#because they don’t want to break the already fragile system that they’ve built up

[floofeeeeee]

Rereading everblaze has been so interesting and I could talk about it for so long but I’m goin to talk about this specific part that had me SOBBING when I first read it (and again the SECOND time I’ve read but for a different reason)

And this is also a reason to complain about the council (I hate them all) (yes ALL of them)

Tw mentions of eating disorders and suicide 



“Instead, all we find is wrong." He turned to stare at Sophie, making it clear he included her in that wrongness,”

I want to talk about this part first before the rest because I find it really interesting. (And because the other parts will be longer) It’s clear to me that the cancel is afraid of Sophie in some kind of way they find her threatening even though she’s proven all she wants to do is help. They’re scared because they know her existence threatens there’s she’s the savior that’s supposed to fix’s the wrongs of their world.their wrongs they know there’s another group out there they know that’s the group that kidnapped Sophie and Dex but instead they fixated oh the black swan because to them it threateners there power and control. they feel the need to keep Sophie under control they need to keep her under their control.

“Sophie foster is not normal.” She closed her eyes as the words rattled around her mind”

This part comes a bit before the first one but that’s because I knew I wanted to talk more about this specifically it hits heard for a couple of reasons I’ll get into.

Gosh…. This part man :( ok let’s start with the fact that the lost cities was a place that was supposed to be where she belong it was supposed to make her feel normal and safe but instead she met with same kind of hate that she got from the humans. Sophie to me feels like a fallen gifted kid someone who was able to get to the top of her class now at the bottom and shamed for it. It wasn’t her fault that she could read minds as a kid and not know how to stop them it wasn’t her fault that she never grew up in the lost cities to learn the ruins everyone grew up learning. And yet they still shame her, for not being normal not being like them because she grew up with humans because she some kind of lab rat someone that’ll hurt there kids and them

They never see her for the child that she is the smart brave funny individual who’s saved their lives more then once no. Because she not normal. she doesn’t act right

As someone who neurodivergent this hits really hard I was constantly told when I was younger by my peers that I was weird. And I’m sure most people who are neurodivergent have a similar experience of being treated differently just because you’re not normal.. 

 “She closed her eyes as the words rattled around her mind”

For so long she been called not normal by almost everyone around her her human mother (even if she never said it to her face) her classmates in school and her classmates now In The place she was told was perfect and safe and were she belong.

GOSH I JUST WANT TO GRAB THEM AND THROW THEM AT THE SUN DIE

She deserves to live a happy life for once :(

“It wasn't until he raised it over her head that she realized what was happening.”

“Two of the Council's bodyguards rushed to her sides, holding her in place as Councillor Emery clamped” the silver band around her forehead.

“The circlet was Dex's telepathy restrictor.”

“The Council was trying to take away her abilities.”

This part makes me sick SICK this was the part that I cried at when I first read it. The realization of what was happening to her felt like I was being hit by a truck. The fact that the council had there bodyguards hold her In Place …… UGHHHHHGGH I want to fall them to in a ditch I swear. they were trying to make her talentless in a weird fucj up way to control her if wasn’t for the fact that her powers are so strong they would’ve forcefully made her disabled. Because that’s what talentless elf’s are to them. It’s how they treat them. It’s how they treat Dexs dad it’s how they treated Brant

I can’t imagine the horror and fear Sophie felt in that moment they had other options but no the reason they chose this one is because they knew it was the best way to keep her under control.

“She knew it was slumberberry tea even before she saw the purple color, and she drank it gladly, downing the whole thing and hoping it knocked her out for a few years—decades-the rest of eternity.”

How do you fuck up so badly that you get a girl WHO REFUSES to drink any kinda of sleeping drug do to the trauma of being kidnapped and drugged against her will. To DOWN like ten of them because of the pain and trauma you’ve brought her.

HOW CAN YOU CAN YOU NOT SEE HOW F UP THAT IS

“Edaline tried to get her to eat something, but she wasn’t hungry”

“All she wanted was more tea.”

I’m thinking back to this post I saw were someone mentioned that Sophie shows a lot of signs of eating disorders. And here it pretty prevalent. Her avoiding eating and avoiding the waking world to me in way makes me think she could be suicidal. She obviously depressed and ashamed. She feels like she should be disowned by her friends and family because she useless now. Or well in her eyes she is. 

“begging begging begging her to wake.”

“So she dove deeper into her drug-induced haze, wishing she could find her way back to the nook in her mind and stay there forever. She'd been happy there.”

“Safe.”

This is where I see it most. All she wants to do is hide in this drug-induced haze, wanting to go back to the nook in her head were she felt Saft warm and happy. But once the drug wears off she back in the living full of a pain and heartache. Where she feels utterly useless and broken. All she want to do is be happy. But because the council are all absolute idiots they decided to make her life a living hell!!! I’ll still never forgive Bronte for inflicting her In Exil still one of the most F up things he’s done.

Anyways I’m tired and if I try to write more it might not come across right oop just know I hate the council !!!

Thanks for reading my nonsense I hope I made sense or a least made a good analysis :D



[bestsoftblog]

10 Best Drone for Teenager for 2020

Are you looking for the best drone for teenager based on ease of use, video and image quality, and durability, design and super longer flight time?

Many of these drones are excellent for teenagers and those kids learning how to fly a drone.

Best Drone for Teenager

If you’re in a hurry and don’t want to read thousands of customer’s reviews on Amazon, Wal-Mart, BestBuy, eBay, etc. I’ve you covered already. I have read through hundreds of reviews for each drone to come up with what is the “Best”.

Here are my top picks and recommendation for the best drones for teenagers that you can purchase right now or later today.

Holy Stone HS100G Drone with 1080p FHD Camera 5G FPV Live Video and GPS Return Home Function RC Quadcopter for Beginners Kids Adults — Best Beginner Drone for 10 Year Old Boy

DJI Phantom 4 — Best Drones for Beginners

Holy Stone Drone 170 Quadcopter — Best Professional Drone 2019 & 2020

Force 1 Mini Drone with Camera — U34W Dragonfly — Best Drone for Photography

Eachine E010 Drone — Best Beginner Drone with Camera and GPS

Force 1 Video Drone with Camera for Adult & Kids — Best Drone for Cinematography with Long Flight Time

DJI Mavic 2 Pro — Best Drone for Professional Videography Surveillance for Teenagers

Potensic T25 — Affordable & Budget Friendly Drone for Low Price

Mavic Mini Drone FlyCam Quadcopter UAV with 2.7K Camera 3-Axis Gimbal GPS 30min Flight Time, less than 0.55lbs, Gray — Best Drone 2019 & 2020

Altair Aerial AA300 GPS Beginner Drone with Camera — Top Camera Drone for Teenagers

Eachine E511 Drone — Offers a New Perspective on Flying Drones

Parrot Anafi — World’s Best Tiny Drone on the Market with Great Camera Range

Top Race Dragon Drone — Military Freestyle Drone for Teenagers’ Racing

Proflight Orbit Folding Camera Drone — Cheap Best Drones 2019 for Teenager

Potensic D80 — Modern Teenagers Drone for Indoor Use

Holy Stone HS100 FPV Drone with Camera & GPS — Best of Holy Stone Brands with Aesthetic Design

Altair Aerial Falcon for Kids

There different types of drones on the market with great options, variety of features and whether cheap or pro, they’ve got different price points also.

So when it comes to buying a drone for your teenage kids, you should consider the best small drone with excellent battery life, superior video recording, high-quality image and obstacle avoidance. This will make the life of your teenage boy or girl gets a unique view on the world’s future.

I’ve reviewed and read hundreds of drone reviews, and these are best drones for teenager in experts’ tests and recommendations.

What is the Best Drone for Teenager?

Let’s dive deep into each of these best drones’ features, pros and cons and why you need to have one for your teen kids.

1. Holy Stone HS100G Drone with 1080p FHD Camera 5G FPV Live Video and GPS Return Home Function RC Quadcopter for Beginners Kids Adults — Best Beginner Drone for 10 Year Old Boy

Holy Stone HS100G Drone with 1080p FHD Camera 5G FPV Live Video and GPS Return Home Function RC Quadcopter for Beginners Kids Adults with Follow Me, Altitude Hold, Intelligent Battery is easy to fly for teenagers, stable in the air and the camera quality is excellent.

Its flight time is up to 12–15 minutes and takes about 3–6 hours to charge one of the two batteries that come with the package.

You can use the 2.4GHz remote control to handle the drone in the air. The remote is light but LCD screen on the remote does not offer first person view but displays camera mode (either video or still), the drone’s range, gain trim and battery life.

Its more than 2MP camera shoots still images at 1280×780 and records video at 720p.

Features

Includes remote control.

The Quadcopter manual

5V USB charging cables

8 x Screws for Blades and Motors for propeller guards

2500 mAh Drone Battery Capacity

1 x HS100G Drone and Transmitter

1 x 2500 mAh Drone Battery and USB Charging Cable

8 x Propellers (under the foam box)

2 x Propeller Guards

4 x Blade Pads and Blade Caps

8 x Screws for Blades and Motors

8 x Fixed Rubber Pieces for Blades’ Screws

1 x Manual

Pros

Comes with bright LED light for night flights

Excellent for teenagers

The drone has soft landing pads

Intuitive controls

Up to 12–15 minutes battery flight time

About 50–100 meters flight range

One key 360” 4-ways flip

Powerful attitude hold function

Equipped with one key return and headless security system.

Camera range can turn 90” downward

Wide field of view up to 120”

GPS look makes it more stable in the air

Virtual reality headset makes its performance excellent

Cons

3–6 hours is a very long battery charge time.

2. DJI Phantom 4 — Best Drones for Beginners

The DJI Phantom 4 is DJI smartest flying drone offering remote control that connects to smartphone app with a tap to create tracking shots and fly around obstacles.

This super-powered Phantom 4 drone supports 4k video recording at speed and changing real direction.

The battery life around 15 to 20 minutes and the drone offers excellent degree of performance and functionality, and has become an excellent option for aerial photography professionals and teenagers.

DJI Phantom 4 uses new sensors to add ground breaking obstacles avoidance plus an improved high-quality, robust, build sturdy piece of kit that delivers excellent results.

Features

Gimbal stabilization technology to capture clean footage with the drone is in the air.

Comes with built-in video editor powered by DJI director software to add text, music to your video.

16GB Micro SD Card

Carrying Case

Capture 4k Ultra HD video at 12.0MP (4000×3000) photos and at 30 feet per second.

GPS technology for easy, auto takeoff and auto return home.

App enables monitoring camera for easy operation by teenagers.

The package kit comes with extra components such as Remote Controller, Battery Charger, Gimbal Clamp, Battery Propeller Pairs, Micro USB Cable and more.

Pros

High-quality stabilized footage

Easy to fly by teenagers

Ability to avoid objects.

Excellent smartphone app

Eagle eye lens.

Real masterpiece stability in the air.

Excellent and stable 4k footage.

Cons

Not easily upgradeable

May require software updates in the future.

3. Holy Stone Drone 170 Quadcopter — Best Professional Drone 2019 & 2020

Holy Stone Drone 170 Quadcopter is a small (mini) RC Helicopter drone 2.4Ghz 6-Axis Gyro 4 Channels quadcopter with aesthetic, looking design and handy.

It has no power button and no camera and is fun for teenagers to play with.

The quad has LED lights on the front and when the mini device is turned on, the light will be blue.

The drone has 4 rotors, with white and black blades on the front and back respectively.

Features

Headless security system lets teenagers to keep the drone flying in the air with ease.

6–8 minutes flight time

45–60 minutes charging time

2.4GHz technology which is excellent for anti-interference.

Flexible and stable in the air with 6-axis gyro stabilization system.

About 30–50 meters wind-resistance control.

Pros

Durable drone

Excellent flight time up to 8 minutes

Very lightweight and agile drone for teenagers.

Easy to set up and use.

Three speed modes.

Remote control included.

Cons

The quadcopter arms are not reliably strong.

Props could fall off easily.

4. Force1 Mini Drone with Camera — U34W Dragonfly — Best Drone for Photography

The Force1 Mini Drone with camera is a super mini drone for beginners suitable for teenagers and perfect for photography.

With its 0.3 megapixel camera and a 360 degrees flip, the drone can take perfect shots continuously with excellent performance.

The remote control drone comes included with batteries charge time up to 30 to 50 minutes.

This mini drone has low speed for teenagers (beginners) and high speed for professional aviators.

Perfect for teenagers and beginners, this Force1 mini quadcopter features the 4 channel remote transmitter to race multiple UFO drones, and headless mode to orient the drone to your remote.

Features

Beginner and teenagers drone with 720P HD camera.

Small drone size for indoor flying which is ideal for teenager kids.

360 flips and easy flying drone that is portable with 1-key Lift/Land function.

Excellent quality material and these video drones with HD camera comes with remote control.

Pros

Good for teenagers due to its stable flight.

Good camera quality and durable.

Easy to use.

Cons

Blade guards are somewhat fragile.

Charging does not last.

5. Eachine E010 Mini Drone — Best Beginner Drone with Camera and GPS

Eachine E010 Mini Drone is an affordable and easy to fly beginner UAV that can flip and spin in the air.

This drone is ideal for teenagers because you can learn to use it while having fun flying.

The Eachine E010 Mini Quadcopter for teenagers offers teens under 10 years old to get involved in flying drones with little to no effort to learn how to use drone.

This quad features great speed, 360” flip, headless mode, one key return, and memory function.

It is an excellent starter drone for teenagers and perfect gift for kids of all ages including 7 year old, 8 year old and 12 year old children of yours.

Features

One key return to auto fly back to the remote control’s location.

Durable and practical even at low price point.

High low speed mode (switch).

3D flip and ability to spin in the air while flying.

Remote control activated compass mode for changing its flight direction.

Headless mode

30–50 minutes flight time.

30 meters flying distance.

LED lights and 360” roll-over.

Plastic

4 Channels

Built-in gyroscope

Weighs 1.76 ounces

150mAh 3.7V for drone.

Pros

Excellent drone for teenagers to learn and master how to fly a drone.

Can withstand multiple crashes

Durable and made of quality materials

Great performance with rolls and 3D flips

Night LED lights

Removable battery gives you the option to get spare charged batteries and enjoy more flight time.

Small, lightweight and compact design enables you to fly the drone indoors.

Cons

5 minutes of flight time.

30 meters range not really ideal.

6. Force1 Video Drone with Camera Live Video for Adults and Kids — Best Drone for Cinematography with long flight time

Force1 Drones with Camera Live Video for Adults and Kids is an excellent drone for capturing amazing high quality video and photos with flight stability technology.

When considering what the best drones for teenager comes with, Force1 Drone with Camera Live Video features triple-bladed propellers, sparkling LED lights and HD.

HD Video Camera for FPV viewing and offer apps that will let you view the video on your tablet or smart phone with virtual reality.

Features

Easy to fly drone for beginners and experience teenagers or experts.

This camera drone has excellent features such as headless mode, altitude hold, custom route mode via mobile app and gravity induction.

Comes with 2 extra drone batteries to boost your flight time.

Excellent hover drone with durable is ideal for teenagers of all ages.

Pros

A perfect night flyer

Night flight drone that lights up the whole places due to its powerful LEDs.

360 flips and 3D roll-overs

Durable material

Affordable price

Gyroscope accelerometer accuracy

Comes with a total of 3 batteries to enjoy more flight time.

Force1 is like a military toy drone for teenagers.

Has 2 rates from slow to fast speed

Has a big spacious battery bay

Comes with 500mAh battery

Cons

LED not visible during the day.

Lack precision landing.

7. DJI Mavic 2 Pro — Best Drone for Professional Videography Surveillance for Teenagers

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro is one of the best drones with a large sensor, portable design and travel friendly in the skies.

With 20MP 1-inch sensor, DJI Mavic 2 Pro can shoot raw stills and 4k video at 30 feet per second.

This masterpiece drone is intuitive to control with app and easy to fly with intelligent shooting and flight modes that can capture cinematic shots easily.

It’s the perfect drone for teenagers and capable of delivering excellent images with its advanced flight and camera tech.

The main body of the Mavic 2 Pro is rectangular and compact with camera mounted at the front/bottom of the drone.

The DJI Mavic 2 Pro is the best option for videographers and photographers who need a small size and light weight drone that is highly portable and attractive.

It is less expensive, easy to fly and comes with the best camera technology and advanced flight tech available in the consumer drone market.

DJI Mavic 2 Pro Specifications

Flight time: up to 31 miniutes

Sensor: 20MP one-inch CMOS

Take-off weight: 907g

Focal length: 28mm

Video: 4k MP4 & MOV, 10-but D-LogM & 10-bit HDR

Shutter speed: 8–1/8000 sec

Aperture: f/2.8 — f/11

Features

Battery size: 3950mAh

Weight: 907g

Camera resolution: 20MP

Controller: Yes

Range:8km

Pros

1-inch 20MP sensor

Good foldable design

Easy to fly advanced drone

Aperture control

Intuitive app for camera control.

Cons

No portrait shooting option

Above ISO 100 could lead to noisy sound during flight.

Limited battery life.

In landscape orientation camera could locked

8. Potensic T25 GPS Drone — Affordable & Budget Friendly Drone for Low Price

Built by a good brand Potensic company, Potensic T25 GPS Drone is the best-selling GPS drone with the 1080p HD camera on the market.

This beginner’s drone for teenagers comes with excellent features such as follow me, altitude hold, GPS return, long control range, adjustable lens and live video.

The Potensic T25 drone can reach a reasonable speed and its altitude hold is steady for stabilizing footage.

It has a built-in GPS technology for smoother video transmission and flight stability.

Takeoff and landing are a simple one button operation which is ideal for teenager pilot and beginner.

Features

Altitude hold for a stable footage.

Dual GPS

Follow me mode tracks positioning via GPS

1080P HD Wi-Fi camera

Farther control distance

One-key takeoff and landing

Headless mode

Smartphone app functions.

Pros

An impressive GPS lock feature

Comes with beginner mode to help newbie teenagers learn how to fly the drone.

Easy to navigate, user-friendly intuitive app interface.

Cons

Subpar return to home needs improvement

9. Mavic Mini Drone FlyCam Quadcopter UAV with 2.7K Camera 3-Axis Gimbal GPS 30min Flight Time, less than 0.55lbs, Gray — Best Drone 2019 & 2020

Mavic Mini Drone is one of the best drones with its nimble and responsive lightweight features and flying experiences every teenager ever had.

The Mavic Mini is a portable and compact drone at 250gram, capture high quality footage in 2.7k Quad HD Video and allow teenagers to enjoy recording and editing with hyper intuitive DJI fly app.

This drone is a higher-end small drone with unique features as a 3-axis gimbal with 12 megapixel camera, DJI fly app, 30 minutes, battery life and SMP adapter.

This drone is unique for teenagers to learn to fly drones with excellent flight performance.

It’s foldable and easy to carry with its light weight, it can stay in the air for a higher period.

Pros

3-axis motorized gimbal provides teenagers with ability to shoot ultra-smooth video footage.

Extremely light weight ideal for teenagers.

High-end HD camera to capture 2.7k videos and 12MP photos.

Easy to fly without any set up or assembling of drone’s parts.

Excellent flight performance of up to 30 minutes per charge.

Comes with built-in GPS sensors and can hover and withstand strong wind.

Great control range at 4KM (2.5miles).

The DJI Mavic Mini is equipped with intelligent flight modes like Helix, Quick Shot and Circle.

Designed for beginner and teenager pilots for easier flying and shooting.

Cons

No obstacle avoidance.

4k camera not available.

FollowMe mode and hyper lapse are not available.

10. Altair Aerial AA300 GPS Beginner Drone with Camera — Top Camera Drone for Teenagers than Altair Aerial Falcon for Kids

The Altair Aerial AA330 drone is built with teenager pilots in mind and equipped with features for easy flight and comes with a live video 720P, two batteries and out of the box ready to fly.

This Altair Aerial Falcon can fly for up to 8–10 minutes in the sky on one battery.

The autonomous hover and positioning system makes it easy for a teenager to learn the controls.

A single battery gives you 15 minutes of flight time and the package comes with 2 batteries.

Features

15 minutes flight time.

Made of high quality plastic material that can sustain crashes.

Wide angle 720P HD camera

Stable flight in the air

120 degree viewing angle

Durable construction

Headless mode

Custom flight routing

Affordable camera drone

Free extra battery

Easy to fly with 818 hornet — 3 controller skill settings

Excellent Altair brand customer support service

120 degree viewing angle

Altitude hold

One key takeoff

Comes with personal hobby starter RC quadcopter for all ages including teenagers

Custom flight routing

Autonomous hover and positioning system

Pros

Very easy to keep and excellent stability in the sky.

Durable design

Long lasting battery and longer flight time

Cons

Pricey

What is the Best Drone for a 12 Year Old?

Here are the best drones for a 12 year old and these drones are great tech gadgets and teenager-friendly drones on the market. They are easy and safe to use.

818 Hornet Drone

AA300 GPS Drone

Syma XSC Drone

Holy Stone F181 Drone

Qcopter Quadcopter

DJI Mavic Pro

DJI Inspire 2

Autel Robotics Evo

DJI Mavic 2 Zoom

Parrot Anafi

Holy Stone F181 RC Quadcopter Drone with Camera RTF 4 Channel 2.4GHz 6-Gyro Headless System Attitude Hold Function Black

What Age is Appropriate for a Drone?

Teenager’s drones are labeled as appropriate for ages 8 and above. If your child is under the age of 12 which that age is appropriate for a drone usage, you as a parent you need to review the types of toy drone models that are best for kids — not just for teenagers.

What is The Best Drone for an 8 Year Old?

The best kids drones for an 8 year old include:

Holy Stone DEERC170 Predator Mini RC Quadcopter

ProFlight Orbit Folding Camera Drone

UDI RC U27

Parrot Airborne Night Drone Maclane

Syma X5C Drone

JoyGeek Mini Drone

Air Hogs Star Wars

Holy Stone HS177 Battle Drone

Hubsan Nano Q4SE Quadcopter

Potensic Mini Drone for Kids

Qaxis MyFirst Drone

Altair AA108 Kids Drone

What is the Best Drone for a 7 Year Old?

The best drone for a 7 year old kid might be considered based on model, kid’s age and flight time.

Here are my top picks for the best drones for kids of 7 year old.

Holy Stone HS170 predator

Syma X5C

Snaptain S5C

DROCON Ninja

Altair Aerial Falcom — top camera drone for kids and teenagers

Altair Aerial 818 Hornet

Force1 Scoot — Suited for all ages and teen level

Potensic A20 — Kids drone for indoor use

Ryze Tello

DJI Spark

Force1 UFO

Holy Stone HS177

Air Hogs Star Wars Millennium Falcon

UDI U818A HD

Cheerson CX-10

Are Drones Good for Kids

The best drones are good for kids because they are cheap, cool and easy to fly.

For kids to fly toy drone, it keeps them happy, entertained for hours.

Flying the best drone for teenager can be an exciting hobby for kids.

Drones can help kids to learn about robotics, mechanics, aviation, electronics and photography.

It is really a lot of fun for kids to have a drone they can quickly and easily fly in the air.

Conclusion

Generally, the best drone for teenager cannot be emphasized especially its ability to helo your teenager kids learn now to fly drone, robotics, photography, videography, mechanics and electronics as well as get entertained and have funs.

That is why I have reviewed 100s of the best drones on the market and here are my top picks and recommendation for the best drone for teenagers.

Holy Stone HS100G Drone with 1080p FHD Camera 5G FPV Live Video and GPS Return Home Function RC Quadcopter for Beginners Kids Adults — Best Beginner Drone for 10 Year Old Boy

DJI Phantom 4 — Best Drones for Beginners

Holy Stone Drone 170 Quadcopter — Best Professional Drone 2019 & 2020

Force 1 Mini Drone with Camera — U34W Dragonfly — Best Drone for Photography

Eachine E010 Drone — Best Beginner Drone with Camera and GPS

Force 1 Video Drone with Camera for Adult & Kids — Best Drone for Cinematography with Long Flight Time

DJI Mavic 2 Pro — Best Drone for Professional Videography Surveillance for Teenagers

Potensic T25 — Affordable & Budget Friendly Drone for Low Price

Mavic Mini Drone FlyCam Quadcopter UAV with 2.7K Camera 3-Axis Gimbal GPS 30min Flight Time, less than 0.55lbs, Gray — Best Drone 2019 & 2020

Altair Aerial AA300 GPS Beginner Drone with Camera — Top Camera Drone for Teenagers

Culled from Bestsoft Nigeria: https://www.bestsoftnigeria.biz/blog/best-drone-for-teenager/#ixzz6YgZzv5Fj

[avelera]

Avelera’s political spider senses are tingling...

I try not to go into political stuff too often here, goodness knows everyone is probably exhausted by even the mention of this administration and their nuttiness, I know I am.

But I have to say, after waking up to the news of the latest twitter rant this morning (the “wiretapping” one), seeing this video of Lindsey Graham (a staunch conservative Senator) pointing out that if a wiretap warrant could be obtained it would mean there was criminal activity in the Trump Tower worth investigating, something feels like it’s... shifted a little bit. 

Look, the great changes of the world, especially in government, are never accomplished by a single sweeping action. It’s the slow, detail-oriented drip of movement that causes changes that later look sudden. This Russia thing isn’t going away, every time it comes up it’s clear that it strikes a nerve. The defenses against it are unconvincing (why hide the meeting, Sessions?). Losing Flynn alone was never going to change anything, but with Sessions there’s now blood in the water. There’s questions that should be easy to dismiss but aren’t. Every day you find out one more claim was a lie, that aides did meet with Russian officials at a time when it was grossly inappropriate to do so (during the campaign, not after the election when it could at least be reasonably claimed it was just gearing up for the position he would hold). 

When the USSR fell no one really saw it coming. That’s a bit of a sweeping generalization, but even high-up US officials whose job it was to track this stuff were caught off guard. A lot of little things built up and the tipping point came suddenly. When the resistance against this administration started, it felt like just a little here, a little there, just chipping away at his comfort. I get the sense now though that we just hit 50.1%, just a little more is on the side of him not lasting than it was yesterday. Because of his unhinged tweets, just days after he gave a reasonably sane speech.

Look, the media, even the “left wing” media like CNN is slavering to legitimize this guy. All he has to do is not take an actual piss on the stage for them to rave about how he’s finally pivoted. The reason is, they want to go back to reporting business as usual in politics, they way they’re used to. The fact he’s not pivoting, that he’s resisting sanity is catching even his opponents off guard. All this president would need to do is lay low and shut up for maybe a month, and sadly a majority of the resistance would dissolve. People are scared right now, but give just a little bit of calm and comfort, a bit of business as usual and most people will stop paying attention to politics again. 

But he’s not doing that. He can’t seem to get out of his own way. He’s consistently coming off as unhinged, and this job is an absolute pressure cooker that turns every president’s hair white. Being fragile and thin-skinned doesn’t just mean you react poorly to criticism in this situation, it means you can actually break under the psychological strain. They say you have to stay on top of this job, or it gets on top of you, and that’s just for handling the daily briefings, which he clearly can’t. And it’s only going to get worse. 

One reason I find these Mar a Lago trips concerning that I haven’t really seen brought up is this: the White House is designed for the rigors of the presidency. That means regular security sweeps AND built in microphones to capture every minute of the president’s day for posterity and for emergencies. I don’t know if Mar a Lago is that wired up yet, if it even can be. I wonder if he’s going there in order to have discussions which aren’t under a microscope, and not just because he enjoys the Florida sun and golfing like any old white man retiree.

I think he and his cronies think they’re smart, and maybe they were. Certainly during the campaign they managed to outsmart a lot of their competitors, and that should be recognized. Calling them stupid doesn’t actually help. 

However, the systems at the top of the US government are not just smart but thorough. The Intelligence community has a lot of geniuses, probably a lot more than the administration can muster, and he’s managed to piss a lot of them off. The administrators in the White House, unelected officials who were also smart enough to qualify for their jobs, whom the government struggles to run without, are also unhappy. The president doesn’t actually change that much, our system is actually pretty locked in and that’s what a lot of citizens were lamenting when they hoped we could bring in someone to shake things up. For every elected official swapped in and out to “change” things, there’s a hundred more unelected ones who actually run things and they keep business as usual going. Even if Trump and his team could take on the teams of all his opponent candidates, I’m not sure how well he can take on the entire establishment class if he keeps thinking he can outsmart them. He has to play ball with them on some level and he’s failing to do so. Worse, some people seem to have evidence of criminal activity, actual Manchurian Candidate type stuff, and that can only go so far.

I get the sense that we’re seeing a parallel construction being built. The Intelligence community has information they can’t reveal without revealing how they got the information. But they have evidence of the Trump campaign illegally colluding with a foreign government. So what they do is they feed the information to outside sources, tell them where to look so they start uncovering the evidence in a way that can actually be used. They let the administration make a denial, then they leak the evidence to WaPo or similar that the administration or its surrogate lied, rinse and repeat. Slowly they build up pressure, lies under oath, all building towards the conclusion they’ve already reached and build the public opinion in the direction it needs to go. 

The scary thing would be if Russia is the one doing the leaks, and not our own intelligence community. I’ve said since last fall that if the Trump team thinks Russia is on their side, they’re about to get a rude awakening. Russia wants America destabilized, it’s not Trump’s friend. They want him in office if they have dirt on him so that they can pick when to add chaos to the mix. The question is, is our counter-intelligence effectively fighting this right now by getting him out sooner or are they just already engaged in destabilizing us? My optimism hopes the former, based on the fact this kerfuffle is delaying the sanctions being lifted. That is, if the sanctions being lifted is even what they want, since the sanctions increase the price of oil which the Russian economy is based on. If they want conflict or war, they’re getting what they want with the current dust up, I’m not sure which way this is going in that respect. I mean, Putin is ex-KGB and a chess player. The force of their government is much more unified than ours currently when it comes to influence and political games. 

Anyway, not to go down the speculation rabbit hole. My biggest point is that something feels like it shifted today. If all this Russia stuff comes to a head, if it becomes the scandal some people fear, if it becomes grounds for impeachment, I don’t think it’s going to happen the way people think. It’s not going to be a big event and then BOOM. It’s going to be a lot of little events, Sessions recusing himself, some ill-considered tweets, a lot of pressure building, a lot of revelations about the dossier. It may even be a proverbially Russian torpedo as they finally release the dirt on Trump and either cut their losses on him or finally trigger their plan. But I think it’s going to hit us when we’re not really expecting it, and today I felt the first shift of gravity, the little movement over the edge that makes me think the avalanche is gaining speed. 

[fae-fucker]

Zenith: Chapter 2-3

New content, woo! I haven’t snarked chapter 3 before, so this will be fun!

Chapter 2 

Turns out that going into hyperspace didn’t do anything to actually get them out of trouble, which makes me wonder how exactly they’ve managed to get away before if their equipment is so obviously shitty.

Update: As previously stated, the engines are now “too hot” to go back into hyperspace. The rest is still dumb, though.

The approaching ships were just behind them. Two black seekers, angular and sharp, and in between, a giant tracker ship. A monster in the sky.

Well, it’s not really “in the sky” now, is it. Just like there is no day or night in space, which I can’t believe I missed in the first chapter.

Update: The seeker ships are now “Explorers.” Idk why they made this change, but I guess they realized that the names were too similar.

Andi also gets a random flashback to when she saw the “Tracker” ships being announced at the “Academy” and we find out that she’s always wanted to fly. Great, not cliché at all, 10/10.

They’d outrun worse before, but something in Andi’s gut told her this wouldn’t be easy.

How? How did they outrun worse before if they’re struggling to outrun these basic bitches now?

Update: This line has been removed.

“Three of them, coming in from the south. Get to your stations, and prepare for immediate engagement. We’re going dark.”

“Going dark” apparently means that they activate some metal shields. We also find out that their ship is … made of glass? And when the shields “activate”, they somehow, for some reason, lose all light? Except there are windows, so they’re not actually going dark?

Several problems with this, and keep in mind that I’m not a fucking rocket scientist, but still:

I know Sasha is a huge fan or Throne of Glass but … seriously? THEIR SHIP IS MADE OF GLASS?!?!??!!??!! WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!!

The way it’s written implies that before the shield closes over the ship, their ship is transparent, because Andi mentions “going dark” despite there being three “view ports” that weren’t there before? Just … why?

And what kind of ass-backwards engineering is this? Is there a huge space saved for just the shields when it’s folded up? What if something gets stuck or the mechanism malfunctions, are you just without a shield now? If the ship is so fragile that it needs extra shields, why the FUCK would you build it out of glass? I’m assuming the glass is SUPER DUPER HARDCORE, but apparently not hardcore enough to withstand a single hit? Then maybe don’t build ships out of glass? Now you’re carrying extra weight just because you chose your aesthetic over practicality and your stupid ship is literally made of glass. And it wouldn’t actually impact the weight or speed of the goddamn ship anway, since the shield is there whether it’s folded or active, so why the fuck isn’t it just on all the time? In fact, I would argue that it would fuck with the ship’s balance more when it’s folded, so you’d have to try to compensate for that instead of building the shields as PART OF THE ACTUAL SHIP, or build the goddamn ship out of metal so you don’t need BOTH A GLASS HULL AND EXTRA SHIELDS. Did they not have anything else “science-fiction-y” for Andi to do so they put this dumbass detail in?

Christ.

Update: There’s no update. They added that the glass is impenetrable but they still apparently need shields.

I’m so done with this and it’s only chapter 2, holy shit.

Andi almost passes out from exhaustion and thinks about some deep and edgy shit again before being pulled back to reality.

Update: There’s a mention of a “Spectre sigil” in the flashback and the Mass Effect vibes that Lira brought are now even stronger. We also find out that Andi is originally from Arcardius, like that Valen bloke. 

“Fike, Andi.” Breck’s voice was deep and throaty. “You didn’t say they were Patrolmen. Godstars, we’re gonna be space bits.”

[…]

“Gilly’s on Harbinger, I’m on Calamity. Permission to engage?”

This dialogue is pure gold.

I’ll point and laugh at Calamity, but all I can think of when they mention Harbinger is ASSUMING DIRECT CONTROL and THIS HURTS YOU.

You’re right, Harbinger, it DOES hurt me.

Update: “Godstars, Andi.” Breck’s voice was deep and throaty. “I can see the sigil now. They’re Arcardian Patrol. We’re gonna be space bits.” 

And then Andi felt it.

The lurch.

The bump.

A knife of rage sliced through her. “Those bastards just shot at my ship.”

For a supposedly badass space pirate, you sure do seem surprised.

A bunch of knives of rage are slicing through me as I’m reading this.

“Take them down!” Andi commanded. “Go faster, Lira.” She clenched the armrests, leaning forward as if her body could help her ship pick up speed.

“I’m trying,” Lira said. “We haven’t refueled in weeks, Andi. At this rate, we’ll burn out. We’ll have to lose them instead of outrun them.”

“But without the cloaking system, we’re flying loose as a…”

Lira stopped her with a grin fit for a murderess. “I wasn’t talking about cloaking.”

MURDERESS.

MURDERESS.

M U R D E R E S S

M̪̭̘̗̱͍̟̑̇̐̉͊ͥͭ U R̰͉ D̸̖͖͍̞͚̖̔̔͋ͭͪ̆ Ẹ̒ͩ R͓̦̰̞̼ͧ͝ E̠̙̬ͬͣ͗ͪ̾̐̄̕ Sͩͯ̌͑ Ṣ̡͓ͪ

Update: They removed “murderess”, thank god. Instead, it says: Lira stopped her with a sly grin. “I wasn’t talking about cloaking.” 

So they blast off, again, and Lira seems to be planning to pull ye olde Let’s-Fly-Through-An-Asteroid-Belt-To-Lose-Our-Pursuers trick. Andi freaks out, which makes no sense. There’s no way they haven’t pulled this before, but I guess we need excitement so throw all logic out the fucking window.

I should also mention that IRL asteroids are extremely far away from each other, so going through an asteroid belt wouldn’t be like a tight car chase across a busy market in your average Hollywood piss-yellow Foreign Country. I won’t hold this against Shinsay though since a lot of famous space opera type things pull this too, but it’s worth noting still.

It was then that the ship’s mapping system came on, a cool female voice who guided their path, a comfort in the darkness. But today, the system’s words filled Andi with a cold, trembling dread.

Ah yes, don’t you guys find comfort in the dulcet tones of yous sweet sweet GPS? Why the fuck would you say it gives you comfort and then go UM EXCEPT NOT NOW. You did this in the previous chapter with the stars, too. Like what’s the point of establishing something one moment and then saying the exact opposite the next?

Update: It was then that Memory, the Marauder’s mapping system, came on, a cool female voice that usually guided their path, a comfort in the void of space. But today, Memory’s words filled Andi with a cold, trembling dread. 

Why did they name it ...

Lir raised a bare brow. “Have you no faith, Captain?”

Yes, she’s hairless, we get it. And this really does read like fucking Throne of Glass, except Throne of Glass at least could hide its awkward dialogue behind the “it’s old-timey” excuse, here it just makes no sense.

Andi loosed a breath, and ran her fingers through the ends of her purple and white braid.

Ah, so it wasn’t the space po-po. It was the fashion po-po, coming for Andi and her bad aesthetic.

Update: Andi loosed a breath and ran her fingers through the ends of her purple-and-white braid. 

Or maybe it was the grammar po-po.

Andi tightened her harness, silenced the prox alarms, and settled back as Lira pushed navigated the Marauder toward the Gollanta Asteroid Belt.

The Graveyard of the Galaxy.

The place where ships came to die.

Oh man. How exciting. I wonder if they’ll make it. It’s already the second chapter of the book, anything could happen!

Update: Andi asks Memory to play some classical music, because this is a cheesy action movie now, I guess, and it makes Andi “deep.”

Chapter 3

We seem to be in the POV of someone named Klaren and it’s “year twelve”, whatever that means. It’s all written in italics but I’ll just keep to my format.

THE GIRL WAS BORN TO DIE. 

In darkness she stood with her palms pressed to the cold glass of her tower. She was alone, protected as all of the Yielded were, staring out at the Conduit below. Swirls of black and silver and blue. An endless, starlit sea.

And uuh ... Yeah, that’s about all you need to know about this chapter, tbh. 

Also, the Conduit? A hairless blue space babe named Lira? A Spectre sigil? Harbinger? Y’all. Come on.

I honestly doubt Shinsay have played Mass Effect, but at this point it’s hard not to suspect it. 

This girl is one of the “Yielded”, who are people who do weird shit, I guess, and she’s locked up in her tower and wants to know what it would be like to be free for one day and make her own choices and all that jazz.

Anyway, she sees the sunrise and smiles because pretty! 

If her dreams were true, then someday she would use this smile for greatness. For glory. For the hope of her people.

Today she stood watching, far above the Conduit, as the red sun rose.

Cool cool.

I love the way this chapter absolutely breaks the momentum built up by the previous chapters and how it’s not even in the current timeline and doesn’t really give us any relevant info. 

It’s great.