#tpp meta

[liaroflesbos]

listened to tpp s2 Again and I can’t get ben’s line from the monster’s reflection out of my head, what he says when Juno finally figures out why Ben stayed with Sarah: “It wasn’t a good choice. It wasn’t a noble choice. But it was my choice. And I think it’s about time you start letting me take responsibility for my own choices, okay?”

because like, of course this means a lot in context of the Theia Soul, right? That Juno wishes beyond anything that Ben hadn’t stayed with Sarah, hadn’t kept himself in the firing line. Ramses/the Theia Soul would argue that Ben didn’t deserve to die for his choice to have hope that Sarah Steel would get better with him around, or whatever it was.

But deserving isn’t the point. Respect is the point. Ben made his choice, for good or ill, and he deserves the dignity of having that choice acknowledged. Even if it was the wrong choice, you can’t take that away from him.

[echidnacht]

Thoughts on the Ecosystem of the Western Wastes

Does anyone else think too much abt the inaccurate science in the travellers guide (specifically the bestiary). Cuz. They were wrong. This might just be me being obsessed with ecology but there is so much potential with the whole idea of the Everdeads in the Western Wastes but then they hit us with this:

Which is just? not true??

(This is from a free reward on patreon titled "How to Slay Monsters, by Sir Caroline (and the herbalist, I suppose)", you can look it up on patreon to read it in full)

While they do get the spirit of death being the foundation of all ecosystems, they don't seem to understand that this is the case for every ecosystem. Being at the bottom of the food chain is a completely normal and natural thing. That's just the producer level organism in an ecosystem. Grass does not go extinct because it is eaten- it's very existence as a species relies on the curbing of overpopulation, giving of nutrients and spreading of progeny that herbivores provide.

I love the world of Second Citadel, and I love this idea- of death being the sacred thing that supports all life, taken literally. So I want to go through and indulge my "erm, actually" instinct to correct some stuff in here.

The Everdeads are described as dead, but still regenerating. Any cut-off branches or leaves will regenerate, but they apparently don't photosynthesise or take up nutrients, though they provide constant resources to the ecosystem. If the largest flora species doesn't photosynthesize the smaller plants would likely have a higher rate of photorespiration or else the carbon cycle in the Wastes would be pretty weird. (Also, I imagine, since the Everdeads were presumably once alive (?), the trees themselves provide a pretty hefty solid carbon store).

(Putting the rest under the cut, this got long)

Regarding nutrients: the soil in the wastes is described as completely barren, lacking any nutrients. However, there is also described to be a layer of leaf litter and detritus from the Everdeads. This is also soil! Just the top layer. Depending on how long the Everdeads have been around, say a few thousand years, this nutrient rich soil would be maybe ten centimeters deep. Not that much, but still!

As for why there isn't any nutrients, I think this could be for a couple reasons- one is that its just bad land, but the fact that the soil is "resistant to adding any" nutrients implies there's something else. Maybe it was a devestating magical event many centuries ago, or (spoilers) maybe it was another early attack by the humans using anti magical metal which now discourages all life.

It's my headcanon that the Everdeads have roots that can reach deep enough into the inhospitable soil that it can reach some kind of source of magic that it feeds on and uses to provide for the rest of the wastes.

Another interesting note is that "the Everdead population crept east one thousand years ago"- possibly the universe's reaction to the mirrored plains? (I could be wrong about the dates here). Either the universe reacting to the spread of death by spreading "death", or wanting the Everdeads to help heal that area. No idea.

Other fun things: The fact that the primary contribution is detritus means the blooming of saprophytes like microbes and fungi. There's probably lots of mushrooms growing out of Everdeads and in shady places under them, which I think adds to the "fall aesthetic". Insects would likely also thrive in the leaf litter. I imagine Everdeads to be like giant redwood trees. I imagine a similar ecosystem to that as well- smaller shrubs and a few grasses and mosses in more sunny patches, as well as epiphytic ferns and plants growing on the Everdeads themselves.

One other thing is that since prety much all of the Wastes (a pretty big area) has the exact same producer and therefore the same niche, there can't be that much biodiversity. That would only come from things like mountains, water, and climate changes. I assume the Wastes are pretty temperate if not tropical, seeing as there's dinosaurs there, though its unclear how much rainfall there is. I imagine it takes after more barren ecosystem like deserts and tundra, with few species and maybe one or two top predators (the predator here being the T-rex, i imagine). There's also mentioned swinging mice, which are presumably monkeys- probably herbivores feeding on the plants and fruits the Everdeads allow to grow. Maybe the wastes are known to be barren due to the lack of diverse species and not just the fact that cultivated plants can't grow, who knows.

Another headcanon is that Everdeads do not have a latin name because it is impossible to track their lineage as they do not die. We know latin names are a thing in Second Citadel because Sunny Budkin says this:

Though they don't seem to be in common use in the Citadel as we never hear Rilla use any. Possibly a monster thing, possibly something from a lost previous civilisation (Sunny is like 50 thousand years old after all). Everdead seems to be more a state of tree than a species anyway.

Thank you for reading this tangent, I have so many thoughts about the second citadel world. I could also go on about the implications of Arum creating creatures in his swamp and their theories of evolution, though that is explored a bit more in canon (the sweetfrog story is accurate enough, though I could still nitpick one or two things) and I've half drafted an in-universe research paper on the Numb-Cap written by Rilla and Arum. I do love that ecology has something of an important role in SC, seeing my subject represented is nice to see.

If anyone has any additions or corrections I would love to hear them!

[juliuscaesar-txt]

actually im almost certain kevin vibert must've listened to tally hall. one of their other songs (i think it's turn the lights off?? not sure) mentions the name arthur dodger. as in, you may recall, the name of a dead-by-smite brahman street rat assumed by nureyev at the rangian street poker game with slip and the executives arthur dodger. anyway yeah what a fun coincidence

Juno what the hell are you doing in a Tally Hall song get back to Hyperion City

[waters-and-the-wilde]

'I'm not gonna tolerate a world where the only way I get to live is if you die'

[unmechanism]

heyyyy random question: were you the one who wrote that one Junoverse meta about Juno and doors? or do you remember it at least? I just mentioned it to some friends who haven't read it and I can't find it. do you have a link for it?

hello!! so I had to dig up to find it but I indeed wrote that a while ago!! I screenshoted the post cause I forgot I could rb it and just tag you in it, and now I rlly don't want to go through all those posts a second time, so there you go pal !! :))

[schn-tgai-saavik]

Pls pls "open that pandora's box" about what historical event TPP alludes to-- (no pressure ofc !!) I have about 2 ideas of what you could be reffering to?? But I am...so stupid (tm) so am probably wrong lol.

Well since it's so kindly asked I will do it! Bare in mind, that is just my analysis, feel free to disagree. (I know people on the internet dont always read things fully but hey I'm taking the risk)

Disclaimer! Now, the historical event I had in mind as being alluded to/symbolized in The Pandora Principle is a pretty sensitive subject, so I will elaborate under the cut.

As I said in the original post, I took a 45 hours class on the subject while getting my Associates Degree in history. I am by no means an expert, but we did delve deep into the subject and I wanna preface with the fact that I wish to remain respectful of this history and be extremly careful with it. (Also, we were encourage to teach and educate others about it to prevent history from repeating and knowledge from being lost, so might as well)

TW: Historical Event- The Holocaust/Shoah, concentration camps, genocide, death.

Indeed, this is why I said it was a "Pandora's box" I was scared to open and share.

To begin, let preface this with a bit of meta about Vulcans as a species and culture within the Star Trek Universe. As Leonard Nimoy was Jewish, his own culture was transmitted to the character of Spock, and subsequently to Vulcans as a whole. We can see it in the Vulcan Salute hand symbol being taken from a Orthodox Judaism, for example. Many other jewish creators on this app have good analysis of Spock's Jewish roots.

Keeping that in mind, now lets see The Pandora Principle, by Carolyn Clowes, and most specifically, Thieurull/Hellguard.

This planet, and the installation on it, is run by the Romulan Star Empire. It is a desertic world, extremly hot and dry, even by Vulcan standarts (as noticed by Spock upon arriving).

On it are ressearch facilities for a new Romulan weapon, a gaseous molecule/virus that bond with oxygen and renders air unbreathable, as well as prison cells and testing cells.

And in these cells are Vulcan scientists, taken from their ship near the neutral zone, brought on this planet to be the test subjects of the weapon. Many were also raped, as Romulans took advantage of Pon Farr, resulting in these cells Half-Vulcan, Half-Romulan children. Experiments also likely took place, and despite the complex/facility having food replicators, the Vulcans and the childrens were kept starving.

Seeing the two side by side, it's easy to draw certain conclusions.

The conditions of imprisonments, as well as the fact that innocent people from a target groups were brought in is reminiscent of how transport to concentration camps and their conditions were. The starvation, namely.

The weapon, kept in the titular Pandora's box of the novel, as well as the way it is tested (in tiny cells were the box is thrown in and broken) is reminiscent of Zyklon B and gaz chambers.

The experiments on prisoners are reminiscent of the ones undertaken by Mengele at Auschwitz II (Birkenau).

The rape by the guards or higher officers was also an occurence in concentration camps.

Even if Vulcans here aren't meant to represent Jews, many other group were persecuted in concentration camps: political prisoners, opposition to the Nazi regime, Romani people, Homosexuals, Communist, and members of other minority religious groups, which the Vulcan scientist captured, tortured, raped, experimented on and murdered can be likened to.

In the novel, the capture of Vulcans doesn't lead to a genocide, nor is it meant to be systematic method to conduct it as such, but rather their capture is a mean for the Romulan scientists to build their genocide weapon, and plan to use it on the Federation, namely, Earth and Vulcan. They even succeed in detonating it in Starfleet headquarters and Life City.

When I drew these links I wept, as I had when reading retelling of first hand witnesses and survivors of these horrors. If you wish to educate yourself further I reccomend If This Is a Man by Primo Levi.

It sheds a whole new light on the novel, on the character of Saavik, Spock, and their relation as mentor and protégé as well. I feel like if this was the intended angle by Clowes, it is very profound. The inherent trauma of Saavik related to that place is not undermined, and explored through the book.

That was my pandora's box of an analysis. Sorry if it took a more depressing turn that you might have expected. At the same time, it is by knowing the signs and methods that we can notice them, and with time going on and on, the first hand memories are fading.

[ephemeralgalaxies]

MY GOD THIS^^^

No because the way in FRP Nureyev truly believed Juno had died. Like that lady was GONE in his mind until the doors opened and he saw him still standing(? laying down? oh well. alive), how helpless he was because Juno pushed him away. And last time Juno did that... well, Nureyev had given him a sort-of ultimatum not too different from what Juno gave him. "If you don't want this, then I'll never bother you again." The way in s3 MIG, Nureyev describes how he stayed completely out of Juno's business, no contact or peeking in, so much so that he didn't even know that Juno had contact and close favors with Buddy Aurinko.

And then this ultimatum. And the pushing away. And the self-sacrificing. And, suddenly, Nureyev's whole world starts to crumble around him all over again "like quiet footsteps in the dead of night..."

And he can't go through that again, can't let Juno do this and not even try to stand up for him. Even if the electrical shocks do horrific damage to the body and brain, even if his anonymity depends on being a blank slate, even if staying with Juno and fighting for him means surely exposing himself to all the other dokana agents and risking Slip, he has to do it.

Juno actually loves him, actually is willing to fight to be with him and help him even when Nureyev has pushed him away. Juno does what Nureyev couldn't in s1 — he stays by his side despite knowing the other wants nothing of a life together, with "no benefit to [himself]." Juno really does just want Nureyev to have a choice in how he spends his life.

And oh... isn't that everything?

ok cheers to @ephemeralgalaxies for bringing this HEARTBREAKING FUCKING PIECE OF INFORMATION TO MY ATTENTION.

HOLD THE FUCK UP.

HE'S TRYING TO TEAR A SHOCK NET. WITH HIS BARE FUCKING HANDS. BECAUSE HE CAN'T LOSE JUNO. HE CAN'T.

HE'S IN PAIN. HE'S GETTING SHOCKED TOO. REMEMBER THE PAIN JUNO DESCRIBED WHEN HE GOT SHOCKED? STRONG ENOUGH TO KNOCK HIM OUT, TO CUT THE RUBY IN HALF?

THAT'S WHAT NUREYEV IS TOUCHING. THAT'S WHAT HE'S FUCKING GRABBING WITH HIS BARE HANDS.

AND HE'S IN PAIN. BUT HE KEEPS PULLING.

HE KEEPS PULLING.

HE KEEPS PULLING.

AND HE DOESN'T LET GO UNTIL JUNO TELLS HIM TO.

[littlestsnicket]

sprint review/planning wednesday! it got late and it is dark so the picture is not great but too bad. commitment wise last sprint was horrible (0/4) but i did actually get a bunch of unplanned things done!

notes under the cut

using this for non writing projects was not good. i got more information almost immediately after i made the plan and decided i didn’t want to do that. instead of replanning, i did nothing. oh well. i think my bullet journaling habits have been slipping a bit and i just need to be a bit more intentional about that rather than do something else. but it’s good to try new things every so often. i also wasn’t feeling great friday/saturday, so it was nice to take a bit of a break.

still have one chapter left of tpp (i almost stayed up late to finish but i was tired) (and then i have to go through the pile of post it notes, or decide i got what i needed out of this for the fic and not actually write meta… we’ll see… i do want to write meta but i just have so many thoughts that are difficult to organize), but the best! thing!! i only wrote a handful of lines of dialogue for the klaus&lemony fic, but i really think they are going to be the lines of dialogue that work to build the fic around!! i really think it will work this time!! so i’m going to go through all of my notes and see what still makes sense with where the fic is going.

also reread what i have of the jaskier/valdo fic and added another whole scene. so productive on the writing front! just not what i had planned.

don’t really have much planned for the upcoming sprint, but i really need to make some progress on some larger chores and would really like to watch the new deadpool movie, so this should be good :)

[dispatches-from-the-lorecord]

What on earth is up with the Sinjoh mountains?

[May 05, 2022] 

{Haji:}

Now looking back at the conversations around that point [the finale of The Wooper Who Saved Christmas], we talked a lot about Bill's connection to the Outsiders may have stemmed from the fact his childhood home was the site of the final confrontation with Team Rocket in TWWSC, and where Rocket Boss Shawn unleashed the question mark glitch on Wooper and gave us time-space-physical manipulation powers. Granted Bill's family didn't live there yet but that doesn't mean there wasn't a lot of lingering glitchwork in the old place when they did.

Kinda funny to realize the rest of his family may not have stayed around long given we know his mom and sister at least moved back to Johto but he stayed in Kanto with his own growing family and stuck to his work.

What's interesting though is Kanto seems to be at the bottom of the "Sinjoh Mountain Range," if you will, which even if not as religiously prominent as Mt. Coronet, the range does seem to include the Sinjoh Ruins, Unown Cave, and Mt. Silver since the mountains appear to go all along the northern border until reaching Cerulean Cape. (Rock Tunnel doesn't directly connect to this since the Cape divides Route 9 from the mountains).

Which for TPP means these mountains likely have some weird aspects to it since we talked about the significance of places like Mt Moon and the League holding powers or gateways or whatever reason there is for our Kanto hosts have that be the place they need to reach for one reason or another.

In TWWSC, we see that the old mansion Bill's family was looking to buy was basically built right into the side of the mountain given how large it is inside compared to what we see later with his house, which may also be why Team Rocket had their headquarters there before Giovanni built the Game Corner.

What does this have to do with anything? Well besides the PC, what does most of Bill's work seem to work with? Link Cable technology. Which wouldn't be a big deal except the canon universe has made the Link Cable and it's core energy so terrifyingly meta powerful, and that Bill canonically knows enough about it to perform time travel in Gen II says something. And in Sevii when he's working with Celio, we see it can be powered by rocks since somehow a Ruby and Sapphire can connect regions to overseas? Gems and Crystals seem to hold HUGE amounts of power in both the Pokemon and TPP world, something he might have learned by living in the mountains.

But Time travel, outside of our jokes with Dialga and Celebi, is often a Glitchmancy standard. Which again, kid Bill may have learned from Wooper and our Mega Stone shenanigans causing our Wooper to physically divide and multiply itself showcasing stone divinity and / or infinity energy (since Wooper was somehow able to Mega without a Key Stone or Trainer) in the days before Fossilism retook Kanto by storm. Which was already pointed out [in some older lore], Bill's dealings with Glitches as a kid probably is what drew him to Dome in the first place.

But that's not all, because we know that Glitchmancy tends to cause fusions or human / Pokemon shifting to occur! And while it may have been an accident, I can't help but wonder if there's some connection between Bill's Clefairy accident, Larry's intentional creations [in Fused Crystal and Bootleg Green], and Old Man Glitchduck [in Anniversary Red] (whatever the hell happened there).

Granted they're all at different points of the timeline, but the similarities make me wonder if it's all connected to Link Cable technology.

Which may or may not have been discovered by Santa :Kappa:

Also with all these fusions or shape shifters, I suppose it doesn't help that "Nameless Glitch" or Decamark we saw in TWWSC apparently has the ability to change it's appearance since it usually poses as a Delibird or outright goes invisible when protecting itself.

And Santa uses those too seeing how he can go invisible and appeared like an old man but changed his look in battle. But did he change to be more intimidating or is that his true self? Tl;Dr - TWWSC's final confrontation opened a big can of worms in Bill's history, and possibly introduced the world to the long-since buried knowledge of Infinity Energy in the form of Mega Evolution and time travel capabilities. Energy that causes Pokemon to warp into their Mega Forms but can also create hybrid monsters in the wrong hands

Also drawing lines between the Fossil Pantheon and Sinjoh Ruins and different Glitch monsters like the ones we saw in Anni Red Battle Tent

...So draw lines between Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos via game mechanics meta :tppLUL:

Goddammit Wooper :pogsire:

Ugh I'm sorry if I'm just rambling and didn't have this organized enough to explain anything. So sleepy :tppNap:

{Xacrom:}

This run has to be the most influential thing on the lore since Olden :LUL:

{RomanoffBlitzer:}

The Wooper who Saved Lore.

{Xacrom:}

I love the observation about all this magic mountains being all part of the same mountain range in particular

{denne/faeiri:}

wooper strong and good

im running off to work so maybe ill put more words to this later but i love how mountains as a religious place/place where weird shit happens is like, built so hard into both tpp lore and also has some in regular pokemon lore. it makes me do eyes emoji

{Haji:}

Yeah it's kinda funny when I got to looking at the maps. Like years ago I had this clip of Giratina explaining to Pepe about staples in the space-time balance and it came up how "the battle of the mountain must always occur, so the battle of the mountain can always occur, so the battle of the mountain will always occur" but never really had a fleshed out idea of where to put it since it also required the visual gag of showing the different fights whether it be Red and AJ, Napoleon and Cyrus, Jimmy and N , ect.

But yeah I know it's supposed to be epic but there are a ton of mountain battles in Pokeverse

It was only while working on my Blue fic though I got to realizing that Mt Silver, Mt. Moon and Unknown Cave are all likely connected in the underbelly, which lore wise makes sense given Dome and Helix's battle ground and the sacredness of Mt Silver so maybe Mewtwo was drawn out there. But then I realized it goes further than that given layouts and we know Sinjoh Ruins are somewhere north of the map but still seems connected.

My Coronet and Cinnabar may even be part of it too if they're all just a volcanic chain but getting into the islands being considered the same range might be stretching it...

[biblenewsprophecy]

‘EU fears trade war if Trump reelected – Bloomberg’

COGwriter

The Europeans have many concerns about a possible re-election of Donald Trump.

One is military (see ABC says Donald Trump poised to win Iowa Caucus, CNN says Europe attempting to make itself ‘Trump-proof’ and FT: Preparing Europe for Trump 2.0), but others are economic.

Notice the following:

EU fears trade war if Trump reelected – Bloomberg

8 February 2024

The EU is bracing itself for a possible trade war with the US if Donald Trump wins the presidential election in November, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing an anonymous official within the bloc.

The European Commission is working on a formal economic assessment of how a Trump victory would impact member states, the source told the business news agency, without offering details of Brussels’ potential response.

In a separate article based on interviews with Trump campaign insiders, Bloomberg reported that his administration would impose a minimum 10% tariff on imports from the EU, the same as for China.

Another proposal involves retaliation for the taxes imposed by Brussels on digital services in the past several years, which have targeted US-based tech giants such as Meta and Amazon. The counteraction would be launched under provisions in the Trade Act of 1974, which Trump deployed during his first term to address trade imbalances with foreign nations, sources explained. https://www.rt.com/news/592059-eu-us-trade-war/

Yes, there are trade concerns that the Europeans have about Donald Trump.

Here is some of what I warned about in my January 2017 book Donald Trump and America’s Apocalypse:

Trade

Donald Trump has stated his firm opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP).[i] However, various members of his staff support it. Without something like TPP, many nations who were involved with it are likely to move closer to China, as opposed to away from it as China was not part of TPP.[ii]

Donald Trump’s election has been pointed to as the end of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) trade agreement involving the USA and Europe.[iii]

Donald Trump has called for “fair trade” and indicated that various nations, including several in Asia, are not engaged in fair trade, so he has proposed high tariffs.[iv]

Some believe that Donald Trump’s positions on trade will lead to a global trade war that could trigger some type of international war.[v] It is my position that trade disputes will be a factor in Europe taking military action against the U.S.A. one day.

[i] Trade: Donald J. Trump’s Vision. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/trade accessed December 16, 2016

[ii] Timiraos N. Donald Trump Is Staffing His Administration with TPP Supporters. Wall Street Journal, December 8, 2016

[iii] Kassam R. EU Accepts TTIP Deal Dead Due To Trump Presidency.Breibart, November 11, 2016

[iv] Trade: Donald J. Trump’s Vision. https://www.donaldjtrump.com/policies/trade accessed December 16, 2016

[v] Katasonov V. Only One Step Away from a Global Trade War. Strategic Culture Foundation, December 12, 2016

Notice also something else I wrote years ago:

Donald Trump has already offended the Europeans, with his trade and other policies, though he gets along with some. Despite a certain accuracy in his statements related to NATO, the result will not turn out quite as Donald Trump expects. Some of his statements may be leading to the rise of the prophesied King of the North, who is to be the final leader of the Beast of Revelation (Revelation 13:1)–and some in Europe have looked forward to Donald Trump’s rise for their own agenda as they believe “Trump presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for emancipation from American influence” (see ‘Why Europe Secretly Roots For Donald Trump’?).

Since the above was posted, the Europeans have been working on getting involved with infrastructure projects in Asia and elsewhere to improve its trade and international influence as well as become less dependent upon trade with the USA.

Yet, the Bible prophesies that Europe will, for a time, dominate the world economically.

Europe has been working on this for decades. And when it was called the European Community (before it became the European Union), the old Worldwide Church of God published the following:

Beyond Europe’s Present Crisis COLOSSUS IN THE MAKING

… the business of the European Community is not just business.

Although the EC’s field of action is largely economic, its founders’ aims were essentially political. From the start, European planners envisioned the Community as the nucleus of a future political “United States of Europe” with a centralized political authority. Economic integration would be only the start. The ultimate product would be an entirely new political entity!

Many, even in those early years, saw the Community evolving into a strong politico-economic power, a European counterweight to Soviet Russia.

And indeed, strides have been made over the years in the political arena. In June 1979, for example, voters in the EC member nations went to the polls to choose, for the first time, directly elected representatives to the enlarged and strengthened European Parliament in Strasbourg, France. This was an enormous milestone in European history.

But the old nemesis of self-centered nationalism still impedes progress. As yet, the EC’s decision-making institutions are invested with few substantial powers. Only minimal surrender of national sovereignty has taken place.

National self-interest still dictates governments’ positions in EC negotiations, notably in the area of agricultural policy. Quarrels over how the EC spends its money have even prompted some observers to suggest the possibility of a Common Market collapse!

The EC faces a series of crucial decisions in the near future. Most Europeans realize there can be no going back. Many remain hopeful that the remaining years of this century will yet witness a coherent, full-functioning United States of Europe.

And they are right!

Foretold Long Ago

Bible prophecy — as so often explained in the pages of this magazine — reveals that a powerful New Europe is on the horizon!

The Bible foretells a gigantic world-trading system to be formed in our time, possessing worldwide political power and influence. Ultimately, this prophesied New Europe will possess greater population, greater industrial and economic capacity, and greater military power than either the Soviet Union or the United States now possesses!

Nearly a quarter century ago, editor in chief Herbert W. Armstrong declared with reference to the newly created Common Market:

“It is one of the crucial developments of world history. It is bringing to life a slumbering giant. It is developing into — creating — a GIANT NEW WORLD POWER, that will be mightier than either Russia or the United States! It is swiftly, dynamically, fulfilling PROPHECY! It is resurrecting the ROMAN EMPIRE!” (Plain Truth, September 1961).

The dream of a united Europe has permeated the history of the Continent. The original Roman Empire fell in A.D. 476. But Bible prophecy revealed it was to be restored again and again over the centuries. The most recent attempt to revive the Roman Empire was by Benito Mussolini. Today we see the last resurrection of the Roman Empire springing to economic life! It will be composed of 10 nations or blocs of nations — but not necessarily the 10 now associated in the EC.

The final political union in Europe will not come about through slow, evolutionary means, but suddenly — in reaction to dire external threats to the Continent’s very existence! The “founding father” of the Common Market, Jean Monnet, foresaw this when he remarked that “necessity is the real federator.” The years just ahead will provide the specific events that will t rigger the final, sudden, desperate fusion of Europe.

Moreover, prophecy reveals that religion will have its part to play in inspiring enthusiasm for European unity. The Roman Catholic Church, locked in a struggle with Soviet atheism and U.S. secular consumerism, will reassume its historic role as a “glue” for Europe, cementing together the diverse peoples and cultures of the Continent.

New Superpower

The stage is set.

Europe stands on the threshold of unparalleled world power. By virtue of its economic dynamism, political muscle and continuing need for Middle Eastern oil, the coming United Europe will be in a position to reshape the geopolitical balance of the world! (Stump K. Beyond Europe’s Present Crisis COLOSSUS IN THE MAKING. Plain Truth, September 1984)

The stage is being set for Europe. It is working on having more unity and more international economic reach. Donald Trump is also a public motivator for the Europeans.

Yet, Europe will have economic distress before it unites to fulfill its prophesied economic dominance on the world. But for a time it will succeed.

Notice some of what is shown in places such as Revelation 18 discussing some of the reach of the end time European Babylon:

3 … all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury. (Revelation 18:3)

9 The kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her … 19 in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth! (Revelation 18:9,19)

Europe does not have to be perfect to do this. But perceived, for a time, as the best economic option for the world.

Although it does not look like that now to most people, Europe is prophesied to do so.

Trade will be a factor in what can be called World War III–and this war will be a conflict with Europe (but the ‘shooting’ aspect of this will not happen before 2027; for some details, see When Will the Great Tribulation Begin?).

We continue to see steps that are leading up to it.

Related Items:

WTO/TTIP and the Babylonian Beast Will international trade agreements like WTO/TTIP/CETA lead to the fulfillment of end time prophecies concerning the Babylonian Beast power that the Book of Revelation warns against? What does the Bible teach? A related video would be WTO Trade Deal and the Rise of the European Beast Power. Two other videos of related interest may be Trade Wars: Are COG warnings coming to pass? and Trade Disputes: CCOG Warnings Are Coming to Pass.

Trade Disputes: CCOG Warnings Are Coming to Pass Trade tensions and talks of trade wars have escalated. US President Donald Trump has put Europe, China, Mexico, and other lands on notice that he wants to change how international trade with the USA has been going. Tariffs, retaliatory tariffs, and even more tariffs are being implemented. Is this all just happenstance? Are we yet in a trade war? What will Europe do? Has the Church of God been warning about trade disputes and a coming trade war for decades? What about the Continuing Church of God (CCOG)? What has been warned, what has been happening, and what will happen? Will trade disputes be a factor in World War III (WW3)? Dr. Thiel explains what has been taught and what to expect.

Brexit Happened: Now What? At 11:00 pm January 31, 2020, the United Kingdom formally left the European Union. Many celebrated, while many mourned. Nigel Farage stated, “This is the greatest moment in modern British history.” What will happen to the United Kingdom? Will the UK be involved in trade deals with the United States of America and the Europeans? Will the UK regret the BRitish Exit (Brexit) from the EU?What will happen with the European Union? Is Europe prophesied to have a great army and many ships? Does the Bible prophesy a reorganization of Europe? Does it prophesy that the Europeans will become a conquering military power? Is the United Kingdom prophesied to be conquered? How does the Bible name the British-descended peoples? Was the British Empire the largest in world history? Was Brexit predicted by Church of God leaders in 1970 and the early 1990s? Will the European Union be negatively affected financially by the departure of the UK? Will this turn out well for the UK or the Europeans? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video.

Trade Wars: Are COG warnings coming to pass? Trade issues, tariffs, and talk of trade wars are in the news. Can trade wars lead to World War III like they did to World War II? Are the events going on with the USA, UK, Asia, and Europe consistent with warnings published by the true Church of God (COG) over the past several years and decades? Do Germany and China hope to take advantage of trade frictions involving the Trump Administration and the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement? What about Mexico and South America? Does the Bible teach that Europe will become a major trading power? Will the final European Babylonian trading power be destroyed? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more in this video.

Europa, the Beast, and Revelation Where did Europe get its name? What might Europe have to do with the Book of Revelation? What about “the Beast”? Is an emerging European power “the daughter of Babylon”? What is ahead for Europe? Here is are links to related videos: European history and the Bible, Europe In Prophecy, The End of European Babylon, and Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European? Here is a link to a related sermon in the Spanish language: El Fin de la Babilonia Europea.

European Technology and the Beast of Revelation Will the coming European Beast power would use and develop technology that will result in the taking over of the USA and its Anglo-Saxon allies? Is this possible? What does the Bible teach? Here is a related YouTube video: Military Technology and the Beast of Revelation.

The Large Hadron Collider has Military Potential Some say this European project is only peaceful. So why is it working on capturing antimatter? Here is a link to a related video: Could the Large Hadron Collider lead to destruction?

Must the Ten Kings of Revelation 17:12 Rule over Ten Currently Existing Nations? Some claim that these passages refer to a gathering of 10 currently existing nations together, while one group teaches that this is referring to 11 nations getting together. Is that what Revelation 17:12-13 refers to? The ramifications of misunderstanding this are enormous. A related sermon is titled Ten Kings of Revelation and the Great Tribulation.

Lost Tribes and Prophecies: What will happen to Australia, the British Isles, Canada, Europe, New Zealand and the United States of America? Where did those people come from? Can you totally rely on DNA? Do you really know what will happen to Europe and the English-speaking peoples? What about the peoples of Africa, Asia, South America, and the islands? This free online book provides scriptural, scientific, historical references, and commentary to address those matters. Here are links to related sermons: Lost tribes, the Bible, and DNA; Lost tribes, prophecies, and identifications; 11 Tribes, 144,000, and Multitudes; Israel, Jeremiah, Tea Tephi, and British Royalty; Gentile European Beast; Royal Succession, Samaria, and Prophecies; Asia, Islands, Latin America, Africa, and Armageddon;  When Will the End of the Age Come?;  Rise of the Prophesied King of the North; Christian Persecution from the Beast; WWIII and the Coming New World Order; and Woes, WWIV, and the Good News of the Kingdom of God.

LATEST NEWS REPORTS

LATEST BIBLE PROPHECY INTERVIEWS

[punksrespectpronouns]

SO I JUST RELISTENED TO TRAIN FROM NOWHERE AND I HAVE THOUGHTS

juno was so suspicious of Nureyev the whole game. but with the new insights into Nureyev’s backstory in the stone unturned and his history with Rangian street poker…

like Juno was so sure Nureyev was betting his life. and takes his name for granted and just is so skeptical the whole time. I can’t believe he didn’t see the parallel’s between him and Nureyev with Slip and Nureyev, they just switched roles

like Slip played that game and protected him and Nureyev was his good luck charm. and he lied in a game where the punishment for lying is very clear

but Nureyev couldn’t even do that because Juno was the collateral. they still didn’t know his name but they knew Juno’s. so Nureyev was in a position he either had to tell them his name or they would kill Juno

and like he said in that episode, Nureyev doesn’t have as good an understanding of the game as Slip. he was just buying time betting everything that Juno would be able to figure it out, putting all his trust in him

take this excerpt from the stone unturned (part two)

[Nureyev] The level of trust I placed in him was idiotic. But you must remember that only a few weeks before I'd given up on survival altogether, and besides... you and I both know that there are cases in which I'm tempted to give far more of myself than is sensible to a relative stranger. It is always incredibly stupid of me, but for all the pains it's caused, it's also brought my greatest joys. It's difficult to kick a gambling habit when it's worked so well in your favor.

I just think it’s romantic and seeing Nureyev’s experience with Rangian street poker and the sheer amount of trust he put in Juno in train from nowhere has me foaming at the mouth. please tell me i’m not the only one

[dykeyote]

cecil kanagawa as a sympathetic antagonist

ok u kno what . i should not suggest a cecil arc and not explain how i would write it if i were making a cecil arc . so i will do that now . in GREAT detail

kanagawa productions is being bought out by northstar which is mentioned in the show . i think itd be VERY interesting if min managed to gaslight girlboss gmurder her way to the top of that and take control of the company, putting her in an even more powerful position than before

cecil's the star of course, he's always been the moneymaker of the family, and min takes Advantage of that - with the rest of his family out of commission, cecil has to work three times as hard to make up for it, and min makes Sure he knows this

that leaves him frazzled and stressed and tired all the time, which makes him far more easily manipulated, whereas prior to murderous mask he was fairly oblivious to how codependent their relationship was but would still find ways around it like swapping with cass, he pretty much just does whatever she says

min is perfectly poised to expand and gain power over all of mars and even more . theres only one problem . rex glass and juno steel are still Out there and when shes gotten this far she's not going to let a possible problem go

so she track them down . she finds out nureyev's full name and she Eventually gets a Vague idea of where juno is

but min doesnt do the dirty work . shes not going to hunt someone down Herself, thats not her style . so Cecil does

he definitely doesnt know the full plan id think ,,,, one of his prime character traits throughout murderous mask Is his obliviousness (not realizing juno doesnt wanna go on his show, not realizing junos accusing him of murder for a VERY long time, not even knowing His Dad Died) and i think that would carry through to an arc with him, min tells him that she wants him to get them on a show again for the ratings or smt and he dorsnt quedtion it

so its basically this thing of cecil trying to EXTRAHHHHVAGANTLY kill our protags on live tv . its a very fun antag that makes the most of the fact that hes a Glamorous Gameshow Host and he poses a genuine threat and does some fucked up things, maybe he kidnaps one of junos friends and/or a member of the carte blanche as ransom. hes a PROPER antag

but at points that mask sort of drops ,, we see moments where cecil is genuinely scared, where that complete disregard for his own life is portrayed more darkly, and it becomes increasingly clear everything hes doing is for mins sake and not his own

like maybe at the beginning juno and everyone thinks cecil was lying about juno being his best friend and he actually Does hold a grudge ?? playing into junos paranoia maybe ?? but we see that he was Not lying and juno really Is his best friend in his eyes and this is a product of manipulation

i think he could also be a kinda cool parallel for nureyev ?? smt about identity issues . nureyev has identity problems because nobody knows anything about him and cecil has identity issues because everyone does and his entire life is a movie and his entire personality is a character . smt like that . cecil tells nureyev that he pities him for how unknown he is for how nobody even knows his NAME thats pathetic everyone knows who the great cecil kanagawa is and the underlying vibe is that hes jealous of reyevs anonymity 

and DEFINITELY do more with his relationship with juno . WAY more . does juno have any warm feelings for him or is it genuinely all frustration and annoyance !!! for either of these, does cecil realize this !!!! expand on the fact that cecil sees him as his best friend . expand on their history together . does cecil have a thing for juno and why is the answer yes? idk where it would go but theres a lot of interesting drama there

and REALLY build up on his feelings on his sister. does he miss her? does he feel betrayed that she killed their dad? do they still talk on comms? do they not and how do they feel about that? i definitely think they should bring cass back too u cant do a cecil arc without a cass arc but im focusin on this mostly

speaking of parallels . consider: cecil is a parallel for both juno and benten at once. this is a post for another day this is already too long but its a concept i have and i think they should do something with

i dont Quite know how it would end ,,,, theres a lot of diff ways it could go . im gonna go with the redemption arc ending and the tragic ending bc theyr the biggest ones that come to mind . both of them have min die because its deserved

REDEMPTION ARC . as we learn more about cecil throughout juno learns more too, realizing that this isnt what cecil Wants its what he Has To Have . cass kills min and its DESERVED and cecil is shattered he’s beyond betrayed i dont think he knows that cass was set up yet here ,,,, so hes incredibly incredibly angry and sad and hurt and he feels like cass is ruining his life and this is his Low point. but juno brings cecil to the carte blanche and cecil slowly heals, he unlearns all the fucked up shit being a kanagawa taught him and his relationship with cass slowly begins to heal . i think itd be cute if they made him and junos relationship more friendly too (: do smt with the fact that junos Very clearly cecils favorite and make him learn how to be someones friend normally . maybe have a jealousy thing with him and reyev bc cecils into juno . MAKE HIM FRIENDS WITH RITA i feel strongly about this they should be tech besties who goss about juno . just fun redemptiony stuff (:

or .... alternatively

TRAGIC MORALLY GREY ENDING . theres a lot of ways this could go but essentially cecil dies before he GETS that redemption . he goes out killing min because he found out that shes the one who killed his dad and all the comfort she’d provided him in his grief was fake . his last move is to kill min and he never Quite makes amends with juno and we have an arc where juno has to think about the fact that cecil tried to kill him hundreds of times over but he genuinely did really care about him and juno will never be able to see him again. how does he feel about that

idrk which one i prefer i think the redemption has more potential but the morally grey one is more realistic i think . but either way

in conclusion: BRING THE KANAGAWAS BACK . NOW

[coffeepoweredlesbian]

Why did Peter Nureyev give Juno his name at the end of Murderous Mask?

Hear me out, folks. It was because of Cassandra Kanagawa.

How do you think Peter felt hearing Cass talk about why she killed her father? Did he connect it to his own experiences with Mag? There are parallels to draw, namely that both of them wanted to explore the galaxy, both of them were manipulated by a parental figure, and both of them killed their father in a gruesome way.

When Peter says “She did still kill her father you know” to Juno, that isn’t a reassurance. That’s him thinking he’s unforgivable after what he did. That Cass to some extend deserves what she got. Why should other people get a free pass? He thinks that Juno could never stay with someone like him, someone who gutted his father who refused to raise a hand to stop “his boy.”

But then, he hears Juno express sympathy and compassion for Cass. And that’s why he gave Juno the key to his past. Because he saw Juno care for someone who was like him and thought maybe this is a person he can trust. The reason he told his name to Juno was because for once, he knew that if Juno looked him up he might not be disgusted by what he read.

Peter was always on the run, he never had a chance to meet someone, get to know them, and then share his name to see if he would be viewed as a monster or not. But with Juno, there was no waiting. Juno already felt sympathetic towards Cass, refusing to stop fighting for her even after she killed her father.

And if Juno could forgive Cass, then he could forgive Peter. Even if Peter couldn’t forgive himself.

[julesdap]

things that Hit Different when you look at them again after listening to the what lies beyond 3 finale

murderous mask. after nureyev deceives juno, juno can't stand talking to sasha when she tries to call. he can’t trust anyone, in that moment. but in what lies beyond 2 & 3, after a year of trust, of peter nureyev, juno chooses to believe in him despite all evidence to the contrary—and to some extent, he chooses to believe in sasha wire, too, defending her from his family several times... right up until sasha decides to break that belief herself.

promised land 3. sarah steel: “if you want to live out there... you need someone to live for. you need someone else, so that when you’re not tough enough, they can be; so that right when you want to give up, you remember you can’t, because you’ve got someone better than you to worry about” and juno: “i can’t take the gamble. if I’m the only one who escaped... i have a responsibility, now. and i can’t throw that away.” before, sarah’s quote mirrors juno because like sarah, juno ended up throwing away something he loved because he was scared of losing it (leaving nureyev in final resting place). now, juno decides to do what sarah steel couldn’t do: saving himself to save his family.

monster’s reflection: juno feels about sasha wire in wlb 2 & 3 the way ben felt about sarah steel. against all his family’s advice, despite all the shitty things sasha is doing—capturing him, hurting his family—juno tries to act in good faith towards her. he spares her life, tries to take her with him, protects himself and his family but also trusts that she won’t hurt him. he could only ever see the person sasha wire was, and could be. never the monster.

tools of rust: rita calls dark matters’ system “like someone’s moving in.” it’s also said that m’tendere had “a good thing going,” with dark matters, before their agent was abruptly replaced and dark matters started trying to kill them. i think it’s pretty clear that this is when sasha got promoted (or, more likely, promoted herself by assassinating burgess). considering sasha’s top priority seems to be getting rid of things that would force humanity to reevaluate their entire structure of living if given public access (the curemother prime), no wonder m’tendere, who was working on the bottomless battery, was her first target.

what lies beyond 1. the more i think about it, the likelier it seems that nureyev was planning to tell juno everything after the wedding. he had packed all his things, he had stolen the items and was planning to give them to his creditors—but he wasn’t going to just leave. i mean. he gave juno the journal and then basically said, okay. after you finish this, come to me and we’ll talk. and the entire day he was on edge, nervous, paranoid about hearing his name... not just because he was getting ready to leave. because that night he was going to explain everything, and possibly face juno’s hurt for it. he never got to do that, though. dark matters caught up with them too early.

[stubbornjerk]

Juno’s Season 3 Was Good, Actually

Or: Kevin and Harley’s writing is getting better with every season

I’ve seen a lot of people being unsatisfied with the finale, which is perfectly reasonable to me. What’s not is when people say the themes were a bit off this season and, as someone who Just Recently Caught Up, I can tell you definitively that the themes of this season have been anything but confusing. They’re simple and kind of genius that way.

To summarize, this season was about the Aurinko crime family learning to work together and getting the Curemother Prime.

That’s about all the TL;DR you’re getting from me. The long version is... that this season had about three themes: growth, faith, and family. Not specifically in that order, but I’ll try my best to illustrate these themes as coherently as possible through proud tears.

Major spoilers under the read-more :)

Growth

We began this season with Nureyev. Which was due to a lot of reasons, including the fact that Joshua Ilon wasn’t really available for extensive monologue recording. RL reasons aside, it matches up since we met our dear detective and understood him completely (season 1) and knew that he’d grown and set himself on the path to recovery (season 2).

Putting him in the backburner for a character who had grown to know him as well as Nureyev served as much of a narrative new perspective as it was an actual new perspective.

There’s a reason why all these episodes are still named after Juno Steel. These perspective shifts were both to introduce us to a cast we’ll end up getting to know well, and because they were highlighting themes of growth we’d seen on Juno in the previous season:

Nureyev realizes that his scorn and difficulty getting along with people is placed in his insecurity of his current emotional maturity.

Jet acknowledges the impacts of his past and accepts it going forward.

Vespa learns to open up to new people in her life, accepting that they aren’t always there to hurt or leave her.

Rita gradually accepts that there’s a reason these people trust in her and that wanting to help someone isn’t always in the best intentions.

Buddy wants to live and die on her own terms.

And when we come back to Juno, he’s a new person.

We’re Nureyev now, all over again. We see this new Juno Steel, who doesn’t get stuck in his head a lot, who doesn’t pick fights all the time, who tells his best friend I love you and means it, who isn’t scared to get introspective of moving on, and is vulnerable with people. He’s learned to let people take off the armor and see who’s wearing it instead of embodying the armor itself.

And that brings us to our second theme:

Family

Right, yeah, the queer sci-fi audio drama has a found family, surprise, surprise. But there’s more to it than just that. This season started with its own thesis statement: that this group of unlikely people do not have to like each other, but will have to. And staying with people you don’t have to like and still believing in them, still risking your life for them– that’s family.

Best example: none of them may trust Peter Ransom or his motives on this ship, but that doesn’t mean that when the going gets tough, we don’t trust him to get us out of this mess even if it means he has to fight tooth and nail for it.

Buddy and Jet believe this concept of family the most, Nureyev and Juno, the least.

There’s a reason why Buddy believed Jet to be the best chance this ship had for its next leader, and that’s because Jet accepts all of them, what they can and would do now despite of what they have done before. That was his big arc for Tools of Rust.

When the Getaway arrives, who else is it if not Jet who believes that they can get out of this, that Juno and Ransom would have to work together, not alone, in order to get them all out of this.

And they will. (Brilliant callback to Monster’s Reflection there, btw, I always did love that quote).

Nureyev doesn’t really believe in the concept of the Aurinkos as a family– he’s a lone wolf, of course he doesn’t. The way he scoffs family meeting in Man in Glass only reinforces that, though he starts believing the hype a bit as we go forward. He never addresses it again, of course, but that’s just on the King of Repression.

Juno, on the other hand, would love to believe in this idea of the Aurinkos as a family, except that in the moment he finally has to address it in himself that he does believe in it, that it isn’t just something he got used to saying in front of his old family, Sasha, he ends up having to choose between them and him.

And that’s where we get into our last theme for this season:

Faith

Before you call me a Catholic and move on, I mean this in the most generous of terms: this fits the season.

Faith is a step above trust, and it is a grand concept. It means trust, means belief, means that come whatever trial or tribulation, you know the person you have faith in will come through.

I’ve talked about this before, that people keep saying that the thing between Juno and Nureyev was always trust. Trust always evoked the idea of having to prove it in my brain, and it never added up until recently. Because, like Jet, the way Juno believed in Nureyev changed the way he saw him. Angel of Brahma (P2), the episode they bring back up in the finale, perfectly encapsulates this idea of believing in what Peter Nureyev could do.

And it’s such a masterful callback, because it really puts the entire season into perspective. That this unlikely group of people ended up putting their faith in each other and kept coming through for each other.

Shadows on the Ship was the perfect blind faith moment of this– when she stabs the bot pretending to be Juno because she believed, finally, that Juno would never call her crazy.

Mega-Ultrabots of Cyberjustice spins this on its head, the perfect twin episode, where she takes that faith, fumbles with it, but ultimately still proves to herself that she’s worthy of it, that there’s a reason she’s with this group of people.

I could mark all the moments it pops up in both HOIA and WLB but we’ll be here all day.

So, in conclusion...

When people say that the finale came out of nowhere I just sit here in my corner, clutching these ideas together like a bouquet wondering what stench straight up followed these people out of this season.

This season could not have been more clear about what it was about: growth, the idea of family, and having faith in each other. This was a reading me and my friends grew to accept and interpret, because it all made perfect sense and it was pretty clear cut.

Sure, you can read in the idea that this season is about accountability and Nureyev, but... that would muddy the waters, if you catch my drift.

Anyway, if you got to reading this far, thank you, and if you relisten to the season, keep these themes in mind!

[hellishfig]

second citadel theory time

so the First Citadel, right? got destroyed 1000, maybe 2000 years ago? basically all of recorded history got wrecked along with it, so nobody knows what happened before it

the humans have their three saints, Aaron the Resolute, Damien the Tranquil, and Ferdinand the Brave. they are said to have destroyed the monstrous horde that attacked the First Citadel with divine power

now, i’m not so sure about divinity, but i am thinking about the universe, the Terminus, and the Battle at World’s End

according to what we’ve seen, the universe has its whims, and it is changeable. magic only works sometimes. why is that? it’s because the universe runs on emotion, and the emotional resonator tapped into that in The Lover’s of the Fallen Tower. the emotions there— specifically the love and loss— left a scar on the shores of the Terminus

the tower/shell at the edge of the Terminus is interesting for more reasons than just that scar, although the scar provides a lot of context for those other reasons. one example is Talfryn’s comment that it appeared as if the tower/shell was used extensively (by monsters at least) a thousand years ago, and then it was empty for a while, and then monsters moved in. another oddity is the tapestries. they depict monsters and humans together, living together, building together. the same thing seen in the memories. these memories focus on pix and david. why them? is their love story so compelling, that the universe keeps replaying it over and over again?i don’t think that’s it.

back to the saints for a second, and divinity or lack thereof. humans and monsters are both powerful in different ways, and the humans claimed the saints… but what if their divine power was simply magic from the universe? what if Aaron, Damien, and Ferdinand were half monster, like Olala? what if Pix and David were their parents, and the universe focused on them bc the love of their children was so strong, it immortalized their last moments?

and the terminal tower bridge was destroyed by forces from beyond the falls. is that what the saints fought? this question has yet to be answered, hopefully the upcoming season will be illuminating.

on to The Battle at World’s End. rereading the poem, it seems as though the two giants may represent monsters and humans. they fight at the edge of the world, locked in an eternal battle that neither of them remember beginning. it’s fitting that the setting is the Terminus, on the edge of the known world, and they are battling for an unknown reason.

tldr; humans and monsters are not as different as they would like to think. they are all children of the universe in the end, and the characters’ misconception that they can never live peacefully was birthed by the fall of the First Citadel, aka Fort Terminus.