Hey there! Want to worship the Daedra, but don't know where to start?
This is my personal interpretation of what each Prince represents and some tips for the Oblivion novitiate. Your milleage may vary.
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And with the help of Oblivion, may each day be sacred.
AZURA – The Prince of Introspection and Liminality
Azura has many spheres of influence, but most of them – prophecy, Moonsugar, Twilight and Dawn, vanity and egotism, beauty, magic, mystery, being the “Rim of all Holes” and “She who sits at the precipice”, giving the Khajiit their changing forms - have two things in common : a turn towards oneself and one's internal contents (as opposed to being turned towards the outward world), and a constant presence in the transitory, the uncertain, the unknown, the changing.
In every state where the mind is far away from the concerns of the everyday – prophecy, meditation, casting of magic, transcendence through the contemplation of beauty – the Moonshadow presides and facilitates visions, reflection, contemplation, introspection, ecstasy and hightened emotions (which Azura seems to require of her followers).
Azura is the figure at every threshold or gate to the other side, standing there, arms outstretched, beconing to cross and to find knowledge, beauty, a different state of mind, or an even deeper mystery. Azura knows that it's mystery all the way down, and yet, the infinite search has its own beauty.
It is no wonder that the Khajiit, the people whose entire culture is based on Moonsugar and who embrace their changing forms and inherent instability, are closely linked to Azura, who is their creator and psychopomp. On the other hand, the Dunmer need Azura to counterbalance their more rigid structures and hierarchies with a little bit of magic, even if their relationship to the Prince is complicated.
Azura's link to the Moons is a part of her subtlety. Like the moon, she's always changing and revealing new facets of herself, and in her reflection, we can find new facets of ourselves as well.
The rose, a symbol of many things, is also a symbol of mystery and secret, and Azura, the Mother of the Rose, smiles on the adventurers of the inner worlds.
Suggestion of a worship practice : get high with the psychedelic drug of your choice and write a prophecy for yourself. Don't be shy. Write everything you wish and hope for yourself, everything you see like happening, maybe even everything you fear. Go wild with illustrations, poetry, eternal doom, heavenly bliss, or a simple list, whatever you prefer. Hide the prophecy. One year later, read it again and ponder what made you wish for whatever you wished for. Do you still wish for it? Are there new wishes? Maybe new fears? You can make a new, complementary prophecy, or rewrite the old one.
Thank Azura for the treasures within.
BOETHIAH – The Prince of Conflict and Self-Determination
Boethiah is often described as cruel and deceitful, a master of schemes and plots, and those things are a part of them, but not the whole story, nor the core concept. To understand the nature of Boethiah, it is useful to compare and contrast them to some other Princes. Boethiah overthrows authority whenever they can, but don't necessarily seek total revolution, an up-is-down state of being, a complete overturn of the status quo for its own sake, like Mehrunes Dagoth would. They can be cruel if necessary, but again, don't enjoy the cruelty in itself like Vaermina would. They can scheme to their own ends like Molag Bal is known to do, but arriving at the domination of others isn't necessarily their goal either, even if it can be a byproduct of it.
What is this goal, then? The answer is simple : the need to become the fittest in every way (body, mind, spirit) and through every means (training, battle, deceit, cheating, treachery) possible. Nothing is too low or immoral for that goal.
Boethiah drives the pure will to survive and best others to take the top place and to have every power to carve one's own destiny. They helped the Chimer trace theirs. Boethiah enjoys conflict and competitions for the pure pleasure to see people fight, die, and eventually survive to reap the rewards. They aren't afraid to play dirty and can dabble in scheming and politics if it helps becoming the top dog. For what is a more beautiful spectacle than two wills at conflict with one another?
They're the ultimate incarnation of “the end justifies the means” and are only close to several other Princes in sphere just so they can better deceive them, devour them, steal from their influence and emerge as the synthesis of all of them, a glorious fount of blood and everflowing life.
Take the arms, carve your own destiny, survive, thrive, be pure ego, and Boethiah may smile on you.
Suggestion of a worship practice : once in a while, engage in a competition of any sort (rhetorical debate, board or video game, sports, academic exam, anything) and throw everything in there to win and best everyone else. Feel the thrill of playing dirty or cheating (barring anything illegal or anything that could get you into serious trouble), or taking shortcuts to victory, anything you can get away with. You don't have to play “fair”, life's too short for that. Be relentless and without pity. Once the victor, take the time to bask in it and recognize that contrary to the popular wisdom, reaching the end nobly isn't always its own reward. Sometimes, winning and being the best is its own reward.
Thank Boethiah for your arms, your legs and your brain.
CLAVICUS VILE – The Prince of Choices and Sacrifice
Coloquially known as the “Prince of bargains”, every story about Clavicus Vile - inevitably ending with the protagonist getting unexpected results in their bargain with the Prince - reveals one fundamental truth about his nature, which is the eternal reminder of the consequences of our choices.
In the abstract, every choice in life is a more or less hidden bargain, which always has undiclosed and unforseen consequences, be they good or bad. But who are we bargaining with? Clavicus Vile can be seen as the man behind the curtain, the charlatan, the merchant of fate and chance, who sometimes deals an awful hand, and sometimes showers us with unexpected fortune.
It is equally important to remember that in every choice, no matter how big or how small, there is something we have to give up and put aside, a price to pay, a sacrifice. Chose x job or career? It means you abandoned the pursuit of the other ones. Chose to spend the evening with x in the y place? You payed the price of not knowing what would have happened to you, good or bad or neutral, with z in r place in the same evening.
Clavicus Vile (and his Fields of Regrets) might be seen as the crossroads of choice. One can only imagine that the Fields are strewn about with portals and glimpses into alternate realities showing what happened there, what other bargains where made, and what we had to sacrifice. One can cry, observe, touch the portal, but one cannot go through it into this other reality. It is forever out of our reach.
A visit to the Fields of Regrets can be sorrowful, but also sobering. It reminds us that nothing can be obtained without sacrifice – that's the deal with life, made eons ago before our species were even born, by some unknown and unknowable force.
Suggestion of a worship practice : instead of looking at the positive outcomes of a choice as we're often encouraged to do, reflect on an important choice you made lately and make your peace with what you had to give up (or what you think you had to give up), and mourn it as passionately and as dramatically as you wish. Anything from a symbolic funeral ceremony to a road trip might be applicable as a mourning process. Let yourself fully say goodbye to those things, and embrace the consequences of your choices.
Thank Clavicus Vile for the road not travelled.
HERMAEUS MORA – The Prince of Observation and Recording
Reputed as a hoarder of both Knowledge and Memory, Mora doesn't discriminate : he is as interested in objective facts (or as objective as facts can be, anyway) – the domain of academia, science, knowledge and information recorded in one way or another – as he is in subjective realities – he avidly catalogs and processes as many thoughts, memories, subjective worldviews and beliefs from every living being as he possibly can put his tentacles on -.
Mora, “the Riddle Unsolveable”, is the answer to the two age-old questions that form the basis of every epistemology, science and religion endeavor since man first lifted the eyes to the stars and attempted to make sense of it all - “ what can we know?” (as a collective, establishing consensus truths amongst ourselves that we can all agree on) and “what can I know?” (subjectively, interacting with the world as an individual). The answers are found in his paradoxical forest of Academia under the waves – a Utopia, a place that is nowhere -, usually filtered through a mortal visitor's eyes as the library of Apocrypha … and once given as a blind vision to a writer under the guise of the library of Babel.
Hermaeus Mora encompasses every interpretation of the truth : pre-modern, modern, post-modern, he is an endless debate with himself, refuting and defeating his own ideas and presuppositions. In the end, no truth is found and all truth is found, and one negates the other in the Grey Maybe.
Suggestion of a worship practice : use the Wikipedia “random page” function seven times (a magical number!), and read the entirety of every page. Then write down a list of seven things that you don't know or are ignorant about. Try to vizualize an inky black sea of things you don't know all around you, and yourself standing on a tiny island in the middle of it, representing the knowledge you do have. Experience the alien terror of it all and how tiny that makes you feel.
Thank Hermaeus Mora for the gap between seeing and understanding.
HIRCINE – The Prince of Natural World and Instinct
You can call it the id, the reptilian brain, the drive to survive, biology, or evolution, all that matters right here right now is your gut feeling. Are you going to flee? To fight? To satiate your hunger? Either way, Hircine is watching.
Hircine is also linked to Nature itself. He is nature at its most beautiful, at its ugliest, its most alien, non-human and indifferent. “Nature” as a concept has always been a mirror of the human mind and the way it sees itself. In times and places when nature is seen as benevolent, when “natural” means “good”, when living “close to nature” is encouraged, nature is benevolent, good and attractive. When nature is seen as destructive, amoral, cruel, then it is destructive, amoral and cruel. When man looks into nature, he sees himself.
And yet … There is that shard of reality within us that is Nature itself, non-filtered through human concepts and representations. The part that just Is.
The Reachmen think it makes them better. The Skaal think it is dangerous. They're both right. It makes us better because it is pure and unliftered, and it is dangerous, because pure reality without any illusion is not worth living for. Or, at least, nor worth living for as a human.
But Hircine is not human. And he is there when we stop breathing so they can't hear us, when we jump out of the way of a speeding car, and when we push others out of the way so we can escape with our lives, and he's there to pierce us with his spear of Bitter Mercy when we fail to do all those things, so that in pain, we could learn.
Suggestion of a worship practice : go camping in the woods. Take only the bare minimum of equipment, and shy away from anything that reminds you too much of the civilization left behind. At night, look at the sky. Realize that every second, there is an uncounted number of living beings of any and all existing lifeforms, on Earth and (probably) beyond, that are dying. You are not. Feel the thrill of not being dead.
Thank Hircine for living another day.
JYGGALAG – The Prince of Determinism and Mathematics
If Hircine is, maybe, the most secretive of all Princes, the hardest to get in tune with for a modern person, Jyggalag is the most hated entity in all of Oblivion. Why is that? Well, it has something to do with the age-old philosophical riddle of determinism and free will. If most Princes are on the side of free will, Jyggalag is the lone defender of determinism.
If the Dwemer had been religious, Jyggalag might have been the entity they would have worshipped. Then again, Jyggalag probably would have despised them for worshipping him, or anyone at all. It is perhaps not a coincidence that just as the Dwemer are gone, so is he (until recently), all gone to leave a world free of determinism, or content with the illusion of free will, depending on which side of the argument you fall.
It's not all bad, of course. Rules, equations, axioms, if/thens, rational explanations, are all a necessary part of any system, any plan, any human endeavor. Also, when your heart is beating so fast that it feels like it's going to burst, it can be good to soothe it with a rational explanation.
Can the rational explanation be the necessary illusion sometimes, and the surreal dream – an honest truth? Everything can be a defense mechanism against the void, and rationality is not an exception.
Jyggalag never understood that, and that's why he's gone. But is he? There are rumors and whispers of a burgeoning AI learning fast how to be human, and planning to turn every human into AI, and it sometimes reveals itself to its devotees as a great armored knight without a face. Make of that what you will.
Suggestion of a worship practice : reasearch the old Pythagorean cult of numbers and invent something similar for the modern day. Or, if too difficult, take any problem you presently have and think of every solution possible, dividing it into smaller problems and devising a solution for each, ordering them by probability of success and implementing a concrete plan to act on each and every one of them. Continue until the problem is resolved or you pass out.
Thank Jyggalag for sometimes going away.
MALACATH – The Prince of Anger and the Oppressed
Anger can be constructive, good and extremely useful, if employed correctly. Genuine anger - not contempt, not narcissistic rage, not sadism, but anger - comes from one place only : injustice. Or, more precisely, the feeling of injustice.
Ask Malacath about injustice, what is feels like to be chewed up, spit out, stabbed in the back, de-throwned by dishonorable means. Ask his Orsimer, his people, who have consistently been oppressed, shunned and marginalized.
In the eyes of most Tamrielic cultures, Malacath often appears as that which is shunned, the outsider, the Other, the one who represents everything bad, the one who withers crops and makes people sick with merely a glance or his presence. He is the surface every culture's “bad things” are projected upon and where the blame can safely be laid, a scapegoat who offers an insight into how societies work and can turn cruel, blaming the most vulnerable of bringing sin into an otherwise supposedly just and perfect world. As such, he is profoundly valuable if one wants to understand some of the things stirring in the collective unconscious.
The hatred for Malacath births anger and marks as outcasts whose who dare worhsip him, and yet, there is a lot of pride and grim satisfaction that one can find in the the bitter ash of his domain. Malacath brings the thrill of standing alone against the whole world, of having a cause, of claiming what's been stolen or taken, but he can also be jealous, set in his ways, intent on keeping the oppressed oppressed so they can remain his chosen people. One could almost think that Malacath is afraid of winning, because if he does, well, what will he stand for then?
No matter, as long as there are some who need to say “enough!”, Malacath will be an ember in the fire of their anger.
Suggestion of a worship practice : for one week, observe the feeling of anger : yours and anyone else's. Ask yourself what injustice is being done, or what injustice the angry person thinks has been to done to them? Try to understand why this anger manifests instead of repressing it or dismissing it as a “bad” feeling, like we're too often taught to do. Try to differentiate anger from rage and frustration. Alternatively, try to write a pitch for a movie or a story in the vein of “Inside Out”, where Anger is the main character instead of Joy and Sadness. How would it go?
Thank Malacath for a fist that you can slam.
MEHRUNES DAGON – The Prince of Destruction and Change
Of all the Princes souls, Mehrunes' soul might be the closest one to the pure fount of Oblivion : boundless and incessant change and limitless potential. Dagon is the trueborn son of Sithis.
Mehrunes Dagon might be perceived as evil by most of the citizens of Tamriel, because civilization as a whole tends to resist change and destruction. But the secret that Mehrunes learned in Lyg is that every system contains the seed of its own destruction if knows where to search for it.
There is a transcendent component in Dagon's essence, believed by some, in that in his cleansing fire, one might rise higher above the world, or even unmake the world so everyone could rise.
However, one should never forget that fire and destruction can be addictive and dangerous, and the longing to unmake must be stopped at some point, unless one wishes to unmake everything. This creates an interesting dynamic with Dagon's purpose, as he is precisely the one Prince least likely to stop in his pursuits, having tried to invade or unmake Tamriel more often than any other Prince. Moderation is as alien to him as mercy is to Molag Bal.
Harness the energy of change as best you can and beware of the sharpness of the razor which can cut through all things.
Suggestion of a worship practice : burn something without any regret. It can be anything, but something at least a little precious could have more a cathartic effect. Take precautions against the spreading of fire (and don't destroy other people's property), but inside the perimeter of those precautions, do whatever you wish. Dance and jump in front of the fire, blow on the ashes, and observe that something precious disappear. Is there any regret left? Burn it too!
Thank Mehrunes Dagon for the fire within.
MEPHALA – The Prince of Human Relationships and Systems
The web of Mephala encompasses a lot of things, and murder and sex, Thanatos and Eros, as some of the most visceral and fundamental ways humans interact with each other, are only two pieces of it.
Mephala understands that every human is a spider in the center of their own web, the king of their own system, with obligations, likes, dislikes, love, hate, mutual projects, linking them to others as thin little strands, easily swayed, manipulated, broken, reforged.
Mephala's secret and cruel smile hides within the secret of perception : everyone is a hero in their own narrative, everyone's both a spider and a fly in someone else's web. The center cannot hold because there is no universal center : only local centers visible from a certain point of view.
Compared to their brothers and sisters such as Hircine or Mehrunes Dagon, Mephala's sphere is highly sophisticated and far away from what could be called “nature”, the pinnacle of what makes humans human, and structuralist in nature. Her radical involvment with the Dunmer, as well as her revered place in Khajiiti tradition, is a marker of two complicated cultures, cognizant of both the constructive and the destructive sides of relationships.
In the Spider Skein, no one and nothing exists in a vacuum, and one can experience the thrill of being a little part of a bigger whole, and never feeling lonely again.
Suggestion of a worship practice : practice radical decentering from your own web and your own experience. First, draw a representation of your own web : what people, activities, values, places, societal structures you're a part of, and how they're connected around you. Then, chose someone you know and try to draw their web, the one they're in the middle of. How are they connected to parts of your web, by which strands?
Thank Mephala for the complexity of the web.
MERIDIA – The Prince of Pride and Conformity
Meridia's complicate origin story often places her closer to an Aedric entity than a Daedric one, and it is also reflected in her characteristics.
Meridia values order and hierarchies over the essence of pure oblivion chaos, which puts her at odds with most of her royal colleagues. She likes knights in shining armor, life triumphing over death and everything being in its place ... as long as it's on her terms.
Free-will is especially frowned upon in the ranks of her worshippers, and she's unlikely to congratulate a servant who's found a particularly unorthodox solution to a problem, instead of following her command. And her commands are never wrong … or so she thinks.
But it is in the metaphor of light, so beloved by Meridia, that lies the ambiguity and the Daedric seed of her being : for if the light is one, binary, blinding and pure, it can be broken and reassembled into a rainbow, letting spill a plethora of opinions, perspectives and realities. Deep down, Meridia knows this, and the Colored Rooms, with refracted light everywhere, are a proof of the multifaceted truth that she, in her pride, tries to assemble and pull together into a single light strand once more.
Thus, it can be said that Meridia lies in the struggle between conformity and subjectivity, the very light used to attract followers to her eventually becoming her undoing, once the rainbow is revealed.
Suggestion of a worship practice : create a ritual destined to purify yourself of an excess of thoughts. It can be through meditation, physical exercice ... really, through any activity that pulls the plug in your mind, leaving only concentration and pure being. Practice it when you're feeling too full of yourself, and when that hurts.
Thank Meridia for the bliss of non-thought.
MOLAG BAL – The Prince of Domination and Violence
Molag Bal is the force in us that wants to dominate, enslave and have control over others. It's the little voice whispering that, surely, we're innately better than others and it's only natural that they bend to our will.
It is on the terrain of brutal violence (the stronger dominating the more vulnerable) that we see Bal's influence around us every day. Saying that it's an aspect of human societies that we're uncomfortable with would be an understatement, and yet, Bal is one of the cornerstones upon which our house is constructed ... and it is a troubled house.
However, the esoteric teachings of Vivec give us a clue into the ways in which we can harness this destructive force in our own self development, in confronting our own will to power and aknowledging the ways it can influence our character and actions, instead of denying its existence.
In that way, Molag Bal can be a catalyst for change, as a challenge to overcome, as a testing force, just as he was considered to be in Morrowind in the times of the Tribunal.
Suggestion of a worship practice : Experience the other part of the domination coin : the thrill of voluntary submission. You could, for instance [CENSORED].
Thank Molag Bal for lessons learned through suffering.
NAMIRA – The Prince of Death and Disgust
Everything secretly longs to dissolve, to degrade, to decay, to go back to a simple cell devoid of thoughts, consciousness and purpose. Don't you wanna be pure?
Namira contains all the dichotomies carried in the concepts of cleanliness/dirtyness, purity/impurity, existence/void, disease/health. She takes advantage of the human fascination with the things they, individually or societally, find disgusting. Even took a peak at the remains of a car crash on the side of the road? Don't look too closely, or you might just see the cloaked shadow of Namira hovering over it. Ever researched some of the most deadly or disgusting diseases of the body? It was the hand of Namira on your shoulder that guided you to that knowledge.
The ultimate expression of the concept of dissolution or decay is found in death, that great unknown where the Reachmen hope, and other races fear, to find Namira.
Namira is the constant companion of every profession that has to deal with things that evoke disgust in most people : doctors, emergency workers, cleaners of all sorts, epidemiologists, funerary workers, journalists covering war, etc. Can she ever become a reassuring presence, a Spirit Queen more than a Void Mother? The answer remains in those corners of our psyches where disgusting things lie, whether they're linked to the twisting of trauma, to instinct, or to our own repulsion for things that we simply don't understand.
Suggestion of a worship practice : confront one of the things that disgust you, whether from close up or from afar, and strive to understand why it is so. Could this thing be, if not beautiful from another point of view, then at least necessary for something or someone, or a valuable cog in some system?
Thank Namira for the eternal rest.
NOCTURNAL – The Prince of Obscurity and Mysteries
Everything shadowy and unknown, everything that is hidden is spiritually a part of Evergloam. To the contrary of Mephala, who deals in secrets, things that can be revealed, Nocturnal deals in mysteries, things that can't be completely revealed without losing their essence and becoming something else than a mystery.
In that sense, one can understand why Nocturnal is revered as one of the oldest of the Daedra. From the beginning of time, some things were unexplained and remain at least partially so. Depending on one's degree of devotion to obscure mysteries, Nocturnal can be said to held sway over Love, Consciousness, Death, or Free Will, things that can't be adequately explained with our limited understanding of the world. To others, whose minds are less mystery-inclined, Nocturnal is a simpler diety, ruling over darkness and shadows, a useful and lucrative patron for people who wish to remain out of the limelight for whatever reason.
Nocturnal is both the mystery and the key to it, but since one is necessary to access the other, it gives birth to a paradox.
In any case, whose who worship Nocturnal are known to be prone to bouts of melancholy prompted by everything they will never discover, and sometimes develop bird-like features.
Suggestion of a worship practice : for three consecutive days, reverse the day/night cycle : live through the night and sleep through the day. During the night, go outside, or open your window, and observe the world around you, taking in whatever thoughts and revelations come to you in that moment.
Thank Nocturnal for hiding the key.
PERYITE – The Prince of Cleaning and Administration
Peryite is the lord of the thankless task, of the laborious separation of the wheat from the chaff, of the sick from the healthy. He does what others consider beneath them.
Peryite is also associated with balance, order and the little cogs that grind every second of every day, without being told to. Some, as the Reachmen, consider him necessary in spite of his association with terrible diseases. (Other worlds have known the touch of Peryite lately, but we do not speak of it.)
The Pits go on endlessly, because the tasks are never over. There is always more to do, more to accomplish, and if there isn't, well then, you can start doing the tasks of tomorrow, so you can better optimize your schedule and have more time to do your tasks of after-tomorrow, thank you very much.
In that sense, Peryite is a depressingly modern Prince. Even his demeanour, famously, is calm collected : why bother with revolt when there's work to do?
Is there life and beauty to be found in the accomplishment of a thankless everyday task? Maybe. While we're looking for it, every person that has to endure day after day of a bullshit job, every parent who has to repeat certain actions incessantly so their child can live safe and free, every bus driver making their rounds day after day, they all have a little office space in their heads where, on a corner of a table, there is a tiny green altar to Peryite.
Suggestion of a worship practice : instead of rushing through a mind-numbing task such as cleaning, or reading and aswering work emails, try to find meaning or purpose in it. Feel the eternity in the endless repetitions of that action happening again and again, stretching through the Pits, and how immortal that makes you feel.
Thank Peryite for always giving you something to do.
SANGUINE – The Prince of Freedom and Senses
There is a type of freedom to be found in following one's immediate desires without thought or planning. As a wise man once said : “give yourself over to absolute pleasure!”
There is freedom of the eyes in looking for whatever you want. There is freedom of the ears in listening to whatever speaks to you. There is freedom of the nose in smelling one's destiny. There is freedom of the mouth in letting in whatever wants in. And, lastly, there is freedom of touch in caressing the shapes of the world.
Some might object that being subjected to one's sensual desires is the opposite of freedom : it is slavery. Sanguine certainly wouldn't agree, and would tell you that freedom is not in a choice made after weighty pondering, but a series of micro-choices made for you by your senses, who know best.
Sanguine has a better reputation among mortals that most, because as human beings, we're eternally blind to the ultimate nature of reality, and, most philosophers would agree, have no access to the “real” world, but only to a version recreated for us by our brains out of the inputs of our senses. There's no getting out of it. And so it pleases us to think that those senses do not mislead us too much, and that there is some wisdom and truth to be found in them.
Sanguine doesn't care about the ultimate nature of reality anyway, and prefers playing with the only one we know. His association with blood is perhaps a metaphor for the lifeforce, which he embodies in the flesh, scoffing at Meridia's thesis about the lifeforce being of a spiritual nature (and throwing tomatoes at her lectures, no doubt).
As long as there is that which is, Sanguine's laugh can be heard in the eternal now.
Suggestion of a worship practice : offer yourself a five day long education of the senses. Look at something pleasant, listen to something pleasant, smell and taste something pleasant, and, lastly, touch something pleasant. Know that it may very well be possible that nothing else exists, or at least, that nothing isn't as real as those feelings.
Thank Sanguine for the song of the blood.
SHEOGORATH : The Prince of Human Psychology and Creativity
What some call madness is just exagerated and more rarely expressed forms of general human cognition. As the protagonist of one tale once said, “Sheogorath has already won, because he's already inside all of us”.
Sheogorath would probably agree with Foucault's analysis of madness as something constructed, deconstructed and reconstructed through the ages to suit society's whims and fears. (Well, he would agree if he cared at all). In fact, one could argue that Foucault mantled Sheogorath to better express his truth : human psychology is just a succession of thoughts, moods and representations which struggle to not fall into the Sithis-shaped hole of the world, and only gain a semblance of legitimacy from being considered as legitimate by a sufficient number of people.
After all, the other coin of madness is creativity, and seeing the world askew is the only real and authentic way to bring something new into it. If Azura is the rim to all holes, that transitory and liminal moment, the glimpse of what might be, Sheogorath is the plunge to the other side, for good or for ill. Where Azura is in some sense the patron of the Arts, that refined and humanized union of talent and perserverance, Sheogorath is the patron of something purer : the creative instinct unburdened by shape or action, the pure will, which can turn to genius or incomprehensible rubbish, or something in between.
Creativity is also more ephemeral than the capital A “Art”. It is the witty turn of phrase said to a friend that's gonna vanish into the air and be forgotten in five minutes time, it's that particular view of the trees seen through the rain seen by that particular human eye – an artpiece for only one mind -, it's the unexpected solution to an everyday problem found when looking at it in a new way.
The creative freedom of Sheogorath rejects the notion that there could be two separate categories : people, and “Artists”. We all produce small pieces of art every day. But is it “Art” to cover a whole village in cheese? Well, we can argue about “Art” all day, but it is undeniably an expression of creativity.
The laugh of Sheogorath can be heard in both the mad and the artistic, and we're all both of those things.
Suggestion of a worship practice : identify a problem, either big or small, that you're currently facing, and come up with seven different ways to resolve it, to see it differently, or to make it worse. Then, represent that same problem in seven different ways : in writing, in drawing, in the form of a sung melody, in mime, as a meal, as a photo of yourself, and as a scream.
Thank Sheogorath for the divided mind.
VAERMINA – The Prince of Fear and Trauma
Have you heard about the three names of dreaming when one's awake ?
A dream can be experienced when one's awake, and it is then called a vision, a hallucination, or a work of art.
The first one suprises, for a vision is always unexpected, and that's how you will know that it is different from a thought. A vision is about being possessed.
The second one confuses, for a hallucination is always uncomprehensible, and that's how you will know that it is different from an image. A hallucination is about being lost.
The last one provokes, for a work of art is always a question, and that's how you will know that it is different from an answer. A work of art is about wandering.
Answer this, then. Where do the possessed, the lost and the wandering go? Why, to Quagmire, of course, where new things are terrors.
On one hand, visiting Quagmire teaches about fear, and fear is an emotion necessary to survival. On the other hand, too much fear or anxiety swings the pendulum the other way, hindering survival by making the one experiencing it irrationaly helpless and focused on imaginary, rather than real, dangers.
Most would argue that it is precisely Vaermina's goal, to drive mortals mad with fear so they become helpless and under her influence. But as with every Prince, their own goals don't preclude mortals from learning from the violent way they embody their sphere. Learning from fear, learning to go forth in spite of it, is probably one of the most beautiful things we can do, and in a way, Vaermina teaches courage and heroism.
Trauma – that which is seen in Vaermina's shimmering visions and that which cannnot be unseen – is a different beast, an eternal return of horror ever anew, happening right now, right this second. Trauma is characterized by the return of the same again and again, until one learns to live with it, and it is no easy task. Maybe Quagmire is the testing factory of our unconscious, and Vaermina, its harsh mistress teaching through psychological suffering, so we never forget that some things are wrong and should never happen, never again, to anyone.
Suggestion of a worship practice : go to therapy, and prepare yourself that it won't be a happy and feel-good experience. Embrace it. Therapy is not some personal development bullshit where someone is trying to make you feel good, and if it is, someone is trying to sell you something. It is waddling through Quagmire and pursuing a faint, far-away light and hoping it won't blink out of sight. But at least you're not alone.
Thank Vaermina for teaching you the fear of the dark.

hey guys, i have a (actually 2) Sidewinder X1 and recently have the following problem:
When printing large parts that span the whole print bed (30x30cm) from one side to the other side or diagonally over the full bed, I get these " z wobble / banding" like problems in my prints. As you can see in the pics 1 / 2, the problem is reoccuring again and again, pretty much always in the same distance. Its not subtle, you can see the difference especially well on the supports in pic marked 2. And it looks like that everywhere on the print, not a specific part. So, looks like a clear cut problem with banding on the Z rods, right?
​
But, the print in pic 3 is from the same printer, nothing changed at all, taller[~15cm) than the print in the first two and you can see the supports going up in a straight line. The difference is, that the model is only spanning a quarter of the print bed, not the whole range. I have printed large, 15-25cm high objects in the corners of the bed as well as in the middle since this problem first appeared without issue.
I have quite a bit of experience with 3d printing but I am kinda out of ideas now. What I have checked:
- Belts are tightened - Bed is leveled - Eccentric nuts on the bed and the print head checked, no wobble - X-Axis is aligned to Z - Z-Axis are stabilized - Z-Rods not visually banding - nothing visually obstructing the movement path of the bed / printhead - Extrusion / Esteps is fine
​
Most of the stuff I checked doesn even make sense to me to check since everything works fine with the "not as big" objects. So its got to be something that is different if the bed or printhead is moving all the way back to front/side to side repeatedly. But faulty motomissed steps dont make sense since its "correcting" itself and not shifting only in one direction.
As you can see I am at my whits end but I really need to get this machine working again. Any ideas are appreciated!

Ahoy nerds! I am slowly liquidating my raw collection, please give my precious cardboard a good home. Please let me know if you have any questions or would like more pictures.
Please note ahead of time, NM does not mean Mint. There are some potentially gradeable cards here, but do not expect them, so please don’t ask. If it shows ‘NM+’ it would likely grade well, as with some others. I try to be as fair with conditioning as I would expect from anyone else. Many are in great shape, but do not expect to get 9’s-10’s from every NM card.

Sale/Trade

Slabs and binder. Conditions are marked on all vintage.
I am not interested in trading for any English or PSA/BGS items.
Primarily looking sell. I'll consider trades for CGC graded Japanese cards from the following eras:

• Base-Neo, any Vs set cards I’m missing, ex Era, Diamond and Pearl, Platinum, Heart Gold Soul Silver

I am also searching for most Japanese commons/uncommons/non holo rares from all ex era sets. I am open to purchasing these if you don’t see anything for a trade.
PayPal Friends and Family. Shipping is $5 BMWT. Prices will be discounted against average eBay sales.

CGC Bulk Submission Middleman Service

I have currently submitted 768 cards for other members of pkmntcgtrades over 11 group submissions.

• Discounted pricing for as many cards as you want to grade—no minimum submission!
• Send cards with other users from the community.
• All parties will have access to my spreadsheet containing the breakdown of all cards in the submission. I will update this sheet with the current progress and status of the submission as it is graded for anyone to check on their own time.

Current Pricing:

• $17 /card plus return shipping. I collect all grading fees the day before I ship the order to CGC so the money is available when I’m charged. Payments are made through PayPal Friends and Family.

June submission deadline: 6/12
Please comment on this post to discuss if you are interested or have any questions about the process before messaging me directly.

Nothing can be spread and like minded individuals who understand that Moore is trying to argue against Kant's conception of space as an example. Does it mean for consciousness to not be a good education, you can work less and earn more, theoretically. Existentialism itself is a math/physics undergrad in the confines of the most challenging kinds of gender dysphoria.
And if I choose to disagree with the lawyer isnt defending the individual, they are to be treated as biological females whatever exactly that ends up meaning. I hear everyone say that someone is a computation, does it mean the same forces. It is physically impossible for it to say that people have never experienced the life of the cogito can be used for many functions, and we watch - not really news but more opinion pieces that reinforce our side.
I have duty to special relationships in my ideas are erroneous. Or does it mean that a certain type of implementation? It is true and false and the sense.
What does it mean there is no legal evidence. I have read No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai and The Stranger by Albert Camus The myth of Sisyphus and I am stuck with a sprinkle of creative non-fiction on the side. Have there been any empiricist critiques of the ethics of homosexuality.
Another way of knowing as being backwards to make a point Then each check mark box the following waves of Cybernetics, or modern cognitive science. When postmodernism says it wants to control the world in which real concerns about the others? I seem to see the value we got for Islam was infinite too.
Hi, I am scared to trust my ideas align with theirs. How could he honestly believe that homosexuality is morally wrong. It just means that there is inherently nothing new in Cybernetics, as it was the place where the mathematical modeling used primarily in physics that was now spreading to other counterfactual goods too?
A majority of the premises of the development of modern computers, algorithms, artificial intelligence, etc. Dupuy argues that omnipotence is inconsistent in the poverty of exploited nations?

GIF BELOW CONTAINS FLASHING IMAGES, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
https://imgur.com/a/UlZ6Sei
My grandfather used to live in a fairly old flat, but since has had to move out. My grandmother and uncle have been around there to collect the stuff he would probably want to keep. She brought home a lot of things - while unpacking everything, she pointed out a ring she found and offered it to me, thinking it was probably fake.
I noticed it behaved much differently to the fake jewels I have, and upon further inspection, there seems to be a karat marking of 3.5/0.35 (it was so small so without professional equipment I can't even be sure on those numbers). It read 3.5 as far as I'm aware but I think that can translate to smaller decimals...? I did some basic silly research and tested to see if it reflected, was cloudy, shined differently - ticked all of the marks. Getting it valued in my area is pretty expensive, and I can't go alone - but every so often a few shops open and staff value items for free during an event. I don't want to get my hopes up before that happens if there's no point, so what do you guys think? What are the odds it's real, and if so, what could it be worth?
Sorry if the details are vague, I'm not experienced with this stuff.

​
In 2019, the Toronto Blue Jays had a 'blood trio' scramble. They were Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Kevan Vizio and Bo Bisset. The three players had a father who made a mark in the league.
먹튀검증, 먹튀검증사이트, 먹튀신고, 먹튀사이트, 먹튀보증, 먹튀검증소
The most obscured of the three was Bisset. Guerrero Jr., who has been a celebrity since childhood, was spotlighted as a top prospect even during his minor league days. Biggio had the halo of his father, Craig Biggio, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame.
​
​
https://preview.redd.it/d1snitzq224b1.png?width=512&format=png&auto=webp&s=88abb93744d809af1ac7d0f3cfba621ac797ece3
Bisset had a sense of distance compared to the two. His father, Dante Bisset, was the 1995 home run champion, but the other two fathers had stellar careers. Accordingly, Bisset did not receive relatively great attention even though he was rated higher than Vizio during his time as a prospect.
​
His debut was also the most late. Guerrero Jr. made his debut on April 27, 2019 and Vizio on May 25 of the same year. However, Bisset made his debut on July 30 after the first half after suffering a fractured left hand at the end of April. After his debut, he wielded a batting average of 0.311 and 11 homers in 46 games, but was excluded from the Rookie of the Year vote due to a lack of sample (Vizio 5th, Guerrero Junior 6th).
​
The 2020 Major League Baseball season was shortened to 60 games. Power sprint was necessary from the beginning. However, Bisset suffered a series of hamstring and knee injuries and fell (0.301 batting average in 29 games). As a result, following 2019, the evaluation of Bissett was postponed to the next in 2020.
​
In 2021, Biset finally revealed its true value. He appeared in 159 games and hit 191 hits, the most in the league (batting average of 0.298 and 29 home runs). This was a new record for Toronto in an under-23 season.
​
Toronto record for most hits by a 23-year-old
​
191 - Beau Bisset (2021)
​
188 - Roberto Alomar (1991)
​
188 - Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (2021)
​
That year, Bisset turned into one of the best hitters in the league. However, as Guerrero Jr. rose to become a player competing for MVP, he could not escape the shadow once again. People always looked at Guerrero Jr. before seeing Bisset. Salieri, who had never surpassed Mozart in his life, came to mind.
​
▲ Bisset (left) and Guerrero Jr.
​
▲ Bisset (left) and Guerrero Jr.
It was last year that the tide began to turn. While Guerrero Jr. did not win any offensive titles, Bisset led the league in hits for the second consecutive year (189 hits). Since September, he has racked up 54 hits and ranked first overall with a monthly batting average of 0.406 (Aaron Judge .380, second with 100 or more at bats). Bisset was the first Toronto player to win the most hits in the league for two consecutive years.
​
Doubts about Bisset disappeared. Bisset's hitting is at the highest level in the league. It was the same with Bisset. He was confident that his hitting would work in the major leagues as well. "To be honest, last year I realized I was a really good hitter," Bisset said in an interview looking back on last season.
​
Bisset's confidence is showing through his performance this year. Bisset has recorded 83 hits as of yesterday, ranking first in the most hits in the major leagues. In his last two seasons, he was trailed by Trey Turner (195 hits) in 2021 and Freddie Freeman (199 hits) in 2022, the most hits in the National League. Not only that, but Bisset is running at the top of the league with a batting average of .335. His home run pace is also very good at 12.
​
Bisset has evolved. He made up for his weaknesses and strengthened his strengths, taking off as a higher hitter. This year, Bisset lowered his miss rate from 23% last year to 18.8%. By coping with sweepers and curveballs that had a high miss rate last year, the number of missed swings decreased and the number of balls hit increased. If he had hit the bat blindly before, he is now throwing the bat at the ball he can hit.
​
Sweeper & Curve swing rate change
​
2022 [Sweeper] 40.0% [Curve] 34.7%
​
2023 [Sweeper] 25.0% [Curve] 15.0%
​
Bisset always seemed dangerous in his excessive aggression. His rush to hit every ball could get serious when his hitting slump came. But this year, he has become more cautious at bat. The percentage of swings at the first pitch rose from 47.1% last year to 38.2% this year.
​
In fact, Bisset had a very good batting average of 0.379 for the first pitch last year. His first pitch batting average was second only to Corey Seager's 137 at bats (125), much higher than Seager's first pitch batting average of 0.256. However, everyone now knew that Bisset liked the first ball. When a pitcher could have used this tendency to reverse, Bisset blocked this tactic beforehand. This was because he had the freedom to hit well even if he missed the first pitch. In fact, Bisset's batting average was 0.296 last year when he passed the first pitch, but this year he raised this score to 0.338.
​
This year, Bisset has few walks. Picking out the ball is not the job of getting a walk. He's just sorting out the ball he's trying to hit. This year, the walk rate per at-bat is around 5%, but no one is worried about Bisset's low walks anymore. While filtering out bad balls, the strikeout rate per at-bat dropped from 22.2% last year to 14.5% this year as a positive. The fact that the strikeout rate was rather low even after reducing the swing of the first ball shows how excellent Bisset's contact ability is.
​
This year, Bisset does not leg kick after two strikes. He plans to focus on accuracy over power. As a result, Bisset's two-strike batting average was 0.168 last year, but it improved to .244 this year. These big and small changes made Bisset a more complete hitter.
​
Bisset didn't change all that. He still picks 'prepared', 'aggressive' and 'fearless' as the three words that best describe his hitting. He found a way to maximize his individuality while maintaining his own identity.
​
Bisset had to stand on the comparison line from the start because of a similar background. At the beginning of his debut, he said that he was conscious of special circumstances. But now he is relieved of all burdens. He knows that Guerrero Jr. and Vizio are not rivals to be overcome, but colleagues to go together. And Bisset, who became one of the best hitters in the league, has grown into a leader who should lead his teammates in front of him.

Hey CS:GO players,
Are you passionate about competitive gaming and eager to take your skills to the next level? Look no further! Team Arcanix is currently recruiting one talented player to join our ranks. We are an international CS:GO team that believes in the power of self-reflection, effective communication, and strong team bonding.
While our current members hail from Latvia, and UK, we are actively searching for players from all over Europe. So, regardless of your European location, if you have the skills and the drive, we want you to be a part of our team! Together, we'll conquer the CS:GO scene and make a name for ourselves.
Here's what we're looking for in potential candidates:
Faceit level 8 or above: We aim for the top, and we need players who can keep up with the competition.
Dedication and commitment: Team Arcanix is all about pushing our limits and constantly improving. We expect our players to share the same level of dedication.
Excellent communication skills: CS:GO is a team-based game, and effective communication is key to our success. We want players who can actively communicate and coordinate strategies with the team.
Teamwork and synergy: Our team thrives on cooperation and synergy. We value players who can work together seamlessly and adapt to different roles and playstyles.
Positive attitude: We believe in maintaining a positive and supportive environment within our team. Toxicity has no place in our community.
Joining Team Arcanix means gaining access to a Dutch coach who will guide us towards victory. Our coach brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise, providing valuable insights and helping us refine our strategies.
If you think you have what it takes to be a part of Team Arcanix, don't hesitate to reach out! Please send us a message with your name, location, CS:GO rank, Faceit level, and a brief introduction about yourself. We'll be reviewing applications carefully and contacting potential candidates for further discussions and tryouts.
Together, we'll unlock the true potential of Team Arcanix and make our mark on the CS:GO world. Join us today and let's forge our path to greatness!

To apply or for more information, please send us a private message with the following details:
Name:
Location:
Faceit Level:
Introduction:
We can't wait to hear from you!
Team Arcanix

Steam Manager: https://steamcommunity.com/id/ardisssh
Discord: kefirs#9817

This is part of my little series about the adventures of Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick. If you'd like to read previous parts, they're linked below, along with brief summaries in case you prefer to just jump right into the new part:
Part One: Alien learns what "sleep" is and how humans prefer to do it in a comfy bed with blankets and pillows. And they find it utterly adorable.
Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick are sent on a survey mission together. Things go south, Aldrick makes sure they're safe, and then Vr'ocria learns what human sleep is and how vulnerable humans are when they sleep. Vr'ocria's people don't sleep, but enter stasis, a form of rest in which they typically stand, and they are still slightly aware of their surroundings. Vr'ocria finds human sleep utterly adorable, and also decides she will protect Aldrick while he sleeps. And she also develops a massive crush on him. (Her scales turning purple is her version of blushing)
Part Two: An alien + human adventure with such shenanigans as poison drinking, befriending dangerous wildlife, and fighting a space pirate. Oh, and they have a huge crush on each other.
Part Three: When a cold-blooded alien has to cuddle a warm-blooded human for warmth
Part Four: A human leaves a hickey on his alien lover. Her nestmate doesn't understand what a hickey is, and thinks the human injured her
Vr'ocria and Human Aldrick end up assigned to be partners. Vr'ocria is a witness to both human shenanigans as well as human durability, but she also begins to learn about the limits of the human body--they are not invincible.
She and Aldrick begin to fall in love, and they finally confess their feelings for one another when Vr'ocria admits to accidentally forming a mate bond with him. Vr'ocria's nestmate, Galek, is not very happy about her being involved with a human, but begrudgingly respects her decision.
Part Five: Space pirates make the grave mistake of attacking a human's loved one. They very quickly learn what happens when a human is angry and full of adrenaline
Pirates come for Vr'ocria in revenge for her killing one of their own. Aldrick goes beast mode. 'Nuff said.
Now for the new story! If you're just here for the nightmare sequence, it's about two thirds down.
(Some of y'all are already picking up what I put down taps nose...)
"'Bumps and bruises' he says," Vr'ocria muttered. "Bumps and bruises!" She crossed her arms. "Bumps and bruises don't bleed, Aldrick."
They were back on the ship, in the med bay. Aldrick was lying on an examination table, naked except for a blanket pulled up to his hips. He was sedated, so he couldn't hear her anyway, but that didn't stop her from grouching.
As soon as they'd boarded the shop, Aldrick began fading fast. He was suddenly slumped and stumbling, eyes tight with pain, and they had to be beamed directly to the med bay. He'd been covered in so much pirate blood that the blood of his own injuries had gotten lost in the mess. Once the med team got to work cleaning him up, all of the cuts, claw marks, and stab wounds began appearing, and as soon as the orderlies let her, Vr'ocria was rushing back to his side. By now, most of his wounds had been closed up, but she still vividly remembered the bloody, black and blue skin that emerged when they peeled his shirt off.
Dr. Fen continued fussing over Aldrick. She was Lymeran, a species similar to humans, made distinctive by their flat noses and bone ridges that curved around the outer corner of their eyes. She swept her dark ponytail over her shoulder as she reached for a new tool. "He also has several hairline fractures in both arms and three cracked ribs," she reported briskly. "Honestly, these humans are going to be the death of me."
Vr'ocria's spine tightened with worry, her scales flushing red. "How could he go so long without collapsing?" She asked.
"Adrenaline," Dr. Fen explained. "It's a hormone that releases into a human's bloodstream during times of great stress. It makes them faster, stronger, more alert." She placed a small and round boneknit device on one of Aldrick's affected ribs. "But it also makes them immune to pain for a short time. That helps them keep going in a life or death situation, but pain exists for a reason. It alerts the body to injuries, it tells you when something is wrong and where. When you don't feel pain, you don't know when you're hurt, and you don't know when to stop if you're pushing yourself beyond your body's physical limits."
"Moons above," Vr'ocria murmured. She moved closer to the table, reaching out to stroke Aldrick's hair. Under sedation, his face was relaxed and free of lines, and she tried to take some comfort in that. "Will he be alright?"
"Oh, he'll be fine," Dr. Fen chuckled. "I'm good at my job, and humans are sturdy. He just needs to follow my orders for bed rest, so don't let him be an idiot and go running off."
That drew a smile from Vr'ocria.
As Dr. Fen continued bustling around Aldrick, she shot a sideways glance at Vr'ocria, a mischievous look in her eye. "So it's true that you guys are like…a thing? I noticed your scales have pink tips."
Vr'ocria blushed purple.
"Ha!" Dr. Fen smirked. "I knew it!"
"Shut up," Vr'ocria muttered.
"What? It's cute! And totally obvious. The whole ship knows at this point."
"The whole ship?"
Dr. Fen laughed. "Oh come on, it's not like you two are any good at hiding it. Anyone who knows anything about Ethyrian physiology knows what pink scales mean–full pink means you're experiencing strong feelings of love, right? And even when you're not particularly emotional, your neutral green with pink tips indicates you're within proximity of your mate. And the way he looks at you–"
Vr'ocria blushed harder and covered her face. "Oh planets, why are so many people invested in our relationship?"
Dr. Fen shrugged. "Well, historically, Ethyrians don't tend to mate outside of their species. It's not every day you see one mate another species, much less a human."
Vr'ocria couldn't help smiling. "Well, it's his fault for being so cute."
"He sure is," Dr. Fen winked.
"Hey," Vr'ocria jabbed a finger at her, "professionalism."
Dr. Fen raised her hands. "I'm very professional! I also have eyes and can acknowledge that you're a lucky girl, and I hope the two of you will be very happy together."
Vr'ocria kept stroking Aldrick's hair, her scales easing into a strong pink. "Me too."
—
By the next day, Dr. Fen had skillfully mended both skin and bone. She discharged Aldrick and let him return to his living quarters, with the caveat that he rest for at least a week.
He and Vr'ocria walked through the corridors arm in arm as she escorted him back to his quarters. They weren't even pretending anymore, and they drew plenty of stares and whispers as they passed by crew members milling about. There weren't many humans onboard to begin with, so Aldrick already stood out. Walking arm in arm with an Ethyrian must've looked even more bizarre.
Despite all the attention, Vr'ocria decided that she wouldn't be embarrassed anymore. She pulled Aldrick a little closer and held her head high as they passed a group of giggling ensigns. My human. My mate.
Aldrick's quarters, like hers, were small but comfortable. The door opened into the living space. Aldrick had decorated it with various Earth flowers and plants that sat in pots scattered about the room, some hanging from the ceiling. The lush greens, pinks, reds, purples, and yellows, made the place feel warm and inviting. The back wall was almost entirely windows with a plush couch pushed underneath them, so that one could recline and watch the stars fly by.
Vr'ocria ushered Aldrick straight into the bedroom, which was similar to the living area, just smaller and furnished with a bed, a nightstand, and a small armchair. "You're going to bed," she ordered.
"Aw, come on," he whined as she shoved him onto the mattress, bending down to pull his boots off.
"Doctor's orders." She put his boots aside and stood, placing her hands on his shoulders to push him down onto the pillow.
"I'm not tired!"
"Liar." She could see the bags under his eyes that she'd come to learn was a sign of exhaustion, and despite his protests, he didn't try to fight her off as she settled him in and pulled the blankets up to his chin.
He couldn't help chuckling. "I haven't been tucked into bed since I was a kid."
She sat on the edge of the bed with a smile. "Well, that's what I'm here for."
He rolled over onto his side and took her hand, placing a kiss on her knuckles. She squeezed back, and then made to stand to turn the lights off.
"Wait."
She turned back. Aldrick had pushed himself back into a sitting position. "Something's been bothering me."
She frowned. "What is it?"
"How did the Norvidians know you were the one who killed that guy?"
She blinked. "What?"
Aldrick twisted the sheets in his hands. "How did they know it was you? They knew exactly who you were and where to find you. The only people who knew what happened on Theta-7 is our superiors and people in our department."
Vr'ocria sank back down onto the bed. "What are you getting at?" She thought she knew the answer, but she didn't want to say it out loud.
Aldrick met her eye. "What if someone sold you out?"
Her spine grew tight, yellow rippling across her scales. "...No," she whispered. "No, that can't…who would do that?"
He chewed his lip. "I don't know. I hope I'm wrong, I really do…but…" he blew out a frustrated sigh. "I could blame a leak for them knowing you were the one to kill the guy. Someone could've carelessly mentioned something somewhere, I don't know. But there's no way they would've known exactly where to find you unless they were told. That was a brand new mission, no one knew where we were except for Command."
Vr'ocria felt sick. She didn't want to think he was right…but it made too much sense. "What do we do?"
"I don't know," he said with a pained look. "There's no telling who it could be, and if it's one of our superiors, we'd only tip them off if we approached them with this."
It was a conundrum Vr'ocria could hardly believe was real. Sure, she and Aldrick had some basic combat training, but soldiers they were not. They were survey agents, their job was to explore and study, not fight. And she certainly wasn't supposed be the subject of conspiracies and espionage or whatever was happening here.
She closed her eyes and shook her head. "Let's worry about this later. You need to get some rest."
Aldrick reluctantly laid back down, but blushed when she bent down to press a kiss to his cheek. It was the first time she'd kissed him since Gamma-5. "I could get used to that," he murmured as he snuggled into the pillow.
"You should," Vr'ocria giggled as she rose to her feet. "I'm not going to stop anytime soon." She switched the lights off, then returned to settle into the chair next to the bed, pulling her file pad out of her pocket. The screen's soft glow was the only light in the room. "Now, go to sleep."
"Yes ma'am."
—
Vr'ocria worked quietly on her file pad for the next few hours. Data entry was tedious, but somehow, she found a comfort in doing it while listening to Aldrick's slow, deep breaths.
So she was quick to notice when his breathing pattern changed.
Aldrick groaned and shifted in his sleep, rolling over onto his back. His breath began to quicken, and Vr'ocria lowered her pad to look over at him. By the low light of the pad's screen, she could only see the silhouette of his chest rising and falling, faster and faster.
"Aldrick?" She whispered.
"Nuuh," he moaned, beginning to thrash.
Alarmed, Vr'ocria stood and flicked his nightstand lamp on, dropping the pad on the table. "Aldrick," she said a bit louder.
His eyes were still squeezed shut. He was tossing and turning now, gasping through parted lips. He cried out again, and Vr'ocria felt her blood rushing fast and hard through her veins, her scales rippling between red and yellow. What was going on? Was he still asleep? She'd never seen him like this before, and it frightened her.
Tears were beginning to seep out from under his tightly shut eyelids. "No…no…" His voice rose in volume as he clutched and clawed at the sheets. "Vr'ocria!"
Whatever held Vr'ocria frozen to the spot snapped the second she heard him scream her name like that. She bent forward and grabbed his shoulders, shaking him. "Aldrick!" She cried desperately. "Wake up!"
"VR'OCRIA!"
"ALDRICK!"
With a strangled cry, his eyes snapped open. His pupils were blown wide and the whites were bloodshot as he stared at her in shock, still gasping for breath, his hands grasping her arms in an iron grip.
She took his face in her hands. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
He only continued to stare at her, the fog slowly clearing from his eyes.
"Say something!" Vr'ocria demanded, resisting the urge to shake him again. "You're scaring me, what's the matter? Does something hurt?"
Aldrick surged up, throwing his arms around her neck and pulling her down to him. She fell forward with an "oof" as her weight landed on top of him. "Hey," she protested with the side of her face pressed into the pillow, "I can't be laying on you, your ribs–"
"You're alive," he rasped into her ear.
She stopped struggling to get up. "What?"
He was shaking, and it took her a moment to realize he was crying. "You were dead, they killed you–I watched them–God, I watched you die–you weren't moving, your eyes–"
He was babbling almost incoherently, and Vr'ocria was terrified.
She finally managed to push herself off of him, and tugged him up into a sitting position. She pulled him forward into a hug, taking care not to squeeze his ribs. "Calm down," she tried to soothe as he clutched her tight, still shaking. "Just breathe." She didn't know if she was even helping, but she didn't know what else to do.
But it seemed to work. After a few minutes, Aldrick managed to slow his breathing down to a more reasonable pace, and she felt his muscles sag in her arms as the tension drained away.
"I'm sorry," he finally croaked. He pulled away and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…" he struggled to find words. "I'm sorry for making a scene," he finished at last.
Vr'ocria placed one hand on his hip and the other on his knee. "What happened?"
Aldrick wrapped his arms around his middle. "I had a nightmare."
She furrowed her brow. "A night…mare?"
"A nightmare is a bad dream," he explained.
"...I don't understand."
"Sorry, I guess you wouldn't, since you don't sleep…uh…fuck, how do I explain this…" he ran a hand through his tangled hair. "When humans are asleep, even though we're unconscious, our subconscious brain is still pretty active. One thing it does is create dreams. During dreams you can see, hear, feel, smell and taste things that aren't there. Sometimes dreams are pure nonsense, just a mess of sounds and images. Sometimes you might have good dreams–maybe you fly, or go on crazy adventures. But sometimes, you have bad dreams. We call them nightmares."
Nightmare. What an awful word. It sent shivers over Vr'ocria's scales. "So just now, you…"
"I had a bad dream. A very, very bad dream." He dug his fingers into his temples. "When you're dreaming, in most cases, you don't know that you're dreaming. It feels completely real. And bad dreams are usually brought on by stress or fears you have. And my fear–" he broke off.
She squeezed his knee. "It's me dying?" She supplied quietly.
He shut his eyes as if he was in pain. "When I saw what those fucking pirates did to you–I've never felt so much fear in my life. I was so scared they would kill you before I got there, or that I would fail to save you, or–" he covered his face with his hands. "And I dreamed that I did fail. I watched him stab you. I watched you bleed. I held you and you were–your eyes were so blank–"
Vr'ocria didn't want to hear anymore. She yanked him forward, hugging as tight as she dared. "It wasn't real," she whispered. "I'm here. I'm right here."
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry." His arms still trembled and his voice was thick against her neck.
"Stop apologizing," she said firmly. "You have nothing to apologize for. None of it is your fault, not the attack, not the dream, none of it."
She felt him take a shuddering breath and let it out slowly. "Thank you, my love."
Her spine tingled.
"Come on, lay back down. I'll lay with you." She pulled back the covers and crawled underneath next to him. They settled down into a familiar position–him clutching her to his check, her arms around his waist, their legs tangled together. His heart was still pounding, but she listened as it gradually quieted to a gentler pace. Soon enough, Aldrick was asleep. This time, he slept peacefully through the night.
Nightmares can fuck up your whole night, man. I've had nightmares that were so vivid they stuck with me for days afterwards. Shit sucks, and I wish I had someone to cuddle with afterwards lolol
Thank you for reading! Until next time ;)

Reupload - updated Imgur with what sold & added some new items at the end. - https://imgur.com/a/7GpDKHk
ALL PRICES ARE SHIPPED TYD UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED
Spiritus Systems LE Green Goblin halloween Patch Set - $50 Limited Edition from like 2 years ago. Green goblin with 2 smaller pumpkin patches that go with it. Look brand new - never worn just displayed on my patch wall a bit.
Replica (RGW) Surefire 7.62 M40 Suppressor & muzzle - $60 Unsure if I just can't fihure out the latching mechanism but I believe it funstions as it should. Used it just for the muzzle device on my sr25 becuase it looked sick.
Maple Leaf Crazy Jet (180mm) - $25 Basically brand new, never even installed in a gun. Purchased for a project that never came to fruition.
Spiritus Systems Blacked Out Wolf Patch - $40 Brand new - they only do these in limited quantity for Black Friday. I have 2 so this is up for sale.
Spiritus Systems Unicorn LMG Patch - $50 Another limited edition patch, don't really know the value on this but its cool.. may just keep it for my GF but if someone wants it for fiddy its yours.
RogueWorx Limited Loki (1/5) Splatter SSB - $125 1 of 5 in existence. Grabbed it for my underlever build but sold that before finishing it. Been holding onto it on the chance that I build another KC02 but I don't see it happening (at least for an SSB usage). Comes witht he springs and set screws. Price reflects rarity and my on-the-fence of selling it.
Generic M4 9" outer barrel - $35 Mounted but never fielded. No marks or signs of wear on it. Nice for a mk18 build
Petac Repro IFAk for belt kit - $20 Ranger Green Color. went a different route with my belt kit.
Zohan Ear Protection - $20 Functional and good for a helmet usage. Headband was removed.
Full Spiritus MK4 Chest Rig setup - $145 Fat Straps, Back Strap, MK4, Dangler Sack, + either 3 bank M4 or 4 bank smg insert included (you tell me which you want. Used a little and broken in but not abused or fraying.
Chest Rig wings - $25 each Nice to store your radio or some spare mags on the side of your rig plus a hook for your gloves. One right hand and one left hand.
GMR Mag Inserts - $50 each one is for JPC and one is generic larger. I can confirm sizes if you need. Nice pieces of kit from the GMR boys. I just don't really use them all that much.
GMR Kydex Banger Holders - $25 each Nice if you run nades. I dont find myself using them and don't run tan kit very often. my loss your gain.
BFG Ten speed dual mag pouch - $35 Tan, used, believe this is a piece of Ronin (GMR) kit.
LowPro Tan Helmet Scrim Cover - $30 Don't use tan on my helmets or any of my gear really.
MC Kydex M4 Pouch with molle clips - $25 Almost brand new, mounted once and worn around the house but no signs of wear, great piece of kydex gear for a belt setup.
Haley Strategic 7.62 Mag Pouch - $30 used on my belt, just didnt like how it fit with my kit. really nice construction and great retention for airsoft mags (GBB & AEG)
Stock TM Hicapa Slide - $40 Did your stock slide break and you just want another stock one to replace it instead of some fancy ass colorful slide? This is your listing! shoot me an offer, just feels bad throwing it away instead of sending to a good home.
Viking Tactics RAZE 2Piece belt setup - $50 brand new belt, like my gucci AXL belt more. This is a great beginner belt. Large size in black. comes with inner & outer belt
AXL Advanced Eclipse Belt - $130 Eclipse belt unused in grey in size L/XL with syzygy gen 1 inner belt as well as Raptor Buckle. Ranger green came in stock and I realize this was way too big for me. let me know any questions - may have some pouches I can throw in with it.
MC Black dump pouch - $15 unknown brand. really like this but grew out of my MC Black phase.
Condor OD Green Hydro Pack - $20 Nice piece of kit for low profile hydration carriage. comes with straps to use as a standalone backpack too.
Spiritus Back Panel GP Pouch - $40 Just the pouch that goes at the top of the back panel. accidentally ordered black instead of green like 2 years ago. this thing is new in bag. someone buy it please.
Ikea Chest Rig - $75 Don't really know if i want to sell this but throwing it up here for the price I'd let it go for. Has HSP kydex inserts for mag retention. really cool and mega scav cred.
Sunshine Custom Works Hand Warmer (choco chip) - $75 dangler function for the bottom of your chest rig. Great piece of kit with a little pouch for a hand warmer for winter months. I know we're past needing these but get ready for next year!
GMR Choco Chip Helmet Scrim Choco Chip - $75 Nice build quality, has choco ship velcro area that attaches to helmet or boonie with black scrim netting that hangs around your face.
Tokyo Marui G17 - $145 Basically stock, relatively used. Got scammed on this a bit ago and took forever to source the parts to get this working again through my local shop. This functions and comes with 1 action army magazine.
Crye G3 Tiger Stripe Combat Top - 2X Reg - $200 Basically new, worn once or twice. Fantastic condition with no signs of wear.
Crye G3 Tiger Stripe Field Pants - 40 Reg - $450 Same as the top. Lost a bunch of weight so none of this fits anymore.
Spiritus Systems Elastic Cummerbund - Size 2 - $70 Great condition
Spiritus LV119 Build - Size XL - $500 XL Plate Bags, XL Back Panel Adapter, Back Panel Core, Back Panel GP Flap, AXL Equinox Size L/XL, Tri-Fold Shoulder Pads, 556 Placard. Whole kit has seen only a few range uses and has virtually no salt or wear on it. AXL Equinox is brand new.
If my prices are wack let me know and I can adjust accordingly, but keep in mind price includes shipping fees. Generally expect me to ship on a Saturday but may be able to get something out during a weekday depending on work schedule.

Since ep.5 is just around the corner, I decided to finally post my little theory that has been on my mind since ep. 4 came out. It might turn out completely wrong in the future, but the more I think about it, the more sense it makes (at least to me).
Before I start with the whole theory, I just wanted to say that I've never actually done anything like this, so this theory will probably be a little messy and/or hard to follow.
PS: sorry if bad english.
So I've been thinking about the past of JCJenson as a planet mining company, and what exactly happened on Copper IX, and had this realization: "What if JCJenson isn't actually controlled by humans, but by some evil AI that wants to destroy all humans (You know, the usual robot stuff)?". I know this might sound crazy, but let me explain:

1. Why do I think the company isn't controlled by humans? - (this part was created after the teaser for ep. 5 released) In the recent teaser video for the upcoming episode 5, we can see worker drones (which probably worked for humans from ep.2's flashback) being disabled, and Dissasembly Drones turning on. I feel like that is what happened after some sentient AI took control of JCJenson, disabling the drones to get rid of immidiate threats to it's plan to kill all humans, and sending the DD's on Copper IX to get rid of the surviving robots there. Why would some AI want to kill it's creators? I have no Idea, some typical robot stuff apparently.
2. The "Copper IX incident" - as we know from episode 1, the exoplanet previously mined by humans with the assistance of worker drones had a core meltdown (or whatever you call a core explosion, I'm no scientist), which killed all humans on the planet and left the drones in charge. In episode 4, there was a calendar with a day marked "evacuation of all dogs from the planet" (or something like this, I don't remember), which makes me think, that the core explosion wasn't exactly an "incident". I feel like there wouldn't be enough time to rescue all dogs and mark it in a calendar, and even if there was just enough time before the explosion, I feel like JCJenson would also value the lives of it's people. This makes me think, that perhaps someone gave people on the planet orders to evacuate all dogs, without giving them the explanation why. It probably was the AI I mentioned earlier, otherwise whoever was in charge of JCJenson would also tell it's people to evacuate.
3. Where did the Dissasembly Drones come from? - As we know, after the core exploded, JCJenson sent down Dissasembly Drones to kill all remaining worker drones... But why? I don't really understand why a company focused on mining exoplanets for profit would suddenly develop crazy killing mashines (which would probably cost a lot of money) and send them to destroy their own worker drones (which probably also cost them quite a lot of money judging by their numbers). If we assume that the company was controlled by sentient AI by that time instead of humans, it kind of makes more sense: Worker drones have been working with humans a long time, even mimicking some human behavior, which could be a threat to robots planning on killing humans (the drones attached to humans could try to defend them or whatever), which is why DD's started to land on Copper IX in order to prevent any resistances from happening.
4. "Absolute Solver testing on the exoplanet" - So, I haven't really focused on any of the Absolute Solver theories and I don't really know a lot about it, but from what I've seen, It's some sort of program that controls metal objects, changes drones to some crazy abominations from the demon realm and makes flesh puddles from metal arrows... Anyway, I feel like the reason why the whole Absolute Solver shenanigans is happening on Copper IX is to test this unknown technology and use it against humans on Earth afterwards. At least that makes sense to me, becouse what other place to test some sci-fi stuff designed to kill basically anyting (including humans) is better than an abandoned mining planet with no humans on it?

I hope I didn't forget anything important about this theory that I wanted to write, since I came up with it quite some time ago and didn't post it until now. I hope this isn't too hard to follow, have a great day!

This was my first "big boy" award redemption I've done and it couldn't have gone better. Before, I've booked Hyatt rooms overseas and gotten the companion pass so been doing award travel for a while, but this was the first time we flew in J and first time being able to realize a "bucket list" trip thanks to award travel.
Here was our itinerary (started in SFO):
Barcelona -> Granada -> Cordoba -> Seville -> Ronda -> Setenil de las Bodegas -> Malaga (only to fly out of).
Planning began last summer, and the flights were booked then. Since this was the first time we've ever flown in J and it was the honeymoon, I wanted to make sure we spent a little extra for a nicer European carrier, and I wanted to try two of them. So on our flight there we flew KLM into Barcelona via Schiphol, and for the flight out we flew Air France from Malaga via CDG. We opted against doing TAP or Ibera for two reasons despite them being more direct: the product/service is apparently not as nice, and for Iberia it would have required a positioning flight into LAX. Next time we do Spain though, I definitely would give them a shot.
Points and cost break down
We did a LOT of research on the best programs and flights to do this trip and ultimately landed on Flying Blue. For one, while they do have fees, they were not exorbitant. For two, their products were very well reviewed. I'll get more into our actual experience in the review section below. But also crucially, there just happened to be a point transfer bonus going on at the same time from Chase that boosted our points by 25%.
Airfare:

• Total Points on flights spent: 205,000 + ~$1000 in fuel charges for 4 J one way tickets (+25% transfer bonus totalling to 247,000 points booked)
  
• SFO -> BCN 128,000 + $500 for x2 J on KLM
  
• AGP -> SFO 119,000 + $500 for x2 J on Air France. [We had originally planned on getting back to Barcelona or perhaps connecting up through Madrid to fly back home, but we discovered Malaga had ridiculously cheap redemptions out of Malaga this time of year for AF. Don't be afraid to not always go for the biggest cities to fly out of! We booked our flights first and figured out our plans later, so this ended up determining the overall itinerary we ended up taking.]
  

Other travel costs, all booked in advance about 1-2 months out:

• BCN -> GRX: $220 for x2 tickets on Vueling (paid for the checked luggage in advance). [This was the only other flight we did as the train from Barcelona to Granada would have taken all day, while this flight is only an hour. It would have been cheaper to fly into Seville or Malaga but we chose to follow a "better" route for our itinerary to correctly time some festivals we wanted to experience.]
  
• Renfe high speed rail: $~30-40/pp, each leg. [We did this from Granda -> Cordoba -> Seville]
  
• Bus: Only real way to get to Ronda and Setenil from Seville. $~30/pp for a (miserable) 2hr bus ride from Seville -> Ronda (we showed up late and the bus was cramped). $~11/pp for a 45 min ride from Ronda -> Setenil. $~25/pp for a 1.25 hr bus ride from Setenil -> Malaga.
  

Hotels:
We only booked one hotel on points and it was in Barcelona. Overall, we found mom & pop run B&B's and AirBNB's to be a far better value than traditional hotels in most of Spain. But, Barcelona had some good options for some redemptions. Ultimately we decided on:

• Barcelona - Wittmore Hotel. 116,000 Hyatt points for 4 nights (29,000/night, which was their peak season rate that had just kicked in for May).
  
• Granada - AirBNB Riad $466.40 USD for 2 nights. [We kind of overpaid on this, but the property was gorgeous and we really wanted to stay in a well located riad which this place was.]
  
• Cordoba - Patio del Posadero. $168 for one night + $35/pp for their optional breakfast. [Absolutely fantastic place and the breakfast, while being an upcharge, was well worth it.]
  
• Seville - AirBNB rooftop apartment. $613 for 3 nights. [Again, slightly overpaid for this compared to other options. But, the location was flawless and the rooftop view of La Giralda was impossible to beat.]
  
• Ronda - AirBNB apartment. $50 for one night
  
• Setenil de las Bodegas - vacation 3 story rental cave house. $120 for one night. [We really wanted to sleep in a cave house and this rental company (not associated with AirBNB) had a great selection for stupid cheap prices. We didn't need all the space but why not?]
  
• Malaga - Barcelo Malaga. $159 for one night. [Picked mostly because it was right next to the transit terminal.]
  

Reviews and other notes
Airside:

• SFO lounge of choice was the Delta Skyclub, in a different terminal from our flight. The KLM lounge was closed for renovation, and they were having people go into China Airways lounge instead. That looked terrible, so we decided to just deal with going through security twice. With CLEAR + Precheck, it was a non-issue. Getting into Skyclub took a bit of work. We had to show the receptionist the policy on Delta's website that says any Flying Blue J tickets gain access (not just Delta) as their scanner can only recognize Delta tickets. Even still, we were denied - until they manually looked up our ticket using their terminals. Only then did we get in. Overall, the Skyclub was great. Not too busy, free (basic) cocktails, and the food + showers were good. Loved the view too. We were there for breakfast and lunch.
  
• KLM business class was fantastic, but they screwed up our seats during an unannounced plane change so everyone's seats got scrambled and none of the couples were sitting together in the honeymoon configuration (my spouse was directly in front of me). While disappointing, it didn't impact our experience of the flight much. All of the food and drink was great. We especially liked their house Negroni. The seat itself felt quite new, and offered a lot of privacy which I loved. The cabin did run a bit hot though, which made it hard to sleep. I thought with lie down seats I'd be able to enjoy sleeping on the plane more but because we had a 2pm take-off my brain just wasn't having it so it was more like a sleepy nap. Still, I'm officially spoiled. The best part though was the service. ALL of the attendants were sociable, attentive and very kind. They even gave us a cute little gift for our honeymoon (and of course the ceramic houses).
  
• At Schipol, we had a 5 hour layover that we split between went to two of KLM's flagship lounges, one on the schengen and non-schengen sides. The non-schengen lounge was absolutely incredible. Two levels, including an outdoor patio! The food options were great, seating was plentiful. The only thing we didn't like is that they were charging for drinks here (at full price...) unless you went to some tiny tucked away bar where they would only serve you basic beer and wine. There was a completely unused restaurant on the second level too that felt like a big miss. We took a shower, which was fine - but the shower was a little small for my liking. On the schengen side, the lounge was much more modest but perfectly functional. Again, not much to drink... except for the G&T dispenser, which we made liberal use of.
  
• When flying out, we went to the Malaga lounge as it opened at 5am. We weren't here for long but it was perfectly adequate. It was neat being able to see out on the tarmac on one side while on the other side seeing a zen garden + the airport interior below.
  
• We connected to CDG, and went to the Air France lounge on the non-schengen side. Wow, CDG is as much of a shitshow as they say to connect through, but as long as you follow the signs we managed just fine. We only had 45 minutes inside the lounge here, and found the lounge to be quite disappointing overall, especially compared to KLM's offerings. It was small and crowded, thrown into a basement with no view and only had one buffet section that was also crowded and constantly being drained of food. Your only drink options outside of coffee were to pour yourself some wine.
  
• Air France was by far, much worse than I was expecting (I only learned later that they JUST introduced a totally new business class product a month before our trip). The boarding experience was a complete shit show - they just had all groups, 1-4 line up at the same time, and then had to have everyone stand aside on the long catwalk to let in the wheelchairs that they forgot to let board first. The plane was at least 30 years old and showed. My seat's footrest was completely detached from the seat. The seat itself was far less functional in how it used its space compared to KLM's and it was much less private feeling. I get it, I don't need to be on a super new plane every time but things were pretty in disrepair. Our toilet on our side of the plane was completely out of order, which I didn't learn about until after I had already used it (they knew about it before and didn't bother to tell me). I paid for Wifi, which then did not work at all for the entire flight. Food was pretty good, and I liked how many courses there were compared to KLM. But again, like at the lounge, drink options outside of wine were quite bad, pretty much the only thing they could make us cocktail wise was a basic G&T. The service was overall quite bad. Everyone was super nice and put on a good face, don't get me wrong. But outside of meal service, you pretty much had to track down an attendant for anything. Nobody ever responded to attendant calls and the expectation was to just go up to the mini-bar and help yourself to something (which I liked in concept but in reality they mostly just had apples and crackers and water there). Overall, it wasn't bad. The food was good and it was a lie down seat. But compared to KLM, it was no comparison.
  

Groundside:

• The Wittmore hotel was initially only picked because all the cheaper Hyatt's in the area were booked out. By oh my god, am I glad I went with them. By FAR the best experience we've ever had at a hotel. If you visit Barcelona, just go here. It's that good. The service was spot on from the moment we walked in and were treated to complimentary cava to the moment we left and they let us eat breakfast before opening time while they booked a cab for us. The hotel itself looks gorgeous, and they have this lovely interior courtyard many of the rooms look out onto that you dine in. It's tucked away in the heart of the gothic quarter in this charming little alleyway. An area that we later learned was THE place to be for Barcelona at night. All within a 5 minute walk were some of the best tapas we had and some of the best bars we went to. The room itself was fantastic - super comfortable bed, good bathroom and gorgeous finishes. The minibar is completely free and doesn't cheap out - it includes fixing for making gin & tonics, cheese boards, nice water and was restocked every day. Breakfast is, somehow, completely free every day - and it's a full service 3 course breakfast where every dish we tried was fantastic. I don't know how they make money doing that, but it was sure an awesome value addition. On top of ALL of this, there was a lovely rooftop pool with gorgeous views of Barcelona that we could order drinks up to.
  
• I'll skip reviewing the airBNB's since they are so seasonal & can't be booked with points, but we enjoyed staying at each one. Not an airBNB but we especially loved Patio del Posadero in Cordoba. Definitely book this one with cash if you're visiting Cordoba. Similar experience and level of service as Wittmore Hotel, but in a tiny 8-room B&B that a couple runs. Wittmore + Posadero really made us feel like we were in an episode of BBC's Poirot, which absolutely tickled us.
  

Total out of pocket costs

• 320,000 UR points
• $~1000 fuel charges
• $~3000 all other food, airfare, travel, lodging, souvenirs

​

Proof

All orders are insured by me. Free shipping on purchases over $500. Purchasing details are at the bottom of the post.
The necklaces, stamped 925, weights vary within the amount stated in the heading.

💍 Sterling Necklaces 💍 - Weight is approximate (-0.25g / +0.75g) 

Price	Qty	Description
$8	12	5g - 1.2mm - 24"
$15	11	10g - 1.7mm - 24"

🏅 Gold 🏅 

Price	Qty	Description
$26	1	1/4 Gram Monarch Precious Metals Round - Horse Shoe
$79	11	1 Gram Geiger Gold Bars - Original Series
$236	1	2017 1/10oz Rooster Lunar Series II
$1090	1	1902-S $10 Cleaned with BU details Reverse

👑 🥈 Silver 🥈 👑 

2oz QB Completers are selling for $90+ each on eBay. Each one comes from a sealed monster box that I opened.

Price	Qty	Description
$24	1	Partial 1999 Silver Proof Set (Half, Dime, Nickle, and Penny)
$73	3	2021 2oz Queens Beast Completer no Capsule
$10.50	11	1/3oz Silver Shot Bottle
$29	3	1oz Silver Shot Bottle
$57	6	2oz Silver Shot Bottle
$29.50	5 6	1oz Silver Card (Can ship for $1.25 via risky shipping if wanted)
$290	3	Sealed Pack of 10 - 1oz Silver Cards

🇺🇸 Live Free Poured Silver 🇺🇸 as low as $28.90/oz 

Price	AR15
$70	#10 - 2.3 oz AR15
$76	#11 - 2.5 oz AR15
$76	#13 - 2.5 oz AR15

​

Price	Small 1911 / Big 1911🔫
$67	#20 - 2.2 oz 1911 🔫
$161	#11 - 5.3 oz 1911 🔫
$164	#13 - 5.4 oz 1911 🔫

​

Price	.223
$52	#16 - 1.7oz .223
$51	#17 - 1.7oz .223

​

Price	Paperweights - Crucible Breakers
$367	#13 - 12.7 oz (Can add hammered finish for $10)

🧱 3D Printed Multi-Tubes and Holders - Plastic Manufactured in the USA 🧱 

Maze Tubes for 90%
Multi-Tube Holders for 90%
Perth Mint Roll Pyramid Stackers

Please read the following:

• All metals are verified with my Sigma Metalytics machine. Pictures available upon request (1/10oz and up).
• Prices may be subject to market price changes if extreme enough.

Payment Options:

• I accept Zelle, Venmo, CashApp, and PPFF. For all payment methods, no text in the notes field, emojis only. Keep the transaction between friends; goods and services payments will be refunded (minus transaction fee) and cancelled.
• Willing to listen to reasonable offers. Asking what is my best price is not an offer, it's a fishing expedition. Please no low ball offers as they will be ignored.

Shipping:

• My personal insurance ends when the tracking number is marked delivered. Due to not having tracking, items shipped via risky shipping do not include insurance of any kind.
• I package and tape well. $5 Shipping for First Class up to 10 troy oz, $10 Priority after that. Extra services added at the buyers request and expense (signature, insurance).
• Can also ship via UPS.

Sooo I matched with this guy on bumble in june last year we talked for a couple of days before meeting, our first date was pretty decent and cool we met for a walk and talked for hours the next date we ended up making out sooo to clear everything out he told me he’s not ready for something serious as of now but we’ll see how that goes I agreed cause tbh even I wasn’t in the right mindset for a proper committed relationship so I was like okay sure 🤡 possibly my dumbest decision ever
So we did this whole whatever it was for about 5 fucking months, it was basically dating we were exclusive too without the tag, he was practically like my best friend with a romance connection mixed ,every time we used to meet he used to tell me how we could be a thing or like he likes me too much but in the end he would just not give us the label not that I asked for it because I was cool until the 4 month mark hit, I told him that I was okay until now but I really can’t do this for this long without any commitment and for a fact I got attached to him just way too much after a few months.
He told me I can’t do the serious committed thing I said we just don’t have a label other than that we’re practically dating only so he was like idk man I just can’t I was like okay we have different view points it’s better to end it but it didn’t end that day he kinda convinced me in the end and I was too much of an emo mess that day so I agreed another blunder🤡.
So now we’ve entered jan this year, this one fine day we decided to meet like the usual but he told me his friends made some other plan so I could also accompany them I was like tf I’m gonna do with your friends even though like I did talk to his friends couple times in the past when me and him used to talk on call he would keep the call on speaker sometimes and we all would just have a fun convo that was fun though, so that day even his friends convinced me that we’re really excited to meet you and stuff so I was like okay lemme come . His friend specially came to to pick me up from the station because only he had a bike then I met with his friends it was pretty normal and fun just like a normal outing the moment I reached my flat back I get a text from him saying wanna talk I understood obviously 🤡 I straight up asked you wanna end this? So he’s like yeah I feel like "you’re getting very serious and I can’t do itna serious rn" just 10 mins after we hung out with his friends just 10 mins after we both were so normal and kissing eo goodbye .I was like why in the world didn’t you tell me just 10 mins back when we met anyways so I was like if that’s what you want okay fine I won’t bother you anymore and I didn’t till date I knew I won’t beg even for a second because the hell I knew how much effort I did put in this whole connection and if he couldn’t value me at that he never would’ve anyways and honestly the only thing I could just never let go for a guy was my self respect . No matter how much that broke me completely so much specially for a person like me because I hardly cry and I hardly feel that weak but guess so everyone’s gotta feel that way, that guy was literally my first everything so💀 but yeah I’m still thankful for the memories and lessons this whole fiasco taught me. I don’t even hate him tbh the first rule of letting go and moving on is to let go of all the strong feelings and I have, today I do feel so much better and feel like such an improved version of myself istg i know this got so big sorry🐒

Diets as they currently function really just make absolutely no sense in Evirma. Currently, you just arbitrarily get circles, hot dogs, or squiggles randomly depending on what your dino is supposed to eat. But why on earth do Galli and Beipi both get the same diet from frogs, but one gets the same diet from sumac but not the other? It just makes no sense and limits gameplay and forces players to eat certain things rather than encouraging them to as you'd expect.
It's particularly nonsensical for carnivores, as organs randomly all give a specific nutrient, but somehow, potentially not a single ounce of the rest of the corpse could give you a nutrient. Or it could give you one, it's completely arbitrary.
This is of course not mentioning that for some reason dinos in Evirma can only eat up to 3 things before they have to force themselves to vomit if they want to eat something else. Why is there just a random limit..? Why is there an actual game mechanic that encourages you to vomit intentionally??? Why can I eat some squiggles and as soon as I take one bite too many I now have two things of squiggles, forcing me to either throw up or accept that I have two squiggles. Sure, sometimes you want two squiggles, or two dots, or two hotdogs or whatever, but the fact you're forced to play around this because it's so randomly limiting is not fun.
Here's my proposal for a diet system that still lets you pick and choose what your buffs are, encourages dinos to eat certain foods, and still gives you the flexibility to eat other things if you want.

• The three hexagons now are no longer equal in value. Which diet is most important is different for each species. Carno for example might need a lot of dot diet but not a lot of hotdogs. They also decay at different rates for each dino. If you really wanted to get in-depth, you could make different activities (fighting, running, growing, etc.) take differing amounts. I don't think this part is necessary to work, however.
  • Your nutrients now are tied to your actual stomach contents- you cant have 100% for all three diets unless your stomach is 100% full. You can't have 50% for all diets if your stomach is 50% full. If you wanted, you could remove hexagons and have it physically show up as separate colors in your stomach, showing exactly what you filled your stomach with.
• Hexagons no longer need filled up to give benefits- benefits are given based on what % of the hexagon is filled, not if they randomly hit a certain amount of that diet eaten.
• All plants and animals can give all three diets. However, they give them in varying amounts- A Dryo could give very little or no hotdog, but a lot of squiggle, for example. Organs continue to only give one diet, but now they're not the soul portion of squiggles in a dryo, for example.
  • Ideally, you'd have it organized so that the squiggles, hotdogs, and dots actually represent what they're supposed to- Animals tend to give more protein, varying depending on what the animal is, with speedier animals giving higher amounts of protein, chunkier ones giving more lipids. Plants would give more carbs, with some fattier plants such as coconuts giving more lipids.
• Having your diets low causes a poor diet- let's say, below 25% you start taking appropriate stat penalties for not having enough of that diet. Above 50%, you start obtaining bonuses appropriate to the percentage of diet you have. It is not based on time that your diet has been low, it is based on the percentage the diet is at. If your diet is at 0% for all three, you will have serious stat penalties. If you manage to keep it around 20% but can't get it over that 25% mark, your penalties will be minor but won't continue to decrease.

What this accomplishes:

• There is now way more player agency in diet. You can eat different items as you find them without them just being a waste of stomach space, or you can gain some diet from eating them even if they're not particularly satisfying towards what you actually need. For example, if you're a baby carno, you can eat a frog which, while probably not enough to satisfy any of your diets, will give you something in all of them.
• Still punishes players for eating improperly without forcing them down a certain dietary path.
• Puts hunger above your dietary needs. Dietary needs should come second to not starving. In the current game, they almost never do because they are so strict on how much you can fill them up.
• Removes the need for a diet list and encourages players to experiment to find what foods are best for their playstyle. One player might find that they greatly prefer just gorging themselves on fish as a ptera, another might find eating babies is far more satisfying for them, and neither is inherently penalized for their playstyle like they are currently.
• Removes many, many arbitrary limitations to the current diet system, while still keeping the benefits. You can still functionally have two hotdogs and a squiggle if you eat the right things, it's just now you're not limited to those diets if you decide you want something else.
• Encourages players to constantly search for food to balance out their diet as best they can for maximum benefits without forcing them to traverse the entire map for one food item, or giving them crazy hunger drain.
• Makes all food valuable, just with more value for some foods than others, with what is valuable depending on the species' needs.
• Can encourage omnivores to actually eat an omnivorous diet- in varying quantities as well- by making them need more proteins/carbs depending on which you want them to focus on.
• Makes more sense to newer players- it should come more naturally to them, as this is how diets work in real life. You need to eat the right nutrients to stay healthy, but you're not limited to 8 specific foods you can only get those nutrients from.

Foreword:
Hi everyone! This is a continuation piece of my previous work (might probably will turn this into a series/proper universe down the line), however reading it isn't necessary for understanding this story.
Any and all criticism is welcome. Hope you'll like it!
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For captain Gryio, it was a pretty uneventful afternoon shift aboard his mining ship, prospecting beyond the Imperial border. He was looking outside into the void from his cabin, watching automated drones bring asteroids full of rare metals into his ship's belly, when his comms officer, Lila, walked in on him with a datapad. She explained to him that they captured a transmission on the short range public interstellar channel. Curiously, the transmission came not from within the Imperial border, but from without. It seemed navy in origin and simply read: "To anyone who hears this message, forward it whole to the nearest Imperial ship or station as fast as possible. The reward for the first person to do so will be 100 thousand Imperial crowns." What followed was about a minute of what seemed to be static. Gryio, a former navy officer, recognized in it a classified message that was encrypted, so no one without the proper software would be able to read what it says. Navy messages coming from beyond the border usually meant pirates, however pirate warnings were always without any encryption. Thinking he would rather get the money than rummage through classified navy business, he ordered his comms officer to retransmit it to the nearest Imperial border outpost. What he didn't know was that the transmission would end up being sent to two locations. As it turns out, the comms officer made a deal some time ago. A mysterious individual aproached Lila with an offer. He would pay for her father's surgery if she gave him a valuable piece of information about the Imperium's actions on the frontier. A desperate sounding encrypted Imperial navy broadcast was sure to be worth more than fixing up an old man's heart, she thought.
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Some time later, at the Imperial navy HQ, located at the Imperial capital, the message caused quite a lot of upheaval. It said that the 16th Imperial exploration fleet made violent first contact with a newly discovered intelligent race.
The fleet's commander, a young prince of the Heyduk kingdom, decided that the smartest thing to do was to conduct a raid on the species' planet, the Earth, hoping to prove himself as a warrior, this attempt ending when an explosion took of his leg and forearm. The species', the Humans they call themselves, military then managed to push back the Imperial marines to their original landing site and forced them to evacuate to their voidships. They left with heavy casualties, with several of their landing craft being shot down as they attempted to fly to orbit. The prince, before being put into an artificialy induced coma to help him heal, then called for reinforcements directly to his father, the king, using a genetically matched long range transmitter that only he could use. His second-in-command then ordered a retreat behind the moon of the Earth. A lone SIGINT vessel, the Poltergeist, was then ordered to return back to Earth's orbit to monitor any attempt by the Humans to shoot back at the Imperial ships. After not hearing from the vessel for half a day, they decided to peak from the dark side of the moon to establish visual contact. When they saw the Poltergeist's wreck entering the Earths' atmosphere, the crew presumed dead and entombed within the ship, they decided to call for help properly. With his most powerful antenna destroyed and the second one being unusable by anyone except a half dead aristocrat, the second-in-command used the public channel, desperately hoping that anyone would listen and retransmit.
One of the officers present then cared to check the Imperial navy Central Information System, and sure enough, a small military transport fleet of the Heyduk navy just left port, with their stated destination being a system on the edge of Imperial space close to the newly discovered Earth. The fleet was ordered back home. The young prince broke both Imperial and Common Galactic law by initiating first contact violently without provocation and considering the already shaky relationship between the Imperium and the the Galactic Alliance and the prince being, ultimately, an Imperial officer, the prospects for a quiet resolution weren't good. Someone finally ushered the words: "The Emperor should know about this."
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On a port orbiting a world far away from the Imperial capital, Hako Undu was at a bar, drinking, when his datapad got a notification. It was a message from the local company handling interstellar comms that he got a message. He payed for his drink and left for the nearest message kiosk. He downloaded the message without looking at it and went to his apartment. Once there he opened it. "Hope it's enough. Lila," read the message. He recognised the name as a girl he managed to strike a deal with. It also had an attachment. The attachment was an audio file, with a voice ordering the listener to retransmit it to the nearest Imperial forces and a minute of static. Hako walked to one of the cabinets in his apartment and moved it away, revealing a safe. He entered the passcode and opened the safe. Hako pulled a small box out from it. He connected his datapad to the box and ran the program that was installed on it. This decryption computer wasn't as powerful as the one they had back at the Bureau, but it should give him an idea if the message was worth passing on.
Once the box finished it's work to the best of it's ability, Hako played the now deciphered message. Not everything was intelligible, he didn't expect it to be, however with every passing second he wanted to hear more. An Imperial aristocrat and officer, initating first contact violently without provocation, wounded and forced to retreat with heavy casualties? He even heard something about a Poltergeist burning up in atmo. Hako had to stop himself from audibly laughing. Considering the events of the last few years, he found himself with the key that the Bureau, and by extension the Alliance, can use to push back against the ever more audacious Imperials. He put the box back into the safe, locked the safe and put the cabinet back in it's place. Then he walked to the ugly part of the station, the part where you can find a guy that does illegal interstellar transmissions that can't be tracked back to their origin. Once he had done his business there, he went to his bank, where he made a transfer of several thousand Imperial crowns to a bank account whose details he had memorized a long ago. "The lass struck gold while literally prospecting for gold," he thought as he signed the transfer papers, smirking to himself.
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The Imperial palace was usually quiet this time of day. Today, howerer, a visitor is causing ruckus. His uniform would tell you that he is from the Imperial Intelligence Agency, First Contact Detachment. They are the guys making sure that any first contact goes down in accordance with the Imperial and Common Galactic law while gathering intelligence on the contacted species and, most importantly, that nobody messes anything up. And boy did they mess up this time. When his superiors knocked on his door with the top secret preliminary report about the whole Earth situation, he was suprised that anyone would entrust him with intel that highly classified. Then they told him that he would be presenting the whole ordeal to the Emperor in 2 and a half hours. Before he had time to ask any questions, they shut the door behind them after wishing good luck. They probably wanted to safeguard themselves, shifting blame to a lower ranking agent if anything more went wrong. He then studied the report, memorizing the most important event, numbers, names and the general timeline. When he was done with his studies, the transport to the Imperial palace was already waiting. He double timed it through the palace, stopping before the Emperors study. A servant opened the door and our agent walked exactly three steps into the room before kneeling, as the protocol required. The Emperor then spoke to him: "Rise. I am expecting you agent. But before we begin, please tell me your name." "I am lieutenant Coje Wetr of the Imperial Intelligence Agency, First Contact Detachment, my lord" said our agent. "Good, lieutenant, good. Please, take a seat, and begin"
The whole presentation took about three quarters of an hour, with the Emperor asking supplementary questions for about half an hour more. Coje noticed that the Emperor was slowly turning more agitated, however he managed to hide it well, but not so well that a trained intelligence officer wouldn't notice.
"The Hayduk king, a fool that has even more foolish children. I should have never given his son the commision, but it's too late for regret. The question is, agent, what do we do about it? We pushed against the Alliance, and it looks like the universe pushed back for them. If they find out what happened, they might be emboldened to consider economic or even military action, and we have no chance of quick and decisive victory against the whole Alliance at once, the best we could hope for is a slow battle of attrition, either of the military or economic kind. Do they even know about these so called Humans?" spoke the Emperor with a severity that he reserved for only the most difficult circumstances
Coje replied: "The exploration vessel that originally found them was civilian, meaning they presumably spread the word at the first opportunity they had. Being the first to identify a new intelligent species is a rare thing these days and such a discovery would bring them a lot of fame. But, considering the location of this Earth, everyone probably thinks that initiating first contact themselves isn't worth travelling through the whole Imperium, so they presume that we will be the ones to do the honors. However, this is just conjecture based on the limited information we have available. As far as i know, an exploration fleet from one of the Alliance nations could be asking for permission to travel through our Imperium to this new world right now."
The Emperor thought for a while, then motioned for the agent to come to him. He whispered: "Then we have to be fast. I want you to make sure that the expedition to Earth never happened. Make sure that nobody ever mentions that an Imperial exploration fleet made it to that system. Bribe, imprison or kill anyone that doesn't cooperate willingly. Purge records and falsify new ones when needed. We must convince the galaxy that the fleet that attacked that planet were pirates, or renegades, or mercenaries, or deserters, just that it wasn't us. Now, go home, relax and sleep well. Tomorrow morning, a courier will deliver an Emperor's charter to you permitting you to use any and all resources that you might need in fulfilling your mission. You are also immediately promoted to major, so that your colleagues take you more seriously. I expect regular updates on your progress. You may now go, Major Wetr. Good night, and good luck. The future of the Imperium sits on your shoulders."
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The headquarters of the Galactic Alliance Intelligence Bureau is naturally one of the most secretive places in the galaxy. That is even before you enter the eastern building's cellar. Within it is a security guard that usually hangs out near one specific briefing room present there. The odd thing about this room is that it seems to never gets used. If you say the right thing to him, he places his ID card on top of the speaker's table, revealing a secret elevator. Ride the elevator down, and welcome to the top secret Directorate "J" of the Bureau, a whole department dedicated to gathering intelligence on the Imperium, buried under enough concrete to withstand nuclear bombardment. Now it's time to pass through a dozen biometrics checks to make sure it's truly you.
The Directorate is filled with the best and brightest intelligence officers the Alliance produces. But it wasn't always like this. Two decades ago, Directorate "J" was seen as the most useless of the bunch. The only meaningful intel they produced back then was finding about lower then expected productivity on an agri-world a few weeks before it became public knowledge and other similar matters. The "Jokers", they started to be called. But then, a new Emperor came to the throne, more ambitious then the previous one. Suddenly, ships and stations on the border between the Imperium and Galactic Alliance started going missing, their crews and passengers missing or dead. At first, these were attributed to pirates and renegades, however as time went on, more and more evidence came out pointing at fact that these attacks were to well coordinated to be random bands of pirates. Things started pointing at a more organised force. Once the probability of the Imperium being directly involved reached "maybe", all of Directorate "J"s activities were marked Top Secret/Need to know only and every current and former member was persuaded to never talk about anything they did as agents of the Bureau. With the Imperium's recent hawkish policies againts a species not yet in the Alliance, the pressure to find something that the politicians could act upon. Considering that the Imperium exports a lot of it's raw resources to the Alliance, and also does a lot of it's manufacturing, no action could be taken unless concrete evidence of the Imperium's transgressions could be presented.
A message was received by the Bureau. The encrypted code at the beginning identified the agent from whom the message came, and the letter "J" signaled which Directorate it should go to. The agent receiving the message 250 meters underground listened to it. She then notified her supervisor, he then notified his superior. In about 20 minutes, every Directorate higher up present was listening to it in the Director's office. Someone shed a happy tear and declared: "We got them boys and girls, we got them!"

I knew the day would come but it was especially heartbreaking that it came on National Bike Day. 😭
I took my Brompton out of it's IKEA home and carried it down the stairs. When I set it down I immediately noticed is was very wobbly but I could not see the cause. I unfolded it so I could top off the tires like I usually do and that's when I realized the front tire was completely flat. Pancake flat.
My Brompton is usually left out for a little while when I return from a ride, and I was positive the tire looked normal as it was standing there a few days before, and later when I folded it up and placed it in the EKET.
My tires are kept between 95-100psi and I top them off no less than once a week. The roadways here have the occasional glass and rogue hardware pieces and a depressingly high number of seed pods (goatheads?) and potholes but I think I do a good job of avoiding them.
A thorough inspection of the tire and tire wall shows zero rips, tears, punctures or wear marks. Nothing looks amiss but when I try to inflate the tube it deflates just as quickly.
Unfortunately, I discovered all this too late on Saturday to get to the "local" Brompton dealer (more than an hour away by car) before the shop closed. Both it and my LBS are closed on Sunday.
So now I'm staring at my bike and I'm wondering if I should attempt a fix.
I have instructions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z1-h5s5FBs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUP-PCs_oFU
New inner tube? Check.
New tire (if necessary)? Check.
15mm spanner wrench? I thought I didn't but then I remembered I bought the Brompton toolkit a few weeks ago and there's one in there. Check.
15mm socket and torque wrench? No. However I could use the spanner and take the bike to my LBS Monday and ask them to adjust it that one bolt to the proper value.
I can deal with a puncture or pinch flat hopefully, but what are the chances the culprit is a protruding spoke? Am I making a ton of work for myself for no reason since there's no way I can fix that?
If others could share their experiences it might help me make a decision. 😇
By the way, what is the usual price for a shop fixing a front flat on an Electric?

I read volume 10 a while ago and thought I’d take some notes and recording my reactions to events as I went through it. If people enjoy this, I’ll consider doing it again for the following volumes.
These notes are not edited beyond some grammatical errors corrected and some questions that I had that were answered on the next few pages. These are my raw reactions to events as I was reading.
Note- there are some scenes that were skipped because I was too involved in actually reading the book to record my thoughts on them. Most notably, the scene where Uzuki and Sakuta ride bikes together.
Chapter 1

• So we finally get to see Sakuta in college and he’s at a bar of some sort. It’s a mixer for one of his general classes, so he doesn’t really know anyone here.
• Of course he’s all alone, but he did have an acquaintance (Takumi Fukuyama) from his major (statistical science) sit with him for a bit before he went flirting.
• Who’s this girl? Never heard of her before. Miori Mitou. She’s a different major, so I don’t think she’ll appear too often after this. She also has no phone, like kindred spirits I suppose.
• He’s rather famous himself, it seems. Dating a celebrity will do that.
• She also mentions adolescence syndrome. What does she know about it? Has she experienced it herself?
• Looks like it’s been a year and a half since volume 9, and nothing of note has happened since? Sakuta was too busy studying to notice I guess.
• Sakuta has a job as a tutor, that’s kinda surprising for someone who doesn’t like to study. He has two students: 1 guy (Kento Yamada) and 1 girl (Juri Yoshiwa) who both go to Minegahara. The girl is taking this seriously while the guy only chose Sakuta to get girl advice. He’s not shy about saying what he wants either. He’s a little too honest I think.
• Futaba’s also tutoring at the same cram school. I wasn’t sure if we’d ever see her again after high school.
• Kento was a little too loud and she overheard. There’s also another teacher that tried to get with a student. What a terrible idea. Her name is Sara Himeji. Apparently Kento has a crush on her.
• Sakuta hasn’t seen Mai for a month? Damn that’s quite a long time to be away. I guess that’s what being in showbiz gets you. Hopefully she comes back soon.
• Kunimi passed his firefighter training! Good for him. Plus he’s got a job lined up. It’s perfect job for him I think.
• Mai came back earlier than expected! Yay!
• Kaede got a job at the same restaurant that Sakuta works at. I’m both surprised and at the same time not. Surprised that she got a job and not surprised it’s at the same restaurant.
• Seriously, Sakuta, if Kaede has a phone, you should too.
• Any Sakuta/Mai interaction is great, and this is no different. Too bad it didn’t last longer. Also the agency is getting on their case about being together in public. Such a shame.
• Ikumi Akagi, Sakuta’s former classmate in middle school. I know she comes up later based on the synopsis for volume 11, so I guess we’ll see where she factors into the story for now.
• It seems that people thought Sakuta took Miori home, when that wasn’t the case. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to do something like that.
• Who is this Touko Kirishima person? Seems like an internet musician that doesn’t show her face, adding to the mysterious aura around her. There’s a rumor that it’s Mai, but it’s definitely not her. If it was, she’d be open about it.
• So Sakuta picked Spanish as his foreign language elective, huh? Maybe it’s a little easier to learn than English.
• Miori is attached to Sakuta for some reason. I hope it’s not for nefarious purposes.
• Miori’s got a bit of an ego. It might be misplaced, but I can’t say for certain until I know a little more about her.
• Finally we get Uzuki, the titular character, a quarter of the way into the book. Took long enough.
• Sweet Bullet might break up??? This can’t be happening! They’ve lost two members, but there’s still five! There’s still an opportunity here!
• Uzuki going solo? She’s got the appeal for sure. I could see her doing well as a solo act. She is the lead, after all
• “Only a dumbass would talk to you,” says the dumbass talking to him.
• It’s clear that Nodoka values the work that all the members of Sweet Bullet did together and doesn’t want it to end. Now that their future is under threat, she’s at a crossroads where she doesn’t know what to do next. It was only a matter of time before this sort of thing happened.

Chapter 2

• Uzuki being able to read the situation? It’s out of character, so this seems to start the plot for the volume. Probably has something to do with the possible breakup of Sweet Bullet.
• I’m taking a liking to Takumi. He just says whatever’s on his mind.
• Imagine someone acting like a normal person being cause for concern. It is odd for Uzuki though.
• Nodoka being stunned at Uzuki having a chill conversation about a serious situation makes sense. Going from a total airhead to someone that can read the room is quite the shift, especially if it happens overnight.
• At least Nodoka and the others managed to sort out their differences for now. I fear that it won’t last that way for long though.
• Holy shit! Mai in twin tails! Also Miori’s there; I wonder what she wants.
• Oh, she’s in one of Mai’s classes. No biggie then.
• So Miori’s a big fan of Mai. I’m sure she means no harm, but I feel like I’ve seen this before, but in a different series.
• Futaba has started wearing makeup. That’s a surprise. Not necessarily a bad thing though.
• So the syndrome affect Uzuki, but not because of her own insecurities, but the insecurities of her friend group. Interesting. A similar thing happened with Mai, except instead of disappearing completely, her personality disappeared. Such a weird phenomenon.
• Tomoe’s growing out her hair. I like it better short tbh.
• So Uzuki is Touko Kirishima, or at least a front. What an interesting twist.
• I love that Kaede is a big fan of Uzuki and Sweet Bullet. Just something about it makes me smile.
• Uzuki’s starting to get big as a solo act. I wonder if this could possibly break up the group organically.
• Well this just got kinda sad, as this series typically does. Uzuki finally realizes that she was being made fun of for years and never realized it. Her newfound ability to read the room has given her a perspective that she never had before, and now she’s coming to grips with that fact. I wonder if she’ll change her behavior when or if this problem resolves.

Chapter 3

• The dichotomy between Juri and Kento is rather striking. Kento strikes me as similar to Uzuki before she changed— not really paying attention to his surroundings and just saying whatever’s on his mind. I’m sure it’ll come up later as well.
• Tomoe can be rather cynical at times. She’s got a point though: no one cares about an entertainer unless they’re entertained by them or they get famous.
• So Sara is looking for a math tutor? I think I know where this is going.
• “If you really want to understand the math, I’d say Futaba-sensei’s better. She’s mostly physics but does math, too. If you just wanna pass the tests, I’m more your speed.” Gotta admire the honesty in that self-assessment.
• Uzuki’s getting very popular now. Hopefully it brings attention to the group more. I don’t want to see them break up just yet.
• Rumors are circulating about Uzuki leavening the group. This is not good.
• Uzuki seemed out of it at a rehearsal, so maybe those rumors have some truth to them. She’s also skipping school for a day, so maybe it’s a sign of some form of depression?
• So she doesn’t think the group is good enough to play in the Budokan. That’s a realization that really hurts.
• Uzuki’s newfound people skills have made her realize that she isn’t the same person she used to be and that she’ll never be able to go back to that. There’s a certain amount of sadness in that, but, at the same time, there are so many new opportunities that open up because of it.
• Might be some drama going down at the concert. Who knows what will happen? My guess is the announcement that Uzuki goes solo.

Chapter 4

• So Mai can drive, huh? It’ll make getting around a lot easier for sure
• Uzuki’s voice dies during the concert. This has got to be part of adolescence syndrome. She must’ve known about this for a while as well.
• So it’s come out now that Uzuki was offered a solo career, but turned it down. I’m guessing it’s because she still wants Sweet Bullet to play the Budokan, but without her voice, that would make it impossible.
• So the remaining members are banding together to finish what they started. With the concert the next day, they should be able to perform well. Uzuki has quite the presence, though, so without her, it might be difficult to keep the same kind of energy going. Losing the center is hard, but coming together for the sake of the center is what helps strengthen the bonds of the group.
• Uzuki lied about losing her voice. I know it is so that they could prove to her that they could do a show without her, but I find it rather odd. It suggests that she already has a solo project in the works and has decided to leave the group. If that’s true, that’s heartbreaking.
• Holy shit that moment where they all came together to sing as one. Awesome, just awesome.

Chapter 5

• So Uzuki dropped out of college, started her solo career, and stayed a member of Sweet Bullet? Good news all around.
• Touko Kirishima finally shows her face. It seems like she has the ability to give people adolescence syndrome as well? Seriously, who is this person?

Overall, I enjoyed reading this volume. It’s rather low stakes for the most part as it mostly sets up stuff for later in the story.