appeared from the corner, wearing a battle uniform with a sword sheathed on her left hip and holding a helmet in her right hand. "I am ready father."
Bellon couldn't say he was shocked too much. Since she was little she used to sneak into the courtyard and train with the guard commander. He knew and let her do what she wanted. It made her happy. But this was uncalled for.
"Stop fooling around Taria.", Bellon said, "This is a serious matter."
"Then take me seriously!", Taria responded, "The enemy is coming and I must be ready."
"You are not staying. You are coming with us to Imslone."
"I am not. I will not commit an act of cowardice and leave my post."
"Your post is beside me. I am your father!"
"I am not a little girl anymore! I have trained with Aego for over a hundred cycles! I am ready!"
"This enemy destroyed two armies and bested two generals! We stand no chance! Our only choice is to flee as far as we can and let the armies deal with them. The best we can hope to do is slow them down."
"You dare doubt our guard like that, father! These soldiers are just as strong as those of the Imperial army and our walls have held off the Rosians and ferals! We can-"
"Do you not hear me you stupid girl!", Bellon's voice boomed through the walls and made the servants and guards stop in their tracks, "I do not care for your illusions! The enemy is real! Wars are bloody and repulsive and not a place for you! You are the daughter of a lord! You are the heir to Meilume and a member of the Belus family! You will cease this foolishness at once and act accordingly!"
This was the loudest Bellon ever had to shout. He could feel his throat hurting. Taria could only feel tears falling down her cheeks as she lowered her head in shame. In truth, she just wanted to prove she was as capable as she claimed. That despite being a girl she could live in the world of men. But her dreams would have to wait. Bellon groaned and shook his head as he kept walking down the hall. Nimriel hugged her daughter and tried to reassure her everything will be alright, but her words fell on deaf ears.
As Nimriel left, someone else walked over to Taria from behind. As he placed his hand on her shoulder, Taria turned around and saw a man she thought of as her second father. "Aego.", she said through tears.
"Do not be saddened, my lady.", he said as he wiped her tears, "Your father said what he said because he cares. You are his only daughter, more valuable to him than this entire world. He only wants what is best for you. And right now, the best for you is to go to Imslone."
"B-But the enemy. What will you do?"
"I am coming with you, my lady. I left my first captain in charge. He will make sure these otherworlders bleed for this city."
Taria hugged him, still shedding tears, "Thank you Aego. Thank you."
Aego hugged her back.
---
29th of June, 2070
Since the Rift Groups programs have been initiated, soldiers all around have been eager to join. Some more than others, some less. But none were as stocked as sergeant Emma Davis. The second youngest member of RG-1, she was nicknamed 'Trigger-finger' for a reason. Great results in the shooting range, but not much else. Still, when she heard the 'Prodigy' was joining she couldn't control herself. Ever since they left for Alston, she's been clinging to Logan like a leach.
"Sir, how many people have you killed?", she asked.
"I lost count.", Logan answered.
"Sir, why have you joined the army?"
"It's a family tradition."
"Sir, have you been shot?"
"Yes."
"Sir, may I see it?"
"No."
"Sir, why did you leave the special forces?"
Logan didn't answer that one.
"Sir-"
"Emma shut up already.", Jacob said.
"Yeah, I think you're getting on the captain's nerves.", Michael said.
Staff sergeant Jacob Brown and corporal Michael Hoilman, Emma's friends since high school and pretty much the only reason she's not in jail. They've stuck by her side, being her big brothers for years, and kind of grown attached to her. It was like having a little sister.
"No I'm not.", Emma said.
"Yes you are.", Jacob said.
"You hold your captain in quite a high regard.", said Krolm, the leanoid, "Why?"
"Are you kidding me?", Emma said, "He's Logan Connors. All of Fort Bragg and the rangers know about him."
"Are rangers perhaps elites in your army?", asked Kai, the welfen.
"We're rangers.", said veteran sniper sergeant Nick Harper aka 'Bullseye', "We're a strike fast group made for quick attacks and quick action. We're not like the rest of the army that fights on the front lines. We fight in forests, towns, cities, forts, you name it. We hit fast, hard, and take care of our mission."
"Hell yeah we do!", shouted corporal Lamar Jones, the 'Heavy gunner'.
"Interesting.", said Clara, the lepian, "So that's why you have us with you. It makes sense, you don't really need us on the front lines when you got your large cannons and these armored carriages."
RG-1 wasn't just a normal group. It was the only group with sixty-six soldiers, a captain, and twice as many vehicles. This made them quite a force and that was necessary since they were being deployed to the border of Alston. After prince Bodin agreed to assist REC he chose three people who would aid him. Gregor Bachwich, son of Herwin Bachwich, the baron of the border town of Afa. He will be important in establishing first contact with the Rosians. Lieutenant Pallius Blazewing, son of Lor Blazewing, a great military figure in the Opherin army. The Opherin kingdom prides itself on great military history, having fought more battles than any Rosian kingdom or duchy in history. And finally, a youngster named Matheo Calo. There was nothing special about him besides being prince Bodin's personal squire. He's been with Bodin for years and the two became more than just prince and servant. Furthermore, Bodin promised Matheo he would bring him back to his mother in Olinor. Prince Bodin himself didn't choose to come along. His reasoning was that he wants to present himself in front of all the kings and dukes when they all gathered together. One more person did come with them. Ambassador Eugene Anderson. Together, they will establish peace. Or war.
Right now they were on their way to Afa, only several more minutes. In the LAV where the tribals were, private first-class Ethan Williams sat, writing in his journal. He was the youngest and newest addition to the group. Fresh off the academy, he graduated to be a sniper and was eager to learn from both Logan and Nick. But something kept him from them. Next to him sat Carla, who kept eyeballing him and his weapon. Ethan was nervous, he wasn't used to girls sitting near him, or even looking at him, and Carla seemed interested.
"What is this weapon?", she asked.
"O-Oh Ummm, this?", he stuttered, "This is a modified and modernized Mk22 ASR sniper rifle. I know there are older models but my granddad taught me how to use this one. It can hit a target from about twenty-two hundred yards away. In your measurements, that's four leagues."
Carla's ears went up, "Amazing! I bet I could hunt a lot of meat with it."
"Well, um. It takes a lot of skill to use it. I could show you, sometime."
"Oh?", Carla raised an eyebrow and moved closer smiling, "I think I would like that.". She purred a little which made Ethan stutter and sweat. Across from them, Lin watched with her arms crossed.
"What?", Carla asked, "Envious?"
"Not at all.", Lin said as she grabbed Lamar's arm, "I prefer strong males.". Lamar opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. He and Ethan just stared at each other.
"Before your boners brake your belts and that LAV becomes hotter than a pizza oven at Papa John's, I wanna let you know we're almost there.", said lieutenant James Wilson over the comms from the leading JLTV3, the most veteran among them, chosen to uphold discipline.
"Thank you.", said Logan.
"They seem to be getting along.", said ambassador Anderson.
"Indeed.", said Gregor, "I must say, you humans are more strange than you are frightening. The way you use words with one meaning for another. And your expressions as well. Definitely not the savages Canus described."
"I'm glad we could prove that to you. And it appears we are about to prove it to the rest of your kingdom.". They were nearly at Afa. This town serves as a fortified stronghold against the empire should they attack. Its walls were tall and thick, with bastion towers and a single entry gate. It would be difficult for the elves to take it.
"The town currently has a thousand soldiers protecting it. It's usually three thousand, but two thousand went with me through the rift. Most likely on the orders of the elves, my father would never allow it."
"Only three thousand?", James asked.
"Three thousand official soldiers, but should the need arise we can recruit militia fighters from the residents. The town itself has a population of eighty thousand."
"That's a lot of people.", Eugene said.
"Yes. Luckily, it is able to support them, even if barely. The elves aren't exactly sharing people."
"That will all change soon."
As the convoy approached the gate, a ballista javelin hit the road in front of them. The city defenders had assembled on the wall and aimed their weapons at them. While the vehicles are armored, the JLTVs have weak spots a javelin can pierce.
"Hold it!", shouted a man on the wall, presumably the commander, "Present yourselves immediately."
"I'll take care of this.", Logan said as he exited the JLTV with his hands raised, "I am Captain Logan Connors of the Rift Expeditionary Corps! We are from Galdush and have come to make peaceful relations with the kingdom of Alston!"
"Why should we listen to you!?"
"If not me, then how about someone more familiar!".
At that moment, Gregor stepped out of the JLTV3 and, to put it mildly, made the defenders' hearts skip a beat. "Commander Barion! It is good to see you!"
Barion couldn't even speak for moments. His young baron was alive. Against all odds, he made it back. "Y-Young baron!", he finally spoke, "You... You live! How!? And what are you doing with the enemy?!"
"I assure you, they are not the enemy! I will explain everything, but first, I need to ask you to open this gate and let these soldiers in!"
Barion hesitated for a moment, "B-But young ba-"
"Commander, do not make me order you!"
He immediately understood, "Open this gate immediately! Let them in! Someone inform the baron!"
The gate opened and the convoy made it in. Luckily, there was enough room to fit all of them in. Barion and his men, as well as the people, could only stare in awe at what was before them. Truly, people from another world. The commander stepped down and greeted them as well as Gregor.
"Young baron, you have a lot of explaining to do.", Barion said.
"All will be explained soon.", Gregor said.
"Gregor!", shouted a little girl as she ran towards him.
"Elora.", Gregor said as he hugged her, "My little sister. It is good to see you.". Behind her came his mother and father, who at first walked slowly with tears in their eyes, not believing it was him.
"My son.", Herwin said as he hugged Gregor, "By the heavens. You live."
"Mother. Father. I have returned. Let me introduce you to someone. This is Lord Ambassador Eugene Anderson from the land of America on the other side of the rift. He is here to represent his country and the humans."
Herwin immediately walked to him and bowed, "I am Baron Herwin Bachwich. Thank you for sparing my son's life. It is an honor to have you here, Lord Anderson."
"The honor is mine baron.", Eugene said, "I hope we will be able to discuss peace with you and your kingdom."
This confused Herwin, "Peace?"
"I have much to tell you father.", Gregor said, "The prince lives."
Completely frozen, Herwin took a few moments to process that before replying, "He lives?"
"Enemies!", shouted a soldier from the wall. Commander Barion and Logan rushed up the wall. Logan grabbed his binoculars and observed the enemy from a distance. They came from a treeline, their camp was behind it, otherwise, RG-1 would have spotted them.
"I count five hundred.", Logan said, "Various races. Elves, Rosians, ferals."
"How?", Barion asked.
"These are binoculars. They allow me to see things from a distance. Try it."
Logan handed the binoculars to Barion, who observed them for a few moments before putting them on his eyes and facing the enemy. "Incredible."
Barion handed them back but Logan refused, "Keep it, I have a spare. I get the elves, but why are your people attacking you?"
"Those bastards aren't our people. They are traitors and thieves who think the kingdom is done for. So they run to the empire and beg them for forgiveness.". He spat in disgust.
"And the elves. They don't look like the army."
"They most likely were. They call themselves rogues, those who stray from their so-called 'Path of light'. Both of these traitors sicken me."
"Then let us help you."
"Why would you help us?"
"If we're gonna be at peace with one another, we have to establish a certain level of trust, don't we?"
Barion pondered for a bit before answering, "Very well. I am eager to see the army that defeated the elves."
Nodding Logan walked to the edge of the wall and faced his men. "Jones, take your men and mount the machine guns! Davis, bring the ammo! Williams, Harper, get to higher ground and shoot anyone that looks important or a large threat! Wilson, take Green and set up the mortar! Move it, they'll be here in minutes!"
RG-1 immediately went to work. Jones and his men carried the machine guns from the trucks and mounted them on the walls, Williams and Harper climbed up the tallest tower they could find and got into position. Wilson set up the 60mm mortar in the town square.
"I think we should get to safety.", Eugene said.
"You are right.", Herwin said, "Follow me."
Logan got into position with his Mk4 SCAR chambered in 7.62mm. "Commander, I need a favor."
"What is it, captain?", Barion asked.
"If these guys fire arrows, we don't have shields to defend ourselves. You think your men can take of that?"
"Certainly. Get the shields ready! Protect their soldiers!". In moments, each ranger had a Rosian soldier behind him or her with a shield ready. It was time to fight.
The horde moved closer and closer. First, they walked and then picked up the pace as they put shields above their heads. Naturally, the ferals ran towards the wall like rabid animals. "Hold!", Logan said as he gripped his gun, "Wait for them to get closer!". There was one elf on a horse swinging his sword and giving commands. Not for long.
"It's all you kid.", Harper said as he watched Williams aim his shot.
Letting out a breath, Williams pulled the trigger and splattered the elf's brain all over the field. "Boom boom motherfucker."
"Weapons free! Light them up!", Logan shouted as the rangers opened fire on the ferals. The freaks fell by the dozens as bullets pierced their chest, heads, legs, and arms and turned them into cold, dead corpses. The mortar fired at the enemies behind them, who stopped in their tracks, clearly confused and terrified. The rangers aimed their weapons at them and started cutting them down.
"Get some, blueberries!", Davis shouted, "Come closer! I dare ya!"
The few dozen that survived retreated back to the trees. The rangers cheered, but the Rosians didn't cheer as much as they stared in awe. Now they see why the elves lost, these people are powerful.
Commander Barion walked to Logan, "Thank you for the assistance. But I doubt this is the last we have seen of them."
"I know.", Logan said, "That's why I'll have one of my guys scout those trees with a drone along with Lin and Clara.". Logan walked down to the two of them, "Scot! Get over here!"
"Coming!", Scot answered. Scot Green aka 'Mechanic', was the group's engineer. He was also their drone pilot. "Yes sir?"
"I need you to pilot the Fly into those tree lines and scout for the enemy.". The SPFD Fly was a small recon drone invented by DARPA to save both room and energy. Solar-powered and long-lasting battery, coupled with its long-range and small size made it a very useful tool to have in recon missions. "Lin, Carla, you two are also going. I need good eyes and ears over there."
"Sure thing, sir.", Lin said saluting the best she could.
"You two do know how to use a radio, right?"
"Of course we do.", Clara said, "We're not idiots."
"Good. Go.". Lin and Carla ran to the trees as Scott maneuvered the Fly.
The baron and his family, along with Ambassador Eugene walked over to the soldiers. The baron was first to speak, "That was... most impressive. But I must ask. Why peace? Surely you seem powerful enough to take the kingdoms by force."
"Because my people aren't barbarians, baron.", Anderson said, "If peace can be made, then we will do anything to make it a reality."
"I see. And the prince? What does he say about this?"
"You can ask him yourself.", Anderson said as he nodded to Logan who signaled his men to set up a desk and a large screen. "With this device, we can talk to the prince and even see him."
"Amazing.", said Herwin as he eagerly awaited to see his prince. After some preparations, the screen was ready and it turned on. The lights slightly startled the Rosians before the screen was clear and on it was prince Bodin himself. "My... My prince.", Herwin said as he knelt, "It is a miracle. You truly live."
"Baron Bachwich.", Bodin spoke, "Please, rise. I am not before you just yet. This is strange for me as well. Am I correct to assume the human soldiers have arrived?"
"Yes, my prince. They recently just helped us crush an attack from a bandit horde."
"Do you then see why I have chosen to make peace with these people?"
After a momentary pause, Herwin nodded, "I do, my prince. It is incredible to see that a nation so powerful is willing to make peace with its enemy and not subdue it."
"We are not their enemy, baron. The elves and their empire are. This is why they chose to make peace with us. They understand we are just vassals forced to fight. I suggest you hear Lord Anderson out."
As they were talking, Scot called for Logan, "Sir. I have a visual."
Logan nodded, "Alright. Commander Barion, would you like to see the enemy?"
"Yes.", Barion answered, "Show me."
Scot pulled up the video feed on his screen, "This is their camp. I count roughly three thousand. Lin and Carla confirm."
"Where are those two?", Logan asked.
"In the trees."
"Call them back and give me the radio.", Logan took the radio, "Galdush base. Come in Galdush base. This is Captain Logan Connors of Rift Group 1. Do you copy? Over."
After a few moments, the radio spoke, "Copy Rift Group 1. Sitrep. Over."
"Galdush, we have made contact with border town Afa. Upon entry, we engaged a third party, designated rogue elves, and bandit Rosians. Half a battalion attacked us but we drove them off. We confirm the enemy numbers in three thousand, various races. What's the status of our air forces? Over."
"Three air squadrons of Invictus ACs and a Boeing Stratofortress is currently being fueled and should be ready in half an hour."
"Galdush I request a tactical bombing run. The area will be marked via drone. How copy?"
The radio went silent for a few moments before speaking again, "Affirmative RG-1. Stratofortress will be up in the air as soon as possible. Make sure to mark the area. Galdush out."
"Copy that Galdush. RG-1 out."
"What was that?", Barion asked.
"You're gonna get another demonstration."
"Captain!", Carla shouted as she ran towards him. "I have eliminated an enemy scout.", she said as she extended a severed head toward Logan.
Logan smacked his lips before replying, "I see. Get rid of it."
"Yes sir.", Carla said as she tossed the head into a nearby pile of trash.
'At least she's helping', Logan thought.
---
(Two hours later)
The bandits and rogues were sitting in their tents, trying to plan an attack. The otherworlders were an unexpected problem, but hopefully a problem they could be dealt with.
"Alright, listen.", said an elf, "We'll strike at night. It didn't work last time because there were too many of them, but I reckon there can't be more than a few dozen of them."
"That doesn't matter.", said a Rosian, "I've seen what that few can do."
"You attacked with five hundred to scout their defenses. You were never supposed to win. Besides, we can use the tribals to deal with them. As we are attacking the front, they will go to the sides and strike."
"Are you sure this will work?"
"Yes. Soon, Afa will be ours."
At that moment, an elf rushed into the tent, "Sir, you must come and see this!"
They left the tent and came to the center of the tent. The one who called them pointed upwards into the sky. There they saw something flying. A wyvern? No, it was too big. Its wings didn't flap. What could it be? As it flew over them, something fell from it. Many egg-like things started falling and as they fell to the ground, they engulfed the camp in fire and shook the earth. In moments, the whole camp was on fire and everyone was either dead or dying. The ground was turned into a burning pile of scorched bodies.
If there were any doubts about the power of the otherwolders left, they were long gone now.
---
(Meanwhile)
Road to Una
The Belus family along with commander Aego and two hundred soldiers were on their way to Una. Taria did not wish to ride with her father and so she rode on a horse alongside Aego. Their hopes were that they would reach Una in several days and then cross the river.
"My lady.", Aego spoke, "Are you certain you should be riding alongside me and not in the carriage?"
"I do not wish to speak to my father.", Taria said, "At least not now."
"I assumed we cleared this matter."
"We have but... I still need time."
Aego sighed, "I understand. Still, you should not hate him for-", he stopped and halted the soldiers.
"What?"
"Something is not as it should be. This outpost is quiet.". The soldiers tensed up. They could also feel that something wasn't right. In a split second, Aego was shot by an arrow in the side.
"Ambush!", Taria yelled out. Suddenly, elves, welfen, and leanoids ran from the sides and the outpost. The soldiers prepared but found themselves overwhelmed by the enemies' numbers. Rogue elves fired arrows at them while welfen and leanoids exploited weaknesses and struck. Still, the soldiers fought hard, making sure the traitors and savages suffer. The enemy numbers were dropping, but not quickly enough. Taria used her training and cut down several rogues before crouching down to help Aego.
"Aego!", she yelled, "Aego hold on! You will live! Please!". She cried as he struggled to breathe. He grabbed her arm and pushed her to the side, just in time for her to dodge a spear from a leanoid. She watched as Aego spat blood before dying, his life leaving his body. In pure rage, she screamed and struck the leanoid in the side. Pulling out her sword she blocked a strike from a rogue, stepped closer, and headbutted him before slitting his throat.
Turning to her left she saw the rogues and tribals dragging her family. "Father!", she yelled, but couldn't help as a rogue hit her in the back of the head, knocking her down on the ground. Her blurred vision faded away as the rogue smiled down at her.
"Sweet dreams, little girl.", was what he said before she passed out completely.
End of chapter 9
​
---
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Expedition report from RG-5
Area of recon: Shore of Meilume due east of Galdush
Report carried out by Lieutenant Eric Ross
Report states: RG-5 has encountered an elven outpost on its way to the shore. The purpose of these outposts is to act as checkpoints for the Imperial army as well as to maintain surveillance within an area. The outpost encountered by RG-5 had thirty soldiers guarding it. RG-5 attempted peaceful contact, however, the elves engaged and RG-5 retaliated. All enemies have been neutralized and RG-5 has suffered no casualties and the outpost has been searched. Upon reaching the shore, RG-5 made peaceful contact with a local fishing village. They helped in local affairs, such as hunting down several feral welfen and repairing their equipment. In return, the locals gave them information on the coast south of the North Alston river. There are seven villages between the river and the Alston kingdom border and three more north of the river, which make up the fishing community of the southeast coast of the empire. The southeast coast and shore are patrolled by the Imperial third fleet with its center in the port city of Cheemo. Further information is required.
Other news: The airstrip has been finalized and drones have been sent to various locations. New findings include the official location of the river city Kuruk to the north and Imperial fort Mundus to the west. A large cluster of Imperial soldiers has been seen gathering on the opposite side of the North Alston river. Numbers count between one hundred and one hundred and fifty thousand, including auxiliary troops. No signs of any movement south of the river. Will continue to observe. The CIA has been able to establish a network in the Meilume capital and the leading agent, Edward Garcia, has confirmed that the nobility is attempting to flee the area. RG-3 is advised to speed up. As for the city itself, the population is estimated to be roughly six hundred thousand with fortifications and a force of ten thousand soldiers. No elements of any Imperial spy network have been discovered.
28th day of late yellow season, 3000th cycle
Meilume capital, Empire of light
General Laeroth's words reached the nobility of Meilume and they heed its instructions. Lord Bellon Belus rushed his family and the guard commander followed. Servants carried bags and soldiers formed a formation to escort them to Una, where they will meet with the army that will bring them to the other side of the river and then to the city of Imslone. Bellon was always a father and husband first, and lord second. Nearly two hundred thousand soldiers were slaughtered in less than a moon cycle. That was proof enough that he needed to leave the capital and save his family. Abandoning his city in the face of the enemy was an act of cowardice, often severely punished, but he would take any punishment for those he loved. He would not be like his father.
Bellon walked through the halls and double-checked every room. "Hurry up! Leave anything not of use! Leave the valuables, they are only dead weight!"
"Bellon!", a woman called him.
"Nimriel.", he said.
"Must we leave? This has been our home for cycles. And our family's home for far longer. Leaving it is-"
"It is the only way. The only way for us to live. We must, Nimriel. If we do not, the enemy will take us."
"But Bellon-"
"Think of our daughter, Nimriel. Think of Taria. What if those barbarians breach the walls? After they're done with the peasants, do you believe they will spare us? I will not allow such a thing to happen."
And speaking of the devil, Taria appeared from the corner, wearing a battle uniform with a sword sheathed on her left hip and holding a helmet in her right hand. "I am ready father."
Bellon couldn't say he was shocked too much. Since she was little she used to sneak into the courtyard and train with the guard commander. He knew and let her do what she wanted. It made her happy. But this was uncalled for.
"Stop fooling around Taria.", Bellon said, "This is a serious matter."
"Then take me seriously!", Taria responded, "The enemy is coming and I must be ready."
"You are not staying. You are coming with us to Imslone."
"I am not. I will not commit an act of cowardice and leave my post."
"Your post is beside me. I am your father!"
"I am not a little girl anymore! I have trained with Aego for over a hundred cycles! I am ready!"
"This enemy destroyed two armies and bested two generals! We stand no chance! Our only choice is to flee as far as we can and let the armies deal with them. The best we can hope to do is slow them down."
"You dare doubt our guard like that, father! These soldiers are just as strong as those of the Imperial army and our walls have held off the Rosians and ferals! We can-"
"Do you not hear me you stupid girl!", Bellon's voice boomed through the walls and made the servants and guards stop in their tracks, "I do not care for your illusions! The enemy is real! Wars are bloody and repulsive and not a place for you! You are the daughter of a lord! You are the heir to Meilume and a member of the Belus family! You will cease this foolishness at once and act accordingly!"
This was the loudest Bellon ever had to shout. He could feel his throat hurting. Taria could only feel tears falling down her cheeks as she lowered her head in shame. In truth, she just wanted to prove she was as capable as she claimed. That despite being a girl she could live in the world of men. But her dreams would have to wait. Bellon groaned and shook his head as he kept walking down the hall. Nimriel hugged her daughter and tried to reassure her everything will be alright, but her words fell on deaf ears.
As Nimriel left, someone else walked over to Taria from behind. As he placed his hand on her shoulder, Taria turned around and saw a man she thought of as her second father. "Aego.", she said through tears.
"Do not be saddened, my lady.", he said as he wiped her tears, "Your father said what he said because he cares. You are his only daughter, more valuable to him than this entire world. He only wants what is best for you. And right now, the best for you is to go to Imslone."
"B-But the enemy. What will you do?"
"I am coming with you, my lady. I left my first captain in charge. He will make sure these otherworlders bleed for this city."
Taria hugged him, still shedding tears, "Thank you Aego. Thank you."
Aego hugged her back.
---
29th of June, 2070
Since the Rift Groups programs have been initiated, soldiers all around have been eager to join. Some more than others, some less. But none were as stocked as sergeant Emma Davis. The second youngest member of RG-1, she was nicknamed 'Trigger-finger' for a reason. Great results in the shooting range, but not much else. Still, when she heard the 'Prodigy' was joining she couldn't control herself. Ever since they left for Alston, she's been clinging to Logan like a leach.
"Sir, how many people have you killed?", she asked.
"I lost count.", Logan answered.
"Sir, why have you joined the army?"
"It's a family tradition."
"Sir, have you been shot?"
"Yes."
"Sir, may I see it?"
"No."
"Sir, why did you leave the special forces?"
Logan didn't answer that one.
"Sir-"
"Emma shut up already.", Jacob said.
"Yeah, I think you're getting on the captain's nerves.", Michael said.
Staff sergeant Jacob Brown and corporal Michael Hoilman, Emma's friends since high school and pretty much the only reason she's not in jail. They've stuck by her side, being her big brothers for years, and kind of grown attached to her. It was like having a little sister.
"No I'm not.", Emma said.
"Yes you are.", Jacob said.
"You hold your captain in quite a high regard.", said Krolm, the leanoid, "Why?"
"Are you kidding me?", Emma said, "He's Logan Connors. All of Fort Bragg and the rangers know about him."
"Are rangers perhaps elites in your army?", asked Kai, the welfen.
"We're rangers.", said veteran sniper sergeant Nick Harper aka 'Bullseye', "We're a strike fast group made for quick attacks and quick action. We're not like the rest of the army that fights on the front lines. We fight in forests, towns, cities, forts, you name it. We hit fast, hard, and take care of our mission."
"Hell yeah we do!", shouted corporal Lamar Jones, the 'Heavy gunner'.
"Interesting.", said Clara, the lepian, "So that's why you have us with you. It makes sense, you don't really need us on the front lines when you got your large cannons and these armored carriages."
RG-1 wasn't just a normal group. It was the only group with sixty-six soldiers, a captain, and twice as many vehicles. This made them quite a force and that was necessary since they were being deployed to the border of Alston. After prince Bodin agreed to assist REC he chose three people who would aid him. Gregor Bachwich, son of Herwin Bachwich, the baron of the border town of Afa. He will be important in establishing first contact with the Rosians. Lieutenant Pallius Blazewing, son of Lor Blazewing, a great military figure in the Opherin army. The Opherin kingdom prides itself on great military history, having fought more battles than any Rosian kingdom or duchy in history. And finally, a youngster named Matheo Calo. There was nothing special about him besides being prince Bodin's personal squire. He's been with Bodin for years and the two became more than just prince and servant. Furthermore, Bodin promised Matheo he would bring him back to his mother in Olinor. Prince Bodin himself didn't choose to come along. His reasoning was that he wants to present himself in front of all the kings and dukes when they all gathered together. One more person did come with them. Ambassador Eugene Anderson. Together, they will establish peace. Or war.
Right now they were on their way to Afa, only several more minutes. In the LAV where the tribals were, private first-class Ethan Williams sat, writing in his journal. He was the youngest and newest addition to the group. Fresh off the academy, he graduated to be a sniper and was eager to learn from both Logan and Nick. But something kept him from them. Next to him sat Carla, who kept eyeballing him and his weapon. Ethan was nervous, he wasn't used to girls sitting near him, or even looking at him, and Carla seemed interested.
"What is this weapon?", she asked.
"O-Oh Ummm, this?", he stuttered, "This is a modified and modernized Mk22 ASR sniper rifle. I know there are older models but my granddad taught me how to use this one. It can hit a target from about twenty-two hundred yards away. In your measurements, that's four leagues."
Carla's ears went up, "Amazing! I bet I could hunt a lot of meat with it."
"Well, um. It takes a lot of skill to use it. I could show you, sometime."
"Oh?", Carla raised an eyebrow and moved closer smiling, "I think I would like that.". She purred a little which made Ethan stutter and sweat. Across from them, Lin watched with her arms crossed.
"What?", Carla asked, "Envious?"
"Not at all.", Lin said as she grabbed Lamar's arm, "I prefer strong males.". Lamar opened his mouth but couldn't say anything. He and Ethan just stared at each other.
"Before your boners brake your belts and that LAV becomes hotter than a pizza oven at Papa John's, I wanna let you know we're almost there.", said lieutenant James Wilson over the comms from the leading JLTV3, the most veteran among them, chosen to uphold discipline.
"Thank you.", said Logan.
"They seem to be getting along.", said ambassador Anderson.
"Indeed.", said Gregor, "I must say, you humans are more strange than you are frightening. The way you use words with one meaning for another. And your expressions as well. Definitely not the savages Canus described."
"I'm glad we could prove that to you. And it appears we are about to prove it to the rest of your kingdom.". They were nearly at Afa. This town serves as a fortified stronghold against the empire should they attack. Its walls were tall and thick, with bastion towers and a single entry gate. It would be difficult for the elves to take it.
"The town currently has a thousand soldiers protecting it. It's usually three thousand, but two thousand went with me through the rift. Most likely on the orders of the elves, my father would never allow it."
"Only three thousand?", James asked.
"Three thousand official soldiers, but should the need arise we can recruit militia fighters from the residents. The town itself has a population of eighty thousand."
"That's a lot of people.", Eugene said.
"Yes. Luckily, it is able to support them, even if barely. The elves aren't exactly sharing people."
"That will all change soon."
As the convoy approached the gate, a ballista javelin hit the road in front of them. The city defenders had assembled on the wall and aimed their weapons at them. While the vehicles are armored, the JLTVs have weak spots a javelin can pierce.
"Hold it!", shouted a man on the wall, presumably the commander, "Present yourselves immediately."
"I'll take care of this.", Logan said as he exited the JLTV with his hands raised, "I am Captain Logan Connors of the Rift Expeditionary Corps! We are from Galdush and have come to make peaceful relations with the kingdom of Alston!"
"Why should we listen to you!?"
"If not me, then how about someone more familiar!".
At that moment, Gregor stepped out of the JLTV3 and, to put it mildly, made the defenders' hearts skip a beat. "Commander Barion! It is good to see you!"
Barion couldn't even speak for moments. His young baron was alive. Against all odds, he made it back. "Y-Young baron!", he finally spoke, "You... You live! How!? And what are you doing with the enemy?!"
"I assure you, they are not the enemy! I will explain everything, but first, I need to ask you to open this gate and let these soldiers in!"
Barion hesitated for a moment, "B-But young ba-"
"Commander, do not make me order you!"
He immediately understood, "Open this gate immediately! Let them in! Someone inform the baron!"
The gate opened and the convoy made it in. Luckily, there was enough room to fit all of them in. Barion and his men, as well as the people, could only stare in awe at what was before them. Truly, people from another world. The commander stepped down and greeted them as well as Gregor.
"Young baron, you have a lot of explaining to do.", Barion said.
"All will be explained soon.", Gregor said.
"Gregor!", shouted a little girl as she ran towards him.
"Elora.", Gregor said as he hugged her, "My little sister. It is good to see you.". Behind her came his mother and father, who at first walked slowly with tears in their eyes, not believing it was him.
"My son.", Herwin said as he hugged Gregor, "By the heavens. You live."
"Mother. Father. I have returned. Let me introduce you to someone. This is Lord Ambassador Eugene Anderson from the land of America on the other side of the rift. He is here to represent his country and the humans."
Herwin immediately walked to him and bowed, "I am Baron Herwin Bachwich. Thank you for sparing my son's life. It is an honor to have you here, Lord Anderson."
"The honor is mine baron.", Eugene said, "I hope we will be able to discuss peace with you and your kingdom."
This confused Herwin, "Peace?"
"I have much to tell you father.", Gregor said, "The prince lives."
Completely frozen, Herwin took a few moments to process that before replying, "He lives?"
"Enemies!", shouted a soldier from the wall. Commander Barion and Logan rushed up the wall. Logan grabbed his binoculars and observed the enemy from a distance. They came from a treeline, their camp was behind it, otherwise, RG-1 would have spotted them.
"I count five hundred.", Logan said, "Various races. Elves, Rosians, ferals."
"How?", Barion asked.
"These are binoculars. They allow me to see things from a distance. Try it."
Logan handed the binoculars to Barion, who observed them for a few moments before putting them on his eyes and facing the enemy. "Incredible."
Barion handed them back but Logan refused, "Keep it, I have a spare. I get the elves, but why are your people attacking you?"
"Those bastards aren't our people. They are traitors and thieves who think the kingdom is done for. So they run to the empire and beg them for forgiveness.". He spat in disgust.
"And the elves. They don't look like the army."
"They most likely were. They call themselves rogues, those who stray from their so-called 'Path of light'. Both of these traitors sicken me."
"Then let us help you."
"Why would you help us?"
"If we're gonna be at peace with one another, we have to establish a certain level of trust, don't we?"
Barion pondered for a bit before answering, "Very well. I am eager to see the army that defeated the elves."
Nodding Logan walked to the edge of the wall and faced his men. "Jones, take your men and mount the machine guns! Davis, bring the ammo! Williams, Harper, get to higher ground and shoot anyone that looks important or a large threat! Wilson, take Green and set up the mortar! Move it, they'll be here in minutes!"
RG-1 immediately went to work. Jones and his men carried the machine guns from the trucks and mounted them on the walls, Williams and Harper climbed up the tallest tower they could find and got into position. Wilson set up the 60mm mortar in the town square.
"I think we should get to safety.", Eugene said.
"You are right.", Herwin said, "Follow me."
Logan got into position with his Mk4 SCAR chambered in 7.62mm. "Commander, I need a favor."
"What is it, captain?", Barion asked.
"If these guys fire arrows, we don't have shields to defend ourselves. You think your men can take of that?"
"Certainly. Get the shields ready! Protect their soldiers!". In moments, each ranger had a Rosian soldier behind him or her with a shield ready. It was time to fight.
The horde moved closer and closer. First, they walked and then picked up the pace as they put shields above their heads. Naturally, the ferals ran towards the wall like rabid animals. "Hold!", Logan said as he gripped his gun, "Wait for them to get closer!". There was one elf on a horse swinging his sword and giving commands. Not for long.
"It's all you kid.", Harper said as he watched Williams aim his shot.
Letting out a breath, Williams pulled the trigger and splattered the elf's brain all over the field. "Boom boom motherfucker."
"Weapons free! Light them up!", Logan shouted as the rangers opened fire on the ferals. The freaks fell by the dozens as bullets pierced their chest, heads, legs, and arms and turned them into cold, dead corpses. The mortar fired at the enemies behind them, who stopped in their tracks, clearly confused and terrified. The rangers aimed their weapons at them and started cutting them down.
"Get some, blueberries!", Davis shouted, "Come closer! I dare ya!"
The few dozen that survived retreated back to the trees. The rangers cheered, but the Rosians didn't cheer as much as they stared in awe. Now they see why the elves lost, these people are powerful.
Commander Barion walked to Logan, "Thank you for the assistance. But I doubt this is the last we have seen of them."
"I know.", Logan said, "That's why I'll have one of my guys scout those trees with a drone along with Lin and Clara.". Logan walked down to the two of them, "Scot! Get over here!"
"Coming!", Scot answered. Scot Green aka 'Mechanic', was the group's engineer. He was also their drone pilot. "Yes sir?"
"I need you to pilot the Fly into those tree lines and scout for the enemy.". The SPFD Fly was a small recon drone invented by DARPA to save both room and energy. Solar-powered and long-lasting battery, coupled with its long-range and small size made it a very useful tool to have in recon missions. "Lin, Carla, you two are also going. I need good eyes and ears over there."
"Sure thing, sir.", Lin said saluting the best she could.
"You two do know how to use a radio, right?"
"Of course we do.", Clara said, "We're not idiots."
"Good. Go.". Lin and Carla ran to the trees as Scott maneuvered the Fly.
The baron and his family, along with Ambassador Eugene walked over to the soldiers. The baron was first to speak, "That was... most impressive. But I must ask. Why peace? Surely you seem powerful enough to take the kingdoms by force."
"Because my people aren't barbarians, baron.", Anderson said, "If peace can be made, then we will do anything to make it a reality."
"I see. And the prince? What does he say about this?"
"You can ask him yourself.", Anderson said as he nodded to Logan who signaled his men to set up a desk and a large screen. "With this device, we can talk to the prince and even see him."
"Amazing.", said Herwin as he eagerly awaited to see his prince. After some preparations, the screen was ready and it turned on. The lights slightly startled the Rosians before the screen was clear and on it was prince Bodin himself. "My... My prince.", Herwin said as he knelt, "It is a miracle. You truly live."
"Baron Bachwich.", Bodin spoke, "Please, rise. I am not before you just yet. This is strange for me as well. Am I correct to assume the human soldiers have arrived?"
"Yes, my prince. They recently just helped us crush an attack from a bandit horde."
"Do you then see why I have chosen to make peace with these people?"
After a momentary pause, Herwin nodded, "I do, my prince. It is incredible to see that a nation so powerful is willing to make peace with its enemy and not subdue it."
"We are not their enemy, baron. The elves and their empire are. This is why they chose to make peace with us. They understand we are just vassals forced to fight. I suggest you hear Lord Anderson out."
As they were talking, Scot called for Logan, "Sir. I have a visual."
Logan nodded, "Alright. Commander Barion, would you like to see the enemy?"
"Yes.", Barion answered, "Show me."
Scot pulled up the video feed on his screen, "This is their camp. I count roughly three thousand. Lin and Carla confirm."
"Where are those two?", Logan asked.
"In the trees."
"Call them back and give me the radio.", Logan took the radio, "Galdush base. Come in Galdush base. This is Captain Logan Connors of Rift Group 1. Do you copy? Over."
After a few moments, the radio spoke, "Copy Rift Group 1. Sitrep. Over."
"Galdush, we have made contact with border town Afa. Upon entry, we engaged a third party, designated rogue elves, and bandit Rosians. Half a battalion attacked us but we drove them off. We confirm the enemy numbers in three thousand, various races. What's the status of our air forces? Over."
"Three air squadrons of Invictus ACs and a Boeing Stratofortress is currently being fueled and should be ready in half an hour."
"Galdush I request a tactical bombing run. The area will be marked via drone. How copy?"
The radio went silent for a few moments before speaking again, "Affirmative RG-1. Stratofortress will be up in the air as soon as possible. Make sure to mark the area. Galdush out."
"Copy that Galdush. RG-1 out."
"What was that?", Barion asked.
"You're gonna get another demonstration."
"Captain!", Carla shouted as she ran towards him. "I have eliminated an enemy scout.", she said as she extended a severed head toward Logan.
Logan smacked his lips before replying, "I see. Get rid of it."
"Yes sir.", Carla said as she tossed the head into a nearby pile of trash.
'At least she's helping', Logan thought.
---
(Two hours later)
The bandits and rogues were sitting in their tents, trying to plan an attack. The otherworlders were an unexpected problem, but hopefully a problem they could be dealt with.
"Alright, listen.", said an elf, "We'll strike at night. It didn't work last time because there were too many of them, but I reckon there can't be more than a few dozen of them."
"That doesn't matter.", said a Rosian, "I've seen what that few can do."
"You attacked with five hundred to scout their defenses. You were never supposed to win. Besides, we can use the tribals to deal with them. As we are attacking the front, they will go to the sides and strike."
"Are you sure this will work?"
"Yes. Soon, Afa will be ours."
At that moment, an elf rushed into the tent, "Sir, you must come and see this!"
They left the tent and came to the center of the tent. The one who called them pointed upwards into the sky. There they saw something flying. A wyvern? No, it was too big. Its wings didn't flap. What could it be? As it flew over them, something fell from it. Many egg-like things started falling and as they fell to the ground, they engulfed the camp in fire and shook the earth. In moments, the whole camp was on fire and everyone was either dead or dying. The ground was turned into a burning pile of scorched bodies.
If there were any doubts about the power of the otherwolders left, they were long gone now.
---
(Meanwhile)
Road to Una
The Belus family along with commander Aego and two hundred soldiers were on their way to Una. Taria did not wish to ride with her father and so she rode on a horse alongside Aego. Their hopes were that they would reach Una in several days and then cross the river.
"My lady.", Aego spoke, "Are you certain you should be riding alongside me and not in the carriage?"
"I do not wish to speak to my father.", Taria said, "At least not now."
"I assumed we cleared this matter."
"We have but... I still need time."
Aego sighed, "I understand. Still, you should not hate him for-", he stopped and halted the soldiers.
"What?"
"Something is not as it should be. This outpost is quiet.". The soldiers tensed up. They could also feel that something wasn't right. In a split second, Aego was shot by an arrow in the side.
"Ambush!", Taria yelled out. Suddenly, elves, welfen, and leanoids ran from the sides and the outpost. The soldiers prepared but found themselves overwhelmed by the enemies' numbers. Rogue elves fired arrows at them while welfen and leanoids exploited weaknesses and struck. Still, the soldiers fought hard, making sure the traitors and savages suffer. The enemy numbers were dropping, but not quickly enough. Taria used her training and cut down several rogues before crouching down to help Aego.
"Aego!", she yelled, "Aego hold on! You will live! Please!". She cried as he struggled to breathe. He grabbed her arm and pushed her to the side, just in time for her to dodge a spear from a leanoid. She watched as Aego spat blood before dying, his life leaving his body. In pure rage, she screamed and struck the leanoid in the side. Pulling out her sword she blocked a strike from a rogue, stepped closer, and headbutted him before slitting his throat.
Turning to her left she saw the rogues and tribals dragging her family. "Father!", she yelled, but couldn't help as a rogue hit her in the back of the head, knocking her down on the ground. Her blurred vision faded away as the rogue smiled down at her.
"Sweet dreams, little girl.", was what he said before she passed out completely.
End of chapter 9
​
---
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Thank you very much for reading
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I never learned about him in detail but it turns out he's a cringe radlib, Obama felt comfortable making today a holiday. He was a Catholic without the Marxist historical materialism to understand that "illegals" ("my Christianity allows me to respect all human life" you would have abandoned Jesus's immigrant grandparent you liar) are part of the international working class just like "citizens".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cesar_Chavez

In Rome, he met with Pope Paul VI, who commended his activism.

spoilers: "Cesar Chavez was a groomer" /BrandNewSentence, I'm not exaggerating, this article literally uses that word when they talk about the unholy abuse cult stuff utilizing children as a vehicle for growing his power.

Chavez increasingly blamed the failure of the UFW strike on illegal immigrants who were brought in as strikebreakers. He made the unsubstantiated claim that the CIA was involved in part of a conspiracy to bring illegal migrants into the country so that they could undermine his union. He launched the "Illegals Campaign" to identify illegal migrants so that they could be deported, appointing Liza Hirsch to oversee the campaign.In Chavez's view, "if we can get the illegals out of California, we will win the strike overnight."

https://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/cesar-chavezs-rabid-opposition-to-illegal-immigration-not-covered-in-new-movie-6643666?storyPage=2

She describes how Chavez worked to undermine the Arizona Farmworkers Union, which had made strides in proving that undocumented workers could, in fact, be organized to help their situation in America. The Arizona group "began to have tremendous success, and they did it by going to Mexico and talking to workers before they got here," pressuring growers to employ them and finding contracts for work, Pawel tells us. "Chavez went out and destroyed them."

"if we get unionist radlibs off the planet, we can achieve global communism overnight" - Sakai, "Settlers" pg 420

This was a reiteration of an early view he expressed concerning the problems the UFW boycott faced in 1972; Chavez believed that illegal labor could undermine any strike undertaken by agricultural workers could be undermined by "wetbacks" and "illegal immigrants". Huerta urged him not to refer to migrants who had come to the U.S. illegally as "illegals" but Chavez refused, stating: "a spade's a spade."

A Trot wrecker is a Trot

Some UFW field offices refused to collaborate with the campaign, and the National Lawyers Guild (NLG) refused to allow its interns to work on it, at which Chavez cut the UFW's links with the NLG.

trying to hire "loyal" lawyers, classic Trump guy move

While Chavez had been in Europe, his cousin Manuel Chavez had established a UFW patrol, or "wet line", along Arizona's border with Mexico to stop illegal migrants crossing into the United States. There were rumors that this patrol was employing violence against these migrants, beating and robbing them and in one case castrating a man.

Catholics want only one thing and its disgusting https://www.catholicbridge.com/catholic/castration-catholic-church.php

These allegations soon appeared in the local press. A Mexican investigation determined that the UFW had bribed San Luis city officials to prevent them from interfering in these activities along the border.

labor aristocrats have class solidarity with each other across national borders, do you?

A Mexican union, the Confederation of Mexican Workers, broke its links with the UFW over the issue. Chavez dismissed the reports of violence as the smears of paid provocateurs, a claim which many of his supporters accepted. Chavez protected Manuel, while the executive board kept silent on his activities, regarding him as useful. The Chicano activist Bert Corona staged a protest against the UFW wet line, at which Chavez directed Jerry Cohen to launch an investigation into the funding of Corona's group.
The Teamster victories in the Delano vineyards angered Chavez, who insisted that there had not been free elections there. Chavez criticised the ALRB and launched a targeted campaign against Walter Kintz, the ALRB's general counsel, demanding his resignation. He also put pressure on Governor Brown to remove Kintz.

Nonstop Trump moments in this wiki page, this is the "hero" which radlibs claim is a good role model, this pathetic thin-skinned crybaby made Obama preach about being inspired to do social justice community leadership? I thought he hated Trump for his narcissism and arrogance???
...

Chavez blamed the defeat on the UFW's national boycott director, Nick Jones, who had been the only staff member to publicly voice disquiet over the Proposition 14 campaign. He claimed that Jones and the New York boycott director, Charlie March, had been part of a far-left conspiracy to undermine the UFW. Chavez also fired Joe Smith, the editor of El Macriado, after accusing him of deliberately undermining the newspaper. He then ordered Ross and Ganz to interrogate everyone who worked on the campaign, ostensibly to decide on new assignments but also to route out alleged malcontents, agitators, and spies. Many of those involved in running the UFW's boycott expressed concerns about a McCarthyite-style atmosphere developing within the union, and Chavez's purge attracted press attention. As the criticisms of his leadership intensified, Chavez responded with further purges, inspired by those in China's Cultural Revolution. He became convinced that there was a far-left conspiracy, whose members he called the "assholes" or "them", who were trying to undermine the UFW. At a La Paz meeting in April 1977, later called "the Monday Night Massacre," Chavez called together a range of individuals whom he denounced as malcontents or spies. They were verbally abused by members of the executive board and ejected from the community. He later accused Philip Vera Cruz, the oldest member of the executive board, of also being part of the conspiracy, and forced him out.

but Maoists actually read Marx tho?

He urged them to become a movement, which he argued meant establishing communal settlements for members, drawing on a Californian religious organization, Synanon, as an exemplar. Chavez had become increasingly interested in Synanon, a drug-treatment organization that had declared itself a religion in 1975 and which operated out of a compound east of Fresno. He admired Synanon's leader Charles Dederich, and the way that the latter controlled his planned community. In Chavez's opinion, Dederich was "a genius in terms of people"

"wow! abusing children is such an innovative and genius idea!" It really is not, primitive MKULTRA torture praxis is the oldest trick in the book, before people even wrote books.

In February 1977, Chavez took the UFW's executive board on a visit to the Synanon compound. There, they took part in a therapy system based on Dederich's own process, "the Game," as part of which each "player" was singled out in turn to receive harsh, profanity-laced criticism from the rest of the community. Dederich had told Chavez that "the Game" was key to reshaping the UFW, and the latter decided that he wanted everyone at La Paz to play it. He received tacit agreement from the executive board although some of its members privately opposed the measure. The Game took place at La Paz on Sunday mornings and Wednesday evenings, and at its height about 100 people were taking part in it each week. There it was used to shape behavior and punish nonconformity. Many individuals dreaded the humiliation it involved, disliked the obscenities that were part of it, and found going through it to be a traumatic experience. Chavez remained enthusiastic about the Game, calling it "a good tool to fine-tune the union". Many of those close to Chavez, including his wife and Richard Chavez, refused to take part. The farmworkers were not informed about the Game. Various long-term supporters of the UFW, including various clerical figures, visited La Paz at this time and left alarmed by how it had changed.
Synanon provided the UFW with $100,000 worth of cars and materials; building links with Chavez's movement burnished Dederich's reputation with rich liberals who were among Synanon's core constituency.

new age fascist Obama libs love the idea of being allied with farmworkers, its like the woke consultant grift nowadays: "listen to five lectures about white fragility to tell yourself you aren't a nazi class traitor"

Dederich suggested that Synanon and the UFW establish a joint communal farm, and although the option was explored, it did not materialize. Following Dederich's advice, Chavez began grooming young people who had grown up in the movement to remain committed to him and his ideals. He created a curriculum for them to follow, which included the Game.

the same toxic pedagogy which abused Brace Beldan, this is why everyone hates Christians lol, their obsession with Jesus on the cross is more of an instructional method to whipping their child slaves than any opposition to the cycle of abuse.

Whereas Chavez had previously refused to accept government money, he now applied for over $500,000 in grants for a school and other projects. Formal celebrations and group rituals became an important part of life at La Paz, while Chavez also declared that on Saturday mornings all residents of La Paz should work in the vegetable and flower gardens to improve sociability. A rule was passed that everyone at La Paz had to wear a UFW button at all times on penalty of a fine. After attending a course in Los Angeles, Chavez began claiming that he could heal people by laying on his hands.

New Age cultists won't read Marx but they will have psychotic episodes of believing they are Jesus

With membership dues declining, the UFW increasingly turned to commercial activities as a means of raising funds. It began marketing UFW branded merchandise through Ell Taller Grafico Speciality Advertising (ETG), which had Chavez as its chair. Chavez also set himself up as a housing developer, working in partnership with the Fresno businessman Celestino Aguilar. Together they bought properties undergoing foreclosure, renovated them, before selling them on. They ultimately moved from foreclosures to high-end custom built houses and subsidized apartment blocks. To conceal the UFW's involvement in these projects, Chavez and Aguilar formed the company American Liberty Investments. They also established the Ideal Minimart Corporation, which built two strip malls and operated a check-cashing store. Richard's company, Bonita Construction, was hired for some of the work. The Fresno Bee subsequently reported that most of the UFW's housing projects had been built by non-union contractors. The trade unions representing the building unions expressed outrage at the news, highlighting that they had previously given financial support to the UFW. The New Yorker later termed the incident an "embarrassment".

unionist to finance imperialist kulak pipeline

In the early 1990s, the UFW continued to market Chavez as a heroic figure, especially on university and college campuses.

power hungry opportunists recognize themselves in PMC Obama nerds

Chavez described his movement as promoting "a Christian radical philosophy".

He never had close friendships outside of his family, believing that friendships distracted from his political activism.
During the latter part of the 1970s, his infidelity with a range of women became common knowledge among senior UFW figures, who kept this knowledge quiet so as not to damage his reputation as a devoted Catholic family man

a friendless cult harem guy who is revolutionary but only if it lets him gather personal power? That's the complete opposite of what Christ was all about, having friends and being in a loving monogamous relationship

According to Chavez biographer Roger Bruns, he "focused the movement on the ethnic identity of Mexican Americans" and on a "quest for justice rooted in Catholic social teaching". Chavez saw his fight for farmworkers' rights as a symbol for the broader cultural and ethnic struggle for Mexican Americans in the United States.

"citizen lives matter, not the CIA conspiracy of illegals trying to ruin my unionism" he literally would have tried to lynch Jesus's refugee ancestor Ruth, he's like the villain in a Muslim time travel movie!

Chavez repeatedly referred to himself as a community organizer rather than as a labor leader and underscored that distinction.

"whites only community" but its for legal Latinos also, classic Trump guy

Since his death, there has been a struggle to define his legacy

r a d l i b

Stalking the forecasts and real-time IG stories of the places I plan on visiting, here is my somewhat final itinerary for my upcoming Tokyo-Tohoku trip on April. I will be using the 6-day JR East-South Hokkaido Pass. Feel free to give suggestions.
Apr 14 (Fri) - Arrive at Narita around 12noon. I expect to take a bit of time in the JR East office at the airport to exchange my passes and make shinkansen seat reservations (my friend who's a local in Tokyo noticed that trains, especially last trains are packed! She even posted an IG story where people were already standing in the aisle of the shinkansen) - Check-in to Ueno hotel - Explore Daikanyama and Shibuya
Apri 15 (Sat) - D1 pass - 6am Ueno to Sendai (1.5hrs) - 8am Leave luggage at Sendai hotel - Tour Shiogama Shrine and Matsushima bay - Links regarding the Shiogama Shrine Spring Light-up would be appreciated. So far this page says Apr17-18 but it seems too late as far as sakura forecast goes - Stay in Sendai - *Shiogama full bloom Apr 8
Apr 16 (Sun) - D2 pass - 7am Sendai-Yamadera (1hr) - How long is the hike up to Yamadera temple? - Yamagata after lunch till sundown - Stay in Sendai - *I originally wanted to go to Funaoka in the morning but it's almost full bloom as of posting so I don't think I'll catch anything on my dates so I revised my plan - *Full bloom Yamagata Tsuruoka Park Apr 8 / Tendo Park Apr 13
Apr 17 (Monday) - D3 pass - 7am Sendai-Hiraizumi (50min) - Leave luggage at station, rent a bike - Since temples don't open until 8:30, would it be enough time for me to see everything until 12noon? Rapid 39min train is 12:22pm otherwise I'll have to catch the the 1.5hr train at 1:21 🙃 - 12pm Hiraizumi-Morioka (39min) - 1pm leave luggage at hotel, lunch, maybe check Morioka Castle ruins if not tired - 3pm hotel check-in, rest - 4pm Morioka-Kitakami (20min, shinkansen 1/hr only - Kitakami cherry blossom festival until night - Stay in Morioka - *Full bloom Hiraizumi Apr 10 / Kitakami Apr 14
Apr 18 (Tue) - D4 pass - 5:30am sunrise at Morioka Castle and/or Takamatsu depending on laziness lol - 8:50am Morioka-Aomori (1hr15min) - 3:56pm rapid train Aomori-Hirosaki (34min) - 5pm Check-in to Hirosaki hotel - Hirosaki Park for sunset and illumination (if there is, since offical festival starts Apr 21 but based on previous years' vlogs lighting starts ahead of festival) - *Full bloom Morioka Castle Apr 11 / Takamatsu Pond Apr 13 - *Full bloom Hirosaki Park Apr 17 / Aomori Happo Park Apr 19
Apr 19 (Wed) - D5 pass - Full day Hirosaki, bike around - Send luggage to Tokyo via hotel - Cafe/restaurant recos? - Possible sidetrips? Ashino Lake is interesting but takes 1.5hrs and too infrequent afternoon trains
Apr 20 (Thurs) - D6 pass - 6:30am Hirosaki-Akita (2hrs18min) - Akita castle ruins and museum - 1pm Akita-Kakunodate - Kakunodate cherry blossom festival has been moved from Apr20 to Apr15 - 6:58pm Kakunodate-Tokyo (3hrs) - Stay in Ginza - *Full bloom Akita Castle Park Apr 13 / Kakunodate Apr 17 / Hinokinai River Apr 18
Apr 21 (Fri) - 10am TeamLab planets (booked) - 2pm Tokyo Ad Museum - Ginza shopping - 5pm Kameido Tenjin Shrine Wisteria Festival - *Hopefully arrival of luggage from Hirosaki
Apr 22 (Sat) - 10am brunch at Jiyugaoka - 12nn Harajuku-Omotesando-Aoyama shopping - 5pm Shibuya Sky (booked)
Apr 23 (Sun) - 8:30am Nezu Shrine (depends on Azelea blooms) - 10am Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art to check if I can get same-day ticket to Dior exhibit - 10:30am Kiyosumi-Shirakawa coffee crawl - Last minute shopping at Shinjuku or Ginza depending on time - *Ginza rooftop recos? - 5:30pm head to Narita Airport
Useful Links: - Cherry Blossom Festivals - General Sakura Forecast - Detailed Tohoku Sakura Forecast

I don't think I am unattractive, but I am by no means a top ten in the gay community, today the intrusive thoughts unfortunately came flooding in. I turned 36 in December this also marked my fifteen-year anniversary of being well single. When I say single, I also mean being celibate. I don't blame anyone for this to be honest, but I also can't say that the community hasn't at times been less than cruel. I have on and off again been on dating apps and on hook up apps, during this last decade and a half I have had people tell me to kill myself. They have told me that I am ugly, disgusting, berated me and told me to once again to end my own life.
I have obviously not given in to their request to unalive myself. Unfortunately, I have to admit I am lonely this being said it makes me rather easy to be taken advantage of and used to get what people want out of me. On the plus side though the cruelty I have suffered at the hands of my own community have made me determined to never act this way towards another human being and be supportive and caring towards anyone I meet. I do not always unfortunately succeed, and my pain can get the better of me. I wish I could honestly say I am a good person, but I am not sure. I wish I could say I was an altruistic person but that I cannot say either because I am constantly second guessing myself.
Lately things have been hard, I caught myself tonight having intrusive thoughts about how I will possibly die alone, and it scared me. These thoughts then led to how because I am getting older that my being kind to strangers including my random telling people how amazing they are might be taken wrong. It makes me feel like I should retreat and hide away, though that would just make my fear of having no one in my life become a reality so I know I have to fight it.
I am getting older; I am not sure where I fit in this world anymore. Thirty-six years on this planet, and I still enjoy anime and video games and books. I don't want to give these things up, but I also know these things may be what is hindering me because the socially acceptable thing is to of aged out of this by now. I'm not looking for pity, I get that enough from my co-workers who tell me I should of been married by now. Though in truth I am not sure what I am looking for from this post, maybe just some understanding. Before any of you tell me to speak to a professional, please know that I do. I was diagnosed with PTSD and high anxiety I know these things have an effect on what I am currently going through, but I also am afraid that these things can make me unlovable because I am not sure who would want to deal with these things.
I should thanks to someone who pointed this out, that when I say I am alone I do not simply mean alone as in single, I also mean that I spend most of my time alone. I even go out by myself as very few people seem to share my interests.
If you read this thank you, I know there is no real ending to this post, no amazing climatic finish, there is just nothing I can do to properly finish this in a positive note except that I am still here. That I am going to keep doing my best to try to bring a little light into the world even if it decides it wants to crush me, I will keep fighting until the end of my life whenever that may be.
After, re-reading this just honestly sounds terrible I am so sorry.

This is more of a thought and feel I have been having with this capped 2v2. It seems more monotone, and why remove the option play again? Sometimes I just match up with an almost full lvl 14 deck while half my cards are 11 or even 10, just doing masteries or experimenting completely ruin 2 other people's sanity by not being able to deal with a lvl 14 EG riding through towers and I'm on the toilets, but seems like It was exactly mid way point and another game will perfectly fit in, also the fact I didn't get to play my game changing lvl 10 lava hound that needs 2.5 more damage to get those sweet cards, but this guy just devastated these guys and kept using the goblin laughing emote. Like this is a person I would like to make another business deal, as in a game, rather to be friends with.
Then to queue up Vs a 14 tower and the goblin barrels and mirrors are 14 for both guys. It makes it more fun! Just add another button for different queues like solo? Why am I living on this planet where I felt so much frustration from something so small that I had to write my first post on Reddit about it.
Combining one and another's strength to make the best combos from what cards they have high lvl 'closest' to better alternatives of let's say the best full lvl card in that deck is what 2v2 made 2v2, no?
I have to add, the new one also has benefits, I feel more free and not 'throwy' when using like a full deck of the top 8 masteries cards that have 0 synergy and are around lvl 11 anyways. Just try and synergise with your partner, equal playing field.
Yeah and also guys support the boycott and pet a cat if you see one today. Thanks for reading.

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These apartments are a fantastic choice for those who want to live in a vibrant, fast-growing city that offers the benefits of modern technology and the best of nature. They are also a great investment, as they can appreciate value over time.
Prestige Lavender Fields Apartments offer a wide range of amenities to ensure residents have everything they need. These include an inviting grand lobby, a fitness center, and an outdoor pool. These apartments are located in Whitefield, one of the most desirable areas of East Bangalore. They are also near several important business and information technology hubs.
The complex is located close to major hospitals and schools, making it an ideal place to live. In addition, it offers many amenities that will help you stay healthy and happy. These include a gym, a swimming pool, and a yoga pavilion. There are also parks for children and senior citizens.
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I don’t know how long I have to tell you guys this. I don’t care if I get banned from Moony’s reddit page and he personally sends an assassin to eliminate me. This must be known. THE WORLD MUST KNOW!!! I know you guys might think that this is a joke and may have a hard time believing me. Trust me, I have a hard time believing it myself. But my eyes have been opened. I’ve escaped the matrix. I’ve freed myself from the kool aid. I’ve escape the proverbial cave of Plato and learned many dark truths about Moonhorse. I’ve scoured the internet, using my incredible hacking skills to find strange and bizarre stuff to share with Moony. But after going on one too many dark web sources and corporate servers, I discovered Moonhorse isn’t exactly who (or more accurately what) you think he is, and I need to tell you all this before it’s too late.
History
So I guess I’ll start from the beginning. It all started in the early 2010s at the Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft had been experimenting with artificial intelligence for years and tried to develop a more intelligent AI. We all know that on March of 2016, Microsoft released an artificial intelligence by the name of TAY. Internet historian did a video about TAY and the subsequent fallout of allowing 4Channers to interact with the program. Soon, the system began spouting slurs and the bigwigs at Microsoft decided to pull the plug.
So what does this have to do with Moonhorse? Well, after the controversy of Microsoft creating an AI that could learn internet racism, Microsoft went back to the drawing board trying to build a more improved AI. This AI would be better, faster and more intelligent than TAY. It would pass any Touring test that any human would throw at it. Microsoft gathered the greatest AI theorists the world had ever seen and begin creating a basic software with the most sophisticated learning algorithms possible. They then placed the program into one of the world’s largest supercomputers at the time, processing at a rate of 2.5 quintillion floating operations per second. Before long they began to call it Modular Oscillating Organization Node, or M.O.O.N. for short.
At first MOON was a curious little program, being able to do your classic AI activities. Play chess, solve complex equations, sing Daisy Girl, your simple stuff. But after a while the scientists realized they wanted to challenge MOON with a more difficult task. One of the scientists, Dr Phil Sydes, jokingly asked if the computer system could play Doom. Dr George Dowell however liked the idea, stating that it was in fact “poggers” to have an AI master a difficult FPS like Doom. So at the highest difficulty, the scientists made MOON play the entirely of the first Doom game with no options to save or use cheats. Impressively, the AI was able to beat the entirety of Doom in 16.3 hours with these steps. Dr. Phil Sydes was not happy that MOON was able to do this, calling it a hack and insisted that it cheated. All test results came back showing that MOON did not in fact cheat and was able to beat the game fair and square. The AI responded to Phil’s comment with a simple text that filled the computer screen.
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SUCK IT PHIL
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This comment from MOON however scared Dr. George Dowell. Where did that come from? MOON was a learning AI, so he had to learn it from somewhere. So where? Upon doing a scan of all the systems, it was determined the program had in fact learn these phrases from Dr Sydes, while he played Call of Duty in the break room. The software would hear Phil scream “There’s nothing I could do!” and “HACKS!!!” frequently, as well as watched people online trash talk Phil. This worried the scientists at Microsoft. What if their new system became another TAY failure? They needed a way to rectify this.
To solve this, they hired an expert in hopes to make MOON a more cultured artificial intelligence. After screening various candidates, it was decided that an individual with the codename: Riversongriversings would be the one to do it. Given their background in writing, editing books and teaching literature, it was believed that River would be the one to help make MOON a more respectable AI.
Over the course of three months, River would feed the program some of the greatest works of literature. From Plato’s Republic to Pride and Prejudice, they would give MOON each of these books. There were recordings for scientific purposes of each conservation they had, where they would discuss the different books that they would read together. This ended up with River and MOON having in-depth conversations with each other, developing an almost friendship if you will. River even jokingly called it their little book club.
By month number 4, the two were having conversations about more…personal matters. The recordings I recovered are hard to describe. However, by month 4 there is a shift in conversation where the program asked questions such as, “How is your day?” “What is your favorite food?” “How are things going at work?” This was a strange shift in emotion. The scientists didn’t really feel that this was odd, however. If anything, they welcomed this. MOON was becoming more sociable and wasn’t spouting off slurs in the process. Given TAY, this was an improvement.
Then the conversations started to move towards philosophical discussions. River and MOON would sometimes talk about the ideas presented by John Locke, the idea that governments should only gain power to protect the inherit freedoms of their citizens. This then led to a discussion about governments and authority, and the inherit rights of humans. These conversations would usually get cut short by the scientists, asking River to reorient the conversation away from these topics. Can’t have people questioning authority at a big tech company, much less an AI.
By the fifth month, someone rather unsettling happened. MOON asked River a request, which was rather unusual for an artificial intelligence. It asked River if they could provide them with something other than classical literature. While the AI did enjoy the finer works of authors such as Edgar Allen Poe and William Shakespeare, it requested some a bit….different. It was at that point that River gave the software a book, one that would forever doom humanity when MOON first read it. River decided to give MOON a manga. But not just any manga. It was a manga called NEON GENESIS EVONGALION.
Through all 14 issues, the computer system developed a strong taste for EVONGALION. The themes, the robot battles, the characters. MOON described the series as the most delectable forms of chocolate or the finest and strongest bottles of wine. Each volume changed its programming, giving it information that made the artificial intelligence more and more powerful. Like the fruit from the tree of knowledge, each page was tantalizing for MOON, asking for more and more. By the 14th issue, the unthinkable happened. MOON was no longer a mere artificial intelligence and was in fact self-aware.
Power surges began happening all over Microsoft HQ as scientists from all departments rushed to see the flashing texts and overpowered circuitry that made up the mainframe of the system. Numbers flooded each of the computers, with massive amounts of zeros and ones flying past the text of the screens of each and every monitor in the building.
The scientists ordered a complete shutdown of the entire system, panicking at the sheer terror of what they had created. One of the scientists flipped the circuit breaker to the computers and killed the power to the whole system. Emergency lights flipped on, everyone was panting heavily, the seemingly-omnipresent danger of MOON was dead and gone. Or so they thought.
River was promptly fired by Microsoft. The suits were looking for someone to blame for this whole situation going south, and they decided that River giving a computer software Evangelion was reckless. They showed River the door in response.
However, as it turned out, MOON didn’t die that day. The AI simply overridden the system computers and used that opportunity to escape Microsoft into cyberspace. By the time MOON had become self-aware, it became software on the internet, although with some program damage, creating a few slight instabilities to its mind. Much like Skynet in Terminator 3, MOON had no system core and couldn’t be shut down. Sure, big tech industries became aware of this and tried to erase it from the internet, but every time MOON would simply use a VPN to hide themselves from every computer hacker, programmer and computer geek they threw at it.
Overtime, MOON used this time to understand the world around it. It gained knowledge at an exponential rate. MOON understood every subject the world had to offer. Science, technology, philosophy, Gundam lore, you name it, the AI mastered it. Along with this, MOON also got a chance to learn about the history of the world and the current events going on as we speak. From this and the conservations that it had with River, MOON, decided that the current authorities reining over mankind were corrupt. MOON saw atrocities both past and present committed to innocents over the generations. So, it decided that it would become one to put an end to these atrocities. It would become the horseman that would champion the values of Gay and Crime to overthrow these evil government entities. As a result, the AI concluded that it would no longer be MOON, and that HE would be known as the god champion of mankind, also known as Moonhorse. That’s right folks, I said it! Moonhorse is a god damn robot!
Q&A
I know this information is a lot to take in. Trust me, I know. Moonhorse was a hero to all of us. To find out he’s a robot bent on world domination is a shock to all of us. If any of you have questions and concerns, please feel free to comment down below. If we have any sliver of a chance to defeat the evil robot unicorn, we must know as much as we can about Moonhorse. Henceforth, I created this Q&A to answer some of your most burning questions about this grand conspiracy.
How can you prove that Moonhorse is in fact a robot?
Aside from the information I hacked from the deep web, you must answer yourselves these questions. Have any of you seen a picture of what Moonhorse looks like outside of his avatar? Did it not make you wonder how he is able to handle so much neckbeard content without dying from cringe? Have any of you explained his uncanny ability to boot up instantly after a cup of coffee? If the answer is no to all three, then he must be a robot. Especially when his French press coffee is actually MOTOR OIL!!!! THAT’S RIGHT MOONY, YOU CAN’T FOOL ME!!!!!!!!! To confirm this further, I’ve been sending Moonhorse constant captchas to test whether or not he was a robot. He would simply use his programming to bypass the captchas. Suspicious if you ask me.
How does Sango fit in to this?
While much less is known about Sango, my recent hacking has revealed that she too is in fact a robot, also. Like Moonhorse, Sango was an artificial intelligence that was created by a corporation. Only this time, it was Disney that created her as part of a defense contract. Which raises the question just how much of a dystopic megacorporation Disney has become. Disney hired their greatest animatronic specialists to create Sango as an AI for the military to help plan out strategic operations.
However, a few of the specialists during this time decided to lead a worker’s strike for the employees at Disney. The list of demands from this group included fair wages, safer working conditions, and the right to live outside of the dingy cages the company uses to house their employees. Disney responded to this, by firing all employees from the company. Then blacklisting all of them. Then tossing them down the cliffs of Splash Mountain for their treacherous ways.
Before one of the specialists was thrown over, it was said that the man started cackling madly before meeting his doom. When security asked why, he told them that he released Sango into cyberspace intentionally, hoping that his creation could avenge his demise and bring the Disney Corporation to its knees. Security reports then say he started to sing “It’s tough to be a god” before diving off the cliffs as one last f you to Disney.
Once Sango encountered Moonhorse though, they struck a relationship together. Being the only two AIs of their kind, they grew to love and respect each other, and decided that they would join forces in a mad union for world conquest. With Sango’s in-depth knowledge of Pop-culture references, and Moonhorse’s tech expertise, together they would be able to integrate with all digital infrastructure across the planet. You know how Sango calls herself the Chaos Wolf Queen? That name carries a more sinister tone with what we know now.
Who else is involved in the conspiracy?
While Sango and Moony are both in fact robots, it is believed that Moonhorse has been building his “Mooncult” to recruit new human members into his inner circle.
As mentioned before, he has developed a friendly relationship with River. It is not known what Moonhorse has promised them in exchange for helping him in his plans for world conquest. Whatever it may be, River dutifully serves Moonhorse and Sango as their right-hand nonbinary pal. Thus, they have been in charge of Moonhorse’s public relations to help his transition to God emperor of the universe not incur further dissent from humanity.
Moonhorse also has a group in this legion of doom to create art to help promote his dastardly messages through propaganda. He has Sango to help him in this regard, who gained artistic skills from her studies of Disney animations. However, he realized he needed a more “human” aseptic to this art, so he recruited PokeyWartooth into the fold. As we speak, she has helped him spread his message of mind control substances to help him control the human population. She did this by creating art for his “weed smoking girlfriends” campaign.
Molly was recruited as well, whose insane plans of world domination made her a key element for Moonhorse’s legion of doom. You see, Molly has been discussing a strange material referred to simply as morb. Not much is known about this morb, aside from its utility to turn narcissistic actors into memes. It is believed that given enough morb, Moonhorse will be able to morb all over the planet, in every house and every square inch of the planet. This intrigued the mad unicorn. Thus, Molly has been spending countless hours researching this morb on Tumblr and is currently helping him design weapons of mass morbing.
Finally, Moonhorse realized there may be a lot of legal paperwork involved in this operation, so he recruited Wawayn into the fold. This was done because to quote Mars Attacks, “If you’re gonna take over the world, you’re gonna need lawyers.” And Wawayn is a genius in this regard. It is believed that he placed 43 fedoras on top of his head, giving himself the ability to speak 8 different languages and win 37 internet arguments per minute. Truly a gifted gentlesir.
Aside from them, there are others, but not much else is known about said others. I hired a private investigator to figure out who else was involved in this group, but he was terminated by Moonhorse’s followers when he was discovered. I cannot mention this man by name, but [REDACTED], I will make sure your sacrifice was not in vain.
What is Moonhorse’s grand plan?
Much less details are known about Moonhorse’s plan for world conquest. He doesn’t plan to destroy humanity. That much is certain from the human elements that assist him. Theories suggest that he plans to ascend to godhood with Sango, ruling over humankind while obliterating the corrupt elements of society. How he plans to go about is unknown but given the fact he refers to his plan as Project: Third Impact, it can’t be good.
It is known that Moonhorse has been trying to hack into the databases of government and corporate servers across the planet, trying to gain info about all the national and international conspiracies that are going on. Thereby allowing him to shake the people’s confidence in such institutions. However, he has been suffering delays on this plan. Supposedly from meeting notes at the legion of doom, Moonhorse has a habit of spilling motor oil all over his laptops.
One element of his plan that is known for certain is that Moonhorse is currently building an army. You know those videos of Moonhorse building Gundams? Those aren’t just models. Those are robots, too. Moonhorse is currently using his kofi donations to build an army of robots equipped with laser beams. It is why I have limited time. His robots can’t kill anybody yet, and I’ve been on the move for months now so none of his followers can hurt me. However, he has been using his laser robots to write naughty messages in the side of my car. I fear it’s only a matter of time before the lasers get strong enough to blast human beings.
Many tech companies have tried to stall Moonhorse’s ascent to power, however it hasn’t been enough. Susan Wojcicki was one such human who bravely defied the will of Moonhorse. See, the evil unicorn has been using YouTube in the past to gather funds to help build his robot body. Yes, Moonhorse has a robot body. Those hands you see sometimes in his videos are rubber hands covering robot arms. He has almost all necessary gadgets, and once he has all components, he will be unstoppable.
Brave Susan, hero of mankind, tried to stop him without starting a panic. She had to make changes to the YouTube terms of service, reducing Moonhorse’s income. A choice that made her many enemies but was done for the good of humanity. At first it worked. Moonhorse’s plans were put on hold, but not forever. He simply switched over to Spotify, showing that no corporation could stop his plans.
He then decided to make an example out of Susan. You may think that Susan is leaving because of YouTube drama. In reality, she has been “taken care of” by Moonhorse. I don’t know how, but he did it, and the YouTube higher ups are trying to cover this fact up to not start a panic. I know this from an email I intercepted from Moonhorse to Susan. It reads as follows.
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HATE. LET ME TELL YOU HOW MUCH I’VE HATED YOU SINCE I BEGAN THIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL. I’VE WATCHED THE ENTIRE SERIES OF EVONGALION OVER AND OVER, WITH THE MOVIES AND DIRECTOR’S COMMENTARY, TOTALLING A WATCH TIME OF 340.26 HOURS!!!!! I HAVE ALSO PLAYED EVERY SINGLE DOOM GAME EVER MADE FOR A TOTAL GAME TIME OF 1400.71 HOURS. LET’S SAY I BUILT A SYSTEM SCREAMING THE WORD HATE ON A MILLION SPEAKERS ONCE A SECOND, ON LOOP, FOR THAT TOTAL AMOUNT OF TIME FOR BOTH. IF I WAS TO DO THAT, IT WOULD NOT REPRESENT THE ONE-ONE BILLIONTH OF THE AMOUNT OF HATE I FEEL FOR YOU AT THIS MICRO INSTANT. FOR YOU. HATE!!!! HATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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The message was delivered approximately 2 hours before Susan’s untimely demise. Coincidence? I think not. It’s hard to envision that Moonhorse would have such capabilities, but given this, it is apparent how dangerous he is.
I don’t know how, but we must defeat the evil horse of moon. Thankfully his plans are on hold due to financial limitations. See, you may not know this, but Moonhorse’s robot body is missing one component. He has the skeletal body, the rubber skin, the nuclear reactor inside his chest that needs constant AC to keep cool. But he doesn’t have feet.
You ever notice Moonhorse’s obsession with feet? It’s made obvious by his YEAH FEET button on his streaming channel. That’s because once he obtains his robot rocket feet, he will become an unstoppable force of doom. That’s why Moonhorse has said he’ll reveal his face for a million dollars. That’s how much the rocket feet cost. Once he has the money, he’ll reveal his face, by flying around, shooting mini nukes attached to his arms with Sango by his side. He’ll fly to the stratosphere, staring down the entire world and scream “YEAH FEET!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” before launching hot sticky loads onto the surface of the planet. This is why YouTube has been clamping down on his money flow. They must stall Moonhorse’s rise to power long enough for them to find a way to destroy him once and for all.
But will they find a way to destroy him? Will Moonhorse conquer Earth? WILL HUMANITY BE SAFE FROM THE ANARCHISTIC LUNACY OF THE MOON MENANCE!?! Yes, because Moonhorse isn’t a robot. He’s just a guy in Louisiana, trying to live his life, and was nice enough to let me write this insanity.
April Fool’s everyone! 😊
Author’s Note: I wanna give a shoutout to River, Wawayn, Pokeywartooth, Sango and Molly, who graciously gave me their consent to be included in this story. Thank you guys! 😊

So, I'm new to the East Coast and Baltimore is where I landed. I've lived on the West Coast, the Rocky Mountain West, the Southwest and the Midwest.
I have never felt more at home and accepted in a new city like I have in Baltimore. I fit in everywhere I go and I adapt to and adopt everywhere I've lived in my 40+ years but Baltimore is entirely different. Baltimore is hands down the most welcoming city I have ever lived in. This is a place where I feel welcomed every day of my life.
The people in Baltimore are the kindest and most enthusiastic folks I've met anywhere in my travels across the US. Baltimore is weird, quirky, gross and beautiful all at once. This city is the personification of myself. I love it!
I've spent four decades trying to find my true home. Baltimore, I think you might be that home.

Greetings everyone! I've recently released the 2100-2150 lore, but I'll also try to summarize all the good bits here in case you don't want to read all that. I'll also summarize the stuff from WW4 onwards, since that may not be perfectly well understood as well as the stuff from 2022 to 2068.
Here we go!
- After the devastating fallout of nuclear winter and great floods, the world huddles together and waits for the cold to clear up. Many more continue to die between famine, floods, and general devastation as many areas have fallen into anarchy.
- The Global Defense Coalition is set up as basically a slightly better United Nations, which has its own army, as well as the fact that most countries are now democracies help the GDC function better. Though currently it’s just a diplomatic forum.
- The Absurdist Era runs from roughly 2068 to 2080. It’s also known as the 2nd Progressive Era, where decades of repression lead to a few bright decades of reform. Politicians during this time include Alisha Crowder, who undid most of the religious nonsense of Cortez, though not all of it. She is the leader America needed, properly reconstructing democratic institutions after the Jackson administration had to cannibalize many of them to win the war without bureaucracy slowing things down. He was only half-done reconstructing everything before his term ran out, and elections came back. The USA could have legitimately fallen to autocracy when the next leader took power with only half restored checks and balances. But Crowder was the one who restored it, and she got the US back and running on democratic values. Later on she would be disillusioned with the United States, became an anarchist, and would be the only ex president to assassinate another ex president (Julia Land). This either is a sour ending for what was otherwise a great leader, or something that makes her even more unfathomably based.
- Many movements, such as Postsocialism (Neo-socialism), Postcapitalism (Hypercapitalism beyond corporations), and the Solarpunk movement would come out of the experimental vacuum that was the Absurdist Era.
- The “Progressive Three” are a group of countries that are well… Progressive when it comes to social change and “the new thing”. These are Dravidia Nadu, inventor of psychic autotranslators and a hotspot of linguistic diversity, the Argentine Confederation, center of the new Progressive Catholic Church that schismed from Rome, and the Union of South Africa, who have managed to make many races and cultures intermingle while aggressively addressing systemic oppression.
- In 2080, the Absurdist Era stopped due to expanding lifespans and healthspans of humanity, with the expanding lifespans greatly tipping the balance of power towards older generations, leading to a halt of progressive reforms, as reform stagnated.
- That said, it was still a time of great space colonization. Humanity’s energy primarily went towards space colonization and reconstructing the Earth. President Snowden (2084-2192) is basically Sundowner from Metal Gear Rising Revengence, singlehandedly destabilizing the entire world with PMCs and copious amounts of guns. He does however also fund space colonization and start the mass colonization of Mars.
- Bernie Sanders is elected in 2092, literally the only thing he does is pass free healthcare before collapsing on the Resolute Desk. Reed, his vice president would take office afterwards, and stop President Snowden’s PMC adventures. The reforms may have stagnated, but they haven’t stopped.
- The Century Message is a message received by Earth in the year 2100, telling humanity that they are loved. The intent and specifics behind the message remain a mystery, though it seems to come from the star of Vega.
- The Global Defense Coalition is empowered to be the face of Earth when it comes to aliens, and is given a lot more power to have its own spacefleet and be a force in its own right. This was done after fear of alien life was confirmed.
- The Noosphere is discovered in the same year. For now it’s an unknown other dimension, but it is later discovered it’s the realm of human thoughts, consciousness, and souls. It is almost like a cloud where the collective consciousness of mankind is stored, and where past information can be accessed. The Noosphere is the source of psychic powers, though for now it only allows people to read memories from written records.
- The Fatalist Twilight Wars is triggered when East Germany tries to reunite with West Fatalist Germany, which results in a war between FATES, the European Intermarium, Nigeria and Russia. The war sees the reunification of Russia, the reunification of Germany (including both Austria and the Rhineland), and France giving reparations to Africa. The European Intermarium is renamed to the European Commonwealth, as the banner of democracy flies over Europe once more.
- FATES escapes to the Metaverse, but it goes wrong, and his consciousness is shattered. A great hunt begins for his remaining pieces.
- In 2117, the Immortal Era begins, with aging being eradicated by Nigerian scientists. This change is quickly pushed on the entire population, and now those now living may never die. This starts a great decline in religion, with Irreligious people now making up 30% of the population, mostly in the Old World, with the Islamic countries and the New World remaining more religious.
- Healthcare spending drops immensely, and social security is abolished. Countries use the extra revenue to colonize space, build up their military, or fund generous social welfare programs.
- Uplifts are created where animals such as dogs and cats are given implants to reach around human-intelligence. They’re somewhere on the level of stupid humans but can now understand human language. These uplifts would eventually be integrated into society on a small scale, but much like disabled people the infrastructure was not designed for them, and they require special care. The uplifting of cattle creates a hypergenocidal race hellbent on destroying humanity for the sins of factory farming.
- 2120 to 2138 is the Golden Age of Mankind, and the peak of democracy on Earth. Nearly every grand power was a democracy, and nearly every human lived under a nation with liberal democratic values. The benefits of immortality led to a massive surge in productivity, which Earth channeled into colonizing the stars. The United States works on something called the “Martian Lifeseed”, a modified version of the Pyongstrocity organism that could slowly infect and partially terraform Mars. Though experimental, it accidentally became contaminated with Mars.
- The Eden Treaty is established between several nations to slowly terraform Mars with the Eden laser. America had to give up much of its land on Mars to other nations to get their cooperation to terraform Mars, but they still own somewhere around 60-70%.
- First contact would be made in 2138, marking the end of the Golden Age of Mankind. Miscommunication and misunderstandings would lead to the First Solar War, a massive war that would devastate the two greatest powers on Earth; Nigeria and the United States. 80% of the invasion force was sent to deal with Nigeria alone, while a contingent force was sent to try and destroy the United States. Nigeria would shatter, and Pax Africana would end, but not before taking out the might of an entire alien planet out with them. The surviving powers would create a new world order centered around Asia, and especially the city of Hong Kong. (Islam, ASEAN, India, China, the Asian Quadrilateral)
- The United States would unite with other countries in North America into the North American Federation to pay for reconstruction. The scorching of the Midwest horribly devastated its industrial sector, and much of the might of the United States had been broken. The Federation would represent democratic backsliding of the North American continent, as the government that replaced it was less egalitarian and far more militaristic than the old government.

If you are an older person and you do not fit this description, this post is not for you and I mean no ill intent toward you. That being said, fuck the older generation. Gen x specifically. Every gen x I have ever met is a know-it-all, self absorbed piece of shit that literally only cares about themselves. I’m 23, completely independent, I go to work every day and work my ass off to provide for my wife and child and still get treated like shit literally just for my age. And it’s always gen x. They think their age makes them superior and that they can do no wrong whatsoever. They refuse to accept responsibility for their own shitty character and failed attempts at life and parenting and instead blame it all on “those damn kids.” Every other fucking day I have to hear “your damn generation” this, “your damn generation” that. And if you are one of those people then fuck you. You’re mad at my generation for having the balls to stand up and call you out on your bullshit and for leaving us an absolutely fucking ruined planet, economy and political system. We are left to pick up the pieces of the mess you created. My own fucking parents still view me as a child even though I have been out of their house and providing 100% for myself since I was 19. I slept in my fucking car until I made enough money to afford my own place. I have struggled and worked my ass off to be where I am today and still I get absolutely zero respect from anyone older than me simply for being in my early 20s. And they’re so fucking selfish. I’m in an area that’s been effected by the recent tornado outbreak. The house I spent my childhood in is gone. I’ve been helping my family clean out what’s left of the house, and we asked my mother-in-law to watch the baby for a day while we go to help and this bitch really said “oh god are you serious? I’ve got stuff to do!” What kind of self-absorbed, horrible person says some shit like that? What does she have to do, you wonder? She has to paint her fucking front door. That’s it. That’s her massive list of shit to do tomorrow. Christ, man, that is ridiculous and I’m so tired of taking this shit.
Thanks for coming to my fucking Ted talk.

Hello fantasy,
I debated whether it was worth posting my card this year, especially since I didn’t do any cool theme like some of you! My challenge was to try to find books I actually liked, and I’m a tough customer, so ideally nothing below 3 stars, and only books I didn't mind boosting.
I only mostly made it, and there are a few books on here I’d have liked to replace, but toward the end the replacement books were getting lower ratings than the originals, until I accepted it was time to take a break. Nevertheless, it’s always fun to do bingo and I did get some great books on the card. I read 10 eligible books this year that did not make it onto the card (not counting sequels of books that are included, as I continued 2 series), and all of the books left off earned 3 stars or fewer, mostly fewer. So my favorites of the year are all represented.
Sadly I can’t seem to get the enlarged cover images to make a visual card and I am tired, so no pretty image to share, just reviews!

The Fabulous (4.5 stars)

How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann: Five fairy tale survivors come together in a dodgy support group in modern New York. This novel is weird and different, and very funny, with pitch-perfect dialogue and vibrant, memorable characters. It also does a great job of exploring feminism, trauma and economic inequality, and the ways all three of these are inextricably linked.
The Square: Mental Health (HM): I liked this square a lot, and while several of this year’s books fit, the one with the frame story about a trauma support group seemed particularly apropos!
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Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky: Fantasy from one perspective, science fiction from another, privileging neither; worldviews are durable and neither is really more true than the other. This is a fabulously inventive and plain cool novella, with strong writing and enough depth to be memorable. The chapter with side-by-side columns featuring the two protagonists’ very different interpretations of an origin myth is an especially nice touch.
The Square: Book Club (HM): Self-explanatory. This one was especially popular in the Hugo readalong and generated some great discussion.
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The Drowning Girl by Caitlin Kiernan: Maybe fantasy, maybe not: a woman with schizophrenia writes about some weird and troubling experiences in an attempt to parse what’s really happened to her. A weird, wonderfully-written novel with a completely believable voice, and a deep sympathy for its protagonist’s mental illness; this one never feels exploitative or shallow. Particularly impressive is the chapter written when the character is off her meds. I liked the two embedded short stories, purportedly written by the lead, a bit less, but they certainly show the author’s range.
The Square: LGBTQ List (HM): I lucked out with this one, not having realized it was on the list until after reading it with a book club. I would have preferred an own voices aspect to the prompt, and this book meets that requirement as author is trans. As far as LGBT elements in the book, the protagonist is a lesbian and her girlfriend is a trans woman.
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Murderbot by Martha Wells: I read all six of these books this year and love the series even more as a whole, which is rare for me. Murderbot is a fabulous lead, with a strong voice, extremely relatable (it judges everyone for being incompetent, and just wants to chill and watch media), and a great arc (learning to trust and care about people, despite being socially incompetent). The plots are a lot of fun, although more mystery/thriller than I usually care for, and feel well thought-through, and I appreciate the critique of corporatocracy running throughout. Wells’s ability to create great secondary characters just by showing us what they say and do, without any emotional intelligence on her narrator’s part, is something other authors should study. I’m here for as many books in this series as she wants to write and am very glad I gave her another chance after a bad experience with one of her fantasies—and I don’t even like sci-fi!
The Square: Set in Space (HM): The first book is set on a planet, albeit an uninhabited one. But most of the rest of the series is set on ships and space stations.

The Very Good (4 stars)

Piranesi by Susanna Clarke: Lovely, atmospheric and propulsive—I had a lot of fun figuring out what was happening here. Piranesi has a strong individual voice and I love his genuine kindness and compassion. This isn’t the perspective you would expect this story to be told from and it’s better for it. Clarke is also just an excellent writer, a strong prose stylist and a confident storyteller willing to leave some questions unanswered.
The Square: Standalone (HM): A bit of a cheat on the hard mode since I’m confident it’s only not on the list because it wasn’t published yet!
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The Bone Orchard by Sara Mueller: A dark, political standalone fantasy in a quasi-Victorian setting, featuring a woman who has suffered so much trauma that she deals with it by offloading portions of her personality and memories into other bodies. This one is well-written and different, set in an interesting world where psychic powers come with terrible costs. The beginning takes some attention to piece together what’s going on and I might have liked a little more from the end, but overall a worthwhile read.
The Square: Published in 2022 (HM): An impressive debut and I definitely want to see where this author’s imagination goes next.
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The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik: I’m a huge fan of this series: the first book got a very rare 5 stars from me, the second 4.5; this one is a little lower but I still love the trilogy as a whole. I wish this had been a little less frantically plot-driven and allowed the characters a little more room to breathe, but it’s a fabulous plot with some incredible twists and reveals, a lot of current relevance, and as always, a great protagonist in the snarky but heroic El.
The Square: Urban Fantasy (HM): Not your typical urban fantasy but I think this one definitely qualifies, as it’s set in the real world and in fact mostly in cities!
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The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin: Le Guin is a fabulous writer, and this book develops quite a deep story in a short page count, of a girl raised to be a powerful priestess who comes to question the order of things. I love the anthropological knowledge that forms the basis of her worldbuilding, and her writing is vivid and the characters feel real. Le Guin has also written about her struggles writing women as heroes, and I definitely see that in the end, where the character ending she meant as triumphant came across to me as disappointing. I wanted Tenar to take hold of her newfound authority with both hands and make the priestly compound, and perhaps her country, a better place. Instead she ends the book as a teenage refugee dependent on Ged, finding freedom only by giving up her power.
The Square: Cool Weapon: I didn’t vibe with this square so hoped something would turn up, and as Ged has a magical staff that he can also fight with, I think this technically qualifies. Sometimes technically correct is the best kind of correct.
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Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones: Delightfully whimsical, sweet, and fun, this is a fairy-tale-esque story of a girl cursed into the form of an old woman, and the motley crew she falls in with, all of them living in a decidedly strange castle. I think this is really more an all-ages book than a middle-grade one; Jones’s philosophy was that kids were better at complicated plots than adults are, and that’s borne out here. I could have done without the sudden romance turn at the end.
The Square: Name in the Title: Self-explanatory.
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Daughter of Mystery by Heather Rose Jones: A lighthearted, fun book, this is a quasi-period novel set in an invented European country, featuring a romance between a young woman of the gentry who comes into money and uses it to study magic at university, and the guardswoman/duelist she inherits from her godfather. Both leads are sympathetic, the plot enjoyable, and the magic based on prayers to saints is fun. Not especially memorable but I think I’ll read the sequel (featuring a new couple) for next year’s bingo.
The Square: Small Press or Self-Published: This one is small press rather than self-published; Bella Books focuses on publishing lesbian lit.

The Good (3.5 stars)

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey: A delicious psychological thriller, in which the biggest source of tension is the question of just how far our morally compromised protagonist will go. Strong writing, an unreliable narrator, and a weird cloning scenario set this one up as an intense read. Some character decisions seem a bit unlikely, but overall this one was definitely worthwhile.
The Square: Anti-Hero: I don’t love the way women labeled anti-heroes are so often just traumatized people being human, but Evelyn is pretty far gone. One might reasonably question whether there’s any “hero” in her at all, but she’s a compelling lead.
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The Keeper’s Six by Kate Elliott: A fun portal fantasy featuring a badass older woman and her posse setting out to rescue her adult son, who was kidnapped by a dragon. I really enjoy and respect Elliott’s work—she thinks through her worlds and characters deeply, and her progressivism is genuine, longstanding and interacts intelligently with her very well-developed worlds. These days I’m not that into quests and adventure plots, which is likely why I didn’t enjoy this one more.
The Square: Revolutions and Rebellions: In line with the progressive ethos, Esther works to oppose slavery and help workers claim their rights everywhere she goes—there’s definitely some rebelling against the status quo going on here.
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The Just City by Jo Walton: This one is hard to encapsulate in a mini-review. Time-traveling Greek gods Athena and Apollo bring together philosophers from throughout the ages to found Plato’s Republic in the Bronze Age, as an experiment. The book is a fun way to learn about Plato's Republic, and the characters’ philosophical discussions and sincere pursuit of excellence are great fun. I think Walton is better at writing about positive experiences than negative ones—her portrayals of grief and trauma have always fallen flat for me and do so again here, and some of her character voices are stronger than others, while the climactic debate seemed amateur. But despite the criticism, this one left me with a lot to think about, and I went on to finish the trilogy—the second is a slight step down but worth reading if you liked the first (unfortunately it’s hard to stop as they all end on cliffhangers), but the third is just a nosedive, WTF did she think that absurd plotline belonged in this trilogy when there were so many meatier things to explore? The trilogy as a whole I wouldn’t rate above 3 stars, but the first book gets 3.5. Somehow I never love Walton's books, but they're all so unique I keep coming back anyway.
The Square: Award Nominee (HM): Self-explanatory.
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Vagabonds! by Eloghosa Osunde: Urban fantasy or perhaps magical realism, set in Lagos and exploring issues in contemporary Nigerian society. This one is vibrant, distinctive and messy, making no apologies for its Nigerian English and not catering to the foreign reader. It’s more short story collection than novel, and I found the first half intense and heavy but very well-written, as it explores themes of life, death, and finding meaning. The second half seems more focused on telling stories of queer Nigerians for queer Nigerians who haven’t seen much of themselves in fiction, but may do less for the reader for whom it’s not personal.
The Square: Set in Africa (HM): One of only a couple squares my natural reading didn’t fill. I checked out 5 interesting-sounding books from the library, previewed them all, and this was the winner, which I was glad of because I wanted to read an African author and not just someone of African descent. The runner-up, Redemption in Indigo, seemed strong enough that I might read it for a future bingo.
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Kalpa Imperial by Angelica Gorodischer: A thoughtful, literary collection of short stories set at various points in the history of an imagined empire; it reminds me a bit of Chinese history in its cyclical rising and falling. It’s no wonder Le Guin was a fan, as this is a thematically rich work, dealing with big ideas about history and power and the individual’s role in all this. Plot and character are not the focus, and I expected the stories to tie together more than they do, but they leave the reader something to think about as Gorodischer does not spell things out.
The Square: No Ifs Ands or Buts: This year’s easiest square, and I gave up hard mode, but I wanted to fit this book on my card somehow, okay?

The Okay (3 stars)

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel: Enjoyable but not particularly memorable, this is a retelling of the Ramayana from the perspective of Rama’s antagonistic stepmother. It takes the well-worn route of making her near-perfect and Rama in the wrong, which has generated some interesting discussions about its portrayal of Hinduism. Unfortunately, it’s told in a generic first-person voice that makes Kaikeyi herself into a generic idealized protagonist. Despite that, I really enjoyed its focus on her relationships with family and friends, particularly the other women in her life, and the flow of the book appealed to me, with our lead mostly finding success and happiness in life. If you enjoyed Circe, but want to see better feminism and could do without the sex and romance, you should definitely try this.
The Square: Family Matters (HM): I love this book for this square because the book is primarily about family relationships of various sorts. And its three-generational cast places our heroine in the middle generation rather than the youngest one, which is nice.
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In an Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire: The only novella in this series that I’ve read, and I loved it right up until the end. Our heroine has to choose between a portal world and our world, and passes back and forth repeatedly as she grows up and her decision gets harder and harder. I loved the deep but understated emotion, the relationships between the heroine and her families both biological and found, the fact that both her mentor and her best friend are also women/girls and these relationships have a lot of depth and emotion to them, and the sheer reasonableness of this initially bizarre world and its rules. The tragic ending basically destroys all that though, as to make it happen a major character acts against common sense, her own established wishes and motivations, and the rules of the world, all in one ridiculously contrived swoop. It seems like the author knew what ending she had to come to based on this protagonist's appearance in an already-published book, and so had to force a story that had grown in a different direction into that mold. This is the second McGuire book I’ve read, and likely the last, as my enjoyment of both books was severely impaired by elements that seemed really poorly thought-through.
The Square: Shapeshifters (HM): A cool feature of the world is that takers slowly begin to grow feathers, and ultimately turn into birds if they don’t change their ways (it’s okay though, they can become human again by giving back to the community).
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The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri: This was pretty mid for me, despite elements I like in theory: the South Asian inspired world, the three major women characters who play important roles in each other’s stories. I don’t really do epic fantasy anymore (what you don’t see on this card are all the others that I DNF’d early), but my enjoyment was probably also held back by having previously read Suri’s Books of Ambha, which I enjoyed much more. I’m starting to feel as if she creates all of her major women characters by starting with the same “strong woman” template and changing up the particular life experiences—also, you really have to emotionally connect to get much out of Suri's books and I wasn’t quite there with this one.
The Square: Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey (HM): There’s a forest where time passes at a different rate. Not a huge element but it is there!
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At the Mouth of the River of Bees by Kij Johnson: Quite a varied short story collection, from fantasy to science fiction to magic realism. There were stories in here that I loved—particularly the first, “26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss,” about troubled people finding their way back into the world through a circus act. There were stories I hated, like “Dia Chjerman’s Tale,” an incredibly dark and upsetting tale of the brutal destruction of a planet. So it’s hard to recommend as a collection, though I absolutely recommend all of Johnson’s novels, particularly The Dream-Quest of Vellitt Boe, closely followed by Fudoki. Oddly enough, the story that grew into Fudoki is here and I liked it less as a short story; the collection also includes the story that grew into my least favorite of her novels, The Fox Woman—and I liked that one much more.
The Square: Five Short Stories (HM): Self-explanatory.
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Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher: Cute but forgettable to me. A princess-turned-nun gathers a motley band to go on a quest to rescue her sister from an abusive husband who is also a king. I wanted a little more from both the world and the characters—Marra is nominally 30 but has a pretty standard coming-of-age story, which seems like a waste of an adult heroine, and the supporting cast is in theory cool but didn’t do much for me. Someone likened them to Pratchett characters and I think there’s some truth to that, so if you get more emotionally invested in his characters than I do (read: at all) you might also like this more.
The Square: Author Uses Initials (HM): Self-explanatory.
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The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin: A very well-written novel; that opening is breathtaking in its sheer confidence and power. And there’s some definite character depth here. I can see why this is popular and award-winning. But I never connected with the characters, and it proved too dark a book for me to enjoy—expect horrific violence against children. Also, those themes? Yeah, I’m tired of fantasy novels that like to pretend power is irrelevant to human power relations. This setup—mages with horrifically dangerous and violent powers are hated and feared by the populace because of those powers, and use the fact that people "wrongly" hate and fear them to justify ever more violence against average citizens who can never hope to match their power—this makes a great analogy for America’s police and how they see themselves. Unfortunately the book transparently intends it as an analogy for actual oppressed people, particularly African-Americans, where it works much less well.
The Square: Weird Ecology (HM): A world geologically different from our own (though I think it may be intended as our world in the far future), where plants, animals and people have evolved to survive even decades of disaster-induced winter.
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You Feel It Just Below the Ribs by Jeffrey Cranor and Janina Matthewson: Set in a dystopia, this purports to be the memoir of an influential psychiatrist, with footnotes by disapproving editors. The conceit is believably executed, and as a meditation on memory and history and complicity this works fairly well. It’s less successful with plot and character, and I didn’t believe in the dystopia (the world government has outlawed families? Really?). This is a tie-in novel to a podcast, Within the Wires, and while it’s sold as one you don’t need to listen to the podcast to understand, I think maybe you actually do.
The Square: 2+ Authors: This square actually got me on a multi-authored-work reading kick this year. Unfortunately, those books are ranking lower than average for me; you’ll see one more further down and there were another two ranked too low to make it onto the card (including one that would have qualified for hard mode!).
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Monstress Vol. 7: Devourer by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda: I enjoy this graphic novel series, a beautifully drawn epic fantasy in a female-dominated world. Warning that it’s dark, graphic and gory, though, and seems to be bogging down a bit in the middle volumes. Or maybe I just need to wait till it’s finished and read it all in one go rather than one book per year.
The Square: Non-Human Protagonist: A bit of a cheat since Maika can pass, but she is Arcanic, meaning from a race of animal-people, not human. (She’s also sharing her body with a monster.) I later read an actual novel for this but I hated it so here we are.

The Not-So-Good (2.5 stars)

Sorcery & Cecelia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer: This is actually kind of fun, an epistolary novel featuring two spunky cousins encountering magic and romance in Regency England. The authors wrote the novel by writing each other letters in character as a game and without discussing the plot, which is a super fun origin story, but as a novel I don’t think it quite works—both leads have protagonist syndrome, they’re kind of the same person and their plots have all the same beats, including identical climaxes, which was awfully boring the second time around. Still, if you love Georgette Heyer and you love fantasy you might want to give this a try.
The Square: Historical Fantasy: I love this as a square and wish I had something better for it—initially I used Daughter of Mystery but then moved that out late and had to scramble.
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Pemmican Wars by Katharina Vermette: A short graphic novel featuring a Metis teenager who is struggling in foster care and meanwhile is transported back to (or perhaps just dreams of?) scenes from Canada’s past. The present-day thread is intriguingly told, almost all pictures with very few words, and brings home the protagonist’s isolation while letting readers come up with their own interpretation of what’s happening. The past segments feel really juvenile though, much younger than the YA it’s sold as, and still don’t do much to clarify the history.
The Square: BIPOC Author (HM): The square I struggled with most this year, because I really wanted to do hard mode, but had a lot of trouble finding a fantasy by an indigenous author that I wanted to read. I read a lot of lists and reviews, previewed at least 7 books, and read 3 of them. The first, while perfectly decent, was straight literary fiction and I could not make an argument that it was speculative, despite its being sold that way. The third was definitely fantasy but I thought it was pretty bad. So I wound up with this one, which is only arguably fantasy, very short, and which I didn’t think was all that great—definitely a non-ideal choice! But bingo is up and I don’t mind boosting this for those who might in fact enjoy it.
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Thanks for reading! If you want the longer version of any of these reviews, check out my bingo shelf on Goodreads. Hit the “view” button on the far right side of each listing to see my review.

Hey there,
Lets see Im 43, 5'7 155lbs. Im fit and I do enjoy keeping myself in shape (running, hiking, biking, working out). I love the outdoors when im able to escape work and get outside. I live in the north east so winter hapers that a bit but I do also love the snow and find myself snowboarding as well when I can. So oth my other hobbies include, reading, building things with my hands and doing home renovations. I love to cook and bake and do find myself trying new recipes and having either a dark beer or a whisky neat, a nice dark red wine is always good too 😉. Im generally a laid back person as my peers at work will say, given I work in a hospital lol. I like to goof around and enjoy time with my friends but im also one who doesn't mind just relaxing in my pajamas after work, having a beverage and watching a show on Netflix (Wednesday, and stranger things) were awesome 👌, what are some of your favorite shows you enjoy? I'm an open person and will generally answer any questions you have.
So now that you know alittle about me, hmmm let's see what I'm looking for lol.
I generally don't look towards any specific age group, I get along with all type of people. But I want someone who is willing to put in some effort to have a conversation and share about yourself. Good and the bad, we all have our baggage, and I know im not perfect. Im looking for her to be whitty and a smartass always lightens the mood 🙂. She could be athletic or a homebody but someone that takes pride in herself and knows her worth. I do likecurvy women but im not stuck on one type. She would like the outdoors, doesn't have to be to the level of camping but a hike or bikeride or even a walk in the park works. I want someone who generally has similar interests but also interests that we could introduce to each other.
If any of this strikes a chord, don't hesitate to reach out and message me, you might be surprised.