"Drop me off over there," Parker instructed the driver; he had bargained a ride from the sanitation worker in charge of Homestead's latrines. His fee was reasonable but a strain on Parker's tight budget, nonetheless. It was night when he arrived at the recombinant lodge, and he could tell by the obnoxious noise that the whole dozen were inside. The clamour was enough to make Parker want to circle back, but the driver had already pulled out. After swallowing the lump in his throat, Selfridge braved the building.
The house was filled with boisterous activities. Some recoms were playing darts, having custom-made their own set using rifle bullets. Being limited in what goods were available to them brought out their creativity. Their taste in music didn't need to be custom-made, however, and the rock hits from the past played for their pleasure. Selfridge feared getting stomped on as he shoved his way past the sinewy recoms towards the centre, where Warren was regaling a story with Quaritch.
"—slapped me full across the face, shrieking, 'I thought you said you'd treat me like one of the guys.' I'm like, 'B****, have you seen Marines? That was equality.'"
Quaritch burst out laughing when he caught sight of Selfridge from the corner of his eye. "Oh, hey. Lookie here." He sniffed. "You don't often pay us a visit."
Soon, all the devious recombinants gathered too closely around Parker. He fidgeted, trying to give himself space from their fanged smiles and hot breath.
"Hey, little man," sang Fike.
Johnny loomed over his ear. "I can smell your fear."
Parker threw retorts from "cut that out!" to "rude!"
CJ waved Zhâng over. "Hey, Z-Boy, come help Pops up so we can all see him."
Zhâng mischievously rubbed his palms together. "You got it, Z-Dog."
Parker could only hurl protests as he was hoisted above the crowd to be plopped on the island in the centre. Standing on the counter, he was now above their eye level, but he felt far from respected as he hastily tucked his ruffled shirt back under his pants.
"So, what brings you to our neck of the woods?" Quaritch asked.
He straightened out his tie before replying. "I got word of your guys' next assignment. You're going to be leaving Bridgehead for a while."
"Where are we going?"
"The Omatikaya's old village—Hometree. The dozers have finally finished clearing a path, and we're ready to mine. From what I've learned, they want you to guard the site till the bucket-wheeler gets there, which will take about two months. So I came to ask if there's anything you need ahead of time."
"Pads!" Walker blurted out from across the room.
"I thought I dealt with that?"
"Things suck at absorbing. It's like they're made of cardboard."
Brown winced. "TMI, Walker."
"Could use some drinks." Warren shrugged, but his commander gave him a look.
"For a mission?"
"I mean, when we come back to celebrate. We have to settle for water," he explained to their overseer.
Parker spotted the glass at his feet, and sure enough, it was filled with the clear liquid. "What's wrong with the beer Bridgehead makes?"
"You wanna drink the brand they send us?" He reached behind the counter and brought up a can for Parker. The unimaginative label simply read "Viperwolf Beer." "Viperwolf Piss, more like," Warren remarked. He tried opening it for Parker, but the recom couldn't work his elephantine fingers under the tab, so he punctured it with his teeth. He then handed it to Selfridge, who was slightly grossed out by the polite gesture.
Parker held his breath, removed his visor and took a quick swig before setting it back on. He smacked his lips. "What's wrong with it?"
"Must be our taste buds, then," Quaritch sighed.
"You guys can't drink this?"
"We can't use most of the stuff they send," CJ explained.
"Why not?"
She cocked her shoulder. "Too big. Too small. Doesn't fit. You name it."
This was news to Parker, as he had been too busy arranging things from behind his desk to ask how they were doing and was now finding out that no one else had either, except for their psychiatrist, and he was contractually obligated. "What's it like for you guys? Being Na'vi?"
"We're not Na'vi," Quaritch corrected.
"You know what I mean."
"It's..." Brown started up, then stopped. He looked to Prager, who gave a shrug, then to Lopez, who was just as uncertain.
"It's different," Lyle droned.
"Like how?"
"You mean aside from banging our heads against doorways?" Johnny half-smiled.
"Howbout threading your tail through the hole in your boxers?" Quaritch added.
"Do you trip on it when you get out of the shower?"
"Yeah, sometimes," he chuckled.
"Hey, at least you guys are living someplace where it's quiet."
"Not quiet where you live?" asked Zhâng as he leaned against CJ; the two were always resting one limb off the other's shoulder.
"Hardly. Every other hour, I get a lovely siren blaring outside my window. I'm like, 'Thanks, I needed that. Yes, scare me out of bed with an ear-piercing scream so I know it's time for other people to get to work. Thank you.'"
Lopez patted him on the back. "Least you don't have overly sensitive hearing."
Parker laughed. "Yeah, that's gotta be hell." Deciding it was worth it, he removed his visor to take another dangerous sip. "It can't be all bad, like you got those long legs which makes walking easier. Me—I have to walk a mile and a half just to get to my apartment. If I want to rent a ride, it's from an operator of heavy machinery. You think something with sixteen wheels would go fast, but no. Course, my apartment overlooks the sanitation plant. Since those aren't anywhere near where the rich people live, they don't bother dousing the smell. No. I get that privilege."
The recoms concurred with Parker as he assuaged his skittery nerves with yet another swig. Quaritch was surmising that if he kept drinking this way, he'd pass out from lack of oxygen; however, as the evening wore on, Selfridge proved to be more resilient than he thought.
His brief popover extended into the witching hours as the overseer exchanged with his recoms like-minded testimonies of their new life within Bridgehead. The alcohol intake, on top of regularly depriving himself of air, meant Parker's choleric temperament melted away till he was positively giddy, resulting in him leaning back on the table with his tie undone and hair dishevelled from all the times he brushed it. In this unflattering state, the human happily regaled his "kids"—by no prompting, just a drunken man's caprice—about their early days in space.
"I think I came by your guys' tank at least three times a week to watch you grow. I mean, what else are you going to do orbiting a moon for five years?"
The team blinked and exchanged glances. Considering they were naked and vulnerable, floating inside an amino tank, it was unsettling to learn they were being observed.
"You were watching us?" CJ inquired anxiously.
"Oh yeah, I was—" He burped, and the man had to detach his EXO pack briefly. "I was there watching all of you."
Walker crossed her arms and discreetly covered her chest.
"You started this small." He cupped his two palms together to cradle the invisible fetus. "Then you got this big!" He demonstrated by fanning out the whole of his arms. "Somewhere during that time, they said to me, 'You-you gotta take care of these guys.' I'm like, 'Whoa! Hold on there"—he hiccuped—"they're like, how many pounds? Five hundred? And pure muscle!' I was all, 'Oh, no-no-no. Why do I have to be in charge of them?
"You were the most twitchy!" he blurted to Lyle. "Every time I came by your tank, one of your limbs always smacked the side. Felt like you were trying to grab me." Fike chortled at the way his buddy's freckles brightened in embarrassment.
He turned to Zhâng. "You were the most behaved. I liked you. Let's see where's..." He searched the room until his eyes fell on Brown. "I remember you. Your forehead pattern looked like, uh... Like, uh... It was like one of those damn Rorschach tests—reminded me of a..." Parker repeatedly snapped his fingers. "Of a wolf!" he beamed, happy to have finally remembered.
No one made a peep, not even a cough, as Brown went completely still.
"I spent hours watching you guys. Especially you," he stupidly admitted to Quaritch.
"What?"
"To see you was...something else. First, you were this tiny, little baby—kind of cute, actually. Had to keep reminding myself that that adorable thing was you." Parker issued a wheezy laugh; the humour he saw in it escaped everyone else. "You were so peaceful, sleeping in your amino tank like a babe in a cradle. What a comparison, right?"
Quaritch said nothing as he deliberated on taking Parker home.
The room went quiet while the man, filled to bursting and completely inebriated, slumped over on the counter and curled up to sleep.
"Alright, who's got the car keys?"
Walker jingled them in the air at Quaritch. "I do. Shall I drive him back for you?"
"No, I'll do it."
"You want the keys? You let Bridgette drive." Mansk grunted. "She's protective of her baby."
Quaritch cast a wary look at Walker.
The new vehicle issued to them, known as The RTV (Recom Transport Vehicle), was a behemoth that could hold all twelve and required special training to drive. Walker took to it from day one, and the others had to rely on her for rides. They discovered she was an expeditious driver who could weave through the densest traffic thanks to her right-of-way attitude. Quaritch wasn't keen on being escorted by her; her driving was enough to put anyone on blood pressure medication.
"Throw Papa in the RTV," she instructed and strutted outside before her commander could decline.
With little choice, Quaritch sighed and went over to Parker. He was the size of a child compared to him, and the recombinant reluctantly cradled him in his arms to proceed on out.
From the lodge, the others watched the entertaining scene of their commander struggling to prop up Selfridge in the back seat. Blocking out their sniggers and Parker's drunken giggles, the irritable colonel rammed the buckle into the latch, then finished off by slamming the door. After a few brisk wipes of the hands, he strutted over to the front, gripped the RTV's frame, and hoisted himself through the window to slide into the front seat.
"What the hell are you doing!" shouted his driver. "You'll damage my seats with your boots."
"Walker, shut your pie hole and drive!"
She shifted gears while muttering unflattering descriptions, then, bringing her foot down upon the gas, made a sharp turn of the wheel that slammed Quaritch against the door. His harangue rolled into the night along with the vehicle.
With the fun was over, the recombinants decided to call it in. Lopez looked across the room and saw Brown crouched in a corner, deeply absorbed with feeling his forehead. His face was still, and his eyes were blank. "What's eating him?" Lopez leaned to Warren.
The burly man knit his brows. "You don't know?"
"Know what?"
"Tyler was eaten by viperwolves—ripped apart by them. Poor kid. I think his death was the most dragged out."
Thomas called it a night and walked off, but Angel lingered on the way Brown's eyes were glued to the floor like his mind was elsewhere.
"Tyler?" Lopez rubbed his shoulder to help stir him out of his trance. "You okay, amigo?"
His lifeless eyes gazed up. "Angel?" An outline of a faint smile appeared on Brown, and he nodded. "Yeah, I'm okay."
"We're packing it in."
"Oh, right."
Lopez helped him up and carefully watched Brown's eyes to make sure he wasn't slipping back into the void.
Led by the arm, Angel slowly escorted his brother back to his cabin.
⊕
Uniqueness was not the RDA's priority when they constructed the city of Bridgehead. The bastions against Pandora's forces all had to be well insulated to block out Polyphemus' radiation, resulting in a thick, unvaried appearance, which also made it harder for drivers to discern one building from the next.
Walker manoeuvred the RTV into a tight parking spot, and Quaritch hopped out.
"He's right. It does smell," Bridgette remarked, leaning out of the window. "You know what room it is?"
"I know it," Quaritch dismissed. He had obtained that information when he and Lyle returned Parker's point card; they had failed to reach him at his office before closing, resulting in another odyssey.
Moving into the building's cramped vestibule, Quaritch readjusted his grip on Parker, whose arms flailed about like a rag doll. The giant pulled his blue tail clear from the sliding hatch and was careful not to smack his overseer's head against anything—he wasn't successful. Once the room cleared of its excess carbon dioxide, Quaritch, while cradling the sleeping man with one arm, removed the EXO pack. The hardened Marine didn't like playing keeper, but he didn't want Selfridge sleeping in their lodge. Given how many swigs the man had, he thought it better for him to relieve himself in the sanctuary of his own apartment than risk falling into a recombinant latrine.
His one-room apartment was on the fifth floor, and Quaritch tried to quietly make his way up the stairs, muttering profanities under his breath every time he tripped on the narrow steps. When he reached the locked room, it dawned on him that he needed a keycard. He plopped Parker down to frisk him for his wallet while having to pause several times to use his breather. Frustrated to the brim with his large fingers unable to pinch out the darn thing, he decided to just tear the seam and hoped the complex wasn't under any kind of neighbourhood watch. In the end, the simple task of getting Parker into his apartment had become a monumental feat.
"Yah better 'preciate this," he grumbled as he slapped the opened wallet across the door sensor. The panel slid back and deemed him entry.
Taking him up once more, Quaritch manoeuvred his way into the tiny room, failing, once again, to keep Parker's head from hitting any furniture. When a bed was found, the colonel no longer made the effort to hush his cursing and dropped Selfridge onto his mattress like a bag of dirt. With his duty over, Quaritch flicked the EXO pack to a corner of the room and made to leave, but as he turned, his tail got caught between his legs, and he tripped full onto the floor. So much for the tail providing balance. The loud thud of his landing had jostled a picture frame onto his chest, and when he picked it up, Quaritch did a double-take; he was looking at his team on the day they graduated.
All twelve were happy to be wearing their team patch for the first time. Off to the side of the smiling Titans was Parker Selfridge, proudly holding up a plaque with their insignia. It depicted a human skull inside a Na'vi one, with the queue morphing into a snake. A cordon below boasted the phrase "Deja Blu. We will tread on you." Through Parker's help, the colonel had some say in its design. It wasn't much, but when the artist showed him the preliminary sketch, he scrawled three lines over the human skull, then gave it his approval.
Quaritch reminisced over the graduation day with a soft chuckle. Following the ceremony, they had kidnapped Parker for their graduation party. Prager had stolen his tie and wore it for a headband while Lopez juggled his cufflinks. After a few rounds of tossing the little man around in a crowd surf, they stranded him on top of a forklift, where he yelled at them profusely. Seeing how hot and bothered it made him, they offered him a drink to cool down—by dunking him in a water barrel.
It didn't escape Quaritch's attention that Selfridge chose to hang the photo in the privacy of his room rather than his office. Dwelling on that thought, Miles realized Parker never displayed any photos of family and concluded it must be because he had none.
The whole thing was becoming a surreal experience for Quaritch. His relationship with Selfridge back in the old days was far from friendly. He tolerated the choleric blowhard to a point, but when push came to shove, it was only because Parker was too weak of an opponent that the powerful Marine didn't pop his head off his shoulders. Yet, here they were, in what may as well have been another dimension—him in an alien body, squatting in an impoverished apartment before the same Parker Selfridge, snoring away on an exposed mattress—and there, in Miles' hands, was evidence that the lonely man would rather have his pocketful of bastards than nothing at all.
He set the photo back on the shelf and left the room.
Walker inquired as to why he was so quiet during their drive back, but Quaritch dismissed her with a terse remark that he only wanted sleep.
———
In the jungles below Mt. Txurseng, Mo'at stood before a bonfire. She was adorned in her blue feather shawl that bounced from each spastic movement of her bizarre dance. She repeated a strange litany, answered by the congregation of Na'vi crouched around her fire. She cast into the embers a mixture that made it burn brighter. The fire blazed, and the intensity of her dance heightened. Many Na'vi watched the esoteric performance with bated breath. Her lithe body flowed in strange ways, contorting effortlessly with the spirit that moved around and through her. Kiri studied intently on what is required of "she who interprets the will of Eywa." Upon finishing her dance, Mo'at slammed her palm against the grassy floor and went completely still. The breathing of the crowd ceased, and only the crackling of the fire could be heard. Mo'at gazed darkly into the flames before turning to her people.
"We cannot force our Mother to talk."
"This drought is worsening," a Na'vi decried.
"When will we hear Her voice again?" a woman threw in.
"Ask not when. Let us ask why? Why has She been silent?"
"She is displeased. We have fallen too far from The Way."
"What of other clans, Zuzey?" spoke Mo'at with great authority. "The other tsahìks have said the same. The breathing of the world is incoherent. The ayatokirina' move mindlessly. This silence is across all clans."
"But other clans are holding us at fault. Lesser tribes look down on us like Anurai. We of the Blue Flute, one of the oldest and most revered of people, now a clan to be pitied!"
Another joined in. "Since the Time of the First Songs, we have done nothing differently except use the methods of the Skypeople—our enemies. We are losing The Way. Eywa hasn't gone silent. It is us who have gone deaf!"
Norman of the Skypeople rose up. His garments were Omatikaya save for his field vest and belt. His avatar stood tall over the others. "You have Skypeople living among you who cherish your ways, but we are forced to use the ones known to us in order to live."
"Na'vi live as Na'vi. Skypeople live as Skypeople. Olo'eyktan of the Dreamwalkers, it is different for us. You of another star have never heard Eywa before. You do not know what it is we have lost."
"True, Äi'ut. I have never seen or heard Eywa, but I have still developed a faith in Her." He smiled humbly.
"Rider of Last Shadow, what do you say?" spoke the unhappy Äi'ut.
Neteyam was kneeling by his father when he looked at him. Jake was in deep contemplation. He was impressive in the firelight with his hair ornaments of sharp red quills. The three fangs of his collar, a trapping that once belonged to his fallen clan brother Tsu'tey, were just as threatening in appearance as his black feather mantle. "That I see into your complaints. But I also know this enemy and their weakness. I have only been protecting my clan using the methods I know will work."
"Yet they slaughtered so many of us, and now they're on their way to Hometree. And you've forbidden assault on their machines!"
"We cannot afford to attack until we learn more of these new warriors."
"Olo'eyktan, these methods we agreed to have cost us in ways too great. We gave in to their ways, and now the enemy grows ever stronger, and us weaker!"
Jake could only listen as the others began hurling blame at him for leading them astray. Mo'at tried her best to tame the row, but each voiced complaint fueled the fire.
"The silence began the moment a demon entered Eywa!"
Kiri gasped. The thoughtless remark humiliated and disgusted the Tskaha family, and Jake was incensed. He was preempted by his mate, who sprung to her feet to face off the dissenter. "Do not speak of our school mother in that way. She is not a demon," she growled fiercely.
The Na'vi bowed his head low and cast his gaze away. He had attended Grace Augustine's school alongside Neytiri. In those days, the children referred to her as Sa'nok (Mother), and she was greatly loved by them. Sadly, over the years, only a few held a torch of her memory as others favoured forgetting her benevolence.
"Why, then, can we not hear her spirit when we connect to the Tree of Souls?" another countered.
Jake and Neytiri always championed for Grace, but they had no answer for this reasonable question. For reasons unknown, no one could commune with Grace Augustine's spirit. Grace had died while she was linked to the Tree of Souls, but despite this, she never once appeared before anyone who connected. It was as if she never existed. It troubled Jake greatly, and rumours began to spread that Eywa did not accept Skypeople spirits. Neytiri would silence this blasphemous talk by reminding her people that this same logic would be applied to Jake. Would their own Toruk Makto, whom Eywa, Herself, selected, also be turned away? The doubters argued that Toruk Makto did not count, for he was no longer a Skyperson once he became Omatikaya, unlike Augustine.
All the talk of spiritualism gave Jake a headache. Of course, the scientists had explained to him that the Na'vi did not actually communicate with spirits. When they connected to neural trees, they were, in fact, uploading a "screen capture" of their minds, and it was this copy of themselves that other Na'vi could talk to, leaving Jake to conclude that Grace must have been too weak to perform her backup. It wasn't an uplifting explanation, but it was the one that satisfied scientists; however, deep down, Jake hoped that they were spirits so that one day he could talk with her again. What an obstinate thing hope was, he thought with a smile.
"Before Grace died, Jake proclaimed with an authoritative tone. "She told me, 'I am with Her, Jake. She is real.' My daughter does not talk. Does that mean she is not here? No. She is with us. Just as Grace is with Eywa."
Kiri saw into her father and thanked him with misty eyes.
"But why is Kiri silent?" a new voice contended. "We don't even know whom she mated with. Was that also unnatural, like her daughter's birth?"
"Is it safe to even train her to be tsahìk?"
"Silence! I will not stand here and have my family insulted," Neytiri hissed. "Kiri is my daughter. Who here will accuse her of being born of a demon? You dishonour GraceOgusteen's memory with such talk!" Neytiri looked to Kiri, and the mother saw where she was needed. First signalling to her husband with a subtle nod, which he returned, she led their daughter away so as to spare her from further pillory.
Jake came to his feet. He stretched his arms out to signal to his clan he was going to speak. "It is not The Way for us to interpret the will of Eywa. Mo'at, what do you say?" He bowed his head to her.
"I cannot speak on behalf of one who has said nothing. If we have been wrong, Eywa would make it known to us. But I will say this. I train my granddaughter because out of all of us, she is the most like our Great Mother—for she, too, is silent."
———
Once far enough away, in the quietude of a peaceful glade, did Kiri give in to her emotion, but gentle hands turned her around.
"Kiri..." the mother soothed.
"Do they speak truth? Eywa is quiet because of Mother?"
Neytiri shushed her gently. "Daughter, why would this be?"
"I do not know..." she signed in defeat. "I know I cannot talk with Mother. I think because I am different."
"Come. Come here." Neytiri pressed her frail daughter to herself. She smoothed out Kiri's wavy hair and recalled the time she tried to braid it. The fussy child had no patience for sitting, let alone having her hair pulled into tiny knots. Only after coaxing her with a bead worn by her mother's avatar was she able to do something with her hair. Even Jake was impressed by Neytiri's accomplishment and gave her a thumbs-up when he saw their little daughter stepping out of their tent with that single triumphant braid.
Neytiri looked down into her daughter's doe eyes. "Your father is different, but Eywa still chose him," she reminded, holding the five-fingered hand between her four.
"The others say I should not be tsahìk. I think they are right."
"They are not right. They are only afraid. They seek something to blame."
"I don't know what Eywa sounds like. I don't know what I sound like. How can I interpret Her?"
Neytiri thought for a while as she stroked her daughter's back. "Do you know how I first met your father? I found him trespassing in our forest. I was ready to shoot an arrow through his heart." She felt Kiri shudder. "Then an atokirina' came down and landed on my arrowhead. Without speaking, I heard it say no. Without speaking, that one pure spirit changed everything."
Kiri was still downcast, but to hear Neytiri say these words, spoken in the warm tone of a caring mother, served to calm her.
"You are different, Kiri," she whispered with her head pressed against hers. "You are my little atokirina'."
———
Jake was melancholy when he returned to his grotto. The yawning Omatikaya retired for the night, but he traipsed the cave with a troubled mind, so it was a welcome thing for him when he picked up the hints of inviting pheromones. He turned around and faced Neytiri; she had just put their daughter to bed and had purposefully sought him out. With a resolute nod, she beckoned him to follow her to the mountaintop. Yet, instead of fluttering her lashes at him, she aggressively stripped her husband's feather mantle and set it respectfully on a moss-covered rock.
"Uh, Honey?"
She faced him with a grimace. "Teach me."
"Teach you what?"
"To fight like the warriors of your clan."
Jake's eyes bugged out. "You want to learn how to fight like a Marine?"
"You say many times you know how to fight this enemy. Teach it to me. I want to be ready when I face these demons using our skin."
He was still recovering from the shock of his wife—a royal descendant of a clan older than humanity—a people who fought with bows and arrows, spears and bolos—demanding to be taught martial arts. "Well...I guess I can," he said, running his hand across his neck.
Jake instructed Neytiri to back away a few steps to give herself a wide berth for their training session. He stalled, deliberating on what fighting style would suit her best. Since she was small, he decided to go for Krav Maga, as it served to give users an advantage over much larger opponents. The Israeli martial art was an ugly but effective fighting style with its origins rooted in helping civilians defend themselves against fanatics. It aimed for the quickest takedown, regardless of what it takes to get there. For Neytiri, it was a perfect fit; Jake's only problem was having to ignore that she was his mate long enough to teach it to her.
Looking at her slim build compared to his, he was starting to have second thoughts. "You sure you want to do this?"
He didn't need a reply; her resolute scowl was enough.
"Alright then."
He began with the jabs, keeping fists close to the most vulnerable area, the neck, then proceeded to strike at his opponent. Neytiri mirrored him, and her speed was impressive. It was something else for Jake to see her boxing the air; it was the first time a Na'vi practised a human's fighting style. The Omatikaya did not specialize in combat like their aggressive Tipani brothers, but that didn't mean they weren't skilled.
Impressed with her agility, he decided to move on to the next phase: how to disarm your opponent. He drew out the RDA tactical knife that had killed Anotang. He kept it on his person as a dark memorial and a reminder of what was out there. He first shielded the tip with a cloth before guiding her on the many ways to work it out of his hand. One way was to thrust her clamped fists over his bicep and push downward, deflecting his oncoming attack. Most people freeze up when an enemy comes at them with a weapon; however, Neytiri fought viperwolves and slinths. She rode both the thanator and the great leonopteryx. She had the self-control to remain calm in situations that would otherwise induce panic.
In their tussling, the cloth came off the blade, and Neytiri was cut. Jake panicked when he saw the blood on her arm. He reached to help her, but she pushed him away. "No."
"You're bleeding."
"I've bled before. Again," she ordered, her forearm quivering in pain.
Jake cleaned the knife and put it away. It was late, and they had been practicing for over an hour. "I think we better call it a night."
"No. I can keep going. Ma Jake, I want to do this."
"Why's it so important we do this now?"
Neytiri sighed wistfully. She unclasped her wound, and Jake saw the blood run down Neytiri's fingers. "I want to protect Kiri. This, I can do for my family."
Jake understood and, if it was possible, admired her more than he already did. He took her arm and patched her wound. "Crazy Sheila. You're my wife. You've borne my son. You've raised my daughter. You've devoted your whole life to protecting us. You're already a badass, what more do you want?" he chuckled. She briefly smirked back but dipped her head; Jake gave her shoulder another rub. "Let's not cram it all in one night. We can pace ourselves learning."
Neytiri perked up. "You will still teach me?"
"Of course."
Jake hugged her and thought about how lucky he was to have her. He was a simple everyman, but of all the people in the universe, the one for him existed on another planet. What a special magic it was that the invisible link between soul mates could be so powerful it could unite people light-years apart.
​

Dedicated to Stephen Lang, this is the sequel to James Cameron's Avatar. This story does not follow the events of ‘The Way of Water' or any other continuation, only the 2009 movie, which serves as the foundation. Same characters but an alternate reality plot.
You can read for free on Google Docs, Wattpad, A03, Fanfiction.net

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Astoria • Long Island City • Sunnyside • Corona • East Elmhurst • Elmhurst • Forest Hills • Fresh Pond • Glendale • Jackson Heights • Kew Gardens • Maspeth • Middle Village • Rego Park • Ridgewood • Woodside • Bayside • Bellerose • College Point • Douglaston • Flushing • Floral Park • Fresh Meadows • Glen Oaks • Kew Gardens Hills • Little Neck • Whitestone • Howard Beach • Ozone Park • South • Ozone Park • Richmond Hill • Woodhaven • Brookville • Cambria Heights • Hollis Hills • Hollis • Holliswood • Jamaica • Jamaica Estates • Jamaica Hills • Laurelton • Queens Village • Rochdale • Village • Rosedale • Saint Albans • South Jamaica • Springfield Gardens • Arverne • Bayswater • Belle Harbor • Breezy Point • Broad Channel • Edgemere • Far Rockaway • Rockaway Beach • Rockaway Park • Roxbury • Seaside Brooklyn • Midtown*Manhattan*SoHo Upper East Side• Staten Island • Long Island • Jersey Shore Cities *Connecticut*Los Angeles*Beverly Hills*Burbank*Studio City*Long Beach*Los Angeles*Downtown L.A.*Glendale*Sacramento*Lake Tahoe*San Francisco*Palm Spring*Annapolis*Baltimore*Bethesda*College Park*Potomac*Frederick*Silver Springs*Dover*Wilmington*Philadelphia-Center City*Las Vegas,NV*Central and South Florida.
*We are hiring for elite companionship only, i.e. great conversationalists,refined taste,someone who is accommodating gentleman or lady to parties,dinner dates,nightclubs, cultural & social events and more.
Whether you are new or experienced, We provide a safe and friendly work environment and a very legitimate escort company.
Escort jobs are in all actuality better than many other jobs, especially if your alternatives are minimum wage retail or fast food.
We have been in business for five years and despite the economy business is still booming!
All clients are upscale,professional,established gentlemen and ladies in the U.S.
90% of our clients are repeat customers and we have an extensive database of regular clients.
Any new clients are thoroughly screened via several different methods before booking.
*Safety is ALWAYS our top priority*.
You MUST be genuinely interested in dating men or women.
A few reasons why you should consider working with us:
Woman owned and operated.
Relaxed and drama free working conditions.
Flexible schedule,You can work one day a month or every day of the week,(except Sundays)
Professional and Elite clientele.
Our clients are carefully screened & selected.
We only advertise in the best of places.
Professional & Experienced Marketing services.
Requirements:
1)Must be 20+ with valid ID ,YOU MUST HAVE A GREAT PERSONALITY WITH Very Attractive.
GOOD LOOKS THAT CAN MELT A MAN OR WOMEN WITH JUST ONE GLANCE.
Every person has different taste so it’s important for you to portray who you are so you attract men or women that are genially interested in you. Escorting jobs wouldn’t be any fun if you had to be someone you're not.
WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT (YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A PROFESSIONAL MODEL TO TURN HEADS)
(If you are over 45 with good looking appearance, we want to hear from you too!)
2) Female or Male (all ethnic backgrounds welcome),very well groomed and in good shape,honest,reliable and take care of themselves.
(Male Escorts must be physically fit,hot and sexy and needs to be confident but not arrogant, yet savvy.) Male Escorts need to be very proficient in making a woman feel safe and relaxed,plus have unique classical sense of style.
Ladies must make a gentleman feel confident and secure. Ladies also need to be curvaceous, sexy and demonstrate the sense of class and fashion.
3)Must have an open mind, a mature mentality and adventurous in nature always willing to work on yourself and smart. Be charming and desirable is a must.
4)You MUST BE Clean and Sober {If you have a Drug, Alcohol or Pill problem, Apply somewhere else!}
5) Have a regular job,attend college regularly or looking for extra income.
6)Be able to maintain a great conversation.
7)Always have a great smile.
8)Must have own a working cell phone & reliable transportation(the clients will reimburse your transportion fees from Cab,Uber and Lyft services)
9)Flexible hours and schedule, able to work at least 10 hours per week
Typical working hours are 12:00pm –1am EST (with flexibility).
You will NEVER work past 2-3 A.M.
10)Be a strong and independent person who can handle lots of different situations.
11) Minimal to NO tattoos.Experience shows that our clients are very reluctant to make a booking with a girlfriends for hire companion that has multiple or obtrusive tattoos, piercings or scars.(Tattoos are perfect for male companions)
12)You MUST be genuinely interested in going on dates with men or women.
13)Must be dependable and punctual. Have an accommodating and versatile personality and feel comfortable in a variety of social situations and circles.
NO NUDES PHOTOS PLEASE!!
All applications and emails including nude photos will be immediately deleted!
*ALL applications and pictures are 100% confidential* *Also make sure you include your phone number, because it will expedite the application process\*
Give us an email to apply and your bills can be caught up before the end of this week!
If you are interested in working with one of the BEST COMPANIES, Email for more information:[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) about our company.
Thank you for your interest and I look forward to working with you soon.

Busy Agency Now Hiring! No Experience is Necessary!
We are a women owned, women operated company looking forreliable,attractive,educated,charming ladies & gentlemen who enjoy socializing with high caliber gentlemen and ladies who are looking for the finiest arm candy dates or companionship with women an men ages 20 and over.
We are interested in professional,well-traveled,cultured women and men with class and style who feel they have the ability to make a man or woman feel relaxed,confident and heard when they are going on a date.
We’re currently hiring for Female & Male Escorts,college graduates and students,fashion models,entertainers,dancers and actors & actresses, airline stewardesses,housewives,secretaries,girls and boys next door types in the following NYC,NNJ and other areas in the U.S:
Astoria • Long Island City • Sunnyside • Corona • East Elmhurst • Elmhurst • Forest Hills • Fresh Pond • Glendale • Jackson Heights • Kew Gardens • Maspeth • Middle Village • Rego Park • Ridgewood • Woodside • Bayside • Bellerose • College Point • Douglaston • Flushing • Floral Park • Fresh Meadows • Glen Oaks • Kew Gardens Hills • Little Neck • Whitestone • Howard Beach • Ozone Park • South • Ozone Park • Richmond Hill • Woodhaven • Brookville • Cambria Heights • Hollis Hills • Hollis • Holliswood • Jamaica • Jamaica Estates • Jamaica Hills • Laurelton • Queens Village • Rochdale • Village • Rosedale • Saint Albans • South Jamaica • Springfield Gardens • Arverne • Bayswater • Belle Harbor • Breezy Point • Broad Channel • Edgemere • Far Rockaway • Rockaway Beach • Rockaway Park • Roxbury • Seaside Brooklyn • Midtown*Manhattan*SoHo Upper East Side• Staten Island • Long Island • Jersey Shore Cities *Connecticut*Los Angeles*Beverly Hills*Burbank*Studio City*Long Beach*Los Angeles*Downtown L.A.*Glendale*Sacramento*Lake Tahoe*San Francisco*Palm Spring*Annapolis*Baltimore*Bethesda*College Park*Potomac*Frederick*Silver Springs*Dover*Wilmington*Philadelphia-Center City*Las Vegas,NV*Central and South Florida.
*We are hiring for elite companionship only, i.e. great conversationalists,refined taste,someone who is accommodating gentleman or lady to parties,dinner dates,nightclubs, cultural & social events and more.
Whether you are new or experienced, We provide a safe and friendly work environment and a very legitimate escort company.
Escort jobs are in all actuality better than many other jobs, especially if your alternatives are minimum wage retail or fast food.
We have been in business for five years and despite the economy business is still booming!
All clients are upscale,professional,established gentlemen and ladies in the U.S.
90% of our clients are repeat customers and we have an extensive database of regular clients.
Any new clients are thoroughly screened via several different methods before booking.
*Safety is ALWAYS our top priority*.
You MUST be genuinely interested in dating men or women an placing all of focus on the client.
*Enjoy birthday & private parties,weddings,nightclubs,corporate & cultural events and more or a great night at an upscale residence with one of our affluent & professional clients\*
A few reasons why you should consider working with us:
Woman owned and operated.
Relaxed and drama free working conditions.
Flexible schedule,You can work one day a month or every day of the week,(except Sundays)
Upscale and Elite clientele.
Our clients are carefully screened & selected.
We only advertise in the best of places.
Professional & Experienced Marketing services.
Requirements:
1)Must be 20+ with valid ID ,YOU MUST HAVE A GREAT PERSONALITY WITH Very Attractive.
GOOD LOOKS THAT CAN MELT A MAN OR WOMEN WITH JUST ONE GLANCE.
Every person has different taste so it’s important for you to portray who you are so you attract men or women that are genially interested in you. Escorting jobs wouldn’t be any fun if you had to be someone you're not.
WHETHER YOU KNOW IT OR NOT (YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A PROFESSIONAL MODEL TO TURN HEADS)
(If you are over 45 with good looking appearance, we want to hear from you too!)
2) Female or Male (all ethnic backgrounds welcome),very well groomed and in good shape,Attentive,honest,reliable and take care of themselves.
(Male Escorts must be physically fit,hot and sexy and needs to be confident but not arrogant, yet savvy.) Male Escorts need to be very proficient in making a woman feel safe and relaxed,plus have unique classical sense of style.
Ladies must make a gentleman feel confident and secure. Ladies also need to be curvaceous, sexy and demonstrate the sense of class and fashion.
3)Must have an open mind, a mature mentality and adventurous in nature always willing to work on yourself and smart. Be charming and desirable is a must.
4)You MUST BE Clean and Sober {If you have a Drug, Alcohol or Pill problem, Apply somewhere else!}
5) Have a regular job or attend college regularly.
6)Be able to maintain a great conversation.
7)Always have a great smile.
8)Must have own a working cell phone & reliable transportation(the clients will reimburse your transportion fees from Cab,Uber and Lyft services)
9)Flexible hours and schedule, able to work at least 10 hours per week
Typical working hours are 12:00pm –1am EST (with flexibility).
You will NEVER work past 2-3 A.M.
10)Be a strong and independent person who can handle lots of different situations.
11) Minimal to NO tattoos.Experience shows that our clients are very reluctant to make a booking with a girlfriends for hire companion that has multiple or obtrusive tattoos, piercings or scars.(Tattoos are perfect for male companions)
12)You MUST be genuinely interested in going on dates with men or women
13)Must be dependable and punctual. Have an accommodating and versatile personality and feel comfortable in a variety of social situations and circles.
NO NUDES PHOTOS PLEASE!!
All applications and emails including nude photos will be immediately deleted!
*ALL applications and pictures are 100% confidential* *Also make sure you include your phone number, because it will expedite the application process\*
Give us an email to apply and your bills can be caught up before the end of this week!
If you are interested in working with one of the BEST COMPANIES, Email for more information:[[email protected]](mailto:[email protected]) about our company.
Thank you for your interest and I look forward to working with you soon.

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for the delay again. I'll try to make sure this doesn't happen again, or at least provide a more advance notice if there's an expected delay.
Anyways, the Winter Season has arrived, bringing in the New-To-Forza Lucid Air Sapphire and the returning Pontiac GTO Judge. Without further ado, let's get on with this season's playlist!
Stay safe and have a great week ahead!  
A Super Wheelspin is available for completing the Super7 this week.  

Forzathon Shop

The current Forzathon Shop will change on Nov 30th, 2023 @ 14:30 (UTC).

• 400FP Car: 2018 Ford #88 Mustang RTR
• 300FP Car: 2010 Mosler MT900S
• 75FP Clothing: Farid Rueda's Lion Helmet
• 75FP Car Horn: Falling
• 60FP Wheelspin
• 150FP Super Wheelspin  

Festival Playlist Rewards

• Winter - 20/70 Points: 2023 Lucid Air Sapphire (Exclusive Car)
• Winter - 40/70 Points: 1969 Pontiac GTO Judge (Exclusive Car)
• Series - 80/280 Points: 2022 Cadillac CT4-V Blackwing (Hard To Find Car)
• Series - 160/280 Points: 1986 Ford F-150 XLT Lariat (Hard To Find Car)  

Hot Wheels Events - 7 Points

Exclusive to Hot Wheels Owners; the respective Academy Rank must be unlocked. Not required for Season Rewards, Series Completion, or the Min, Meet Max Achievement.  

• Speed Zone: "The Ribbon" 193.1 km/h 2 points
• Criteria: 1993 Ford SVT Cobra R (B-700)
• Reward: Super Wheelspin  
  
• Championship: "Canyonero" 5 points
  
• Criteria: Car Type - Pickups and 4x4's (B-700)
  
• Reward: 2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1  
  

Rally Adventure Events - 7 Points

Exclusive to Rally Adventure Owners; required for you to be Horizon Badlands Champion. Not required for Season Rewards, Series Completion, or the Min, Meet Max Achievement.  

• Speed Trap: "Cascada Fuerte" 128.7 km/h 2 points
• Criteria: 2000 Ford SVT Cobra R (B-700)
• Reward: Super Wheelspin  
  
• Championship: "Renegade Master" 5 points
  
• Criteria: Car Type - Pickups and 4x4's (B-700)
  
• Reward: 1976 Jeep CJ5 Renegade  
  

Forzathon Weekly Challenge - 5 Points

Earn 80FP for completing the weekly challenge, double if you own La Casa Solariega. Must be done in sequence to count.

• Own and drive the 1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 or the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1.
• Earn 3 Stars at Speed Traps in the 1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 or the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1.
• Paint the body of the 1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 or the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1.
• Win a Road Race in the 1995 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 or the 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1.  

Forzathon Daily Challenges - 1 Point Each, 7 Points Total

Each challenge is open for 7 Days from 14:30 UTC* of the start day. Earn 10FP per Challenge, double if you own La Casa Solariega.

• Earn an Ultimate Air skill in the 2011 Penhall The Cholla
• Photograph any Muscle car at Playa Tranquila
• Earn 10 Speed Skills at the Stadium
• Earn 2 Stars at Drift Zones in any Hoonigan
• Purchase any Acura
• Drive across the frozen lake at La Gran Caldera
• Spend 10,000 CR on upgrades on any Rods and Customs  

Seasonal Events - 33 Points Total

The reward listed for Seasonal Championship events requires you to place 1st against at or above the Highly Skilled Drivatar difficulty setting; the Trial requires Unbeatable difficulty and is accessible after entering the Hall of Fame.  

• The Trial: "Powerslide" 10 Points
• Criteria: Car Type - Modern Muscle (A-800)
• Reward: 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR  
  
• Event Lab: "Marchenhaft Bergpass" 3 Points
  
• Criteria: Country and Car Type - USA Modern Supercars (S1-900)
  
• Reward: 2018 Ford Mustang RTR Spec 5  
  
• Event Lab: "Tokyo Bay Drift" 3 Points
  
• Criteria: Car Type - Modern Muscle (A-800)
  
• Reward: Super Wheelspin  
  
• Seasonal Playground Games: "Patriot Games" 3 Points
  
• Criteria: Country and Drive Type - USA AWD (S1-900)
  
• Reward: Forza Link - "I'm a Games Master"  
  
• Drift Zone: "East Coast" 120,000 2 Points
  
• Criteria: 2000 Ford SVT Cobra R (B-700)
  
• Reward: Super Wheelspin  
  
• Speed Zone: "Ranchito" 120.7 km/h 2 Points
  
• Criteria: 2000 Ford SVT Cobra R (B-700)
  
• Reward: Super Wheelspin  
  
• Championship: "Indy-pendence Day" 5 Points
  
• Criteria: Custom Restriction - Open Wheel Racers (S1-900)
  
• Reward: 2020 Ford Super Duty F-450 DRW PLATINUM  
  
• Championship: "Can you A Ford it" 5 Points
  
• Criteria: Value and Manufacturer - 100,000 CR+ Ford (S1-900) (Note that the value restriction does not count the additional value of upgrades, it only considers the value of the vehicle when it was stock.)
  
• Reward: 1973 Ford Escort RS1600  
  

Challenges - 9 Points Total

• Treasure Hunt Hot Dam 3 Points
• Treasure Clue: Get your Hatch back out and touch the Sierra Verde sky as you fly through the dam.
• Reward: 100,000 CR  
  
• Photo Challenge #TrackToy 2 Points
  
• Criteria: Photograph the 2008 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR at Horizon Mexico Circuit while in Freeroam.
  
• Reward: Clothing - Farid Rueda Lion Classic Shades  
  
• Horizon Open Knick-Knack Cadillac 2 Points
  
• Criteria: Complete an Horizon Open Event in any Cadillac
  
• Reward: Clothing - Farid Rueda's Lion Thin Watch  
  
• The Eliminator Battle Royale 2 Points
  
• Criteria: Finish 30th or better
  
• Reward: Forza Link - "MWAHAHAHA"  
  

Monthly Events - 2 Points per Season (8 Points per Series)

• Monthly Rivals Bahía de Plano Circuit 1 point per Season
• Criteria: Post a clean lap to complete  
  
• Monthly Rivals Línea Costera Sprint 1 point per Season
  
• Criteria: Post a clean lap to complete  
  

Put the "US" in Muscle Car with American Automotive  
FH5 Release Notes: November 7th, 2023  
Race Yas Marina in Forza Motorsport Update 2  
Forza Motorsport Update 2.0 Release Notes – November 14, 2023  

Reality manipulation

These capabilities are extremely flexible – they can be used to bolster some of the parameters we’ve talked about e.g. to destroy areas of space (firepower), to summon armies, cities and planets (population and population replenishment) etc.
Eldar: Rogue Trader Janus is given a vision of the Eldar past, in which he sees the Eldar building cities and Webway tunnels with ‘psychic engines’.

He hovered over the city as it had once been, in the days when mighty spirit engines had provided it with power. He saw a wonderful place filled with beautiful, peaceful people. He saw long crystalline ships flying through the sky. He saw sorcerers draw on the energy of massive psychic engines to raise vast starscraping towers whose sides were smooth as glass and stronger than steel. He saw an age of peace and plenty when the eldar dreamed their alien dreams of perfection and splendour underneath the light of an uncorrupted sun. He saw great webs of energy lace the land. He saw hidden highways being woven between the stars.
- Farseer, Ch18

As we discussed in the firepower section, the “spirit engines” from the first sentence (which may or may not be the same “psychic engines” mentioned in the third sentence) could also clearly be weaponized when the Eldar channeled their power into a sword with the goal of destroying Slaanesh (though they ultimately failed).
In Fist of Demetrius we are introduced to what is only referred to as ‘The Machine of the Ancients’. It is described as ‘the ultimate weapon and the ultimate defense’ that could ‘make thoughts and dreams real’. The Eldar who built it were supposedly devoured in the fall before they could test the machine.
When the Archon Ashterioth uses the machine he experiences a ‘god like consciousness’ and remarks ‘I know that if I work on this I can summon armies to my aid, armies that will worship me like a god, which will allow me to raise myself to heights undreamed of by the inferior intellects around me. I hear the whisper temptations of absolute power and I do not resist them.’
Almost immediately Ashterioth is attacked by a group of Imperials featuring a cameo from a young Logan Grimnar. To defend himself, Ashterioth summons a replica of Commorragh and populates it with thousands of Drukhari warriors equipped with weapons and artillery. Luckily the imperials manage to fight their way to the Archon and take him out before he gets the hang of using the machine.
Necrons: We covered The Breath of the Gods briefly in the firepower section as if it was a weapon, but it was originally built in order to feed the C’tan star energy, by draining the energy of dozens of stars at a time.
At some point, the Mechanicus Archmagos Telok finds the machine with a C’tan trapped inside it. Rather than feeding the C’tan, Telok uses the C’tan as a battery. This allows the machine to function in a way that it was not originally intended to, and in this new configuration, the machine is highly unstable, and an unimaginably more powerful reality manipulation tool. In the excerpt below we see the Breath of the Gods destroy a planet and remake a dying star. Context: The Tomioka is a ship Telok used to get to this region of space, now repurposed as a receiver for an energy beam coming from the Breath of the Gods, Katen Venia is a planet being used as fuel for this stellar engineering event, the Speranza is an Ark Mechanicus ship observing the process, Kotov is another Archmagos who is looking for Telok, Arcturus Ultra is the star being remade.

He now realised what Telok’s flagship was and why the Lost Magos had gone to the trouble of landing it in the first place. Together with the infinitesimal concavity of the plateau, the entire structure of the Tomioka was a vast receiver array; a hundred kilometres wide receiver that would channel a surging stream of unimaginable energy through its structure and into the planet’s core… Sickly bands of variegated light enveloped the planet in traceries of continent-wide lightning storms like a vast net cast around its splintering mass. The brightest point of light was centred on the northern pole, where the abortive expedition to the Tomioka had foundered… The reticulated net of light surrounding Katen Venia pulsed with one last exhalation. And exploded outwards in an onrushing tidal wave of photons and exotic particles… Moments before the rapidly expanding energy shockwave exploded outwards from the doomed world, every square metre of ray shielding and every functional void pylon ignited across the Speranza. Every ship of the Kotov fleet found its shields flare into life and its external augurs shut down at the same moment, each captain at a loss as to the source of the initiating command. The surging explosion of high energy flux, huge particle densities and pressures slammed past the Kotov fleet, scattering its ships like a spiteful warp fluctuation… It took a further seven hours before the raging swells of high-energy particles and hyper-charged gravitational wavefronts had dissipated enough for any of the fleet vessels to risk deploying surveyor arrays. Travelling at near light-speed, whatever had exploded from Katen Venia would certainly have reached the star at the heart of the system by now… What he found was far stranger, far more unexpected, and utterly unbelievable. Arcturus Ultra was no longer a dying red giant, a bloated destroyer in its last incarnation before its explosive death as a supernova. Now it burned as a life-sustaining main sequence star. Glittering bands of metallic debris, rubble and coalescing gases surrounded the newly rejuvenated sun, the building blocks of planets. Gravity and time would do the rest of the work, and though millions of years might pass before worlds capable of sustaining life could form, such spans were the blink of an eye to a galaxy. Katen Venia had gone, destroyed in the very act of creation it had propagated. Only one impossible, yet inescapable conclusion presented itself. The shock wave of unimaginably vast energies had been the corollary to an immensely powerful stellar engineering event centred upon the Tomioka
- Priests of Mars, Ch9 and & 10

Over the span of 3000 years, the Breath of the gods is used to terraform a constellation of stars and planets (including the creation of a Forge World!). To achieve this, the Breath of the Gods must be powered by an entire planet dedicated to energy generation, in addition to the C’tan battery inside (Gods of Mars, Ch11).
Telok invented nanobots which could combine into crystalline warriors called “crystaliths”. Using the Breath of the Gods, Telok is able to power these Crystaliths. Some of these are larger than Titans:

Easily the equal of an Imperator Titan in height, but as wide and long as the largest Mechanicus bulk lander, it was an impossibly huge scorpion-like creature of glass and crystal. Its segmented body was veined with shimmering lines of emerald light and low-slung between enormous legs like frozen stalactites hewn from the roof of a colossal cave. It moved with the sound of breaking glass and grinding stone, and no one could miss the similarity to the bio-mimetic crystal-forms they had fought on Katen Venia. ‘Throne preserve us,’ breathed Tanna. ‘What in the name of Terra is that?’ hissed Anders. Kotov fought to hold back his own fear, but the sight of so monstrous a creation circumvented his rational neural pathways. Nothing could stand against such a towering war-engine, not the might of the Imperial Guard, not a Titan Legion, nor even the awesomely destructive war-engines of the Centurio Ordinatus. This was death in frozen, crystalline form
- Priests of Mars, Ch21

These titans can split into tens of thousands of man sized crystaliths that can fight, and mimic simple weaponry.
The Breath of the Gods can produce lightning-like arcs of energy that can destroy starships in orbit, bypass armor by phasing into other planes of existence, and transport the nanobots which make the Crystaliths. It catches three starships with partially lit shields, turning them to charred skeletons, before proceeding to inject a third ship with a Crystalith invasion. Context: Moonchild, Wrathchild and Mortis Voss are starships. Exnihlio is a planet.

Moonchild was the first vessel to be hit. An arc of parabolic lightning rose from the surface of Exnihlio, passing through the tortured skies without apparent effort. Seen from space it appeared to expand at leisurely pace, but was in fact moving at close to four hundred kilometres per second… Even with the Gothic’s shields partially lit, the tracery of light struck the ventral armour of the prow… Moonchild exploded sequentially along its length. First the wedge of its bow vanished in a silent thunderclap of blue fire, then its midships, and finally its drive section in a searing plasmic fireball. It burned with blinding radiance for a few brief seconds as the oxygen trapped within its hull was consumed. The fires swiftly burned out, leaving Moonchild a charred skeleton of drifting wreckage. Lifeless. Inert. Ten thousand dead in the blink of an eye. Another pair of lightning arcs coiled up from Exnihlio. And Wrathchild and Mortis Voss joined Moonchild in death. More lightning flared towards the Speranza… Wrathchild, Mortis Voss and Moonchild were lifeless wrecks, blackened and lit from within by sporadic flashes of dying machinery. The lightning that struck the Speranza came straight from the heart of Exnihlio and phased through the hull of the Ark Mechanicus without apparent effort. Existing on an entirely different phasic state of existence to that which had obliterated the Speranza’s escorts, it destroyed nothing until it reached its point of focus. The first blast coalesced within the Speranza amidships on Deck 235/Chi-Rho 66, a high-ceilinged turbine chamber filled with rank upon rank of thundering engines that provided toxin-scrubbed air to a quadrant of ventral forge-temples. A tempest of blazing lightning arcs, white-hot and fluid, filled the central nave between the turbines. Ghost shapes moved within the light, hurricanes of microscopic machinery that had travelled the length of the faux-lightning from Exnihlio in seconds. The crackling bolt provided the energy, the particulate-rich air of the Speranza the raw material as solid forms began unfolding from the compressed molecules in which they had been carried. The deck’s servitors ignored the furious storm, oblivious to the threat manifesting among them. Those whose inculcated task routes carried them close to its wrath were instantly burned to cinders, their flesh and matter now fuel for the coalescing invasion. At first the Mechanicus adepts struggled to find fault with their systems, believing some ritual or catechism had been overlooked or an incorrect unguent applied. Alarm klaxons blared throughout the deck and alert chimes rang through adjacent forges and engine-temples. By the time Chi-Rho 66’s adepts realised this was no machine malfunction, it was already too late. The first crystaliths to emerge from the lightstorm were crude approximations of Adeptus Astartes. Glassy and smoothly finished, each was freshly wrought from the molten light and filled with thousands of Telok’s unique nano-machines.
- Gods of Mars, Ch9 & Ch10

Using the breath of the Gods to remake planets and stars has catastrophic consequences.
Initially this type of reality manipulation results in all kinds of temporal anomalies like planets aging out of existence and stars going supernova before their time. Telok is able to temporarily offset these consequences by leveraging a temporal field created by a massive Hrud colony trapped on his world (so large that when they are finally released, their migration destroys the world instantly), though he speculates that if he can get a C’tan out from the Noctis Labyrinth, he will no longer need the Hrud (Gods of Mars, Ch15).
Eventually the machine malfunctions, threatening nothing less than the complete destruction of the universe (wait what?).
Crucially, it’s not clear if the Necrons could use this modified version of the machine without destroying themselves and the whole universe in the process, which really limits its application in this war. Nor is it clear whether the universe destroying malfunction would even be possible without the Hrud.
Am-heht the Warlock also sought to push the Necron’s reality manipulation past its limits. We don’t see much of what Am-heht can do, but has terraformed his planet into a world of lava which he seems to be able to swim through, and it’s implied that like the Eldar he might be able to take planets out of realspace:

‘If Am-heht is present,’ ventured Oltyx then, ‘can you be sure they will speak with us, or even permit us to land?’ ‘If they were not open to our presence here, I doubt the Akrops would still be in the sky, Oltyx. Or we might simply have arrived to empty void, as if Carnotite itself had never existed.
- The Twice-dead King: Reign, Ch11

He also has a collapsed star for a heart which is reminiscent of Vect’s black-hole-in-a-box.
Am-heht’s favorite student, the Cryptek Mentep, erases his memories of much of the work they did together. He describes what he remembers of his time with Am-heht, to his Necron Lord Oltyx, as follows:

Have we spoken before of the unification principle, dynast?’
‘Briefly,’ ventured Oltyx, unwilling to claim any understanding on the matter.
‘You spoke of it on Sedh. Is this not the idea that all the cryptek disciplines – chronomancy, plasmancy, technomancy and the rest – are all connected, in some way?’
‘That bears some resemblance to the idea, yes. Just as our ancients once realised that deep science and sorcery were nothing but twin sets of ritual for invoking the same thing, Am-heht believed that all the cryptek arts could be subsumed, into a single mastery of heka over the essence of reality.’
‘It does not sound so far-fetched,’ said Oltyx, despite not understanding at all.
‘Perhaps it did not seem so far-fetched to us, at first,’ Mentep said with a shrug. ‘But Am-heht was both talented beyond measure, and ambitious beyond caution. Their work took them down to the fevered depths of reason itself, into a place where such distinctions as space, time, energy and matter became meaningless.’
‘What did they seek to achieve?’ ‘I do not know, now. Everything after the earliest days is entirely lost to me, I fear, because of my role in it. But I tell you this, Oltyx. Whatever atrocities might be attached to my hand, and those of the others in my conclave, we only ever set out to act for what we saw as the ultimate wellbeing of the necrontyr. But Am-heht…’
‘Sought only the advancement of their own power?’ finished Oltyx, who had heard stories like these before. But Mentep only shook his head, and looked out at the violence of the ocean.
‘If only it had been that comprehensible,’ he whispered. ‘The warlock sought only to break the limits of the possible, for no reason other than the pleasure of the breaking. They were the worst kind of mad’...
- The Twice-dead King: Reign, Ch11

Summary:
Top feat (theoretical): Hard to argue with the destruction of the universe! This does require a whole trapped Hrud colony though, so whether this is strictly speaking a ‘Necron’ feat, is questionable. Also, while it is the top feat, it’s hard to argue that destroying the entire universe, and both factions in this contest, ‘wins’ anything.
Conclusion:
N/A - What could these capabilities do in our scenario? Well if we're strictly sticking to known feats - not much - the Machine of the Ancient's ability to summon armies and even cities (describing Commorragh as a city is a bit misleading as it contains various planets, stars and subrealms) is not that impactful.
Similarly, the Breath of the God's ability to shoot down ships or create crystaline minions or modify planets and stars over the course of millenia doesn't really tip the scale - other technologies like Firehearts do this much faster.

Speculations on Reality Manipulation

Top feat (applied): The Breath of the Gods’s top feat has some pretty catastrophic limitations as a weapon. It also has a clear power limit as eventually the C'tan inside it runs out of power. Its other feats are either too slow (taking place over thousands of years), require too much prep (such as landing a ship for use as an antenna) to be meaningful, or underwhelming (destroying ships) compared to some of the other things we’ve discussed. Meanwhile the Machine of the Ancients re-creates Commorragh and whole armies instantly which is maybe a clearer case of weaponization, still it’s not that significant in the grand scheme of things.
Assuming the Necrons could replicate the effects Hrud migration (the migration in Gods of Mars is enough to disintegrate the core of a planet), they Breath of the Gods could be overloaded on purpose as a terrifying doomsday device to destroy both factions - but even if the Necrons used it in this way the Eldar could both foresee it and stop it - this is what actually happens in Gods of Mars - the Eldar Bielanna Faerelle realizes that the destruction of the universe was such a major event that it could not have been missed by the Eldar Farseers and that they manipulated her life to be in the right place at the right time to save everything. She then soul-melds with a bunch of other Eldar and together they literally stitch the fabric of time back together and prevent the destruction of the universe.

Other farseers must have seen this. To believe otherwise spoke of great arrogance on her part. But if they had, why had none of them taken any action to prevent this universal extinction event from coming to pass? Then Bielanna realised at least one of them already had. After all, she was here right now in this moment. Had her entire life been manipulated to bring her to this point?... If it was meant to be that Bielanna was here, then it was because a seer council on some distant craftworld had foreseen it and had placed her here at just this moment, for just this purpose... That she was here at all told Bielanna that at least one seer had seen that she might prevent this cataclysm from coming to pass. And with that thought, the despair vanished like breath on cold wraithbone. Bielanna saw one last path before her, a slender future that yet resisted extinction. Her spirit soared as she flew towards it, trailing a glittering stream of psychic light behind her. Bielanna blazed into this last path in the final instants of its existence... Bielanna’s spirit was the needle, the golden lines of the past her thread to sew space and time together again... Bielanna released the threads of the past, letting them fall into the weave of light opening up before them. They fell like golden strands of hair, splitting and branching like a growing network of nerves in a newborn life... the threads of the past spread into the future, growing exponentially more complex, accelerating into the future at the speed of possibility... What Telok had put asunder, she had remade... What words could possibly convey the depth of what every living being that now had a chance to exist owed her?
- Gods of Mars

While Eldar precognition has a patchy record, in line with the text above, it’s a fairly consistent theme that catastrophic events would be hard to miss.
In further support of this concept, When a Warlock Caraeis tries to deflect claims that he saw the Dysjunction coming he is called out by the Harlequin Motely.

‘Our friend Caraeis and all of his seer kind could have foreseen the violation of the shrine and the outcome. They could have acted to prevent it and yet they did not.’
‘Every strand of fate cannot be followed,’ Caraeis replied with a quiver in his voice. ‘Only certain junctions, extraordinary nexii can be affected with the correct application of–’
‘Oh please! Stop!’ Motley laughed mockingly. ‘The strands of fate bend towards a great cataclysm that affects the webway itself and you claim that it was too obscure to foresee, too complex to affect? If that’s true you have little value in your current calling and should give serious consideration to finding another path’
- Path of the Incubus, Ch23

Similarly, the crone Angevere describes the Dysjunction as ‘inescapable’:

‘Dysjunction lay along the path from El’Uriaq’s return, inescapable. When I beheld the sign of it I was suddenly afraid of the future the visionary sought.
- Path of the Renegade Ch9

With all that said, the real strength of reality manipulation requires some deeper speculation.
—-
I’d speculate that the limitations of the Breath of the Gods are similar to those of the Celestial Orrery (both technologies seem to have some similar technological underpinnings in that they remotely cause starts to go supernova 'before their time'), and that the Necrons can’t overcome the limitations of the former given that they have been unable to overcome the limitations of the latter, but this is pure conjecture.
I'd also speculate that the Eldar could detect and fix a catastrophic misuse of the Celestial Orrery (I.e. using it to cause many supernovas with complete disregard to the destabilizing effects this might have on the universe) given that they were able to do so for the misuse of the Breath of the Gods.
Telok had 3000 years to use the Breath of the Gods (Priests of Mars, Ch7), and didn’t conquer the galaxy (despite it being his stated aim). Telok was trapped on the other side of the Halo Scar, and could’t use the Breath of the Gods to get back home, instead he puts in place an elaborate plot to lure a ship to him. Similarly, Telok spends most of Gods of Mars using the breath of the gods trying to kill a group of Imperials to take their ship. Yes, he’s able to use the Breath of the Gods to delete the ships escorts, but the fact that he can’t just Thanos-snap the Imperials away from the ship he wants, and instead must resort to boarding it, shows that the machine has limits. Similarly, before boarding the ship, Telok tries to hunt the Imperials down through his forgeworld. Rather than using the Breath of the Gods to destroy the Imperials, he needs to send assassins to find them.
We also have good reason to believe that the Breath of the Gods didn’t provide god-like power to the Necrons because if it did – as with many other techs we’ve discussed – it would beg the question ‘why wasn’t this power used to decisively win the war in heaven’.
On the contrary, we actually have a good answer for why the Machine of the Ancients was not used. We know its engineers were killed in The Fall before they could ever test it. Also, unlike Telok who has thousands of years to familiarize himself with the Breath of the Gods, the Machine of the Ancients is used by a first time user, who acknowledges he needs to “work on this”, and that with time he could rise to heights undreamed of. So we truly don’t have a reason to believe that we’ve seen its upper limits - and where those limits are really depends whether you place restrictions on ‘making thoughts and dreams real’. Because you could really put that limit anywhere.
We’ve previously encountered a statement that the C’tan could “unleash such unknowable weapons that the very fabric of time and space was theirs to shape according to their will”. While kind of crazy, at least we have an idea that time and space are the thing being shaped to their will. But ‘thoughts and dreams’ are general enough to include time and space and anything else.
A modest interpretation would be to replicate things that already exist in the universe. It could likely self-replicate, giving the Eldar as many reality warping machines as they need. They could then replicate some of the technologies we’ve discussed ad nauseam - summoning a never-ending swarm of suicide robots protected by shields that can ride lashes of starfire (see Staying Power) and containing portable singularities (see Fire Power) - and that's just the infantry. If the machine can summon cities the size of Commorragh it can likely summon fleets.
By the same logic, it could likely replicate anything the Necrons had already created: summoning legions of Necrons who would fight for the Eldar by phasing straight into pylon protected Tombworlds carrying Ahmontekh's planet shattering warscythe as a standard issue weapon. These Necrons would be led by Eldar controlled C’tan, and backed by a Necron arsenal that could include Necron reality manipulation technology like the Breath of the Gods.
But even this isn't really scratching the surface of the upper limits of ‘thoughts and dreams’. Why stop at things that already exist? Why not wish into a galactic scale version of the Psychic Decimator that would just purge the entire galaxy of Necrons while leaving the Eldar unscathed. If that’s out of scope of our machine, why not imagine a more powerful version of the Machine of the Ancients to remove those pesky limitations. In fact, depending on how much speculation you are willing to do The Machine of the Ancients basically gives you an auto-win in every category we've discussed - ultimate firepower, ultimate speed, unlimited population replenishment rate etc. I'm going to stop here because I'm annoying myself - I personally see these last few options as a 'no limit fallacy', so I just don't go there. But even under the most modest interpretation, the Machine of the Ancients seems much more powerful to me than the Breath of the Gods.
At minimum it seems to me like the Machine of the Ancients could plausibly create the Breath of the Gods (and that the Eldar could use it given that a human was able to), while its not clear to me that the Breath of the Gods could create the Machine of the Ancients (and even if it could the Necrons would not be able to psychically interface with it).
In line with the Machine of the Ancients making ‘thoughts and dreams’ real, there are other tidbits of lore that suggest that the Eldar used their ‘thoughts and dreams’ to create or destroy.

The manifold gifts of the eldar extended to very considerable psychic prowess and their ancient civilisation had been built as much with thoughts as with hands.
- Path of the Renegade, Ch 1

​

Once, the mere dreams of the Aeldari overturned worlds and quenched suns... their powers were Godlike and their numbers were nigh on undefeatable
- Codex: Eldar 9th ed, pg 8

​

Such was their dominance that even stars lived and died at their whim
- Codex: Eldar 9th ed, pg 10

​

They knew neither fear nor privation, for their technologies were so advanced that they could ignite or extinguish stars on a whim
- Codex: Harlequins 8th ed, pg 8

They could also create extradimensional enclaves, with various supernational properties. We know of realms where shadows had a pseudo life, where spirits could confront their killers, and where the flows of time occasionally reversed.

Commorragh had originally been just one of the extradimensional enclaves made by the eldar… In Aelindrach the very shadows flowed and writhed with a life of their own, in Maelyr’Dum the spirits of the dead could return to confront their killers, and in Xae’Trenneayi time itself jumped back and forth with scant regard for subjective continuity.
- Path of the Renegade, Ch2

To take the sub realm of Aelindrach as an example, will is not only used to move around, but to continue existing.

Physical laws are different here and it takes a certain… realignment of perception to get used to it… Substance is a more tenuous proposition here, for bereft of our usual visual and tactile certainties it becomes difficult to decide what is and is not real in an environment where either is very much possible. Will is a more important attribute than perceptions of physical solidity under such circumstances: I live, I breathe, I am real, I exist here because it is my desire to do so. By my self-belief I am not absorbed into the shadow even as I become one with it in order to exist in this realm. Do you understand, Xagor? It may be the death of you if you don’t.’
How does the master stand on shattered limbs?’
‘Because my substance is subject to my will and it is my will that I am able to provide my own locomotion in this place’...
Bellathonis ascended to join them through sheer force of will, briefly decoupling his false perceptions of Aelindrach’s solidity and gravity to float up as easily as if he’d been wearing a gravity harness.
- Path of the Archon, Ch3 & Ch12

In creating these extradimensional spaces, the Eldar thought themselves equal to the gods.

[Commorragh] is a pearl consciously aggregated out of the spittle of creation by ancient, mortal minds that thought themselves the equal of the gods.
- Path of the Incubus, Prologue

The Eldar were able to create and destroy at will with their effectively limitless power, and were like unto gods themselves.

Prior to the Fall the eldar had become a divided people. They were divided because the realisation had come upon them that their power was effectively limitless. Their culture and technology had reached such a pitch that they were like unto gods. They could create or destroy simply through the application of their will. The realisation of that power brought about a great schism because some embraced it whilst others were repelled by it.
- Path of the Archon, Ch11

By the time the Eldar reached their peak, they actually laughed at how primitive the Chaos gods were.

‘Where one god comes the others will surely follow. That’s what makes the power of Chaos so dangerous. We used to think we understood them, before the Fall. We used to laugh at how bombastic and primitive they were, but they know how to persist better than any mortal and how to take advantage of the smallest opening.
- Path of the Archon, Ch26

For their part, followers of Chaos seem to understand the godlike power of the Ancient Eldar. Ahriman for example believes that within the Black Library is “knowledge that can exalt him to godhood” (Atlas Infernal).
Having become gods, the Eldar abandoned their own pantheon. They believed that there was no higher power than their own:

You see the origins of the Iconoclast’s mound go way, way back – all the way back to before the Fall. When the people found they had become gods themselves they had no further use for graven images and imaginary friends. They threw them in the rubbish: Asuryan, Lileath, Isha, Kurnous, Khaine and all the rest… ‘Later, when they stole similar artefacts from other races, they did the same thing. They threw such plunder down among their own broken gods to show that there was no higher power, no saviour, no immortal plan.
- Path of the Archon, Ch23

​

The ancient Eldar abandoned their gods… Divested of their ancient pantheon, many Eldar declared themselves to be divine.
- Codex: Harlequins 7e, pg 4

The lore suggests that without worship, the Eldar gods atrophied, until they were unable to protect the Eldar from Slaanesh, and eventually were unable to protect themselves either. This history is chronicled in the dances which the Harlequins have performed since the fall (Valedor, Ch9, & Masque of Vyle).
The Chaos Gods draw their power from violence, but as we know from Eldar history, both the War In Heaven, and the thousand wars the Eldar fought with various ‘Mon-Keigh’ species (not to mention peak Krork), make 30K/40K seem peaceful. Now in real space, the Eldar might have benefited from the Necron Pylon networks. But what about the Warp? So powerful were the peak Eldar that for 60 million years their gods existed in the warp alongside the Chaos Gods, and were not threatened by them. We know this from the prefall accounts of Asurmen who says he had never had to think of the Chaos gods until after the fall (Asurmen: Hand of Asuryan, Ch18).
This is possibly because the Eldar claim to have been masters space, time and every dimension, presumably including the Webway, as well as the warp and its denizens.

We were masters of space and time and every other dimension.
- Codex: Eldar 9e, pg 5

Conclusion
Table of contents

First Previous Wiki
Kashaunta stoood on a wanderer ship, investigating their new government and their potential technology improvements. She had gotten a bad feeling about something but had not deactivated her hologram. After all, she could not be attacked personally through it. She'd increased the scatter on the hologram's signal such that even Phoebe or the hivemind would be unable to track her down.
Shields were layered over her ship, more than strong enough to take anything that the Alliance had to offer. She was basking in psychic power. Her eyes, made into the likeness of a wanderer, latched onto a few groups of humans, who appeared to be teams of engineers and scientists being led around on tours.
Recent agreements between various factions of the Alliance would finally see more organized releases of the wanderers' technology. It was almost surprising that the Alliance hadn't managed to cure the genetic aging imposed on the wanderers. It was a rather simple thing. Kashaunta had a sample of it, actually, but they hadn't even asked her. The hotline that they had established with her had sat unused and ignored from both sides.
She knew that it wasn't just the Alliance devoting their full attention to the war. Any functional nation had enough people to pay attention to more than one thing at a time. And due to its confederated nature, there was basically no central government bureaucracy to bog it down. Even the military itself was just split into the factions under the direct command of smaller Alliance factions and those under the command of the larger Alliance military complex.
They were still battling the God Emperor, though clearly, neither side was having the success they'd hoped for. Kashaunta didn't care to offer anything to help them in the conflict unless they could offer something of equal or greater value to herself. She got a feeling that their response to the Reaper Virus had likely soured the waters for any further collaboration, barring a similarly extreme circumstance.
She remembered the panic and tension of that time well. Now, it was present again, but between the citizens of the Alliance and those of the God Emperor. Phoebe was penetrating their networks, spreading rumors of defeats from their militaries. She was fighting a massive information war nearly all by herself. And the only other person who might have been able to help her was Edu'frec. He was also highly resistant to manipulations and requests.
Kashaunta's hologram, equipped with expensive monitoring equipment, registered a sudden rise in psychic energy. It was a standing wave of a large magnitude, which could only show the arrival of the hivemind itself in full glory. But contrary to her expectations, she didn't see the hivemind. Not a single avatar, whether composed of psychic energy or physical energy, showed itself on the cold metal road.
Instead, escorted by two Phoebe androids, five elite Skira drones, and a host of wanderer policemen and guards, was a single human woman. The layout of her face was familiar. Very familiar.
An implant flashed.
*Warning.\*
The human's eyes turned along with her head. She stared at Kashaunta's wanderer hologram. To Kashaunta, it felt like she was on the precipice of a terrible cliff. Waves of cold fear and disbelief lashed her soul like the whips of a cruel master. A lethargy clung to her legs like the matted stains of blood to a fabric.
Her implants worked in overdrive, growing hot in her head. Kashaunta freed herself from the sudden mental influence, straightening her stance. The woman stared at her. The guards had noticed and were moving toward her as well. Her cover was blown.
"Hi there, friend," Penny said. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"Oh? I'm sorry. I just... you're the girl from the videos, aren't you?" Kashaunta asked. The modulated voice of the translated tongue of the wanderers spilled from her mouth. It would not sound like her voice.
"Ah, videos? I hope they're not unflattering."
"Nothing of the sort, Penny."
"That feels a little informal," she said. "At least in human customs, last names are used with a prefix with people that we don't know personally. So I'd be called Miss Balica."
Kashaunta felt a tinge of amusement and embarrassment, neither of which showed up on the false wanderer's face.
"Alright, Ms Balica."
Penny reached out a hand. "Do you know how to do a handshake?"
It didn't seem disdainful. Perhaps Penny thought that she was really a wanderer?
Kashaunta reached her arm out and wiggled her claws. Penny let out a slight laugh. "Technically correct, but it's where we grasp hands together."
Her hand grasped Kashaunta's, catching it in a relatively weak grip, considering her power. In fact, it was of similar strength to a normal human.
"Ah."
Penny looked up at something. Kashaunta did the same. She muttered, "There's no way. Cardi, are you just playing a prank here, or actually serious?"
"Um, who is Cardi?" Kashaunta asked.
Penny looked at another empty space again, seeming to listen to someone speaking. "She says she'll show herself, just for her 'special guest,' whatever that means."
Kashaunta looked around. A second being appeared, seeming human. It carried the countenance of Penny but of a far younger version of her. Perhaps in the late 20s, in terms of human years. Bands of strings lined her clothes, the stylized designs evoking odd feelings in Kashaunta. Had she seen them before?
The Elder noticed two small marks appear, one on Penny's head and one on Cardi's head, presuming that this was her. Penny had the human symbol for positive concepts, while Cardi had the same one for negatives or perhaps a hyphen.
Kashaunta wondered what it symbolized. There was clear psychic energy at work here. The bars of black on Penny's cheeks and exposed skin made that fact quite clear. Though as the pinnacle of Humanity, it would make sense for her to have such high amounts of psychic energy inside her. Cardi smirked at her as if she was sharing a conspiratorial secret. Penny nodded. "Can you tell me who you really are? You don't have a deep enough psychic signature to be a normal wanderer."
"I have a condition," Kashaunta said. One of the wanderers flanking Penny said something to her. Kashaunta hoped that it wasn't something talking about how difficult it was for any wanderers to actually mutate even slightly.
"Apparently, wanderer genes are incredibly rigid and stagnant. They don't have birth defects." Penny noted that with a hint of suspicion.
"Very well. I'm a proxy Elder who works for Elder Kashaunta," she said.
"A proxy? I was unaware of those being in active use. Are you willing to have Cardinality show your true form?"
"True... form?"
"Yes."
Kashaunta figured that Penny wouldn't be able to tell the difference between her and other Elders. Cardi seemed to pulse, the symbol on her head shimmering. Kashaunta felt a cold dread latch onto her spine.
"You're Kashaunta herself," Penny said. "I take it you're here to stop me from achieving my objective."
"Objective? I don't know what it is."
"Sure you don't. I won't spell it out for you in case you're telling the truth, however."
Curse her practicality, Kashaunta thought.
"However, there is... hmm, I say however quite a lot. However, I do think that you can be useful. You see, the Alliance has been wondering about Sprilnav political systems. Would you be so kind as to enlighten us?"
"Do you want me to espouse the virtues of bureaucracy?" Kashaunta asked dryly.
"No. I'd like useful information."
"I don't feel like giving you that information. Good job on catching me. If you would request my help with anything, I would think that it should be ensuring your allies don't betray you."
"Explain."
"There are people who wish to take your position at the top of Humanity."
Penny rolled her eyes. "News flash. The sky is blue. More at eleven."
"Are you... mocking me, Penny?"
"I'm pointing out that your information was useless. I know people envy me. I don't really care."
"Well then. I suppose I have no need to tell you about ways of properly dealing with speeding space entities," Kashaunta dropped.
"Either you will or you won't. Make the offer, or make your hologram disappear."
"I can tell you certain information if you agree to meet with Progenitor Lecalicus. He would be most pleased to do so."
"Yeah, I already did that," Penny smirked. Kashaunta's emotion control software worked overtime.
"You did?"
"Yeah. I battled with Twilight, too. You see, that's an example of useful information. Speaking of which, I'm still deciding whether you're on the 'kill on sight' list or the 'useful ally who will backstab us when it benefits her' list. Any suggestions?"
"I am not an ally of the Alliance. I am a faction in the Sprilnav who will do what I wish, so it benefits me. If you want my cooperation or information in any helpful quantities, then we will need to come to deals, which are not to be betrayed."
Phoebe's android spoke. "Throughout my searches in the galaxy, I have no fewer than 750 million deal agreements which were broken by the Sprilnav Elders without any justification given. All within the past million years."
"And how many with me?"
"80, mostly centered around agreements you made with another rising galactic power, before betraying them and firing planet crackers at nearly half of their planets while they were being invaded by a coalition of 7 enemy nations."
Kashaunta thought back to that. She sighed. What an oddly specific thing to come back to bite her. "So I just won't break this one, then. You want into Sprilnav politics. The Collective already jumped you, Phoebe, beat the tar out of you, and threw you back onto the streets. You've learned the lesson of having limits, I think. While this is a suboptimal place for negotiations, your Alliance seems to be unwilling to have them over the hotline set up for such things."
"You never gave any indication you wanted to receive such offers. Kashaunta, you are not immune from the consequences of your actions."
"True. I can't resurrect people and have the Source kill 2000 of my people in exchange, so I'd say I'm not."
Phoebe ignored the argument she was making. "Well. It was nice to know that you're so willing to remain on the kill list."
"If I give you aid, and then you kill me, what does that say about you?"
"It says that I'm just like you, Kashaunta, but better, because I know when I'm beaten, and am willing not to bend to the will of my pride."
"Not a great answer. I still haven't heard a justification for why you aim to usurp the Sprilnav, either, as if you could govern the galaxy even half as effectively."
"Most of you just sit around and get fat, until you decide it's genocide time. You kill more people than you save. I'm an AI, I know the statistics," Phoebe said. "It is not a good idea for your species to pretend that your reach and influence are a net positive."
"Your Alliance is about to do the same to the Sevvi."
"Some people want that, yes. But the Sevvi will not be killed without mercy for crimes that other Sevvi did. And it was you that put that implant in the God Emperor, forcing this war. Every death on both sides is on you claws."
"There you go again. All Sprilnav are the same to you. Did it ever occur to you that I didn't do that to the God Emperor? That we actually have different factions with different ideas? There's Sprilnav that support your Alliance, who are currently in the business of getting laughed at in online forums. You presume and conclude, because you can only do that. If you faced the hard truth, it would make the morality you claim to stand on much harder to parrot about."
"Would it? Is the 'hard truth' that not all Sprilnav are bad? Black and white comparisons are for children, not adults. We're not knights in shining armor, and you're not demons. But we're trying to help our people, freeing slaves, and only fighting the Sevvi because we were forced to. You, and the ruling class of the Sprilnav, mostly Elders, are actually to blame for every single major problematic action your species has taken.
You personally have been alive for longer than Sol has been a star, Kashaunta. You don't get to ignore the genocides for a billion years and pretend that we're remotely equal on moral footing. You've perpetrated them yourself, in fact. You've been on the Judgement councils, or Appellate Judgement councils. You've condemned entire civilizations to death, because you happened to have a bad day. I don't stand on a moral high ground, Kashaunta. I look down on the pit you dug for yourself, which can never hope to hide the corpses of those you've betrayed for your own ends."
"And had we not been here for the galaxy, do you think things would have been safer? More peaceful?"
"You have the technology to conquer the entire galaxy, install a true utopia, and fill it with people grateful and thankful for your benevolent rule. You have the capability to kill AIs without cracking the planet they're on, or bombing their population to dust. No one forced you to create your brutal regimes. You're too afraid to fight against what your species has made."
"And you'd still complain."
"There would be little to complain about. You're capable of doing it right. You remember what actual equality was and is. We've learned about how your species was before the Source war. Why not just stop hating everyone? Stop thinking that they're lesser?"
"Because it would deny reality, one in which Sprilnav are tougher, healthier, and live longer than all other species in the galaxy."
"All Sprilnav, or just the Elders and those favored by them?"
"Does it matter?"
"Didn't you just say that the distinction was important?" Penny asked.
"It matters quite heavily, in fact," Phoebe added. "You can't even muster the willpower to improve the prospects of your own species. What does that say about you?"
"That the gods in charge of us do not wish it."
"The gods that sleep for hundreds or thousands of years at a time, and only appear in times of great galactic turmoil when your hegemony is threatened? Those ones?"
"Yes. The Progenitors."
"And absolutely none of them are willing to make a proper society?"
"No. Power is not what it takes to do that. It takes brains. At least, if you want a stable society that actually lasts. And well, they're more brawn than brains," Kashaunta said. "And go ahead. Pretend that you'll be oh so different. Because I've seen many like you. Idealists broken by the weight of reality. Pacifists slaughtered when they dismantled their militaries. Optimists that were hit by supernovae.
All of your kind are the same. You complain and cry about the state of galactic society, saying your way is better. And then you get beaten by other nations, enslaved, and eventually your legacy washes away. You are a blip on the time of my life. You will die like all the others, consumed by forces you cannot hope to comprehend."
"At least we can comprehend common decency."
"We'll see how that goes if you managed to conquer the Sevvi. I expect your people to hide their war crimes, to cover up what they would do the the helpless populations they lord over. The Guulin would likely eat them alive," Kashaunta said. And she knew she was right.
"Now you're making the presumptions. Do you think we're not prepared to mitigate such events? Like you said, idealism is crushed by realism. I'm an AI, an entity built upon cold, hard, brutal data. The Alliance isn't going to give anyone all-access passes to war crimes on the people of the Sevvi. Those who perpetrate them will be removed, tried, and jailed. Because that is how a functional and fair society works. You are just another tyrant, only one who wants to deny who she is because it makes her uncomfortable."
"Your functional and fair society will be unable to handle the coming situation."
"Then it will adapt, and still be functional, and as fair as possible. Humanity adapts. And so too must the Alliance."
"Ah yes, because those societies should definitely have kill lists."
"Yasihaut and you have shown yourselves to be enemies. Of course, you wobble on the middle a bit more. And from what I can tell, you're prideful, but not utterly delusional. If you weren't a total dick, you could be a fine ally in our struggle for galactic emancipation. You get a thousand people killed, don't get surprised that people might want you dead as well. An eye for an eye is an important philosophy."
"You ignore the second part of the statement."
"I do, because we have many more eyes to spare. With you Sprilnav, might makes right, so it is the only way. With the Sevvi, an enemy roughly our equal, we have no need to nuke their cities because they tried to nuke ours. Being petulant for the sake of revenge is pointless."
"Ah yes, 'you Sprilnav,' a classic sign that you truly respect us," Kashaunta said. "I'm sure that if you were on top, you totally wouldn't kill us just because you felt like it."
"There are stereotypes, true. And they refer more to the Elders than the entire species. They are not necessarily fair things, but since we don't have many Sprilnav citizens, are not a concern right now. Zelisloa saw to that for sure. Or did you forget that instance of yet another Elder deciding he hated us for no reason and killing billions?"
Kashaunta sighed. "If by 'no reason' you mean Rale killing his son, then I suppose."
"Elders were also responsible for altering the wanderers to all die of brutal cancer, so there was a reason for that, too. But Zelisloa deciding to kill all of us was unacceptable. We still haven't had any reparations or even real apologies from any Sprilnav on that. Nothing that matters.
You ignore it and forget. For you, the deaths of billions is just another Tuesday. You didn't care enough to see how that might be wrong. Even if Zelisloa might have had a valid reason, his response was unwarranted. It is why we killed him. It is why we will kill Yasihaut. And you... well, we'll just have to see, won't we?" Phoebe asked.
"What, you think that your little talks are going to convince me to buy an Alliance flag and chant your slogans on the streets like a loyal dog? That if I help you, I'll be happy to be considered as 'one of the good ones' as your people say? You have to fix your own xenophobia before you consider my genuine aid, instead of just circumstantial. I am willing to use you and your people as required, because you do not show yourselves as anything different from those long lines of now dead empires, republics, and alliances that each proclaimed to be the end of Sprilnav galactic dominance.
I don't think it will be easy. But if you do not fix your own problems, then I will fight you tooth and nail if you come for the Sprilnav like you come for all the rest. And if we declare war on you, your words would no longer matter. The Collective is more than capable of acting offensively, as am I. Would you like to see a thousand stars each go supernova all at once? If so, then declare that war, and we'll give you a demonstration."
"I am not asking you to become 'one of the good ones,' by any means, Elder Kashaunta," Phoebe said. "I am simply asking you to think about your actions, and how they may place you within the Alliance's standings when the time comes. You stand in the ashes of countless civilizations. If we are to become the same, then supporting us will lose you little.
You have the assets to do so, and to weather the storm. Your propaganda networks are the second best in all of Sprilnav space, and you are the head of several of the richest companies and nations that exist. You could make that grand utopia yourself, and beckon others to it. The genocides could end, and the painful history could be buried forever."
"It was already decided after the war," she replied. "Hope is dead. The universe is cold and dark, and those within it, including ourselves, are no longer worthy of development."
"That's a sad way to look at things. You truly believe that we cannot become better through diligent improvement?" Phoebe asked.
"It is different for you. Us people of bone and sinew cannot flick a switch to shut off our emotions."
"You Elders have those implants as well," Penny noted.
"That is not what I mean," Kashaunta responded. "Anyway. I am currently a neutral party. I will help when it suits me, no more, no less."
Phoebe gave her a nod. They had argued back to the end of their points. Neither of them would budge. Phoebe was still too idealistic. Empirical data could not account for emotions. Not entirely. And that was why AIs were hated by so many. They could never truly understand. They saw without watching, heard without listening.
Penny had watched their argument impassively. Kashaunta noticed the wraith of Nilnacrawla had appeared beside her. She was stroking his back. Atop him sat a... thing. No, she knew what it was. A terrible enemy. And yet, the speeding space entity didn't make her eyes bleed to look at. It wasn't attacking everything in sight, tearing limbs from joints. But still, the thing was incredibly dangerous.
She felt that yawning chasm of fear. It grew the more realizations that she made. Upon closer inspection, Cardi was absolutely brimming with conceptual energy, suggesting that she was an actual conceptual entity. Worse, she was bound to Penny, which meant that the human likely was one as well. Kashaunta guessed that her powers had to do with chance and altering outcomes. And Kashaunta realized that she knew the name of the being without being told it.
There was the problem of what exactly had happened. She'd been in speeding space and had come back unscathed. Penny still looked at her with a normal gaze, not dead or crippled like so many other escapees. And that fact was scarier than almost any other, considering what speeding space entities did to alien species, male or female. Kashaunta had heard the stories from the wars, though she hadn't seen anything with her own eyes.
Penny was likely to be obscenely strong. And there was seemingly no end to her strength. Kashaunta's eyes found themselves drifting back to the symbol on her head. It was a dense conduit of conceptual power. A conduit so dense that it reminded her of the claws and teeth of the Progenitors. A terrible feeling welled up in her mind, a feeling of descending jaws that she could not escape.
"Can you stop staring at me?" Penny asked. She walked forward, staring back at Kashaunta. It was clear that she was being coached on how to handle this interaction. Likely by Nilnacrawla, who did seem to know of her. The Elder was going to be an annoyance. And Kashaunta would have to adjust her plans once again.
Playing hardball with the Alliance might find a place in her future conversations. But for now, she needed to think about what they could offer her and if it would be worth working for them. Despite their claims of character, she knew they would be willing to betray her. Once in the enemy camp, you never truly were out of it. The hivemind and Phoebe wouldn't forget.
If they were the ones responsible for hauling her from the fire, they might 'fail' at their job. She needed more insurance policies. She had her VI increase the degrees of separation between her and the hologram. She raised the shields on her location and initiated several security procedures.
She had several newly built androids converge on her location. While they were nearly the equal of Elders in other areas, the androids were both expensive and more accurate when it came to fighting. Kashaunta could beat a few, but not all of them. And they were not connected to any network that was hackable, even by Phoebe.
Penny walked closer, grabbing the wrists of her avatar. "Kashaunta. You have a decision to make. Help or hurt? Good or bad?"
"I am neutral."
"Then remain so. So far, you are acting closer to an enemy than an ally. But you can change that. Goodbye."
Penny reached forward. Her fingers vibrated, slicing through the hard light hologram to reach the device at the center. The old woman's hand crushed it with ease, metal and tiny electronics spilling out. Kashaunta's view of them died. It was a good thing they'd only argued through holograms. She'd go back later to finish what she was doing, as soon as she was certain Penny was gone.
She stepped out of the rig she was set up within. Kashaunta noticed something was off with the air. And then Cardi appeared right in front of her. The younger version of Penny grinned happily, and Kashaunta's heart somehow dropped further.
"Hello!"
Kashaunta figured it must have been a vision. Perhaps she needed to find some medicine for mental disorders. Or something anti-memetic. She'd seen a speeding space entity and a concept god in a single viewpoint. Perhaps Lecalicus could help her to understand her predicament. She was dealing with forces she thought she had understood. But clearly, she no longer did.
"Hey! You! I know you can hear me, Kashaunta!" the thing said. It zipped in front of her, planting its feet right into Kashaunta's path. She didn't want to break her own hallway. Kashaunta kept walking, figuring she wouldn't feel anything when she pushed past the apparition. Instead, her head and shoulders knocked it down. And she felt a physical force on them to suggest that Cardi was actually real and here for her.
"What do you want?"
"I want you to do the right thing."
"Don't the concepts have a whole non-interference policy? This is pretty heavy interference, I'd say."
"I would agree," a new voice said, sending a shiver down her spine. It carried a hint of ethereal allure and a quality that demanded both her adoration and obedience. It was the voice of the Everlasting. Her head swung back to see Nova standing behind her.
"You're no fun," whined Cardi.
"You are not allowed to tell the Alliance where she is."
"And why is that?" Cardi asked. Her fists were balled now. Her muscles seemed to coil like springs ready to be unleashed.
"If you guys are going to fight, can you please find a planet owned by a rival corporation to fight upon?" Kashaunta nearly begged. The energy both of them were emitting was palpable. She could tell that Nova was far stronger but not so much stronger that he could just clack his jaws and kill her instantly. Cardi would put up a fight long enough to ruin this entire city and perhaps more.
"Because it has been decided. You cannot aid Penny or the Alliance in this way. Kashaunta is a player."
"And Penny?"
"Due to extant circumstances, her status is being deliberated."
"I hate this all," Cardi said. "It's stupid."
"Too bad, Cardinality," Nova replied. "You don't make the rules. And with your pitifully weak power, you can't transcend them. I'll honor Kashaunta's request."
Nova blurred forward, his claws wrapping around Cardinality and throwing her into a small portal that opened nearby. She didn't return. Kashaunta lowered her head as his gaze fell upon her. She hated it, but she had to survive. A note of her simmering resentment must have leaked out. Nova's force multiplied a thousandfold.
"Hmm. Kashaunta, lick your claws."
"What? What the-"
Nova's gaze hardened. The pressure receded. "So you are no longer under the mind control. Useful information to know."
"What gave it away?"
"You weren't bowing to me fully, or at least locking up your muscles with your implants to prevent it. It's not that hard to see what happened once you look for it."
"I will not be punished for my free will."
"Presuming to think you can command a Progenitor is exactly how you may get yourself punished. The free passes will run out. But given your clear fear of Penny and her new concept of Cardinality, I can understand some poorly chosen words spilling from your mouth."
Kashaunta took the line for what it was and lowered herself down. She did not lick her claws, though. One part of her mind considered that it was just moving her body into a new configuration. But the rest of her knew that she was submitting. Even if it was to a higher power, she didn't feel good about it.
"Good," Nova said, now that she'd padded his ego. Maybe she really did need to just start doing this to get what she needed. Licking the claws of the Progenitors would be demeaning, but if she got what she needed from it...
"Progenitor Nova, I would have a request."
"I am pleased you are asking nicely and being polite now. What is your request?"
"Can you explain to me what the concept of Cardinality actually is?"
"Yes. To start, I believe that what Cardi, whose name is an uncreative shortening of Cardinality, actually is would rank closer to a full conceptual entity, with hints of speeding space energy. Penny also has pieces of that inside her, likely from absorbing the conceptual power of at least one entity. Cardi is the embodiment of the negative and more ethereal concepts of Cardinality. However, Penny is the embodiment of its positive portions, and is able to raise and lower the cardinality of certain objects and people."
"So she can kill me instantly?"
"Normally, yes," Nova said. "But you have enough innate power that you would return. She would have to kill you the hard way."
"That's... terrifying."
"It gets worse," he grinned. At the sight of her fear, Nova seemed to grow taller and more defined.
"How?"
"The truth of it, at its core, is that Penny is merged and linked with the concept of Cardinality. However, she has transcended to godhood even before becoming a concept god, just through critical mass of power and energy inside her. If she can manage to produce enough power, and feed that into the hivemind..."
"Then she could turn it into a god as well?"
"Oh no, Kashaunta. She could turn all of Humanity into gods. It is that overwhelming ability and potential power that is why this dance of concepts and Progenitors in the game of the universe is even happening. If she is capable of doing that, then we will not win a war against the Alliance without suffering major losses, and likely making at least a tenth of the stars in the galaxy go supernova."
"Well... how can she be neutralized?"
"Cardinality will be unable to reach you directly. Avoid direct visual or line-of-sight contact with the Alliance. The hotline you have should be good enough to prevent any attacks. And if Cardinality alone acts to do things she should not, then we Progenitors will protect you."
"Lecalicus is fraternizing with the enemy."
"He is not," Nova said. "He is simply too stupid to recognize facts. It took me a while, too. It will bite him eventually, and quite possibly kill him."
"How?"
"There are infiltrators in the Alliance."
"Whose?"
Nova grinned. "You don't really think us Progenitors have better technology than we've shown you yet? You'll have to wait and see, like everyone else, since you're not my official ally. Unless..."
"No."
Nova grinned. "I can see now why you and Twilight didn't work out. A word to the wise, however. Don't make promises you can't afford to keep."

Trades are where we can dream a little more because Mike Elias has far more high value prospects than John Angelos has money he's willing to spend. The question is if Elias is actually willing to trade those prospects.
So here's part two of my series on the offseason. If you missed part one, which focused on free agent starters, it's here. Since then, Kyle Gibson and Lance Lynn have signed with the Cardinals, and I think Nick Martinez is available, too.
Once again, I only focused on starting pitching because I see it as the area that both needs upgrades and has a clear path. Conversely, I think we have a logjam at position players, and relievers are such a crap shoot I don't even know where to begin. It's not that the team can't improve in those areas (I watched the same games in September and October as you did), but I can see starting pitching a little more clearly. That said, I should caveat once again that I’m not really any more qualified to speak on this than Joe or Jane Doomer, but I’m probably not alone in thinking trades are how Elias is going to make “this” “”work.””
And if you don’t have time to read 5,000 words, here’s the summary in three tables:
Fantastic

Name	Team	IP	FA Year	ERA	FIP	xFIP	SIERA	K-BB%	vFA (sc)	Stuff+	Location+	Pitching+
Dylan Cease	CHW	361.0	2026	3.37	3.40	3.78	3.79	18.55%	96.1	119.3	97.2	105.2
Freddy Peralta	MIL	242.0	2027	3.64	3.56	3.50	3.49	21.56%	93.8	104.0	100.9	103.8
Logan Gilbert	SEA	376.1	2028	3.47	3.66	3.77	3.81	18.10%	95.9	103.7	101.3	102.8
Mitch Keller	PIT	347.1	2026	4.09	3.85	3.82	3.99	15.49%	95.3	103.2	101.7	101.6

Acceptable

Name	Team	IP	FA Year	ERA	FIP	xFIP	SIERA	K-BB%	vFA (sc)	Stuff+	Location+	Pitching+
Bryce Miller	SEA	131.1	2030	4.32	3.98	4.31	4.17	17.32%	95.1	117.0	104.0	108.9
Bryan Woo	SEA	87.2	2030	4.21	4.36	4.26	4.13	16.71%	95.1	103.2	101.8	103.6
Reid Detmers	LAA	277.2	2028	4.15	3.97	4.24	4.13	15.55%	93.8	98.8	97.8	98.3
Patrick Sandoval	LAA	293.1	2027	3.50	3.63	4.13	4.47	11.24%	93.0	93.2	97.7	98.1

Disappointing

Name	Team	IP	FA Year	ERA	FIP	xFIP	SIERA	K-BB%	vFA (sc)	Stuff+	Location+	Pitching+
Michael Kopech	CHW	246.0	2026	4.35	5.50	5.28	5.10	8.34%	95.0	110.5	92.9	96.7
Shane Bieber	CLE	328.0	2025	3.24	3.26	3.36	3.64	17.75%	91.3	99.1	102.2	100.8
Ken Waldichuk	OAK	137.2	2029	5.23	5.46	4.97	4.78	10.93%	93.3	93.2	95.0	93.6
JP Sears	- - -	225.0	2029	4.48	5.03	5.04	4.67	13.02%	93.1	91.3	100.3	98.7
Paul Blackburn	OAK	214.0	2026	4.29	4.03	4.07	4.28	12.99%	91.7	86.5	101.4	96.9
Brady Singer	KCR	307.1	2027	4.36	3.93	3.81	3.98	14.96%	92.7	90.1	100.8	97.0

What do you guys think? Who am I missing? Should I do a deeper dive into any individual pitcher?
Like last time, I used a simple query of Stuff+ tables on FanGraphs with minimum 100 IP across 2022-2023, and then sorted by Stuff+ descending. I just want to see guys with a reasonable amount of action without taking into the account the covid years or juiced ball era. Some of these guys had really bad 2023 seasons, so I thought that including 2022 would help with sample size. Plenty of guys have just one bad year or just one good year.
This is 186 guys. But the actual number is way lower because a lot of pitchers are disqualified for various reasons:

• Free agents: see previous post, no need to review them again
• Too expensive of a contract: Max Scherzer, Gerrit Cole (lol)
• Injured: Brandon Woodruff, Germán Márquez, Anthony DeSclafani, Brad Keller
• Division rivals: I trust Elias to not get fleeced, but most of the time, I don’t think these are worth it

Other considerations:

• The market is dependent on sellers. Every team that doesn’t sell raises the price of everyone remaining.
• We need to have the positions that sellers need, and the pitcher that we want can’t figure heavily into their future plans. Rebuilding teams want cheap young starters. Conversely, I excluded guys on teams who need them to make a run. This takes out a lot of guys. The Brewers are borderline because they look like they're on the doorstep of blowing it up. I ultimately didn’t include any Marlins because they have enough pitching on the IL that they need it unless they're doing a teardown.

I list three categories below: fantastic, acceptable, disappointing in terms of showing how serious Elias is about winning now.
Format: (Current Team; Stuff+ Location+ Pitching +; Year of FA; Age; Ranking on the 2023 trade value rankings by the Prophet Ben Clemens, peace be upon him).
Fantastic
As mentioned above, if Elias trades for these guys, that would show that he’s serious about winning now - not in the long run, not over a sustained period - now. You can make these trades and still have longer term success; you're not emptying the farm, but you'll see fewer top 100s for a while.
Dylan Cease (Chicago White Sox; 119 97 105; 2026; 27 yr; HM)
The man purportedly worth Jackson Holliday. Free agent after 2025. Probably a better value deal than Corbin Burnes because Cease took a bigger step back in 2023, plus you get an extra year of control. A lot of us are tempted to match the arc of the Elias Orioles to the Luhnow Astros, which would make Cease Gerrit Cole. I don’t think it’s controversial to say Cole had better raw stuff, but I don’t think Elias is willing to spend as much as his Houston predecessor. So if 2024 Cease is worse than 2018 Cole, I think that’s a good thing.
Unfortunately, I have no idea what the Chicago White Sox are doing because from what I can tell, their new GM was part of the old regime, so it's not clear to me if he’s going to blow it up. And even if he does trade Cease, is he still going to ask for Jackson Holliday? There's no reason they shouldn't have started a rebuild at the deadline, frankly, so there's a good chance they just hold onto Cease and let him walk for nothing.
I think most people reading the entire post already have a good feel for Cease's pitching profile. He loves his slider enough to write a poem about it, and while I can never condone poetry, it did have a run value of +10 in 2023, a good number but a steep drop from the lava hot +36 in 2022. His disappointing 2023 still netted him 3.7 fWAR, with 4.5 and 4.4 in 2021 and 2022, respectively. He's also not a durability concern (as far as any pitcher can be not a durability concern), covering 165+ innings a year since 2021.
Here's the counter argument: what if he doesn't turn it around stuff-wise? In 2023, he lost a tick off his fastball (96.9 in 2022 to 95.8 in 2023), lost an inch of vertical drop on the fastball, 1.5 horizontal inches on the slider. He’s gone from 61.7 to 59.1 to 58.5 inches of vertical drop on the curveball from 2021 to 2022 to 2023. There are a lot of interweaving reasons why players’ pitches move the way they do, so I can’t assume these are strictly negative. I would guess losing a little bit of fastball ride is purely a bad thing, but he dropped 2.9 inches of horizontal break on his slider between 2021 and 2022, and 2022 was the year it was worth +36 runs. His knuckle curve had the second worst Stuff+ (87) with the filters used, and it was worth -12 runs in 2023. So what if he doesn't have a curve? Like Eno Sarris pointed out in May, it makes him more of a two-pitch pitcher, and is that a risk Elias is willing to take?
Anyway, starting this list with Cease is kind of stupid because if he gets traded, it's going to be expensive, and he’s a Boras client so we’re not likely to extend or re-sign them. Even so, it's two years of control, so he’s not a pure rental. The extra year is basically why I put Cease on this list and not Burnes. Burnes would immediately add three wins to our 2024 total but he’s also a Boras client with only one year before free agency, so I’m skeptical Elias will trade as much as he needs to to get only one year of an ace.
Freddy Peralta (Milwaukee Brewers; 104 101 104; 2025-2027; 27 yr; N/A)
Here is Peralta’s contract: 5 yr, $15.5M (2020-24), 2025-26 $8M club options
So even if it weren't for his stuff (114 four-seamer, 111 slider) or 92nd percentile whiff% and K%, the contract alone makes Peralta desirable - in his two club option years, he’s going to make as much as Burnes is likely to get in arbitration in just 2024.
With Brandon Woodruff out for 2024, GM David Stearns and manager Craig Counsell both gone, and all three of Burnes, Woodruff, and SS Willy Adames pending free agents in 2024, this might be the guy to take a swing on. It all depends on if the Brewers fold and trade for the future. It’s important to remember the Brewers are also cheapskates, so they could also sit on his cost-controlled contract.
Peralta didn't even make honorable mention this past trade deadline, "Peralta is on a cheap deal but hardly elite." But if you ask me, the stuff is good, he's averaged ~3.0 fWAR and ~3.50 xFIP each of the past three seasons with ERA/xERA/FIP values that hover around 3.00, and that contract is cheap for a modest number of years (John Angelos if you're reading this I KNOW YOU CAN AFFORD HIS 2025-2026 OPTIONS).
There’s a lot to say about Peralta’s four-seamer and fastball shape in general, but long story short, I think his is an excellent complement to our team arsenal. The summary is that it works really well because of a low release point, good vertical approach angle (VAA), good extension, and good deception (hiding the ball until it whips out of his hand). His induced vertical break (IVB) is average, but the other characteristics of his fastball make up for it.
The counter argument: look at his innings pitched. 144.1 in 2021, 165.2 in 2023, nothing north of 90 IP any other year since his 2018 debut. Which guy are we trading for? Elias will want to pay for 2022, Brewers want to sell for 2021/2023.
Logan Gilbert (Seattle Mariners; 104 101 103; 2028; 26 yr; #33)
Gilbert is the most expensive pitcher in this review. He's a proven frontline starter with four years of team control remaining, including one pre-arbitration. He's also durable at 180+ IP in each of the last three seasons.
I listed only Gilbert among Seattle's TOR arms because I find it exceedingly unlikely we'll trade for George Kirby (#26 by Clemens) let alone Luis Castillo. Kirby is younger and has both better command and an extra year of control over Gilbert; the bidding would probably start at several top 100s. As for Gilbert, none of our starters throw a splitter and our main splitter guy is out for at least a year, so I think he's a good fit for varying the team's pitch mix.
If Teoscar Hernández doesn't re-sign, the Mariners have an opening for a righty outfield bat, given Kelenic, Canzone, and Marlowe are all lefties. I think Santander is an upgrade from Hernández, but you'd obviously need to throw in a lot more to get Gilbert's value. It's four years of team control, and the Blue Jays traded one year of Hernández for three years of reliever Erik Swanson plus lottery ticket Adam Macko. If you consider Santander (2025 FA) equivalent to pre-2023 Hernández, what do you consider the gap between Gilbert and Swanson? That's what we need to fill with ML-quality bats. You now see the difficulty.
And here's the counter argument: does he give up contact that's too hard? He's had bottom quarter average EV and HH% all three years he's pitched. His barrel% is below average but at least 33rd percentile, so it's not like he's giving up nukes every time batters make contact. He’s been a little homerun prone in 2023, but you swap out Kreme-dawg for Gilbert and you’re probably adding at least two wins. In the sense that he has the fewest obvious red flags of any pitcher in this tier, I wouldn't second guess this too much.
Mitch Keller (Pittsburgh Pirates; 103 102 102; 2026; 27 yr; N/A)
Mitch Keller was by far the best Pittsburgh starter, but if you look at his season numbers, he was actually "just" above average. Solid K%, BB%, and HH%, but his barrel% and whiff% are meh, and his recent (250 PA) rolling xwOBA is average, too. He was sublime when he came to Baltimore in May, but then he just kept getting tagged for a ton of runs. Five or more runs seven times after May. I don't watch enough NL baseball to really understand what happened to him, but based on a little research, it might be that something messed with his release point, stuff, and velocity and caused his results to crater after May. But there's a lot going on here because Keller throws as many as six pitches, and I won't assume it's all caused by one thing.
This trade might actually be doable because he's got only two years left on his contract and he's not in the power level of Cease or as cheap for as long as Gilbert. But he himself wants to stay in Pittsburgh, and there was smoke earlier in the season about a long-term extension.
I think this is the right guy from a trade value perspective. The question is if we can meet Pittsburgh's needs. They're a young team with few expiring contracts (McCutcheon, Vince Velasquez), so it's not clear to me they want what we have. The FanGraphs rankings at the start of the year put them at bottom five at 2B, RF, and RP, and bottom 10 at C, DH, and SP. Unfortunately, the inclusion of both starting and relief pitching there makes me think they’re going to want pitching back if they trade Keller. And if that’s the case, we might be shit out of luck. The Pirates also have a history of letting good pitchers go for an unfavorable return, so who knows, maybe they’ll go in for another one.
Counter argument: everything before 2023 and everything after May. If you believe his improvements are here to stay, he's a good investment. Or, are we buying his peak?
Acceptable
Oops All AL West! These are the kind of trades that I hoped Elias would make last offseason, so I’d still be pretty happy with them. These are all cheap starters with at least three years of control. These guys still aren’t cheap, but we would have to give up less for them, and if they develop with the rest of the team’s young core of position players, this tier might actually be better from a timeline/competitive window perspective.
Bryce Miller (Seattle Mariners; 117 104 109; 2030; 25 yr; HM)
Bryan Woo (Seattle Mariners; 103 102 104; 2030; 23 yr; HM)
Bryce Miller? The guy who only throws fastballs has above average stuff on four of his five pitches? And he has five pitches?
Miller had a solid rookie season, albeit very five-and-divey: 11 of his 25 starts were 5.0 IP or fewer, and after a blazing hot start of only four runs in 31.1 IP, he gave up 59 runs in the remaining 100 IP (read: >5 ERA). But his fastball looks quite good: among 2022-2023 starters, t-9th in four-seamer Stuff+ at 121, 18th in IVB at 18.4”, and 23rd in VAA above average at +0.42°. It is therefore unsurprising that he throws the heater almost 60% of the time, even if its run value per 100 pitches is literally 0.0.
The bad news: Miller and Woo came up in 2023, so the Mariners have six years of control. I can’t find anything about Woo’s contract status, and Baseball Reference says he still hasn’t exceeded his rookie limits, but I’m going to assume since he was on the big league roster for quite a while, this is just a documentation issue. Woo was 12.1 innings short of my 100 IP threshold, but it’s not like you can set Miller’s destiny in stone after 131.1 IP, either.
You could argue Woo’s better peripherals make him a more appealing candidate, and I think Woo is one of the few pitchers I’ve seen with a high Stuff+ sinker at 109. FanGraphs lead prospect writer Eric Longenhagen grades Miller at 50 FV and Woo at 45+, so it’s close. An important detail that Longenhagen highlights is that he considers both of these guys to still be developing, so I don’t really ding Woo’s Stuff+ because I assume it’s going to grow.
Seattle has a weird front office. I wouldn’t call them cheap, since they gave Robbie Ray a five year, $115MM contract and then they gave Julio Rodríguez a titanic extension that could top out at $400MM. On the other hand, after the 2022 season, they gave contracts to (checks notes) Kolten Wong, A.J. Pollock, and Tommy La Stella. Point being, I won’t be surprised if they pocket these young starters and let them develop some more. If they end up as good as Gilbert and Kirby, the Mariners can flip them for a lot more than what they can get now.
The main argument against these guys is that they have 200 career innings combined and many of them came in spurts of five innings or fewer. I peered over at the Mariners sub and found a good, basic comment about the differences and potential tweaks these guys need to make. Point being, they have potential, and that’s what you’re buying here.
Reid Detmers (Los Angeles Angels; 99 98 98; 2028; 24 yr; N/A)
Patrick Sandoval (Los Angeles Angels; 93 98 98; 2027; 27 yr; N/A)
Reid Detmers has a hittable four-seamer and two reasonably good breaking balls - sound familiar to another Angel we traded for?
He had a funky 2023: 3.72 ERA / 3.26 FIP over his first 15 starts before giving up 29 ER in 25.1 innings over the next six starts and then finished the season with only 13 11 ER in 41.0 innings. Because of that disastrous stretch where he gave up nine home runs in six games, the season line looks middling at 4.48 ERA 4.13 FIP, but if you look under the hood, it, uh, also looks middling with a 4.45 xERA and 4.27 xFIP.
But that might be fine because we want guys whose potential we can unlock. Given Detmers isn’t a free agent until 2028, I have a feeling the Angels would probably prefer to keep him anyway since a rebuild shouldn’t really take more than four or five years, and the next couple years of development could mean they could sell high in 2026 or 2027.
For a long time, I thought highly of Patrick Sandoval because I watched him mow down the Mariners in person a few years ago. Unfortunately for him, his 2023 was a rough ride. I’m curious if he has issues getting tilted, since only 66 of his 89 runs given up in 2023 were earned. Moreover, he’s been trending in the wrong direction on both strikeouts and walks to the tune of a 8.3% K-BB% in 2023.
With one fewer year of team control than Detmers and seemingly on the downslide, this might be an opportunity to steal him from the Angels. I see them as more likely to move on from him than Detmers because every couple of starts we see flashes of brilliance from Detmers, and he could be the guy for them to build around moving forward.
Stuff+ doesn’t like Sandoval, but I believe we can do more with less. Sandoval was also originally an Elias draftee back in Houston, and Elias liked him quite a bit, “Patrick is a premium high school lefty whom our staff followed all spring. [...] He has good size, a lively fastball that he locates well, and a solid curveball and changeup in place. We like the blend of pitchability, stuff and projection he offers, and to add a talent of his caliber is a big boost to [the Houston Astros] and our draft class.”
He’s only 27. And a lefty.
What's the argument against them? Detmers has a middling fastball and can be disastrously inconsistent. If Sandoval’s single-digit K-BB% is not a fluke, then… he has a single-digit K-BB%.
Disappointment
I don’t have anything personal against these guys, it’s just more along the lines of the small additions we’ve seen since last winter. I think this is probably the most likely bucket we see.
Michael Kopech (Chicago White Sox; 111 93 97; 2026; 27 yr; N/A)
I was surprised to see him on this list when I remembered this is stuff, not location. His Location+ is the lowest of anybody on this list at 93, tied for lowest of all 100+ IP starters 2022-2023, and lowest of all 100+ IP starters in 2023 alone at 91. The fastball is still his big pitch, but with 1st percentile BB% and barrel%, he needs some work.
Not sure this guy is worth it even as a reliever unless the FO sees something they can actually fix. I watched this guy a couple of times last season and it seems like he legitimately has 20 command. His 15.5% BB% in 2023 was by far the worst among starters, with Blake Snell's 13.3% a distant second, and that doesn't even really count since Snell is a prodigious nibbler.
Shane Bieber (Cleveland Guardians; 99 102 101; 2025; 28 yr; N/A)
This is mostly a repost of what I said in this thread, but my thoughts are intact:
I had kind of written off Shane Bieber assuming the Guardians were going to push with their young pitching corps (Tanner Bibee, Gavin Williams, Triston McKenzie, etc.) and a weak AL Central, but I guess it aligns with their previous practices to sell pitchers on the verge of implosion like Corey Kluber.
After a very good 2022 (2.88 ERA/3.51 xERA/2.87 FIP/2.98 xFIP) where he struck out a batter an inning and had a career high (career low? the good one) in walk rate, he had an injury-riddled 2023 where he was basically a whole run worse by each headline stat. The good news is he still doesn't walk a lot of guys, and his GB rate is competitive.
Beyond the injury, the troubling stuff is obvious: his strikeout rate (and whiff rate correspondingly) has really declined from 33.1% to 25.0% to 20.1% over the past three years, and his fastball continues to lose roughly a tick a year.
If you want an unambitious rental, you could do worse than Shane Bieber. But I don't think he's the guy you want if you want to improve the club enough to not regress to the 89-win record by BaseRuns in 2023. But if you're going to do that, why not just pay a free agent $10MM-$15MM (assuming you won't spend more than that anyway) and save the trade chips for something bigger?
Ken Waldichuk (Oakland Athletics; 93 95 94; 2029; N/A)
JP Sears (Oakland Athletics; 91 100 99; 2029; N/A)
Paul Blackburn (Oakland Athletics; 87 101 97; 2026; N/A)
Two below average Oakland lefties with five years of team control and then a below average righty with two years of team control. I don’t have much to say about these guys other than their peripherals are kinda crummy, and they’re in the same style of pitcher as Cole Irvin, except Waldichuk walks a lot of guys, JP Sears has a good VAA fastball, and Blackburn had a <4 FIP last year.
There’s no Matt Olson or Sean Murphy to be robbed here. We can try again in 2028 or later when Brent Rooker, Zack Gelof, and Mason Miller are nearing free agency.
Brady Singer (Kansas City Royals; 90 101 97; 2027; 27 yr; N/A)
Brady Singer has two pitches (sinker slider), below average fastball velocity, and he took a big step back in 2023 after a pretty good 2022 where in 153.1 IP he had a 3.23 ERA/3.97 xERA/3.58 FIP/3.30 xFIP. Like Bieber, his GB rate is good, and he doesn't walk too many guys.
But don't you want more than that? Like everybody else in this tier, Singer asks the question, "are we making the rotation any better by starting this guy instead of 2024 Kremer or 2023 Gibson?"
I know I’m asking for a lot. Logan Gilbert and Freddy Peralta are good pitchers, and I’m not even sure either team is interested in selling their major leaguers. But it’s the start of the offseason. Let’s keep dreaming at least until February…
Guys who are missing from this list:

• Corbin Burnes; Milwaukee Brewers - I know, he should be in the first tier. But like I said, I don’t think I can expect Elias to trade for definitively one year of an ace in the one season we don’t have our Paul Bunyan closer. Burnes objectively makes the team better, but it seems like pulling the fire alarm in year two of contention.
• Tyler Glasnow; Tampa Bay Rays - he’s likely available, but he’s due $25MM with only one year of control, and trading with the Rays is dangerous.
• George Kirby; Seattle Mariners - too expensive. We're going to have trouble enough finding assets to get Gilbert - who would we need to trade to get Kirby?
• Jesús Luzardo, Edward Cabrera, Braxton Garrett; Miami Marlins - down one Sandy and one Pablo, I think the Marlins no longer have a starting pitching surplus. But if they were willing to trade, Garrett would be a good pickup. Below average velo and underwhelming Stuff+, but he doesn’t walk guys, has a high GB rate, and is a lefty. Again, you want more than just that, but it'll take a lot more to dislodge Luzardo. No proven lefty starter throws a harder fastball.
• Nick Pivetta; Boston Red Sox - Pivetta has a good fastball with ride, good whiff% and K%; the downside is that he has only a year before free agency, 2nd percentile barrel%, and he's a flyball pitcher. If he dropped onto our 40-man tomorrow, I'd be happy to replace Kremer with him. But he plays for Boston and I'm loath to trade them any righty bats.
• Triston McKenzie; Cleveland Guardians - Sticks would've been a great pickup last year, such that there was a 0% chance the Guards would've traded him. But now they have a glut of young pitchers, except McKenzie hurt his UCL (!) and was pretty bad in limited action.
• Logan Webb; San Francisco Giants - honestly, I have no idea what the Giants are doing, but they just extended him with an excellent five year, $90MM contract, so it'd be silly to trade him now. Great value.
• Jameson Taillon; Chicago Cubs - it's an affordable contract, but he was terrible in 2023. I have to think Elias can do better for the same amount of money.
• Cole Ragans; Kansas City Royals - I think the Royals know what they have. His stock has never been higher, so we might as well wait a year to see if comes back down to earth.
• Tarik Skubal; Detroit Tigers - Skubal seemed like a guy to try to vulture in 2022, but then he got hurt, and Detroit turned in a solid 2023 with a 78-84 base runs record and quality contributions from guys like Spencer Torkelson, Riley Greene, and Kerry Carpenter. At this point, if the people running the Tigers know what they’re doing, they need to push and build around this guy. But yes, he’s a hard-throwing lefty. If we could get him, that’d be great. Timing just doesn’t make sense.
• Griffin Canning; Los Angeles Angels - injury prone and unlike the other Angels listed above, he's a righty.
• Brandon Woodruff; Milwaukee Brewers - not a trade candidate, but a guy who was non-tendered. Woodruff is an interesting candidate because he’s basically been an above average starter his whole career, but had the misfortune of having a pair of terribly timed injuries - one preventing him from playing in most of 2023, and then another preventing him from playing likely all of 2024. If a team signs Woodruff, it’s going to be some kind of weird two or three-year deal where things balance out such that he’s pretty cheap during his year of rehab.

Credits:

• Basically all data comes from one of FanGraphs (contract data, team payroll, summary tables, anything with xFIP or Stuff+/Location+/Pitching+), Baseball Reference (contract data, anything detailing stretches of a particular season), or Baseball Savant (pitch mix, run value, barrel%, HH%, etc.). I also gathered metrics on IVB, VAA, and release point from Alex Chamberlain’s dashboard
• Thanks to everybody who read drafts of this or provided feedback on ideas, e.g., formatting, what buckets to put pitchers in, which pitchers are going to be hard to get, etc.
• tableIt.net made it very easy to format from Excel to something suitable to Reddit’s markdown mode.

On April 3, 2008, a solemn and dignified book-launching ceremony was held at the Library of Congress of the United States; on occasion of the first release of a fact-recording book entitled H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III, jointly published by the World Buddhism Publishing LLC and the World Dharma Voice, Inc. At the same time, the book was formally accepted into the collection of the Library of Congress of the United States. From then on, people came to know that the widely respected Master Wan Ko Yee, the one who has been recognized and corroborated through official written documents issued by top leaders, regent dharma kings, and great rinpoches of major Buddhist sects throughout the world; actually, is the third incarnation of Dorje Chang Buddha, the primordial Buddha. Ever since, people address the Buddha by the name Dorje Chang Buddha III. This is similar to the precedent regarding the name of Sakyamuni Buddha—before Sakyamuni Buddha attained Buddhahood, His name was Prince Siddhartha Gotama. Once Prince Siddhartha Gotama attained Buddhahood, He was thereafter addressed as “Namo Sakyamuni Buddha.”
On December 12, 2012, in the Senate Resolution No. 614 of the United States Congress, the title “His Holiness” was officially used with the name Dorje Chang Buddha III; the Buddha was addressed as “H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III.” Since then, the title H.H. Dorje Chang Buddha III was definitively affirmed.
“Dorje Chang Buddha III” is a statutory name; used in all official documents issued by the United States Government; such as passport, identity card, and social security documents. The previous name “Wan Ko Yee” is no longer valid, with no legal-binding effect, and no longer recognized by governments. “Dorje Chang Buddha III” is the only name in use.

Asian Journal
Publications
July 21-23, 2004

DAZZLING LIGHTS WAS ALL AROUND; BUDDHA LIGHT SHINED PROFUSELY ABOVE; THE HOLY NAME OF GUAN YIN BODHISATIVA REVERBERATED THROUGH THE THREE SPHERES; THE BUDDHAS APPEARED IN THEIR COMPLETE FORMS

LAYWOMAN WANG CHENG E-FEN AND HER HUSBANK, LAYMAN WANG LING-ZE, LEARNED THE TRUE BUDDHA DHARMA AND REALIZED GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT

HER BREATHING STOPPED, YET SHE CONTINUED TO LIVE AND WAS ABLE TO SPEAK

Laywoman Wang Cheng E-Fen was a native of Xindu County in Sichuan, China. She was eighty-one years old this year. This elder laywoman followed the Supreme Vajradhara Great Dharma King Yisinubu. She practiced the Guan Yin Dharma taught to her by the Great Dharma King. She was a very close relative of the Great Dharma King.
This year, she suddenly felt discomfort in her lower back area. The doctors at the Number 47 Hospital diagnosed her as having bone cancer. In March of this year, this elder laywoman showed signs of impending death. On April 13th, her children took her to the Chengdu General Hospital. Examinations revealed that she had no symptoms of bone cancer. All of her indices were normal. Her electrocardiogram and electroencephalogram indicated she had no disease and was healthy.
X-rays of her chest area were taken on April 18th. The area of the e-ray where her two lungs should have been visible was not developed at all. There was just a blank space in that area. The doctors were very surprised at this, since this situation had never occurred before. After further examination, they determined that her two lungs had completely stopped functioning. She had no respiratory function. She could not inhale or exhale.
Everyone was extremely mystified. Isn't someone dead when his or her breathing stops? But even though laywoman Wang Cheng E-Fen was not breathing, she was still alive. Moreover, she was able to speak in a normal manner! Someone put a small feather under this elder laywoman's nostrils, right in front of her mouth. People watched that feather for more than ten minutes and, just as expected, it did not move in the slightest. That elder laywoman had no respiration at all. Nonetheless, she continued to live and speak in a normal manner. The doctors thought that this was a bizarre symptom. As far as medical circles and even as far as the entire world is concerned, this was an unheard-of situation. With her two lungs not functioning at all for more than one month, this elder laywoman was able to speak and move about. Of course, no one knew that this was the result of the realization she achieved from practice of the Buddha Dharma.

THE GREAT DHARMA KING SET THE DATE AND INVITED GUAN YIN BODHISATTVA TO COME AND TAKE THE ELDER LAYWOMAN TO HER NEXT EXISTENCE

After Wang Cheng E-Fen had stayed in the Chengdu General Hospital for two or three days, she manifested certain signs that indicated a highly virtuous person was about to go to the Western Paradise. She told everyone that Guan Yin Bodhisattva had already told her that she (Guan Yin Bodhisattva) was going to take her to the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss. That elder laywoman arranged matters that related to her passing away. She took off the necklace she wore on her chest depicting a Buddha image. She took off all of the jewelry on her hands. She divided these things among her children. She put on clothes worn by one who has already passed away. She then quietly waited for Guan Yin Bodhisattva to arrive. She put her palms together in respect and continuously chanted "Homage to Guan Yin Bodhisattva." She told all of the people who were there to chant scriptures or mantras to kneel down and chant the holy name "Guan Yin Bodhisattva." She said that Guan Yin Bodhisattva had already arrived.
All of the patients in that hospital room suddenly smelled a fragrant scent. Heavenly music began playing in the air. The bodhisattva had arrived. However, it was not time for that elder laywoman to pass away. That elder laywoman told everyone that Guan Yin Bodhisattva told her that a relative of hers who is far away in the United States, Great Dharma King Yisinubu, had intervened and requested Guan Yin Bodhisattva not to take her away at this time.
A few days later, Guan Yin Bodhisattva arrived for a second time. That elder laywoman did not disturb any of the people who were at her side. She alone continued to chant her mantra and hold her palms together in respect. Those people who were at her side heard her say, "The Western Paradise is so beautiful! There are so many flowers!" Because the Great Dharma King asked Guan Yin Bodhisattva not to take the elder laywoman away, just as before, Guan Yin Bodhisattva did not take her away.
When I interviewed her, although she did not want to say very much, out of a sense of responsibility, that elder laywoman insisted on personally recording the following: "I saw Guan Yin Bodhisattva wearing black clothes. The Western Paradise is so beautiful! There are towers, pagodas, and many flowers!"

A STATUE OF THE BUDDHA EMITS LIGHT, THEREBY SHOWING THE TRUE DHARMA

On May 22, 2004 of the western calendar at 11:00 at night, Los Angeles, U.S.A. time, (May 23rd, 2:00 in the afternoon, China time) the Great Dharma King summoned Dharma Teacher Long Hui, a noble monastic. Dharma Teacher Long Hui is the chairperson of the International Buddhism Sangha Association. The Great Dharma King told her that a very close relative of his, laywoman Wang Cheng E-Fen, would pass away in Sichuan, China the next day, U.S.A. time, but the same day in China. The Great Dharma King said that Guan Yin Bodhisattva would receive her and take her to the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss. The Great Dharma King told his disciple, Dharma Teacher Long Hui, to announce the passing of laywoman Wong Cheng E-Fen in front of the various disciples attending the Bathing the Buddha Dharma Assembly that would take place the next day. He also instructed Dharma Teacher Long Hui to have the attendees dedicate the merit of that Dharma Assembly to that elder laywoman. The Great Dharma King added, "Listen carefully. She has not yet passed away at this time. The merit of that Bathing the Buddha Dharma Assembly that all of you will conduct tomorrow will be quite extraordinary. I cannot again ask Guan Yin Bodhisattva to have her stay in this would any longer. After I finish practicing the Dharma tonight, tomorrow Guan Yin Bodhisattva will come and receive her and take her away."
As predicted, the next day (May 23rd) at 7:00 in the morning, Los Angeles time (May 23rd, around 10:00 at night, China time), before Dharma Teacher Long Hui arrived at the Dharma Assembly, a telephone call was received from Sichuan. The person on the phone said that Guan Yin Bodhisattva received and took away laywoman Wang Cheng E-Fen twenty minutes ago.
That day at the Dharma Assembly, the bathing the Buddha ceremony had just finished, and everyone was dedicating merit to the elder laywoman Wang Cheng E-Fen. Everyone then saw that the bronze statue of Dharma Prince Sakyamuni, who was wearing a red robe, suddenly began emitting dazzling golden rays of light. This light did not diminish even after a long time. Only after two and a half hours did it slowly disappear. Such a sight was very much connected with the fact that the Great Dharma King taught the elder laywoman the correct Dharma of the Buddha, and she thereby attained great accomplishment. Otherwise, why is it that in all of the other Bathing the Buddha Dharma Assemblies in history no one saw the statue of the Buddha emitting light?

NEWS OF EVENTS SURRORUNDING THE PASSING OF LAYWOMAN WANG CHENG E-FEN SPREAD ACROSS THE PACIFIC OCEAN

On May 23rd after 9:30 at night, China time, Guan Yin Bodhisattva had just received and taken away Wang Cheng E-Fen. The mantra-chanting device bought from a street-store and placed in her room was emitting its regular chanting sound. Suddenly, the chanting sound coming from that device turned into the sound of Great Dharma King Yisinubu—who was on the other side of the Pacific Ocean—chanting "Homage to Guan Yin Bodhisattva"! The sound of the Great Dharma King chanting the name of Guan Yin Bodhisattva was much louder and clearer than the original sound coming from that machine. Everyone who heard this was moved and astonished. Shi Xin Zhen was so moved she recorded the sound of the Great Dharma King's voice.
On May 24th after 10:00 at night, China time, the body of Wang Cheng E-Fen was taken to a simple but dignified room in the Baoguang Temple, one of the four great temples in China. At the time, her face looked healthy and rosy.

BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS APPEARED IN THE SKY; BUDDHA LIGHTS AND RAINBOWS DESCENDED UPON THE EARTH;

On May 25th after 4:00 in the afternoon, China time, in a room that had just been constructed in Baoguang Temple, disciples of the Great Dharma King were calmly chanting the holy mantra, "Homage to Guan Yin Bodhisattva." Before long, everyone heard that the original sound coming from the mantra chanting device suddenly stopped. The sound coming from that machine changed into that of Great Dharma King Yisinubu leading many people in the chanting of "Homage to Guan Yin Bodhisattva." Before long, that sound turned into the chanting of "Homage to Amitabha Buddha." The sound then again became the chanting of "Homage to Guan Yin Bodhisattva." Everyone was very moved and chanted along with the Great Dharam King. Shi Xin Zhen and Shi Xin En recorded all of this on the spot.
About five minutes later, a Buddha Light flashed upon the Buddha altar and the body of laywoman Wang Cheng E-Fen. Right after that, a Buddha Light appeared in the sky. Everyone rushed outside. They prostrated and shouted with joy. Everyone saw those wonderful sights no matter whether he or she was a disciple of the Great Dharma King or whether he or she was learning and practicing Buddhism.
a colorful Buddha Light slowly extended through the sky. The scene was just as the Amitabha Sutra described. Out of the Buddha Light came countless Buddhas as well as Bodhisattvas who were sitting there as far as the eye could see. The radiance spread into infinite space. The surrounding clouds turned into various colors. The land, sky, and trees were covered with a golden-yellow, bluish light. The sun and the E-Mei moon appeared together. The sun and moon shining together was a solemn and auspicious event. The sun continuously flashed and shook.
From the sun emerged countless Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Very soon after that, silver wheels as well as innumerable Dharma eyes that shined with boundless radiance emerged from the sun. Male lions wearing colorful ornaments and flood dragons also emerged from the sun! Guan Yin Bodhsattva, who was in the Buddha Light, was wearing a long dress, looking wondrous and dignified. The head of Sakyamuni Buddha, the would-honored one, then appeared, looking larger than even the sun. Golden-yellow light enveloped the faces and bodies of people on ground. The colorful Buddha Light immediately projected its light upon the chest of anyone who requested empowerment. People Knelt down continuously to worship.
the Dharma names of those who personally saw the holy sight of this Buddha Light are as follows: Shi Zhi Lan, Shi Zhi Qing, Shi Xin Zhen, Shi Xin En, Shi Xin Feng, Shi Zhi Lian, Shi Dao Rong, Shi Yi Zong, Shi Zhi Guang, Shi Chao Jing, Shi Nian Ci, Shi Nian De, Shi Nian Zhen, Shi Zhi Ying, Shi Zhi De, Shi Xin Ying, Shi Dao Wei, Shi Zhi Xiu, etc., totaling almost thirty people. The holy scene of the Buddha Light lasted about one hour. Everyone was moved, joyous, and extremely excited.

DURING THE CREMATION CEREMONY, NECTAR DESCENDED; BODHISATTVAS ON LOTUS PEDESTALS EMERGED FROM THE FURNACE

In China, the weather of May 28th was hotter then it had been for the past few days. The elder laywoman had already passed away several days before. The casket containing her body was placed in a simple room in Baoguang Temple. Her body was not frozen. There was no air conditioning or electric fan in that room. People who were alive emitted body odor due to heavy perspiration. However, the body of that elder laywoman emitted a heavy fragrance. Everyone there smelled this scent. Two monks from the Baoguan Temple made a special trip to examine this phenomenon. With great amazement, they said, "The weather is so hot. Even though her body has been placed here for so many days, there haven't been any problems with it. There is even a fragrant scent. She truly cultivated herself well."
In that room, many people saw the statue of Amitabha Buddha on the altar emit strong golden rings of light three times, each time lasting about ten minutes. A photograph of the elder laywoman and the top of her head gleamed with dazzling golden light at the same time. The Buddha Light outside of that room was gorgeous, just as before. In that room, disciples of the Great Dharma King recited the name of a Buddha with undivided attention. A monk in the Baoguang Temple then said in an urgent tone of voice, "You have still not gone outside to see the Buddha Light? There are so many Bodhisattvas in the sky!"
On May 29th, China time, the cremation ceremony for elder laywoman Wang Cheng E-Fen formally took place. Dharma Teacher Ji Xin, the master of cremation at Baoguang Temple, was in Charge of that ceremony. When the solemn mantra chanting ended, flames began to rise. Before her wooden casket was fully on fire, various holy Buddha Dharma states appeared! A colorful and flashing Buddha Light surrounded and circled the earth. Shouts of joy could be heard one after another from people who saw this holy scene. Cell phones, cameras, and camcorders were lifted high. They did not need to be focused, and nobody needed to find a view. Everything was taken in, since holy scenes were everywhere.
From the raging furnace fire, suddenly flood dragon soared. It spewed fire from its mouth and roared powerfully. Amitabha Buddha, Guan Yin Bodhisattva, Four-Arm Guan Yin, and Manjushri Bodhisattva holding the sword of wisdom all suddenly appeared. Seed syllables, vajras, Dharma protecting deities, male lions, phoenixes lotus flowers, rainbows, and various other kinds of amazing scenes continually emerged as the furnace flames rose. The mantra-chanting device again emitted the sound of the Great Dharma King chanting the name of a Buddha. Suddenly, nectar descended from the sky. It was fragrant and sweet. The nectar only fell on the cremation furnace. No nectar fell upon any place surrounding the furnace.
The appearance of all of these holy scenes caused people to be brimming with joy. Since the cremation furnace of Baoguang Temple was built until today, such joyous circumstances had had never before occurred. The Dharma names of those people who were at the cremation and personally saw holy sights are as follows: Shi Xin En, Shi Xin Feng, Shi Xin Yu, Shi Zhi Wen, Shi Xin Miao, Shi Dao Zhen, Shi Dao Chun, Shi Dao Zhi, Shi Xin Xiao, Shi Zhi Lian, Shi Xin Yuan, Shi Guang Xiu, shi Dao Guang, Shi Guang Wen, Qude Damu, Shi Zhi De, Shi Yi Zeng, Shi Zhi Da, Shi Zhi Xiu, Shi Zhen Xiong, Shi Zhen De, Shi Dao Shan, Shi De Hai, Shi Guang Yun, Shi Zhi Qing, Shi Guang Ling, Shi Zhi Zhang, Shi Zhi Ming, Shi Zhi Hai, Shi Guang Feng, Shi De Ming, Shi De Chao, Shi Zhi Bo, etc. There were also many other unknown people. Everyone there expressed their admiration in loud voices and knelt down right then and there.

SHE ATTAINED ILLUSTRIOUS ACCOMPLISHMENT; HER LEVEL OF REALIZATION RESULTED IN SHARIRAS AND SHARIRA FLOWERS OF THE HIGHEST QULITY

What is even more amazing is that from the bone ashes of elder laywoman Wang Cheng E-Fen more than sixty shariras (relics) of different colors, as well as yellow and white sharira flowers of the highest quality, were found! The shape of some on the shariras was rhombic. This caused a sensation in all of Baoguang Temple and in Buddhist circles throughout China. These are holy things that are extremely rare in history. They are true Buddhist treasures. They manifest the holy state described as follows: "The Western Paradise has row of gems and nets of gems. This is very mysterious. All of the lotus flowers there blossom perfectly."
Wu You-Jia from Taiwan said, "Those shariras (relics) are truly wondrous treasures. During the process of searching for shariras, I saw a lump of bone ashes the size of a human palm. People had searched through it a few times. Surprisingly, I found two shariras within it. I then looked through it carefully once more. I was sure there were no more shariras in it. At that time, I saw another disciple find three shariras in that lump of bone ashes that I searched through. Another disciple from Taiwan, Li Hui-Zhu, had a serious ailment related to her hands. Because her tactile sense was not good, she only used three fingers to search for shariras in the bone ashes. She said that although she did not find even one sharira, the next morning she discovered that all of the symptoms relating to the three fingers she used to search for shariras had disappeared."
An endless stream of visitors came to pay their respects to the shariras. Many people from various circles in society came. Baoguang Temple specially photographed the elder laywoman's shariras. The temple openly and respectfully handed out that photograph to everybody.

HUSBAND AND WIFE BOTH REALIZED HOY ACCOMPLISHMENTS;THE ELDER WANG ATTAINED CONTROL OVER HIS OWN BIRTH AND DEATH

As La Mu said in her article entitled "Analysis of the Highest Form of Bathing the Buddha Dharma Assembly," if the only disciple of the Great Dharma King who became accomplished in the Dharma were Wang Cheng E-Fen, perhaps it would be coincidental. But something mysterious happened. Layman Wang Ling-Ze the husband of laywoman E-Fen, also practiced the Dharma according to the teachings of the Great Dharma King. Throughout his entire life, he did not discuss the Buddha Dharma. One afternoon in 1991 on February 15th of the lunar calendar, he suddenly took a bench and placed it on the roadside in the Laodong Village of Xindu. He then openly began urging people to be kind and good. He explained the wonders of the Pure Land. He praised the Great Dharma King, saying that his Dharma is the authentic Buddha Dharma of Sakyamuni Buddha.
Someone asked Wang Ling-Ze, "I like Guan Yin Dharma, but I don't know which Guan Yin Dharma is the best." The elder layman Wang answered, "No matter if your teacher is a Great Dharma Teacher or a Great Rinpoche, you must be very careful. You absolutely must not learn false Buddha Dharma. For example, Guan Yin Bodhisattva's 'pure vase realization' is great. Let's look toward ourselves. How is your master? If he doesn't have the ability and state of realization to 'obtain water,' transmit Dharma, and conduct initiations, if he does not practice the precepts well, then he just understands the common Dharma written in books. Rather than learn from such a person, you would accumulate more merit if you intoned 'Homage to Guan yin Bodhisattva.' True Guan Yin Dharma involves 'obtaining water' either in a gentle way or a forceful way. Obtaining water in a forceful way involves one ore two persons lifting a lotus tub weighing over 5,500 pounds and pouring out the water from it. This is the true Buddha Dharma. Obtaining water in a gentle way involves the following. You secretly prepare a bowl outside the presence of the master. you fill it with water and take it out. The master immediately practices the Dharma in front of you. Water instantly flows through the bowl toward you. It is like the holy water in the pure vase of Guan Yin Bodhisattva. No containers in this would can hold the holy water in that pure vase. That holy water will penetrate through and flow out of any such worldly container. When used in initiations and Dharma Transmissions, holy water that has flowed through a bowl can wash away your karmic hindrances accumulated over many past lifetimes. This is true Guan Yin Dharma. I have learned this true Buddha Dharma transmitted to me by Great Dharma King Yisinubu. Water penetrated through the bowl. Therefore, I am about to got to the Western Paradise of Ultimate Bliss."
When the elder layman Wang finished expounding the Dharma, he pushed the bench to one side and sat down in the cross-legged posture in front of his house near the road. He instantly passed away. He illustrates the magnificence of the Buddha Dharma transmitted by the Great Dharma King, which leads to control over one's own birth and death. According to the rules of Buddhism, after the elder layman passed away, his body could not be touched for seven days. Therefore, he sat solemnly in the cross-legged posture at that very spot near the public street for seven days and seven nights. His back remained completely upright. After his cremation at the Baoguang Temple in Xindu, thirteen firm shariras (relics) were left behind.
I went to the Baoguang Temple in Xindu and paid twelve yuan to buy a photograph openly sold by the temple showing the sharia and sharira flowers left behind by laywoman Wang cheng E-Fen after her cremation. I learned from a documentary video as well as from other sources that many disciples of the Great Dharma King include world-class outstanding monastics, first-class elder monastics in Taiwan, first-class elder monastics and Great Rinpoches in mainland China and Hong Kong, and first-class eminent monastics and Great Rinpoches in the United States. Furthermore, many disciples of the Great Dharma King include husband and wife couples who obtained control over their own births and deaths. Some of his disciples passed away while they sat in the cross-legged posture, chanted the name of Amitabha Buddha, and held their hands in a special mudra. The bodies of some disciples emitted dazzling light after they passed away. The corpses of some disciples do not rot after their passing, thereby becoming a "body sharira."
However, the most amazing thing of all is that the Great Dharma King often tells his disciples beforehand when a certain person will pass away, thus enabling his Dharma Teacher disciples to make their way to that person quickly so that they can help him or her by reciting passages or mantras for the deceased. When those Dharma Teacher are informed of this, the person is still alive. When they arrive at the peron's location, he or she has already passed away. What is the significance of this? This shows that such magnificent Buddha Dharma truly exists.
A layperson with the surname Mai, who often worships the Buddha at the Baoguang Temple, was very moved and told a reporter, "During these past several years, I have been very anxious. I have acknowledged many great Dharma Teacher and great Rinpoches as my teachers, but I have still not learned the true Buddha Dharma. I fear the arrival of the critical moment of death. Of course, I chant the name of Amitabha Buddha every day. But I am clearer thatn anyone else is about the level of my practice. I am clearer than anyone else is about whether I am an ordinary person. I have not learned the true Buddha Dharma. I am not the only one. Everyone else around me is in the same situation. At the time of my death, I will surely enter the cycle of reincarnation. This is very frightening. I have prayed to the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas that I may learn the true Buddha Dharma. For the past few days, I have seen holy states relating to the great accomplishment of Cheng E-fen. I know that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas have blessed me by causing me to find the true Buddha Dharma! A few of us fellow disciples have discussed this matter. we will use every means to find the master who taught laywoman Cheng E-Fen how to become accomplished. I know that he is truly and extremely holy being. We heard that laywoman Cheng E-fen's husband also passed away in the cross-legged sitting posture in complete control of his death and future rebirth. That was also the result of the Dharma King's transmission of Buddha Dharma. If we did not seek out that Dharma King, who else would we seek out? Of course we must try to find him. Only that Dharma King can solve the matter of life and death that we face. We must sincerely search for him!"
​

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/Hockey NHL Power Rankings Week Nov 6, 2023 - Nov 12, 2023

Thank You

Thank you to all of the volunteers doing the power rankings. Each ranker has their own system and have their own reasonings and analyis. It truly is a lot of work.

Rankers

mukuu dagetawayman421 copaceticvindication mcrsft3brdev raymondliang lang14 joetothejack mephisto1822 maxpowr9 mdlt97 timmablimma nodessb sandman730 silkeystev longjumpingscene2327 americanadian98 hockeycross driftshade11 ducksofanaheim assassin2107 steckums dr3amweav3r eatingasspatties anon_agentd05b blueferret98 recockulous

Organizers

lang14 thatmikeguy429

Visualization

The visualization contains historical data, so you can see how your team has done over time. Hopefully, we can run this for many years in hopes that we can see the rise and fall of teams by /hockey opinion.
It automatically updates so feel free to bookmark. You can find it here

Process

How does this work? Throughout the course of the week rankers are able to access an app that will allow them to rank teams. At the end of the period we calculate the average ranking for every team and collate all of the analysis provided by rankers.
The app then generates a post that is first proofread and then posted to /hockey!

Rankings

Ranking (avg)	Team	Delta	Overall Record	Record This Week	Comments
1 (1.5)	Vegas Golden Knights	-	12-2-1	1-1-0	anon_agentd05b says Only two games this week, a really gross loss to the kings and your regularly scheduled sharks bullying. We just could not find the net on Wednesday. Knights out shot the Kings and played pretty well but Talbot decided to hold up a massive middle finger in the form of a .974 save percentage. Did he play well? yes. Did the knights shoot directly at the logo most of the night? Also yes. Not too concerned still on top of the league, though Boston has the game in hand. I'm actually okay with that considering how last season started I'm getting a sense of Déjà Vu, and that's great for the knights.
2 (2.35)	Boston Bruins	0	11-1-2	2-0-1	maxpowr9 says Congrats to Mason Lohrei and John Beecher on getting their first NHL goals! For all this talk about the shallowness of the Bruins' prospect pool, they have shown up and the Bruins' record reflects that. Congrats as well with Coyle finally getting a 🎩🎩🎩; after nearly 800 games! That said, the decimation of the Bruins' d-corp; due to injury/suspension, was shown the week with a weak PK. I just wish Lucic was around to reek havoc on the Habs this past Saturday.
3 (3.46)	New York Rangers	0	11-2-1	3-0-0	nodessb says Well, despite the key injuries I have been very happy with the team's play. They are still scoring when they need to and are defending especially very well. The rush defense has been surprisingly great so far, so we'll see how much that makes a difference against high-flying teams like New Jersey. Hoping for quick recoveries from Chytil, Fox, and Shesterkin. LGR!
4 (4.04)	Dallas Stars	0	10-3-1	3-1-0	No Stars blurb this week, sorry.
5 (4.69)	Vancouver Canucks	0	11-3-1	3-1-0	assassin2107 says Canucks fans desperately arguing that PDO is flawed, and everything about this team is sustainable (Though I'd love to see it happen)
6 (8)	Los Angeles Kings	1	8-3-3	1-1-1	raymondliang says Absolutely cursed at home. Still look good enough for the win, but finding ways to just barely lose. Byfield continues to be a standout this season. 4th line dominating every shift. Fiala and Dubois need to be better. Long break until Thursday for Todd to find some answers for these two guys. Also, Copley's leash is getting shorter by the start.
7 (8.23)	Carolina Hurricanes	1	9-6-0	2-1-0	timmablimma says There wasn't a game in Sunrise this week, it's been erased from memory based on the next night in Tampa. The later definitely looked more like the team expected than the former. Considering after 15 games where 11 have been on the road, being 9-6 is quite good. Now comes the 4-game homestand and most importantly time to start building more chemistry. Get well Freddie, blood issues be scary.
8 (9.23)	Florida Panthers	3	9-4-1	4-0-0	copaceticvindication says This team is on a heater boys, the powerplay is still suspect and Bob continues to sometimes struggle but we keep on winning baby. The defense missing our top 2 dmen still is one of the best in hockey and I'm putting it down now, the first line of Reinhart-Barkov-Rodrigues is the best goddamn line in hockey, just absolute domination every single game. Meow Meow motherfuckers
9 (9.77)	Toronto Maple Leafs	1	8-5-2	3-1-0	lang14 says Bit more inspired hockey against the Canucks. The two instigators sucked but at some point you need to stand up for yourself as a team. Ended up not costing us the game. If it means we're going to get instigators, so be it. 3-1 week heading into Sweden. Not too shabby. Shout out to Nicky Bobby. Finally making it!
10 (10.15)	Colorado Avalanche	-4	8-5-0	1-2-0	hockeycross says If a team puts up a two goal lead on the Avs, they give up. St. Louis is a prime example from the start of the second the players had decided the game was already lost. It was the same with Vegas last week. Avs fought through the entire Seattle game as it was close, but they took their foot off the gas at the end, playing for overtime, and received a regulation loss. It is good Bednar is furious with the team. They looked like they didn't care. Hopefully this will be a wake up call for the team. They started hot enough they are not in danger, but they need to figure it out or a first round exit is all they will hope for.
11 (10.77)	New Jersey Devils	-2	7-5-1	0-2-0	silkeystev says Watching the Devils without both Nico and Jack is like a candyless Halloween, a thanksgiving without mashed potatoes, a green Christmas. It feels wrong, I don't like it, and you can't make me like it. Also we need to launch an investigation as to why Ruff says Holtz needs to get scored on less while simultanously allowing Smith to play a single minute of ice time. Some blackmail has to be going on here.
12 (13)	Detroit Red Wings	0	8-5-2	1-1-1	americanadian98 says The Wings need to start showing up on time. Every week it seems like there's one or more games where they play like a bottom feeder for the first period and it is a total guessing game whether they'll play well enough the rest of the way to come back. It's bad for my heart man. Really wish they'd just be consistent. That said, I'm glad to be in a playoff spot headed to Sweden.
13 (15)	Winnipeg Jets	1	7-5-2	2-1-0	No Jets blurb this week, sorry.
14 (16.62)	Anaheim Ducks	1	8-6-0	1-2-0	ducksofanaheim says The Ducks are in a weird place right now. They're very reliant on their young players, like Carlsson, McTavish, and Mintyukov. While they are playing very well, rookies and sophomores aren't known for remaining consistent throughout the year. Also, some unsustainable shooting percentages from Vatrano and Strome are incredibly likely to go down, which will hurt the scoring. The defense isn't great either, but luckily the goaltending from Gibson and Dostal has been incredible. Overall, the Ducks are on a knife edge right now. Continue on like we are, and we are strong competitors for a wild card spot, but falter at all, we almost certainly plummet to the bottom of the standings.
15 (16.73)	Tampa Bay Lightning	-2	6-5-4	1-2-1	mcrsft3brdev says A so-so week. Our blue line has been having some issues, gotta get that sorted out.
16 (16.77)	Pittsburgh Penguins	4	7-6-0	3-0-0	longjumpingscene2327 says Most exciting week to write about this team since week 0. Swept the Cali trip, kept the momentum at home with a shutout. Jarry injury wasnt serious. The Sullivan haters are quiet again. Pens now officially have a 3rd line, and its producing and playing well. Sullivan finally benched Carter, and it is working well. EK65 has had some tough games, relative to him, but looks to be adjusting well. If the 4th line gels and they stay healthy, they may have a chance to keep it rolling. However, a big divisional test coming up: CBJ, NJD, CAR and VGK b2b, then NYR. By thankgsiving, this team could be in the tank again, or made up some ground. LGP!
17 (18.08)	Montreal Canadiens	1	7-6-2	2-2-0	mdlt97 says There's nothing better than beating Boston at home on a Saturday night, Tampa destroyed us but the habs bounced back with some solid wins against the two top teams in the Atlantic
18 (18.08)	St. Louis Blues	1	7-5-1	2-1-0	We are looking for a Blues ranker, if you are a Blues fan and would like to become a ranker then please message ThatMikeGuy429 copaceticvindication says Fun Blues stat: in 36 PKs, the blues have 4 shorthanded goals, meanwhile in their 39 powerplay chances, they have 3 goals. Had a nice dominating win against Colorado to close the week too.
19 (18.27)	Washington Capitals	3	7-4-2	2-0-1	dagetawayman421 says I'd like to wish everyone a Happy Veteran's Day and Remembrance Day for those of you outside of the US. Also for my fellow brown brothers, Happy Diwali and Bandi Chhor Divas! Now, on to the post... would you look at that, the Caps currently sit in 3rd in the division after going 6-1-1 in the last 8. The kid line of Phillips-McMichael-Protas is starting to tear it up and bringing back NAK solidified our fourth line of Beck-Dowd-NAK. Problem now is figuring out our top six, but that's a down the line problem with all the injuries and what not going on. Currently, we have Fehervary, Mantha, TvR, Backstrom, Pacioretty, and Edmundson all on IR with Kuemper injured as well. Half our blue line was in the AHL last season and somehow.... we're just finding ways to win and make life difficult for opponents. Let's see how it turns out against Vegas tomorrow night!
20 (19.62)	Buffalo Sabres	-3	7-7-1	1-1-1	dr3amweav3r says The more I watch this team, the more my concern grows. How we sit at a ".500" record is out of sheer luck and, you guessed it, competent goaltending. Either every skater outside of Tage, Mitts, and Greenway have reverted to a physical potato, or the coaches have no idea what their supposed to do now. Figure it the fuck out. Everyone looks lost on the ice. EVERYONE. Excuses will come up empty if the drought hits 13.
21 (19.96)	Ottawa Senators	3	6-7-0	2-1-0	driftshade11 says Hey, a week where we finally won more games than we lost! It's been a super uneven start to the year, so it was good to see the team hunker down and actually shut teams down and score goals when needed. The Vancouver loss was ugly for sure, but I chalk that one up to Vancouver being on their ultra-heater and Forsberg being rusty more than anything. We're headed to Sweden this week, where all of us fans hope that this team can finally break the curse that started there 5 years ago. Also, shoutout to Roby Jarventie, who's trying his best to step in for Greig but looks like what Greig did last year (has potential, needs reps), and Drake Batherson who's finally starting to get his game back on track.
22 (20.27)	Arizona Coyotes	1	7-6-1	2-1-0	recockulous says A pair of wins bracketed a tough loss in St. Louis for the Yotes this week. While Jason Zucker returned to the lineup, Jack McBain is now out week to week. And while Mattias Maccelli's point streak was snapped this week, Clayton Keller is still on a point-per-game pace, and Logan Cooley is second in rookie points league-wide.
23 (20.42)	Philadelphia Flyers	-2	7-7-1	2-1-0	assassin2107 says Everybody reading this wants to hear about one thing, and I don't want to talk about it. On less humiliating topics, we had convincing wins over Anaheim and LA, which shows that you really can't underestimate a Torts team.
24 (21.46)	New York Islanders	-8	5-5-3	0-3-0	mephisto1822 says Well this week sucked. Three game losing streaks are not fun, well four games counting the Carolina loss last week. I blame the fact that the NewYorkIslanders game day bot went down. The rest of the fan base blames Lane Lambert. The loudest voices wanted him fired…after the first preseason loss…so I try not to focus on them. The truth of matter in my opinion is that something needs to change. Quick. Third period melt downs aren’t sustainable. Throwing the lines in a blender in the third isn’t helping. There are a lot of moves I, as an armchair “quarterback”, am questioning. The fans made their displeasure know towards the end of the Capitals game Saturday. If this west coast trip goes off the rails the calls for blood from the fans will become deafening
25 (23.88)	Nashville Predators	0	5-9-0	0-3-0	We are looking for a Preds ranker, if you are a Preds fan and would like to become a ranker please message ThatMikeGuy429
26 (24.81)	Minnesota Wild	0	5-8-2	1-3-0	No Wild blurb this week, sorry.
27 (25.42)	Seattle Kraken	0	5-7-3	1-1-1	mukuu says Looked great against the Yotes, looked great against the Avs, and then just completely forgot how to play hockey against the worst team in the league. Uuuuuuggggghhhh. THEY LOST TO THE SHARKS! Kraken can not finish. Not going to go back, but I believe we have 6 losses in games we led in, including quite a few getting the first goal of the game. We are not finishing at all and forget how to pass the puck to each other when we have a lead. Concern levels are very high at this point.
28 (27.58)	Chicago Blackhawks	1	5-8-0	1-1-0	sandman730 says The Hawks split the mom's trip to Florida, beating Tampa 5-3 and losing to Florida 4-3. Bedard scored 4G, 2A on the trip. Korchinski scored his first NHL goal. Tinordi (oblique), Hall (lower body), and Athanasiou (undisclosed) were all injured in Thursday's game in Tampa.
29 (28.12)	Columbus Blue Jackets	-1	4-7-4	0-2-2	steckums says The Jackets are 1-5-4 in their last 10 games. Fantilli has looked great and his line with Voronkov and Marchenko have been our best line. Elvis and Spencer Martin have been playing very well too. The Jackets just can't hold on to win games.
30 (29.62)	Calgary Flames	0	4-8-2	1-1-1	assassin2107 says Somehow despite being 4-8-2 are having way less emergency panic going on then whatever is happening in Edmonton.
31 (30.96)	Edmonton Oilers	0	3-9-1	1-2-0	eatingasspatties says I don't know what the hell is happening anymore. All I expect now is for the Oilers to pick up Oskar Dansk to fix our goalie problems and make a trade for Burakovsky. It worked for Erie right?
32 (31.15)	San Jose Sharks	0	2-12-1	2-2-0	blueferret98 says We won a game! Yay! It feels good to have a winning record for the week, even if we're still barely scoring and letting in a ton of goals.

# Today In Phishstory - November 13th Brought to you by tiph-bot. Beep.
All data extracted via The Phishnet API.

Phish

Phish, Friday 11/13/1998 (25 years ago) CSU Convocation Center, Cleveland, OH, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1998 Fall Tour
Set 1 : Chalk Dust Torture , Wolfman's Brother -> Mind Left Body Jam -> Wolfman's Brother , Roggae , Ginseng Sullivan , It's Ice > Cars Trucks Buses , Farmhouse , Water in the Sky , The Sloth , Run Like an Antelope ¹
Set 2 : Down with Disease > Sample in a Jar , Dirt , Birds of a Feather , Meat > Harry Hood
Encore : Good Times Bad Times
1 Lyrics were changed to "suck the deershit from this side of the hole."
Jamchart Notes:
Wolfman's Brother - "Wolfman's" -> "MLB Jam" -> "Wolfman's." "MLB" from 9:22 - about 11:52. Returns to "Wolfman's" with "Manteca"-like jamming then ends.
Mind Left Body Jam - -> in from "WB." Cool jam for a for a couple of minutes in the middle of "Wolfman's."
Wolfman's Brother - -> in from "MLB Jam." Brief return to "Wolfman's" with "Manteca"-like jamming to conclude.
Down with Disease - A hard rocking straightforward jam finally breaks into a great upbeat and swinging groove which works back to "DwD."
Birds of a Feather - Stretching the boundaries of "Type I" jamming, this version is dark and ominous.
Meat - A really nice, low intensity jam emerges on the back end of "Meat" proper, and continues until > to "Hood."
Show Notes:
This show marked the first Mind Left Body Jam since November 23, 1994 (298 shows) although it had been teased on occasion in between. Antelope's lyrics were changed to "suck the deershit from this side of the hole."
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, Thursday 11/13/1997 (26 years ago) Thomas& Mack Center, Las Vegas, NV, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1997 Fall Tour (a.k.a. Phish Destroys America)
Set 1 : Chalk Dust Torture , Black-Eyed Katy ¹ , Theme From the Bottom , Train Song , Split Open and Melt , Beauty of My Dreams , My Soul , You Enjoy Myself , Character Zero
Set 2 : Stash , Punch You in the Eye > Prince Caspian > Bouncing Around the Room , Mike's Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove
Encore : Loving Cup
1 Debut.
Jamchart Notes:
Black-Eyed Katy - Debut. Standard version with a strong but typical jam, with assertive playing by Trey throughout. Page's grand piano lends some unique flavor as the jam peaks.
You Enjoy Myself - Very catchy theme in the jam! (No B&D.;)
Stash - Jam shifts into major mode at about 10:40, then teeters between sentiments in quiet contemplation. Around 17:00, the jam begins to work its way back to "Stash" proper.
Prince Caspian - > in from "PYITE." Just a rock solid '97 from start to finish. Trey really pours his heart into this one. > to "BATR."
Mike's Song - A really great and different groove is established early in the 1st jam, before drifting back into more typical territory. The jamming moves back out for more of the original groove, including great scratch funk around 8:30. The 2nd jam kicks in at 10:10 and features gentle and soothing play with "Born On The Bayou" teasing and glides into "Hydrogen."
Weekapaug Groove - Spirited and soaring jamming mellow uptempo as after 5:10 with some solid "CYHMK" teases and jamming, before finishing in a raging style with "CYHMK."
Loving Cup - Quite a strong Trey solo, have a listen!
Show Notes:
This show marked the debut of Black-Eyed Katy. The jam in Mike's Song included Born on the Bayou teases and Weekapaug contained Dave's Energy Guide and Can't You Hear Me Knocking teases.
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, Wednesday 11/13/1996 (27 years ago) Target Center, Minneapolis, MN, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1996 Fall Tour
Set 1 : Down with Disease , Bouncing Around the Room , It's Ice , Ya Mar , Taste , Train Song , Reba , Character Zero , Sweet Adeline
Set 2 : Also Sprach Zarathustra > Suzy Greenberg -> Jam > Prince Caspian > You Enjoy Myself , Theme From the Bottom , Golgi Apparatus
Encore : Good Times Bad Times
Jamchart Notes:
Suzy Greenberg - -> to an excellent, wide ranging "Jam" follows "Suzy" proper. At first a typically rhythmic '96 jam with Trey on the mini percussion set up and Page jumping around different keyboards, it morphs into an upbeat, driving jam, even adding a little psychedelic edge near the ending > to "Prince Caspian."
Jam - -> in from "Suzy Greenberg." Excellent, wide ranging jam follows "Suzy" proper. At first a typically rhythmic '96 jam with Trey on the mini percussion set up and Page jumping around different keyboards, it morphs into an upbeat, driving jam, even adding a little psychedelic edge near the ending > to "Prince Caspian."
You Enjoy Myself - Strong VJ.
Show Notes:
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, Sunday 11/13/1994 (29 years ago) Warner Theatre, Erie, PA, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1994 Fall Tour
Set 1 : Wilson > Sparkle > Simple > Reba , Axilla (Part II) > It's Ice -> The Vibration of Life -> The Horse > Silent in the Morning , Run Like an Antelope
Set 2 : Suzy Greenberg > Divided Sky , The Lizards , Tweezer , The Mango Song > Big Black Furry Creature from Mars , Amazing Grace ¹ , The Squirming Coil
Encore : Funky Bitch > Tweezer Reprise
1 Without amplification.
Jamchart Notes:
Run Like an Antelope - Good solid improvisation in several parts, loads of tension with great playing by Fish and Page, and a full-throttle peak.
Show Notes:
The Antelope intro contained Dixie teases and Tweezer contained Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo teases. Amazing Grace was performed without amplification. Trey teased Buried Alive in Funky Bitch.
Listen now at Phish.in!
Phish, Wednesday 11/13/1991 (32 years ago) Love Auditorium, Davidson College, Davidson, NC, USA
Gap Chart, Tour: 1991 Fall Tour
Set 1 : The Landlady > Runaway Jim , It's Ice > Sparkle , Chalk Dust Torture , Esther > Cavern > Rhombus Narration > Divided Sky , I Didn't Know , You Enjoy Myself
Set 2 : David Bowie ¹ , Colonel Forbin's Ascent > Fly Famous Mockingbird , Golgi Apparatus , Bathtub Gin , The Squirming Coil > Llama , Hold Your Head Up > Terrapin ² > Hold Your Head Up , Possum
Encore : Horn , My Sweet One , Sweet Adeline ³
1 Four Charlie Chan signals and Popeye, Simpsons, Oom Pa Pa, and Random Laugh signals in the intro. The band responded to Popeye signal by singing a random note. 2 Fish sang only one out of every few words. 3 Without microphones.
Jamchart Notes:
David Bowie - A prototypical early '90s version with an excellent, signal and tease-infused intro, a searing, intense, tension-loaded straightforward jam, and a raging and shredding trill section.
Show Notes:
Terrapin was announced as the "restrained version" and Fish as the "Master of Restraint." In response, Fish sang only one out of every few words to the song. Trey also clarified during the show that Colonel Forbin is not to be mistaken for Colonel (Bruce) Hampton. Bowie was preceded by a Funk #49 tease. The Bowie intro included HYHU teases, four Charlie Chan signals and Popeye, _ Simpsons, Oom Pa Pa, and Random Laugh signals. The band responded to the _Popeye signal by singing a random note, which is the Random Note signal's "secret language." Trey teased Dave's Energy Guide in Possum. Sweet Adeline was performed without microphones.
Listen now at Phish.in!

Trey Anastasio

Trey Anastasio Band, 2022-11-13 None, Glens Falls, NY, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-band-november-13-2022-cool-insuring-arena-glens-falls-ny-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: Goose opened for TAB at this co-bill show. Mr. Completely and Rise/Come Together featured Rick Mitarotonda on guitar and Peter Anspach on keys. The first full TAB performance of Possum featured Rick on guitar, Peter on keys, and Jeff Arevalo, Ben Atkind, and Trevor Weekz on percussion. Prior to this show, the only other time Possum had been played publicly as "TAB" was at the first TAB performance on February 15, 1999 as Trey, Tony Markellis, and Russ Lawton (it was played on October 23, 2020 during the Beacon Jams). This was also the first Possum to be played by any member of Phish with a full horn section since July 27, 1991.
Trey Anastasio Band, 2020-11-13 Beacon Theatre, New York, NY, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-november-13-2020-beacon-theatre-new-york-ny-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes:
This performance was part of The Beacon Jams series and featured the debuts of mercy and Are You There Colleen?, the TAB debuts of Moma Dance and A Song I Heard the Ocean Sing, and the full TAB debuts of You Enjoy Myself, Kill Devil Falls, Twenty Years Later, Joy, Tube, Billy Breathes, Bouncing Around the Room, and Wading in the Velvet Sea. You Enjoy Myself began with just Trey with The Rescue Squad Strings and Jeff Tanski on piano with the rest of the band and Jennifer Hartswick, Celisse Henderson, Jo Lampert joining in on vocals later. the lyrics in You Enjoy Myself were changed to "boy, woman, god, shit." Winterqueen featured Trey on acoustic guitar with the full band and singers. Trey teased No Men In No Man's Land in Moma Dance. mercy through Joy featured The Rescue Squad Strings. mercy also featured Jeff Tanski on piano. Summer of '89 featured just Trey on acoustic guitar with the Strings. Trey quoted On the Road Again after Summer of '89. Trey quoted She Blinded Me with Science in Tube.
Trey Anastasio Band, 2015-11-13 The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver, CO, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-november-13-2015-the-fillmore-auditorium-denver-co-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes:
Oysterhead, 2001-11-13 Roseland Ballroom, New York, NY, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/trey-anastasio-november-13-2001-roseland-ballroom-new-york-ny-usa.html
Tour: Oysterhead - The Grand Pecking Order
Show Notes: Marc Ribot y Los Cubanos Postizos opened. "Shadow of a Man" contained an extended jam at the end featuring Trey on the Matterhorn and Les on the Whamola. A portion of the proceeds from this show were donated to the New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund, and the New York State Coalition Against Sexual Assault.

Mike Gordon

Mike Gordon, 2011-11-13 Lebanon Opera House, Lebanon, NH, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/mike-gordon-november-13-2011-lebanon-opera-house-lebanon-nh-usa.html
Tour: Mike Gordon - Fall 2011 Weekends Tour
Show Notes: This show featured the debut of Sideways and the Mike Gordon debut of The Way It Goes.
Mike Gordon, 2010-11-13 The Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/mike-gordon-november-13-2010-the-fox-theatre-boulder-co-usa.html
Tour: Mike Gordon - Fall 2010 Tour
Show Notes: This show featured the Mike Gordon debut of Hand In My Pocket.
Umphrey's McGee, 2009-11-13 Higher Ground, South Burlington, VT, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/mike-gordon-november-13-2009-higher-ground-south-burlington-vt-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: Mike sat in on bass in place of Ryan Stasik for In the Kitchen.
Mike Gordon and Leo Kottke, 2002-11-13 Park West, Chicago, IL, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/mike-gordon-november-13-2002-park-west-chicago-il-usa.html
Tour: Mike Gordon & Leo Kottke Fall 2002 Tour
Show Notes:

John Fishman

Pork Tornado, 2002-11-13 9:30 Club, Washington, DC, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/jon-fishman-november-13-2002-930-club-washington-dc-usa.html
Tour: Fish - Pork Tornado Fall 2002 Tour
Show Notes: Seth Yacovone Band opened.

Other

Goose, 2022-11-13 None, Glens Falls, NY, USA
Setlist: https://phish.net/setlists/goose-november-13-2022-cool-insuring-arena-glens-falls-ny-usa.html
Tour: Not Part of a Tour
Show Notes: Goose opened for TAB at this co-bill show. Red Bird and Hot Tea featured Trey on guitar. Trey added vocals on Red Bird.

A not-at-all-brief trip report from our Mediterranean cruise on NCL
TL;DR - 9 fabulous nights on the Prima but wouldn’t book a Prima/Viva Owner’s Suite again
Apologies if formatting turns out weird, I copy/pasted from Google Docs
(Photo links at bottom)
Thursday, October 19
Left IND at 3:30p. Had a 3 hour layover at EWR. Spent it in the Polaris Lounge, which is gorgeous and huge. Had a shower, dinner, & a few drinks. Polaris was very nice. The Saks Fifth Avenue bedding is amazing. The food was between meh and bad. The IFE is great. I have severe insomnia so even with great bedding, a lie flat seat, an eye mask, melatonin, white noise, & a few drinks, I slept literally nothing. Husband slept about 3 hours.
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Friday, October 20 - Rome
Customs at FCO was super quick. Got our luggage, took the Leonardo Express to Roma Termini, then metro to Repubblica. Our hotel, Hotel Quirinale, was just a 1 minute walk from the metro station. We were able to check in early, around 1p. We dropped our luggage then metroed to the Spagna station. Did a self-guided walking tour of the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Largo di Torre Argentina, & Piazza Navona. I had pre-booked Pantheon tickets, so the wait to get in was maybe 3 minutes. We used Rick Steves Audio Guide app for the walking tour & inside Pantheon. We did it backwards but the app makes it super easy to jump between sections/locations. Found a cute little restaurant a couple blocks from the Piazza and had an early dinner. Lack of sleep was really starting to catch up to us so we taxied back to the hotel and passed out around 8p.
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Saturday, October 21 - Rome
Hotel Quirinale offered complimentary breakfast, which was good & bad. It gave us a good base to start with for the day (and coffee!) but the food was meh. We took the metro to Ottaviano and walked a few minutes to the Vatican Museum entrance. We spent 4 hours in the museum and still skipped about ⅓ of it. I highly recommend getting the audio guide. We booked directly through the Vatican Museum website and it was extremely easy to exchange your voucher for tickets and pick up the audio guide. I have done a guided tour of the Vatican Museum before and it’s way too rushed. I enjoyed being able to go at our own pace and look at things more in detail.
After the museum, we left the Vatican, walked a few blocks, & found a place for a late lunch. There was a gelato place a few doors down, so after lunch we grabbed gelato. Then, we walked back into the Vatican and considered getting in line for St Peter’s but it was ridiculously long. It was raining lightly and I thought that might help the line be a little shorter. It definitely did not. So we skipped it. Meandered around the Prati neighborhood & hopped on the metro at Lepanto. Got back to our hotel around 8 again & passed out.
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Sunday, October 22 - our anniversary - Rome
Started with hotel breakfast then took a taxi to the Baths of Caracalla. It was AMAZING. I had never been there before & couldn’t believe how well preserved it was! Again, get the audio guide! It rained off and on the whole time we were there, which made the humidity more bearable. It was also SO EMPTY! After, walked to Circus Maximus and just wandered around outside it. Found a place near it to have lunch. Delicious pizza! We then had a 3.5 hour tour of the Colosseum, Palatine Hill, & the Forum. We booked through Colosseum.tours and it was fantastic! Highly recommend. We had 18 people in our group and it was a good size. After our tour, we metroed back to our hotel, cleaned up a little, then found a place for dinner. Had a delicious, leisurely dinner and actually stayed up until midnight!
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Monday, October 23 - Civitavecchia
We used Uber to book a car to Termini to catch a train to Civitavecchia. Trenitalia’s app is phenomenal. It’s super easy to book tickets, change tickets (for free), validate/check in, etc. Don’t trust the app for the platform number though, still check the board. Train to Civitavecchia cost us 9,20€ for two and was just slightly over an hour. Once there, we banded together with some other cruisers headed to Prima to negotiate a good taxi rate. The busses are cheaper but this was *significantly* easier. We negotiated 15€ per couple & there were 6 of us, which was much cheaper than the 20€ per person they initially wanted. The taxis are vans so they fit plenty of people & luggage. Bus is 2-3€ per person but much more difficult and you have to deal with your own luggage. Moral of the story, take a taxi and haggle a good rate.
The drive to the pier is really beautiful. If we sailed out of Civitavecchia again, we’d go a day early, explore the town, & visit the beach. When we arrived at the ship, the luggage line was insane. Luckily, we were Haven so we found an NCL employee, passed off our luggage, and got in the security line, which still lasted around 20 minutes. If you have priority luggage tags, which I believe is also some levels of Latitudes, find an NCL employee, do not wait in that giant line. We had to ask 2 different crew members, the first told us ‘no, you have to wait.’ Having done this process before, I know we do not. After security, ship check in was super easy and they led us to the Haven snack/waiting area. Only there 4-5 minutes before another couple showed up and they led us on the ship. They gave us a quick Haven touexplanation then set us loose.
We started with lunch in the Haven restaurant & shared the seafood fritto misto. I had the chicken milanese and husband had the salmon. Both got a couple glasses of riesling and ended with pavlova & banoffee cream. It was delicious. Then we had a couple drinks at the Haven lounge & met the bartenders, Cristian & Maria. Both were fantastic at remembering our “standard” drinks and *really* creative when we wanted to experiment with something new. Husband’s favorite is an old fashioned, sometimes smoked. I love a Manhattan with rye, stirred. For sail away, we took a drink to the pool deck to enjoy the views. We had a 7:30p reservation at Le Bistro, so we showered, changed, & headed there.
We had never had Le Bistro before & it was delicious. We started with champagne, escargot, & an endive salad. Escargot was pretty standard with very good sauce. Endive salad was meh. We then switched to a Cabernet from Napa. Husband ordered the duck & I got the lamb. OMG they were both SO. GOOD. The lamb had roasted lamb chops and braised shank. The shank was AMAZING. The spices/flavor was so good. The duck was also delicious but I preferred mine. I finished with the ile flottante & husband had the wine poached pear. Mine was a good choice, it wasn’t super sweet or heavy after such a large meal. We had a nightcap at the Haven bar then turned in.
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Tuesday, October 24 - Naples
We ordered an early breakfast to our room before our Pompeii excursion. We shared a ham & cheese omelet, pastry basket, fresh fruit, & coffee. Everything was really good, except the coffee was meh. We booked the “Pompeii on your own” excursion. We had upgraded to Free At Sea Plus, so we each got $50 off shore excursions, & we basically got a free ride to Pompeii! I had pre-booked tickets online again, so getting in was quick. We had agreed if we wanted more time in Pompeii than the excursion allowed, we’d skip the NCL bus back and just taxi. It was actually a good amount of time though. We used Rick Steves’s audio guide again. It starts at a totally different entrance than we went in, so it took us a hot minute to orientate ourselves to where we were. It was really humid this day and we were both bothered by it. Luckily, there’s a little cafe in Pompeii so we got PowerAde and additional water. I managed to trip over a stone and hurt my right foot. So by the time we needed to meet the guide back to the bus, I was ready to go. We grabbed a bag of chips at one of the carts outside our entrance to tide us over on the bus.
We had planned on walking around a little, getting pizza in Naples but my foot hurt and we were a little cranky, so we just went straight back to the ship. Port of Naples routes you through a little shopping area before you’re allowed to re-embark your ship. It’s pretty annoying & stuff is really expensive so don’t even think of buying it. We had lunch at Indulge Food Hall. It was delicious! I love the concept. We didn’t find it crowded, but we were in port, so I assume most people were ashore. We had Manchego from Tapas, Totopos & Crab Tostada from The Latin Quarter, Pulled Pork Sandwich from Q, & Chicken Tikka from Tamara. I like that most things are tapa size. The pulled pork sandwich is more main size and it turned out to be slightly too much food. I got a carrot halwa at the end and husband got a lemon type cake thing. Carrot halwa was phenomenal, lemon thing was just okay.
After lunch, we wandered a still mostly empty ship. The Prima is absolutely gorgeous. The color scheme is beautiful, the atrium is gorgeous, even the main dining rooms are amazing. When we first passed The Commodore Room, I thought it was Cagney’s, it was so pretty. I also really like all the hygienic things they’ve added, because let’s be honest, even before COVID, ships were a breeding ground for viruses, especially norovirus. There’s handwashing stations near all the food venues, extra washy-washy everywhere, a lot of the public area bathrooms have an automatic open option, and paper towels to use to open the door on the way out. We stopped at the Whiskey Bar during our walk and grabbed a round. It was disappointing. My Manhattan was incredibly sweet and came with a maraschino cherry, pretty terrible for a whiskey bar. My husband’s old fashioned still had a Luxardo cherry, so I don’t know why I got a maraschino. Headed back to the room to relax, watch sail away, shower & change before dinner in the Haven restaurant. Davy, our butler, had delivered our first afternoon snacks by the time we got back to our cabin. We both commented they were significantly smaller than the last time we got snacks delivered in the Haven.
For dinner, I started with the beets and husband got the lobster deviled eggs. Turns out, I don’t like beets! Got the surf & turf, no potato, for my main and husband had the prime rib - both delicious. The au jus that came with the prime rib was more of a gravy though and slightly odd. Dessert - coconut mousse cake for me, was pretty bad & strawberry ice cream for my husband. After dinner, we spent several hours playing craps in the casino. Table was ice cold and we went to bed disappointed.
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Wednesday, October 25 - Livorno
We slept in with the intention of having breakfast in the Haven restaurant and then going ashore but arrived just after closing. Oops! So we went to Starbucks instead. The ship arrived in Livorno on schedule but it took awhile to clear customs. We used the Haven concierge for priority disembarkation but still encountered a line for the shuttle to the town center. It was 7€ round trip each, they did take credit cards. Once off the shuttle, we found a tabacchi and bought bus tickets to get to the train station to get to Florence. If you do this, buy 2 per person (save 1 for the return trip, so you don’t have to worry about buying it if you get back late). Then, to get to the train station, you take the Blue Line (Lam Blau) or LB from outside H&M, remember to validate your bus ticket once on the bus. It’s about a 15 minute ride. Since the ship was cleared late, we missed the 11:12a train we wanted to take and had to take the 12:12. We had a few minutes to wait around the station, so we shared some pizza.
The train to Florence is only 1:20 and cost 10,80€ each. The scenery was beautiful, even with occasional rain. When we arrived, we grabbed a taxi to La Galleria dell'Accademia, where David is. I had pre-booked tickets and we had missed our time by a few minutes so I wanted to get there quickly. They separate the line by ticket times, since our’s was already passed, we just got in the current one. We were in and through security in about 10 minutes. If you buy online, you have to show your confirmation email at the ticket counter in exchange for tickets. I had been to Florence before but the Galleria was closed the only day I was there, so I had never seen David before. I was absolutely speechless over how amazing it was. We used Rick Steves again for David, it’s a very nice, thorough explanation of it, the Prisoners, and a few pieces in the Galleria.
We took our time wandering the rest of the Galleria then walked to the Duomo. Once again, pre-booked tickets for the Cathedral, Baptistry, Bell Tower, etc. We booked a time to climb the Dome but once we got there, knew immediately we weren’t doing it. Between the amount of walking we had done in Rome for 3 days, Pompeii, and the ship, our feet were pretty tired, and still a little sore from Pompeii. After the Duomo, we walked to Piazza della Signoria, Palazzo Vecchio, & Ponte Vecchio. We found a place for an early dinner and had a giant chianina steak, grilled vegetables and a beautiful bottle of chianti. It was one of the best steaks I’ve ever had. Adding the olive oil to it, enhanced the flavor so much. And everything paired SO WELL. Tiramisu and cheesecake for dessert capped off the meal nicely.
While walking back to the train station in the rain, we found a wine shop with free shipping! So we spent WAY too much on wine and shipped home 12 bottles! Unfortunately, we spent too much time (& money) in the shop and didn’t make it back for the train I wanted. So we puttered around the train station for an extra half hour before taking a train with a change in Pisa. Well, our train ran late and we almost missed our Pisa change. When we got back to Livorno, we had just missed the bus back to the city center so we had to wait about 10 minutes for the next bus. Luckily, when we got on the port shuttle, it left immediately.
Once on board, we wanted a snack, so we headed to The Local. I got the smoked peach margarita on tap & it was delicious! I ordered a mezcal margarita next & it was terrible! Husband got a sidecar that was good, then an old fashioned that was terrible. Ordered nachos & pretzel bites for food. Nachos were really good, especially the chili. Pretzel bites were *terrible*. Probably the worst thing I ate the whole trip. After food, we had another round in the Haven Lounge then called it a night.
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Thursday, October 26 - Livorno overnight
We ordered breakfast to our room again. Ham & cheese omelet for husband, tomato & spinach omelet for me. I got OJ and we popped open the prosecco that came with our cabin for mimosas. After food, we relaxed on the balcony awhile, wandered to Starbucks for more coffee, then stopped at the outdoor Haven bar for a drink & a light lunch. I got the sesame crusted fish sandwich, husband got the hotdog. We only got 1 order of fries to split between us. Overall, food was pretty good. I was a little disappointed in the fish sandwich, I thought the slaw and the mayo could have had more flavor.
We met our excursion group/bus just off the ship at 1:15p. We booked “Countryside & Wine Tasting” - it was described as a picturesque ride through the Tuscan countryside, a tour of a winery, & wine tasting with a light snack of meats & cheeses. It was…not really that. We did have a ride through the Tuscan countryside but it was raining for most of it, still pretty though. Bus ride was about 45 minutes & our guide gave us some info & history about the region. When we arrived at Vialto, the winery/farm, we were seated for a full pasta lunch! We started with meats & cheeses with truffle honey, it was *delicious*. Then, we had pasta with 2 types of sauces, a tomato/veg & a ragu. They were very good. Biscotti and vin santo to end the meal. But also…all you could drink wine! It was less of a tasting & more of a “get drunk before we herd you into the gift shop”. After food & wine, we got to wander the grounds a little bit and, of course, shop in the gift shop. We wound up shipping more wine home and buying some olive oil, liqueurs, etc. Their shipping cost was very reasonable and we were able to carry the rest onto the ship. We had gone with the intention of buying more wine, the additional purchase of olive oil, truffle honey, a few liqueurs, etc were things we wanted and just hadn’t found a convenient place to buy them on our own. So this worked for us. I would recommend this excursion if you want to buy wine in bulk and ship it home. I would not recommend this excursion if you’re just looking for a wine tasting or trip to Tuscany. We paid $142.20 for 2 (after FAS+ & Latitudes discount) & I’m glad we did it once but wouldn’t book it again.
After returning to the ship, we hung out in the Haven Lounge for a bit. We had made friends with several couples in the Haven & we sat and talked to them until we headed to dinner at Indulge. We watched sail away (around 7:30p) from Indulge and still didn’t find it crowded. We found a table almost immediately. It would be useful though if they had more small tables. We had to sit at a table for 4 because that’s the smallest we found open. There are very few tables for 2. We got roasted tomato soup, chicken tikka masala, garlic naan, & brisket. The naan dipped in the tomato soup was fantastic. Even the brisket was good, and we didn’t really have high hopes for it! We tried several desserts, including tiramisu, but they weren’t very good. It seems NCL’s dessert of choice right now is layering mousse & cake and covering it in a gel-like exterior. I’m not a fan. We meant to try out some things from Coco’s during the week but we forgot.
After dinner, we headed to Syd Norman’s to watch Battle of the Sexes. Instead of being a trivia type game, which is what we were expecting, it was more physical challenges. It was really fun. I’d go again. The women won, woo. To finish the night, we headed to the casino where we had a hot craps table! Turned $200 into $1500!
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Friday, October 27 - La Spezia
We had a very light day today. Since the first half of our vacation was so “planned” and busy, we decided we wanted the second half of the cruise to be more relaxing and spontaneous. We slept in, skipped breakfast, and went to The Local for lunch. It was pretty good. We started with spinach artichoke dip, I got lechon asado, and husband had a cheeseburger. Other than everything needing a hearty dose of salt, it was good.
We then went ashore. The walking path along the water is absolutely gorgeous. We spent a few hours walking & exploring. Got gelato one last time - strawberry for me, stracciatella for my husband. Mine was better. After reboarding the ship, we lounged on our balcony a while, then got ready for the evening.
This evening was a cocktail party for Haven guests in the Observation Lounge, which was not easy to find. It was rather boring. They had 2 or 3 cocktails to choose from or prosecco and some simple hors d'oeuvres. It seems most people who went stayed 15 minutes then left. We went back to the Haven Lounge after, had a round, then headed to Los Lobos for dinner. I didn’t have high hopes for this either but we were so surprised. It was fantastic! The salsa was great, the chips had tajin on them, which I love. We got queso and guac (made table side) for our starters. The queso was delicious. Our server, Ivan, recommended the fajitas, plantains, and elotes. We got all those & enchiladas de mole. It was phenomenal. Only part that was meh was dessert. We split churros and the chocolate tart. The churros were really dry and I love dark chocolate but the tart was just too dark. It was WAY too much food, and we didn’t even order everything that was included! With FAS you get 1 app, 1 salad, 1 main, 2 sides, and 1 dessert PER PERSON. Neither of us got a salad and we only had 2/4 of the sides. We were stuffed.
Unfortunately, we had REALLY rough seas this evening. After dinner, we went back to the Haven Lounge to try to digest before we went to bed. The crew was putting plastic wrap everywhere so the glasses wouldn’t slide or fall. We ended the evening with a Manhattan and some Johnnie Walker Blue.
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Saturday, October 28 - Cannes
Neither of us slept well because of the rough seas. We had an excursion booked to go to Monaco so we ordered an early breakfast, which showed up extra early. We ate, got dressed, and headed to the elevator. As we’re standing, waiting for the elevator, my husband says “Do you really want to go or would you rather go back to bed?” “Bed,” was my reply and he says “oh thank god, me too.” So we just headed back to bed for several hours. We eventually got back up and headed to land. Seas were still really choppy and Cannes is a tender port, so I was a little queasy when we hit land. We walked along the water, found a spot for lunch, and had a leisurely meal. It was so incredibly windy, the tender back to the ship was incredibly rough. When we got back on the ship, the laundry bag we had sent out was back. $29 for the bag & it held a lot. I added up what it would have cost individually and it was $126.80!
Saturday night was The Price Is Right. My husband works from home and watches TPIR EVERY day, he wanted to be picked so badly. And he was. The thing is…had he listened to me, he would have won & gotten to play Plinko. His item up for bids was a 10 can retro themed Coca Cola vending machine. I immediately yelled $220, it really was just a guess, I didn’t know it was correct. And I was in the third row, he heard me, he says he heard me. He bid $300. So he lost. He got a nice TPIR tshirt as a consolation prize. The guy who won the bidding only won $50 on Plinko.
After the show, still high from his 30 seconds of fame, we headed to the Haven restaurant for dinner. He got the crab cakes & I got the chicken. The chicken was really good but surprisingly salty. I didn’t try his crab cakes because it was a mustard sauce & I loathe mustard. I legitimately don’t remember what we did after this. It’s most likely we had a few drinks in the Haven Lounge then went to bed but I really don’t remember. And don’t have any photos.
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Sunday, October 29 - Toulon
We didn’t even get off the ship today. We slept in, had Haven restaurant breakfast (waffle with berries & classic eggs), then went to the Lounge to day drink & play Switch. Espresso martinis, mimosas, got creative with the bartenders and tried some new stuff. It was fun & very relaxing.
For lunch, we tried the buffet. Jesus Christ, was it chaos! I had lamb kofta, a meatball sub thing, & some fries. Husband had a chorizo slider, some pasta, & a meatball sub. The lamb was terrible, the pasta was decent, the meatball subs were pretty good, and the slider was really good. We noticed they had lemonade in their juice dispensers. We hadn’t been able to find lemonade at any bar on the ship! So we took a couple full glasses back to the Haven bar and had vodka lemonade! It was definitely made with fresh lemon juice, it was so tart, but delicious.
We continued to relax the rest of the day until our 7p reservation at Palomar. Gotta say, I was disappointed in it. I started with the prawns & endive. It was meh, prawns were only lukewarm. Husband had oysters, he said they were good. For mains, I got the seabass and husband had the scallops. They were both good but not great. Our side of grilled asparagus was the best thing we had there. For dessert, I got the dark chocolate mousse cake (meh) and husband got the apple tart (pretty good). Overall, I’d skip it next time. After dinner, we just crashed.
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Monday, October 30 - Mallorca
We had another lazy day. Mallorca was an afternoon port, so we slept in then had Haven restaurant breakfast. I got eggs benedict (the hollandaise is so good!) and husband had eggs. Royal Caribbean’s Odyssey of the Seas backed in next to us at the port, that was fun to watch. When we went ashore, they had a shuttle that would take you to the town center or you could taxi or walk. We decided to just walk. Turns out there’s a brand new mall with a casino about 20 minutes from the pier. We wound up there, of course. Also stopped by a CVS type store and picked up more dry shampoo. Turns out the travel size is great for 10 days & not a day longer. When we got back to the ship, we made it just in time for Deal or No Deal. It was really fun to watch. As avid gamblers, we’re always pro “NO DEAL!” It worked out for the first guy, not so much for the second guy.
We did Haven restaurant dinner again. I started with the mushroom risotto which was excellent. I would recommend asking for a dinner size portion and just having that! Husband had lobster deviled eggs again. I did surf & turf again, with the potato this time, which came with a whole tray of toppings! Husband got the steak (I think it was a NY strip). We ordered a malbec that paired really well with the steaks. Dessert was the OMG cheesecake & chocolate cake. Both meh, the crunchy thing on top of the chocolate cake was really good.
We then watched sail away (Odyssey’s & our’s) from our balcony before heading to the Haven Lounge to pass some time before the casino opened. I practiced my tip money origami. I learned to make a shirt & tie for Cristian to mimic the tie he put on a drink he called The Handsome Gentleman. I also learned boats! When the casino opened, we headed to craps. Table was pretty cold, so we didn’t stay long. Just headed to bed afterwards.
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Tuesday, October 31 - Halloween - Ibiza - last cruise night
Didn’t leave the ship again today! We slept in, got Starbucks, & headed to BINGO. On the third BINGO card, the $5,000 coverall jackpot, no one won the jackpot, but I was the first to be 1 away from a coverall! I got booed. A lot. All I needed was B2. And it was never called. B12 was called! B1 was called! No B2. In the middle of BINGO was the “free cruise” raffle. The second guy from Deal or No Deal won! After BINGO, we had Haven restaurant lunch - french dip sandwich (delicious, and proper au jus) & the brie burger.
After lunch, we enjoyed some time on our balcony before heading back to the Haven Lounge to organize our tips & thank you/hero cards and play some more Switch. For dinner, we got an early Los Lobos reservation with the intention of just having apps. We did 2 quesos and a side of plantains. We had planned on doing Haven restaurant for our final dinner but neither of us were hungry again, so we skipped having a full meal. After “dinner,” we had to pack and set out our luggage. Then we had a few drinks in the Lounge, handed out our thank you cards, & spent several pretty good hours in the casino. Craps was terrible but I did really well at $25 blackjack. The casino crew went ALL OUT for halloween. There were so many good costumes. Around 1, we headed back to the room for the final time.
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Wednesday, November 1 - Barcelona
Neither of us slept well again. Breakfast was delivered early and incomplete. Disembarkation was super easy, probably the easiest I’ve ever seen. We used the Haven escort but there was literally no line when we got down there. Found our luggage really quick, that was definitely a perk of the priority tag, the rest of the luggage area was super chaotic. Only waited about 5 minutes in the taxi line before we were on our way to our hotel, Eurostars Grand Marina, which was about a 10 minute drive. Even though we got there around 8:30a, they let us check in early! We immediately went to our room & slept for 4 hours!
I had booked a HOHO bus for us today but greatly underestimated just how exhausted we would be by the end of the vacation. I still wanted to do the bus but my husband wasn’t up for it. So instead we walked for a couple hours! *facepalm* I should have insisted on the bus. We found a great, TINY tapas place a couple blocks off La Rambla. We had pan con tomate, Iberian ham, sirloin cubes, garlic prawns, fried squid, & seafood paella. It was all SO GOOD. I thought the paella could have been crispier on the bottom but the flavor was amazing. La Rambla had a ton of construction going on so we mostly stuck to side streets. But it’s such a gorgeous city. I’d been before but my husband hadn’t.
There’s a new (?) skyline/cable car line near the water that I would have loved to have done but they had just started their winter hours Nov 1 and we missed it. We watched Prima sail away on her new itinerary from our hotel rooftop bapool deck. It was bittersweet. She’s gorgeous & we had such a fantastic time but were ready to go home.
The rest of the trip was uneventful. Hotel had breakfast included and it was quite the spread! Took a taxi to the airport at 8a the next morning, got coffee, went through passport control (about a 20 minute line), and our plane was at one of the gates that requires a bus. We flew Premium Select home. The food was…bad. Choices were chicken or vegetarian. I did the veg. It was basically chopped red and green peppers in a sauce with rice & bok choy. Sauce was good, peppers were not. Husband did the chicken, it was bad too. Snack before landing was a pizza twist and that was actually really good. Premium Select still had the super comfy Saks Fifth Avenue blanket but no memory foam pillow. Got to EWR with no issue, had a layover, played Switch, got some food, then our final leg took us back home to IND. Our house is about 20 minutes from the airport, so about an hour after landing we were home cuddling puppies.
First 3 days https://imgur.com/a/4VaXWBQ
Prima photos https://imgur.com/a/Bucjddj
Port photos https://imgur.com/a/VeOe94j

Losing Human Users, Facebook Releasing Chatbots for Lonely to Talk To https://futurism.com/the-byte/facebook-chatbots-lonely
However, the data could not confidently exclude thinner atmospheres, such as those composed of pure water, carbon dioxide, or methane, nor an atmosphere similar to that of Titan, a moon of Saturn and the only moon in the Solar System with its own atmosphere.
These results are generally consistent with previous (photometric, and not spectroscopic) JWST observations of TRAPPIST-1 b with the MIRI instrument. The new study also proves that Canada’s NIRISS instrument is a highly performing, sensitive tool able to probe for atmospheres on Earth-sized exoplanets at impressive levels.
Atmospheric Reconnaissance of TRAPPIST-1 b with JWST/NIRISS: Evidence for Strong Stellar Contamination in the Transmission Spectra, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (open access) https://astrobiology.com/2023/09/jwst-insights-into-the-atmosphere-of-exoplanet-trappist-1-b-and-the-star-trappist-1.html
Ocean acidification makes ecologically important seaweed species fragile September 25, 2023Ocean acidification will likely almost triple by the end of the century -- a drastic environmental change that could impact important marine species like fleshy seaweeds, algae that grow vertically and promote biodiversity in more than a third of the world's coastline. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230925124745.htm
New research from Northwestern University and the University of Wisconsin, however, is pointing to bacterial pneumonia as the cause of many severe COVID deaths. Deceased COVID patients studied were not shown to have experienced inflammation at all. Instead, the researchers, using machine learning to analyze data, found that half of the severely ill COVID patients who required a ventilator had bacterial pneumonia as a secondary infection. They did not find evidence of a cytokine storm in these patients; instead of dying from organ damage or failure due to COVID, they died of pneumonia. https://www.webmd.com/covid/news/20230925/is-pneumonia-the-true-cause-of-severe-covid?src=RSS_PUBLIC
Recent models predict Earth's greenhouse gas effect could reach a tipping point that renders most of the planet "uninhabitable to mammalian life" when the next supercontinent – a landmass some call Pangea Ultima – forms in the coming 250 million years or so.
"The formation and decay of Pangea Ultima will limit and… ultimately end terrestrial mammalian habitability on Earth by exceeding their warm thermal tolerances, billions of years earlier than previously hypothesized," the researchers behind the model write. https://www.sciencealert.com/the-next-supercontinent-formation-could-wipe-out-most-mammal-life
Multiple evolutions? Is this the first time life on Earth appeared? https://geneticliteracyproject.org/2023/09/25/multiple-evolutions-is-this-the-first-time-life-on-earth-appeared/
Compared to control interventions, plant-based protein interventions prevent declining body strength and function in older adults. The vitamins, fibers, minerals, antioxidants, and antioxidants in plant proteins impact muscle health by decreasing inflammation and mitigating the adverse effects of reactive oxygen species on muscle tissue, ultimately improving muscle strength and function. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230924/Plant-based-proteins-boost-muscle-mass-and-cut-fat-in-older-adults.aspx
Fossil results indicate polar bears survived last global warming deglaciation in Siberian and Canadian refugia https://phys.org/news/2023-09-fossil-results-polar-survived-global.html
Identifying suitable new habitats will soon become a matter of life or death for some California native species, according to Lawren Sack, a UCLA professor of ecology and evolutionary biology. But if those trees could talk, where would they tell scientists they wanted to live?
In a new study, a team led by Sack and other UCLA biologists deciphered a secret language in leaves and woody stems that points to the species' optimal habitats. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230927003448.htm
A new study by researchers at Queen Mary University of London, Imperial College London and The University of Melbourne has found that people can learn to use supernumerary robotic arms as effectively as working with a partner in just one hour of training. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230927003048.htm
Climate change: Six young people take 32 countries to court https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-66923590
One known standard is that the ratio between galaxies and their heavy elements has held constant in the local Universe through the last 12 billion years of history, or about 5/6 of the age of the Universe.
But with JWST, astronomers are now seeing that the youngest galaxies look different. https://www.sciencealert.com/jwst-detects-earliest-galaxies-to-date-and-they-dont-look-the-way-we-expected
Many social media users have shared videos on how to fall asleep faster by conjuring up "fake scenarios", such as a romance storyline where you're the main character.
But what does the research say? Does what we think about before bed influence how we sleep?
How you think in bed affects how you sleep
It turns out people who sleep well and those who sleep poorly have different kinds of thoughts before bed. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-09-studies-show-that-what-you.html
Enforcement is one of the biggest challenges to international cooperation on mitigating climate change in the Paris Agreement. The agreement has no formal enforcement mechanism; instead, it is designed to be transparent so countries that fail to meet their obligations will be named and thus shamed into changing behavior. A new study shows that this naming-and-shaming mechanism can be an effective incentive for many countries to uphold their pledges to reduce emissions. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/09/230925153739.htm
According to a report from the Business Development Bank of Canada, almost half of Canadian entrepreneurs are experiencing mental health challenges, mostly related to stress and finances. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-entrepreneurs-mental-health-crisis.html
Now a presidential distinguished professor and the director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability and the Media at the University of Pennsylvania, Mann has just published his sixth book, “Our Fragile Moment: How Lessons from Earth’s Past Can Help Us Survive the Climate Crisis.” Yale Climate Connections discussed the book with Mann over Zoom.
This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity. Where helpful, further details have been provided in parentheses. https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/09/renowned-climate-scientist-michael-e-mann-on-what-doomers-get-wrong/
For one of the simulations, the chamber was set to about 116° F and 15% humidity to emulate the conditions of the 2018 Los Angeles heatwave. The other was set to about 106° F and 40% humidity to emulate the 1995 Chicago heatwave.
While the older adults had similar skin blood flow and sweat rates as the younger group, they also had “an approximately twofold greater increase” in core body temperature. Accounting for this greater change in core temperature reveals that the older adults’ sweat and skin blood flow responses did not respond adequately to maintain a healthy body temperature.
This method of mimicking daily life during a heatwave “resulted in greater thermal strain than what has been previously reported in the literature during similar heat exposures,” researchers report. https://www.newswise.com/articles/older-adults-show-greater-increase-in-body-temperature-in-simulated-heatwave-than-previously-reported
The chameleon’s guide to making buildings green
In a bid to one-up white paint, researchers devised a new coating that keeps buildings cool in summer and warm in winter by changing color based on ambient temperature. No energy required. https://www.anthropocenemagazine.org/2023/09/the-chameleons-guide-to-green-buildings/
Images from the James Webb Space Telescope have confirmed that the universe appears to be expanding significantly faster than it should be, researchers report in a study accepted in the Astrophysical Journal. The observation is in conflict with an esteemed theory, the standard model of cosmology, that describes how the universe has evolved since the first moments after the Big Bang. https://www.sciencenews.org/article/jwst-images-cosmos-universe-hubble-constant-tension
But upon closer inspection, you'll notice two tiny cameras hidden in the arms that let wearers snap photos and videos on the sly.
The £299 glasses are the latest wearable from Meta, which unveiled them during the Meta Connect 2023 conference last night.
They feature new AI capabilities, meaning they can identify places and objects that people are seeing, as well as perform language translation in real-time.
'Smart glasses are the ideal form factor for you to let AI assistants see what you're seeing and hear what you're hearing,' Mark Zuckerberg said. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12570217/Meta-launches-299-smart-glasses-Ray-Ban-featuring-two-hidden-cameras-Mark-Zuckerberg-desperately-tries-maintain-metaverse.html
In a study conducted in zebrafish, the team discovered that heart cells start beating suddenly and all at once as calcium levels and electrical signals increase. Moreover, each heart cell has the ability to beat on its own, without a pacemaker, and the heartbeat can start in different places, the researchers discovered. https://scienceblog.com/539794/heart-cells-start-beating-suddenly-and-all-at-once/
journal Nature Communications, scientists from the US calculated the importance of earthworms for food cultivation worldwide. Their findings highlight the need to manage agriculture sustainably and invest more in agroecological policies promoting food security while protecting soil health and biodiversity. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230927/Earthworms-boost-global-crop-production-by-140-million-tons.aspx
In a recent study published in Plant Biotechnology Journal, researchers in Spain used a cisgenic approach to metabolically engineer tomatoes and fortify them further with flavonoids and branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs). The fortified fruits showed a multifold increase in amino acids such as valine, leucine, and isoleucine, as well as flavonoids, including kaempferol and quercetin, compared to wild-type tomatoes https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230927/Supercharged-tomatoes-Scientists-engineer-fruits-packed-with-amino-acids-and-flavonoids.aspx
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), which includes ulcerative colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), is associated with mucosal inflammation that arises due to abnormal immune cell activation. A new study in Nature Medicine traces the sources of this type of inflammation to yeast cells. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230927/Yeast-in-the-gut-linked-to-Crohns-disease-inflammation-opening-new-doors-for-treatment.aspx
But he does agree with the paper's authors that humans often underestimate crocodiles' cognition.
Murray knows of instances of crocodilians using sticks to lure birds to land on them and engaging in communal feeding, helping other members of a group get food. He's also seen crocodilians seem to learn from past experiences.
"I think some of those things are predominantly anecdotal, obviously, and I have some of those anecdotes for myself," Murray said. "So I think that their cognitive ability – of assessing what's around and their memory – is far better than I think we give them credit for," he said. https://www.sciencealert.com/crocodiles-seen-guiding-dog-to-safety-in-india-and-scientists-dont-know-why
Fasting is also an important factor that can considerably influence the gut microbiota composition. Fasting is defined as voluntary food deprivation for therapeutic, cultural, or political reasons. Ramadan intermittent fasting is a time-restricted feeding pattern in which food and liquid consumption is restricted from dawn to sunset during the entire month of Ramadan, https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230927/Ramadan-fasting-reshapes-gut-microbiome.aspx
A study has found that antimatter is affected by gravity in the same way as matter
CERN
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Antimatter has intrigued and confounded physicists for almost a century, and the effect of gravity on antimatter has been a point of disagreement. New research may have settled the debate by finding that antihydrogen atoms, the antimatter counterpart of hydrogen, are affected by gravity in the same way as their matter equivalents, ruling out the existence of repulsive 'antigravity.' https://newatlas.com/physics/antigravity-disproved-antimatter-responds-t0-gravity-like-matte
Weird, Fleshy Plant Parasite Has One of The Weirdest Genomes to Date https://www.sciencealert.com/weird-fleshy-plant-parasite-has-one-of-the-weirdest-genomes-to-date
The Department of Agriculture has spent at least $59 billion in subsidies for livestock and seafood producers since 1995, according to a new EWG analysis.
By contrast, USDA has allocated a mere $124 million since 2001 to support plant-based proteins and other alternatives to animal proteins. https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/2023/08/usda-livestock-subsidies-top-59-billion
As for the nighttime Moon, it's cold, so you were right about that. It’s as cold as we all imagine and maybe colder. NASA measured one bit of crater to be 410 degrees below zero Fahrenheit, and we’re not even going to bother converting that to Celsius because neither scale means anything to you when it gets that low. Let’s just note that it’s the lowest temperature officially recorded anywhere in the solar system. https://www.cracked.com/article_39671_5-ways-the-moon-is-different-from-how-you-picture-it.html
But before Microsoft can start relying on nuclear power to train its AIs, it'll have plenty of other hurdles to overcome.
For one, it'll have to source a working SMR design. Then, it'll have to figure out how to get its hands on a highly enriched uranium fuel that these small reactors typically require, as The Verge points out. Finally, it'll need to figure out a way to store all of that nuclear waste long term.
Microsoft founder Bill Gates also started an incubator for SMR designs called TerraPower. However, TerraPower "does not currently have any agreements to sell reactors to Microsoft," according to a statement to CNBC.
Other than nuclear fission, Microsoft is also investing in nuclear fusion, a far more ambitious endeavor, given the many decades of research that have yet to lead to a practical power system. https://futurism.com/the-byte/microsoft-power-train-ai-small-nuclear-reactors
I'm a dog expert and this is how long you can REALLY leave your pet alone - and it all comes down to a pet's age and breed https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12565901/Im-dog-expert-long-REALLY-leave-pet-comes-pets-age-breed.html
The future of quantum mechanics: Unraveling entanglement's secrets
A physicist explains the complexities of quantum entanglement and why scientists are so keen to understand and control this elusive phenomenon. https://engineering.stanford.edu/magazine/future-quantum-mechanics-unraveling-entanglements-secrets
Wooden mallet and esparto sandals from Cueva de los Murciélagos in Spain dated to the Neolithic period, 6,200 years ago. https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/09/behold-the-worlds-oldest-sandals-buried-in-a-bat-cave-over-6000-years-ago/
It is important to note that the researchers observed no association of average cognitive effects from psychological well-being at a population level, so without this more granular analysis, the potentially adverse effects of life satisfaction would have been overlooked.
It was impressive to observe how a relationship with no associations on population average showed underlying differences based on sociodemographic factors, physical health, and psychosocial elements." https://www.news-medical.net/news/20230929/Life-satisfaction-may-not-be-a-one-size-fits-all-solution-for-cognitive-health.aspx
The study, published Wednesday in the BMJ, shows “the quality of the carbohydrates in a person’s diet is much more important than the amount,” said its senior author, Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “You want to increase whole grains and limit starchy vegetables.” https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/preventing-weight-gain-switching-carbohydrates-study-rcna117496
Highest-energy observation of entanglement 29 September 2023 A report from the ATLAS experiment. https://cerncourier.com/a/highest-energy-observation-of-entanglement/
Chatbot Confabulations Are Not Hallucinations
Rami Hatem, BS1; Brianna Simmons, BS1; Joseph E. Thornton, MD1
Author Affiliations
JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183(10):1177. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.4231 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2808091
Chatbot Confabulations Are Not Hallucinations—Reply
Teva D. Brender, MD1
Author Affiliations
JAMA Intern Med. 2023;183(10):1177-1178. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2023.3875 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2808090
Collectively, the results presented in this report show that exposure to even traces of salad leaf juice may contribute to the persistence of Salmonella on salad leaves as well as priming it for establishing an infection in the consumer. https://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/aem.02416-16
A sufficiently powerful quantum computer could render our leading cryptographic schemes worthless. While the mathematical puzzles underpinning them are virtually unsolvable by classical computers, they would be entirely tractable for a large enough quantum computer. That’s a problem because these schemes secure most of our information online.
The saving grace has been that today’s quantum processors are a long way from the kind of scale required. But according to a report in Science, New York University computer scientist Oded Regev has discovered a new algorithm that could reduce the number of qubits required substantially. https://singularityhub.com/2023/10/02/quantum-computers-could-crack-encryption-sooner-than-expected-with-new-algorithm/
With millions of users relying on social media as a source of news and entertainment and as a mode of communication, addressing social media fatigue and its consequences is imperative, said the researchers.
While many societies underscore the importance of reduced social media usage for improved physical and mental health, relatively little attention has been paid to the detrimental impact of social media usage on the information ecosystem. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-social-media-fatigue-narcissism-linked.html
Although you thought her demands were exaggerated, it turns out that your grandmother was correct. Scrubbing between the toes and behind the ears helps keep the skin in those regions healthy, according to a new study https://m.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-761204
Cinnamon as a Useful Preventive Substance for the Care of Human and Plant Health https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8433798/
Actor Tom Hanks warns fans against trusting AI-generated video promoting dental insurance as video begins circulating online https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-02/ai-tom-hanks-dental-plan-ad-scam/102924118
Federal law requires the EPA to review the pollution standards every five years and improve them as needed to ensure they protect public health. Today’s lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Oakland, says the agency has not reviewed the standards since May 2018 and has not updated them since 2010, despite new scientific evidence showing greater harms from nitrogen pollution than were previously realized.
“It’s unacceptable that the EPA is flouting the Clean Air Act and endangering public health and the environment,” said Ryan Maher, an environmental health attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. https://alankandel.scienceblog.com/2023/10/01/epas-failure-to-address-dangerous-oxides-of-nitrogen-pollution-prompts-lawsuit/
New research suggests that sleeping in on the weekends could be making us age prematurely.
The study, published in the journal Sleep Health, found that adults who slept more on weekends than during the week had shorter telomeres which are protective caps on the ends of chromosomes.
Telomere shortening is a marker of biological ageing. https://www.samaa.tv/208731894-long-sleep-on-weekends-has-astonishing-health-effects
Monica Lewinsky has launched an emotional new PSA encouraging us to stand up to the biggest bully we rarely confront: Ourselves.
Social activist, producer (15 Minutes of Shame; American Crime Story: Impeachment), public speaker and Vanity Fair contributing editor, Ms. Lewinsky is inviting people to stand up to themselves this October, Bullying Prevention Month, as new data reveals 74% of adults agree they are their own worst critic, with the majority admitting negative thoughts get in the way of succeeding in life. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monica-lewinskys-new-emotional-psa-shines-light-on-our-biggest-bully-301945668.html
Researchers have succeeded in printing uniformly sized droplets with a diameter of approximately 100 µm using a liquid film of fluorescent ink. This ink, with a viscosity roughly 100 times that of water, was irradiated with an optical vortex, resulting in prints of exceptional positional accuracy at the micrometer scale. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231002124405.htm
The first cup of tea can often feel like a lifesaver in the morning.
Now research suggests that this ritual is good for your health – slashing the chances of developing type 2 diabetes by 28 per cent.
Experts believe tea has potent antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects which improve insulin sensitivity.
The effects were particularly strong in dark tea dark, an ancient tea which involves microbial fermentation in the manufacturing process. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-12584361/A-cup-tea-day-diabetes-away-experts-say-biggest-benefits-come-one-particular-type.html
"We know now that to the question: Do mortality risks change after floods in the general population? The answer is yes, and this needs to be factored into policy responses to flooding events," he said.
According to Monash University's Professor Li, a co-lead author on the paper, "our study suggests that all-causes, cardiovascular, and respiratory mortality risks reach a peak at around 25 days and last for up to 60 days after exposure to floods," she said.
In the aftermath of a flood, deaths from natural causes may be triggered by contamination of food and water, exposure to pathogens (i.e., fungi, bacteria, and virus), impaired access to health services, and psychological impairment. https://medicalxpress.com/news/2023-10-sobering-global-decade-long.html
New internet addiction spectrum: Where are you on the scale? October 2, 2023University of Surrey https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231002124352.htm
She notes that the complexity of the climate and its effects on a large system like the Southern Ocean mean an exact prognosis isn’t possible. But it still doesn’t look good for Antarctica’s sea ice.
Robinson highlights 5 ways in which Antarctic sea ice is important for the global climate: https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/climate/antarctic-sea-ice-emergency-summit/
The study shows that the risk of Alzheimer's disease was more than twice as high in patients with chronic stress and in patients with depression as it was in patients without either condition; in patients with both chronic stress and depression it was up to four times as high.
The risk of developing cognitive impairment was elevated about as much. A patient is deemed to be suffering chronic stress when he or she has been under stress with no opportunity for recuperation for at least six months.
"The risk is still very small and the causality is unknown," says the study's last author Axel C. Carlsson, docent at the Department of Neurobiology, Care Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet. "That said, the finding is important in that it enables us to improve preventative efforts and understand links with the other risk factors for dementia." https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231002124415.htm
Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm . Dr. Dietrich Rau, Director of the German Institute in Cairo, said: “The excavation work in the tomb also succeeded in revealing new historical information about the life of Merit-Neith and the period of her reign.”
The team found tablets inside the tomb with inscriptions that describe Merit-Neith being responsible for central government offices, further supporting the belief that Merit-Neith ruled with the position of pharaoh.
. . Satellite television company Dish Network has been hit with a $150,000 fine for failing to properly dispose of one of its satellites, marking the first time federal regulators have issued such a penalty.
The Federal Communications Commission, which authorizes space-based telecom services, announced Monday that it settled an investigation into Dish, resulting in the fine and an “admission of liability” from the company.
“This marks a first in space debris enforcement by the Commission, which has stepped up its satellite policy efforts,” the FCC said in a news release.
Dish responded in a statement, saying the satellite at issue was “an older spacecraft (launched in 2002) that had been explicitly exempted from the FCC’s rule requiring a minimum disposal orbit.” https://us.cnn.com/2023/10/02/world/space-debris-fine-dish-fcc-scn/index.html
A team of researchers has discovered that dormant tumor cells surviving chemotherapy can be targeted through the inhibition of a specific protein called P-glycoprotein (P-gp). This discovery opens up new possibilities for delaying relapse and is particularly relevant for aggressive triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), for which there are currently few effective treatments. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231002124400.htm
Mysterious Dark Shadows Observed Across Orion NebulaThe features are not visible in any other wavelengths and have not been seen before. https://www.iflscience.com/mysterious-dark-shadows-observed-across-orion-nebula-70942
VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis shamed and challenged world leaders on Wednesday to commit to binding targets to slow climate change before it’s too late, warning that God’s increasingly warming creation is fast reaching a “point of no return.”
In an unusually bleak update to his landmark 2015 encyclical on the environment, Francis heightened the alarm about the “irreversible” harm to people and planet already under way and lamented that once again, the world’s poor and most vulnerable are paying the highest price.
“We are now unable to halt the enormous damage we have caused. We barely have time to prevent even more tragic damage,” Francis warned. https://www.pbs.org/newshouworld/pope-francis-urges-world-leaders-to-act-on-climate-change-as-planet-nears-point-of-no-return
A team of astrophysicists says they may have found evidence for "cosmic strings", long-hypothesized defects in the universe left over from its early in its expansion. https://www.iflscience.com/cracks-in-the-universe-astrophysicists-may-have-found-evidence-of-cosmic-strings-70955
The team quantified how frequently the software was able to detect the face in the video, and evaluated how often the humans and the software agreed on facial expressions.
Finally, they used machine learning to predict human judgements based on the computers decisions.
Romana said: “Deploying automated facial analysis in the parents’ home environment could change how we detect early signs of mood or mental health disorders, such as postnatal depression.
“For instance, we might expect parents with depression to show more sad expressions and less happy facial expressions. https://www.newswise.com/articles/software-can-detect-hidden-and-complex-emotions-in-parents
"As they are molecular-based, our new sensors can be used to detect other chemicals or biomolecules like proteins and enzymes, which could be game-changing for detecting diseases."
Dr Fallon said the new piezoresistor was made from a single bullvalene molecule that when mechanically strained reacts to form a new molecule of different shape, altering electricity flow by changing resistance.
"The different chemical forms are known as isomers, and this is the first time that reactions between them have been used to develop piezoresistors," Dr Fallon said. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/10/231003104800.htm
Paris has a bed bug issue. How can travelers avoid bringing them home?
Travelers and Parisians are spreading word of a bed bug infestation in Paris. Here's how to keep yourself safe. https://scrippsnews.com/stories/paris-has-a-bed-bug-issue-how-can-travelers-avoid-bringing-them-home/
FACULTY Q&A
As artificial intelligence apps such as ChatGPT have proliferated, so have chatbots with a religious bent. People facing a moral or ethical dilemma can submit their questions to these chatbots, which then provide an answer based on the religious texts fed to them or crowd-sourced data. Webb Keane, University of Michigan professor of anthropology, recently co-wrote an op-ed about what he and his co-author call “godbots,” and the danger of giving moral authority to artificial intelligence. https://news.umich.edu/are-you-there-ai-its-me-god/
High Dietary Phosphorus Is Associated with Increased Breast Cancer Risk in a U.S. Cohort of Middle-Aged Women https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/15/17/3735
Nearly half of women claim poor sleep caused by menopause has had a negative impact on their relationship, with over two thirds saying symptoms regularly result in arguments with their partner. According to the experts, fluctuations in progesterone and oestrogen levels during menopause can directly impact sleep, causing hot flashes and restlessness. https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/news/health/menopause-means-key-bedroom-change-8803694
Fluorescence is widespread in mammals, including the domestic species of cat (Felis catus), report experts at Curtin University in Perth, Australia (file photo) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-12592191/Feline-bright-Cats-glow-dark-surprising-study-reveals.html
Having previously observed menthol inhalation boosting the immune response of mice, here the team showed that it could also improve the animals' cognitive abilities, as observed in a series of practical tests in the lab.
In mice with Alzheimer's, the course of menthol for a six-month-long period was enough to stop the cognitive abilities and memory capabilities of the mice from deteriorating. In addition, it appears menthol pushed the IL-1β protein back to safe levels in the brain.
When researchers artificially reduced the number of T regulatory (Treg) cells – known to help keep the immune system in check – some of the same effects were observed, opening a possible route that future treatments could take. https://www.sciencealert.com/mouse-study-reveals-unexpected-connection-between-menthol-and-alzheimers
But per Bloomberg, Walmart promises its data is anonymized, or stripped of identifying details that could be tied back to specific patients.
Unfortunately, the idea that huge, complex datasets can be meaningfully “anonymous” is largely a polite fiction. (Absent more detail from Walmart, it’s also not clear what kind of patient consent might have been given for the Ozempic research.) “Even anonymized prescription details can reveal a lot about individuals,” says Sklar. “Details like medication, dosage, timing, prescriber, pharmacy, etc. can be very unique to an individual, which makes it easier to re-identify someone.” The more widely this information is released, the greater the odds that it could be used in ways it’s not intended, and that people could see private details of their lives exposed. https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/9/23909581/walmart-ozempic-food-pharmacy-market-research-privacy
A new method for scanning telescope images for the faintest signs of rock far beyond Pluto has uncovered evidence that our Solar System's disc of material extends far further into interstellar space than we thought. https://www.sciencealert.com/distant-objects-show-solar-system-extends-further-than-we-knew
The federal government’s reef protection plan says sediment and nutrient pollution from agricultural run-off, and to a lesser extent urban and industrial activities, are the main sources of poor water quality.
The plan is central to Australia’s efforts to prevent the reef from being listed as a World Heritage site in danger.
The World Heritage Committee in September gave Australia more time to demonstrate it is addressing major threats, with the government due to provide a progress report in early 2024. https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2023/10/new-major-threat-to-reef-discovered-by-scientists/
Analytical Discussion
The groundbreaking revelation that the midbody remnant is not simply cellular waste but a transporter of pivotal genetic information, capable of influencing cell communication and potentially triggering cancerous transformations, is monumental. The RNA within midbody remnants serves not merely as a schematic for cell division processes but also for proteins that direct a cell’s purpose, including its potential to differentiate into various cell types and form cancerous growths. This discovery not only challenges existing scientific paradigms but also inaugurates new pathways for comprehending cell communication, cell fate determination, and cancer metastasis. https://www.gilmorehealth.com/hidden-danger-tiny-cell-parts-once-thought-harmless-may-unexpectedly-spread-cance/
"The 2023 ozone hole got off to an early start and has grown rapidly since mid-August," Antje Inness, a researcher at the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts, said in the statement. It is "one of the biggest ozone holes on record," she added.
The enormous gap could be attributed to the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano, which exploded with the force of more than 100 Hiroshima bombs and created the tallest-ever recorded eruption plume when it popped its top in January 2022, researchers said. https://www.livescience.com/planet-earth/weatheone-of-the-biggest-on-record-ozone-hole-bigger-than-north-america-opens-above-antarctica
While the study has limitations, such as a small sample size and recruitment from specific centers in Taiwan, it underscores the importance of promoting MAE interventions, such as walking, in older populations with OA.
Even minimal exercise, when performed regularly, can enhance joint health and cognitive well-being, making it a valuable strategy for preventing dementia in this demographic. https://www.news-medical.net/news/20231005/Exercise-prevents-the-incidence-of-dementia-in-older-people-with-osteoarthritis.aspx
“We need to echo our voices so that our bodies-territory are present in all spaces and places of decision-making and power,” says Daniele Guajajara, communicator at ANMIGA.
The first March of Indigenous Women in 2019, and its second edition in 2021, together with the creation of ANMIGA, boosted the empowerment and protagonism of Indigenous women in the fight for the rights of original peoples, leading to the emergence of numerous organizations or departments in historical entities of the Indigenous movement to represent them, reaching more than 90 organizations present in all Brazilian biomes. https://news.mongabay.com/2023/10/brazils-indigenous-women-march-again-for-the-rights-of-their-people-and-lives/
expert reaction to bedbug situation in Paris https://www.sciencemediacentre.org/expert-reaction-to-bedbug-situation-in-paris/
Over the course of many years, many studies have been conducted to understand how the characteristics of the Amazon River basin work together to maintain such a large rainforest. Such studies have shown that regional water cycling along with moisture exaltation from the plants, together with sunlight and even dust blown over from Africa, all contribute to the unique ecosystem, the largest rainforest in the world.
Such work has also suggested that disruptions to parts of the system, such as cutting down trees, could result in major changes to the ecosystem. And if such changes were to occur, other studies have suggested the region would change from a rainforest to one that featured a vast savanna-like climate.
Such a possible change is of major concern to climate scientists https://phys.org/news/2023-10-amazonian-forest-degradation-monsoon-circulation.html
China’s youth unemployment problem has become a crisis we can no longer ignore
Published: October 8, 2023 3.27pm EDT https://theconversation.com/chinas-youth-unemployment-problem-has-become-a-crisis-we-can-no-longer-ignore-213751
Resting metabolic rate is increased after a series of whole body vibration in young men https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-44543-3
“Many chronic diseases and mental health disorders in adolescents and young adults have increased over the last two decades worldwide, and exposure to neurotoxic contaminants in the environment could explain a part of this increase,” said senior author Jose Ricardo Suarez, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H., associate professor in the Herbert Wertheim School of Public Health.
Among the findings:
Glyphosate, a nonselective herbicide used in many crops, including corn and soy, and for vegetation control in residential settings, was detected in 98 percent of participants.2,4-D, a broadleaf herbicide used on lawns, aquatic sites, and agricultural crops, was detected in 66 percent of participants. https://www.newswise.com/articles/commonly-used-herbicide-is-harmful-to-adolescent-brain-function
California has become the first U.S. state to outlaw the use of four potentially harmful food and drink additives that have been linked to an array of diseases, including cancer, and are already banned in dozens of countries.
The California Food Safety Act prohibits the manufacturing, distribution and sale of food and beverages that contain brominated vegetable oil, potassium bromate, propylparaben and red dye 3 — which can be found in candy, fruit juices, cookies and more. https://www.npr.org/2023/10/10/1204839281/california-ban-food-additives-red-dye-3-propylparaben-candy

Hey, all!
Wanted to submit my list for feedback and maybe help other new players with ideas for lists built around the Christmas Battlebox Box 😄
It's a bit of a read, but I do have a TL/DR right above the list itself!
So, intentions are - the aesthetic and style of the average individual holding the line via combined arms against the myriad of horrors and threats to mankind is 🤌🏼 Wanted a bit of a dynamic, fun, yet fairly casually competitive lost that would allow a good fight against a mix of opponents.
This all said, I'm brand spanking new to the hobby and have never played a single game - just have done a load personal researching (Auspex Tactics and Mordian Glory on YT) as well as watching loads of 40k in 40 mins over the last year.
Notes/intended synergies for the below:
Notes/Intended Synergies:

• Cadian Command Squad will join the x20 Cadian Shock Troops for the boosts and the x25 model squad with slightly more dakka.
  
• Ursula will join the Kasrkin to mainly drop Fields of Fire with her free Stratagem. I'll be trying my best to float 2CP for Re-enforcements whenever I ca without detriment.
  

-Scout Sentinels will be a bit aggressive with harass or anti-tank/monster hunting and dump their hunter-killer missiles early so I can try to bait their death for re-enforcements, re-upping on their hunter-killers. Will absolutely be using them to get the bonuses for the team, especially artillery, on a unit in their LOS.
Was thinking of sending them along with the Kasrkin in the Chimera as an objective claimeflanker force?

• Took the Tank Commander on myDemolisher for 2 reasons - it's only 5pts atm above the normal Demolisher and I was guessing it was most likely to die/get within range or LOS of something valuable to make best use of the Death Benefitting an Office to dump all the guns one last time. Adds another way to give orders if Solar is dead/throwing them elsewhere.
  
• Leman Russ Exterminator will starting off shooting phase a lot of the time to give the Withering Hail buff against high prio targets.
  
  • Regimental Enginseer seemed fun with the wound recovery and combined with the improved saves, seems like it could make the double Dorns respectably hard to kill. Alternatively, I was thinking (especially with his oddly decent seeming(?) melee stats) that I could have him trail the Tank Commander in the Demolisher to try to stave off his death slightly.

That said, I feel like the Tank Commander would just targeted even harder and now I have a stack of two characters on top of each other to focus down for the opponent. Would love thoughts on how best to use him.
Also, I am ABSOLUTELY subbing in the Titan Tech Priest Enginseer as I love the sculpt and the axe is way cooler (to me).

• Manticore seemed fun as indirect (for me) and having at least one feels really Astral Militarium. That -2 movement de-buff feels relevant against anything angry and stabbing trying to play tag. Originally I was thinking x2 Manticore, but dropping one for the Chimera transport for the Kasrkin and a third Sentinel for its value/the most satisfying Re-enforcements target ever just sounded more dynamic/fun.
  
• Figured Cadian Shock Troopers would hold mid second line with armor as Krieg x20 holds Frontline/push to objective and the Krieg x10 can cap/screen charges. Re-enforcements will be put as needed, but I intend to use it 2-3 times per game.
  

TL/DR:
Overall, I leaned options into anti-armor as I figured we have a lot of anti light infantry inherently being Guard but wanted flexibility with the Kasrkin/Scout Sentinel group to cap objectives or flank and raid what needs to be. Tried to make it a fun, and (on-paper) sorta dynamic Guard combined arms lost to enjoy playing as it puts up a solid fight 🙂
Thank you for reading - I'd love thoughts and notes! While I put a fair bit of thought and research into this, I'm an entirely new player who is making this in a vacuum of personal experience 😅
 
++ Army Roster (Imperium - Astra Militarum) [1,995pts] ++
 
+ Configuration +
 
Battle Size: 2. Strike Force (2000 Point limit)
 
Detachment: Combined Regiment
 
Show/Hide Options: Agents of the Imperium are visible, Imperial Knights are visible, Titans are visible, Unaligned Forces are visible
 
+ Epic Hero +
 
Lord Solar Leontus [125pts]
 
Ursula Creed [55pts]
 
+ Character +
 
Cadian Command Squad [65pts]
. Cadian Commander: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon
. Veteran Guardsman w/ Chainsword: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon
. Veteran Guardsman w/ Regimental Standard
. . Regimental Standard and Lasgun
 
Regimental Enginseer [45pts]
 
Tank Commander [205pts]: Demolisher Battle Cannon, Heavy Stubber, Hunter-killer Missile, Lascannon
. Two Heavy Flamers
 
+ Battleline +
 
Cadian Shock Troops [120pts]
. 2 Shock Trooper Sergeants and 18 Shock Troopers: Shock Trooper w/ Vox-caster
. . 13x Shock Trooper: 13x Close Combat Weapon, 13x Lasgun
. . Shock Trooper Sergeant
. . . Drum-fed Autogun and Close Combat Weapon
. . Shock Trooper Sergeant
. . . Bolt Pistol and Chainsword
. . 2x Shock Trooper w/ Grenade Launcher: 2x Close Combat Weapon, 2x Grenade Launcher
. . 2x Shock Trooper w/ Plasma Gun: 2x Close Combat Weapon, 2x Plasma Gun
 
Death Korps of Krieg [130pts]
. 2 Death Korps Watchmaster and 18 Death Korps Troopers
. . 12x Death Korps Trooper: 12x Close Combat Weapon, 12x Lasgun
. . Death Korps Trooper w/ Death Korps Medi-pack
. . 2x Death Korps Trooper w/ Grenade Launcher: 2x Close Combat Weapon, 2x Grenade Launcher
. . 2x Death Korps Trooper w/ Meltagun: 2x Close Combat Weapon, 2x Meltagun
. . Death Korps Trooper w/ Plasma Gun
. . Watchmasters
. . . Death Korps Watchmaster: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon
. . . Death Korps Watchmaster: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon
 
Death Korps of Krieg [65pts]
. 1 Death Korps Watchmaster and 9 Death Korps Troopers
. . 5x Death Korps Trooper: 5x Close Combat Weapon, 5x Lasgun
. . Death Korps Trooper w/ Death Korps Medi-pack
. . Death Korps Trooper w/ Grenade Launcher
. . Death Korps Trooper w/ Meltagun
. . Death Korps Trooper w/ Plasma Gun
. . Death Korps Watchmaster: Plasma Pistol, Power Weapon
 
+ Infantry +
 
Kasrkin [100pts]
. Kasrkin Sergeant: Chainsword, Hot-shot Laspistol
. 4x Kasrkin Trooper: 4x Close Combat Weapon, 4x Hot-shot Lasgun
. Kasrkin Trooper w/ Grenade Launcher
. Kasrkin Trooper w/ Hot-shot Volley Gun
. Kasrkin Trooper w/ Meltagun
. Kasrkin Trooper w/ Plasma Gun
. Kasrkin Trooper w/ Vox-caster
 
+ Vehicle +
 
Basilisk [135pts]: Heavy Bolter, Hunter-killer Missile
 
Leman Russ Exterminator [180pts]: Armoured Tracks, Heavy Stubber, Hunter-killer Missile, Lascannon
. 2 Plasma Cannons
 
Rogal Dorn Battle Tank [260pts]: Pulveriser Cannon
. 2 Heavy Bolters
. 2 Meltaguns
. Oppressor Cannon and Co-axial Autocannon
 
Rogal Dorn Battle Tank [260pts]: Pulveriser Cannon
. 2 Heavy Bolters
. 2 Meltaguns
. Oppressor Cannon and Co-axial Autocannon
 
Scout Sentinels [180pts]
. Scout Sentinel: Hunter-killer Missile, Lascannon, Sentinel Chainsaw
. Scout Sentinel: Hunter-killer Missile, Lascannon, Sentinel Chainsaw
. Scout Sentinel: Hunter-killer Missile, Plasma Cannon, Sentinel Chainsaw
 
+ Dedicated Transport +
 
Chimera [70pts]: Chimera Heavy Flamer, Heavy Flamer, Heavy Stubber, Hunter-killer Missile
 
++ Total: [1,995pts] ++
 
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