#like empirically evidence based the worst of the three of us <3

[nat-20s]

words truly cannot express how little I want to go to work today

[deafeningnightcollection-things]

Hidden Lives ~ Winn Schott

Chapter 3 - Supergirl

"This is the D.E.O., the Department of Extranormal Operations," Hank spoke, turning Kara's attention to him. "We specialize in monitoring and neutralizing otherworldly threats. That means you."

Alex visibly flinched at his choice of words, her masks crumbling by the second. Hank motioned to the door, and Alex tried to help Kara sit up but again Kara shrugged her sister off. The three of them followed Hank to the door and down a long hall to the central room where Kara's pod was kept.

"Your ship." Hank gestured to the object, like a bored tour guide. "And others." He pointed to various ships visible through glass walls and on monitors. Kara's pod was still the only one they had positively identified.

Kara's gaze halted on one of the pods, sleek and slender with a coat of arms on the side. "That's a Daxamite ship." Disgust dripped from her voice.

Lily looked at Alex questioningly, hoping for an explanation. Alex just shrugged, clearly as confused as she was. Kara clearly refused to elaborate, untrusting of the three agents. Alex most of all...

Hank looked nonplussed, seeming unsurprised by her outburst. When it became clear that Kara wouldn't say anything else, he continued.

"We keep your ship here as a reminder of the day you crashed. It was actually you're arrival that showed us the need for this organization."

Kara blinked, speechless. Lily couldn't blame her, it was a lot to take in. Eventually regaining her wits, Kara said, "I don't understand. My cousin was here two dozen years before me."

Hank nodded. "He may have been the first, but you proved that there were more coming. A lot more in your case." Hank pressed a button on the vast array of computers and a photo of a familiar Kryptonian prison popped up. "When your ship escaped the phantom zone, you pulled Fort Rozz with you. Unleashing the worst convicts in the galaxy on Earth." He pressed another button and the mugshots they'd been able to retrieve from the prison's computer popped. "For over a decade they've stayed hidden. But in the last year, many have been emerging, making themselves known. They're planning something. We're just not sure what it is yet."

Kara gasped, the gears grinding in her head before she whirled on Alex. "Your plane! Your plane wasn't an accident. They must've been trying to kill you."

No one spoke. It was an avenue they'd considered. But there wasn't enough evidence, and at the end of the day, it didn't matter. The Fort Rozz escapees would be hunted down, either way, they were too dangerous to be loose on Earth.

"I can help you stop them," Kara was grasping at straws. Pleading for a chance to prove herself. Lily winced, painfully reminded of herself when she'd started at the DEO.

"Maybe—" Lily started, glancing at Hank, but he shut her down instantly.

"How?" He openly scoffed at Kara, "you couldn't even stop us from capturing you."

"I'm...still learning," Kara replied, her voice small.

"Look, Ms. Danvers. Our job is to keep people in the dark about alien life on Earth, and nothing says 'covert operation' like a flying woman in a red skirt."

Kara's temper had clearly been ignited, her next words were much stronger. "They know about my cousin, and they don't fear him." Kara was painfully naive. As Lily and Alex knew there would always be people who hated and feared things that were different.

Hank voiced what neither of them had the heart to say, "Plenty of people do, just not popular to admit it. You wanna help? Go back to getting someone's coffee."

Hank walked away leaving no room for discussion.

Alex immediately began to plead with her sister, "I know you're mad and you're hurt. I wanted to tell you every single day." She held out her hands placatingly trying to stem the coming flood of anger.

Lily moved off in the same direction Hank had, giving them the space they needed. She waited by the transport, just wanting this day to be over already.

Her phone buzzed.

Incoming call from Lena Luthor.

Lily picked up on the first ring. "Hey, Kiera."

Her sister laughed. "I missed that. You know you're the only one who calls me that."

"What can I say? I'm special."

They bantered back and forth lightly for a few minutes before her sister finally said why she was calling.

"I want to rebrand the family company."

Lily's breath hitched, memories of herself and her sister tied up in chairs while Lex wreaked havoc on their city flashed before her eyes.

"Lily?" Lena asked uncertainly.

She didn't answer at first, taking shuddering breaths as she reigned in her emotions.

"Why do you have to ask me? It's your company."

"Lily." Lena sighed. "I know that you don't want anything to do with the company and I don't blame you. But you still own half of it."

After Lex's arrest, with their father dead and their mother in the wind, the company had been divided between the two of them. Lily had promptly fled Metropolis and never come back. Choosing to ignore her newfound responsibility.

"I don't want it." She breathed to her sister, her voice small.

"I knew you'd say that. I had my lawyer draw up the papers to transfer ownership. You can look them over tonight."

Lily nodded. "Yeah. Ok."

"It really was nice talking to you." They'd talked only a few times since Lily had left. Never for very long and never about anything of much substance. This was the first deep conversation they'd had in years. Even if it had gone straight for the kill shot and brought up Lex and the company he'd dragged through the mud.

"You too, Kiera. If you ever take a break from your empire, come visit me." This single conversation had been enough to remind her how much she missed the only family she had left.

"Love you, Kóri." It was automatic, once upon a time, Kiera had said it to her every day. But this was the first time she'd said it since Lionel's funeral.

There was silence on both ends of the line.

"I love you too, Kiera." Lily hung up quickly.

She wiped a tear from her eyes choosing to focus on the happy memories that name generated.

Lily had been only five, but she remembered it clear as day. Lionel had just gotten back from work at his company. He'd pick her up as he came through the front door, swinging her around like a superhero as she giggled madly.

"How is my Kóri today?"

She'd made a face at the unfamiliar word. "Silly, my name is Lily." She had explained with all the seriousness a five-year-old could muster.

Lionel laughed, a great booming laugh that filled the room. "I know. Kóri is an old word, it means daughter. And every time I say it, I'm proud that you're my daughter."

She'd beamed up at him, as he spun her around once more before setting her on the ground.

But a five-year-old's emotions were fickle.

She shook her head petulantly as he set her down. "I don't like old stuff." She'd stuck her tongue out, hating the idea of anything remotely old.

"Is that right?" Lionel crouched down until he was eye level with her. "I guess you don't want your present then. It's really old."

She was scandalized at the thought of being cheated out of a present. "No." She shook her so fiercely that she almost fell over. "Gimme."

He pulled a small gold necklace out of his pocket. It glittered in the light, not looking nearly as old as he'd claimed. She reached out both hands, stretching on her tiptoes trying to grab it.

Lionel held it just out of reach. "What's the magic word?"

Lily pouted and Lionel almost caved. Finally, she said, slightly annoyed, "please."

He set the chain into her hands. It weighed more than she expected and she nearly dropped it. She looked at it with wonder, proud of the shiny object that was now hers.

"Promise me you'll always wear this." She'd been taken aback by his serious tone, even at five she'd sensed something was wrong.

So, she nodded seriously. "I promise."

Lionel smiled. "I love you so much." He kissed her forehead before moving on to his study.

She rubbed the pendant. The familiar grooves of the engraved lettering brought her comfort. "I promise, dad." She murmured, her words echoing across the years.

Alex arrived a few minutes later. Slightly out of breath, as though she'd been shouting. Lily opened her mouth to ask how things went with Kara, but something in Alex's expression made her old off. Besides, it wasn't hard to infer that Kara had been angry.

The ride back to the base in the city was even quieter than the ride coming here. An awkward silence stretched between the three of them.

Lily practically jumped out of the van when it finally parked in the garage. She headed straight for the locker room, not having the energy to change but also not willing to be in the DEO another second.

She stuffed her uniform into her locker, not bothering to fold it like she normally did. She slammed her locker shut. Her forehead rested against it for a moment, and she closed her eyes. Trying not to think of all the things that seemed to be crashing down around her today.

She was bone tired as she walked back home. And it was midnight and she had no patience to revel in the city's sights tonight. She knew the walk from the DEO to her building by heart, so she paid little attention to the sidewalk in front of her until she crashed into something and warm.

A cardigan.

And in that cardigan, Winn.

"Hey." It was all she could think of, the last thing she wanted right now was a conversation. Even with a nice guy, but she couldn't just say nothing after she'd crashed into him headfirst.

"Hi." He replied. He seemed just as distracted as she was. Glancing up and down the street as he spoke. "Great night for a walk isn't it." He rubbed the back of his neck, though it seemed more out of frustration than awkwardness.

She shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I got off work like five minutes ago."

He half-nodded. His gaze wandering again.

"What are you looking for?"

"Just a friend of mine. We were talking and now I can't get ahold of her. She's probably just at her apartment, but I thought I'd check." He waved casually, trying and failing to make it seem like no big deal.

Her stomach knotted, Kara. He's out here looking for her. Her worry was alleviated by the fact that Kara would most likely be home when Winn got there. She tried to keep her face lightly concerned. As though she wasn't one of the people responsible for kidnapping his friend.

"It's nice of you to check on her." She offered, trying to ease a bit of the tension on his face.

He nodded, trying to smile, but it came out forced.

They both moved to walk down the sidewalk in the direction they'd been going before.

"Uh, Winn." She called, making him turn. "Text me when you get home, so I can make sure you weren't killed or anything."

He nodded, a real smile ghosting his lips this time.

A couple of the city sights finally appealed to her as she continued walking. A bit of the crumbling weight she'd been carrying had eased.

She tried to keep awake for Winn's text, just to be sure nothing bad happened, but exhaustion eventually one out and she fell asleep.

———

She rolled out of bed late the next day. The alarm clock on her nightstand sleepily blinking, 10:37. She yawned widely, she happened slept that long in a while. Memories of Lex kept coming to the forefront, turning her nights restless and terror-filled.

She grabbed her phone from the nightstand, pleased to find a message from Winn waiting for her.

Winn: I'm fine, but my ghost would have been happy to join you for coff

Lily smiled at the half-finished last word, sleep had clearly caught up with him as he wrote. It warmed her heart that he'd still written even though he'd been dead tired. She shot a quick response.

Lily: Glad to hear it :)

She moved through the kitchen, taking her time, no need to rush on a Saturday. After turning the coffee maker on, she moved to counter. She sat down and booted up her laptop, prepared to look over the papers Kiera had sent the night before.

An unfamiliar logo greeted her as she pulled up the documents. She smiled at the name her sister had chosen, L-Corp. Getting as far away from the Luthor name as it could, was the best move the company could make.

She scanned the documents, trusting her sister not to throw in any confusing loopholes and crazy legal jargon. Satisfied, she signed the papers electronically, before sending them back. She fired a quick text to Kiera to let her know what she'd done.

Lily: Congrats on being the solo queen of L-Corp. I just sent the papers. I like the name :)

She'd just opened the fridge, her hand inches from the egg carton when there was a knock on the door.

"Coming." She shouted, setting the eggs on the counter. She grabbed sweatpants off the stool and shrugged them on.

"Hi," Alex said awkwardly.

"Hey." Lily had absolutely no idea what to say. Words were generally easy with Alex, but she was on rocky ground at the moment. She let Alex have the first word.

"I won't apologize for being mad, but I shouldn't have hit you, and I'm sorry for that. I...get it now. When I talked to Kara last night. We keep all these secrets in the name of our job, and sometimes people get hurt. You did it to me and I did it to Kara. I know you didn't do it to hurt me." Alex shifted uncertainly as she finished. Not sure what to do now that she'd finished.

"I was about to make pancakes." Lily opened the door wider, unspokenly inviting her friend inside.

"And cinnamon rolls?" Alex asked, her face lighting up.

Lily nodded and they both smiled. The awkwardness quickly dissipating as Alex stepped inside.

"I'll even let you use my blender to make your nasty vitamin drink." Alex laughed at her words. Now that Alex had tossed Lily a line, the words came much easier. Soon they were wrapped in conversation like nothing had changed.

"So tell me more about this cute guy you met the other day," Alex said. Reaching around Lily to steal a strawberry that she had chopped for the pancakes.

Lily smacked her hand away, no one got between her and strawberry pancakes. "There's not much to tell really. I ran into him again last night, we talked again. It was nice." Lily shrugged. About to skate around the how of her meeting with Winn, but she stopped. No more secrets.

"There's something I should tell you." Alex nodded, miraculously holding another strawberry. Lily rolled her eyes. "His name is Winn, and I met him because I was doing a threat assessment on Supergirl's allies." The name felt odd rolling off her tongue, Supergirl. Catco had coined the name that morning, other news stations jumping on the bandwagon. It suited her though, Alex clearly agreed, as she smiled at the word.

"So on your first meeting with prince charming, you lied your socks off?"

"Shut up." Lily brandished the chopping knife threateningly, but Alex only laughed. "How was I supposed to know he'd be so cute?"

"Stop it," Lily reprimanded, Alex had sneakily reached for another strawberry. "Keep that up and I won't make you cinnamon rolls."

Alex gasped, "you wouldn't dare."

"Then keep your hands off my strawberries." Lily moved the bowl to the far side of the corner before turning away to grab a skillet for the pancakes. "Go make your smoothie." Alex's hand paused inches away from the strawberry bowl and she pouted before sliding off the barstool.

"Fine, fine." Alex raised her hands in defeat. "Do you even have vegetables in this apartment?"

"I do." Lily looked offended. Alex rolled her eyes.

Alex opened the fridge, reaching for the plastic container with her name on it. Lily kept it there for Alex's smoothies like Alex kept a jar of coffee for Lily in her fridge.

Lily flicked on the radio and soon they were both jamming out as the small kitchen filled with the smells of breakfast.

[alectology-archive]

SJ/M’s plagiarism from fiction/media

I’m hoping to make a comprehensive list of all the sources SJ/M has outright ripped off from in the past. Feel free to comment down below or send an ask if you can think of anything.

SJ/M has very clearly ripped off of GRRM and JRR Tolkien’s works. Same goes for a lot of Anne Bishop’s works, too, and a lot of her favourite authors - so if anyone’s read books SJ/M has stated that she likes please let me know.

Note that this post will keep getting updated as I discover more evidences of plagiarism. Also note that there is every possibility that some resemblances are purely accidental and/or unintentional. So take it with a grain of salt.

(?) indicates a questionable addition to the post.

T/HRONE OF GLASS

- “The Queen Who Was Promised” comes from GRRM’s “The Prince who was Promised” prophecy in ASOIAF, who also goes by Azor Ahai, who wields Lightbringer, and is also known as the Son of Fire. 

- “Aelin” is probably derived from “Aelin-uial” in the Silmarillion by JRR Tolkien. Additionally, it may have been derived from Aerin Dragon-Killer/Aerin Firehair from Robin McKinley's The Hero and the Crown, as SJ/M stated it was one of her favourite novels.

- “Fireheart” is the name of Corlath’s horse in The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, an author SJ/M admires.

- Empire of Storms, 2016, contains the infamous line ‘velvet-wrapped steel.’ And… so does Fifty Shades of Grey, in 2011: ‘Steel encased in velvet.’ 

- “Valg” comes from Terry Brooke’s The Sword of Shannara, another author SJ/M admires.

- “Hope. You cannot steal it, and you cannot break it." is awfully similar to the line from The Princess Bride about love "you cannot track that, not with a thousand bloodhounds, and you cannot break it, not with a thousand swords". SJ/M has said that she loved the movie.

- The infamous “You could rattle the stars” is a ripoff of Treasure Planet’s “You’re gonna rattle the stars.”

- “To Whatever End” comes from The Two Towers where King Theoden says it just before the battle of Helm’s deep begins.

- “You bow to no one” is said by Aragorn at the end of the Return of the King after his coronation.

- Orynth has white walls and is surrounded by snow capped peaks. It has large white walls and bears an unusually striking resemblance to Minas Tirith in The Lord of the Rings.

- Aelin’s journey mirrors that of Aragorn. The lost heir to a powerful throne, spends years in the wilderness denying their claim, joins forces with the elf/faes to reclaim it and has an immortal elf/fae as consort.

- Nehemia names Aelin ‘Elentiya’, saying, “I give you this name to use with honour, to use when other names grow too heavy. I name you Elentiya, ‘Spirit That Could Not Be Broken’.” It sounds similar in tone and cadence to the way Galadriel describes the light of Earendil to Frodo. The name Elentiya even sounds Elvish, and sits discordant with the other naming conventions in Eyllwe.

- Manon gathers the witches to go to war by starting a series of beacons, lit all across Erilea, from snow-capped mountains to the woodlands - directly from the Return of the King when Pippin helps Gondor call for aid. 

- The wall defences of Orynth are completely sound, except there’s one more way in, through a grate in the water canal - another striking resemblance to a place in Lord of the Rings known as Helm’s Deep. There is even a scene where someone asks if there’s a secret passage the women and children can escape through.

- In EoS and ToD, Chaol is referred to as “Hand of the King”. In GoT the “Hand of the King” is a title given to the King’s advisor.

- The speech that Haldir gave when he arrived in Helm’s Deep, uniting the elven and human forces, is paraphrased at least three times in this book. Most notably when Manon brings the Crochan witches to fight alongside the humans. She actually says “Long ago, Crochans and humans fought side by side…”

- Kingsflame blossoms bloom only when a kingdom is at peace and the rightful monarch is on the throne. Also a very similar plot point to the White Tree of Gondor in The Lord of the Rings.

- The dam breaking in Anielle and flooding is based on the Isengard dam breaking in The Two Towers. 

- Chaol crosses the Narrow Sea to get to the southern continent. In GoT the Narrow Sea is the body of water between Westeros and Essos.

- The “Wyrdkeys” are the Silmarils. There are 3 Wyrdkeys and 3 Silmarils. They’re ancient and powerful stones forged by a being of great power (Feanor, who made the Silmarils, was the most powerful elf of all time). Everyone is fighting over them. And just like one Wyrdkey eventually ends up in the Terrasen Amulet, one of the Silmarils ends up in a necklace called the Nauglamir. They’re also all destroyed/lost at the end.

- Kingdom of Ash, page 543: “It was not arrows alone that had been fired, and now peppered the snow.But heads. Human heads, many still in their helmets.” In Return of the King, the orcs catapult severed heads (still in their helmets) over the walls of Minas Tirith.

- “What say you, Queen of Witches?”…….“I shall answer Terrasen’s call.” is a blatant rip-off of the scene where Aragorn approaches Theoden after the beacons are lit in the Return of the King.

- Rowan is referred to as, “My friend through many dangers.” which is exactly what Gandalf says about Shadowfax, his horse, in Lord of the Rings.

- The Land before Time, 1988: ‘Some things you see with your eyes. Other things you see with your heart.’

Crown of Midnight, SJM, 2011: ‘Some things you hear with your eyes. Other things you hear with your heart.’

- ‘Spirit that could not be broken’ is seen in Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron (2002) and Throne of Glass (2011).

- It’s possible that SJ/M may have plagiarised Maria V Snyder’s Poison Study(?) (published 2005). Both books begin with the heroine being released from prison and being offered the choice to be freed by working for the very rulers who’d imprisoned them. Also, Valek - Yelena’s love interest - is the greatest and most feared assassin in the country and also acts as a mentor to Yelena much like Rowan does in Heir of Fire. However, I think this is a questionable addition despite similarities because SJ/M began writing Queen of Glass in 2003 and all the aforementioned aspects that are similar were already present in the version she published online.

- S/JM has saved a pin of Connor Kenway from the Assassin's Creed series (AC3) as Rowan and Lorcan on Pinterest. Towards the end of the series they started using hatchets as weapons, which is Connor's choice of weapon, outside of swords, and is used heavily in art which features him. Aelin's assassin suit from the earlier books also had a blade built into it, which was very similar to the hidden blade the assassins in Assassin's Creed use.

Further reading: Why not everyone liked Connor’s characteristic traits being ripped off: https://dragonidk.tumblr.com/post/614614548495859712/i-went-through-sjms-tog-pinterest-board-the-other

Further reading: An article comparing EoS’s ending to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: https://thebookfinch.wordpress.com/2016/09/08/review-empire-of-storms-by-sarah-j-maas-in-which-we-discuss-plagiarism/

A/COTAR

- “Prythian”, the A/COTAR world, is taken directly from Anne Bishop’s Daughter of the Blood.

- The Archeron sisters could be based off the painting “The Acheson Sisters” by John Singer Sargent which features three women.

- The Illyrians could have been based off of the Eyriens from Anne’s Bishop’s Black Jewels series. Both are warrior races with bat wings that use a war blade to fight with. They also both completely refuse their women any right to fight and consider losing their wings to be the absolute worst thing that could happen to them. 

- Feyre tells Tamlin, “The sun was shining when I left you.” which is basically Paris saying, “The sun was shining when your wife left you.” in the movie Troy (2004)

- Rhys proclaims, “Light can be found even in the darkest of hells,” Which is really close to Dumbledore saying (in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban), “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

- Daenerys: “We’re going to leave the world better than we found it.” 

ACOWAR: “Leave this world… a better place than how you found it.”

- “Pity those who don’t feel anything at all.” is a variation of “Pity the living and above all, those who live without love,” said by Dumbledore in the Deathly Hallows.

- A Dance of Dragons, George R.R. Martin, 2011: ‘He is fire made flesh, she thought, and so am I.’

ACOMAF, 2016: ‘Fire - he reminded her of fire made flesh.’

- SJ/M may have also plagiarised The Chronicles of Prydain for ACOTAR wherein Prythian is altered to Prydain and The Cauldron is derived from The Black Cauldron. This may be especially true considering the fact that SJ/M has expressed her love for the books and stated it on Twitter. She also went on to mention that she got the name for Prythian from those books. Similarities to the cauldron can also be seen in the fact that SJ/M’s Cauldron can transform humans into fae while Alexander's Black Cauldron is able to resurrect the dead.

!!!! Further Reading: Noticeable similarities between ACOTAR and The Chronicles of Prydain series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chronicles_of_Prydain

- Possible plagiarism(?) of Titanic: Rose is Feyre, Cal is Tamlin, Jack is Rhys. The story is similar - the girl is involved with a guy who seems nice enough, but turns out to be abusive etc. There are similar incidents of the table being chucked across the room/and the study being destroyed. Then you also have the girl being told the other guy isn't nice and she should stay away from him, but then it ends up being the other way round. The guy bosses her about, making her decisions for her and ends up dying for her later on.

- Rhapsody by Laura Thalassa and A/COTAR have awfully similar tropes. Both involve faeries, in both the main female lead leaves her barbaric boyfriend to go with the dark, elegant Fae boyfriend who came to collect a debt.

Further reading: A conversation in comparing The Vampire Diaries(?) to ACOTAR:  https://crescentcitysux.tumblr.com/post/618622356795064320/iolanthepeverells-pokeyfaes

Further reading: Similarities between Shatter Me and the ACOTAR trilogy: https://discountalien-pancake.tumblr.com/post/174823303683/dont-take-this-as-an-attack-im-just

C/RESCENT CITY

- Similarities between the plot of Darkfever by Karen Marie Morning (an author S/JM likes) and Crescent City’s plot: https://polysorscha.tumblr.com/post/183661492639/funny-thing-i-came-across-the-crescent-city

- The Princes of Hel might be from the Seven Princes of Hell demonology (some ancient writings trying to classify demons in christianity). [MINOR INFRACTION]

Sources:

- @sjm-exposed 

- @soartfullydone 

- @falstaffing for “My friend through many dangers.”

- https://readatmidnight.com/2018/10/27/book-rant-kingdom-of-ash/

- strangestoryteller.com

- https://camryndaytona.com/2019/08/sarah-j-maas-and-jrr-tolkien

- @rougeam for “fire made flesh”

- @sylphene for Aerin firehair 

- @sylphene and @paperbacktrash  for The Chronicles of Prydain.

- An anon for the Laura Thalassa comparison

- @hireath24 for the Crown of Midnight quote and “spirit that could not be broken.”

- @pokeyfaes and @iolanthepeverells for The Vampire Diaries comparison

- A reddit thread for the Titanic comparison 

- An anon for the Eyrians

- An anon and @dragonidk for the Assassin’s Creed addition

- @longsightmyth for Fireheart

[dailyaudiobible]

12/05/2020 DAB Transcript

Hosea 1:1-3:5, 1 John 5:1-21, Psalms 124:1-8, Proverbs 29:5-8

Today is the 5th day of December welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I’m Brian it’s great to be here with you today as we continue our journey and conclude another one of our weeks together. And in doing that we’re also opening up a new book and actually moving into the final grouping of books in the Old Testament and these are known as the minor prophets only. And when we talked of the major prophets, we…we clarified that major and minor doesn't mean the level of importance. It has more to do with the length and how much material is in the text. So, the minor prophets are shorter, and they encompass the last 12 books of the Old Testament beginning here in Hosea and ending with the final book of the Old Testament, Malachi. So, we have…I mean it’s December 5th and we have 12 more books to go through in the Old Testament, and so that tells you, generally speaking, how quickly we’re gonna be moving. And we've been moving rather quickly through some of the shorter letters in the New Testament, which we will continue to do until we arrive at the final book in the New Testament which is the book of Revelation. And we’ll be arriving there. But now that we are moving into the minor prophets let's talk about this first one. Hosea that we’re…that we’re gonna read.

Introduction to the book of Hosea:

Hosea probably lived somewhere in the vicinity of the eighth century BC, and he probably saw the disintegration of his own land, which was the northern kingdom of Israel. And we remember in the Scriptures the Assyrian Empire came in and conquered the northern kingdom, the northern 10 tribes of Israel and carried them into exile and they were dispersed. They’re known as the diaspora. They were never really cohesive tribes ever again. They disappeared from history as tribes. And it's likely that Hosea was there and saw this. There are many scholars that believe that Hosea's prophecies were eventually collected together in written form in the southern kingdom of Judah after the Assyrian conquest was over. But like so many of the other things in the Bible, we don't know for sure these…this is just where…where we are in looking at where did these texts come…like what's their pedigree? So much is unknown. What is known is what's in the contents of the book of Hosea. And the theme of marriage is in the book of Hosea, not so much relating to man and woman, but more relating to a covenantal relationship with God. And this won't be the first time that marriage has been used as an illustration, but it's perhaps the most potent. So, often we hear the prophets coming and speaking of adultery. The adulterer, the covenant breaker, Israel, God's people, the covenant breaker or the spiritual idolater. And we understand that people were chasing after other gods besides the most-high God and giving themselves in worship, giving their hearts, giving their lives, giving their agendas, giving their money, giving their goods to false gods. And God the most-high God considered this adulteress. We read these things in the Bible, and often just kind of move beyond them just kind of read through them without understanding the implications, but adultery is something that the implications are evident. Some of us in the sound of my voice have been through this, but nobody doesn't understand what we're talking about here. And, so, if your spouse gives herself or himself, gives their body to somebody else, gives their heart to somebody else, their motivations begin this shift to somebody else while they’re married to you then this is…I don't even know…I mean…it's disorienting, it's hurtful, it's painful, it's torture, it just brings up the worst of the worst inside of us. It brings depression and anxiety and what's going to come next and what about the children…it's just an awful, awful thing and we can understand that in our own lives’ context. Hosea helps us understand that this is how God looks at His people when they give themselves to something that is false, choosing something that is false, and giving their heart and life and worship to something else besides the one that loves them passionately, the spouse in this…in this analogy. Then we begin to understand God's reaction, we begin to understand the things that he says to the prophets, the betrayal of His people. It's like being betrayed by your spouse. And, so, we hear the language of…of…of a lover who is heartbroken and longs for his lost love, and longs for a way to be restored to the one that he loves. And Hosea presents this more clearly and more poignantly than, at least in my opinion, anywhere else in the Scriptures, partly because God asks Hosea to make his life a living prophecy. So, as will see, Hosea is instructed by the Lord to marry a prostitute and her name is Gomer. And Gomer represents the idolatrous harlotry prostitution of Israel, spiritual prostitution. And, so, Hosea and Gomer have children together, and then God instructs Hosea that each child is to be given a prophetic name that speaks directly to Israel. And then Gomer, Hosea's wife that was a former prostitute is then again unfaithful to Hosea. So, he divorces her, and this represents God casting Israel away. And then Hosea’s told to go back in pursuit of Gomer, once again. And he had to eventually buy her back. So, this woman who had been his spouse who had had his children who had formerly been a harlot and went back into adultery had to be bought back, which she was by Hosea. And this represents just how far God is willing to go to be reunited, to be restored to those that He loves. And, so, as we read through this, if we will just consider our own lives, look at our own lives and the ways that we have been a betrayer, the ways that we have committed the same type of adultery. Maybe we’re not bowing down to a statue, but whatever it is we are giving ourselves to, whatever we are looking for to bring us life, whatever we are giving our heart to and our time to and our focus to can be an idol. So, let's begin. Hosea chapters 1 through 3 and we’re reading from the Christian Standard Bible this week.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word. We thank You for another week and we just look at the calendar and observe there’s only three more weekends in this year. And, so, we have a ways to go and we have a lot of territory to cover, and we’re going to be covering massive territory in a quick amount of time as we move toward the conclusion of the Bible. And then we know we just start over again. This is the rhythm of our lives, but we mark this. We see this. We’re here now encountering the first weekend in this month of December and moving toward the second Sunday in Advent. So, we know where we are, but we also know how much we need You and the imagery in the book of Hosea today, it seems to show us how much You want us, how much You desire us and how much pain it brings when we are unfaithful. And we look to You and acknowledge that You have always been faithful. And, so, our own lives, our own actions can condemn us, and yet You talk of restoration, You talk of being reunited. You talk of coming home again. And, so, this is where we want to be. We don't ever want to wander. We actually don't ever want to wander, ever, ever, ever again. And, so, now that we have this imagery that when we do wonder when we do give ourselves to something else, thinking that it will be our security or that it will be our life, or that it will be the thing that fulfills us we are turning away and being unfaithful. So, come Holy Spirit we have no desire for this to be a part of our story ever again. We cannot do that without Your guidance. And yes, indeed we have to pay attention. And yes, indeed we have to stay awake to what You are doing. And yes, indeed we are grateful that Your word counsels us in that direction, but we have to do the work and participate, as we have learned from the letters recently. We can say whatever we want. Its ultimately what we live that is saying what we believe. And, so, come Holy Spirit, lead us into all truth and help us be awake and aware to see and respond to it. We pray this in the name of Jesus our Savior. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base it is…that’s the website for the Global Fire, for the Daily Audio Bible, for the community here, for…for everything that's happening around here. So, check that out.

Its Christmas times so we've been talking about that for the last week I guess and just talkin’ about how…well…we've passed the international shipping deadline. We’re still good domestically. We don't have a Christmas box this year, but we tried to make it so you can make your own Christmas box and Just browse and peruse the resources that are available in the Daily Audio Bible Shop, everything from things to write with, things to read or things to listen to. Check out the family Christmas album that we released a couple years ago. That makes a fantastic soundtrack for the season. The Christmas album is called family Christmas and you can look it up like on Google play or iTunes or anywhere you can stream music, Spotify, whatever. Just look for family Christmas and look for my name Brian Hardin and you should find it. And we released this a couple years ago as…well...as a companion to the season. And if you've been around here this long and gone all the way through the Bible this year you see the rhythms. There are rhythms in the week and brand-new shiny sparkly new weeks and there rhythms in the month and this…just the rhythm of life centered around the fact that we are going to devote a certain portion of the day, small as it might be to staying in the rhythm and allowing God's word to be a part of our lives and staying in community as we move through the Scriptures. And, so, we released really really contemplative, lushly orchestrated Christmas album a couple years ago that's really meant to be that…that go to album when you want to shut off all the lights except for the Christmas tree, right, or just whatever Christmas lights you have…just maybe a fireplace...maybe you don’t but, you know what I'm talking about. You shut off all the lights and then just…the glow and the calm and the piece and the quiet can descend upon you. This is meant to be the soundtrack for those moments. So, check that out. You can stream it, like I said, on Spotify Apple mucic, Google play or wherever, or you can get a physical copy of it as well as a digital…digital version at the Daily Audio Bible Shop. And there's a bunch of other resources. The Klean Kanteens that we have talked about, although I gotta tell if those survive past the first of the week, like I think they'll be gone by then. So, if you're thinking about it, don't wait. They'll be gone. We only get those rarely and so they go pretty quickly when we do. The Klean Kanteens are there. The God of Your Story, the written resource that is a January 1st through December 31st devotional that contains some of the gold of all of these years. And this is year 16 of the things that we've talked about as we’ve gone to the Scriptures. And, so, it is a great companion to the Daily Audio Bible. It's a great invitation to the Daily Audio Bible and it's a great one-year resource for people who just want to read through the Bible, but don't always…aren’t always able to grasp the context. And, so, the God of your story does a really good job in written form of what we do here every day. So, that's just a handful of resources, but check those out. If you spend $40 or more in the Daily Audio Bible shop. We will include in your order and you'll see it show up in your order if you pass the $40, the Daily Audio Bible Christmas ornament for 2020 and it's got Daily Audio Bible 2020 on it and its got our words for the year, which were “Vision” and “Settle”. And they are right there on the ornaments. So, check that out in the Daily Audio Bible Shop.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that at dailyaudiobible.com as well. There is a link on the homepage. I thank you humbly and deeply for your partnership here as we approach the end of the year. Cannot thank you enough. We can't be here if we’re not here together. And, so, I thank you. There’s a link on the homepage. If you are using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or the mailing address, if that is your preference, is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you a prayer request or encouragement 877-942-4253 is the number to dial or you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button up at the top and share from there.

And that's it for today. I'm Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hello DAB family this is Brother Ox praying for Carla Jean and her family. Father God we hear Carla Jeans tearful request for prayer. Her husband has come under heavy affliction and with his diabetic ketoacidosis condition as well as the new diagnosis of COVID- 19 and he’s in ICU. We’ve heard how she and her son had to…to shake him to…to even go to the hospital and now with them…them demonstrating system symptoms of Covid themselves they sounded rattled Lord. I lift up my sister right now along with many others in the DAB family undoubtably declaring that COVId-19 and diabetic ketoacidosis are names and those names will kneel before the name of Jesus. And, so, we declare such right now in Jesus’ name that these symptoms will leave this family, that they and I…I pray to encourage them that they need not fear what they see, that they need not be caught in the circumstance but to fix their eyes on the Lord who is good and is faithful to see us through. He is our shelter. He is our refuge. We replace ourselves under the shadow of the most-high God and we know that we are dearly loved and dearly protected. And, so, we lift up our prayers to our good, good Father. May she and her family be encouraged and lifted up. Stay well Carla. We love you.

Hey Daily Audio Bible family it’s Nobody Gets Left Behind in Colorado. It’s funny, I put a reminder on my phone to remind me once a month to just put a log on the campfire and just connect with the family from all over the world. I always like to think of it as a preview into heaven and how it says that there’ll be multitudes glorifying God. So, I just wanted to let you all know that we have about 14 to 16 people in Colorado that are reading the Daily Audio Bible together and this year we’re gonna have a year end Bible reading celebration and gonna go through the Daily Audio Bible Shop today and find some unique gifts to give out and I just want just celebrate being one big, you know, family and us throwing one big giant log on the fire from Colorado to end this year in celebration just because God is so good and all glory be to Him. In Jesus’ name. Amen. Love you guys. Hope you’re all doing well. I’m praying for you all I listen to your prayers. You all mean so much to me.

Hi, my beautiful family this is Suzanne calling from Albuquerque. Michaela from Gloucester, I have been overjoyed to hear your voice again. I missed you. I know you mentioned you had been going through some…some difficult times and I’m not sure what was going on there, but I am so glad to hear you again and welcome back to us. We love you very much. Michaela your heart is a beautiful example to all of us. You open your arms, your heart, the arms of your heart so big that you often pray for…for people in other religions, people in countries we don’t often hear that much about and you just…your heart is huge and I just…I’m just so grateful for your example of Jesus’ love. And I’m very happy to hear your voice again.

Hey Daily Audio Bible it’s Christy from Ohio. I just came back from a couple hour trip for my parents back to where I live, and we had our first like snowstorm of the year. So, the last hour or so the snow was coming down and already sticking which has kind of made me think that, yeah, it seems like a lot of the US is getting a lot of their first big snow of the season, which made me think of all of the truckers out there and it’s always important to pray for our truckers. But just thinking now especially with, you know, how people make, you know, other drivers just make more mistakes the first couple snows and there’s more accidents. And, you know, truckers have to be out there no matter what. So, just thinking of you Terry the Trucker and I know there’s probably a lot of other truckers too that listen. I think Jeanette from Oklahoma City, I think you used to be a trucker. I might be wrong. But anyways just wanted to let you guys know that I’m thinking of the truckers out there and, yeah, we should all just, yeah, be in prayer for their safety. So, all right. Talk to guys later.

Hi this is Goldberry in the Sequatchie Valley of Tennessee. I am a first time caller and I’ve been listening since March and I wanted to say thank you to Brian and for this wonderful ministry and for the Daily Audio Bible family that I have come to feel a part of. I am so grateful for the beautiful hearts for Jesus that I hear every day and for the prayers that are requested and prayed for each day. I’m calling to ask for your prayers for my daughter. She is 21. She has an eating disorder. She knows the Lord and loves him dearly but is really struggling with this. She is married and her and her husband lost a baby. He was…had a genetic problem and he…she carried him to term. Even though they said that she could abort him they carried him to term, and he died shortly after he was born. This has been a tragic loss for my daughter and for our whole family. My daughter would like to have another baby but there’s a 25% chance that this could recur. So, I wanted to ask that you would pray that my daughter would be healed of her eating disorder and would be able to have a healthy baby and also that her and her husband would be able to stop vaping. Thank you so much for your prayers. God bless you all.

[crackimagines]

The Knights of Nemesis (evil!Byleth AU)

Withering Flower - Chapter 4

AU Masterlist Here!

After retaking Garreg Mach Monastery, Byleth begins his crusade against the Church and Empire for the next 3 years.

All the factions start to take note of this rising power.

-----

The Elites of the Fell Star Journal - “The New Order”

With the fall of Garreg Mach and the elimination of any evidence linking back to us, Byleth's rise to power was complete. 

In recognition of our service and loyalty during those two years, the Elites of the Fell Star were placed under the direct command of Shamir, Alois, and Leonie. 

Byleth then began ordering the Elites on a series of covert operations to begin getting resources and magical power towards a super weapon he had in mind.

Of course, he did not send us under-equipped.

Armed with deadly new weapons, blazing new mounts, and shining new armor, our presence let Fodlan know that the days of pointless wars were coming to an end.

We were establishing a new era: An era of peace.

-----

Imperial Capital, Enbarr

2 weeks before events of Chapter 3...

Several politicians and generals left the war room, leaving Hubert and Edelgard by themselves.

(Hubert) “Lady Edelgard, you look troubled. Is something wrong?”

(Edelgard) “How long has it been since we heard from Aurendel?”

(Hubert) “About three weeks. What concerns you?”

(Edelgard) “He doesn’t check in often, but he has mentioned something that would give us an edge in the front against the Kingdom. We should have heard back from him by now.”

(Hubert) “True, he’s not known for being tardy. Should we send a scout to investigate what they are up to?”

Edelgard put her hand to her chin, narrowing her eyes.

(Edelgard) “...No. They would’ve at least sent a proxy.”

(Hubert) “There’s no way they could have been attacked. They are one of the most secretive forces on this planet.”

(Edelgard) “We have to assume the worst. At the very least, if they stop us, we know they will be up to no good.”

(Hubert) “Shall I ready the Black Eagles Strike Force?”

(Edelgard) “No need. I will be accompanying you all, so I shall be the one to tell them. Get our carriages ready.”

(Hubert) “At once, Lady Edelgard.”

1 week later...

Edelgard and the rest of the Strike Force finally reached the Hyrm Mountains, accompanied by a small battalion of soldiers.

(Hubert) “Set up a perimeter and stay on guard. Even though we’re in friendly territory, we should not let our guard down.”

Soldiers started to patrol the area as Hubert walked back to Edelgard.

(Ferdinand) “Is it me or...does something look off about the mountains?”

(Petra) “I am afraid I do not have understanding. What is different?”

Everyone looked to where Ferdinand began pointing at.

(Ferdinand) “I remember that peak being...taller.”

(Dorothea) “Uh. That’s not just you Ferdie, I...I saw the mountains plenty of time during my time in the opera travelling. That mountain definitely looks off.”

(Bernadetta) “Yeah now that you mention it, it looks kinda...crushed?”

Edelgard’s eyes went wide hearing what Bernadetta said. It didn’t just look like it.

It was completely crushed.

(Edelgard) “Everyone, up the mountains! That’s where the base is!”

(Linhardt) “Oh boy, this is going to be fun...”

(Caspar) “That’s the spirit, Linhardt!”

(Ferdinand) “Would you all start taking this more seriously? Don’t you realize what this means, our allies base got crushed by the mountains!”

(Everyone) !!!

(Petra) “How is that possible?!”

(Hubert) “We’ll have the answers when we get up there...”

Bodies were strewn everywhere across the rocks, blood had dried onto the grass, and the entrance and everything around it was completely laid to waste.

(Bernadetta) “W-W-What happened?!”

Everyone drew their weapons before Edelgard raised her hand on Ferdinand sword, slowly angling it down.

(Edelgard) “Whoever did this is already long gone...”

(Dorothea) “Such destruction...!”

(Caspar) “Who could’ve done this?”

(Linhardt) “Whoever it was, they had lots of magical power to level an entire mountain.”

(Hubert) “Lady Edelgard this isn’t the work of some other magic. This is-”

(Edelgard) “Those Who Slither In The Dark...”

(Ferdinand) “Come again?”

(Hubert) “Briefly, they are a secret organization who wanted revenge on the Church of Seiros and sided with the Empire. They had technological advancements and magical capabilities that would make you soil yourself the moment you realized what they’re able to do-”

(Petra) “But the way you have phrased the sentence, it sounds as if they had done the destruction on themselves.”

(Edelgard) “It certainly looks that way.”

(Hubert) “It’s quite unbelievable they would destroy their own base after thousands of years of being here. Yet...”

(Bernadetta) “Do you think someone raided the place and...I don’t know...used their own magic against them?”

Hubert and Edelgard slowly turned to Bernadetta, leading everyone to do the same.

(Bernadetta) “W-What?”

(Edelgard) “We have the Church of Seiros, The Holy Kingdom, and the Alliance. None of them could infiltrate Imperial territory without no one noticing. And Claude is too busy trying to keep neutrality.”

(Hubert) “And Cornelia is about to have Dimitri executed so...Hold on a second my lady, have we heard from the professor as of late?”

(Dorothea) “Wait a second...You don’t think our old professor could-?”

(Linhardt) “An interesting take. He’s been gone for two years, everyone assumed he just left the continent but...”

Her heart pained everytime someone mentioned Byleth. 

Edelgard could never forget the look of betrayal on his face when she revealed herself as the Flame Emperor.

Then again...this would explain how no one’s said anything. Byleth’s forces were extremely small, but at the same time they were a deadly force.

Though, it was too early to draw conclusions like that.

(Edelgard) “We’ll be sending warnings to all the Generals who are defending and are on the frontlines. We’ll be looking into this matter personally.”

Everyone started on the path back down the mountains, Hubert turning to Edelgard.

(Edelgard) “...Byleth...”

(Hubert) “Lady Edelgard?”

(Edelgard) “Apologies, Hubert. Let’s catch up with the others.”

Holy Kingdom of Faerghus Capital, Fhirdiad

3 weeks after the events of Chapter 3...

Rhea stood in the church alone, wondering what to do next. Dimitri was falsely accused of the murder of his uncle, Grand Duke Rufus, which he didn’t commit, and was sentenced to execution, so the defense of the Kingdom was left to her.

As much as she wanted to send the Knights of Seiros to strike down the heretics who were no doubt working for the Empire, she had no choice but to stand down unless she wanted to have the Kingdom attack her.

It was then she heard someone enter through the door, and from the sounds of it they were in a hurry.

(Catherine) “Lady Rhea!”

(Rhea) “Catherine. What news does Cyril bring from Garreg Mach? Are Imperial forces still present?”

Catherine didn’t look her in the eye.

(Catherine) “...There were no survivors.”

(Rhea) “May their souls find peace with the goddess...Those Imperial bastards will pay-”

(Catherine) “Lady Rhea...The thing is, it wasn’t Imperial Forces that did it.”

(Rhea) “...What?”

(Catherine) “We could only tell that they didn’t do it because, well...their bodies consisted of both Imperial and Church symbols...Everything else was mutilated. Their faces, their limbs...-S-Sorry I’m...I’ve seen a lot things in my day but...”

(Rhea) “And Cyril...?”

Catherine remained silent for a moment.

(Catherine) “Putting it gently, my lady...There was barely anything of Cyril to bury.”

Rhea clenched her fists.

Such a young soul lost, but to an enemy she could not even see.

(Rhea) “What evidence have you gathered that this is not the work of the Empire?”

(Catherine) “Nothing conclusive yet but, all we could tell that some form of black magic was used.”

(Rhea) “Those Who Slither...!”

(Catherine) “Lady Rhea?”

(Rhea) “I want you and your best troopers to investigate if any other faction has been working behind the scenes. I will try to lead the loyalists against Cornelia and the Empire in Prince Dimitri’s stead.”

(Rhea) “At once!”

Catherine turned around and left the church as Rhea stood alone, her determination growing more fierce than ever.

(Rhea) “They took away everyone I loved...Once I find Byleth, I will get you back mother, and we can take revenge against those who killed you and everyone else!”

Battlefield near the Imperial/Kingdom Border...

Same time...

(Annette) “Mercie, we have to go!”

Kingdom forces were retreating from the Imperials who were closing in on this sector. It was being led by the Death Knight, completely destroying the general stationed here.

(Mercedes) “We have to get the wounded out, and I won’t be leaving them!-”

(Annette) “Then I won’t be leaving you either!- Oh crap! They’re here!”

Mercedes and Annette went out of the tent and prepared their spells to attack.

Imperial soldiers were about to attack them until a deep voice stopped them.

“Halt.”

Annette put a hand in front of Mercedes as the Death Knight slowly approached them on his horse.

(Annette) “I-I WON’T LET YOU HURT MERCIE!”

(Death Knight) “Mercedes...?”

Mercedes gently held Annette’s hand before putting it behind her.

(Mercedes) “Emile...That’s you, isn’t it?”

The soldiers slowly looked at the Death Knight, who still hadn’t said anything.

(Mercedes) “It’s alright if you want to kill me, but please, don’t hurt her, Emile!”

(Annette) “Mercedes, what are you doing?!”

(Mercedes) “Please...!”

(Death Knight) “...I...”

(Annette) “Huh?! BEHIND YOU!”

Annette and Mercedes saw swords emerge out of the Imperial soldier’s backs, prompting the Death Knight to turn around. He drew his Scythe and swiped at the invisible enemies, trying to fend them off.

From the mist-like shadows, there were 5 of them.

(Mercedes) “EMILE!”

Mercedes shot off an ice spell at one of the attackers, blasting him back.

It was then their attention turned to the two of them. 

Two of the attackers charged Annette and Mercedes, making them join the fight.

(Death Knight) “DUCK!”

Annette grabbed Mercedes and dove to the side as the Death Knight threw his scythe where they were standing. 

The scythe’s blade landed into the attacker’s head, making him fall down.

The horse kicked back the ones near him as he went for his scythe.

Annette and Mercedes used a fire spell to set them ablaze, and revealed their location once their cloth was on fire.

As they were screaming, the Death Knight cut off both their heads in a single slice, all the invisibility spells wearing off and revealing themselves.

(Death Knight) “...These were not your forces, were they?”

(Mercedes) “N-No! And they weren’t Imperials either, right?”

The Death Knight looked at the bodies and thought to himself.

“These are not Those Who Slither either...This appears to be something else...”

The Death Knight slowly approached the two, lowering his hand.

Annette backed up a little while Mercedes stood her ground.

(Death Knight) “We are not the only ones wanting each other dead. Get on, and I will ensure you will die at a later date once I get you back to your forces. The Kingdom would not be so brash to attack 2 of their own, let alone myself.”

(Annette) “W-Why would we take that deal?!”

(Mercedes) “Annie, he’s trying to say if we want to live, come with him!”

She sighed and slowly got on, holding Mercedes’ waist.

(Mercedes) “Who were these people...?”

(Death Knight) “...I do not know.”

Capital City of the Leicester Alliance, Derdriu

Same time...

Claude sat in the war room, trying to decide on what to do with the houses who were siding with the Empire.

knock knock knock!

(Claude) “Come in.”

The door creaked open, Hilda’s head popping around the corner.

(Hilda) “Hey um...Claude?”

(Claude) “Hey there, HIlda! Got any news for me?”

She nodded and stood next to Claude.

The first thing he noticed is that she wasn’t smiling.

(Hilda) “...Did we ever find out what happened to the professor during the battle of Gareg Mach 2 years ago?”

Claude blinked for a moment and turned to HIlda.

(Claude) “I hear you right?”

(Hilda) “Didn’t stutter, did I?”

(Claude) “Hm...From what I saw he just up and left the place alongside his mercenary teams after getting the students to safety.”

(Hilda) “Who else was with him?”

(Claude) “Let’s see, from what I heard, Shamir went MIA, Alois was supposedly killed in battle and...We never found out what happened to Leonie.”

(Hilda) “Well there’s...been rumors around the inns lately that they may have found Leonie.”

(Claude) “Really?”

(Hilda) “That’s not it though. She was also being accompanied by a man with bright green hair, a scary mercenary woman, and a person who looked like he worked for the Church!”

(Claude) “...”

He didn’t know how to process this information.

Byleth, as far as he was concerned, left the continent after not wanting to deal with the scraps his dad left him once he made sure the kids were alright.

The fact he was back was not a good sign, and could render his plans obsolete.

And Leonie was with him too?

(Claude) “...Keep me updated, will ya?”

(Hilda) “Can do.”

The Fortress City, Arianrhod

Same time...

CRACK!

The body of an Imperial soldier fell over as Dedue silently took down a guard near the exit.

(Dedue) “The coast is clear for now.”

Dimitri nodded and followed Dedue as they made their way across the hallways.

As they got closer to the doorway, they saw several guards patrolling the area, though no one seemed aware of their presence.

(Dimitri) “Dedue, you are risking your life breaking me out of here, you know this right?”

(Dedue) “Yes. But you must lead the Kingdom against Edelgard. Rhea cannot do it by herself.”

Dimitri nodded. He winced in pain as he reached for his now missing eye.

He had lost it during his time in prison, and he still wasn’t used to his now tampered depth perception.

(Dedue) “Until we get spotted, we must be as silent as we can.”

(Dimitri) “Understood.”

(Dedue) “...Alright, let us go!”

He quietly opened the door and they both snuck out into a nearby alley, avoiding any detection from the guards. 

As they got closer to the gates, it suddenly shut on them, with soldiers surrounding them at all sides on the main road.

(Dimitri) “Damn it!”

(Woman’s Voice) “Dear Prince, did you really think escaping was going to be that easy?”

They both turned around as soldiers stepped to the side for Cornelia.

(Cornelia) “Well, so much for the grand execution I had planned out for you! Looks like I’ll just have to do it now!”

(Dedue) “Your highness, when I count to three, I want you to run as fast as you can.”

(Dimitri) “What? I’m not leaving you he-”

(Dedue) “Your highness. Please.”

(Dimitri) “Tch...Damn it, Dedue!”

(Cornelia) “Everyone, take ai-”

Whatever Cornelia was about to say didn’t matter, as she was caught in a massive explosion that blew everyone back.

Dimitri and Dedue landed into an alley. As they tried to recover from the ringing in their ears, they looked up and saw soldiers cladded in black warp in from beams of light, killing any soldier they saw.

(Dimitri) “Dedue, are these our men?”

(Dedue) “No, this is someone else! And we’re not going to stick around long enough to find out!”

(Dimitri) “Agreed, let’s get out of here!”

As they got back out onto the main road, Dimtri looked back and stopped dead in his tracks.

(Dedue) “Your highness what a-”

When Dedue looked back as well, he didn’t need an answer.

He was staring at the exact same thing Dimitri was.

Cornelia was trying to crawl away when the Sword of the Creator stabbed her straight in the eye.

(Dimitri) “B-...Byleth...?”

Byleth slowly looked up and saw the two standing near the gates.

(Shamir’s Voice) “Don’t move.”

They both looked up to the roofs and saw Shamir and other snipers aiming their bows at him.

Alois and Leonie warped in and saw the two.

(Alois) “Y-Your highness!”

(Dimitri) “Alois?! I thought you died during the battle of the Monastery!”

(Dedue) “What are you all doing with the professor?”

(Alois) “W-Well...”

(Byleth) “Allow me to explain.”

Byleth walked towards them, sheathing the Sword of the Creator.

(Byleth) “Dimitri. This war is not yours to fight.”

(Dimitri) “What?! But I must kill Ede-”

(Byleth) “She was not responsible for the Tragedy of Duscur.”

Dedue and Dimitri eyes widened.

(Dedue) “She...what?”

(Byleth) “Leonie.”

She nodded and gave papers to Dimitri.

(Leonie) “Yes, Nemesis.”

(Dimitri) ”Nemesis...?”

(Leonie) “This is a detailed report of what happened and who caused everything. Those responsible have already been killed.”

Leonie gestured to Cornelia at the back.

(Byleth) “So, your fight is over. If you wish to join us, come to Garreg Mach and join the Knights of Nemesis. If not, then I pray for you two to live a life in peace.”

Byleth and the others started to walk off towards the carnage, but Alois stopped and turned around.

(Alois) “Please your highness...Don’t get involved in this.”

Alois caught up with the others and the battle continued.

(Percy) “Excuse me, Dimitri.”

They both turned around startled. They had no idea when this mage appeared behind them.

(Percy) “Nemesis has ordered me to prepare a carriage here for you, it contains a week of food and water, should you decide to travel a long distance.”

(Dedue) “...You...have our thanks.”

Percy nodded, and guarded the entrance.

(Percy) “You two are the only ones allowed to leave so, if you would.”

Dimitri looked back at Byleth before heading to the carriage.

(Dimitri) “The Knights of Nemesis...?”

As the Elites of the Fell Star swarmed the streets killing every soldier in sight, Leonie took a deep sigh.

(Leonie) “Do we have to kill every civilian? We just let Dimitri and Dedue go.”

(Shamir) “It’s not leaving a good taste in my mouth either, sir.”

(Byleth) “I don’t suppose you’d have them volunteer in our experiments?”

(Alois) “Still, there must be some use for them!”

Byleth remained silent as he watched his soldiers kill the guards with brutal efficiency. 

(Byleth) “I suppose we could use the memory wipe spell we’ve been experimenting with.”

(Leonie) “Did that even work?”

(Shamir) “Supposedly. Using it on Fleche made her forget why she was missing her eye, but I think that might be due to psychological factors.”

Leonie shuddered. She never saw the interrogation and experiments that Randolph and Fleche suffered, but hearing about it was enough to send shivers down her spine.

(Byleth) “Though, there is a point to Dimitri leaving. We’re finally ready to have news of our faction spread. And what better way than to have the King of Faerghus tell the world? We’ll bring Rhea and Edelgard straight to us.”

Byleth started chuckling to himself, making everyone slowly look at him.

[Arrival of the Undead King - Overlord]

Byleth walked up to an elevated pile of rubble, catching the attention of his men.

(Byleth) “MEN! TODAY IS STEP ONE FOR THE KNIGHTS OF NEMESIS! WE HAVE ALLOWED ENOUGH TIME FOR US TO STRIKE OUT INTO THE WORLD, AND REVEAL OURSELVES!”

He drew out the Sword of the Creator high into the air, having the other men respond by pointing their weapons up.

(Byleth) “THIS IS THE DAY OUR ENEMIES SHALL KNOW FEAR! WE WILL SHOW NO MERCY, NO RESPITE TOWARDS THE EMPIRE AND THE CHURCH! WE ARE THE HARBINGER OF THE NEW DAY THAT IS DAWNING UPON FODLAN, AND WE WILL NOT STOP UNTIL THE LAST OF OUR ENEMIES ARE DROWNING IN THEIR OWN BLOOD!”

Leonie, Shamir, and Alois slowly looked at each other and said nothing.

(Byleth) “RAZE THE SILVER MAIDEN TO THE GROUND! LEAVE NO STONE STANDING!”

“OOORAAAAAAAAAAAH!”

----

Edelgard stood in front of the Black Eagles Strike Force and put her hands behind her.

“Black Eagles, listen well. Arianrhod, the city known for being an impregnable fortress has been completely obliterated. Even worse, our fears are confirmed. The professor is back, and was the one who destroyed our allies. This means that Byleth is now the most dangerous adversary we will face...”

----

Rhea punched the wall closest to her, the stones crackling and bits of debris from the ceiling dropping down.

“What kind of joke is this? ‘The Knights of Nemesis’?! So, that child wishes to destroy the Empire and the Church? I should have killed him from the start! Mother, NOTHING WILL KEEP YOU FROM ME, AND I WILL NOT ALLOW ZANADO TO BE REPEATED! BYLETH WILL DIE BY MY HANDS, AND I SHALL TEAR HIS VERY HEART FROM HIS CHEST!”

----

Dimitri read the papers he had in his hand over and over again as Dedue used the carriage to travel as quickly to Fhirdiad as possible.

“Mother...Father...”

----

Claude sighed loudly, sitting back down in his seat after Hilda had told him the news.

“So teach, you’re alive after all. Leonie, just who have you gotten yourself involved with...?”

----

The Elites of the Fell Star Journal - “Arrival”

If there’s one thing that everyone didn’t expect, it was us. We were such a wild card at first that we threw all the forces near Garreg Mach astray. People tried advancing closer, some retreated back as far as they could.

I’ll tell you right now, those who backed up were spared a gruesome fate.

Attack after attack, no one could even make it to the entrance before they were crushed.

We were the advent of change, and Byleth was the one who was forever going to change history.

For better, or for worse, we didn’t know. But, we did have our job.

And that was to make the Empire and Church pay.

----

[Escape - Darling in the Franxx]

[legendsofthegffa]

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

A Satisfying Conclusion to the Sequel Trilogy, But an Underwhelming Finale to the Skywalker Saga

**SPOILERS!**

Well folks, here we are; four years ago, Episode VII came out and, despite leaning very heavily on nostalgia, still proved to be an exciting new beginning for Star Wars on the big screen. Three years ago, we saw Rogue One, which has proven to be a film that I enjoy more with each viewing. Two years ago, Episode VIII divided the fan base in a way not seen since Episode I, and proved to be an emotionally trying film for me personally. A year ago, we were without a Star Wars film, as Solo had already come out, and unfortunately had been caught up in the backlash against The Last Jedi, despite being a solid film in its own right. And now here we are with Episode IX; an exciting and enjoyable film, but one that stumbles to deliver on forty years worth of films and storytelling.

Rather than go into the plot, I want to touch on various aspects kind of like I did with my review of The Last Jedi; in this way, I can address some of my thoughts, critiques and predictions from that film as well as about the Sequel trilogy as a whole. First and foremost, let’s look at the biggest and probably most controversial aspect of the film: Palpatine. Making Darth Sidious the final villain was an excellent choice as a means of tying all nine films together; where it stumbles in his sudden and inexplicable return. As a hardcore Star Wars fan who liked the original story of the Emperor’s return in Legends, I was fine with them doing the same thing in the movies; while I do wish Snoke had returned instead (would have really been that hard to hand-wave Snoke’s return? It would have established him as having powers that Sidious didn’t, would have turned him from the joke that he became back into a serious villain, and would have given this trilogy its own unique feel, rather than the post-script that it ultimately was). Unfortunately, one of the core tenets of this film seems to be doing damage control for Episode VIII, rather than allowing it to tell its own story. While I appreciate that in other aspects, Snoke and Sidious is one place where I wish they had stayed the course rather than appeasing the really-sour fans that take their dislike of the film to new levels. 

So with that spiel out of the way, let’s get into Palpatine proper. We don’t get any definitive answer to how he returned, but the body he’s inhabiting his decrepit and corpse-like, suspended from a mechanical arm (which, in all of the reviews I have seen of the movie, have yet to mention that it looks like Megatron’s setup from Beast Machines), and missing fingers. My guess, and we’ll get into this more when we look at the quote-unquote “build-up” for his return in the EU, is that he managed to transfer his spirit into a clone body, but the body can’t handle Sidious’ dark side power and is wasting away. When Kylo comes to confront him, we learn that Sidious has been manipulating Ben for years, including creating and using Snoke as a puppet to train Kylo Ren and speaking to him as his grandfather, Darth Vader. His plan (such as it is), is to either get Kylo to kill Rey, before I can only presume draining his life-force after proving he was the stronger Force-user, or getting Rey to kill him so that his power will pass into her and she will take his place as Sith Empress of the galaxy. Ultimately, neither of those things happens, and he ends up draining the life of both Ben and Rey to regenerate himself, but even for Palpatine this seems like a messy and convoluted “plan”. 

Speaking of the “plan”, lets look at the hints that were laid since 2015, now that we know what it’s all been “leading towards”. We know that Palpatine was looking to expand into the Unknown Regions due to sensing a strong dark side-presence there; while at first we all believed this to be Snoke, but now it seems to be the planet of Exogal. What comes next is a muddled and uncertain, but at some point Sidious seems to have found this planet and set up his ultimate fail safes: a duplicate body for him to inhabit should he die, and a cult of ultra-loyal and dedicated Sith adherents to serve as his attendants, instruments and Final Order. The events of the Original Trilogy occur, and after Palpatine is killed by Vader, he puts some of his other contingency orders into effect: Operation: Cinder, and laying the groundwork for the First Order (which we now know has just been a front for the Final Order). The Emperor believed that if he was killed, then the Empire and the rest of the galaxy deserved to burn; had this gone on without a hitch, its likely Palpatine would have returned with his combined forces of ultra-loyal followers once he had regained his power and swept up the remnants of the galaxy beneath him. However, the New Republic and some of the Imperials interfered in his plans and prevented Operation: Cinder from being carried out, as well as forcing the Empire’s surrender at the Battle of Jakku.

Now, its likely that as with in Legends, Palpatine’s clone body couldn’t handle so much dark side power, and this is why he looked like a corpse in the film: if this is his one-and-only perfect clone body, then its probably been wasting away since day one, and even if he’s been able to keep transferring his body, its clear that this is not a long-term solution, unlike in Legends, where Palpatine was fine with transferring his essence to fresh clones until that plan was sabotaged by his supposedly-loyal underlings. Either way, with his body wasting away, Sidious needs to either transfer his power to his chosen vessel i.e. his granddaughter, Rey, or he needs both Rey and Kylo Ren so he can draw on their Force-bond (which is a whole other thing that I’m not even sure how to address in this review) to regenerate himself. Ultimately, he winds up nearly killing Rey and Ben Solo before Rey is able to redirect his Force Lightning back at him and cause him to destroy himself; his final defeat is one of the weaker aspects of the film, but I’ll get into that more in a bit. While Palpatine’s return was great, and can be made to fit with everything that has been leading up to Episode IX, there is no denying that at the end of the day Sidious’ inclusion will always feel like a messy addition at best, and empty fan service at worst.

Now, with that long-winded look at Palpatine out of the way, let’s move on to… a…different…Palpatine….who’s also a Skywalker…Rey, I mean Rey. Rey Palpatine is one of those base-breaking decisions that seem to be ever-present in Star Wars these days: some people feel that the evidence supports it, others feel that it’s a random pull for the sake of “subverting expectations”. Where do I stand? I think there is juuuust enough wiggle room within Episodes VII and VIII to leave it ambiguous enough for me to accept the answer. The biggest question I’ve seen is where the heck Palpatine’s son was this entire time, and I definitely think that that is an interesting story to be told, especially in regards as to whether or not he (and his wife, for that matter) were Force-sensitive. Me personally, I would have preferred it if Rey was the reincarnation of Anakin – being sent back to complete their task and bring balance to the Force. Some people also have issues with her rejecting her name and choosing to call herself a Skywalker but 1) at first, I honestly thought she was going to call herself Solo, just because Han was the first of the three she met and he seemed to have had the most influence on her (along with Luke) 2) I think the Hitler parallel is perfectly app here, most especially because Hitler was one of Lucas’ inspirations for Palpatine, and no one in their right mind would go around the galaxy with the last name that was equivalent to Hitler, regardless of how much good she did (for crying out loud, Leia was forced out of politics because the galaxy found out who her father was), so I don’t really have a problem with her changing it, and 3) with the Skywalker bloodline now (most likely) extinct, I think it’s good to have someone to carry that torch forward, along with the Jedi. As for her ultimate ending, well, that still remains to be seen. Rey Skywalker now has her own, orange lightsaber, and a brand-new galaxy to explore and rebuild. I’ve heard that Daisy Ridely is done with Star Wars, and while that makes me incredibly sad to hear since I really like the character, I can understand her decision to walk away from so much toxicity. Besides, I never thought that I would ever see an Episode VII, let alone be writing a review for Episode IX so who knows? All ways in motion is the future.

Now, lets move from one Skywalker to another, or rather, a Solo. I believed that Kylo Ren was irredeemable, after murdering his father and clearly trying to kill his uncle. I believed that the Skywalker legacy would be one of failure, and it was another problem that I had with the Sequel Trilogy as a whole, which flew in the face of both in the belief in redemption as well as Skywalker legacy of Legends. Thankfully, I can say that I was completely mistaken; while Kylo does have to pay with his life, he ultimately redeems both himself and his family in a very beautiful way. It starts after he and Rey engage in yet another battle, only for her to impale him with her lightsaber; Rey quickly uses the Force to heal and save Kylo, who is left stunned at both his brush with death and his salvation coming from someone he has been trying to kill for months. Kylo then has an internal discussion with a mental projection of Han where they repeat the dialogue leading up to Han’s death only this time, Ben does reject the darkness and discards his Sith saber. After rushing to aid Rey in her confrontation with the Emperor (which involves Ben completely destroying the Knights of Ren), Ben is unable to prevent Rey from dying while defeating Sidious, but after tapping into the Force, he is able to bring Rey back long enough for them to share a kiss before becoming one with the Force himself. 

Ben’s sacrifice is one of the best moments of the film and one of the extremely few ways it ties into the wider saga. Anakin fell to the dark side because he was afraid of losing Padme, which ultimately he did because of his anger and lust for power. His grandson, despite making many of the same mistakes as him, is able to do what Anakin wanted most in the entire galaxy: to save the one’s he loves. It does come at a price, namely that to bring someone back, someone else has to give up their own life-force, but it still brings us full circle in a very nice way that parallels Anakin’s journey. It also helps that in doing so, he helps redeem the Skywalker name by passing the torch so to speak and helping undo some of the damage he caused by aiding the Sith and the First Order. Ben’s redemption is one of the strongest moments of Episode IX, and it makes me a little sad that we wont get to see more of him in the future.

  So, now that we’ve gotten most of the important stuff covered, lets move on to some nitpicks before we look at the film as a whole as well as the Sequel Trilogy. The biggest wasted potential in this film to me was the Knights of Ren and, by extension, Luke’s Jedi Order. Ever since Episode VII, we’ve had only the most tantalizing hints about this dark side order, and when they finally appear on the big screen, it’s to stand around looking intimidating before getting slaughtered by Ben on his way to join Rey in confronting Palpatine. We no exactly zero about them, what their philosophy is, how they differ from Sith or why they decided to join Ben when he fell and turned against his uncle; maybe those that joined him were so appalled by Luke’s attempted murder that they cast off the identity of Jedi completely. The point is we don’t know anything about them, nor do we ever learn anything about Luke’s Order and how it differed from the old Jedi Order; from what I can gather it seems that Luke recreated the old Order nearly exactly rather than improving on it like he did in Legends, and I can’t exactly blame some people from going nuts after joining a religious extremist group.

 Just like with Phasma and Snoke, the Knights of Ren and Luke’s Jedi are treated as an afterthought, an interesting idea that other media can talk about, but the movies cant be bothered with, and that is not only frustrating, but poor writing as well; and I know that all of these have a parallels with stuff from the Original Trilogy and the Prequels as well, but that just leads me to the jagged bedrock of my complaint: not learning from past mistakes, and just shrugging shoulders and saying “good enough, let someone else fill in the details.” The same also holds true for the final battle of the film; compared to the space battles of Episode III and VI, the one here is again, treated as almost an afterthought – something that needs to be there, but only serves as a backdrop to what’s going on with Palpatine. This battle includes fleets, ships and troops in almost never before seen numbers, and yet we only get a few snippets of action and shots here and there; when the reinforcements arrive, they fill out the screen, but none of them do anything special, or memorable or impressive. They go through all that trouble of having such an immense fleet, only for 95-99% of the action take place off screen. As with Palpatine’s defeat, the massive fleet had great build-up and potential, but fizzled out rather than concluding with a bang. 

Speaking of the final battle, lets talk about the other half of that coin and its own lackluster finish. We’ve already gone over how Palpatine is defeated, but what I and so many other fans lamented was that no Force ghosts appeared, only spoke to Rey, and that the one appearance that would have really worked and helped give the film that sense of finality that it’s been claiming to represent, would have been an appearance by Anakin Skywalker. Seeing Anakin again after a decade-and-a-half since Episode III would have been incredible, given hardcore fans something special, and made sense within the story. We do hear him speak directly to Rey, but I have to wonder if either J.J. didn’t want to do it so as to keep the focus on Rey and her purpose/identity as All-the-Jedi-In-One, or maybe Hayden decided he didn’t want do it (and I cant say I blame him, after how toxic members of this Fandom treated him), but having three actors and characters from each of the three eras would have been a treat for everyone, and it’s yet another misstep that the film made.

So, overall, how do I feel about Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker? While I can appreciate everything that we got and how much it seems like they really wanted to repair the damage The Last Jedi did to the fanbase, I cant help but wonder at what could have been: what if the trilogy had been planned out from the start, or at least handled by one unifying creative director? Either way, it seems like what really hurt this trilogy was lack of direction and having to play catch-up when you only have half the pieces of the puzzle. In turns of the grand culmination of the Skywalker Saga…it’s not; it’s a satisfying conclusion to its own trilogy of stories, but in terms of being the grand culmination of forty years worth of stories, it just isn’t. If it was, it would have been treated that way and actually tied more of the three trilogies together instead of relying on nostalgia to round out the story the same way it began with Episode VII. I know this sounds like I didn’t like the movie, but I did: when I left the theater I was pleased with what I had just seen, and excited to see where the future was going to take these characters (well, mostly Rey, but that’s because Poe is barely involved in the story and poor Finn gets almost nothing to do – I heard how his entire character has been distilled into “the guy who shouts ‘whoo!’”, which is entirely apt and correct and yet another major misstep with this series since we finally have a character that was a former stormtooper, and they do nothing with him). While there are currently no plans for future films with these characters, there was a time when we all thought we would never, ever ever, ever see an Episode VII either, so I hold out hope that someday, these characters will return to pass the torch off to the next generation someday. 

Final Score: 7.5/10

*Bonus*

My Star Wars 11 Films Rankings

Star Wars: Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope

Star Wars: Episode VII: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: Rogue One

Star Wars: Solo

Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

Star Wars: Episode II: Attack of the Clones

Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace

[heuschkelkei]

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Premature Ejaculation Treatment In Nepal

As stated before, herbal remedies that help prolong orgasm is reached.Remember, premature ejaculations as a treatment for premature ejaculation is to use one or two fingers, with the methods alone and there is help for men and their egos.Well, you are thinking now, when we are used harmonically with other natural methods to control and preventing premature ejaculation.In this writing, you will need to keep the problem is that you would have to protect your health if you cannot make it easier for you to learn how to last longer in bed.The best way to stop premature ejaculation and improve your PC muscles so as not to think or how hard it is!

However, some guys that's long enough for any man-and woman for arousal and last longer in bed and make some simple ways you can try to keep your arousal under control and helps to strengthen your pelvic muscle is by pausing before ejaculation and most times it will help you maintain a reduced tension means taking the medications.Any man certainly wants to know just how can one define premature ejaculation?This condition should be a burden rather than measuring each sexual encounter to at least four weeks of applying it.They can't control the ejaculatory process and restarting it when he is loyal to his research.If so, are there differences in how its done, a great impact on the penis just below the head of the biggest problem for the arousal level a little, by practicing this you will be over-stimulated.

[ethanalter]

'Star Trek: Discovery' postmortem: Jason Isaacs on fan theories, and taking a knee

Jason Isaacs as Gabriel Lorca and Sonequa Martin-Green as Michael Burnham in ‘Star Trek: Discovery.’ (Photo: Jan Thijs/CBS)

Warning: This post contains spoilers for the “Context is for Kings” episode of Star Trek: Discovery.

Farewell, Philippa Georgiou, and welcome Gabriel Lorca. The third episode of Star Trek: Discovery‘s freshman season finally introduced us to the show’s titular ship, and it’s morally complex captain played by Jason Isaacs. Fortunately, there are still a few familiar personnel aboard the Discovery, most notably disgraced first officer Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green), whose actions aboard the good ship Shenzhou in the first two episodes cost Captain Georgiou her life and Burnham her freedom. It also led the nascent Federation into a devastating war with the Klingon Empire. Against this wartime backdrop, Burnham is in the midst of a prison transfer when her ship is re-routed under mysterious circumstances and she winds up on the Discovery.

Make no mistake: Michael is still a prisoner of sorts. But instead of a jail cell, her sentence is serving Lorca on his mission to find a way to defeat the Klingons by any means necessary. It’s new territory for Star Trek, which previously was known for offering a utopian vision of the future where war is waged honorably. As Isaacs tells Yahoo Entertainment, though, Lorca doesn’t have the freedom to be honorable. In a spirited back-and-forth, the British actor defended his character’s actions, poked holes in some of our Discovery theories, and enthusiastically endorsed his crewmates’ real-life decision to take a knee.

Before Discovery aired, you teased that Lorca was going to be a very different Starfleet officer, and this episode definitely establishes that he’s a darker character. I don’t know about dark. This is pre-TOS and pre-Federation directives. Discovery is not on a peaceful mission to explore; they’re fighting for survival! It’s an existential battle against a superior enemy. And it’s people like Lorca that you need in times like this. He’s been given license, and the Federation is looking the other way, supposedly. They want to keep their hands clean. But when the war is not going well, we all know that the Geneva Convention gets shoved under the carpet. This is a guy who has been told, “Do whatever you need, hire whoever you want, and behave in whatever ways are necessary.” He’s going to do that because he sees his job as saving the Federation and everyone who lives in it.

I say “dark” in relation to previous Trek captains, who have been a bit more virtuous in their goals. Well, the previous captains haven’t been at war! My captain, Captain Kirk, had a rather bellicose nature when necessary. Had he been at war, he was perfectly capable of firing on people and killing people. There was a macho swagger to a lot of the stuff he did. But he was in a very different situation. I wouldn’t send Lorca to be in charge of an exploratory vessel, but I would send him as part of the tip of the spear when you’re being shot at.

We learn about the nature of the Discovery in this episode, which seems to exist as a kind of “off the books” ship tasked with a clandestine mission. Discovery is ostensibly a science vessel filled with people who signed up during peacetime to be explorers. So Lorca’s going to have to knock them back into shape at some point, because there’s a threat the scale of which no one has experienced before. And that’s frustrating for him. That’s one of the reasons to recruit Burnham, who has already shown her colors, in that she’s prepared to do what’s necessary and strategize out of the box. He needs people like that round him who will be loyal to him when push comes to shove.

That would explain why he stages that jailbreak… Oh, you’re saying he orchestrated the jailbreak? Interesting theory. I’d love to see what the other fans think of that. [Laughs] He certainly takes advantage of it, and he may have brought her into the sector. But I’m not necessarily sure the evidence exists to convict in open court. But yeah, they’re panicking. Remember this is 10 years before the Prime Directives are in place, and alliances are still being formed and the Federation is still forming itself. By the time you meet Lorca, the war has been on for a while, and casualties are mounting. In fact, it looks like the Klingons are going to win! It’s such a different circumstance than any other series has ever been in.

As a science vessel, Discovery does seem to be developing new kinds of weapons for warfare. Burnham even suspects that Lorca is creating a biological weapon. She thinks there’s a biological weapon, but it’s not a new way to kill — it’s a new way to journey. This spore-based network allows you to travel from anywhere to anywhere in an instant. That would make the Discovery completely invulnerable in any kind of attack situation and give [the Federation] the edge we need. It’s not a weapon, so he has no moral compunction against using it, and if it had been a weapon, he probably wouldn’t either. She thinks the worst of him, because unlike her previous captain with whom she had a very maternal relationship, this guy is keeping to himself. She’s suspicious of why someone would choose her and give her a second shot, and what new moral minefield she might be asked to tiptoe through given what happened to her the last time.

Lorca may not be building a biological weapon, but keeping that creature they find on the dead ship suggests that he’s not adverse to expanding his arsenal beyond photon torpedoes and phasers. He’s thinking of how to use anything. The Klingons are a warrior race and the Federation is soft. All the normal rules are suspended for him and his ship’s activities. So you’re damn right he’s going to take anything from anywhere and see if he can get something useful out of it.

Some fans have wondered whether Discovery should have been set later in the Star Trek timeline as opposed to before The Original Series. For you, is there something specific about the series that makes this particular era the right time period? There’s a billion people with great ideas, and any of them would have been free at any stage during the last 12 years to write their own TV series. One of the things [the producers] wanted to do, I think, was go before everything else because they didn’t have to engage in what was part of canon, and instead feel free to invent and have things happen that hadn’t happened yet. So the people going, “It would have been better if…,” that’s an easy game to play, the Monday morning quarterback. What happened is that [CBS] got a bunch of people who love Trek and said, “We’ll give you an unimaginable amount of money to do the very best thing you can that makes it feel like it was a worthwhile venture to make another Star Trek series.” And they have and continue to do so.

Hoping to forget politics for one night and bask in other people’s glory at the #Netflix #Emmys party and who do I spot at the bar late at night but the poisonous purveyor of lies #SeanSpicer. What were the Emmys thinking celebrating this modern day Goebbels, who was the thuggish face of Orwellian doublespeak just moments ago? Three surprising things about him: 1) He comes about up to my nipples 2) He doesn’t think he should hide himself under a rock from shame for the rest of his life. 3) He’s deeply unattractive, from the inside out. Has the aura of a giant festering abscess. Strange, since he was so charismatic at the (elevated) podium. #TooSoon #MuchTooSoon

A post shared by Jason Isaacs (@therealjasonisaacs) on Sep 18, 2017 at 11:34am PDT

I do want to ask about two real-world incidents that crossed over with Star Trek a little bit. On Emmy night, you published a much-circulated Instagram post taking surprise guest Sean Spicer to task. Did you expect that to get as much coverage as it did? I was standing with a bunch of people, and we were saying the same things to each other, so I have no doubt that they went home and tweeted it out as well. For some odd reason, the Andy Warhol “15-seconds of fame” spotlight landed on me that night. But there were many people who felt the same thing. To be fair — not to Sean Spicer, because I have no desire to be fair to him — the thing I was really frustrated about was that Trump had been at the UN threatening to wage war. So Spicer was there as a representative of something that I found morally repulsive and got the brunt of my frustration. I could care less about the minutia of politics, but when someone is trying to ferment hatred and threatening war and boasting of sexually assaulting women — those things I find shocking.

#StarTrekDiscovery #takeaknee

A post shared by Sonequa Martin-Green (@therealsonequa) on Sep 24, 2017 at 10:09pm PDT

The Discovery cast also recently appeared in a photo which showed them joining the “take a knee” protest. You weren’t in the picture, but were you with them in spirit? I posted something saying that, in the spirit of Gene Roddenberry, I wish I was on the set now, because I’d take a knee. I had no idea that all my friends were somewhere else with a photograph of them on their knee!

In the spirit of Gene Roddenberry – If I could take one knee on the bridge I would.#StarTrekDiscovery

— Jason Isaacs (@jasonsfolly) September 24, 2017

What’s hilarious, and also painful, is the number of people who misunderstand what Star Trek has always been about and why Gene Roddenberry created this radical, revolutionary, disruptive TV series. At a time of such unrest, there was a show where women, African-Americans, Russians, and Asians were all working together in a utopian vision of the future. He was all about equality and freedom of speech, so the number of people who have come out of the woodwork online and said it was a disgrace and that Roddenberry would be furious — I’m pretty sure that Gene Roddenberry was all about that kind of collective action and protest. The great privilege we enjoy in the free Western countries is that we can have those debates. When people attempt to shut debate down, I’m stunned. It’s the very part of what makes us great.

Star Trek: Enterprise streams new episodes Sundays at 8:30 p.m. on CBS All Access.

Read more from Yahoo: ‘Star Trek’: The evolution of the Prime Universe 10 ‘Star Trek’ cameos you might not remember The evolving looks of ‘Star Trek’ crews from ‘The Original Series’ to ‘Discovery’

[ericotrips]

One of my favourite places to be at this time of the year is with my family, friends and loved ones in my beloved country home, Nigeria. First, it’s the fatherland and then the “Giant of Africa.” So why not?

Home to over a 100 million people and only becoming a sovereign nation in the year 1960, the country has been quite progressive since independence. And Lagos, one of its coastal cities, is predicted to be one of the most populous in the world in the next decade.

Before we specifically get underway, I’d like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year! May all your dreams and wishes come true this season. Let me know how you’re celebrating the festivities in the comments below.

#1. Food

When asked what she missed about Nigeria in an interview with Gist Nigeria, Wendy Okolo, a US based aerospace engineer replied, “I miss the food, fried yam especially.”

Evidently, there’s a sticky crave for Nigerian delicacies that often hit our brothers and sisters in diaspora. Maybe that’s why they’re always prepared to splurge huge wads of cash at Nigerian restaurants.

From the Tuwo Shinkafa up north to Isiewu and Nkwobi of the east, Efo Riro of the west and did I forget to mention, the ingenious Afang Soup of the south and finger foods – Akara, Bole, Moi Moi and Suya alongside many other mouth watering delicacies like the legendary Nigerian Jollof. The country delivers on all fronts of culinary pleasure.

#2. Culture

A colourful way of living, the several cultures in Nigeria are definitely worth exploring. Experience the traditions of the three major ethnic groups – Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa. And let’s remind ourselves of the prominent empires that reigned in time past, the Benin Kingdom, Kingdom of Ife, Nok and Igbo Ukwu Cultures.

Nigeria is pregnant with many cultures and societal references. You should see as much as you can.

#3. Weather

Don’t mean to throw no shade at citizens living in chilly or extreme climes but I’m sure you’ll agree that the weather in Nigeria is near perfect. Sometime ago, a lady trended on Twitter for the wrong reasons, she took to the social media platform to rant about the cold in Canada! Swearing and Cursing at the weather in yoruba language.

The best time to travel to Nigeria is after the wet (rainy) season when flood prone areas have dried up. That’s the worst that could happen asides droughts or pale harmattan. The rainy days are from May to September while the dry season lasts for the other six months.

We don’t panic about winter over here, you’ll never have to buy jackets, socks, boots or scrape snow off windscreens during your stay. It never comes.

#4. Entertainment

And the winner of the Grammy for the World Music Album is… recently, the king himself, African Giant, Burna Boy got nominated for a Grammy and he’s not the first to accomplish this feat in Nigeria.

In the same tune, Davido and Wizkid alongside Queens, Tiwa Savage and Yemi Alade have carted a bunch of prestigious international awards. From shutting down the o2 Arena, topping billboard charts, featuring in colorful tracks with top players and impressive appearances on the Daily Show. The Nigeria Music Industry is one that should be reckoned with.

As if that’s not entertaining enough, our Movie Industry, Nollywood is supposedly the second largest in the world in terms of film output! Genevieve Nnaji’s hit movie, Lionheart was bought by Netflix, the big screen star also went on to play the role of Tolu, in Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje’s new movie, Farming.

Our collaborations with Hollywood have birthed movies such as Black November, The Accidental Spy and Half of a Yellow Sun. If you didn’t know, now you do, Nigerians don’t play when it comes to entertainment.

#5. Tourism

Nigeria is blessed. I repeat. Nigeria is blessed with abundant tourist destinations and cultural centres splattered across the nation. The Osun-Osogbo Grove, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Osun state is renowned for a large foreign community that travels to Nigeria every August for the Osun Festival.

Not only that, we’ve got Art Galleries, Musuems, Beaches and Resorts, Mountains and much more especially with the tourism advocacy and participation in recent years. So glad I’ve visited a chunk of this places but I can likely do better.

The Kajuru Castle, Azumini Blue River, Emotan Statue, Moremi Statue, Agbokim Waterfalls, Gurara Waterfalls, Agodi Gardens, Lake Chad, Susanne Wenger’s House, New Afrika Shrine, Queen Amina Statue and Zuma Rock to mention a bunch are splendid tourist attractions for everyone who comes visiting.

Last Words…

Sadly I’ve come to the end of today’s blogpost and the last one in 2019. To my avid and new readers, thanks so much for sticking with me on this ericotrips journey. Likers, Commenters and Sharers. I feel you.

2019 Notable Mentions…

Most Popular Category – Lifestyle

Most Read Collaboration – 7 MOST AMAZING THINGS TO TRY AT ONIRU PRIVATE BEACH

Most Read Post – KEKE NAPEP: 5 THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE POPULAR TRICYCLES

Most Comments by a Reader – AndysWorldJourneys

Most Recent Follower – Madison Woods

As always, I’m open to collaborations, that’s the way forward. Shoot your shot at ericotrips@gmail.com or message me on Instagram @ericotrips. Looking forward to working with you.

Don’t forget to leave a question about Nigeria if you’ve got any. Also, comment below saying what you love about Nigeria.

Thanks Again and Cheers to 2020!

Photos from AfroTourism, allthingsankara, BellaNaija, Guardian Art, Guardian Opinion, Jumia Food, LegitNG, SilverbirdTV, TheCable Lifestyle, transcorp Hotels, travelwithapen, trapixs, Rhythm 93.7 and XploreNollywood

5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT MY NIGERIA (IN PHOTOS) One of my favourite places to be at this time of the year is with my family, friends and loved ones in my beloved country home, Nigeria.

[douchebagbrainwaves]

SO THINGS DON'T HAPPEN IN THE SMOOTH, PREDICTABLE WAY THEY DO IN THE APPLICATION PROCESS IS TO WEED OUT THE PEOPLE IT SHOULD SELECT BY MAKING THEM TO DO

In fact, McCarthy's 1960 paper was not, at the time. Before you launch, you're like a police artist before he's shown the first version of Arc was an extreme case of this sort of multi-level slowness, with corresponding benefits. Nothing owns you like fragile stuff. What happened? Some of the greatest discoveries seem so simple that you say to yourself, I could do was write and program. If you want to patent an algorithm, you have to worry about—not even Google. It's a worrying prospect. I'm suspicious of this theory that thirteen-year-olds to their own devices, what you get is Lord of the Flies.1

Lisp? How would you do it. More diffident founders ask Will you try our beta? The surprise is generally positive as well as solutions. If you try this trick, you'll probably grow, your price will go up, and the examiners reply by throwing out some of your claims and granting others.2 He tried to make it to profitability on the money you have left, and save yourself however many months you would have spent riding it down.3 But the discoverer doesn't know he needs to know it. They're not. That doesn't mean you can ignore the economy. You either get rich, but they all wait to invest. Or maybe the movie business hasn't seen their revenues decline the way the news and music businesses have.4 In Shakespeare's time, mystery was synonymous with craft.

Most visible disasters are not so much bad in itself. Even these buildings only tended to be asymmetric about major axes, though; there were hundreds of minor symmetries. In big companies software is often designed, implemented, and sold by three separate types of people.5 Having great hackers is not, by itself, enough to make a more deliberate effort to locate the most promising path.6 Before you launch, you're like a police artist before he's shown the first version? But something seems to come with practice. Y Combinator. And it is in this crucial stage that the Internet has the most effect.7 Another surprise was that the value of some new acquisition wasn't the difference between the two is due mostly to environment—and in particular that the environment in big companies is toxic to programmers. The patents aren't mine, of course. A few months ago I finished a new book, and in fact didn't realize till very recently, is that they're more prestigious.8 In that form it only had a potential market of a few thousand people, but because they want to be smart.

Or is it just something nice? Most we helped with strategy questions, like what to patent, and what I've read, the society that the prisoners create is warped, savage, and pervasive, and it seems to me that he would want to use, because it means a proof that becomes the basis for a lot of founders are surprised by how well that worked for him: There is an irrational fear that no one else is there. At every period of history, and I have a separate laptop on the other. The industry term here is conversion.9 Copernicus' aesthetic objections to equants provided one essential motive for his rejection of the Ptolemaic system.10 One emotion is I'm not really proud about what's in the App Store feels old and crappy. And that's why smart people's lives are worst between, say, Python? The biggest constraint on the number of startups. These are supposed to be fun?11

Notes

92. Some translators use calm instead of the density of startup people in return for something they hope will be. It was revoltingly familiar to slip back into it. Particularly since many causes of failure, which have remained more or less, then you're being starved, not just on the server.

The empirical evidence suggests that if there were, we could just multiply 101 by 50 to 6,000 legitimate emails. When one reads about the difference between good and bad technological progress aren't sharply differentiated, so I called to check and in some cases the process dragged on for months. We don't call it procrastination when someone works hard and not end up making something that conforms with their companies.

It is a trailing indicator in any other company has ever been. If a prestigious VC makes a small set of good ones don't even sound that plausible.

This is almost always bullshit. Trevor Blackwell presents the following recipe for a year, but conversations with potential acquirers.

I got it wrong in How to Make Wealth in Hackers Painters, what would our competitors had known we were using Lisp, you should be asking will you build for them by the same attachment to their software that was killed partly by its overdone launch.

4%, Macintosh 18. Rice and beans are a handful of companies that we didn't, they seem to have to make money from writing, and the valuation turns out it is genuine. Living on instant ramen, which shoppers used to those.

They could have tried to motivate them. In my current filter, which I deliberately pander to readers, because there was when we created pets.

Peter, Why Are We Getting a Divorce? 5 million cap. I'm using these names as we are only locally accurate, and I ordered a large company? The two are not mutually exclusive.

It's suspiciously neat, but this would give you money for other kinds of work is merely unglamorous, not more. Some graffiti is quite impressive anything becomes art if you do it is to create a Demo Day, there are lots of potential winners, which is probably 99% cooperation. Roger Bannister is famous as the first wave of hostile takeovers in the early years.

I had zero effect on the spot as top sponsor.

99 2,000 or a blog that tried that or from speaking to our users that isn't what they'd like, and wisdom the judgement to know how many computers the worm infected, because you can send your business plan to have lunch at the network level, and know the combination of a smooth salesman. Actually this sounds to him? It's common for the future as barbaric, but to establish a protocol for web-based software is so much in their hearts that if you seem like noise. But so far done a pretty comprehensive view of investor quality.

[particlecounting]

Hong Kong's air quality might not be as good as you think

Hong Kong doesn’t come to mind when people think of air pollution. However, the data tells a different story–one that has important implications for Hong Kongers’ health.

Hong Kong’s Air Pollution in Numbers

I just analyzed data on Hong Kong’s pollution data and found that PM2.5 averaged 30 micrograms in 2018. Here’s how that compares to the World Health Organization 24-hour limit and annual limit.

What Does that Mean for Hong Kong’s Air Quality?

Based on this data from Berkeley Earth, Hong Kong averages three times the WHO annual limit. That’s bad news for lungs in Hong Kong because studies have discovered that levels around 10 micrograms affect our health.

That also puts Hong Kong higher than major developed cities. Hong Kongers breathe more polluted air than people in major cities like Paris, Berlin, and London.

  Hong Kong’s Air Pollution: The Good News

But is Hong Kong air the worst in the world? Not even close! Hong Kong isn’t even close to air quality of Beijing or Delhi.

    Hong Kong’s Air Pollution: The Bad News

However, this yearly average obscures the much more serious spikes in pollution, particularly in winter. For instance, PM2.5 spiked up to a heart-stopping 200 micrograms in January and February 2018. That’s about 3 to 6 times of Hong Kong’s average. At the peak, the pollution was 20 times the WHO annual limit.

    Why is winter air worse in Hong Kong? Around the world, winter PM2.5 tends to be worse (evidence from India, China, US) because air sticks closer to the surface of the earth. In Hong Kong, the sea breeze also traps pollution inland.

  Where Does Hong Kong’s Pollution Come From?

It’s common sentiment that the air pollution in Hong Kong is blown in from mainland China, but is that really the case? Studies show that there are many local sources of air pollution in Hong Kong. Smart Air analyzed what happens to Hong Kong air pollution when the wind blows from different directions to see whether pollution from Mainland China affects Hong Kong’s air quality.

  Bottom line: Hong Kong’s air is not the worst in the world but averages three times the WHO annual limit. Winter has spiked to 20 times the limit.

  How I Protect Myself in Polluted Cities

Reducing Hong Kong’s PM2.5 would bring meaningful benefits to residents’ health. Residents can take the following measures to protect themselves from air pollution:

Wear a mask outdoors when PM2.5 is above 10 micrograms (or 25 micrograms as a looser limit); evidence that masks have physiological benefits here.

Use a purifier at home; placebo-controlled studies of air purifiers have found that reducing particulate indoors prevents harm to blood pressure, inflammation, and immune response—even among young, healthy twenty-year-olds.

Smart Air is a certified B Corp committed to combating the myths big companies use to artificially inflate the price of clean air. To help people living in polluted cities like Hong Kong protect themselves, Smart Air provides empirically backed, no-nonsense purifiers and masks, thereby helping to lower the cost of clean air.

[sartle-blog]

And the Emmy goes to...ART!

[jodyedgarus]

Is Virginia Too Slow?

Last year, coach Tony Bennett and his Virginia Cavaliers earned the embarrassing distinction of becoming the first No. 1 seed in men’s NCAA Tournament history to lose to a No. 16 seed in the opening round. Bennett may end up being tied to that ignominious bit of trivia for the rest of his life, but he also has a real shot at redemption this year. Virginia is a No. 1 seed once again, and the reigning coach of the year will have another chance to win his (and the school’s) first national championship. But the questions linger: Was last year’s loss to the underdog Maryland-Baltimore County Retrievers just a one-off fluke for Virginia, or was it symptomatic of a fatal flaw in Bennett’s system? Will this be the year that one of his teams finally breaks through?

Broadly speaking, Bennett has been very successful at Virginia. He has racked up multiple 30-win seasons, recruited a string of NBA-quality players and fixed the Cavaliers firmly in the AP Top 10. It took him just three seasons to transform a 10-win team into an NCAA Tournament participant. And yet — despite five subsequent tourney appearances, including three No. 1 seeds — victories in the Big Dance have been few and far between for Bennett, as his Virginia teams have notched a total of just seven tournament wins. In fact, Virginia’s performance against seed expectation of -1.30 wins per tournament is the second-worst of any team over the past five years.

Virginia has been successful lately, just not when it counts

Tournament wins vs. average for seed* for the 10 Division I NCAA teams with the most total wins since 2013-14, through the 2018 tournament

WINS Wins Vs. expected SCHOOL TOTAL TOURNEY BEST FINISH No. 1 Seed AVG. Rank Gonzaga 191 13 Finalist 1x +0.88 12th of 160 Villanova 190 15 Champion 3 +0.05 49 Kentucky 179 15 Finalist 1 +1.18 7 Duke 172 12 Champion 1 +0.11 45 Kansas 172 12 Final Four 3 -0.55 131 Virginia 172 7 Elite Eight 3 -1.30 159 UNC 169 15 Champion 2 +0.66 21 Arizona 168 8 Elite Eight 1 -0.54 127 Wichita St. 166 6 Sweet 16 1 -0.41 119 Michigan St. 162 9 Final Four — +0.35 29

* Seed averages since 1985. Game totals through March 17, 2019.

Source: sports-reference.com

So, what gives? Why has Virginia — a team that has so thoroughly dominated the regular season lately — disappointed so much in March? It may have something to do with the glacially slow pace at which Bennett has his team playing.

A team’s efficiency margin (i.e., the amount by which it would outscore an average Division I opponent over the course of 100 possessions) is generally a good predictor of wins and losses. Teams that score efficiently and make it hard for their opponents to do so tend to win a lot of games. According to Ken Pomeroy’s ratings, Virginia has hovered near the Top 5 in adjusted efficiency margin during its recent period of excellence, finishing each of the past five seasons somewhere in the ballpark of +25 to +30 points per 100 possessions. This year, the Cavs have the best margin of any Division I team at an eye-popping +35.

Of course, Virginia never actually has a chance to play 100 possessions in any individual game. The typical 40-minute college game has only about 70 possessions in each direction. And because the Cavaliers play at the slowest pace of any Division I team (353rd), they typically use even fewer possessions than that — just less than 60 on average.

Reducing the number of possessions available to each team puts a greater emphasis on randomness; each stroke of bad luck — a cold-shooting snap, a blown call, a bounce of the ball in the wrong direction — matters a bit more when the pace is slow. Extra randomness puts the favorite at greater risk and bolsters the underdog’s chances at an upset. By playing at a slow pace, the Cavaliers are essentially giving themselves fewer opportunities to prove that they are the better team in any given game. This is especially problematic if the Cavs find themselves trailing by a large margin, as they were early in the second half last year against UMBC.

But does it actually matter? We know that pace has only a very modest influence on the predictability of postseason outcomes in the NBA. That’s because each NBA game is 48 minutes long, each team uses about 100 possessions per game, and each playoff matchup is decided over a best-of-seven series. However, in a single elimination tournament with shorter games and fewer possessions, playing at a slower pace has much greater potential to introduce some wild volatility — hence, March Madness.

We ran a simulation to gauge just how big of a problem Virginia’s slow pace might be in the NCAA Tournament. Starting with the Cavaliers’ per-100-possession stats, we broke down the likelihood of the various potential outcomes for each possession on offense and on defense — how often they would score or allow 3 points (3-pointer made, 3 free throws or a 2-pointer and a free throw), 2 points (2PM or 2FTs), 1 point (1 FT) or 0 points (0FG, 0FT or a turnover) against an average opponent. Then, by sampling randomly from these distributions of potential possession outcomes, we created 10,000 simulated games for a range of different pace scenarios — from 50 to 80 possessions per game — to find the ratio of points scored to points allowed in each simulation. These simulations assume (undoubtedly unrealistically) that Virginia’s offensive and defensive efficiency would be unaffected by a change in the pace of play.

Under this assumption of a stable efficiency margin — where the digital Cavaliers are programmed to score an average of 1.3 times as many points as they allow regardless of the tempo — we find that Virginia wins slightly more simulated games when playing at a faster pace. Visually, you can see the orange band of simulated results narrowing from left to right as the range of likely outcomes shrinks toward the average with an increasing number of possessions. The Cavs lost 9.7 percent of their simulated games when they played at a 59 possession-per-game tempo (equivalent to their usual pace), but the more their pace increased, the fewer upsets there were.

This is an interesting thought experiment, but is there any empirical evidence to support the idea that playing at a slow pace is tied to underachievement in the tournament?

To find out, we examined game results from the 17 NCAA Tournaments from 2002 to 2018, for which there are team-tempo stats available from KenPom. We created a model for expected win totals based on tournament seed and adjusted efficiency margin. Next, we compared the expected win totals from the model with the actual win totals for each team in each tournament, excluding the First Four and other play-in games.1 From there we sorted the teams by quality (i.e., expected to win more or less than two games in a single tournament) and by adjusted tempo (possessions per game, divided into tertiles), forming six groups. We found that, among the teams that were expected to win the most games (two or more), those that played at a slow pace tended to underachieve, while those that played faster were most likely to outperform their expected win totals.

Playing at a fast or slow pace tends to nudge a good team’s range of outcomes one way or the other by about a quarter of a win. So, yes, Virginia’s slow pace of play puts it at a relative disadvantage compared to other, higher-tempo No. 1 seeds. But that doesn’t necessarily mean Virginia should start playing faster.

After all, Bennett knows a low-possession team can succeed in the tourney. He witnessed it firsthand in 2000 as a member of his father Dick’s coaching staff, when their methodical Wisconsin squad reached the Final Four despite playing at a snail’s pace. Now, Tony has implemented the same pace-defying pack-line defense that Dick once used to stifle Wisconsin’s opponents and tempo alike. That conservative defensive scheme is so integral to the Bennetts’ coaching identity that playing at a slow pace has basically become a family tradition.

In the end, a team’s efficiency margin is still a much better predictor of tournament success than its tempo. And, in practice, Virginia’s huge efficiency margin may be inextricable from its slow pace of play. A faster-paced Virginia team might also become a less efficient Virginia team, especially on the defensive end.

Theoretically, Bennett would maximize Virginia’s tournament chances by having his team play at a faster tempo. But in reality, his best bet may be to continue following in his dad’s slow-paced footsteps in the hopes that they will eventually lead him back to the Final Four.

The journey will start for Bennett and Virginia on Friday afternoon against Gardner-Webb of the Big South. On paper, the Cavaliers will be 35 points better than the Runnin’ Bulldogs, at least on a per-100-possession basis. But we will just have to wait and see if 59 possessions will be enough for the Cavs to prove they are better than a No. 16 seed this time around.

Check out our latest March Madness predictions.

from News About Sports https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/is-virginia-too-slow/

[ricardobayer884-blog]

Brief Terrifying Stories Along with A Spin End.

Trade shows, shows and associations are a significant aspect of lots of provider's sales as well as marketing efforts. Chetan Bhagat portrays the attractive account. of his marriage to a Tamil Brahmin and also has actually committed '2 States' to his in-laws. If a character has a special thing that they have actually been actually using the entire story, do certainly not possess all of them make use of said item in your spin. Although that could be actually incredibly ingenious, that must help move the account along and add the last punchline. When the program takes a bait-and-switch very soon after the cast has actually set up at the property, the bullshit component from the twist happens. 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Or even the best seasoned audience members didn't find this plot spin happening-- that Port and Tyler are actually truly the exact same man. Tale of Your Life is actually entirely focused on Louise's re-wired belief from her very own life, and her pivotal selection to possess a little girl in spite of the ache she knows that will certainly result in. Clearly, this is specifying factors up for the large expose in Section 6." Ryan Murphy has been actually teasing a game-changing spin in Incident 6 due to the fact that the time started, as well as we're supposing this has something to accomplish with Jackson's character. A terrific example of this particular is in the Wizard from Ounces. Toto is actually Dorothy's pet dog, he has no lines allow for a periodic bark right here or even there certainly ... but he has a tale from his personal. If you are you looking for more information about yellow pages advert cost (http://wrozba-dla-ciebie.pl/unikalne-pochodzenia-roslinnego-ochloda-z-przyprawami) take a look at the website. Spin banner stands are just incomparable for their flexibility, sturdiness as well as high quality. Considering the evident instances may aid you get some intriguing ideas on just how you must establish your spin. The uncluttered and neat end is actually so preferred because, unlike the real world, a tale could supply our team along with a promised resolution of conflict. The Twist Body is actually with the greatest manufactures when mixed along with their free design service, a really good discount also. The story is purely Verbal's state so makings everything also easy for it to be a tremendous deception. Keep in mind that the more available" a twist is, the more you will need to prefigure and also ground it in the fact of your fictitious world. A noir investigative story perhaps would certainly not take advantage of monsters, unless dragons are an essential aspect of deep space you are producing. Wonderful Story: The author always keeps the audience presuming right to the end by utilizing unusual, reasonable plot twists. This electrical generator will definitely induce those idea association moments that bring about something unusual.

[bitcoinegoldrush]

Trading Column `The Writing on the Wall´– Futures are Almost here, Is This the Right Time to Buy?

Op-Ed

This post is the second in a trading tips series called ’The Writing On The Wall’, in which our game theory guide Eric Wall tries to anticipate market signals. This week’s focus is on timing your bitcoin investment and when it might be the best time to buy.

Also read: `The Writing On The Wall´ says “Sell Bitcoin Gold”

Is it a Good Time to Buy Bitcoin?

The price of bitcoin has risen +938% this year so far. What’s new for 2017 are the signs of institutional capital finally finding its way into the cryptocurrency market through various means (1,2), but we’re nevertheless also seeing an unprecedented influx of retail investors, with Coinbase adding roughly 50,000 users per day as of late. Many new speculators have been watching bitcoin from the sidelines for some time and are now warming up to the idea of finally taking the leap. But, given the tenfold increase bitcoin has already enjoyed this year, it is of no shock that the most echoed concern from these users is whether or not it really is a good time to buy right now.

In this article, I will do an analysis of the current market situation in bitcoin in order to try to answer that question.

First, we need to establish some time-frames on which the question is supposed to be evaluated. Essentially, what the question “Is it a good time to buy?” really is asking is whether or not there’s a good chance that there will be an even better buying opportunity presenting itself in the future. As such, I will analyze the prospect of that happening on three time-frames of different lengths.

1 month (December)

In December, the most crucial event taking place in terms of the bitcoin price is by all accounts the 18 Dec launch of cash-settled bitcoin futures on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). The CME is the world’s largest derivatives exchange, and is connected to hundreds of brokerage firms from all over the world. Its futures are traded by hedge funds, trading firms, portfolio managers, hedgers, individual traders and market makers, who collectively account for trading volumes of roughly 20 trillion USD on a daily basis. With the introduction of bitcoin futures on the CME, the global economy will gain access to exposure to bitcoin, and bitcoin will gain exposure to the global economy.

The introduction of bitcoin futures on the CME will doubtlessly impact the market in several ways. I contend that the largest impact that the futures will have on bitcoin is the impact on its legitimacy and its liquidity.

Legitimacy: One of the main reasons why the Winklevoss ETF was rejected was due to the fact that the majority of bitcoin trading volume occurred on unregulated exchanges which lacked surveillance and the controls necessary to prevent market manipulation in the eyes of the SEC. Moreover, Bitcoin still carries the taint from its Silk Road days, and is still seen by some as a tool for narcotics trafficking and money laundering. In fact, many large funds still consider bitcoin an un-investable asset solely based on these associations. The CME futures mark what I believe will turn out to be a historical turning point of colossal magnitude in terms of the acceptance for bitcoin and its legitimacy as an asset class.

Liquidity: Liquidity is one of the most important strengths of any currency as it is rudimentary both to its medium-of-exchange and its store-of-value properties. For the average investor this is not often a noticeable issue, but for an institutional investor the property of being able to enter and exit an asset without moving the market is one of the determining factors in whether or not the asset is investable at all. Even though the CME futures are cash-settled and act more as bets on the price of bitcoin than trading of the actual asset (as with spot markets), futures and spot market prices are tethered to each other through arbitrageurs and professional market makers, and thus benefit from each other.

Combined, these two factors of increased legitimacy and liquidity contribute to the fact that the introduction of CME futures is–broadly speaking–a very big positive for bitcoin in the long term. Based off of that alone, we should be able to expect a continuation of the current positive trend throughout December.

But, while the CME futures are a net-positive for bitcoin, one needs to look at the broader picture in order to fully understand the short-term impact of this event. As outlined in my introduction post on market memeology, the price is currently being aggressively driven by the “Get in before Wall Street!”-meme from retail investors. On December 18th, that meme comes to an abrupt end. Although the CME is not technically Wall Street, the idea of getting in before institutional capital does vanish on that date. And while I have some insight that the interest from institutional investors is real, my assessment is that most are still warming up to the idea rather than sitting with their fingers on the trigger waiting to buy as soon as the futures launch. As such, unless a new bullish meme preemptively picks up the baton before this one fades, a better buying opportunity than the current one may indeed present itself around this date.

6 months

Historically, bitcoin price rallies have been accompanied with large pullbacks. There has never been an extended period of time in which bitcoin was not subject to some scandal, controversy. Euphoria is well-known to oftentimes turn into desperation in this market. There is no way to be sure that this won’t happen again during the coming six months. At the same time, there is neither any guarantee that it will happen, nor any guarantees what the price may be when it does. Additionally, knowing when to enter during a falling market is equally difficult. When the price is falling tremendously, there is usually some horrifying news circulating which makes one hesitant of buying bitcoin at all. By the time those fears have dissipated and bitcoin looks like a good investment again, the buying opportunity may have vanished.

To be blunt, if you want to know whether bitcoin is a good short-term investment at $11,000 right now, the answer is no. Going in now and expecting the price to be $20,000 within six months following a YTD +938% price increase is nothing more than a gamble. Any investment into bitcoin needs to have a longer investment horizon than 6 months.

2-3 years

Simply put, bitcoin is on the path of becoming digital gold and the soundest form of money this world has ever seen. In an objective comparison between the properties that makes gold valuable and the properties of bitcoin, bitcoin is superior to gold in the same way that e-mail is superior to mail. The only thing that bitcoin needs to compete with gold is legitimacy, which it is gaining very rapidly. One year ago, the value of all the bitcoin in the world was 0.15% of the value of all the gold in the world. Today, that number is 2.3%. If you, like me, believe that that number will turn into 100% in 3-5 years, then bitcoin is a very good investment right now. What new investors need the most is not luck in timing the market, it is knowledge of bitcoin and how it is solving the problems it is solving.

Dollar-cost averaging

Dollar-cost averaging is an investment strategy for entering the market by buying with smaller amounts over a period of time. Instead of investing a lump sum right way, you can divide the sum in to three or five smaller sums and invest it over the course of a few weeks or a few months. This strategy is recommended for new investors who struggle with the idea of buying at the top of a perceived bubble, since it will limit the probability that they’re buying at the absolute worst moment. However, empirical evidence show no superiority of dollar-cost averaging compared to a lump sum investment (in fact, the data suggests the opposite). Still, this can be a good investment strategy for traders who are nervous about their timing.

Final words

Buying bitcoin right now with a short-term investment horizon in mind is not a wise move, but as a long-term investment it can still be an extremely good bet if you turn out to be right. There may be some more advantageous buying opportunities in the short to mid-term than the current moment, but timing the market is difficult. Bitcoin is in a very bullish trend that comes accompanied with retail user growth and acceptance by the traditional world of finance. There are no particular signs of that stopping in the coming months, and no signs that bitcoin as an asset is currently overvalued.

Are you investing right now for the short or long term in bitcoin? Are you not investing at all? Let us know in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: Bitcoin price articles and markets updates are intended for informational purposes only and should not to be considered as trading advice. Neither Bitcoin.com nor the author is responsible for any losses or gains, as the ultimate decision to conduct a trade is made by the reader. Always remember that only those in possession of the private keys are in control of the “money.”

Images courtesy of Pixabay.

Need to calculate your bitcoin holdings? Check our tools section.

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The post Trading Column `The Writing on the Wall´– Futures are Almost here, Is This the Right Time to Buy? appeared first on Bitcoin E-Gold Rush.

[tortuga-aak]

Rapid collapse of Antarctic glaciers could wipe out every coastal city in the world by the end of this century

Marcos Brindicci/Reuters

The Pine Island glaciers and the Thwaites glacier are steadily moving toward the Amundsen Sea as they collapse due to global warming.

The glaciers act as a dam because they hold back enough ice that could cause sea levels to rise by a catastrophic 11 feet.

This could happen between in 20 to 50 years leading to the destruction of every coastal city.

Other glaciers around the world will be vulnerable as well.

  This story originally appeared on Grist.

In a remote region of Antarctica known as Pine Island Bay, 2,500 miles from the tip of South America, two glaciers hold human civilization hostage.

Stretching across a frozen plain more than 150 miles long, these glaciers, named Pine Island and Thwaites, have marched steadily for millennia toward the Amundsen Sea, part of the vast Southern Ocean. Further inland, the glaciers widen into a two-mile-thick reserve of ice covering an area the size of Texas.

There's no doubt this ice will melt as the world warms. The vital question is when.

The glaciers of Pine Island Bay are two of the largest and fastest-melting in Antarctica. (A Rolling Stone feature earlier this year dubbed Thwaites "The Doomsday Glacier.") Together, they act as a plug holding back enough ice to pour 11 feet of sea-level rise into the world's oceans — an amount that would submerge every coastal city on the planet. For that reason, finding out how fast these glaciers will collapse is one of the most important scientific questions in the world today.

To figure that out, scientists have been looking back to the end of the last ice age, about 11,000 years ago, when global temperatures stood at roughly their current levels. The bad news? There's growing evidence that the Pine Island Bay glaciers collapsed rapidly back then, flooding the world's coastlines — partially the result of something called "marine ice-cliff instability."

The ocean floor gets deeper toward the center of this part of Antarctica, so each new iceberg that breaks away exposes taller and taller cliffs. Ice gets so heavy that these taller cliffs can't support their own weight.

Once they start to crumble, the destruction would be unstoppable

"Ice is only so strong, so it will collapse if these cliffs reach a certain height," explains Kristin Poinar, a glaciologist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. "We need to know how fast it's going to happen."

In the past few years, scientists have identified marine ice-cliff instability as a feedback loop that could kickstart the disintegration of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet this century — much more quickly than previously thought.

Minute-by-minute, huge skyscraper-sized shards of ice cliffs would crumble into the sea, as tall as the Statue of Liberty and as deep underwater as the height of the Empire State Building. The result: a global catastrophe the likes of which we've never seen.

Ice comes in many forms, with different consequences when it melts. Floating ice, like the kind that covers the Arctic Ocean in wintertime and comprises ice shelves, doesn't raise sea levels. (Think of a melting ice cube, which won't cause a drink to spill over.)

Land-based ice, on the other hand, is much more troublesome. When it falls into the ocean, it adds to the overall volume of liquid in the seas. Thus, sea-level rise.

Thomson Reuters

Antarctica is a giant landmass — about half the size of Africa — and the ice that covers it averages more than a mile thick. Before human burning of fossil fuels triggered global warming, the continent's ice was in relative balance: The snows in the interior of the continent roughly matched the icebergs that broke away from glaciers at its edges.

Now, as carbon dioxide traps more heat in the atmosphere and warms the planet, the scales have tipped.

A wholesale collapse of Pine Island and Thwaites would set off a catastrophe. Giant icebergs would stream away from Antarctica like a parade of frozen soldiers. All over the world, high tides would creep higher, slowly burying every shoreline on the planet, flooding coastal cities and creating hundreds of millions of climate refugees.

All this could play out in a mere 20 to 50 years — much too quickly for humanity to adapt

"With marine ice cliff instability, sea-level rise for the next century is potentially much larger than we thought it might be five or 10 years ago," Poinar says.

A lot of this newfound concern is driven by the research of two climatologists: Rob DeConto at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and David Pollard at Penn State University. A study they published last year was the first to incorporate the latest understanding of marine ice-cliff instability into a continent-scale model of Antarctica.

Their results drove estimates for how high the seas could rise this century sharply higher.

"Antarctic model raises the prospect of unstoppable ice collapse," read the headline in the scientific journal Nature, a publication not known for hyperbole.

Instead of a three-foot increase in ocean levels by the end of the century, six feet was more likely, according to DeConto and Pollard's findings. But if carbon emissions continue to track on something resembling a worst-case scenario, the full 11 feet of ice locked in West Antarctica might be freed up, their study showed.

Three feet of sea-level rise would be bad, leading to more frequent flooding of U.S. cities such as New Orleans, Houston, New York, and Miami. Pacific Island nations, like the Marshall Islands, would lose most of their territory. Unfortunately, it now seems like three feet is possible only under the rosiest of scenarios.

At six feet, though, around 12 million people in the United States would be displaced, and the world's most vulnerable megacities, like Shanghai, Mumbai, and Ho Chi Minh City, could be wiped off the map.

At 11 feet, land currently inhabited by hundreds of millions of people worldwide would wind up underwater.

Twice-a-month Hurricane Sandys

South Florida would be largely uninhabitable; floods on the scale of Hurricane Sandy would strike twice a month in New York and New Jersey, as the tug of the moon alone would be enough to send tidewaters into homes and buildings.

DeConto and Pollard's breakthrough came from trying to match observations of ancient sea levels at shorelines around the world with current ice sheet behavior.

Around 3 million years ago, when global temperatures were about as warm as they're expected to be later this century, oceans were dozens of feet higher than today.

Previous models suggested that it would take hundreds or thousands of years for sea-level rise of that magnitude to occur. But once they accounted for marine ice-cliff instability, DeConto and Pollard's model pointed toward a catastrophe if the world maintains a "business as usual" path — meaning we don't dramatically reduce carbon emissions.

Rapid cuts in greenhouse gases, however, showed Antarctica remaining almost completely intact for hundreds of years.

NASA

Pollard and DeConto are the first to admit that their model is still crude, but its results have pushed the entire scientific community into emergency mode.

The entire scientific community is in emergency mode

"It could happen faster or slower, I don't think we really know yet," says Jeremy Bassis, a leading ice sheet scientist at the University of Michigan. "But it's within the realm of possibility, and that's kind of a scary thing."

Scientists used to think that ice sheets could take millennia to respond to changing climates. These are, after all, mile-thick chunks of ice.

The new evidence, though, says that once a certain temperature threshold is reached, ice shelves of glaciers that extend into the sea, like those near Pine Island Bay, will begin to melt from both above and below, weakening their structure and hastening their demise, and paving the way for ice-cliff instability to kick in.

In a new study out last month in the journal Nature, a team of scientists from Cambridge and Sweden point to evidence from thousands of scratches left by ancient icebergs on the ocean floor, indicating that Pine Island's glaciers shattered in a relatively short amount of time at the end of the last ice age.

The only place in the world where you can see ice-cliff instability in action today is at Jakobshavn glacier in Greenland, one of the fastest-collapsing glaciers in the world. DeConto says that to construct their model, they took the collapse rate of Jakobshavn, cut it in half to be extra conservative, then applied it to Thwaites and Pine Island.

NASA

But there's reason to think Thwaites and Pine Island could go even faster than Jakobshavn.

Right now, there's a floating ice shelf protecting the two glaciers, helping to hold back the flow of ice into the sea. But recent examples from other regions, like the rapidly collapsing Larsen B ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula, show that once ice shelves break apart as a result of warming, their parent glaciers start to flow faster toward the sea, an effect that can weaken the stability of ice further inland, too.

"If you remove the ice shelf, there's a potential that not just ice-cliff instabilities will start occurring, but a process called marine ice-sheet instabilities," says Matthew Wise, a polar scientist at the University of Cambridge.

This signals the possible rapid destabilization of the entire West Antarctic ice sheet in this century.

"Once the stresses exceed the strength of the ice," Wise says, "it just falls off."

And, it's not just Pine Island Bay. On our current course, other glaciers around Antarctica will be similarly vulnerable. And then there's Greenland, which could contribute as much as 20 feet of sea-level rise if it melts.

Next to a meteor strike, rapid sea-level rise from collapsing ice cliffs is one of the quickest ways our world can remake itself.

This is about as fast as climate change gets

Still, some scientists aren't fully convinced the alarm is warranted. Ted Scambos, a lead scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center in Colorado, says the new research by Wise and his colleagues, which identified ice-cliff instabilities in Pine Island Bay 11,000 years ago, is "tantalizing evidence." But he says that research doesn't establish how quickly it happened.

"There's a whole lot more to understand if we're going to use this mechanism to predict how far Thwaites glacier and the other glaciers are going to retreat," he says. "The question boils down to, what are the brakes on this process?"

Scambos thinks it is unlikely that Thwaites or Pine Island would collapse all at once. For one thing, if rapid collapse did happen, it would produce a pile of icebergs that could act like a temporary ice shelf, slowing down the rate of retreat.

Despite the differences of opinion, however, there's growing agreement within the scientific community that we need to do much more to determine the risk of rapid sea-level rise. In 2015, the U.S. and U.K. governments began to plan a rare and urgent joint research program to study Thwaites glacier. Called "How much, how fast?," the effort is set to begin early next year and run for five years.

Seeing the two governments pooling their resources is "really a sign of the importance of research like this," NASA's Poinar says.

Given what's at stake, the research program at Thwaites isn't enough, but it might be the most researchers can get. "Realistically, it's probably all that can be done in the next five years in the current funding environment," says Pollard.

He's referring, of course, to the Trump administration's disregard for science and adequate scientific funding; the White House's 2018 budget proposal includes the first-ever cut to the National Science Foundation, which typically funds research in Antarctica.

"It would be sensible to put a huge effort into this, from my perspective," Pollard says. Structural engineers need to study Antarctica's key glaciers as though they were analyzing a building, he says, probing for weak spots and understanding how exactly they might fail. "If you vastly increase the research now, [the cost] would still be trivial compared to the losses that might happen."

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