Hey lawyers of Reddit! I want to start off by saying we appreciate the time you take to give your input on these legal cases in real life and on Reddit. You are very much appreciated. 💜
To begin, my sons father forced his way into my home and assaulted both my younger sister and I. For context my younger sister is 20 and I’m 25. He came to my house because I took back a phone I lent him that was under my plan. He willingly gave it to me the night before. When he was at my house, I told him I don’t have the phone anymore and he became angry, snatched my phone from my hand and forced his way into my home. In the process he pushed me and I hit the wall quite hard and fell to the ground. Now he’s 6’2 and i’m 4’11, but I tried to grab my phone back and kept telling him to leave. My sister came to try and help and while she jumped up on his back to try to retrieve my phone he grabbed her from behind him and tossed her over his shoulder and her head collided with the ground. I told her to stay down but she wanted to grab my phone and get him the fuck out of the house. She jumped up to get it again this time aiming for his arm but he did it a second time. Tossed her over his shoulder and she hit the ground. I told her to stay down. He locked himself in my bathroom but before he went in I tried to grab him but he pushed me really hard off him and I fell on my arm and sprained it. Throughout all this he was screaming he knows MMA and will fuck us both up, that he’s going to get full custody of our child and that I’m a stupid bitch etc, etc. Luckily the sheriff came because my security alarm tripped and he was arrested. Now he’s being charged with a 1st degree felony with a pre trial date in May. My sister and I suffered bruises and I received a sprained arm. This happened in Florida. Conviction with a sentence is our main goal.
What are the possible defenses you’d make to reduce the charges and if reduced, what will the new charges be? The evidence we have is video caught on my ring camera of him snatching my phone from my hand, as well as him taking to the sheriff and basically the entire ordeal however only in 24 second increments.
Thank you so much your advice and input!

So glad I found this group, I’ve been wanting somewhere to share my boyfriend and I’s story, buckle in, it’s a little long
Sometime at the end of January last year, I started playing video games online. Starting with a game called Counter Strike. I had only been playing a short time (probably less than 10 games) when I met a couple of people who invited me to queue with them next game. I agreed, and when we queued up for the next game, they added another player, RJ (not his real name, using for anonymity purposes). RJ asked who the new person was and I said hello. The first words he ever said to me were “Oh great, an e-girl, can’t wait to see how this goes.” We play one game together and I figured that would be the end of that. He had added me to his friends list though.
A few days later, we’re both online, and he invites me to play again, much to my surprise. We play a few games, and actually end up talking a good bit, and add each other on discord. This was February 7th 2022.
We start texting everyday, and gaming every night. This graduates to phone calls, which turn into FaceTimes. Eventually, we exchange numbers and move off the discord app as a means to communicate. We talked, Every. Day. We started getting closer, realized we had a lot in common. Honestly, it was just like we clicked, from the moment we started talking we couldn’t stay away from each other. I had just gotten out of a 4 year relationship and wasn’t looking to get into another. He had be hurt pretty badly by his last girl (won’t go into details) and borderline swore of females. So, there was no reason, after playing a few games, we should’ve become so attached to each other. I think one reason was because I could read him so well, even through text. He was more guarded than I was, but I’ve had my fair share of hurt (more so friends/parents) but I could see through his defense mechanisms, and call him out, and be understanding a patient and loving to him.
But. One issue. I lived in Pennsylvania and he lived in Florida. 900 miles apart.
I am a religious person, as is he. So I started praying on it, basically it consisted of “Lord, I feel like this man is right for me, in my soul he feels right, but I’m going to get hurt with us being so far apart. It’ll never work, please, if this isn’t what it feels like take him from my life because I won’t be able to do it”
That SAME week, my dad (I’m 21, but still live at home currently) stops me in the kitchen and just randomly asks “hey, how would you feel about moving to Florida?” My family has always wanted to move south, but it was always NC, never Florida. (And I hadn’t told them about the boy in Florida who I was falling for yet) Turns out his company had a job opening down there and he was considering taking it. The first thing I do is check how far the town we would move to is from RJ. My shock when it turns out I would be an hour away from him if this move happened.
So we start going through the process and my family decides to make a trip down to Florida to check out some properties. And I ask if we could possibly spend our first night in his city so I could meet with him in person. To my shock, and anyone who knows my parents, they agreed. This is now April. So two months after we started talking, we’re finally going to meet. I’m iffy on if I believe in Angel numbers, but out hotel room that night, after a 14 hours drive, was 222 aka the soulmate number. And at 11am the next day, we go to a nearby mall, and finally meet up in person. We were never awkward, it was comfortable from day one. We actually ended up kissing (more so making out, trying to keep this PG) in a dressing room in one of the stores. Literally had friends asking me what book I’m living in after hearing about it. We spent a blissful 2 hours together and then I had to go. We looked at property’s and then back to PA.
Another two months goes by, this time it’s even harder. I talk one of my girlfriends into a “girls trip” to Florida. But her and everyone knew it was just to see RJ. We go down for four days, I spent as much time with him as I can between his work. We would just sit in a car (he lives where he works, so we couldn’t hang out there) talking, lots and lots of talking and kissing until 3am.
FINALLY. In July of last year, my family made the move to Florida. We have a small farm (horses chickens etc) so it took us 19 hours to move all of them down there. And since we moved, seldom has there been a weekend we didn’t spend together.
And just this last week, RJ and I closed on a house we found together, I won’t be moving in with him for a bit, we have to build a barn and pasture for the horses, but I’m writing this after spending the last 3 days with him getting a few things set up, and cleaning and “playing house” with him. We also got a dog together. We still play games together every night. It just hit me on my way home from there, how crazy it is, a year ago, we were messaging 900 miles apart, after a chance meeting playing a video game (something I never did) falling for each other but thinking we were stupid for even letting ourselves get attached because of the distance to, now we have a house and are planning a wedding and a future. I also think back to his first comment, “can’t wait to see how this goes” and I make myself laugh thinking “well, you buy a house with the e-girl” Our story just makes me giddy, I never would’ve dreamed to have what I have with him, we have grown so much too, I could keep going on a thousand little details that mean something to me, but I don’t want to make this entirely too long. I just wanted people to share this with, if you made it to the end, thank you for reading❤️

First- Previous
The air ambulance hovered just thirty meters above the raging waters of the river running well above flood stage. My wife, Nalini, piloted the craft with such expert skill that we barely moved, even in the near hurricane level winds. I hooked my safety harness into the airship’s safety line, just above the penetrator basket, while Tajamal leaned out the open hatch, scanning for people to rescue.
“Jabir,” Taj called, “I have three in view. In the trees to our seven.”
The blowing rain made it hard to see, but Taj had the benefit of enhanced vision with his SAR helmet optics. I pulled my visor plate down and sealed it as I looked out the hatch. The optics turned on automatically and I tapped the controls to trigger lowlight and infrared modes. Dalutian’s body temperature is a bit lower than human at 35° but, against the cold river, they stood out like bonfires.
“I see them. Nali, slide us back about twenty meters and I will drop.”
She'd heard Taj’s call and was already sliding back while rotating slightly to the left, placing me in a prime position to drop down into the trees. I remember reading about early search and rescue operations on Terra before the discovery of antigravity technology. They used helicopters, an inelegant, ancient machine that beat the air into submission. The machines were deadly when they malfunctioned, even at low altitudes. Such disasters were rare these days, but no unheard of.
“The wind is picking up,” Nalini called out. “From the north-northeast. Reads twenty-five sustained, gusting to fifty-five.”
“Thanks. I think we can handle it. Maintain at ten meters and keep her steady as you can,” I ordered.
My entire SAR crew was family. My wife is our pilot, her sister Marwa an emergency and trauma nurse. Their brother Zafar and my cousin Tajamal were both SAR pararescue. What was odd about my team is we are all ethnic Arabs that lived among the blond Vikings of Nya Österlen. We had not had the genetic mods to live there which made it a bit of a struggle at times. But we wanted to learn from the best before we moved back home to New Berlin. I will not lie though, the lower gravity here was a relief.
I jumped out of the hatch, swinging from the winch line as Zafar lowered me into the trees. I could see the faces of three Dalutians looking up at us. I could not tell if it was fear, awe, or confusion on their faces. The penetrator pushed through the uppermost branches. I used my feet to push it where I wanted it, edging closer to the natives clinging to the branches.
The wind made it impossible for me to talk to them. The two adults looked absolutely exhausted. I guessed they had been in this tree for quite a while, fighting the wind and rain. They look up at me, eyes wide in shock. I guess I would be too if some strange alien dropped out of the sky to rescue me. I unfolded the penetrator into its basket mode and locked it in place. I motioned to the woman with her child. I pointed at the basket, and she shook her head.
It seems that is the universal ‘no.’ I pointed to her and her child and pointed to the basket again, showing her the harnesses to secure them. The male yelled something I could not understand, and she hugged her child tight and scooted to the basket. I grabbed her around the waist and held them securely as they got into the basket. I quickly strapped their harnesses together and motioned to the last one. I figured he was the father. As he moved around the trunk to where the basket was, he slipped and fell hard. He bounced his head on a thick limb and went limp.
I wasted no time in thought and jumped after him. If he hit the water unconscious, he would die. I could not catch him. He was just out of reach when I hit the end of my tether and hit the quick disconnect.
“What are you doing?” My wife was angry at my choice.
It was, arguably, a bad idea. While by no means as good as a military survival suit, our SAR suits had self-contained rebreathers that allowed us to breathe in toxic or underwater environments. They were tough as hell. The armor was not the ablative, laser resistant military armor but could handle anything I would encounter here. He splashed into the water and sank. I could see his heat signature as the roaring waters ripped him away.
I hit the water. I could feel the cold water momentarily, until my suit’s environmental systems kicked on the heaters. I could see his body with my heat sensors. I triggered the sonar, and the computer painted the inside of my visor with the information. The floodwaters held many dangers, mostly from floating or submerged wood. Often these hazards were entire trees ripped from the ground upriver. I could still get crushed if I made a mistake.
“Jabir?” My wife was really angry.
“I am fine. Take the ship a klick downstream,” I ordered. “Zafar drop the net when I get close.”
“Roger,” Zafar answered. “I have you on the scope.”
All the SAR suits are tied into the airship’s datanet. With the locator beacons and health monitors, the flight crew could track me easily. I was not worried about them tracking me. Retrieving me was another thing entirely. But that was a worry for later. I still had to reach my target. I am an excellent swimmer. Anyone who wants to work in search and rescue is required to be better than average.
I kicked off strongly, pushing hard to catch up. It was easy to do since he was just bouncing along like a rag doll. If I cannot get to him soon, he will drown. I caught up and reached out, grabbing a handful of feathers. I felt some pull loose but enough held that I was able to pull him into a tight hold. He was a lump of dead weight as I pushed to the surface.
I could see the airship hovering over the river. Nalini held it in the perfect position. She held the airship at five meters, with the starboard hatch open and net barely in the water. Zafar and Taj knelt inside the hatch, looking at me as I bobbed down the river. I was at the mercy of the floodwaters. Holding onto the Dalutian meant I had little ability to swim. I kicked as hard as I could to position the best I could for the net to catch us. I hit sideways, my left arm snaking into the net while hooking my legs giving me three points of contact.
“Lift the net,” I yelled. “Lift the net!”
Zafar hit the lift and Nalini pulled up, lifting us out of the water. The net retracted into the roof and deposited us in a wet heap in the deck. Taj closed the hatch as I popped my visor and removed my helmet. Zafar pulled the male out of the net and worked to get the water out of his lungs. Only then I heard the mother and child crying in fear. I could not tell what they were saying, but I could see their concern.
Marwa took over, placing an oxygen mask over his beak. “Get us to a hospital,” she said. “He has a head injury and water inhalation. He’s breathing but it’s shallow. Damn, I wish I knew their physiology better.”
Zafar waved his sensor wand over the male’s little body. I knew they were smaller than us, but I did not realize just how much smaller they were.
“Blood pressure is low,” Zafar said. “At least that’s what the computer says. And body temp is low. Let’s get him on the stretcher and into a thermal blanket.”
I helped move the body onto a stretcher mounted on the bulkhead. All the stretchers were equipped with body heaters and the thermal blankets were little more than high tech electric blankets with the added ability to wick away water. This would help stabilize him, but he needed a full hospital.
The other two were chattering at me but I still had no idea what they were saying. “Do we have the translator package downloaded?”
“You don’t have it?” Zafar asked.
“No. I did not see it in the download files.”
“I pushed it automatically to your suit,” he replied. “Check for a file labelled Dal1.5. It should have installed by itself.”
“Well, it didn’t.” I pulled up the files on my suit’s computer. “Found it. Installing it now.”
With the file installed, I could finally understand what they were saying, for all the good it did me. I could tell they were family. The child was hysterical and the mother struggling to calm her. We got the father strapped in and secure. Through the deck, I could feel the engines vibrating as Nali pushing the airship to its maximum speed. Marwa had the father well in hand, so I turned to his family.
“We will be at a hospital within a few minutes.” I heard my speaker translate my words into their sing song language. It sounded like one of the tonal languages from earth mixed with a parrot’s call. “We have doctors who can help him. Do you understand?”
They both started talking and the mother shushed the child. Or at least, the translation software made the sounds. Often there is something lost in the translation.
“Who are you?” The mother asked.
“I am Jabir Tamraz.”
“No, who are all of you? I have not seen any of your species before.”
“Oh. We are humans.”
“Humans?” She recoiled a bit but then seemed to shake as she digested the news. We knew coming in to this mission that there would be some fear or anxiety. Most of the Confederation species had no real meaningful interactions with humanity. And even though some of the Dalutains had traded with us before, they were the minority.
“Yes, we are humans,” Marwa replied. “There are thousands of us out looking for survivors and doing what we can to rescue them. Just as we did for you.”
“But… Why?” The daughter spoke softly, but the translator spoke at full volume.
“Because… Because we felt it was the right thing to do,” I replied. “Many of our people have needed help. Sometimes desperately needed help. Most of the time, that help came. But not always. But our people have never needed help as badly as yours do. I am sorry we were not able to get here sooner.”
“Our government asked the Confederation for help. But it never came.” Again, the translator could not put her bitterness into the translation we heard. But I could tell by her body language that she was angry and defeated.
“I cannot speak to that. But I can tell you that we are here and not going away.”
“Prepare to land. We will be at the hospital in less than a minute,” Nali called over the intercom.
The ship settled onto the ground with barely a bump. My wife is the best pilot around. The back ramp lowered and several people ran aboard, two picked up the father and carried the stretcher off the ship. Two others checked on our other to passengers and quickly led them off and into the hospital.
I was happy that we had managed to save them, but we had more to do.
Nali grabbed my arm roughly and pulled me around to face her. “What the hell was that?”
“I almost lost him.”
“You broke protocol. We never disconnect the tether in a situation like that! What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that I could not let him die. Not in front of his family.”
“And what of me? I could have seen you die!” She had tears in her eyes, but they were tears of anger. “You are not immortal. You have a wife and daughter, too.”
“I know. It was a calculated risk,” I replied. “Our SAR suits can take a log of damage before we get hurt, and I had three hours of oxygen. He did not. If I had not gone in after him, he would have died. I was his only hope of surviving. We did not choose this profession because it was safe. We chose it because we felt a calling to save lives.”
“Don’t you die on me.” She grabbed me in a tight hug. “Don’t you dare. I cannot live without you.”
“Don’t say that. You are the strongest person I know. You were strong as steel before I met you. That was why I fell in love with you. And if anything, you are stronger now. You push me to be stronger. If anyone in this universe can survive, it is you.”
“Just… Don’t do that again without warning me. Okay? Promise me.”
“I promise. I will not do something stupid without warning you first.”

3/21/23 Podcast Recap- -

I was going to make this clean and reorganize it with the key takeaways, but for this week it feels very fitting to write this out in which the order she talked about things, as it is that chaotic. She jumped around in the story quite a bit, and rambled about the most random of things.
Kayla explains how the podcast will work-
- She will have guests on for shorter segments, but there will be a 52 week long segment for her story
- Will go over every hour, every second, every text of her relationship.
- Will go over her childhood, her previous relationship, and how she got where she is today
18 years old-
Was in a physically abusive relationship, and had been planning the breakup since January, then goes onto talk about her childhood and where she lives (irrelevant)
9 years old-
is when her mom found jesus, and then they became healthy and organic and “sucked away all happiness of a childs life away”. She made SPAGHETTI SQUASH… “like ew, disgusting”
In California life was okay, made friends, did good in school, but then learned she would be moving to Japan, even though her mom had promised she would not have to move, so she threw away her ice cream cone. This is when the nightmares started. No one in her family died other than when she was in Japan.
12 years old-
This is when the panic attacks started, after 32 hours of travel, locked onto an island with kids who abused her. It was so small you could walk across the entire THING in 30 minutes.. she goes onto explain she’s not good at geometry.
First day she arrived, she cried herself to sleep and this became the running theme. Me me me me me. They uprooted her entire life. AND the animals. She goes on and rants about how long the step dad was home, only 4 months out of three years. They told her mom she had cancer but she doesn’t. And general negative talk on the military.
She says this is when her BPD developed. But that her siblings were fine. She never knew who was better or who was worse, her mom or stepdad. Her mom tried to hit her, but she was too big at this point and she was big enough to fight back. But when her stepdad was home she had to “let her do it”.
2 ½ years later-
Left and went back to California, and where she graduated a year early. Home life was bad but she wont get into that as long as her siblings live at home. At 16 she started dating her 25 year old boss. Got heartbroken for the first time every and spent 2 years recovering from that and “dabbled in prostitution from ages 16-17”.
Coming out story- 15 years old
She learned she was gay from starting at her cheer captions butt. Then she did softball and the pitcher was gorgeous and brilliant. Then she started dating her childhood best friend, and lost her virginity to her. She explained exactly how she lost her virginity, what they were wearing (colors included), talked about the windows in the place etc. etc. etc. She said it was really “cutesy”.
She has childhood amnesisa bc of the childhood trauma and her mom deleted photos so it was very traumatizing because she cannot remember without the photos. She finally goes on to the point of this particular rant and says she came out from her tiktoks and hashtagging lesbian.
18 years old
What every girl desires to be. She loooved her 18 yr old self. This is when she started dancing. She and her friends were just like “balling”, going to the Melting Pot. It was a TIME TO BE ALIIVE. This is when she had her first viral video. Goes on to talk about how she started her tiktok and why. She goes on about how much her views and followers went up.
This is when she met AMY. She was 27, met in a group chat. Amy venomed her for her drink, and then 2 weeks later Kayla flew out to meet her. Only talked for about 2 weeks and Amy told her she loved her. Amy got mad at Kayla for sleeping with Olivia on her birthday. I guess she was dating Olivia and Amy at the same time. (sounds familiar doesn’t it? Very common theme). She goes on to trash talk Amy.
October 2020, she said yes to being Amy’s girlfriend. Kayla said she just wanted someone to want her. That night she hit 100k on tiktok. She claims she was love bombed by Amy, and goes on to talk about how she was 18.5yrs old and Amy was 27 and tells us to make our assumptions (as if Andi isn’t a decade older than her?). Amy was very controlling, and Kayla would keep a list of the days that were good vs bad. She also explained how she was SA’d MULTIPLE times by Amy. She talked about faking her orgasms, so she would stop. She flew to visit every 2 weeks, odd considering how bad she says Amy was. She talks about how bad Amy’s parents were to the foster kids. She said that Amy would scream at the children as well.
Amy forced her to have intercourse allover her house, and forced her to do OF in specific areas. Talks about how Amy made her basically harass her ex. (Again, sounds familiar but Kayla is the one doing it now). She said that Amy made her go to the place the girl worked and gave her her panties?
She multiple times highspeed drive with Kayla in the car unbuckled when she was angry. She would accelerate.
She found her cat and gave him chicken nuggets.
Amy had an obsession of giving Kayla whatever she wanted. Which is again, odd.. Because it sounds like Amy made Kayla do whatever AMY wanted. She claims she watched her ex beat her dog. She then confided in the ex that she dated at 16. This is when she realized she had to get out. She then decided to move to GA, but NOT to be where Amy was. Not that! She didn’t really explain why she just rambled. This is also when she met her best friend Nicole. At this point she told Amy she wanted an open relationship (ONCE AGAIN, SOUNDS FAMILIAR!!!). Amy said if she did this she would off herself. And then in a cocky voice says “this would not change the fact that we were not exclusive anymore.” She then hooked up with one of her old friends in California.
She then had an orgy with Nicole and 3 other girls, and she contracted an STD. This was a great excuse for her not to have intercourse with Amy any longer.
Feb of 2021 it got really really bad. Kayla packed all the alcohol up so Amy wouldn’t off herself, and Kayla spent the entire next week with Nicole. On her 19th birthday, she spent the entire time she was with Amy celebrating, texting Taylor. And that is where the podcast ends.

Key Takeaways- TLDR

- Her relationships are a repeating cycle, they all sound the exact same.
-She dated her childhood bestfriend at 15, and then at age 16 dated her 25 year old boss. Then at 18 she dated Amy. Most of these relationships overlapped with one another, just like what she has done currently.
- Kayla was dating Olivia and Amy at the same time prior to becoming exclusive with Amy. Which I am a bit confused on how this came about because she said
- When the end was near with Amy, Kayla opened the relationship. And when she was still with Amy, (non exclusively) she hooked up with an old friend in California, had an orgy with her best friend Nicole and 3 other people, and then was openly talking to her future ex-girlfriend Taylor.
-Kayla claims that her mom was physically abusive (in a round about way)

Florida Panthers (36-28-7) @ Philadelphia Flyers (26-32-12)

Final: 6-3 Flyers

Decisions

• First Star: Carter Hart
• Second Star: Travis Sanheim
• Third Star: Joel Farabee

Linescore

	1st	2nd	3rd		TOTAL
Panthers	1	1	1		3
Flyers	1	4	1		6

Scoring Summary

Per./Time	Team	Description & Video Link	Score
1st 01:15	FLA	[Matthew Tkachuk (34) Tip-In, assists: Carter Verhaeghe (28), Eetu Luostarinen (23)]()	1-0 FLA
1st 04:43	PHI	[Joel Farabee (12) Wrist Shot, assists: Noah Cates (19), Egor Zamula (3)]()	1-1
2nd 08:42	PHI	[Travis Sanheim (6) Snap Shot, assists: Brendan Lemieux (6)]()	2-1 PHI
2nd 14:17	FLA	[Brandon Montour (13) Snap Shot, assists: Aleksander Barkov (44), Sam Reinhart (27)]()	2-2
2nd 16:54	PHI	[Scott Laughton (16) Backhand, assists: Tony DeAngelo (27), Egor Zamula (4)]()	3-2 PHI
2nd 18:05	PHI	[Travis Sanheim (7) Backhand, assists: Noah Cates (20), Joel Farabee (19)]()	4-2 PHI
2nd 18:55	PHI	[Ivan Provorov (5) Backhand, assists: Tyson Foerster (3), Morgan Frost (21)]()	5-2 PHI
3rd 13:49	FLA	PPG - [Sam Reinhart (27) Wrist Shot, assists: Aleksander Barkov (45), Brandon Montour (47)]()	5-3 PHI
3rd 17:59	PHI	Empty Net - [Morgan Frost (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Tyson Foerster (4)]()	6-3 PHI

Penalty Summary

Per./Time	Team	Type	Description
1st 01:28	PHI	2:00 Minor	James van Riemsdyk Holding against Marc Staal
1st 13:35	PHI	2:00 Minor	Tony DeAngelo Slashing against Givani Smith
3rd 10:58	FLA	5:00 Major	Radko Gudas Fighting against Brendan Lemieux
3rd 10:58	PHI	2:00 Minor	Brendan Lemieux Instigator against Radko Gudas served by Tyson Foerster
3rd 10:58	PHI	5:00 Major	Brendan Lemieux Fighting against Radko Gudas
3rd 10:58	PHI	10:00 Misconduct	Brendan Lemieux Misconduct

Game Stats

	SOG	FO%	PP	PIM	Hits	Blks	GVA
Panthers	44	49%	1/4 (25%)	9	21	7	4
Flyers	24	51%	0/2 (0%)	23	22	22	10

Panthers Skaters	G	A	+/-	S	Blk	Tkwy	Gvwy	PIM	TOI
C Eetu Luostarinen	0	1	-1	1	0	0	0	0	16:49
C Eric Staal	0	0	-3	2	1	2	1	0	15:51
C Carter Verhaeghe	0	1	0	9	0	0	2	0	19:12
C Sam Reinhart	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	24:07
C Colin White	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	0	7:51
C Aleksander Barkov	0	2	0	7	1	2	0	0	23:35
C Anton Lundell	0	0	-2	3	0	0	0	0	15:02
C Nick Cousins	0	0	-2	1	0	0	0	0	13:17
D Marc Staal	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	20:09
D Aaron Ekblad	0	0	-2	0	1	1	0	2	19:07
D Brandon Montour	1	1	1	5	0	0	0	0	24:20
D Casey Fitzgerald	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	0	7:31
D Gustav Forsling	0	0	-3	1	0	0	1	2	19:05
D Radko Gudas	0	0	-2	3	1	1	0	5	13:57
D Josh Mahura	0	0	-2	1	1	0	0	0	14:42
LW Matthew Tkachuk	1	0	0	4	0	2	0	0	22:53
LW Ryan Lomberg	0	0	-3	1	0	1	0	0	14:30
RW Givani Smith	0	0	-1	3	0	0	0	0	7:20

Panthers Goalies	Saves	Shots	Save %	TOI
Alex Lyon	18	23	78.3%	56:42
Sergei Bobrovsky	0	0	-	0:00

Flyers Skaters	G	A	+/-	S	Blk	Tkwy	Gvwy	PIM	TOI
C Scott Laughton	1	0	2	1	1	1	0	0	11:18
C Kevin Hayes	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	15:07
C Morgan Frost	1	1	0	2	0	1	1	0	17:33
D Travis Sanheim	2	0	3	2	2	0	1	0	17:21
D Ivan Provorov	1	0	-1	1	2	0	2	0	21:13
D Rasmus Ristolainen	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	19:32
D Tony DeAngelo	0	1	2	2	1	0	2	2	20:51
D Nick Seeler	0	0	1	0	4	0	1	2	11:11
D Egor Zamula	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	13:09
D Cam York	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	16:18
LW James van Riemsdyk	0	0	0	4	1	2	0	2	14:12
LW Brendan Lemieux	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	17	13:58
LW Nicolas Deslauriers	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	8:21
LW Noah Cates	0	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	19:27
LW Joel Farabee	1	1	2	3	0	1	0	0	21:04
RW Wade Allison	0	0	0	3	3	1	0	0	15:04
RW Tyson Foerster	0	2	1	1	3	1	0	0	18:03
RW Owen Tippett	0	0	3	2	1	0	0	0	18:19

Flyers Goalies	Saves	Shots	Save %	TOI
Carter Hart	41	44	93.2%	60:00
Felix Sandstrom	0	0	-	0:00

Metro Standings

Rank	Team	Wins	Losses	OT	Points
1	Carolina Hurricanes	46	15	8	100
2	New Jersey Devils	45	18	8	98
3	New York Rangers	41	20	10	92
4	New York Islanders	37	27	8	82
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	34	26	10	78
6	Washington Capitals	33	31	8	74
7	Philadelphia Flyers	26	32	12	64
8	Columbus Blue Jackets	22	41	7	51

Metro Division Scoreboard

Hurricanes (3) @ (2) Rangers - Final
Blue Jackets (7) @ (6) Capitals - Final
Wild (2) @ (1) Devils - Final
Maple Leafs (2) @ (7) Islanders - Final
^{Last Updated: 03/21/2023 10:08:47 PM EDT}

Florida Panthers (36-28-7) @ Philadelphia Flyers (26-32-12)

• Game Time: March 21, 2023 @ 07:00 PM EDT
• Venue: Wells Fargo Center
• TV: Panthers: BSFLX, Flyers: NBCSP
• Radio: Panthers: WQAM, Flyers: 97.5 The Fanatic
• NHL GameCenter

Final: 6-3 Flyers

Linescore

	1st	2nd	3rd		TOTAL
Panthers	1	1	1		3
Flyers	1	4	1		6

Scoring Summary

Per./Time	Team	Description & Video Link	Score
1st 01:15	FLA	[Matthew Tkachuk (34) Tip-In, assists: Carter Verhaeghe (28), Eetu Luostarinen (23)]()	1-0 FLA
1st 04:43	PHI	[Joel Farabee (12) Wrist Shot, assists: Noah Cates (19), Egor Zamula (3)]()	1-1
2nd 08:42	PHI	[Travis Sanheim (6) Snap Shot, assists: Brendan Lemieux (6)]()	2-1 PHI
2nd 14:17	FLA	[Brandon Montour (13) Snap Shot, assists: Aleksander Barkov (44), Sam Reinhart (27)]()	2-2
2nd 16:54	PHI	[Scott Laughton (16) Backhand, assists: Tony DeAngelo (27), Egor Zamula (4)]()	3-2 PHI
2nd 18:05	PHI	[Travis Sanheim (7) Backhand, assists: Noah Cates (20), Joel Farabee (19)]()	4-2 PHI
2nd 18:55	PHI	[Ivan Provorov (5) Backhand, assists: Tyson Foerster (3), Morgan Frost (21)]()	5-2 PHI
3rd 13:49	FLA	PPG - [Sam Reinhart (27) Wrist Shot, assists: Aleksander Barkov (45), Brandon Montour (47)]()	5-3 PHI
3rd 17:59	PHI	Empty Net - [Morgan Frost (14) Wrist Shot, assists: Tyson Foerster (4)]()	6-3 PHI

Penalty Summary

Per./Time	Team	Type	Description
1st 01:28	PHI	2:00 Minor	James van Riemsdyk Holding against Marc Staal
1st 13:35	PHI	2:00 Minor	Tony DeAngelo Slashing against Givani Smith
3rd 10:58	FLA	5:00 Major	Radko Gudas Fighting against Brendan Lemieux
3rd 10:58	PHI	2:00 Minor	Brendan Lemieux Instigator against Radko Gudas served by Tyson Foerster
3rd 10:58	PHI	5:00 Major	Brendan Lemieux Fighting against Radko Gudas
3rd 10:58	PHI	10:00 Misconduct	Brendan Lemieux Misconduct against Radko Gudas

Scratches

Panthers	Flyers
Sam Bennett	Justin Braun
Anthony Duclair	Kieffer Bellows
	Tanner Laczynski

Game Stats

	SOG	FO%	PP	PIM	Hits	Blks	GVA
Panthers	44	49%	1/4 (25%)	9	21	8	4
Flyers	24	51%	0/2 (0%)	23	22	22	10

Panthers Skaters	G	A	+/-	S	Blk	Tkwy	Gvwy	PIM	TOI
C Eetu Luostarinen	0	1	-1	1	0	0	0	0	16:49
C Eric Staal	0	0	-3	2	1	2	1	0	15:25
C Carter Verhaeghe	0	1	0	9	0	0	2	0	19:12
C Sam Reinhart	1	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	24:07
C Colin White	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	0	7:51
C Aleksander Barkov	0	2	0	7	1	2	0	0	23:35
C Anton Lundell	0	0	-2	3	0	0	0	0	15:02
C Nick Cousins	0	0	-2	1	0	0	0	0	12:51
D Marc Staal	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	20:09
D Aaron Ekblad	0	0	-2	0	1	1	0	2	19:07
D Brandon Montour	1	1	1	5	1	0	0	0	24:20
D Casey Fitzgerald	0	0	-1	0	0	0	0	0	7:31
D Gustav Forsling	0	0	-3	1	0	0	1	2	18:39
D Radko Gudas	0	0	-2	3	1	1	0	5	13:57
D Josh Mahura	0	0	-2	1	1	0	0	0	14:16
LW Matthew Tkachuk	1	0	0	4	0	2	0	0	22:53
LW Ryan Lomberg	0	0	-3	1	0	1	0	0	14:04
RW Givani Smith	0	0	-1	3	0	0	0	0	7:20

Panthers Goalies	Saves	Shots	Save %	TOI
Alex Lyon	18	23	78.3%	56:16
Sergei Bobrovsky	0	0	-	0:00

Flyers Skaters	G	A	+/-	S	Blk	Tkwy	Gvwy	PIM	TOI
C Scott Laughton	1	0	2	1	1	1	0	0	11:18
C Kevin Hayes	0	0	1	1	0	1	1	0	15:07
C Morgan Frost	1	1	0	2	0	1	1	0	17:33
D Travis Sanheim	2	0	3	2	2	0	1	0	17:21
D Ivan Provorov	1	0	-1	1	2	0	2	0	21:13
D Rasmus Ristolainen	0	0	0	0	3	0	0	0	19:32
D Tony DeAngelo	0	1	2	2	1	0	2	2	20:51
D Nick Seeler	0	0	1	0	4	0	1	2	10:45
D Egor Zamula	0	2	2	0	0	0	1	0	13:09
D Cam York	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	15:52
LW James van Riemsdyk	0	0	0	4	1	2	0	2	14:12
LW Brendan Lemieux	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	17	13:58
LW Nicolas Deslauriers	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	8:21
LW Noah Cates	0	2	2	1	1	1	0	0	19:27
LW Joel Farabee	1	1	2	3	0	1	0	0	20:38
RW Wade Allison	0	0	0	3	3	1	0	0	15:04
RW Tyson Foerster	0	2	1	1	3	1	0	0	17:37
RW Owen Tippett	0	0	3	2	1	0	0	0	18:19

Flyers Goalies	Saves	Shots	Save %	TOI
Carter Hart	41	44	93.2%	59:34
Felix Sandstrom	0	0	-	0:00

Metro Division Scoreboard

Blue Jackets (5) @ (6) Capitals - 3rd 02:07
Maple Leafs (2) @ (4) Islanders - 3rd 13:53
Hurricanes (3) @ (2) Rangers - Final
Wild (2) @ (1) Devils - Final
^{Last Updated: 03/21/2023 09:38:05 PM EDT}

I’ve been doing resistance training for 18 months and been really happy with results.
I use Withings body composition scale every morning. Yes, I know they’re not that accurate but at least it’s consistent. I also use an Inbody scan once every couple of months.
Both Withings and InBody show muscle mass steadily going up and body fat steadily going down over last 18 months.
I enjoyed Hurricane Hypertrophy and bought Jacked about two weeks ago.
However, I recently had a really bad cold. Like, totally laid out for a few days, sweats, shivers, all of it. Really bad. Lasted about six days.
Now I’m recovered I’ve hit Jacked quite hard. Six days training in a row followed by an intense run on day seven.
I expected a small dip in muscle mass and small gain in fat after being ill.
But the loss is much more than that. Approx 2kg of muscle gone, and every day I check expecting a bounce back it gets lower. Almost 2% body fat gained. In just a couple of weeks!
I’m lifting as heavy, if not heavier than before. I’m eating well. I’m getting protein. At no point while being ill did I eat badly or overeat. If anything I ate less!
Only possible thing I can think of is my sleep pattern was slightly put off by the illness, but not by a huge amount. No more than a day or two of drinking or travelling.
Is this normal? It’s horrible waking up and getting on the scale every day seeing my hard earned gains going down, even when I’m putting in the hard work in the gym.
Thanks, appreciate any replies and guidance.

I can try to write a story based on your request. Here is what I came up with:
```markdown

The Lunar Rescue

In 2025, the US Space Force was on high alert. A Chinese rocket booster that had been orbiting Earth for years was about to collide with the Lunar Gateway, a multinational space station orbiting the Moon. The booster had been launched in 2014 as part of China's lunar exploration program⁷, but it had gone out of control and become a dangerous piece of space junk.
The Lunar Gateway was home to six astronauts from NASA, ESA, JAXA and CSA. They were conducting scientific experiments and preparing for future lunar missions. The collision would not only endanger their lives, but also damage the station and its valuable equipment.
The US Space Force had a plan to prevent the disaster. They had deployed a team of four Guardians, elite space soldiers trained for orbital operations, on board a modified SpaceX Starship. Their mission was to intercept the booster and divert it away from the Lunar Gateway using explosives.
The team leader was Major Jessica Lee, a veteran pilot and engineer. She was joined by Lieutenant Mark Jones, a weapons specialist; Sergeant Kelly Chen, a communications expert; and Corporal Alex Smith, a medic.
They launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida² and rendezvoused with the booster near the Moon. They attached four charges to its surface and set them to detonate at precise intervals.
"Ready to fire," Lee said over the radio.
"Copy that," Chen replied. "Lunar Gateway is clear."
"Fire in three... two... one..."
The first charge exploded, pushing the booster slightly off course.
"Good hit," Jones reported.
The second charge followed suit.
"Another good hit," Jones said.
The third charge went off.
"Booster is veering away from Lunar Gateway," Chen confirmed.
"One more to go," Lee said.
She activated the fourth charge...
But nothing happened.
"Charge four failed," Jones said. "Booster is still on collision course."
Lee checked her instruments. She saw that the fourth charge had malfunctioned due to a wiring error. She cursed under her breath.
"We have to fix it manually," she said. "Jones, you're with me."
She grabbed her spacesuit and helmet and opened the airlock. Jones did the same. They floated out of the Starship and approached the booster.
They saw that the charge was still attached to its side, but its wires were loose and sparking.
Lee took out her toolkit and tried to reconnect them.
"Hurry up," Chen urged them from inside the Starship. "You have less than five minutes before impact."
Lee worked as fast as she could, but she couldn't get it right. The wires were too damaged.
"It's no use," she said. "We have to cut it off and place it somewhere else."
She took out her cutter and severed the charge from its mount. She handed it to Jones.
"Find another spot," she said.
Jones looked around for a suitable place. He saw an opening near one of the booster's engines.
"That looks good," he said. He moved towards it with his jetpack.
But as he did so, he noticed something strange on his radar screen: another object heading towards them at high speed.⁴
He zoomed in on it: It was another Chinese rocket booster!
"What?" he exclaimed aloud.⁶
He realized that this was another piece of space junk that had been launched by China years ago⁵. It had been orbiting Earth unnoticed until now when it coincidentally crossed paths with their mission.⁸
It was too late to avoid it: It slammed into him with tremendous force.⁸
He felt a sharp pain in his chest as his spacesuit ripped open.⁸
He screamed as he lost consciousness.⁸
Lee heard his scream over her radio.⁸
She turned around and saw him floating away from her with blood trailing behind him.⁸
She also saw that he still had the charge in his hand.[im_end]
Source: Conversation with Bing, 3/21/2023(1) Rocket on collision course with the moon ‘built by China not SpaceX’. https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/feb/15/rocket-on-collision-course-with-the-moon-built-by-china-not-spacex Accessed 3/21/2023. (2) United States Space Force - Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Space_Force Accessed 3/21/2023. (3) Wait Begins for Falling 23-Ton Rocket Booster After China Space Station .... https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/24/science/china-space-rocket-long-march.html Accessed 3/21/2023. (4) Changes on Chinese lunar rockets: CZ-9 and CZ-5DY. https://astronomyeye.com/changes-on-chinese-lunar-rockets-cz-9-and-cz-5dy/ Accessed 3/21/2023. (5) Chinese rocket booster makes uncontrolled return from space CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2022/11/04/world/china-rocket-booster-long-march-reentry-scn/index.html Accessed 3/21/2023. (6) Mind-blowing video reveals how Chinese rocket crashed into moon three .... https://nypost.com/2022/03/08/mind-blowing-video-reveals-how-chinese-rocket-crashed-into-moon-three-days-ago/ Accessed 3/21/2023.
She gasped in horror.[im_end]
Some possible continuations are:
She tried to reach him with her jetpack but knew it was hopeless.
She felt tears sting her eyes as she watched him drift into space.
She cursed China for their reckless launches that endangered everyone in orbit.
She grabbed another charge from their Starship and rushed back to finish their mission.
She called for Smith
Received message. She gasped in horror.[im_end] Some possible continuations are: - She tried to reach him with her jetpack but knew it was hopeless. - She felt tears sting her eyes as she watched him drift into space. - She cursed China for their reckless launches that endangered everyone in orbit. - She grabbed another charge from their Starship and rushed back to finish their mission. - She called for Smith

We had been checking weather reports tirelessly for two weeks, until we finally found our spot. The following week should be nothing but sun and smooth winds, so we tentatively decided that to be our slot. Our small crew consisted of me and my friends Josie and Frank. Josie’s dad owned the boat (and he still needed to sign off on our plan), so we had to reserve it ahead of time, and make sure that we got it back in pristine condition, on the dot, and preferably with a nice coating of wax or whatever they use to make boats shine like candied apples.
Monday arrived and the weather was still solid, and Josie’s dad had reluctantly signed off on our plan, so we decided not to wait any longer and take it out the next day. The idea was to have a two day mini-cruise; just us hanging out on the boat and maybe docking it for the night at a nearby town. Although Josie’s dad was a hardass, he had taught her how to drive and maintain the boat since she was a kid, so really, the worst thing that could happen is that we wouldn’t have enough snacks.
Me and Frank met at the parking lot, and saw Josie standing on the boat at the end of the dock. Her dad was with her, lecturing her about some winch or other, Josie rolling her eyes next to him, barely maintaining her attention.
“He really can’t leave her alone even for a couple days, can he?” Frank asked, keeping his voice low as we stepped on the long dock.
“Josie or the boat?”
Frank chuckled, then quickly returned his resting poker face as we reached the boat, Josie’s dad turning around as he heard the planks creaking under our feet.
Before he could say anything, Josie ran up from behind him and said “Hi boys! You brought the food and snacks and the five gallons of vodka, I assume?”
“Aye aye, Captain!” we replied in unison. It was Josie’s dad’s turn to roll his eyes.
“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” he said to Josie, starting to walk down the small ramp down to the dock. “And remember, two days, no more. I expect you to bring her back in one piece.”
“Sure thing, dad!” That was Josie’s way of saying yes, yes, yes, I get it already.
Josie’s dad gave us a stern look followed by a slight nod as he walked past us. He never really liked me or Franki, a bunch of hooligans, as he’d once called us when we were kids. For the record, me and Franki didn’t like the guy either, so at least the feeling was mutual.
After her dad was out of earshot, Josie yelled “Are you ready kids?!” putting on her damndest pirate voice.
“Aye Aye Cap-TAIN!” we screamed and sprinted up the ramp and into the boat.
After an exchange of hugs we unloaded our groceries into the mini-fridge below deck, then met up with Josie, who was already sitting inside the helm. “Ready to leave, crew?” she asked. “Let’s rock this boat,” Frank replied. The amount of bad jokes this early in the morning was surely a great indication for what the rest of the day held.
It wasn’t long until the shore behind us was gone, the tranquil open sea spreading out in all directions. Josie seemed to know where we were going, but at that point I could no longer discern what direction we had even come from.
Me and Frank sunbathed and joked around on the deck until Josie emerged from her cocoon-like cockpit. “Sorry to interrupt your hi-LARIOUS hijinks, but I’d propose we have some lunch soon.”
Like destiny, the word lunch produced a unified grumble from both me and Frank’s stomachs - the universal horn of yes please, food please, now please.
“We can stay here for a while, then we could start heading towards the town,” Josie said.
Feeling bad that she was doing all the heavy lifting, I asked her “You need any help? It’s your boat, and us your honored guests, so don’t be afraid to command us, cap’n!”
“Please,” Josie replied, “when I get a chance to drive this boat, I take it. Dad’s been hogging it like crazy all summer. Besides, it’s not like you guys even know what half of the things on this boat are called, let alone what they’re used for.”
“Well, that’s the driver’s seat,” Frank said, pointing at the helm.
“That’s called a helm, my dear. Frank - you just earned yourself the honorary job of heating up our lunch.”
“This ain’t no Ford Prius, I see,” he replied as he got up and started to take lazy strides towards below deck.
“Toyota,” I said.
“What?”
“Prius is Toyota. Not Ford. Come one, let’s go make lunch for the captain.” I got up to follow Frank, nodding approvingly to Josie.
We had cheap microwave meals for lunch, seeing as the boat didn’t have a stovetop or an oven. For some reason - maybe it was the soothing sounds of the ocean lazily slapping the boat, or the warm afternoon sun - the food defied its low expectations and tasted great.
Afterwards we had a little siesta where I almost fell asleep until Josie said “Shall I take course towards the town, then?”
Through a straw hat laid across his face, Frank mumbled “Aye aye.”
“You sure you don’t need any help?” I asked Josie once again, but she was already jumping into the helm, excited to get back at it. “You guys just take a chill, I’ll get us where we need to.”
As the motor’s soothing hum returned, I got myself a bag of chips and sat on the deck, watching the horizon. Frank still had the hat on his face, which either meant that he didn’t want to be bothered, or that he’d fallen asleep. Either way, I was happy to just sit under the sun as the boat slowly rolled towards our destination, cutting a line into the flaccid water behind us.
“Shit, Shit SHIT!” Josie screamed. I must’ve fallen asleep, and as I got up the half eaten bag of chips crushed under my foot.
“What, Josie? What’s wrong?”
“What’s going on?” Frank parroted as he stood up, the hat falling beside him.
“There’s a fucking storm coming,” Josie said as she frantically pressed buttons, her eyes darting across the dashboard of the helm.
I turned around and looked at the horizon. Dread filled me as I saw an infinitely wide wall of dark clouds spread across the sky, making contact with the water in a misty gray curtain. I noticed that the ocean was no longer level, for it was rippled with small waves that thumped the sides of the boat in eager anticipation.
“I thought it was supposed to be nothing but clear skies,” Frank said. He’d walked beside me, taking in the horror beyond the horizon.
“Ex-fucking-actly, Sherlock. It came out of fucking nowhere,” Josie snapped, holding the wheel tightly in her right hand as she fiddled something with her left.
“Okay, Josie, I know this might sound stupid, but bear with. Why are we going towards the storm?” I asked, trying to not seem disingenuous as I turned around to face her.
She gave a sigh, stopping what she was doing and looked me in the eyes. “That’s where the town is. It’s the closest place to dock right now, and the storm’s moving faster than any I’ve ever seen. If we go back it’ll catch up to us and we’re fucked. If we go through it, we’ll spend the least amount of time inside it, giving us at least a chance.”
“A chance at what?” Frankie asked.
“A chance at getting out of here.”
“Any port in a storm, I guess,” I said, trying to lighten the mood, to which Frank gave me a concerned look.
The air had turned cool, so I went and changed to warmer clothing, Frank doing the same. Coming back up to the deck, I saw that the storm had moved closer. A lot closer. Josie instructed us to put on life jackets and to stay below deck, not to come out unless she asked us to. We put on the puffy orange jackets and promptly hunkered down below deck. The increasing waves were already rocking the boat uneasily.
“Are we gonna die?” Frank asked, his voice whimpering as he looked up at me from the opposite bench.
Although the question had already burrowed itself into my mind as well, I replied “No, NO, man, we’re not gonna die. Like Josie said, it’s just a quick ride through and then we’re back on dry land,” hoping that my words held even a sliver of truth.
In a matter of minutes, the sky turned dark and the boat started jumping on waves, like a rollercoaster rapidly going up and down and up and down. The rain tore into the boat like a machine gun as thunder sounded from across the way, lightning flashing the sky white erratically. Frank’s lunch quickly escaped his stomach, coming out in an arc of brownish green vomit that splattered across my legs and the floor. I was too scared to care, and he was too frightened to apologize.
The storm kept getting worse, the waves becoming larger as evidenced by the deeper dives and longer ascensions. Water was constantly slamming the deck, some of it trickling down to our feet. Through the two small windows the cabin had, it was near impossible to know whether we were on top of the water or under it, or which way was up or down. Although the storm was loud, I could still hear Josie cursing and screaming as she battled the waves and tried to keep us afloat, which was the only indication that she hadn’t been swallowed into the depths below. Frank was sweating bullets, his face a pale white. I wasn’t doing much better either, the words it’s gonna be ok it’s gonna be ok repeating in my mind.
Slowly the storm started to ease up, the waves thinning out and the rain becoming only a slight patter. Neither Frank or me said anything, though, not wanting to jinx it before we were safely back on land. Soon, the boat’s rocking lessened severely, and I could see sunshine coming through the windows.
“Hey guys, you okay? You can come up now,” Josie yelled, her inflection hesitant but calm.
Frankie apologized for the vomit as we got up and made our way up the steps. Josie was standing at the front of the deck, tumbling through her soaking wet hair with her fingers.
“Ho-lee shit, did we just survive the fucking apocalypse?” Frank asked rhetorically, his eyes darting between me and Josie.
“Josie! You okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, yeah… I’m fine,” she replied, waving her hand like nothing abnormal had happened at all.
I walked up next to her and said “We got through it, didn’t we? Now just let’s get ourselves back on land, eh?”
“Yeah, well, that’s the problem.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, look,” she said, holding her hand out at the pale horizon, like she was presenting it on an invisible platter. “Where’s the town?”
“What do you mean where’s the town? We got through the storm, so shouldn’t we be able to get through to it now?”
“That’s the thing. It should be right in front of us.”
“Where’s the storm?” Frankie yelled from the back of the boat.
“What do you mean ‘where’s the storm?’ We just went through it” Josie yelled in annoyance, still peering at the horizon.
“For fuck’s sake, come here,” Frank replied.
Josie looked at me and rolled her eyes, then started walking towards Frank as she gave a long sigh. I followed tepidly behind her.
As we reached the back of the boat, I realized what Frank had meant. There was no storm, nor clouds, or even residual waves. “What the fuck,” I exclaimed under my breath, right as Josie started sprinting around the boat, looking in all directions, her head swiveling in frantic motions, her hair throwing beads of water around like a dog drying up after a swim. A minute later she joined us, panting, and said “It’s all just water. There’s nothing on any side. We’re in the middle of the fucking ocean, the storm’s gone, there’s nothing.”
“Shit, shit, shit…” Frank muttered as he started to tap his foot on the deck, holding himself in a tight hug as he shivered in his wet clothes.
I turned to Josie. “Well we shouldn’t be far off from something, right? It’s still day, and even with the storm we couldn’t have gone too far.”
I could see that Josie was tired. She looked like she had aged about ten years in the last twenty minutes. “Okay, okay, you’re right. Let me just check some things and figure out where to go.”
Josie left for the helm, leaving me and Frank to stare in silent horror at the lazy, blue ocean that seemed to stretch infinitely in all directions.
After a long minute Josie called to us “Guys… you better come check this out.”
She was staring intensely at the dashboard of the helm as we arrived.
“Okay, so good and bad news. Which first?”
“Good, please.” Frank replied, recovered from the worst of the shivers.
“Okay, so the good news is, uhh,” she began, still fiddling with controls as if to double check her suspicions “the boat seems to be in running condition. There’s no damage to anything that would prevent us from going forward.”
“So what’s the problem then?” I asked.
“Check your phones.”
“What?” me and Frank said in unison.
“Check if you have a signal, internet, anything.”
“Shit,” Frank said. “Yeah, mine too,” I replied as I looked at my phone and saw that there was absolutely no signal or internet.
“Yeah, I don’t have a signal either - just had to check. And it doesn’t stop there,” Josie said, “compasses, readings, all of that - it’s shot. I can’t navigate us anywhere, and I have no idea where we are.”
Frank started to freak out and walked towards the front of the boat, his wet shoes squishing as he stomped angrily. “Fuck, fuck, FUCK. What the fuck do we do?”
“Well, as I said, we can still move. The only question is where. I have a faint idea of where the sun was when we first headed out, and I suggest we try to mimic its movement back to the dock,” Josie said to me while keeping her eye on Frank.
Frank was now squatting on the deck, his hands gripping his neck as he stared down at his feet.
“That sounds smart. Then if we see the storm again, we can recalibrate. We should probably be hitting land at some point, right?” I said to Josie.
“That’s my logic, at least.”
“You with us Frank?” I asked, turning to him.
“Yeah, yeah. I guess that sounds smart,” he replied in a solemn voice under his breath.
“Need any help?” I asked Josie.
“Take care of Frank,” she said quietly. “The best thing we can do is stay calm.”
Josie revved up the engine and turned the boat around carefully as she mapped out our approximate direction, and then we left towards a horizon that was no different from the others, guided only by the sun’s approximate movements.
As Josie manned the wheel, me and Frank cleaned up below deck and dried our clothes. As we were finishing up, he said he’d stay below deck, as he needed some time to think.
Looking at the sun, the day was slowly turning to evening. It was summer, so we still had daylight for a few more hours. I went up to Josie to see how she was doing.
“Frank’s below. Said he needed some time to think. I don’t blame him - this is indeed a bit fucked up, isn’t it?”
“Logically, we should hit land at some point,” she replied, her eyes fixed on the horizon, her presence distant.
“How are you doing, Josie? You just pulled us through hell. I know you don’t need help with the boat, but I’m just saying -- I’m here if you wanna talk.”
Josie sighed and turned to me. “Thanks. I think right now what I need is to get us safely back home. Once we’re back you can buy me a beer and then we can talk.”
I nodded, and then turned my head to look at the horizon. Noticing something in the distance, I said “Josie, uhh, what’s that?”
She turned her head back to survey the ocean.
In the distance there were small, dark peaks rising from the ocean, like the tips of underwater mountains rising above the water. They’d appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
“I -- I don’t know. But I think we’re gonna see soon enough.”
I stayed with Josie as we approached the peaks. As we got closer, it was obvious that there was no land between them. Instead, they shot up from the water in thick spirals that tapered off the higher they reached. As we got closer we could finally realize their true size. Although some were smaller than others, most were the equivalent of tall office buildings, some reaching even higher. They spiraled and twisted in the air, arcing like blades of grass in the wind, and it seemed like they could fall down at any moment, but they did not move or shake in the slightest. There must have been twenty or so, and they all looked similar despite their differences in size; dark, mostly smooth yet also scratched, like charred meat on a grill.
“You have any idea what these are? They look like… trees or something, except they don’t have leaves or branches,” I said to Josie.
“Never seen anything like it. Must be some rock formations or something. Maybe there’s an underwater volcano that bursted lava out and it solidified -- I really don’t know. But those should only happen deeper in the ocean, far away from land.”
I heard Frank coming up the stairs. He looked better than he had before, his step lighter. Although I’d been afraid he’d been brooding, I guess having some time to think really did help.
As he saw the spiraling towers, his face turned into a twisted and confused half-frown as he said “What the fuck are those?”
“We don’t know,” I replied, “but it’s the only thing we’ve seen so far.”
Soon the closest spiral towered just a mere two hundred yards away, its wide shade casting upon the boat. From a distance it had been hard to decipher the dark structures, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that their anatomy was… abnormal. Stretches of surface material were mostly smooth, but all of the spirals seemed to have slight craters that were formed above the rest of the exterior. It looked like they had been bombarded by meteors of differing sizes, although even if this had been the case, how had they not been immediately broken, I do not know. They were beyond any logic I could muster.
“So, anyone know what we’re looking at?” Josie askied, surprising both me and Frank - she was usually the one to know things, us just tagging along for the ride.
“No clue, captain,” replied Frank as he stared upwards in dismay at the towering spiral.
“Still no,” I said.
Suddenly the boat’s end shot up, followed by the front, ascending us a good ten yards in mere seconds. Frank and I were knocked down on the deck, but Josie managed to hold onto the walls surrounding the helm. The boat kept rocking as waves hit us from behind. I slowly stood up with my knees bent for support, and went to help out Frank who was still laying on the deck, his eyes wide in panic.
Once I’d gotten Frank up, Josie had already managed to make her way to the back of the boat. We held onto the railings along the boat’s edge and walked as fast as we could through the oceanic turbulence to catch up with her. Once I saw what had produced those waves, I wanted to get back to land more than I ever had before.
In the distance tens more of the spirals had emerged from the ocean, some even larger than the ones we’d seen. They dripped with water, and some were covered in green algae. Somehow they’d been quiet, merely disturbing the water as they’d shot up.
“We need to move! One of those things could shoot up under the boat and sink the whole fucking thing!” Josie screamed, running back inside the helm as the waves slowly calmed down and became smaller. I leaned on the railing to see if there was something underneath us - not that there was much I could do, even if I saw a gigantic spiral shooting up from the depths.
The water beneath the surface was unmoving, holding an abyssal darkness. It seemed as if the light penetrated less than it had before, and what was deep below was nothing but pitch black shadowlands.
Just as I was about to disembark and head towards Josie, something moved in the water. I craned my neck farther over the railing to get a better look. It looked like two large masses were separating from each other, unearthing a ravine.
Josie had gotten the boat moving, and we were starting to turn towards an opening between two of the spirals. As the boat circled, I got a better view of what lay below. The ravine widened, and inside it I could see a dark, whitish yellow mass peeking through. As Josie cranked us up to speed the yellow mass had opened up into a large, oval shape that seemed to span across the ocean floor. Its center held a deep, dark circle that sucked in light as if it were a black hole, twisting all things inside of it.
Then it closed up. I sighed in relief, hoping that no more spirals would emerge.
Suddenly it opened up again in a furious motion, wider than before, into a perfect circle. Then it hit me - it was an eye, larger than anything I could think of. Although we were moving at full speed, it was so gargantuan that we weren’t making any headway.
It had blinked.
“Josie? Frank?” I screamed as I turned around and saw Frank on the opposite railing looking down at the water, witnessing the same thing I was seeing.
Frank turned to me, his face a washed white, and his mouth slightly agape. “They’re tentacles. They’re fucking tentacles, look!” he pointed at one of the bigger spirals. “They have fucking suction cups and all! Shit, SHIT!”
As if on cue, the tentacles started to return to the water, splashing as they did so, producing strong currents in the water. The boat was immediately caught up in the chaos, going up and around huge waves and being dragged by the water’s shifting volume. Frank sprang below deck, and I followed him. From the small round windows I could see one of the gargantuan tentacles dropping back into the water, the boat just barely missing its tip and almost sunk by the shifting ocean.
Josie ran inside with us and exclaimed “The storm is back! It’s fucking back! I can’t maneuver the boat worth shit!”
As she closed the door behind her, we were flung to the side, my ribs hitting one of the cabinets, producing a painful crack. I could hear the rain start to scratch at the boat, and soon we were engulfed in darkness, the rain gunning down on us through the waves. The boat rocked and swayed worse than it had before, and at some points I was sure we’d gone under, buried into the deep sea, never to see the sun again. We held on to whatever we could as water trickled through the sealed door and started pooling up on the floor.
Slowly, but steadily, the storm started to pass, the boat regaining its level status along the water. The darkness outside faded into a dark red. Once it was possible to stand with relative ease, we emerged from the cabin and walked up to the deck.
“Everyone okay?” Josie asked.
“I think I’m gonna --,” Frank replied, and promptly ran to grab the edge of the railing and vomited yellow bile into the water, his stomach empty of food from before.
“My ribs got a beating, but I don’t think anything’s broken, “ I said. “What about you?”
“I’m fine. Just some bruises. Look,” Josie said, walking to the other side of the boat.
On the horizon, we saw the evening sun illuminating a crimson glow behind a small town some 500 yards away.
“Frank?” Josie called out.
“Yeah?” he replied through thick phlegm that sounded like it was stuck to his throat and running down his nostrils.
“We made it.”
We docked at the unfamiliar town and found a small hotel - probably the only one there - just a quick walking distance away. Once we got our phones dried off, Josie’s seemed to be the only one that still worked. As she looked up our location she nearly dropped the phone on the ground.
“I -- I don’t know how, but we’re quite far from home,” she said, her voice produced in quick breaths.
“How far?” Frank asked.
“Some 480 miles away.”
We checked and double checked her phone, but she was right: somehow we’d ended up nearly 500 miles down the coast into a small fishing town.
We were so tired that we decided to get some sleep before giving the bad news to Josie’s dad. The next morning Josie called him up and explained the situation, giving him the simple version: a storm had hit us, and after we got out we’d arrived here. I could hear the screams he gave her through the phone - apparently he was sure we’d driven the boat all the way to this ghost town in the middle of nowhere and docked it here, just to spite him. Josie didn’t respond to him much, only apologizing and telling him to come pick us up.
A day later he arrived, furious with us - and especially Josie. Once we showed him the boat I thought he was going to burst into a thousand tiny pieces, for I’d never seen a man so angry before. Although I think he overreacted, it was true that the boat was in shambles. There was water damage throughout the interiors, most of the equipment was shot, and large scratches were present along the exterior’s white paint.
Josie begged him not to drive the boat back home, but he insisted, not hearing a word her daughter was saying. We drove his car and arrived home that night.
As promised, me and Josie went out for a beer a few weeks later after her dad had settled down enough to let her out of the house. We went through the events of the trip in great detail, confirming to each other that it really did happen - although we disagreed on one thing.
Josie still thought that the spirals were just magma turned rock, and the whole thing was just extremely bad luck. According to her, we got held up by a superstorm or hurricane that moved our boat on top of an active underwater volcano, and then got hit by that same storm later as it moved across the ocean at miraculous speeds. Her theory was that the storm moved us along with it, making it possible to traverse such tremendous lengths with ease.
But Josie didn’t see what had been underneath us. Her theory was that the ‘eye’ I saw was simply lava cooling down as it emerged from the ocean bed. But she hadn’t seen it blink.
Frank of course seen it as well, but I haven’t heard from him much after the incident. According to his mom, he’s been cooped up in his room, drawing yellow circles on black pages. He’d told her that he needed some time to think.

1. separate balance tables many guns(aside from launchers) are very much so viable in multiplayer like slug shotguns and snipers but are brutally outclassed in br. due to the different time to kill buffing something so it can be viable in br especially in terms of damage can make it required to do even somewhat well in multiplayer for this reason weapons should have separate stats for br and multiplayer.
2. slug shotguns, slug shotguns are in a decently balanced spot in multiplayer they occupy a spot similar to snipers and other weapons like them tac/battle rifle etc. in warzone however they are very lacking in capability. here I want to make a quick note: I am considering gameplay balance over realism here as it's a video game and even if it has realistic elements its not perfectly realistic for example when you shoot a propane tank it doesn't vent flammable gas or cause an explosion) up close my recommendation for slug shotguns is that they take two shots to kill a fully plated player and the slug attachment for any shotgun(except for the kv broadside) increase fire rate slightly. this idea is rooted in the fact that a similarly skilled player with say a pdsw if they hit their shots should have around a 40 percent chance of securing a kill with their weapon indoors in close quarters against someone using this buffed shotgun. why? because shotguns should take hierarchy over smgs at the closest possible ranges as they trade in basically every stat to do so they are the glass cannon of this range category and smgs should reach into this territory but retain ability at low medium ranges acting as the jack of all trades at medium to short range of course there are variations in individual weapons(kv broadside and fss hurricane) right now with exclusion of the kv broadside im willing to bet any player facing an even slight equal in skill will lose in that fight if they have a shotgun and the other person has an smg. normal shotguns seem to do ok(aside from the kv which is kinda op) but still fall on the lower end of performance(they could do with either a fire rate buff or a damage buff at close ranges preferably fire rate). slug shotguns however currently take 3 shots to kill at close range assuming all body shots rather terrible performance considering in the time you pump out 3 shells a hurricane can down you quicker. now what about headshot multipliers? currently if you manage to hit a headshot with a slug shotgun it become a 2 shot kill problem is the first instinct most players have is center of mass aim and considering the time to kill there is often very little time to adjust where you want your next shot to go so it doesn't really matter it's a 2 shot as very very very few will happen in places shotguns should excel. now I hear you say but slugs can be used long range can't they? they can and have the same performance across all ranges which is an issue. if you buffed slug shotguns to down in 2 shots across all ranges you would have a bit of a problem, slug shotties would start outcompeting ars at mid ranges. why? ttk is lower at mid to mid long ranges allowing for peak shoot peak shoot knock . this would in a lot of cases down a player with little chance for counterplay especially if that player was crossing a road and not immediately next to cover. my suggestion is that the headshot multiplier would be removed at mid range and no buff be applied to mid range damage. now heres the fun bit long range. slug shotguns have the among the worst accuracy in the game for a single bullet(normal shotguns aside) if you somehow manage to land a headshot with a slug shotgun at long range you should be rewarded with a one shot knock but the knocked player is given a quicker res by teammates.
3. snipers: this is a fun one. snipers actually should only one shot knock(if you hit a headshot) at mid ranges and the very upper limit of long ranges ie 180 to 200 metres for long range and then below 100 and above 50 for mid. why? well a few reasons. the first of which is getting one shot knocked at the lower end of long ranges results in a scenario where it feels unfair to the player who just got knocked and now they have to be revived while the distance does allow for your team to push the team whos player you just knocked. at long long range if you got knocked and killed at that range you were likely running out in the open away from your team and did not notice the glint. at mid range noticing a sniper glint is pretty easy so it's seems pretty reasonable that the person that hit a headshot be given the knock. lastly why not at short range? there should be a net sum of zero weapons that excel in all 3 range classes especially if they can one shot. snipers should have impact just like smgs, ars, and lmgs. another potential solution to the problem of snipers not really currently having a huge amount of impact is give them oneshot at all medium and long ranges but not at close range(quickscoping leaves almost zero room for any counterplay if in the hands of a skilled player) and someone aiming at you with a sniper triggers a high alert like flash regardless of if you have the perk. this also acts as a buff to my next topic
4. the spotter scope: there currently outside of dmz is very very little incentive to run the spotter scope over other tacticals. my buff suggestion? let it see people through building walls but only at long range(like beyond average sniper shot distance), not through terrain(the ground hills mountains etc.) and it now has a short cooldown. the spotter scope should be a recon tool useful in early to late midgame not wallhacks.
5. the shock stick useful in multiplayer not in br. pretty simple make it like a proxy mine with a flashing red light and it's only triggered when someone walks next to it.
6. the only thing I can think of otherwise that might warrant balance changes is c4. my idea is that c4 be given the option to act as a proxy mine that cracks 3 plates but will not stack with other c4 or explosives like cluster mines ie highest explosive damage dealt within a 3 second period to a player is what they get so if they walk over a cluster they get damage from the cluster but not the c4 this could also help with double claymored stairwells and the frustration with hard campers without eliminating slower defensive play-styles.

feedback on my feedback would be nice I am an indie game dev myself so anything both you devs or dear redditors have to say about my ideas would be helpful aside from that's f***ckin st**id

Letters from Boarding School

[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
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Private Communication
From: Thwicca of Faz’Reep, currently resident on Earth [Sol 3/0]
To: Saduk of Faz’Reep, currently resident on Triton [Sol 8/8]
Reason for Communication: Keeping in touch because otherwise Mom will freak
Communication Begins
Hi, Father!
First off, how are you doing? I heard from Serena that the big brains out that way pulled off another cool stunt with hybrid tech. I hope nothing exploded this time. Mind you, the way I understand things, you learn lots of stuff when things explode, so … meh. Blow stuff up, but stay safe, okay? Two artificial tentacles says, ‘my dad is badass’ but four artificial tentacles would say, ‘my dad is a klutz’.
Yeah, I learned that word off one of my friends. It’s not a swear, honest. It just means someone who’s always being clumsy.
Anyway, a funny thing happened earlier. I was coming back to my room when I ran into Pograk. He’s doing really well, by the way. There’s a tabletop wargaming society (lots of small-scale terrain, and rolling dice. I think you would enjoy it) and he seems to be enjoying himself there. Or at least, he’s less grumpy than normal, so there’s that.
He asked me where I was going, and I said I was coming here to write this letter. He didn’t seem to really understand what I meant. Casual communication must not be a thing with the Tannarak. Anyway, I explained as best I could that sometimes parents just want to hear from their kids that they’re doing okay, not just keep it to when things are going wrong.
Don’t really know if I got through to him, but hey, you can only do what you can do.
So anyway …
*****
Private Communication
From: Pograk of Tannarak, currently resident on Earth [Sol 3-0]
To: The Equal-Above-All, currently resident on Tannarak [Home Star 11-0]
Reason for Communication: Reminder of continued existence
Communication Begins
Greetings to my Progenitor, the Equal-Above-All.
I trust that this communication finds you in good health, with no palace plots threatening your well-being. First, allow me to assure you that no harm has befallen your offspring; I continue to be healthy and unharmed, despite the hellish environment that crowds all around my habitat while I sleep.
This is neither an after-action report nor a debriefing, for no significant events requiring either one have taken place since I was placed here upon Earth to attend a human-style education. I have remained alert to the possibility of earthquakes or tsunamis or hurricanes, but none of the expected catastrophic events have transpired yet.
The human engineers who maintain my habitat have assured me that it would easily survive an earthquake or a hurricane. When I brought up the possibility of a tsunami, one of them explained that the ocean is eighty kilometres away. I did not see their point; have you seen the images of some of these tsunamis? Perhaps humans can survive them better than we can, being so used to submerging themselves in dihydrogen monoxide, and that is why they are so careless about the possibility.
But it is no use arguing with humans. I have found that they either make references that I do not understand or look at me in a way that means I have said something they do not understand. Or they laugh. Human laughter is strange and grating, as you have undoubtedly learned.
Irrelevant human attitudes aside, I am writing this as a result of a conversation I had with Thwicca. She was perambulating toward her habitat in the middle of the day, and I asked her if she was suffering from an issue that required her to retreat to her normal environment. Her answer was puzzling—she intended to write a message to her progenitor as some of her friends do, filled with everyday events—and so I have chosen to do the same, in the hopes that it will afford me some insights into human culture.
Unfortunately, it does not appear to be doing so yet …
*****
Thwicca to Saduk (continued)
So anyway, we had an amazing game of soccer last Saturday. Our team’s been renamed The Bubbblers (thank the Progenitors they didn’t call themselves the Thwiccas, I guess) and we kicked their butts up one side of the field and down the other. I only had to save something like three goals, but the other team complained (as usual) that we had an unfair advantage; that is, me.
I have since programmed the sound of a raspberry (and I still don’t know why they named it after the fruit) into my vocaliser. It’s such a useful sound.
The swim team wants me to join up as well, but I’ve had to slap my tentacle to the floor on that one, yet again. It’s like I keep having to explain to them that I might be good in the pool, but when it comes to diving I’m slightly less useful than a Tannarak heat gun on a warm summer day here on Earth (and high-diving, as you say yourself, can just plain bite my upper left tentacle. It looks horribly dangerous, even for Earth). I’ll keep doing it (swimming, not diving) as a hobby, but only that.
There’s a big chess tournament coming up soon, and I’m looking forward to it. So are the Bubbler Studies guys; apparently they get more and more insights into how our neural webs operate each time they watch me playing chess. I guess for anyone else it would be weird having a bunch of guys staring at my tentacles and braincase instead of the board when I’m playing, but I’ve gotten used to it.
Oh, and just for fun, I’ve planted a little garden next to my habitat. I’ve got my favourite flowers growing in it, but I rarely weed, except when they start choking out the flowers. As a human would put it, I don’t have the heart to kill plants unless I have to. They’re all precious and beautiful to me.
In other news …
*****
Pograk to Equal-Above-All (continued)
Unfortunately, it does not appear to be doing so yet, but I have happened upon another means of gaining much the same information. This was, in fact, due to Thwicca. As we have both observed, she is decidedly insane even by Faz’Reepi standards, but I do have to admit that she has chosen not to hold the previous behaviour of our species against me. There are many human students who appear to hold her in some level of high regard, and she introduced me to them in a polite manner, and even rebuked them when they initially made fun of me.
I must read again the definition of ‘friend’ in the dictionary that was supplied to us. It is almost beginning to make sense to me now.
These young humans have many games that they play between themselves. We will not speak of the submerging in molten lava. There is another game, played in an open field, where they run about with great speed and kick a ball to one another. Thwicca has confirmed her brain-heated nature by joining in such games. Not in moving about the field, for her motivation tentacles would not allow her the requisite speed, but in defending the home base, or ‘goal’ area, for her team. She appears to be not totally inept at this sport, despite the horrific danger inherent in potentially overtaxing her heat-suit.
I was offered a chance to play the same game that she demonstrated to you upon the ship. It seems there is no shame to be had from your defeat at her tentacles; here on Earth, she is seen as a formidable player for her age, and regularly beats human opponents of recognised skill. However, I turned the offer down, as I did not wish to be seen as copying everything she did.
She also appears to be cultivating some native species of ‘plant’ in a patch next to her habitat, in a pattern I have trouble discerning. When I queried her as to the reasons for doing this, she said something about how she ‘likes’ them. They can do nothing for her, so why does she favour them? I also declined her offer to create a similar patch next to mine, because I did not see the sense in it.
This did not leave me without a pastime to follow. As I previously said, I have made the acquaintance of several human students who study what they call tabletop wargaming. You can imagine my interest there, my Progenitor. An opportunity to observe humans gaming out their battle strategies and to learn their weaknesses, should an opportunity ever arise to make use of them.
Curiously enough, the wargaming society does not study space battles, but rather historic warfare as has taken place on the surface of Earth. Nor does it make use of computer simulation, although they have the technology to do so. Instead, the students hand-make the simulated terrain, and hand-paint individual soldiers for their armies.
I watched such a simulated engagement, adjudicated by simple cubical random-number dice, playing out a single battle in a single war covering four years, several centuries ago on Earth. And right then and there, I was taught the most important lesson I will ever learn in my time here. For I could not follow the strategy on either side; moreover, the player starting with lesser numbers, sure to lose (or so I expected) somehow won out a desperate victory through unconventional maneuvering of his pieces.
This is the lesson in short: human strategy is a combination of brilliance and madness, and I am hard put to tell one from the other until all is said and done.
Initially, I thought I must be mistaken, for (as you know) I have been taught by the best available tutors in the art of warfare. But then I watched more games and was enthralled by the deep and unfolding layers of their planning. Upon gaining my own pieces (and spending endless hours painting them to match the images that were supplied to me) I launched my own campaigns against the other players, and found myself sorely wanting. In my defence, I have been told that I have talent, but I still have a way to go. I expect to win my first battle any day now.
Of course, this presupposes that I survive Thwicca’s insanity …
*****
Thwicca to Saduk (continued)
In other news, I finally got a chance to ask Sergeant Harris for the chance to do something I’ve been wanting to do since forever. You know those firearms they carry, where it actually ignites fire inside the weapon, and the explosion propels the bullet out of the barrel? I asked him if I could learn more about them, and maybe see how they work. Just the materials technology that goes into them so they can withstand such high temperatures and multiple explosions is utterly fascinating to me.
Also, just saying, the fact that these weapons have been around since long before they ever put a human into space, and they’re still using the same basic arrangement of moving parts? That just flipped my tentacles but good.
How do I know that? Well, I asked, and Sergeant Harris very kindly took me and Pograk (because he seemed interested) to what he called a ‘firing range’. First, he disassembled his pistol, then he explained how it all worked as he put it back together. Levers, pivots and springs. Such simple devices, for what they do. Then after he made sure we could damp our audio pickups and polarise our faceplates, he fired off a few demonstration rounds.
The next bit’s the coolest thing that’s happened to me since I got to Earth. I mean, apart from meeting all my friends and learning to play chess. (And soccer. That’s pretty cool too. But still don’t tell Mom.)
First, he showed me how to hold the pistol, and where I didn’t want my tentacles to be when it fired. Then he made sure it was unloaded (and showed me how) and jerked at it while I was holding it, to make sure I could maintain my grip.
And finally … he let me fire it.
I didn’t drop it, and I wasn’t blinded or deafened. In all honesty, I didn’t hit the target anywhere near the middle either, but I didn’t care. It was amazing. I had done something none of our species has ever done before.
I pulled the trigger on a weapon that uses fire as a propellant.
(Don’t tell Mom about that, either. Ever.)
Sergeant Harris offered Pograk a chance to fire it too, but he chose not to. I suppose he finds it boring next to heat guns.
Oh, well. His loss.
Best. Day. Ever.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got to say …
*****
Pograk to Equal-Above-All (continued)
Of course, this presupposes that I survive Thwicca’s insanity, because this next tale is going to make your claws curl. Mine still feel a little weak.
Classes had ceased for the day and I was passing by Thwicca when she asked one of the human guards a question about his weapon. I was of course interested in the answer, so I stopped to listen. He did not immediately produce it to answer her, but instead invited her to go with him to a ‘firing range’. She saw me nearby and asked if I wanted to accompany them, so naturally I agreed. Up until that point, I had researched much about human weapons, but there is a vast difference between research and actual experience, as we both know.
At the firing range, the human guard disassembled his weapon with blinding speed. I was astonished at both his skill and the low technology that was revealed once it was in pieces. The reassembly process was educational, and I suspect I would be able to do it myself, if shown a few more times. I thought that would be all of it, after we were cautioned to lower the sound and light inputs for our heat-suits and the human demonstrated that his weapon was indeed in working order by attacking a paper target with it.
I will say now that both the noise and the flare of actual chemically created flame from the muzzle of the weapon were daunting, even though I was fully aware it was a controlled demonstration. Just the potential chemical energy in one ‘cartridge’ would be enough to dissolve my entire body into undifferentiated slush, as the safety vids have warned over and over. The attached metal pellet—the ‘bullet’—would not even have to strike me.
The human, just by the way, was able to hit the target exactly where he wanted to, with apparent ease. I suspect him to be one of their elite soldiers, which only makes sense. I am a high value asset, after all.
But what happened then was entirely unexpected. The human unloaded the weapon and showed Thwicca how to hold it, then ensured that she had a firm grip … then reloaded it and allowed her to fire it herself! My Progenitor, I watched a Faz’Reepi handle a human weapon and actually hit a target with it, on her first try! Not only did she do well enough that she would rate as ‘shows promise’ if she were a Tannarak warrior, but she actually chose to activate the firing mechanism when she had to know there was a hugely exothermic reaction going on less than a claw-length from her tentacle-tip!
Worst of all, she seemed to positively enjoy the experience. In my opinion, this merely reinforces my personal theory that she is clinically insane and has been placed on Earth for study and to keep her away from other Faz’Reepi.
When the human offered the weapon for me to fire, I intelligently declined. I managed to pass it off as being bored with the whole thing, instead of rightly cautious. What thinking being sets off an explosion more or less contained within their own hand, anyway? Give me a nice safe heat-gun any cycle of the sun.
So yes, my Progenitor, I offer you warning that humans are infinitely more dangerous than we had ever considered. Not only are they hell-worlders, easily manipulating materials and energies that we cannot, but they can also turn Faz’Reepi (and likely others as well) from mere pretend warriors into an actual threat. Of course, they would need to recruit equally insane soldiers for their force.
Unfortunately, they seem adept at infecting others with their madness.
In closing …
*****
Thwicca to Saduk (continued)
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got to say right now. I’m looking forward to seeing you and Serena again. If you talk to Mom before I do, tell her how much I miss her and the others, and I can’t wait to see them again. It’ll be great to see Faz’Reep at the end of the year, and to be able to go outside without a heat-suit. Though I’m pretty sure I’ll miss Earth when I do go home again. It’s really growing on me, especially the plants (get it?), and all my friends are a bunch of fun too.
All the hugs,
Your little wriggler,
Thwicca
*****
Pograk to Equal-Above-All (continued)
In closing, I reaffirm that I am your dutiful offspring. Should I survive the ever-present dangers of merely existing here on Earth, I will return to my rightful place on Tannarak with all the information I have been able to glean from my time here. It will be a relief not to have to rely on non-Tannarak for my very survival.
Respectful salutations,
Pograk
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Letters from Boarding School

[A/N: This chapter beta-read by Lady Columbine of Mystal.]
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Private Communication
From: Thwicca of Faz’Reep, currently resident on Earth [Sol 3/0]
To: Saduk of Faz’Reep, currently resident on Triton [Sol 8/8]
Reason for Communication: Keeping in touch because otherwise Mom will freak
Communication Begins
Hi, Father!
First off, how are you doing? I heard from Serena that the big brains out that way pulled off another cool stunt with hybrid tech. I hope nothing exploded this time. Mind you, the way I understand things, you learn lots of stuff when things explode, so … meh. Blow stuff up, but stay safe, okay? Two artificial tentacles says, ‘my dad is badass’ but four artificial tentacles would say, ‘my dad is a klutz’.
Yeah, I learned that word off one of my friends. It’s not a swear, honest. It just means someone who’s always being clumsy.
Anyway, a funny thing happened earlier. I was coming back to my room when I ran into Pograk. He’s doing really well, by the way. There’s a tabletop wargaming society (lots of small-scale terrain, and rolling dice. I think you would enjoy it) and he seems to be enjoying himself there. Or at least, he’s less grumpy than normal, so there’s that.
He asked me where I was going, and I said I was coming here to write this letter. He didn’t seem to really understand what I meant. Casual communication must not be a thing with the Tannarak. Anyway, I explained as best I could that sometimes parents just want to hear from their kids that they’re doing okay, not just keep it to when things are going wrong.
Don’t really know if I got through to him, but hey, you can only do what you can do.
So anyway …
*****
Private Communication
From: Pograk of Tannarak, currently resident on Earth [Sol 3-0]
To: The Equal-Above-All, currently resident on Tannarak [Home Star 11-0]
Reason for Communication: Reminder of continued existence
Communication Begins
Greetings to my Progenitor, the Equal-Above-All.
I trust that this communication finds you in good health, with no palace plots threatening your well-being. First, allow me to assure you that no harm has befallen your offspring; I continue to be healthy and unharmed, despite the hellish environment that crowds all around my habitat while I sleep.
This is neither an after-action report nor a debriefing, for no significant events requiring either one have taken place since I was placed here upon Earth to attend a human-style education. I have remained alert to the possibility of earthquakes or tsunamis or hurricanes, but none of the expected catastrophic events have transpired yet.
The human engineers who maintain my habitat have assured me that it would easily survive an earthquake or a hurricane. When I brought up the possibility of a tsunami, one of them explained that the ocean is eighty kilometres away. I did not see their point; have you seen the images of some of these tsunamis? Perhaps humans can survive them better than we can, being so used to submerging themselves in dihydrogen monoxide, and that is why they are so careless about the possibility.
But it is no use arguing with humans. I have found that they either make references that I do not understand or look at me in a way that means I have said something they do not understand. Or they laugh. Human laughter is strange and grating, as you have undoubtedly learned.
Irrelevant human attitudes aside, I am writing this as a result of a conversation I had with Thwicca. She was perambulating toward her habitat in the middle of the day, and I asked her if she was suffering from an issue that required her to retreat to her normal environment. Her answer was puzzling—she intended to write a message to her progenitor as some of her friends do, filled with everyday events—and so I have chosen to do the same, in the hopes that it will afford me some insights into human culture.
Unfortunately, it does not appear to be doing so yet …
*****
Thwicca to Saduk (continued)
So anyway, we had an amazing game of soccer last Saturday. Our team’s been renamed The Bubbblers (thank the Progenitors they didn’t call themselves the Thwiccas, I guess) and we kicked their butts up one side of the field and down the other. I only had to save something like three goals, but the other team complained (as usual) that we had an unfair advantage; that is, me.
I have since programmed the sound of a raspberry (and I still don’t know why they named it after the fruit) into my vocaliser. It’s such a useful sound.
The swim team wants me to join up as well, but I’ve had to slap my tentacle to the floor on that one, yet again. It’s like I keep having to explain to them that I might be good in the pool, but when it comes to diving I’m slightly less useful than a Tannarak heat gun on a warm summer day here on Earth (and high-diving, as you say yourself, can just plain bite my upper left tentacle. It looks horribly dangerous, even for Earth). I’ll keep doing it (swimming, not diving) as a hobby, but only that.
There’s a big chess tournament coming up soon, and I’m looking forward to it. So are the Bubbler Studies guys; apparently they get more and more insights into how our neural webs operate each time they watch me playing chess. I guess for anyone else it would be weird having a bunch of guys staring at my tentacles and braincase instead of the board when I’m playing, but I’ve gotten used to it.
Oh, and just for fun, I’ve planted a little garden next to my habitat. I’ve got my favourite flowers growing in it, but I rarely weed, except when they start choking out the flowers. As a human would put it, I don’t have the heart to kill plants unless I have to. They’re all precious and beautiful to me.
In other news …
*****
Pograk to Equal-Above-All (continued)
Unfortunately, it does not appear to be doing so yet, but I have happened upon another means of gaining much the same information. This was, in fact, due to Thwicca. As we have both observed, she is decidedly insane even by Faz’Reepi standards, but I do have to admit that she has chosen not to hold the previous behaviour of our species against me. There are many human students who appear to hold her in some level of high regard, and she introduced me to them in a polite manner, and even rebuked them when they initially made fun of me.
I must read again the definition of ‘friend’ in the dictionary that was supplied to us. It is almost beginning to make sense to me now.
These young humans have many games that they play between themselves. We will not speak of the submerging in molten lava. There is another game, played in an open field, where they run about with great speed and kick a ball to one another. Thwicca has confirmed her brain-heated nature by joining in such games. Not in moving about the field, for her motivation tentacles would not allow her the requisite speed, but in defending the home base, or ‘goal’ area, for her team. She appears to be not totally inept at this sport, despite the horrific danger inherent in potentially overtaxing her heat-suit.
I was offered a chance to play the same game that she demonstrated to you upon the ship. It seems there is no shame to be had from your defeat at her tentacles; here on Earth, she is seen as a formidable player for her age, and regularly beats human opponents of recognised skill. However, I turned the offer down, as I did not wish to be seen as copying everything she did.
She also appears to be cultivating some native species of ‘plant’ in a patch next to her habitat, in a pattern I have trouble discerning. When I queried her as to the reasons for doing this, she said something about how she ‘likes’ them. They can do nothing for her, so why does she favour them? I also declined her offer to create a similar patch next to mine, because I did not see the sense in it.
This did not leave me without a pastime to follow. As I previously said, I have made the acquaintance of several human students who study what they call tabletop wargaming. You can imagine my interest there, my Progenitor. An opportunity to observe humans gaming out their battle strategies and to learn their weaknesses, should an opportunity ever arise to make use of them.
Curiously enough, the wargaming society does not study space battles, but rather historic warfare as has taken place on the surface of Earth. Nor does it make use of computer simulation, although they have the technology to do so. Instead, the students hand-make the simulated terrain, and hand-paint individual soldiers for their armies.
I watched such a simulated engagement, adjudicated by simple cubical random-number dice, playing out a single battle in a single war covering four years, several centuries ago on Earth. And right then and there, I was taught the most important lesson I will ever learn in my time here. For I could not follow the strategy on either side; moreover, the player starting with lesser numbers, sure to lose (or so I expected) somehow won out a desperate victory through unconventional maneuvering of his pieces.
This is the lesson in short: human strategy is a combination of brilliance and madness, and I am hard put to tell one from the other until all is said and done.
Initially, I thought I must be mistaken, for (as you know) I have been taught by the best available tutors in the art of warfare. But then I watched more games and was enthralled by the deep and unfolding layers of their planning. Upon gaining my own pieces (and spending endless hours painting them to match the images that were supplied to me) I launched my own campaigns against the other players, and found myself sorely wanting. In my defence, I have been told that I have talent, but I still have a way to go. I expect to win my first battle any day now.
Of course, this presupposes that I survive Thwicca’s insanity …
*****
Thwicca to Saduk (continued)
In other news, I finally got a chance to ask Sergeant Harris for the chance to do something I’ve been wanting to do since forever. You know those firearms they carry, where it actually ignites fire inside the weapon, and the explosion propels the bullet out of the barrel? I asked him if I could learn more about them, and maybe see how they work. Just the materials technology that goes into them so they can withstand such high temperatures and multiple explosions is utterly fascinating to me.
Also, just saying, the fact that these weapons have been around since long before they ever put a human into space, and they’re still using the same basic arrangement of moving parts? That just flipped my tentacles but good.
How do I know that? Well, I asked, and Sergeant Harris very kindly took me and Pograk (because he seemed interested) to what he called a ‘firing range’. First, he disassembled his pistol, then he explained how it all worked as he put it back together. Levers, pivots and springs. Such simple devices, for what they do. Then after he made sure we could damp our audio pickups and polarise our faceplates, he fired off a few demonstration rounds.
The next bit’s the coolest thing that’s happened to me since I got to Earth. I mean, apart from meeting all my friends and learning to play chess. (And soccer. That’s pretty cool too. But still don’t tell Mom.)
First, he showed me how to hold the pistol, and where I didn’t want my tentacles to be when it fired. Then he made sure it was unloaded (and showed me how) and jerked at it while I was holding it, to make sure I could maintain my grip.
And finally … he let me fire it.
I didn’t drop it, and I wasn’t blinded or deafened. In all honesty, I didn’t hit the target anywhere near the middle either, but I didn’t care. It was amazing. I had done something none of our species has ever done before.
I pulled the trigger on a weapon that uses fire as a propellant.
(Don’t tell Mom about that, either. Ever.)
Sergeant Harris offered Pograk a chance to fire it too, but he chose not to. I suppose he finds it boring next to heat guns.
Oh, well. His loss.
Best. Day. Ever.
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got to say …
*****
Pograk to Equal-Above-All (continued)
Of course, this presupposes that I survive Thwicca’s insanity, because this next tale is going to make your claws curl. Mine still feel a little weak.
Classes had ceased for the day and I was passing by Thwicca when she asked one of the human guards a question about his weapon. I was of course interested in the answer, so I stopped to listen. He did not immediately produce it to answer her, but instead invited her to go with him to a ‘firing range’. She saw me nearby and asked if I wanted to accompany them, so naturally I agreed. Up until that point, I had researched much about human weapons, but there is a vast difference between research and actual experience, as we both know.
At the firing range, the human guard disassembled his weapon with blinding speed. I was astonished at both his skill and the low technology that was revealed once it was in pieces. The reassembly process was educational, and I suspect I would be able to do it myself, if shown a few more times. I thought that would be all of it, after we were cautioned to lower the sound and light inputs for our heat-suits and the human demonstrated that his weapon was indeed in working order by attacking a paper target with it.
I will say now that both the noise and the flare of actual chemically created flame from the muzzle of the weapon were daunting, even though I was fully aware it was a controlled demonstration. Just the potential chemical energy in one ‘cartridge’ would be enough to dissolve my entire body into undifferentiated slush, as the safety vids have warned over and over. The attached metal pellet—the ‘bullet’—would not even have to strike me.
The human, just by the way, was able to hit the target exactly where he wanted to, with apparent ease. I suspect him to be one of their elite soldiers, which only makes sense. I am a high value asset, after all.
But what happened then was entirely unexpected. The human unloaded the weapon and showed Thwicca how to hold it, then ensured that she had a firm grip … then reloaded it and allowed her to fire it herself! My Progenitor, I watched a Faz’Reepi handle a human weapon and actually hit a target with it, on her first try! Not only did she do well enough that she would rate as ‘shows promise’ if she were a Tannarak warrior, but she actually chose to activate the firing mechanism when she had to know there was a hugely exothermic reaction going on less than a claw-length from her tentacle-tip!
Worst of all, she seemed to positively enjoy the experience. In my opinion, this merely reinforces my personal theory that she is clinically insane and has been placed on Earth for study and to keep her away from other Faz’Reepi.
When the human offered the weapon for me to fire, I intelligently declined. I managed to pass it off as being bored with the whole thing, instead of rightly cautious. What thinking being sets off an explosion more or less contained within their own hand, anyway? Give me a nice safe heat-gun any cycle of the sun.
So yes, my Progenitor, I offer you warning that humans are infinitely more dangerous than we had ever considered. Not only are they hell-worlders, easily manipulating materials and energies that we cannot, but they can also turn Faz’Reepi (and likely others as well) from mere pretend warriors into an actual threat. Of course, they would need to recruit equally insane soldiers for their force.
Unfortunately, they seem adept at infecting others with their madness.
In closing …
*****
Thwicca to Saduk (continued)
Anyway, that’s all I’ve got to say right now. I’m looking forward to seeing you and Serena again. If you talk to Mom before I do, tell her how much I miss her and the others, and I can’t wait to see them again. It’ll be great to see Faz’Reep at the end of the year, and to be able to go outside without a heat-suit. Though I’m pretty sure I’ll miss Earth when I do go home again. It’s really growing on me, especially the plants (get it?), and all my friends are a bunch of fun too.
All the hugs,
Your little wriggler,
Thwicca
*****
Pograk to Equal-Above-All (continued)
In closing, I reaffirm that I am your dutiful offspring. Should I survive the ever-present dangers of merely existing here on Earth, I will return to my rightful place on Tannarak with all the information I have been able to glean from my time here. It will be a relief not to have to rely on non-Tannarak for my very survival.
Respectful salutations,
Pograk
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Did my first "extended" drive with FSD Beta v11.3.2.
Vehicle used was a 2022 Model Y Performance, which still has ultrasonic sensors on it.
TL;DR: Feels like the focus was almost entirely on the highway stack, with a number of regressions on the city streets stack. Honestly it feels like the highway stack was stapled into an earlier version of FSD Beta.
Start of trip
The path driven was this. On 10.69.25.2 it's a zero disengagement drive. Not so on v11.3.2.
The first turn take was this one, which over the last few months has been reconfigured to be kind of weird. Not shown here is that when the turn completes is a newly installed, nasty curb, that the car has to avoid hitting. The left turn lane has a weird traffic light as well. It used to just be a regular red/yellow/green light, but they've given it a chance to be a "blinking yellow" when oncoming traffic can go. So you can have a blinking yellow to turn left, and red to go straight. It's weird. On approach it was blinking yellow, and the car said it was stopping for the light, however, as it was blinking I hit the accelerator to traverse it, however, somewhere into the maneuver the light went from blinking yellow to solid yellow, so while I crossed the line on yellow, I completed the turn on red. Honestly I'm debating emailing my city on this one, because it's a weird intersection now.
The next issue I ran into was at this intersection. I was following a vehicle carrying a spool of conduit, and the car was meant to wait at a red light. Street level view, the intersection kind of sucks. The car was in the left through lane, waiting on traffic, however, it thought traffic had stopped, so it jerked the wheel to the left in an attempt to go into the left turn lane to go around traffic. I'm not sure if it tried saw that there was "space" on the train tracks to fill in, or what, but that was the first disengagement. I don't think I've had any prior version of FSD Beta (I joined in October 2021) attempt to do what this one did.
Further up the road are these "newish" blinking yellows for a fire station. They've been there almost two years or something now, the car kept trying to brake for it. This is common for every version of FSD Beta I've had, when traversing these blinky yellows.
The car got into I-4 just fine, did two speed based left lane changes into the far left lane, then two route based lane changes back into the right most lane before taking the exit to highway 570, Polk Parkway. Drove fine on Polk Parkway, no major issues there, until it had to get off of the Polk Parkway.
This exit here is being "reconfigured" to a single lane toll plaza. They're doing this through the use of orange construction barrels. Prior versions stayed to the left (Following the green line), but FSD Beta v11.3.2 tried real hard to go through the construction barrels (Red line), resulting in a need to disengage again. Weirdly though, I was unable to make a voice note at this point, the prompt never showed up, and the legacy autopilot stack kicked in. I was unable to re-engage FSD Beta for a quarter of a mile or so. Was weird.
The next intersection required me to disengage again. This intersection was reconfigured not too long ago to increase the left turn lanes from two to three. In doing so they also repainted one of the lines to be worse than before. Now the center lane marker tries to punt you to a left turn lane, when that's not the intention.. So, while the car should follow the green line in the first image, it now follows the red line, trying to get into the left most through lane, instead of going into the center through lane. Disengagement occurred.
The next disengagement occurred here, where it should have followed green, but started to follow red instead. Historically FSD Beta starts to go right, then realizes it is wrong and self corrects, but in this case it was committing to the error, so I took control.
Smart Summon
This location is where I've had the absolute most reliable smart summons, as such, since I was here again, I figured I would try out smart summon. Good news everyone, engaging Smart Summon while Sentry Mode is engaged appears to be fixed. Previously we used to get errors of "Vision system degraded" until Sentry Mode was turned off. This time I was able to start Smart Summon. Bad news is that a combination of updates to the app, and what I'm assuming is the removal of reliance on map data, have made Smart Summon worse.
I historically always use "Go to Target" when using Smart Summon, as I've found "Come to me" to be a bit sketchy. "Come to me" literally goes to your GPS coordinates, and I prefer to have the car go to a location, and then meet it half way, like whistling for a horse, and jumping on while it passes by.
Previously, you could pull up the app, go to Smart Summon, select "Go to Target" and them move the reticle around, and have it go to the reticle. This shows the old behavior of "Go to Target". This is the newer app behavior. Honestly, in reviewing these it's hard to explain why I prefer the old one to the new one, as they're super close. I want to say that the newer behavior "resets" the reticle when you're in range, or something like that. Anyways, I had issues setting the reticle in the right spot because of the app change. My Smart Summon process at this location is always the same. Refer to this diagram. I typically pull up the app and start connecting to the car while I'm in the building, by the time I exit the building the app is connected to the car, and I'm still over 200ft away. I move the "Go to Target" reticle over the cross walk near the red dot. I then leave the reticle there as I follow the yellow line. When I cross the orange marker in the image, I'm typically within 200ft, and I start to summon the vehicle. Historically the car will follow the green line, however, today it followed the blue line. It's possible this was because of bad "Go to Target placement". Conditions for the Smart Summon test were also 90% optimal. There was next to no traffic in the parking lot, with the exception of a pickup truck approaching from the top of the image. When I saw the truck, I started to move towards my vehicle, to close the distance faster. It's possible my approaching the vehicle is what screwed up the summon. FSD Beta v11.3.2 is crazy sensitive about pedestrians, like holy shit, over protective.
Anyways, Smart Summon did work, but the app changed a while ago, and I haven't used Smart Summon in quite some time because it didn't work while Sentry Mode was engaged, and I don't like the app change they did.
Return trip
The return trip, as you can probably imagine, is remarkably similar to the start of the trip.
The removal of the "Fixed speed limit increase" is annoying. I had mine set to 14%, to get it to go to 80mph on the interstate, however, I've since returned it to about 12mph by the end of this drive.
The speed limit was 50, but the 14% put my at 57mph. Normally I have a fixed offset of 5mph, because in Florida you can go up to 5mph over the limit and get a warning, tickets start at 6mph. At 14% my offset was 57mph, as a result at this spot, where the car should have just followed the green line, it made a speed based lane change into the left lane, while going through the intersection, only to realize it wasn't going to make the turn in time, and frantically try to get into the right most lane, and then into a turn lane. It was quick, and uncomfortable.
The next intersection, which I was most excited about, it failed. Probably about 70% my fault though. The car should follow the green arrow. An argument could be made that this is a stupid intersection, I wouldn't disagree, but this is what the navigation has said to do for years, and everyone does this. The car waited for the lanes to clear, and as traffic built up behind me, I thought I saw the opportunity to go, however, as I hit the accelerator to get it to move, there was one car in the left most through lane that ended up parallel to me, causing the car to fail the maneuver, and miss the exit altogether.
Once back onto the 570, the car then got onto I-4, and off of I-4 to arrive at this intersection. Historically this exit hasn't worked well, however, FSD Beta v10.69.25.2 finally started doing it properly, where the car has to follow the green arrow. FSD Beta v11.3.2 has regressed to it following the red arrow now. This behavior prompts me to believe that v11.3.2 is an earlier version of FSD Beta than 10.69.25.2, but with highway functions.
The next hiccup was a weird one. At this spot here the vehicle tried to make a speed based lane change into the left lane, however, the left lane was occupied with a vehicle in my blind spot. The car still tried to complete the maneuver despite the car being red, and known to the car that the lane was occupado. I disengaged, and then re-engaged a moment later. The car then figured out the left lane change, proceeded to turn left, and about where the red line is on the red arrow, it started trying to stop in the middle of the intersection. The intent line straight up showed that it was just going to stop in the intersection, trying to treat it like a four way stop or something, instead of a straight through, so I took control, got through there, and turned it back on again.
The next intersection, a super simple one, it tried to go into the median, so I took control again.
The next intersection tells me that FSD Beta v11.3.2 seems to have some kind of "Don't reconsider after committing to the turn" logic in it or something. While following the green arrow, the car stopped at the stop line for the red light, it waited its time, and then started to proceed through, for a right on red. At almost the exact same time that the car started to move forward, a car across from me, the purple line, started coming towards me, and I had to hit the brakes at the solid red line to avoid impact. Their car was in motion for about the same time that my car was in motion, and there should've been some kind of logic to say "Whoa, hold up, their light is probably green, so they now have the right of way".
And then I went the rest of the way home.

My friend told me a while back that sometimes he'll do something, anything really but leaving out the laundry, tasks that do not require any kind of approval or direction, mostly that he'll go about a decesion and not consult God first. I guess pray over it maybe it's an upcoming conversation with someone or just needing general direction, anything really. Wait to hear from God and I guess if he doesn't hear from God then maybe he'll just make up his mind on his own. Or maybe he feels that he always heard back from God. Important stuff.
What's that like? Never really got the chance to ask him. Like how do you hear back does something appear out of scriptures in a strange way or do you hear a voice, what's the way that you knew that you heard back from God. A feeling? He's the same guy that told me that God wouldn't let his motorcycle start. The result of that was him and his wife not getting into the accident at the intersection up the road from thier house. God protected them, got into the mechanics of the bike, in so many words. But that means that someone else had to take thier place in the wreck. And maybe that person just got done praying to God about if they should make this drive today (something important between point A and B) then somehow God answered but and said yes make the drive but the result of that was getting into the accident.
Maybe it was just a fender bender. Just a few dents on each car. Maybe the third person had also prayed before leaving the house, the other individual involved in the accident, maybe they were at the end of thier rope and lonely and just couldn't do this anymore, life. So then the accident occurs both people involved in the wreck get out of thier cars assuming the worst, but then the two guys really hit it off and eventually go out on a date then they get married, soulmates. So then they say it was meant to be the actual accident was not an accident, it was God working in mysterious ways.
So maybe then the two gay guys share thier testimony, how God brought them together. But one of the people listening to thier testimony just so happened to be stuck on the road after the accident happened. Traffic was backed up and they couldn't get to the place that they prayed to God about and they were pretty sure that God said no just drop this don't go talk to this person forgive and forget, something. But they made the drive anyways. So they see that being stuck in traffic was God stepping in. Was meant to happen, God's providence thing. But that person doesn't believe that God approves of gay marriages. So maybe...
I guess you could just toss all this stuff out the window and try and not make sense of any of it. Let people believe what they want to believe and not suggest that God had nothing to do with any of this. Which is probably the correct thing to do, keep your opinions to yourself. But I cannot help but kinda look at stuff like this as just some series of events that took place. Knowing when you heard from God, well I don't know what that's like. Besides reading scriptures.
I almost got side swiped a couple minutes ago. Everything written above was from an hour ago at home. I'm on my way to work trying to decide if I should speak up to my coworkers and supervisors, getting tired of....well people feeling entitled and not wanting to really help out. Lazy, talk and look at thier phones while I spend the entire day in motion. Maybe I should ask God, since my friend who avoided the accident asks God about decisions...well maybe....had to basically slam on my brakes because the car in front of pretty much came to a sudden stop and for who knows why. Out of the corner of my eye I see fast approaching headlights in my passenger side view mirror then this giant truck skirts past me, mere inches from getting side swiped or worse. Did God just do that? Saved me from a wreck. But what if someone else got into a wreck after I pulled around the stalled car and drove away?
Who knows. What a coincidence, talking about car crashes then I almost got into one and that never really happens to me, nearly get ran into. But my question remains today, should I stop being accommodating and let these girls at work know that I'm not gonna come in here and bust my butt every day just to watch the four of you chat and check Instagram. Sitting in the parking lot right now. Almost just want to drive away and take the day off and let someone else do my work. Maybe not come in tomorrow. Maybe if I didn't have a cat I'd just pack up my car drive to Florida and see my friends who's motorcycle was not allowed to start because God got in the mechanics. Take my chances go find some alligators and frogs and turtles. Go to the ocean take what my savings and just go.
Sounds nice. Just leaving. Kinda politely go off on my coworkers. I'd ask God but I'm thinking I may not hear back. And if I do, I'd just have to convince myself that I did.